Original Tacos

I was originally hesitant to try this place at first but it is a hidden gem! I get the Tacos Original religiously, the chicken is so moist and flavorful. So glad that I gave it a shot.

Very good tacos but the steak torta with avocado is my favorite! The meat is always cooked perfectly and everything is proportioned nicely. Great Aguas frescas too the jamaica is the best! The service is great as well the waitress is always happy and smiling and the foods ready pretty fast.

My father-​in-​law used to say if you want to find the best food in a neighborhood, find out where the locals eat. Well when it comes to Mexican food, I’m guessing the locals eat at Original Tacos. The prices are reasonable, the food is tasty and English is NOT the primary language spoken by the wait staff. :-) I had heard about this place from a friend of mine when we were telling them about Taco el Norte and raving about how authentic is was. My friend mentioned that this place was good and I figured I’d give it a try. The guacamole was good, the salsa was spicy (but not too much) and my ground beef macho burrito was more than I could finish. (Maybe because i also got a side of rice and beans.) The co-​worker I came with also got the macho burrito, but his had shredded beef and he said he’d make a point to go out of his way to eat at this place again. So if you haven’t been here and you like tasty Mexican food, it’s worth the effort to stop in for lunch or dinner.

Local place with ok food. We ordered steak tacos for the family and at first bite they were really good, but as we ate on they were not that great, just average. I wish the steak had better flavor to it. The lady server was very nice, but once she had 3 tables she was overwhelmed. Just and OK place, but we would stop again if hungry and its easy.

The nachos are a joke. I almost never came back because of that. They threw some chips with some nacho cheese and VERY greasy ground beef together and it reminded me of shitty cafeteria food, on a bad day.
The tortas are decent but the meat had too much chewy pieces and fat. tacos are decent. Wet burrito is pretty good.
I’d give them a try if you are in the area, just don’t get the nachos

Amazing staff with great quality authentic food. Will recommend to anyone. I love this place !

The worst Mexican food I have ever had in my natural born God given African Indian American life. I ordered there once and that was enough to completely and utterly turn me off from this place forever. I ordered steak nachos and steak tacos, a standard order for me when trying out a new Mexican joint. I was so disappointed when I opened the container filled with oddly chopped tomatoes and onions and a sprinkle of meat. I gagged at first bite and nearly choked to death because the meat was so damn dry. I immediately regretted the decision to skip the horchata. I wish I could describe how bland the meat tasted but I can’t describe a flavor that wasn’t there… THERE WAS NO FLAVOR, which frightened me…
The tacos had all the fixings that should have made them bomb and a hit right off the bat, but of course life couldn’t be so rewarding, I nearly choked again. Trying my hardest I swallowed and tried to find the flavor… again it was missing…
I hate the waste of time and money and I wouldn’t wish this devastatingly disappointing restaurant on my worst enemy… not even a LAPD cop…
You’d be better off going to taco bell around the corner… You’re welcome for the advice.
Decent customer service though…

Hands down my favorite hole in the wall Mexican joint! Huge burritos meaty tacos. The pastor and chorizo are better than la rosita and Los arcos 2 other palatine spots

This place is tiny, dinky, and you could miss it very easily, but you would be missing some of the best Menudo in town.
The broth is not as dark red as I usually like it, but the flavor is HUGE. For only 5.75, you could have the deliciously meaty bowl of tripe goodness just like Grandma used to make if she were a living on a farm in San Jacinto, MX and just butchered the family cow.
Fresh, tasty, simple. I will be back.

