Taco Grill & Salsa Bar

July 27 update. It appears the building on Roosevelt has a for Lease sign in the window now. Would rather not give a rating since the building is for lease but it was a good restaurant especially before it changed its name.

Good, cheap Mexican food and lots of salsa to choose from. I love the quesadillas and margaritas here are pretty good! –1 star for lack of attention from servers.

For the price and proximity to my work, this is one of the best options I have for lunch. I like the horchata, chips and salsa are okay, the guacamole is okay, and the steak tacos are pretty good. Coupons are available on

Very good, like it’s older sibling in Westmont. Bullet points for me:
— The sauces alone got it done for me (there were 12 different sauces). The X hot, it’s a bit hotter than Tabasco. When the sauce is labeled XX Hot and XXX Hot, it IS as advertised. You want heat, you’ll find it in the different salsas. The salsa bar is a VERY nice concept. So if you DON’T like spicy foods, do NOT try anything above X-​hot (even that might be much). Take it from this chilehead as fact.
— The steak they use is rib eye where others will use a less expensive cut of meat. Burrito & taco was also impressive.
— Portions are pretty generous compared to other places, especially the major chains (national and local).
— Very sensitive and detailed in taking orders while understand the consequences of cross contamination (one customer was allergic to lettuce during a Westmont visit). Too bad I’m not near here more often.
— Much bigger than the Westmont location as far as space goes (not important to me since my order was to go). Cost per person should be between $ 5 to $ 10 if you go the take out route.
— It’s not cheap compared to other places but you do get what you pay for. Excellent quality.
— They do serve the «P» word as a soft drink. Not my choice.
One legend goes away, another contender takes it place.

I have eaten hundreds of tacos and these rank among the best. They are authentic (I hate Americanized or even fusion ethnic food). Most of all, the meats Taco Grill uses are of high quality, which is often not the case with many taquerias. I ordered a steak taco, beef tongue taco and al pastor (marinated pork) taco. The meat was juicy, tender and without gristle. I looked closely at the pork and it appeared to be sliced pork chop!
Aesthetically, Taco Grill is a very clean and new-​looking place. They also have a bar, which I didn’t visit, but saw signs for a nice variety of Mexican beers.
My only gripe would be that there wasn’t a written description of the 10 different salsas available at the help-​yourself station. They were just marked as mild or hot. I’m sure Taco Grill put a lot of work to develop their salsas and it’d be nice to know each of their features.

A salsa bar, and awesome margaritas? What more could a girl ask for!
I have been here quite a few times now, and have recently found a $ 10 off coupon online. I have only remembered once to print it out and bring it though.
I have had their taco’s, burrito’s, quesadillas & enchiladas. I have to say the burrito was my fave! The small one was also a decent size so that I could finish it, which is great because I hate reheated anything.
My boyfriend loves their spicy salsa’s, but our fave is the one that looks like it could be a pasta sauce. Its a great taste & not too spicy. We also recently found they have these marinated peppers that are fantastic!
Last time I went there, I had a strawberry margarita which was sweet but you could still taste a hint of the alcohol. After that one I started pouring some of my man’s pitcher of margaritas in my glass and those were also very tastey.
Also, the one waiter we have had on more than one occasion is VERY nice, and patient, and very helpful with what types of tequila we should get for the margaritas, and helping you decide on what to eat.
The one thing I will say is that their horchata is not that great. Actually, I would never get it again for 2 reasons– it has a weird taste to it, and it’s way over priced! Me & my bro are horchata crazies, and we would definitely never get it again.

Delicious and the lower fat options tasted great. Guacamole was awesome!

