Ah yes. Finally. A real taqueria (with a real taqueria name) in a heavily Irish populated south side suburb. Compared to living on the north-west side, I've come to realize over the years that legit taquerias are few and far between in Oak Lawn and it's few surrounding areas. But Ell Gallo passes all the legitimacy tests in my world. I'm stuck on the tacos al pastor. Give me about four of these bad boys, and I'm set. Unfortunately, they don't have salsa verde. But the red salsa is quite good. They give you complimentary chips and pico de gallo. The chips are never stale and the pico tastes fresh and spicy. I've had the steak burrito here and it's pretty decent as well. Plenty big. Pretty good horchata as well, and the guacamole is tasty and cheap. My significant other always orders the chorizo tacos with cheese, and she marvels over them every time. Unfortunately they don't take credit card. So bring cash if you want to avoid the ATM fees. El gallo definitely falls under the "cheap eats" category so I can't complain too much. Oddly even living in an area where there's no shortage of taquerias, I crave me some El Gallo quite often. read more

El Gallo on 111th was my standard when we in lived in the area. We ate there once or twice a week. Never really tried menu items aside from tacos and frijoles, but they do have a good size menu. Made it a point to go back when we were in the area last week. Nothing has changed. Place looks the same, staff is the same. The staff is very pleasant and the place is very basic, but really, it is all about the tacos. And the tacos were good, served hot and fresh and full. The way I see it - we got dinner for two under $20 - with leftovers. Free parking. read more

There service was amazing. They have some great water. They gave me straws for my cup and when I asked for my steak tacos they gave me lettuce taco. It was so good. 10/10..... I'm sorry I almost ran out of word count I meant 10/100000. Come try for yourself. read more

El Gallo Tapatio - This is supposed to be a steak taco but you tell me what you see. - Mexican Near Me - Alsip, Illinois

Food is pretty darn delicious. Super late night crowd best place to go fo Mexican late night bites . If you plan on ordering the burrito it is enormous and cheesy and perfectly wrapped together . Affordable too . read more

El Gallo Tapatio - Burrito (steak) - Mexican Near Me - Alsip, Illinois

This place is the BEST! Good authentic burrito. They give you amazing chips and salsa, and have the best service with even better hours, for all you night owls. If you're going to go here make sure you're hungry because the burritos are HUGE! Vegetarian options read more

El Gallo Tapatio - Veggie burrito - Mexican Near Me - Alsip, Illinois

My favorite mexican restaurant! I eat here once a week and I never get sick of their taco dinners. They're delicious. Order a banana shake with your meal to throw the cherry on top. Service is always friendly and helpful. read more

Honestly , I don't even know if their food is good. Went in to order 2 dozen tamales (was asked if I wanted them warm or cold) and small order of pozole. The lady rang me up, total was $78.00 and some change. I said wait, what did I order. I asked how much each dozen was and the lady replied, each tamale $2.50. So let's do the math $2.50 x 12 (dozen) $30 each dozen. There's no wayyyyy! Someone charge that much per dozen snd still ask if I wanted them warm or cold . Plenty of other great Mexican spots in neighborhood who won't break your pockets.. Geeezzz! read more

Really good. One hell of an authentic experience. Their chimichango is fantastic Perfect combination of meat cheese and filling read more

Had the quesadilla dinner with the bistec ala Mexicana meat. The steak had lots of grizzle just very chewy. Meat was way over cooked. I am also sick as all hell right now after eating this meal. I would no longer recommend this play sober or intoxicated. read more

El Gallo Tapatio - El Pastor Tacos w/ cilantro and Onion on corn tortilla - Mexican Near Me - Alsip, Illinois

Dinner was good. I had the steak burrito which had a lot of flavor. This place has been around for a long time. They take debit cards and they're open later read more

The food is ok steak and pork tacos really fatty salsas and guacamole are really good the staff is friendly and the is quick and they are open late not bad overall read more

If your Mexican the food sucks. Flavor is okay not the best. I mean it's near oak lawn not much expectation. Just take the drive and go to city and get you some good tacos read more

I used to come here for lunch or dinner 1 or 2 times per week. For take out.Staff is good. However the food has not been the best lately. The steak Tacos and the Steak burrito.The steak had lots of grizzle just very chewy.Not to good. As of now I am looking for a new Mexican Restaurant. Not sure if this place has changed out meat distributor? As they do it from time to time. The people that go here after the bars close,Do not see this as they will eat anything,After drinking. Please go back to the way you were before.And I will return. One last thing this place is very pricey.Thanks for reading this,To all customers. read more

