The first place I went to was La Cecina Grill, which is located on 1536 W 18th St. Since I didn’t want to wait in the restaurant for one taco, I ordered ahead of time. The cost of one carne asada taco was $2.50 plus tax. As I went to pick up my order, I was greeted by a friendly cashier who had my order ready.

As I took the taco out of the bag, I noticed that it was tiny. I also noticed that, inside the bag, there were: some homemade tortilla chips, a container of roasted red chunky salsa, and some napkins. I unwrapped the taco and was pleasantly surprised by the handmade tortilla, which was impressive since most places don’t offer handmade tortillas. Now, for the grading:

3/5 - There was nothing special about this taco. Overall, the meat was quite bland and perfectly adequate.

3/5 - The roasted flavor really came through in the salsa, but it was under seasoned.

4/5 - The taco with the salsa was rather good. Somehow, the salsa made the taco taste better, since it gave it an extra depth of flavor.

Minus 1 point - One noteworthy thing was that, on the last bite of the taco, I found out that it had a little bone in it, which was very unpleasant and unexpected.

Total: 3/5

The taco from here was mediocre at best. The only redeeming thing about the taco was the salsa, but, even then, I was disappointed as La Cecina has excellent cecina tacos.

The next place I visited was Taqueria Los Comales on 1544 W 18th St, which is just a few stores down from La Cecina Grill. Los Comales has various restaurants spread out in Chicago and each location is different, so I didn’t know what to expect. I also ordered ahead of time and picked up my order.

Here, they gave me some extra condiments to enjoy with my taco. Inside the bag, there were: one container each of red and green salsa, pickled carrots, jalapenos, and napkins. I've visited a few Comales restaurants and their pickled carrots are their signature item to offer. So, it was no surprise that they gave me picked carrots and jalapenos. The taco was fairly small, so I wasn’t blown away by the size. Also, there was no handmade tortilla, but that's okay since it’s the standard for most places not to have them.

5/5 - The meat here was seasoned perfectly. It was excellent as the corn tortilla had a slightly crisp edge, which added some nice texture.

4/5 - The green salsa was rather forgettable, as it both didn't taste like anything and was under seasoned. However, the red salsa was tasty, seasoned well, and somewhat spicy.

4/5 - The taste of the taco with the green salsa wasn’t bad, but the flavor of the salsa didn’t come through when it was on the taco. The red salsa really came through in the taco, as it enhanced the overall flavor of the taco.

Total: 4.3/5

I was surprised that Los Comales had delicious tacos. I consider them a chain restaurant, so each location can either be a hit or miss, and this specific location was a hit for their carne asada tacos.

The third location I went to was Atotonilico, which is owned by the Atotonilco tortilla company. If you go to the supermarket, you might find their tortillas there. They’re located on 1637 S Blue Island Ave. Instead of ordering ahead, I walked in and ordered just to see how long it would take for them to make my taco and, surprisingly, I only waited a few minutes for them to call my order. The service was okay, but I was able to tell that the cashier didn’t want to be there. I would say I was shocked at the price of the taco. Of all the places that I went to, this was the most expensive at $4.00 a taco!

Inside of the bag, I was given: a small container of pickled carrots, red chunky salsa, and napkins. I wasn’t expecting to get pickled carrots from this restaurant, but I did and it was nice. The size of the taco was comparable to the other two locations.

3/5 - Overall, the meat was bland and chewy, with the only redeeming quality being the crispy edge on the tortilla.

2/5 - The salsa wasn’t good. It was bland and tasted slightly stale, as if it were sitting in the fridge for days.

4/5 - Surprisingly, the salsa made the taco taste better. It added a slight tang and spice that is often most satisfying in a taco.

Total: 3/5

This place was super disappointing because one would expect to get an excellent taco when paying $4.00 for one. The taco was both average and bland. Gordon Ramsay would not approve and neither do. I did like the crispy edges on the tortilla, but that's really all that was good.