Rudy’s Tacos

We stopped for lunch on our way through town.
We like dinner style kitsch and Ruby’s fits the bill with 50’s style dinner tables, chairs and booths. Add in about 450 Mexican style puppets hanging from the acoustic ceiling and you’ve got enough to keep you occupied along with the other middle-​aged locals enjoying lunch conversations.
I wouldn’t call this truly Mexican, rather a version of 60’s or 70’s Iowa-​American inspired Mexican. There isn’t a «lunch» menu, so unless you order ala carte, plan on $ 13-​$ 18 per person without drinks.
I had the ½ Chimi and hubby had the small combo (which he declared was a misnomer). Our lunches came with a small iceberg lettuce salad without dressing, refried beans and rice.
Seasoning on both menus was mild to none except for the canned sliced jalapeños, but I expect every one who frequents here knows that.
The service was very friendly with drinks filled frequently.
We came at 11:30 on a Friday and the place was 30% full. By 12:30 when we left there was a line 15 people long waiting to get in. Go figure, I guess kitsch a thing in Waterloo.

The food is ok. It is nothing like the food at the Quad Cities restaurants. For that reason we won’t be going back. The place looked pretty creepy too.

It is Rudy’s, you are going for what I call Wisc/​mex. everything is great. The puppets from the ceiling to the 1950s tables, the place is just all a around great.

The food is really fresh. It’s off from local vendors. Great ambience very nice and clean. And the staff is fun

No. Just no.
I ordered a chicken salad supreme and he ordered tacos.
My salad sucked. To start with, the shell was ridiculously greasy. And the chicken was pretty flavorless. Mostly, it all tasted like the soupy beans that comprised most of the salad.
He said his tacos were okay. Nothing special.
We also ordered guacamole and chips. Big regret. I would say that they used about 20x as much lime juice as necessary. You couldn’t taste anything else. Seriously, it made me pucker. When we asked if this was normal (because I am hard pressed to believe that anyone would like that), she told us that it was always heavy on the lime.
Our meal for two without any drinks was $ 29 and change. It wasn’t worth half that.
Steer clear. Please trust me on this. You WILL regret it.

Not so Mexican
If you can’t say anything nice… then I couldn’t write an accurate review for Rudys :(
Definitely not Mexican food. No real flavor to anything. Got forks with our tacos?! Décor is something Robert Irvine from Restaurant Impossible would have a blast with. I think Rudys was great 20 years ago but short of a massive facelift to the dining room & food we won’t be back.

Great Mexican cuisine with produce and sauces made by local providers, and always fresh. I have never seen food that seemed processed. Great atmosphere and friendly staff. Wonderful original homemade sauces, clean facilities, and a price that doesn’t break the bank on cost.

Yes yes yes yes. Great food, relaxing atmosphere… If you don’t mind a bunch of puppets hanging from the ceiling.

One of our family’s favorite restaurants anywhere. Good flavors and ingredients, exotic beer menu, fun atmosphere.

I really don’t know what all the fuss is about this place. It’s very popular & I’m not sure why. First the food is typical Mexican. I’ve been there 3 times thinking maybe it will be better next time. The food is always cold. And for the quality of food I think it is too expensive. The people working are very blah… There are hundreds of marionette Mexican puppets hanging from ceiling which is cool & unique but they have been there so long you can see the layers of dust on them. That can’t be good while hanging over your food can it?

Good food, fresh ingredients and a nice staff and atmosphere. I would definitely recommend it unless you’re on a tight budget as it’s on the pricey side.

What can I say… LOTS! first off this isn’t Tex-​Mex or traditional Mexican either. We’ve always referred to Rudy’s as I-​Mex «Iowa Mexican» they do a wonderful job creating their own style of cuisine.
They source locally, supporting local family farms. Great food, Margaritas are incredible.
Most of the patrons have been coming here religiously for years.
The flow of this restaurant is amazing! even if there’s a line going out the door. By the time you’re through ordering you’ll have a place to sit. Don’t let long lines scare you away.
We lived in Texas for several years. Mexican food on every corner. All our friends and family that visit always request a trip to Rudy’s.
The Beer Hall, Lava Lounge and Guerrilla Brewing Co. all under the same roof! Providing an incredible selection of craft beer, old school cocktails and high test beer brewed right on site! Make a night of it, don’t eat and run!

If you’re an out-​of-​towner looking for authentic Mexican or Tex-​Mex, this is probably not it — BUT definitely still worth the visit! Rudy’s is an authentic Cedar Valley institution, committed to quality, local ingredients and great Mexican-​style food. Also, don’t miss the amazing beer selection in The Beer Hall or evening libations at The Lava Lounge — best juke box selections in town, and they’re free!

