Ordering tacos in Chicago usually means making a style decision, and at Ta’golazo the choice is written right on the menu board: Mexican style or American style.
What Mexican style means
Mexican style is cilantro and onion on the meat, the classic finish. It keeps the taco light, lets the meat carry the flavor, and stays close to how tacos are served at a taqueria. If you want to taste the carnitas or the pastor rather than the toppings, this is the style.
What American style means
American style is lettuce, tomato, sour cream, and cheese. It is a bigger, cooler, creamier finish that works well with hard shells, and it is the version most people are thinking of when they picture a fast-food taco. The cheese and sour cream round out a spicy meat like chorizo or adobada.
Soft or hard shell
The board offers soft corn tortillas, soft flour tortillas, and hard shells. Corn tortillas are the traditional pair for cilantro and onion; flour tortillas bend without cracking and hold American-style toppings well; hard shells give the crunch that lettuce and tomato were made for. Tell the counter which shell you want, because it changes the taco completely.
Which one should you try first?
Try Mexican style first if you are new to the place. It is the best test of the meat, and the kitchen’s meats are the part of the menu worth judging. Switch to American style when you want a fuller, cooler taco or when you order a hard shell. There is no wrong answer, and mixing the order is completely normal: two Mexican style and one American style is a common table order.
What the board lists
The overhead board splits tacos into a taco section and a specialty taco section. The specialty list adds dressed-up versions with ingredients like avocado, and the same board shows a breakfast taco section for earlier orders. The meat lineup runs from steak, pastor, and adobada to grilled chicken, ground beef, carnitas, and barbacoa, with veggie listed for meat-free orders.
How to order at the counter
Say the count, the shell, the meat, and the style in one sentence, for example: three soft corn, two steak Mexican style and one chorizo American style. If you want a dinner instead, the taco dinner comes with three tacos of your choice plus rice, beans, and guacamole.
What to drink with tacos
The drinks board is worth reading while your order is being built. Can drinks are the everyday option, Mexican Coke comes in glass bottles, and Jarritos shows up in pineapple, punch, and mandarin. Homemade horchata and lemonade are also on the board, and they are the two house drinks that pair most naturally with a spicy taco.
A quick taco checklist
Pick your shell first, then your meat, then your finish. Confirm the count at the register. Keep your numbered receipt and listen for your number. If you are splitting an order with the table, it helps to order the tacos by style so the counter can tell the orders apart.
Boards change, so ask
The menu board is the source of truth for what is running on any given day, and the boards differ between photo captures, so prices and the daily meat list can move. If the meat you planned on is out, the counter will point you to what is fresh. The style choices above do not change, which is why they are worth learning once and reusing every visit.
If you are ordering for pickup
Tacos travel best in a soft shell, since hard shells steam soft inside a closed container. Ask for the salsa on the side if the tacos have a drive ahead of them, and order the taco dinner if you want rice and beans to keep the meat company. Pickup orders are called by number, so keep the receipt handy.
Related reading
Order tacos at Ta’golazo on East 71st Street.