This used to be Fonda Isabel!!! I have had 1 good and 2 or 3 not so good dining experiences at that restaurant but I did LOVE their food!
So pulling up and seeing what was Fonda Isabel is now Taco Grill & Salsa Bar is a little daunting. Walking in I noticed they took out a portion of the restaurant, left the bar, and opened up the kitchen for exposure and for take out orders. A large menu for to go orders was placed on top of the now exposed kitchen. Booths now line up the windows and the white linens are gone.
Upon arriving I reconsized our server, looks like the same owners and staff??? Oh geez, the worst menu I’ve ever seen. The menu is so cheap looking and unorganized. Ekkk. Its a mix mash of food drinks in an unorganized, bland fashion best. Cheapo menues are absolutely fine by me but the food prices are a little on the higher end of a take out taco restaurant. That doesn’t sell your menu well at all!
Okay, maybe I’m being a little jaded from the awful experience I had before at Fonda. So I thought to just relax, we got some chips and went to the Salsa bar. Nice selection!!! I ordered a pitcher of the $ 24.99 Frozen Mango Margarita because it was a rare date night for me and the hubbs.
We received our margaritas, he poured them for us but then the server ran off! He was gone for 10 minutes tending to other tables and delivering food, not what I like, surprise… UNDERSTAFFED again. Gosh, I was ready and excited to order food and stop snacking on chips. Hmmm okay, so when I did get to order, I ordered the garlic shrimp for $ 12.99 and hubbs got 1 chorizo taco and 2 steak tacos with rice and beans for $ 9.89.
The food came out quick! I took pictures, it smelled amazing, I went to pull off the shrimp tails and took out a strand of shrimp poop with it. Come on! I’m not being a jerk, if I’m paying $ 12.99 cant you de-​turd the dang shrimp??? Not all the shrimp on my plate was filled up with turd but enough to ruin it for me. Hubbs chorizo taco was good! He was so full and loved the margaritas as well.
The bill had our Margarita marked for $ 30. I clearly ordered the $ 24.99 because he repeated it back to me. Gosh, I’m just kinda over that place, honestly they need to get it together. Don’t up play the food if there is poop in your shrimp and don’t mess price the drinks that are in the awful cheap menu.
Please get it together cause honestly, this place could have something special.

I was so sad to discover that this was no longer Fonda Isabel, I had to take some time to let it sink in, so that I could offer an unbiased review.
The BF and I loved Fonda Isabel’s atmosphere, the reasonably priced fine dining with GREAT food. OK, so take away the fancy white table clothes and china, add a few more types of salsa, and drop the prices a little more. You’re left with the same great food, a new atmosphere (a little more casual, a little more local flavor), and more salsa!
The only question remaining? What sets this restaurant apart from the other 10 taquerias in a 5 mile stretch in either direction down Roosevelt Road? The food is still top notch. The portions are still huge. And the margaritas are still pretty darn good.
So to all the haters who think that this is a huge detrimental change? Get over it. Change is good.

I don’t know… I think it’s kind of a down grade from Fonda. What happened anyways? Same owner as Fonda but he decided to make it less formal, which is ok but eh.
The chips and salsa were delicious, the guacamole, not so much. I also was not a fan of the tacos, I don’t know… maybe I could try a different meat next time. The carne asada was just too fatty for me and the cecina was absolutely the driest I have ever had. You can’t cut up cecina into pieces! It’s already a dry meat and that will dry it up even more!
I really don’t know if I’d try this again. Maybe just for drinks and appetizers. The chips and salsa bar is a must though.

My boyfriend and I absolutely love this place! I’ve been looking for an affordable place to get some quality Mexican food and a great margarita. This place has it all! Not only is the food super tasty, the margaritas are fantastic and they always have around 15(maybe more) salsas and hot pepper relishes. I don’t know about you, but I love variety. The best part about this place… The service! We always sit at the bar and Cruz, the bartender, always makes us feel like we are the most important people there (plus he makes a mean margarita). He’s actually one of the reasons we go as often as we do (at least once a week). The quality service doesn’t end there. Everyone has made us feel very welcome and always seem genuinely happy to see us.
I recommend the pork tacos (not the pulled pork), the pork burrito, the fish tacos, and of course… a picture of regular margaritas on the rocks!

What a rip off this place is! Go west down the street a block or 2 for a 3 taco platter with far superior rice and save yourself $ 4. What a joke. Wayyyyy overpriced. Don’t bother. There are a few very good sit down /​take-​out taco «joints» in Lombard and this is one you don’t have to ever try.

