Man, I'm pretty hard on Mexican restaurants. Â Carbon is my go-to Mexican delivery joint and on top of the standard Mexican menu, it offers a few items that you won't find everywhere.
One is their Stelote burrito, which from my extremely limited understanding of the Spanish language, is an amalgamation of Steak and Elote (I realize Steak is an English word, but I'm only barely more proficient at that language). Â It's delicious and on a macro front, corn is a completely under-utilized accouterment to food. Â It's delicious and adds both a subtle, pleasing taste and unique texture to anything it's added to. Â And thus concludes my official application to represent the corn lobby in Washington.
Their tequila chicken is also above average, but not by much. Â However I find most chicken at Mexican joints is far below average, so this actually factors in as a huge plus.
The boy and I got takeout from Carbon last week.
He ordered a chicken taco and 2 fish tacos. I ordered the fish burrito. I've had the chicken burrito before and it was delicious. Albeit a bit strange because it had carrots and peas inside. But this time the fish was tasty. A bit dry on the inside, but I loaded it with the extra sauce and hot salsa.
I like that it's different from Chipotle. I can't remember if it's a bit pricier or not, but it's a great alternative.
I Â first had Carbon at the Taste of Chicago. Once I saw the new location I knew if I was in the area I would make sure to stop by (often). You could smell the deliciousness from the street (poor neighbors).
So yea their tacos are pricier (3 dollars) than the other nearby taco joints...but they are so worth it! They aren't too small and are meaty.
The place is really tiny. Mostly for carryout. Their Chicken, Veggie, and Steak tacos are delicious! I love that the chicken is not plain chicken but marinated in tequila lime. It is so juicy and every bite is flavorful.
They also have a great selection of salsa...not your typical green and red salsa..much much better! Â You should taste them all! I really think the salsa makes these tacos better than your typical taco.
I feel lucky to live around the corner from Carbon  :)  I will admit that I have only tried a few things on the menu, but I love them so much I never want to try anything else.  The Stelote Burrito is my favorite - the steak is so tender and the sauce they mix in with the steak and corn is irresistible!  Also I usually can't get out of there without an order of chips and guac - the guac is very good but I wouldn't say it's my favorite guac in the world.
Review Source:Steak burritos, elote, fish tacos, guac.. All amazing. Doesn't help the waist line that it is located on my street and I can just stop by any time. Grr.
BYOB too..which is nice if you'd like some beers with your tacos. Casual little place. Would be great if you had a big group of friends looking for a very casual BYOB because it's never terribly crowded. Even better in the summer when they open the garage doors..
it's aight. Â i'd come back. Â but i was a bit disappointed because i heard this place was pretty bomb. Â
steak tacos: aight.
horchata: pretty aight
elotes: not aight. Â REALLY REALLY mayonnaise-y. Â like, you want corn with that mayo? Â gross.
my friend loves their fish tacos: really aight.
cute little space. Â tah-bleys in the back, garage-y. Â nice people, good service. Â my friend asked for some salsa and for some reason they gave him a spicy mayo sauce. Â what? Â what's with all the mayo? Â this place should be called carbonnaise. Â get it? Â you see what i did there?
I order a lot of food, and go out to eat a lot, and this is the first time I've been driven to write a negative review on here. Â Off the bat, I will admit that the food came on time. Â If it wasn't for that, I'd be looking to give a negative star rating. Â This was, by FAR, the worst chicken I've ever had in my life. Â I got the chicken burrito, which has nothing in it besides chicken, and the meat was so bland and rubbery I threw it out. Â It was literally inedible. Â The other two people who orded with me couldn't stand their food as well. Â So, either the people writing the rest of these reviews have no idea what they're talking about, or my food was an aberration. Â I'll never find out..that's for sure.
Review Source:I ordered two burritos from Carbon through GrubHub delivery. Â They arrived earlier than anticipated (yay for quick service--a whole 20 minutes earlier than quoted!) and I wanted to sit down here and share my experience. Â I can't share anything about the restaurant's ambiance, obviously, so you'll have to focus on the food.
I got the Signature Burrito for myself (described as " fresh, over-sized flour tortilla with a traditional mexican blend of onions and cilantro, plus your choice of fresh-made salsa"), with fire-grilled steak and guac (+$1.00). Â I got the hottest salsa option, which was not too hot (but I enjoy spicy food). Â The burrito was delicious but small for the price. Â The flour tortillas were not gummy or cheaply made, and they do not skimp on the steak--quality meats that isn't too fatty. Â The guac is, as other reviewers have stated, delicious.
