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Came here for a work gathering. We tried the Birria tacos- they were okay. The dipping broth was good. The chicken quesadilla was rec by the worker taking our order. It is okay. Their rotisserie chx is not the best thing. I did dip it with the birrias broth, that helped. I had the fried chicken taco. That was good and fried chicken is always a tasty unhealthy choice. But usually a solid choice for me. It had a spicy sauce on it that I liked. Someone ordered the firecrackers. They are good. Needs a lot more ranch for dipping considering their size. One of the order, half the firecracker had no cheese in it. I think it oozed out while frying. They did make a few more to replace them. The service here was very nice! The guy taking our order was so friendly.
Pros: cute place. Affordable place. Drinks good. Cons: DISGUSTING BLAND food. I ordered a sautéed shrimp taco, it had 3 TINY shrimp on it. Plus some plain WHITE rice that was claimed to be cilantro rice. The kids food was worse... my children aren't hard to please. They ate nothing. Thats how bad it was. Anyways if you want a good cheap drink go here. If you want good food with your drink RUN the opposite direction. I wish I went to Taco Bell. At least it would've tasted seasoned.
We came on a Sunday and it was closed but we wanted to try their tacos so we came back Saturday. The place is nicely decorated with plenty of seating, the staff is very friendly and pleasant. To start we asked for chips and salsa, you get a large tray of warm seasoned thin tortilla chips plus green tomatillo salsa and red hotter salsa (we believe it was chipotle chiles in it), it was DEFINITELY DELICIOUS. That salsa was the star of the meal, we couldn't get enough. Then we got the smoked salmon street tacos and the beef fajita street tacos.... Unfortunately the beef fajita tacos they were plain beef steak, unsalted, unseasoned (bland) tacos, served on double tortilla. Pretty disappointing for a taco restaurant. The steak was not tough, but tasteless. I should mention that the street tacos is pretty cheap. My suggestion: raise the price a little, and season your steak, you could bring it around. We will have to come back to see it tacos improve, (or to buy Red Salsa To Go).
I found myself at Cartel tacos when figuring out a place to eat when hanging at Cidercade next door. On here and on my map app they were listed as closed but on my way to go try another place I noticed someone cleaning the windows at the doors. A manager/co-owner came over to me as I was walking over and he asked me about Cidercade being busy for their tax day special. I let them know they showed up as closed, but he let me know they are open! Staff was friendly when coming in and generally was busy once I got my food. Oh I do have to give a shout out that they do have big red at the on tap soda machine. (Not for me but for my husband and sister.) So I came in and got the chicken birra tacos which comes with 3. You can get more than one meat if you would like. The food was decent and the price was really reasonable. $10 and some change after tax, but before tip. I'm glad I came over to give them a chance, and we may keep them in rotation if we come back to to Cidercade.
The tacos are ok. The tortillas definitely need some flavor but i think overall i came out saying "meh". definitely not authentic services. Good not great but really nice location is OK. Parking sucks. Overall, buy frozen food at Walmart, cook it really well at home put on some good music and you'll save yourself some money. This is not a knock on the establishment. The food is OK but I'm here for the people. I've got to be honest thumbs out of 5
What can I say? We love this place. It's a fun spot. Especially the bar area. You can order at the main counter. However, if you are sitting in the bar area, you can order there. And speaking of the bar, the bartenders are great. They are personable without being overly familiar. Just right. As for the food, they have a good menu with lots of treats. Lots of fun tacos and apps. The chicken quesadilla is fantastic. They season the tortilla and it is so good.
We've found ourselves at Cartel Taco Bar more often than I initially thought! Their menu isn't exactly authentic Mexican food (of course they never claimed to be) -- they've many untraditional items like fried chicken tacos, fried green beans, smoked mac and cheese, Kentucky bourbon baked beans... it's a fun variety. And of course you'll find lots of tacos, bowls, salads, etc. I ordered lettuce wrap tacos and a side of beans on our last visit and shared chips and salsa with Jon. They give you soooo much salsa here, red and green, and they've got those super thin cantina style chips that are always delicious unless they're stale, and these weren't! They were perfect. We love to sit at the bar here. It's small and in a great spot by the outdoor patio, and the bartender is always cool. The crowd in general here is pretty cool, laid back. There's a couple TVs and sometimes they have live music in the main dining area. Cocktails, beer, tacos, patio, bar, salsa. It's everything you need!