What are they doing here after a friend and I ate here we both couldn't keep our eyes open , well he calls me today and says he slept for 12 hours and I also slept about the same. Did someone put sleeping pills in the El pastor. This is weird, won't be going back unless I need a sedative. read more

So, I love chicken tacos, but they have to be made with chicken breast meat (it's my quirk, sorry!) and theirs was not. Therefore, I got an order or nachos with extra beans...and it was just okay. The nachos were pretty bland and had a huge pile of lettuce on top, so it looked like a nacho salad. Unfortunately, I probably won't be trying them out again. read more

I would give more stars but had to deal with bad customer service.i come here all the time This is my go to taco place always had great service with the guy who usually works behind the counter and the waitresses are so sweet. But today I went to pick up my order and the guy that's normally there wasn't and some other lady was when I told her I place my order she argued with me that she never received a call about an order when I told her I did and showed her my phone log she said she never received anything and continued to argue with me about finally I just told her my order because I was tired and hungry and just wanted my food already one of the waitress walked by and saw how angry I was an apologized for the cashiers behavior which she didn't have to do but I appreciated read more

Tacos and Sopes are decent. I had a steak burrito suizo, the beans tasted burnt and the meat was dry. The al pastor taco and steak Sopes looked and also tasted up to par. The horchata is horrible. The water tasted like tap water and the horchata mix they used is sweeter and more watery than it should be. "This horchata tastes like cardboard"- my dad. Wouldn't recommend but if your out late and want Mexican food, this place is open late. read more

Just remembered why I don't come here. They charge $.35 to substitute rice for beans in a burrito. This makes no sense. They have to have the thing from scratch each time anyway and rice and beans cost the same. Waitress said "no substitutions" but even Burger King doesn't mind special orders. Why is it a problem to sub one starch scooped from a tub for another ? It's the principle of the thing. The food isn't so great that I need to put up with that. They also charge for extra salsa. I'll go to Coyote next time. They have a salsa BAR and don't charge for stupid things. read more

I recall visiting this location years ago. I'm not sure when, but it was definitely before COVID. I was really famished and did not have much time, and I also did not want to look for another restaurant to eat at after I saw this one. If I remember correctly, I really liked their tacos back then, even though I only visited once. The place was clean and well-lit, and it was not full. In fact, there were only a few people eating inside. The staff are nice too, and they are also friendly. I just ordered some tacos. Service is quite slow considering that the whole place is not that busy. The tacos have a nice portion and I expected that they would be really good, but unfortunately, they weren't and it was literally the opposite. I do not know why, but I did not really like it that much. I mean, it is not bad, and it is not really good either. Somehow it lacks the flavor, or maybe the seasonings, because it really did not taste great. It is hot, and it also seems fresh, but the flavors are really lacking. read more

I've had Mexican food all over the country and this is one of the best I have been to..Reasonable prices and friendly staff. The place is clean and has a huge parking lot. The soft pork tacos @ 2.00 each are excellent. read more

In general, the food is good. Sometimes it is a hit. One time the vegie taco salad was with less food and the vegetables were not fresh. The main issue with them is the attitude. Most of the times the cashiers are in rush and rude with customers. It happened on several occasions that I stayed on line for a long time and she serves the people after me. One time I decided to complain, the cashier intterrupted me rudely and said as usual, she is serving the people who ordered on the phone before me. She basically was serving other people who came after me. Rudely, she gave me my money back and refused to give me my food. Simply, she made me wait for almost 20 mins and then took she kept my order and gave my money back. Never seen such an attitude and such a hustle customer service. The management, should train them how to proterize their service and accept the customers feedback. read more

One of the only reasons I visit my parents on the Southside is to eat at El Gallo afterwards. Not only is this the perfect place to meet after a night of binge drinking (with a designated driver of course), but this is a taqueria I am not ashamed to visit while sober. The service is great. As soon as you seat yourself, boom, you have a glass of water, a basket of warm, delicious homemade chips and salsa in front of you. Had a chance to glance over the paper menu on your table? No, cause the waitress is already taking your order. (Side note: Pray you get the waitress in the tight shirt and jeans and platinumy hair. Honey Honey is the greatest waitress of my life. My husband and I have nicknamed her thus, since she ends every sentence with, honey. EVERY. SENTENCE. HONEY. At first it got on my nerves, but now it's endearing. And she's always taking care of you, honey). I recommend trying the guac and the Bistec a la Mexicana dinner. Yum!! read more

I so appreciate my friend taking my craving into consideration as I got to embark on my quest for a Mexican spot in the burbs. We came in and picked up our order and it's quite spacious spot. I got myself the beef tostada, a chicken and the Mexican Special taco. I also got the guacamole and the haracha and all of it was very tasty and delicious. You can't order a single flauta here as they come in 3 for an order. I may have to try that next time. The prices are affordable, and the portions are good as well. read more