My guy got the Stelote burrito (described as "a carbon classic combination. our fire grilled steak expertly mixed with our signature elote and topped with onions and cilantro served in our flour tortilla"). Â Apparently elote is the restaurant's "signature Mexican corn hash," which was yummy. Â His burrito was large (like I expect them to be) and also very good. Â
I would have given this place more stars but the prices ($7.95 for my burrito, $8.95 for his) are a little steep for Mexican food. Â The quality of the food is great, though.
Dashed in here on Saturday just as the skies opened up and it started to storm and I glad we did. I've passed by Carbon too many times to count and now that I've tasted their food I will be back.
Atmosphere - Funky grafitti-covered walls and a nice dining area with two garage doors that can be opened when the weather's nice. Order first from the counter and then settle in at one of the wood booths and your food will be brought to you.
Service - Our food arrived at our table quickly, albeit we were two of only about six people in there at the time.
Prices - Higher than the traditional Mexican taquerias around the corner and down the block on Chicago, but the portions are large and the food delicious. We spent about twenty dollars (with tax) for a signature burrito, a best-of-the-best burrito, and a horchata.
Tortilla Encrusted Tilapia Burrito - served with shredded cabbage and tequila lime sauce in a fresh, oversized flour tortilla. Very tasty! The generous portion of fish was still crispy and the tangy combination of the cabbage and sauce hit just the right notes.
Stelote - fire grilled steak mixed with elote and topped with onions and cilantro served in a flour tortilla. Nice combo and the steak was tender and flavorful.
Horchata - typical and reasonably priced, but I can never get enough.
Located on Marshfield just off of Chicago Ave. right across the street from the Chicago Public Library. If you are in the neighborhood, give them a try.
Delicious, yummy, unique, tacos. I love having a choice between flour and corn tortillas and a million salsas and add ons. Fish tacos here are fabulous. This was my first visit so 4 starts, but if I get another round of fantastic tacos again, I will upgrade it. Super friendly staff in this tiny restaurant!
Review Source:So I was super excited to go since it's somewhat new, in a garage, has kind of a cool name and could be a super cool experience. Â It's not. Â It's chipotle. Â Maybe not even as good. Â Normally would get a better review as the food is decent, but I gotta be more picky here. Â Chicago and its great numerous restaurants to choose from is bringing this place down. Â Sorry. Â Better luck next time.
Review Source:This place was awesome for a good, quick, quality taco lunch! I had the steak and chicken tacos....LOVED THEM BOTH! Usually I dont eat chicken, but my friend suggested I try it. It was fabulous. Both medium and hot sauces were yummy, but the hot sauce really wasnt hot (and i was kind of glad). I definitely recommend coming here. Its not the cheapest for tacos in the area, but it is definitely the best quality!
Cant wait to eat here again!
I like eating in garages, don't get me wrong. And its BYOB.. that's cool.
But the food was just kinda.. just ok. The ingredients to their tacos and burritos are limiting and heavy on the meat-side, which doesn't help me at all.
The guacamole was very good and fresh. Definitely hit that up.
Cops like to eat there. How would you like to be stuck in a car with your partner for 7 hours after eating there??!?! Awkward. "Say, uh.. Jim.. gotta roll down that window again.."
Gross.
I frequent the south side location but had a chance to grab dinner here after West Fest this weekend. Â A friend of mine who is a fan of La Pasadita's steak tacos and Big Star's fish tacos might just be a convert after introducing him to Carbon yesterday.
Went with the usual: elote, tilapia taco, and steak taco. Â Everything tasted as if I was sitting in their other location, spot-on.
Grab some of the roasted red pepper salsa for the steak taco (onions and cilantro only). Â Skip the cheese on both of these guys (cheese on fish tacos? yuck) as they are perfect in their simplistic forms. Â The lime sauce and tilapia are a wonderful match.
For a fast cheap meal I love Carbon. I was craving the steak tacos so much I came twice just last weekend.