Yum! This was our first time and the guy at the counter was so helpful and sweet. I'm so sorry I can't remember his name, but he was so kind! He walked us through the menu and how ordering works and didn't rush us at all. Once you order, you get a little buzzer and it'll ring/vibrate when it's time to pick up your food. if you have a lot of stuff, they're more than happy to help you to your table! I ordered a: Fajita chicken taco rotisserie chicken taco buffalo ranch chicken taco (a "secret" menu item) queso dip (came with pork rinds and tortilla chips. i didn't think i would be a fan of the pork rinds but they were soo good with the queso!) as someone who isn't good with spice, there was definitely spice in something (tortilla chips/queso??), but other than that, everything was delicious! There is a separate bar in the back you can order drinks from. My only con is the live music. it's a small restaurant to have live music, but i can't dock too many points because we had looked up the restaurant before we came, so we knew it would probably happen. if i could give it a 4.8/5 stars, i would. but again, that's just personal preference :)
Listen, I have tried many tacos joints throughout the entire DFW metroplex, and ain't no one topping Cartel Tacos! I ordered a few Chicken Fajitas tacos topped with Avocados Aioli & Tomatoes, and their specialty Beef Fajita Tacos. You can definitely tell they focus on quality and not quantity. Every single taco was HIT-TING! Go see for yourself!
Great food! Super crowded and loud!^ Recommend getting there before the college crowd arrives.
Came here with some "friends" so didn't choose to be here. Tacos here are just plain average. Tried their fajita specialty taco and their street tacos. It lacked the flavor I am use to with real taco places. I also got their 5 pepper Mac and cheese. It was really disappointing. Not really any spice to me. I got bored of the taste after 3 spoons. Their other sauces (red and green) were also boring to me.
Headed here for food after a couple hours of axe throwing. Cute spot. Reminds me of velvet taco but not quite as good. They had some fun flavor combos. We tried the pulled pork, fish taco, fried chicken tender and grilled chicken tacos. My favorite was the fried chicken tender- i thought it had a great texture profile. The grilled chicken one had mac and cheese and was fun but it was super messy and a bit bland. The pulled pork was a bit too sweet with all the bbq sauce for me and i didnt enjoy the fish one. Also got the spicy street corn. It wasnt spicy but i enjoyed it. Not the best I've had, but decent. The patio seating area was also nice. I appreciated that they came out to ask us how we wanted the tacos plated which they didnt need to. It didn't matter but i still thought it was nice. Great place to stop when axe throwing...but wouldnt go out of my way for it. read more
11 months ago
It was my homie's birthday, so we all met up at Cartel for some drinks and bites. We were seated promptly at a table for eight and were greeted by our waitress, who was incredibly friendly, enthusiastic, and knowledgeable about the specials and drink options. I ordered the loaded steak nachos, a passionfruit and mango margarita, a Maker's Mark and Coke with cherries, and later, a shot of tequila. The food was solid, the drinks were well-made, and there were plenty of TVs showing sports and news updates, which added to the vibe. My only disappointment? The music selection was pretty boring. A more lively playlist could have taken the atmosphere up a notch. Overall, it was a great spot for a group hangout, and I'd definitely come back! read more
Came here for a work gathering. We tried the Birria tacos- they were okay. The dipping broth was good. The chicken quesadilla was rec by the worker taking our order. It is okay. Their rotisserie chx is not the best thing. I did dip it with the birrias broth, that helped. I had the fried chicken taco. That was good and fried chicken is always a tasty unhealthy choice. But usually a solid choice for me. It had a spicy sauce on it that I liked. Someone ordered the firecrackers. They are good. Needs a lot more ranch for dipping considering their size. One of the order, half the firecracker had no cheese in it. I think it oozed out while frying. They did make a few more to replace them. The service here was very nice! The guy taking our order was so friendly. read more
2 years ago