3.5 **** I have been here a few times and it is usually late, really late. I guess it is kinda cool that they are open so late. Yesterday coming back from the bar and a little hungry we stopped here around 2 am. In previous visits I tried tacos and burritos and they were good, but just good, not enough to write a 4 or 5 * review. Yesterday I tried their tortas, breaded chicken, steak and a steak burrito. I was surprised, tortas were good. The bread was soft on the inside and a little bite on the outside. I was a little less impressed with the burrito but it was ok. The chips are really good, be aware, I think that they deep fry them in lard so if you are vegetarian or don't eat pork ask for regular chips. Service is always nice and the prices are ok. Sometimes they get really busy. read more

Although I enjoy Mexican food, I find that the typical menu of tacos, burritos and enchiladas, while it appears to offer a lot of variety, is mostly a case of taking the same ingredients and organizing them differently, so whenever I go to a Mexican place I look for something on the menu that's not quite the same. At this place, I decided to order the Milanesa de Pollo. I knew it would be some kind of breaded, fried chicken, but I wanted a better idea before I ordered, so I asked the server (in Spanish) how it was made. At first she seemed a little confused, and asked, "You mean, the ingredients?", so I said, "No, how is it cooked?" She appeared to know the answer, but had some trouble explaining it to me. Turns out this milanesa was two pieces of chicken flattened paper-thin, breaded and fried. It wasn't bad, but this was so flattened that you couldn't really find or taste the chicken at all. I added the bottled green chili sauce to one piece, and the bottled red chili sauce to the other one. Both helped, but neither was as flavorful or as spicy as I had hoped. The entree came with rice, beans and pico de gallo salad with sour cream. I enjoyed the rice, beans and some of the salad. The salad came with slices of avocado that looked a little more gray than green, and I don't care for avocado anyway, so I skipped it. I originally ordered a licuado de platano to drink but they said they were out of bananas, so I went with a bottle of Coke instead. Overall, an average Mexican meal. read more

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Look, there's a lot of good Mexican food in the Midwest. This place looks like it will serve up good Mexican food, but unfortunately, it's trying to do too little in order to underwhelm the people who come here--people who haven't had truly good Mexican food--so that they'll think it's authentic when it's just mediocre. Strike one: Why is the ordering system so complicated? I'm very familiar with places where you order at the counter and sit down and wait for your food. But to have a completely separate line for takeout orders? Why? (A separate cash register might be fine, but not on the other side of the counter.) Strike two: How is it possible that a bean-and-cheese burrito is off menu? Yes, I understand that there aren't as many vegetarians in the Midwest, but there aren't too many vegetarians in East L.A. either, yet I can get a bean-and-cheese at any taqueria worth its salsa. Strike three: Long waits. I realize there were a lot of people waiting for their takeout orders, but I also saw how many people you had working. Maybe if you didn't have two completely separate lines, you could have that second cashier helping with food prep. Bonus star for offering chile-relleno tacos. They weren't delicious, but I'd never even heard of that before, so I had to try. It was a good attempt. read more

Last time I was here was about five or six years ago. I was actually kicked out for... well, never mind. I'm pretty sure I was the first customer of the day, they were obviously open and was really impressed that I actually got to see someone cleaning the grill. I figured I'd have to wait a little bit for my food, seeing though they're not finished cleaning as of yet. I paid for my burrito and and bottle of water, turned around to get my water, turned back toward the counter, and there was food waiting for me. I was a bit skeptical at first. I was looking at this brown bag on the counter, while someone was still cleaning the grill.... humm... confusing. I sat down at the table and could feel the heat of my food through the bag. I opened it up, and it was steaming. I figured I just got a left over nuked burrito from last night. Hoooray! I was STARVING! So, I ate it. If you've read any of my other reviews, I state on several occasions that i'm not too picky. If there is a meal that I don't finish, its because it was really bad. Not only was this thing blazing hot, there was grease dripping out of the bottom of it. I hate grease. So, I ate about half of it. I immediately washed my hands. There bathroom was actually really clean, I guess they get one star for that. As soon as I get to my car, I get a phone call from my mother. Not sure if this is what started my nausea, or the TERRIBLE FOOD I WAS JUST SERVED! I ended up making my way back home, only to find myself the king of my own throne room for about the next ten minutes. Please, do not eat here. I remember why I was kicked out, because I complained about the food being horrible! read more