In this heat the fact that they have air is a huge bonus if you want to sit inside. You can also choose to sit in the area open to the outdoors if you prefer to sweat it out. The steak tacos are always awesome. The nachos are HUGE. I ordered the chicken nachos once along with some tacos and there was no way I could even eat half of them. The nachos come with lettuce and tons of cherry tomatoes. The guac is really flavorful and I always get a side for my tacos. They have several different kinds of salsa to pick from. Service in my experience is always fast and friendly. I regret that each time I come I mean to order the elotes and get carried away with other things and forget. So good.
I have now been here 3 times and I will explain why. On trip #1 I got a steak burrito, a chicken taco and beans and rice. Â The price was astronomical for such a small amount of food. Nearly $20. The steak burrito was decent. The chicken taco was bland and tasteless the beans and rice were beans and rice. Â Meh...
My 2nd visit was 530pm on a Saturday. I ordered to go because I had to be home by 600. Â The wait staff was HORRIBLE and rude. They must hire more friendly staff or they will fail. Â I ordered 2 chicken and 2 Steak tacos. And she looked at me like "huh?". Like I was ordering something not on their menu. Tacos seemed pretty straight forward to me. Â Just rude and not listening. I felt like I was interrupting her day by ordering.
I was the only person in the store. Â After 10 minutes I asked how long the order was going to be. Â "huh? What did you order?". Well I'm the only one here so go look... Â 550 I asked again. 555 still no food. I told her I had to be home at 600 and she told me the food would be 5-10 minutes. That's 30 minutes for 4 tacos!!! Â I asked for my money back and she told me no refunds. I asked for the manager and he wasn't there so I just left without my food or my money because I had to be home.
Last night I went in at 1150 pm. The girl was different at the counter but she told me they were closing at 12 but I could order. I asked for 3 steak tacos. Same story, I was the only person there and 15 minutes later still no tacos! Â I asked and was told it was because they were closing. How is that my problem? Â She told me 5-10 more minutes, so I walked to the taco place on Ashland and Chicago avenue. Â Ordered 3 tacos, got them in 2-3 minutes. Walked back to Carbon and my tacos STILL were not ready. So again I left again with no food.
They now have @ $20 from me and in return I have no food. Â Don't go here. The food is average, the service is horrible, the prices are too high. Â This place blows.
I've been back to Carbon a ton of times since my last review and it has definitely found the "sweet spot" and hit a good stride. Â
Everything we've had there has been top notice and they have a really nice addition which provides more seating (a heater for the winter months and what looks to be open air dining for the upcoming summer). Â If you are near by, check this place out!
My favorite Mexican 'fast food' in the city! Tortilla crusted tilapia is delicious (add in tequila lime sauce in your tacos and you have a flavorful fiesta in your mouth! Vegetable quesadilla among the best I've had, fresh portabella mushrooms, roasted red pepper. Burrito bowls are HUGE- aside from your meat/fish choice, add elote (a rarity in burrito bowls), rice and beans, lettuce and cheese. Burrito portion size isn't as huge as other places, but still delicious. Â
The salsa options are nice, I usually only ask for mild but always get a nice variety. Roasted red pepper salsa is delicious, but they also have salsa verde and pico de gallo.
Location and restaurant isn't the greatest, but 5 stars for the food! I've been spoiled having worked a block away from Carbon for the past year!
Still hungry after eating the steak burrito here. Â :( Â This is not a burrito - more like meat inside a tortilla with virtually nothing else. Â I liked the meat, it was grilled well, but I like more stuff in there like rice and veggies (other than just raw onions and cilantro). Â As well as sour cream. Â Even cheese is a surcharge. Â I actually prefer Chipotle. Haha.
I'll prolly go back and try the chicken or fish tacos. Â Or get the burrito bowl instead which will hopefully fill me up. Â Time to heat up a Hot Pocket now.
I like this place and would give it like 3.5 but as many people have said, the portions are just a bit small.. HOWEVER, the qual of the food is really good and not typical for a place like this. Normally when you get a burrito 'as big as your head' the meat is medium grade and theres alot of fillers.. Carbon's burrito is 6$ ( without cheese ) and its more the size of a big taco but the meat was awesome! Friendly staff, BYOB.. if I keep going here and it stays 'real', I will up this rating to a solid 4.. Its just that I left a bit hungry.. maybe I will try the burrito bowl next time which is like 7.50$ and has rice and beans in it ( which do not come with a normal burrito ).
Keep it up Carbon!
I'm a huge fan of Carbon's. Â The fish tacos are great - flaky on the inside, crusted with tortilla on the outside. Â Excellent salsas - try the red pepper salsa if you like mayo, and the verde for a good middle ground heat. Â The tortilla soup is excellent.