Pros: cute place. Affordable place. Drinks good. Cons: DISGUSTING BLAND food. I ordered a sautéed shrimp taco, it had 3 TINY shrimp on it. Plus some plain WHITE rice that was claimed to be cilantro rice. The kids food was worse... my children aren't hard to please. They ate nothing. Thats how bad it was. Anyways if you want a good cheap drink go here. If you want good food with your drink RUN the opposite direction. I wish I went to Taco Bell. At least it would've tasted seasoned. read more
We came on a Sunday and it was closed but we wanted to try their tacos so we came back Saturday. The place is nicely decorated with plenty of seating, the staff is very friendly and pleasant. To start we asked for chips and salsa, you get a large tray of warm seasoned thin tortilla chips plus green tomatillo salsa and red hotter salsa (we believe it was chipotle chiles in it), it was DEFINITELY DELICIOUS. That salsa was the star of the meal, we couldn't get enough. Then we got the smoked salmon street tacos and the beef fajita street tacos.... Unfortunately the beef fajita tacos they were plain beef steak, unsalted, unseasoned (bland) tacos, served on double tortilla. Pretty disappointing for a taco restaurant. The steak was not tough, but tasteless. I should mention that the street tacos is pretty cheap. My suggestion: raise the price a little, and season your steak, you could bring it around. We will have to come back to see it tacos improve, (or to buy Red Salsa To Go). read more
1 year ago
3 years ago
I found myself at Cartel tacos when figuring out a place to eat when hanging at Cidercade next door. On here and on my map app they were listed as closed but on my way to go try another place I noticed someone cleaning the windows at the doors. A manager/co-owner came over to me as I was walking over and he asked me about Cidercade being busy for their tax day special. I let them know they showed up as closed, but he let me know they are open! Staff was friendly when coming in and generally was busy once I got my food. Oh I do have to give a shout out that they do have big red at the on tap soda machine. (Not for me but for my husband and sister.) So I came in and got the chicken birra tacos which comes with 3. You can get more than one meat if you would like. The food was decent and the price was really reasonable. $10 and some change after tax, but before tip. I'm glad I came over to give them a chance, and we may keep them in rotation if we come back to to Cidercade. read more
1 year ago
2 years ago
The tacos are ok. The tortillas definitely need some flavor but i think overall i came out saying "meh". definitely not authentic services. Good not great but really nice location is OK. Parking sucks. Overall, buy frozen food at Walmart, cook it really well at home put on some good music and you'll save yourself some money. This is not a knock on the establishment. The food is OK but I'm here for the people. I've got to be honest thumbs out of 5 read more
What can I say? We love this place. It's a fun spot. Especially the bar area. You can order at the main counter. However, if you are sitting in the bar area, you can order there. And speaking of the bar, the bartenders are great. They are personable without being overly familiar. Just right. As for the food, they have a good menu with lots of treats. Lots of fun tacos and apps. The chicken quesadilla is fantastic. They season the tortilla and it is so good. read more
5 years ago
We've found ourselves at Cartel Taco Bar more often than I initially thought! Their menu isn't exactly authentic Mexican food (of course they never claimed to be) -- they've many untraditional items like fried chicken tacos, fried green beans, smoked mac and cheese, Kentucky bourbon baked beans... it's a fun variety. And of course you'll find lots of tacos, bowls, salads, etc. I ordered lettuce wrap tacos and a side of beans on our last visit and shared chips and salsa with Jon. They give you soooo much salsa here, red and green, and they've got those super thin cantina style chips that are always delicious unless they're stale, and these weren't! They were perfect. We love to sit at the bar here. It's small and in a great spot by the outdoor patio, and the bartender is always cool. The crowd in general here is pretty cool, laid back. There's a couple TVs and sometimes they have live music in the main dining area. Cocktails, beer, tacos, patio, bar, salsa. It's everything you need! read more
3 years ago
