Tastee Inn & Out

Finally getting around to write a review on this place. I find that all the reviews before me are spot on! The food is very good and the price is right. You don’t have to sit and wait for a waiter or anything like that because there is no inside sitting. It is all drive up window stuff or you can make use of their small outdoor sitting area and do battle with the flies and bugs. Don’t forget to get a large order of onion chips and double up on the dip.
Three thumbs up!!!

Onion chips and dip. Get a bucket of them and a million extra sides of dip and you will be in heaven. Not a meat eater– but my family seems to love the Tastees (a tavern or a «loose meat» for you non-​Iowans)! Can get a bit spendy, given the fact that it is a bit of a dive. But well worth it!

Flashed back to my childhood here today. I grew up three blocks from here and always enjoyed their tastee sandwiches. Took my mom here for Mother’s Day and it was like being a kid all over again. The tastee sandwich was exactly like I remembered. The bucket of fries was just as good. Glad this place is still running, I’m coming back again for sure.

Twice I have been here for the fries. I don’t care for the other stuff, just the fries, so we USED to order the bucket. Both times, the fries tasted like reheated fries, really bad for the price. NOT GOING BACK…

I don’t understand the appeal of this place. My onion chips were literally fried twice, and hard as a rock, since they just reheat the cold ones by putting them in the frier again. The sandwich tasted like a generic man which, and the buns like dried out Hy-​vee buns. Don’t be fooled by the cool neon sign, that is the only thing good about this place.

If you want food poising this is the place to go. I will say there onion chip are good and the dipping sauce is really taste

Reminds me of the loose meat sandwiches my Grandpa used to make. I was a big fan of the old school drive thru. The building may not have much to offer but the food seems more fresh than most of the fast food today.

A good simple meal. The tastees are good, but takes more than one to fill you up. The onion chips are good also. Come with cash, as they do not accept credit.

After reading many great reviews for tastee inn and out I just had to see what the fuss was all about. I regret to say my experience was less than mediocre. The sandwiches were bland bordering on tasteless and the onion chips which I’ve been dying to try were hard and chewy. The dip was good but nothing spectacular. Maybe they were having an off night? Maybe I went at a stale hour? It was very disappointing, and I’m fairly easy to please.

If you go to Iowa, you really have to eat a tavern. Really, it’s required, like it’s the law. When you go to the airport to return home, Homeland Security will ask, «Did you eat a tavern?» Pity the poor rube who says no. They will be shipped to the gulag, otherwise known as Nebraska. Taverns are to Iowa what lox are to a Jewish deli in New York. Any restaurant worth its salt has a tavern on the menu. Sometimes they call it a loosemeat, not to be confused with a Sloppy Joe. A Sloppy Joe is your tipsy uncle in Wisconsin. Even Roseanne came to Iowa to serve loosemeats in a restaurant in the middle of nowhere, which is pretty much ¾ of the state. As a celebrity restaurant concept it was a little lacking.
One of the best places to eat a tavern is at the Tastee Inn & Out. It’s a Sioux City institution, a drive-​in that’s been dishing up taverns since 1955. The tavern meat is piled on a soft steamed hamburger bun, given a squirt of mustard and a pickle chip or two. Personally, I like a little more mustard on mine. The #4 combo is my go to order. It’s a tavern with a side of onion chips and a pop. I always get root beer. You dip the onion chips, which have been battered and fried, in French Onion dip. They are the Tastee’s secret food weapon, a unique and addictive alternative to fries.
The Tastee Inn & Out is an original that you must experience.

Tastee is open on Sundays so was our last meal before flying back to St Louis. I would rate their tavern last of the three we sampled; Bob’s and Miles Inn being better.
The meat is extremely fine, with a hint of tomato and a little sweet. The sandwiches are small. I would describe these more like a Sloppy Joe. Ms T rated these the best, but what does she know.
Despite the raves, I would not order the onion chips again. If you have never had them, you should try, but I found them to be distractingly hard, beyond crunchy. I actually cut my mouth on one. The onion was not sweet or flavorful. The dressing seemed to have ground cottage cheese in it.
The Tastee Pup featured a tasteless hot dog and some tomato-​meat sauce of low quality. The chocolate shake was very standard. No malts are offered.
Unless Miles Inn is closed, I would not bother with Tastee. It is pretty mediocre. I know it is a sentimental favorite of a lot of people blinded by sentimentality. Drive out to Bob’s in Le Mars.