Tried them for lunch yesterday. I really wanted tacos but I ended up with the enchiladas. I got the dinner plate which is 3 enchiladas, rice and beans. I liked that you can see what is being cooked, and all of the aromas coming from behind the counter smelled amazing! The restaurant itself is tiny, I think I counted 8 tables, and it was very clean. They have a decent size menu, a lot to choose from and they sell beer!
My order was done and ready to go in about 6 minutes. I was very impressed with the size of my meal but the food didnt wow me. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed and liked my meal but I wish I would have ordered the tacos. I got a cheese, a steak and a chicken enchilada. The meat tasted delicious, full of flavor and just right but I wasn’t impressed with the sauce. There was nothing special about it. The rice was ok but I didn’t like the beans at all. Im a beans girl and these beans were not good, very bland. So I give this place 4 stars because I loved the flavor of the steak and chicken and I know the tacos would be delish and their horchata was great. I will for sure go back for the tacos!

BEST BURRITOS IN PALATINE, try out the wet ones and u might get moist yourself…
They said this review is too short, but I ain’t no food critic so fts. U can sit down there and they give u chips, service is good cuz it doesnt matter if your black or white. can’t go wrong… geez

Whenever my husband or i need a quick meal we go here. Cheap AND Good. Get the steak tacos.

Awesome place and very reasonable ! staff is very friendly :)

Tip: you go past the GFS market place and Chen’s (all within small plaza) then you will see a small sign that says Original Tacos.
It was my first time trying out the tacos here. And it wasn’t all that great.
I ordered 3 chicken tacos and 3 fish tacos for pick up. They gave me about 5 – 10 minutes so it was pretty quick in terms of cooking.
Each taco comes with lettuce, onion, cilantro upon your request. It’s about the size of your hand as for the portion.
Chicken taco was quite disappointing to say the least. Chicken was very dry and overcooked as it became harder to eat without pouring a load of salsa that came with the order.
Fish taco was better however. It was a fried cod filet that also appeared to be overcooked. It had a dark brown coating which showed sign of being left in the fryer for too long.
I paid about 13 dollars for 6 tacos, but I felt like I didn’t get what I paid for in terms of quality. Good thing I was at least hungry.
This review is solely on the tacos so I can’t say much about other things on the menu.
If you’re looking for good quality tacos, I’d suggest you find somewhere else.

What a treasurer. A true treasurer. My carne asade macho burrito arrived quickly, the burrito is full of flavor. The meat is seasoned well, and it’s filled to the brim with meat. The salsas delicious. Here’s a picture to oggle at, admire, and give you a comparison shot of what you’ll be eating. Plate ratio/​knife ratio/​fullness of burrito is on point and exceptional.

Ordered food from here for the first time tonight after reading so many good reviews here on Unilocal.Man, people weren’t kidding when they said this was a small hole in the wall” place. Actually drove past it and had to make a u turn to get there. Place probably seats 12 people at the most. HOWEVER… their food is delicious! I had the Mucho Burrito with Carne Asada and it was the best burrito I ever had! The thing was HUGE! My wife had the fish taco dinner and my daughter had the chicken taco dinner. While my daughter absolutely loved hers, my wife thought the fish was a bit overcooked, but she is excited to try something different. We usually order out mexican food once a week and will be doing so from Original Tacos every week from now on! Oh, one more thing, they are VERY affordably priced!

above average Mexican place …
great fish tacos…
decent enchiladas…
descent quesadilla…
great horchata …
open late so an added benefit …
Overall a nice local Mexican business for quick grabs

I’ve been ordering the Macho Burrito from these guys since an old buddy of mine turned me on to the joint about 19 years ago. Tacos are excellent too, still one of my favorite places for comida Mexicana after all these years. Open til 3am on Friday and Saturday nights as well. Perfect for night owls and partiers.

Original tacos is a solid, no frills Mexican restaurant. They make a great steak burrito and the enchiladas are also very tasty. Drink selections include pineapple water (my favorite), horchata and a standard array of jaritos (sorry no aqua de Jamaica). They serve a number of Mexican beers too. Great Mexican food for the burbs! I’ll be back real soon…

Easy to miss (small sign) but solid food at a solid price. I am a snob with my Mexican food (grew up in Pilsen), and these are the best tacos in the nw suburbs. Great prices too!