Yum! This was our first time and the guy at the counter was so helpful and sweet. I'm so sorry I can't remember his name, but he was so kind! He walked us through the menu and how ordering works and didn't rush us at all. Once you order, you get a little buzzer and it'll ring/vibrate when it's time to pick up your food. if you have a lot of stuff, they're more than happy to help you to your table! I ordered a: Fajita chicken taco rotisserie chicken taco buffalo ranch chicken taco (a "secret" menu item) queso dip (came with pork rinds and tortilla chips. i didn't think i would be a fan of the pork rinds but they were soo good with the queso!) as someone who isn't good with spice, there was definitely spice in something (tortilla chips/queso??), but other than that, everything was delicious! There is a separate bar in the back you can order drinks from. My only con is the live music. it's a small restaurant to have live music, but i can't dock too many points because we had looked up the restaurant before we came, so we knew it would probably happen. if i could give it a 4.8/5 stars, i would. but again, that's just personal preference :) read more
4 years ago
Listen, I have tried many tacos joints throughout the entire DFW metroplex, and ain't no one topping Cartel Tacos! I ordered a few Chicken Fajitas tacos topped with Avocados Aioli & Tomatoes, and their specialty Beef Fajita Tacos. You can definitely tell they focus on quality and not quantity. Every single taco was HIT-TING! Go see for yourself! read more
3 years ago
Great food! Super crowded and loud!^ Recommend getting there before the college crowd arrives. read more
Came here with some "friends" so didn't choose to be here. Tacos here are just plain average. Tried their fajita specialty taco and their street tacos. It lacked the flavor I am use to with real taco places. I also got their 5 pepper Mac and cheese. It was really disappointing. Not really any spice to me. I got bored of the taste after 3 spoons. Their other sauces (red and green) were also boring to me. read more
Cutting down on my carb intake so I'm ecstatic see option of replacing my taco w lettuce wrap option yay on that! I really my three tacos. They're full flavor and with some salsa damn! Salsa taste homemade y'all!! My co-worker who just happens to be a Mexican love his tacos and was the one recommended this place. I love my tortilla soup too ... Did I mentioned he likes his beans too? It's a ginormous portion so he Togo it home but really, I got nothing negative nor deduction for this place. Definitely a return again soon read more
3 years ago
Delicious! I order a chicken taco- which to my surprise had mac and cheese in it (I didn't read the menu). Either way it was so tasty. I also ordered the queso. It came with fresh pork rinds- my favorite. I also loved the selection of yellow bird hot sauces! read more
Frozen margaritas are good! The fire stix are soo good I ordered a second helping. It's hard to find good mozzarella sticks and they nailed it here!! (Even tho it's not mozzarella but the same idea, you get it). The birria tacos are so delicious. Kind staff. things can get slow if they get busy! Something is awkward about the room feng shui haha the wall in the middle doesn't seem right and the room to wait in line to order in is really hot from the sun. You can order some of the same items from the bar. But the food was great and the prices are amazing, so I'll definitely be back of course! read more
4 years ago
Cartel is a great option for tacos in the Urban Union / Front Street area. They have a good selection of tacos to choose from, you can do lettuce wraps as well. They have one of my favorite skinny margaritas around, and a nice patio as well. I really like their cilantro rice and if you're feeling extra comfort food-y, they have a pretty mean mac n cheese. We go to Cartel about 2-3 times a month, and it's always very consistent. I definitely recommend it. read more
Really just middle of the road. I happened to be in the neighborhood for an event and stopped in with a few friends. I wasn't taken by their food but it was fine. I had the shrimp and salmon tacos, chips and salsa. The rest of my party enjoyed their tacos but I didn't really like mine. I found them to be too spicy and wasn't a fan of the tortillas. Still not a bad spot to grab a quick bite but if you're a big taco eater you might be disappointed. Staff was friendly but didn't even know if there was pork in the rice. (It looked like there was). They have a cute bar area though and do offer cheap shuttles to cowboys games read more
2 years ago
Make real tacos ! Stop using canned beans and better quality products for your want to be tacos ! This place is horrible I have no idea how this place has survived read more