Food is ok. And just that… ok. Especially for the price. If you want real Mexican, head across town to La Michoacana. If you want quick, Americanized Mexican they definitely do it right.

I love Rudy’s Tacos! The décor is fun, the food is great. I’ve been coming here since I was a child. Staff is very friendly. Highly recommended!

Visited with a friend. Parking lot had one spot left, and a line 10 people deep, but it didn’t take that long… Ordered the Rudy’s Platter-​it was HUGE and cheesy. The shredded beef or pork was SO GOOD! The ground was flavorless… We also ordered chips and guacamole which was DELISH! Margaritas were strong and tasty!

This was an overpriced place that serves tex mex that has been watered down taste wise for those who 1. Haven’t been outside of Iowa to try Mexican food in other states/​countries. 2. Don’t have any friends that are Latino. 3. Doesn’t season their meat beyond 1 shake. 4. Thinks hot sauce should really be mild sauce.
The sauces in the squeeze bottle where not flavorful at all, like really? It had no heat or anything to it. They have hot sauce in a bottle on the table that looks to be some outsourced type of deal, they were okay. But the two in house ones were weak sauce.
The tacos here not well seasoned and had way to much lettuce on it. The enchilada wasn’t that great either, I just had an awesome on the day before so I did have a high standard in mind.
All of the combos are over $ 10, tacos are just below $ 3 and the enchiladas are almost $ 5…Yeah I’ve had better for much less, not sure why they are higher than most places.
So if you want to spend about $ 15 on three items and a drink this is your spot. Keep in mind this is tex mex, think about every fast food joint you hit up that serves tex mex, it doesn’t come close to these prices.

You have to go to Rudy’s Tacos. They always provide great service and food is always cooked properly. I recommend any kind of taco and waffle fries. The waffle fries are amazing. The chips, cheese dip, and salsa are fantastic. There are other business’s located outside the restaurant. Go now!

This used to be my favorite place in town. However, quality has declined as of late.
I always get 3 hard shell tacos, fries and a Pepsi. Sometimes the tacos are extremely soggy to the point you can’t eat them, so I send them back. Sometimes they are delicious the first try.
The prices are a little steep for the so-​so quality. It is $ 15 for me to get 3 tacos, fries and a Pepsi. That is because it is $ 3.75 for a side of fries, but I think they are worth it!
I would recommend this over all, but be cautious. 3 Out of 5 stars.

JUST CUZ IT“S LOCAL DONT MEAN ITS GOOD
I got one of the platters or something. I don’t really remember, I think I asked one of the young homeschooled hipster tweens working in this building (I think there are a couple hipster/​homeschoolers who work at the bar next door too) what was good here and they mumbled back «cat gifs» or something so I WENT WITH THE PLATTER (or some smörgåsbord of taco related items) and prepared myself.
Let me back up a bit here before I go any further… I had heard nothing but good things about this place and was extremely excited to try it out. But I was a little put off by the way everyone was talking to me about Rudy’s Tacos in the exact same way…
«Oh. my. gerd. That place is ridiculously good. You’ll love it. They use all local products too btw.»
or…
«Rudy’s!!! Ahh man that place is tight. Really great local flavors going on there.»
or…
«it’s local»
Catching on yet??? I mean, don’t get me wrong… I think supporting local vendors and businesses is cool and all, but why were all of these people feeling the need to say that to me rather than that the food was awesome or tacos were crazy delicious? And so the plot thickens.
Anyway… I wait in a booth for my food and I’m noticing all the cool stuff they have for decorations and everything and at this point I’m like yeah! This place is my new spot! This momentum built even further when I saw they had like 4 different hot sauces with cool logos and designs… Youre winning me over Rudy (pretty sure this place is named after the classic Sean Astin underdog movie, someone back me up on that). \
Then my food arrived.
Uh… everything was just bad. I don’t know how else to describe it. It just wasn’t good. It was bland. The meat wasn’t spicy or spiced in general. The cheese lacked flavor. Those sauces I was telling you about before? They were just like… whatever, not really that flavorful. Plus I had to go ask for a refill on my water like twice. (Do they teach you nothing in Hipster Homeschool?!) I’ve never been back and don’t really plan on it. I wanted to like it so bad, but it just was not good. Period.
But if you get your rocks off by eating a bland flavorless mish-​mash of tex-​mex food surrounded by a bunch of Zooey Deschanel wannabes, I guess you might like it.
Did I mention they use local ingredients?