My mom grew up in Sioux City and when we would visit my grandma, she would take us here. It’s been over 20 years since we last had this and we still talk about it to this day. My sister and I always joke that when we become millionaires we will fly out here just to have Tastees. It’s nothing super fancy… just good food. Just thinking about this place brings back fond memories and makes my mouth water! I keep perstering my mom, asking her if she is going to go to her high school reunion just so we could tag along and get some Tastee’s Inn and Out (yes, it is THAT serious!).

Came here when it opened at 11 and there were people already ordering from the drive through which loops in front of the restaurant and not around it. We parked and walked up. Safety note, don’t stand off the sidewalk along the store window because the area next to the sidewalk is where all the cars drive to leave the drive through window.
We ordered a Tastee with onion chips and dip. The Tastee is a «sloppy Joe» without the sauce. The Onion Chips are wedges of onion slices battered and fried. Its like an onion ring. The dip they serve is a very mild but extremely creamy french onion dip-​ish thing.
I thought the combination of everything was great and its a great deal for a good price. Five Guys and other burger joints get more points in the taste, but I think thinking of the surrounding options for burgers, shakes and such, this is going to be one of the places I am ranking higher for a burger. I would not eat this everyday though since you will probably die a quick and early death from grease. I will definitely come back next time I’m in town for a shake!

Wow I have not had this in years but I do find myself craving it every once and a while. I was introduced to Tastee when I was around 6 or 7 as my step mom is from this area. The burger you get is amazing and I have yet to find a place like it anywhere else. The onion chips will make you hate yourself after you are done eating them but you will love yourself while you are munching them down. When I was younger I am sure one burger would fill me up but now I would recommend at least 2. The workers here are very nice as well. One time we were passing through town early in the morning. We stopped by just for the off chance they were open. They were not going to open for at least another hour but the people inside upon hearing how we traveled all this way and were only passing through town decided to make us some food early. Very nice of them to do that! If you are in the area stop by… heck if you are within 20 miles of this place stop by. It is a unique taste that I cannot begin to describe and I will warn you that you will like it and will become addicted to the food.

I grew up mere blocks from this place and still craved the food from 1300 miles away. Any time I’m in Sioux City, I make a point to hit the Tastee Inn & Out. Grease-​wise, the chips are no worse than a blooming onion elsewhere and the sauce is AMAZING and like no other. Definitely better than Maid-​Rite!

This is a Sioux cityian right of passage type of place…
The sandwich’s known as a taste\tavern are sorta on the plain side but are good once the pickles, ketchup and mustard have been added.
What everyone really goes for are the onion chips… My mouth waters at the very idea of devouring those delicious fried onions and licking down every last drop of sauce given to go with them…
Go forth and try them for yourself you won’t be disappointed…

The loose meat sandwich is considered tradition in Iowa and this drive through only store is an institution. The building certainly shows its age, but the sandwich stands for itself. Small yet tasty, try at least two.
The onion chips are nof for the heath minded and if you eat them too slow you will witness the grease congeal, but they got to be tried.
Heck if you are 20 miles near this landmark — it should be tried.

Onion chips may be a treat you only need once every few years. The crispy, fried goodness is greasy enough to make me question why I’m eating them at all– never mind your breath for the next few hours after you get done. I’m still recommending this place, but you kinda have to close your eyes and embrace the grease. It’s still an iconic restaurant in a wonderfully divey, Iowa city.
I also had a choco/​mint shake!

If you have never had a loose meat sandwich before, and are passing through Sioux city, definitely check out Tastee Inn & Out. They have these onion chips that are super greasy and pretty good, too. They don’t have a restroom or indoor seating area. You can eat at one of the 2 outdoor picnic tables and/​or in your car and use the restroom at the gas station across the street. The loose meat sandwich is something you gotta try at least once.

Good old fashion Sioux City original! Onion chips, and loose meat sandwiches! Yum!
Good For: onion chips, sandwiches, nostalgia