3 years ago
I stopped in after church. It is a reasonably priced Taco Bar. You come in and order, seat yourself, and they bring your order to the table. Soft drinks are self serve but there is a full bar in the back. They have a list of specialty drinks, that you can order or enjoy the full bar. I had a cartel old fashion and the bartender smoked my glass and made me the prettiest little drink! The food was delicious and we tried pork tacos and chicken fajita tacos(corn or flour your choice) I had some Taco soup and dang it was soo soo good!! It's like grandma was in their kitchen!! They clean up after you so leave a tip. It's got sports going on all the tvs if your into that type of thing. I define will return:) read more
4 years ago
Queso - 4 out of 5 too watery Veggie taco - 4 out of 5 Flavor and seasoning is def there! I didn't read the menu and thought i was getting 3 but only got 1 my fault lol It's pretty cold in there (had the patio door open) Very chill vibe. Like sneakers and jeans Not too crazy about this place. read more
1 year ago
So I was hungry for a good fish taco , happened to check out the cartel taco bar website menu and found one, it stated that it had cilantro horseradish slaw, fresh avocado, salsa verde, smoked tomato aioli, and Cotija cheese, now doesn't that sound awesome, so I hurried to the restaurant before they closed only to find out their fish taco is not what it seems, turns out the menu that's inside the restaurant is completely different than the menu that's on their website, and no it's not a third party website, it's the actual menu on their website, and its interesting that the price of the taco remained the same yet minus three items, the current fish taco they have only has lettuce Italian dressing and avocado aioli, and while I'm sure it tastes good it sure sounds pretty bland compared to what it used to be and what it still claims to be on the company website, I was looking for a kick ass fish taco not just a basic fish taco which sounds like it's become, and apparently this fish taco used to be advertised as fried Mahi with pineapple pico, now that sounds pretty good, it's just too bad the cartel fish taco has become a downgrade to what it used to be and what it's still advertised as, maybe one day they'll correct their website menu so that next time I don't waste my time driving to the restaurant, now I wouldn't call this your typical bait and switch, but it's pretty damn close read more
2 years ago
The food was amazing and hot and fresh and right on time definitely enjoyed the atmosphere and the staff was definitely on point in helping and never skipped a beat when asking if you need a refill I was highly satisfied with the service and food I was in town on business and I definitely recommend this place read more
3 years ago
5 years ago
If you are Mexican or have been to México or to an authentic Mexican restaurant DO NOT try thsi place. It is not Mexican tacos. Tortillas are stiff and flavors aro so mild it was extremely disappointing. A great place for drinks and ambience but do not come for the tacos. I ordered fajitas ans pork and the fajitas were so blend, I have no words to describe. Pull pork was sweet not Mexican flavor at all. Green salsa was ok red salsa was just tipical cholula sauce. Definitely not comong back. Service was fast and good read more
Found this spot after visiting the Lonestar Axe! Our instructor told us about it and we tried out some of the tacos he recommended. I ate most of them before I could take a pic, but they were delicious! I love how much flavor they had (I'm big on flavor) I also love that they deliver to the axe throwing place. You literally walk over and put an order in and they bring it to you. It's convenient when you're enjoying your time doing activities. I'm so happy we discovered this place, we will be attending on a regular soon. read more
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More info about Cartel Taco Bar
506 E Division St
St 150
Arlington, TX 76011
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(817) 200-6364
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http://carteltacobar.com
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Ask the Community - Cartel Taco Bar
What are the drink specials during the week?
What's the definition of cartel and how would this name apply to a respectable business?
i suspect the use of CARTEL is only for marketing. I can vouch only for the tacos which I enjoyed.