The staff is super friendly, quick, and best of all - it's cheap. Â My new favorite refueling station during Bike Winter.
It's not the prettiest place inside, with a narrow ordering area and an attached garage/dining area that's fairly rudimentary. Â But my oh my, the food is delicious. Â
If you're like me, you're a rational human being who doesn't equate quality food with how well it compares with the size of your head. The burritos are reasonably sized for reasonable people. Â The steak is delicious and not greasy at all. The tequila-lime chicken is probably my favorite, and this is coming from a dude who orders chicken about 1/1000th of the time when he goes out. Â Carbon may change my position on the pollo.
Man, that sounded dirty.
I'm not crazy about the red pepper sauce like a lot of other people, but the people are friendly, and they deliver, which means that, if you're like me, you can get delicious Mexican food brought to your door while you spend time bothering your wife and watching episodes of Psych. Â And that, my friends, is America.
friggin delicious. way better than la pasadita, and it's clean, has friendly staff and take credit cards for a burrito. I had the steak burrito and added cheese and sour cream to it. it was delicious, the steak was all fresh and tender and yum! it was a little smaller than i thought it was be and ended up being like 8.50, but it was worth it.
i'll def be back and will probably order delivery from there too. i want to try the chicken lime tacos and i'll try some rice and beans eventually. good stuff
I finally decided to try this place after reading all the reviews. Â And quite frankly, fellow yelpers, I'm a bit confused as to why all of you gave such high star ratings...It makes me question your taste buds! Â
First off, I did think the fish tacos were good. Â The slaw on them was good too. Â HOWEVER, I don't feel that paying $34 for beans, rice, 5 tacos and (non-complimentary) chips and salsa is a good price for the quality and taste of the food. Â
If I'm paying money for tacos, beans, and rice....Well for $34 I should get 12 tacos, a whole carton of beans and rice and not have to pay for chips and salsa. Â
Won't be coming here again. Â The price just doesn't match the food.
This is by far the best Mexican food restaurant I have ordered from. I place an order from Carbon Live Fire at least once a month. My boyfriend and I live in the west loop and the food gets here extremely fast.
I usually order the chicken lime burrito and he has been ordering the tacos. We then get an order of guac and elotie. The burritos are on the smaller side if you compare them to places like El Famous or Los Burritos but the quality of the meat and freshness of ingredients are polar opposites. Carbon is extremely fresh and their meat isn't that re-used junk that you find everywhere else. I used to love going back to the burbs and getting Los Burritos. Now, when I'm in the burbs, and pass Los Burritos, I talk about how we should order from Carbon when we get home. My boyfriend has also been to a lot of "authentic Mexican" places and he feels Carbon's food is the best as well. Â He loves the steak burritos and tacos. I suggest ordering avocado in the burritos when you order them. You get many large, thick slices.
The guacamole, which is how I largely judge many mex. restaurants, is amazing. They don't skimp on what they give you like so many other places. With the standard order they give a large tub of guac and two varieties of chips. We always have some guac left over for the next day :)
The Etolie is also delicious. It was my first time ordering this so I am not able to compare to other Mexican food restaurants. At first I was hesitant to order something that was all corn, but after trying it, I'm glad I did. I now order it every time.
I would also like to say that their customer service is amazing. They care very much about keeping their customers happy and will go out of their way to do so. I had a problem with one of the orders and after writing a small note about it on the next order they more than rectified it. Their kindness is far beyond what has ever been shown from other restaurants. Thank you carbon :)
my favorite burrito in chicago is la pasadita. Â what makes it so good is when you get to the end, all the grease and juice has pooled at the bottom. Â sooooo good. Â
a close second is the burrito from carbon. Â just as good, not as greasy - which i guess is actually better. Â
also, i'm not much of a fish taco person, but when it comes to carbon, i am. Â i had no idea. Â same with the elotes. Â i had no idea i liked elotes so much. Â
the sauces are good, too. Â especially the creamy pink one. Â
seems like the real deal there.
the ONLY issue i have with them is the chips. Â i think they make their own. Â i can't tell. Â there are some really tasty ones (homemade) mixed in with regular ones (store?). Â i'll have to ask about it next time we order. Â but that's not enough to take away any stars. Â
there are a bunch of mexican food restaurants within a 3 block radius. Â carbon is the best.