Two words for ya: poc. chuc.
Get this and your mouth and tummy will be happy.
Yes, this used to be Fonda Isabel. Yes, it is now the same as the Taco Grill in Westmont — turns out Fonda Isabel and Taco Grill had the same owners; they decided Fonda wasn’t quite working and they changed up the menu with more tacos, burritos, etc. They also have some Fonda Isabel favorites still on the menu — which is huge now, by the way.
I thought FI was great, but this is a nice change — there’s a dozen or so salsas on their salsa bar plus various pickled veggies; they’re marked from Mild to Hot XXX. Paired with salty, hot chips these are sooo good, fresh and flavorful.
I ordered the aforementioned poc chuc platter — half a pound of marinated, citrusy grilled pork, three tortillas, two kinds of guacamole, pico de gallo, pickled grilled red onions and a big olé pile of cilantro.
Seriously delicious. Sharp and citrusy mixed with rich and spicy… yummy. The pork was grilled well although I did find one fatty piece. The beans that came on the side were also really good, smokey and creamy.
Service was good, especially since the waiter/​host seemed to be the only person working the dining room.
And the value is great — husband got three beef tacos plus rice & beans for about $ 9.50; my platter was $ 12. Add in chips and all the salsa you can eat and we were full for less than $ 25.
We will absolutely be back for more porky goodness and taco deliciousness.

As the other reviewer stated before me, this used to be Fonda Isabel… this used to be our favorite area Mexican restaurant. We miss Fonda Isabel.
My husband and I decided to stop in for a late lunch… we were wondering since there was a name change whether or not it was new ownership… But to find out it was same owners as before. They decided to change the layout of the place, which was a nice sit down restaurant… & they turned it into a «dime a dozen» taco joint. The owner said that they own another place just like it in Westmont… So maybe we are just jaded.
The food itself was ok, yet not great… and the prices for their tacos jumped in price… no bueno!
They do have a pretty neat salsa bar though… running from mild to XX hot! And I think that there were about 10 different salsas…
I do not think we will be back, which is a shame. That was a special place to go to for a night out… but if we are going to get tacos we will probably go down the road to our favorite «taco place».
As my husband says… We had a Mexican restaurant and a taco place… if you get our gist.
For those who were used to Fonda Isabel… it is not the same, quite disappointing to say the least.

This is the former Fonda Isabel. It took awhile to find simply because I was looking for Fonda Isabel and the website had not yet been changed. Despite that small issue, we had a great meal. I had never been there, and once the server/​owner found that out, he bent over backwards to explain things. They have a salsa bar of at least 9 salsas, ranging from mild to hot, which you can mix. Yum! Our meals were hot and generous… neither of us could finish and we were hungry. There’s a little something extra about their tortilla chips… a spice/​flavoring that was very nice. Prices were very reasonable. Overall, I highly recommend this restaurant.

Alright! I get to be first to review,
First off this is in the former location of Fonda Isabel, I drove past there this weekend and noticed they had changed signs, and i recognized the name, «Taco Grill and salsa bar» which has been one of my favorite spots to eat along Ogden Ave in Westmont. Could it be, that now they have come to Lombard? so I stopped in and talked with the owner and found out the scoop, so here it is: For those that enjoyed Fonda and are now shocked and saddened that it has changed, I have news for you… FONDA LIVES!
«Taco Grill and Salsa Bar «is owned by the same people as Fonda Isabel, they just had a hard time there without the traditional mexican restaurant offerings, however they will still offer many of the beloved dishes that people came to love from Fonda Isabel, but now with an expanded traditional menu, just ask for the Fonda menu
I Got the Steak Tacos To Go and was very happy with them, nice soft warm corn tortilla’s and very tender shreds of steak, they have about eight variety’s of Salsa’s to try. I recommend them to anyone in the area who like me, are disappointed with the lack of quality mexican restaurants in the suburbs.