This place has been around forever, before the southside was saturated with good mexican places. I hadn't been here in probably 20+ years. I have a few favorite places, so this one fell off the radar. Very casual place, does a good amount of take-out and eat-in. I did take-out - chicken taco and guac. Both were average, nothing to write home about. The guac was such a small portion and I ordered a large. Chips didn't seem super fresh. I'd won't make a point of going back. Not bad, just not my favorite. read more

Great Burrito.......good tacos....been here numerous times and as my buddy Kev says you never get a bad meal here. The only drawback is the bathroom its like a phone booth. read more

El Gallo Tapatio - Mexican Near Me - Alsip, Illinois

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I can't believe some of these reviews! Pricey?? Are we talking about the El Gallo on 111th street in Alsip? This place rocks! They are incredibly reasonable. Excellent steak tacos, excellent service. I've been going there for years. They serve great food 24 hours a day. My only complaint is that the bathrooms are nasty. Waaaaaaaay better than Scummit (Summit). Oh, and great guacamole (cheap!!) read more

Excessively grease food. Ordered a chicken quesadilla and was given half the deep fryer in between two tortillas and wrapped in cheap aluminum foil. Do not recommend this restaurant read more

I love Mexican so I'm hard to please. I walked into El Gallo on a Sunday afternoon around 1:30 pm with a few friends. We sat down. We took a look at the menu while eating the chips and salsa. Now the salsa was decent but the chips were lacking. I was hoping for some freshly fried thin and crispy corn chips. There were not to be found at El Gallo. A little later our waitress came back to take our order. I got the taco dinner. I ordered two chicken tacos and one beef which came with rice and beans. The tacos were ok with the corn tortillas. The rice had no flavor, I felt like I was back in my college cafeteria eating there version of Mexican. Everything else was ok. I'll be back but next time I will skip the taco dinner and maybe opt for just the tacos. read more

I remember the first time I ate here years ago. One of my high school friends took me here and all she told me about the place is that the burritos were HUGE. We made our orders and filled up the passing time by eating chips and salsa. They were yummy. Not long after, our plates came out and I was amazed at how much food we got. After that first day, this became one of my staple mexican food places. It is a cash only place so remember to bring some cash. read more

I still find this to be my go to burrito joint. I switched up from what I order. I tried a Mexican burrito with onions and jalepenos. It is about the best around. I haved tried them all. I prefer grilled instead of fried but it works and they are always busy. read more

Stop me if you've heard this one... You know what "el gallo is Spanish for?" ... "THE Gallo" And so someone would say this (sober or drunk) and off we'd go, to the Gallo. This spot is so ridiculously familiar to me, and those closest to me. We longed for it in college, drunkenly visit when spending nights on the southside. I think the staff is super nice and patient, especially when the cougar bar next door (the former BG Fellowes... but you know it's still a puma hunting ground). The food is good. Seriously. It's perfect when you are starving, and it's perfect when you need a little old fashioned grease to soak up cheap beer. Th guacamole is delicious, and I usually find myself drowning my taco in the pico de gallo. read more

I love me some El Gallo! This is my go to spot for steak tacos in the area, and I crave them regularly. I often look for other good spots, but always end up coming back through El Gallo Tapatio's doors.The tortas are also good, which is a hard sell for me at most taquerias. The staff has always been friendly to me, and you will usually see the same familiar faces working there. A good afternoon place, a good evening joint, and a good late night spot. Always good, no matter the time. read more

I used to go to this location all the time almost a decade ago. Nice to see they are still in business because the food has always been good. Funny story - my husband and I once accidentally dined and ditched here, but as soon as we realized it we went back to pay. Whoops! I read the reviews before coming here after so long and at many people's suggestion I tried the pork taco. While good, I much preferred the steak tacos. They are some of the best I've had. Visited: April 29, 2011 read more

This is my all time favorite taco place, and I drive from the north suburbs to eat here :) I was converted when I was dating a south sider, so thanks for that! haha Get the steak anything....and slather in the red sauce....yum! read more

By far my favorite! If I ever want Mexican food I go here when I have extra cash and I'm craving a REAL authentic Mexican food only other place is when I cook it myself then I hit up petes when I'm feeling cheap! Gotta try their carne asada burrito by far the best! read more

I visited El Gallo Tapatio for a midweek lunch by myself. It is your typical burrito joint, but better. The place was very clean, the service was quick and attentive and the food was very good and relatively cheap. A few notable points I appreciated: -while they had a couple of TVs on, the volume was low so that it did not distract you or suck up all of the attention in the place; -the chips and salsa were way, way better than most places; and -as I already mentioned, the service was quick and the place was clean. Highly recommend El Gallo Tapatio. read more