UPDATE:
just got an email from the owner or carbon - thought that was really cool. Â nice.
it was a flour vs corn chip issue. Â now they will ask if you want one of the other. Â (we prefer the flour.) Â anyway, as i replied back to her, my wife and i ordered there last week. Â it was so good, we ordered from there again the next day.
good stuff.
Ordered delivery at 11:00pm hoping for good late-night Mexican. It was expensive and the food was not good at all. I received one of the smallest burritos I have ever seen. It was a little bigger than a regular sized taco. The guacamole was decent but still couldn't cover up the taste of the nasty chips. I'm not sure what kind of chips they have but they are nothing like normal Mexican tortilla chips. GROSS! I will not be ordering from this place again.
Review Source:I rode past this restaurant one day and must say after reading it's online Menu I was really looking forward to trying Carbon ....Fire Steak Burritos.. fire... carbon... charcoal flavor---not so much! What a disappointment.
Not only was the food just mediocre but for 6.50, the burrito's the size of a small tamale. Where's the meat?
Try La Pasadita and even Tecaltilan over this place.
P.S Carbon may want to hire friendly people to help disguise what they're selling...
Late Night Dining with the current Duke, Ryan L. and others, Carbon is a small little Mexican quickie restaurant big on appeal. I went with the Tequlia-Lime Marinated Fire Chicken tacos. Served with a blend of onions and cilantro, these tacos were fresh and tasty.
We were given every kind of Carbon homemade salsa for topping and the creamy red pepper salsa kind of won out, but I kept putting a different kind on each bite, they were all great. Carbon is tiny, but service at the counter is top notch. Great little place!
They have fountain Dr. Pepper. They have delicious elotes. Their red pepper sauce is to die for. And they're building an outdoor seating area as we speak!
I work a few blocks from this place and it has become one of our favorite places to eat. The staff have been friendly whenever we go in. Their burritos are delicious and the prices are reasonable- and they're very accomodating if, like me, you can't make choices and want to do a burrito with half fire roasted veggies and half tequila lime chicken. Try it out!
So friggin' excited that Carbon opened up in my neighborhood and what better timing than with the onsent of Lent?!
Tilapia tacos to die for with extra tequila-lime sauce please - and I don't have to drive down to 26th to get it - wahoooo!!!
On a less desireable note: the horchata was watery and not recommended and the guacamole was meh and a bit pricey (compared to Tec's)
This place had the unfortunate experience of opening during the week of Snowpocalypse 2011. Â Thus business was slow those first couple of weeks. Â Hopefully the word will get out and business will pick up. Â I've been to the one on 26th (next to Ricobene's) countless times for lunch since it's so close to my work, and luckily now I have a closer place for dinner cravings.
The tequila lime chicken burrito is full of flavor and for someone who eats red meat like the supply will end tomorrow, this is my favorite thing to order. Â The ingredients are mainly onions and cilantro, which I feel is a good thing. Â Keep it simple. Â The fish tacos, which consists of a nice hunk of fish, are quite delicious. Â I've heard the chicken pozole soup is something that should be sampled, as well.
The staff is very friendly and courteous, and I'm hoping it sticks around for awhile. Â I can fulfill my dream of eating at the Carbon on 26th for lunch and this Carbon for dinner. Â That actually sounds wonderfully gross and dangerous.
I've just stumbled on to this place in the past week and I've already ordered from them 3 times. Â That's a good sign.
Love that they're steps away from my front door, that their chicken has a lot of flavor and that they keep the tacos simple (onions and cilantro is all you need!); also love the tomatillo salsa (the corn/pineapple is a little to sweet for me.)
The folks behind the counter are nice and the service is fast. And! They are street fare cheap. Love it.
The 5 best restaurants in the 2015 Denver Restaurant Week
3,611 Views | Category: Denver
The complete list of 2015 Denver Restaurant Week businesses
1,972 Views | Category: Denver
The tourists' guide to Portillos: 5 must have dishes
3,318 Views | Category: Chicago
Pho = Pronounced "fuh" not "foe" for pho-king sake
2,915 Views | Category: Denver
Indulgery selected to exhibit at Collision Conference
2,987 Views | Category: Press Releases
Not Logged In
BUSINESSES
Local Businesses
Near Me
My Favorites
SOCIAL
Blog & News
MY ACCOUNT
Login
Register
Contact Us
Add Your Business
