De Cero: User Reviews

Food was great, server was great, value was great! If you like super hot food they'll make you habenero sauce that will kick your butt!! Enjoy!

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First, the drinks. My Corona was warm. This is ok in Mexico when I'm on a beach. This is not ok in Chicago when I'm paying $6 for it. I agree with the previous reviewer's complaint about the house margarita. A $9 margarita needs to have more tequila than simply having been shown a bottle of Patron.

Second, the service. We had a moderately sized group of 9. We had reservations. We still had to wait half an hour for a table, when there was another one open which would have seated us comfortably. Instead, we had one person sitting at the end of a two person table. After being seated, we waited another half an hour to order appetizers, another half an hour to order food, and then another 45 minutes to actually recieve the food. Of course, by this point we had all loaded up on the passable chips and weren't that hungry.

Third, the food. Starting with appetizers, we ordered the ceviche, some guacamole, and the duck nachos. The ceviche was very, very bland, and the pieces of aquatic life that it contained were far too large for a tortilla chip. No cilantro, no red onion (though it seemed to actually have pieces of it in there), no lime. Just blah. The guacamole was ok. I prefer mine a bit less creamy, but again, very lacking in anything other than avocado flavor. The duck nachos were quite good, however. Finally, the entrees. I ordered a salmon taco, an ahi tuna taco, and a braised duck taco. The ahi tuna taco was quite good, with a good amount of tuna, an acceptable level of spice (though lacking in the mango department), but a disappointing corn tortilla. The salmon taco needed more...what's the word....oh right. Flavor. It needed some of that. Finally, the duck taco was supposed to be served with a corn salsa. Now, I realize Chipotle isn't the best salsa in the word, but they've got a decent corn salsa. De Cero....not so much. Skip it.

Fourth, the price. $47 of frustration and shattered hopes and dreams. Enough said.

The verdict: De Cero seems to think that by having nuevo Mexican cuisine and a trendy Randolph St. location justifies high prices. You need to actually have the food quality and service to back it up however. I won't be returning.

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Nothing was good about this way overpriced mess! The house margaritas were tasteless and had absolutely no alcohol. For $9 a glass, this was robbery! We ordered the eight taco platter at $31 which is absurd in itself. These are tacos, people! The skirt steak was dry as a bone and the fried shrimp was way too fishy. I'd rather go to the park on Sundays to watch soccer and eat excellent homemade tacos for a dollar from the vendors! The $7.50 guacamole was a joke. The bowl had around four tablespoons of mashed avocado with absolutey no spice and the chips were stale. Be wary of this overpriced "taqueria"! There are so many other better Mexican restaurants in the city. I'm going back to Cocina Frida in Andersonville!

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My husband and I visted De Cero last night, and usually I am less picky about food than he is, but this place was really sub-par. I ordered the ceviche appetizer, which was pretty boring and lacked interest...it was like they threw some shrimp, scallops into a bowl, poured lime juice/cilantro over it and called it a day. I could've done that myself! We ordered 4 tacos: a chicken, pork, beef tenderloin and something else...I had one bite of the beef tenderloin and was pretty grossed out, it was very salty and not well seasoned at all. I was really disappointed in this place. The ambiance is boring, dark and gross, and the tables look like someone built them at IKEA - I don't get into that "exposed steel table leg" thing, especially at these prices!! The house margarita I ordered was quite good, so that is the one redeeming quality - but I will definitely not eat here again. Also, the tacos are really expensive - when you think about it, $4.75 for one small taco is ridiculous. Definitely will not return.

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I write this as I eat my $29 take out lunch order. Steak enchiladas w/ rice and beans, and chips and salsa. A $3 8 oz mini bottle of Diet Coke while I waited. Absolutely overpriced. Almost $5 for a taco. Absurd. The lighting in the place is terrible. The service was good, the food it good, but $30 for a taco lunch is ridiculous. Never again. La Pasadita here I come...

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The food and drinks were great. We were having a really nice time until the waiter brought the check. Then everything on the table was whisked away including our water glasses and we were asked to leave so another party could sit down. I thought it was incredibly rude considering we had just paid the bill a few minutes earlier and had spent quite a bit of money at the venue and left a large tip.

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I wanted to go to De Cero for my BDay, but they didn't have a reservation for 13 people until 9:45pm, so we decided to go to a restaurant down the street instead. When the restaurant down the street hadn't sat our party almost 2 hours after our reservation, we called DeCero to see if they could accommodate us. They were more than happy to take our large party last minute, and offered us great service. Everyone was extremely happy. I would definately reccommed this place for AMAZING tacos!!!

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I went here 2 weeks ago, and was greatly dissappointed by my food, the price, and waiting 45 mins for food. I will not be back.

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I live in the neighborhood and absolutely love this place! Food is excellent, service great and awesome killer margaritas! One of the best finds in the West Loop on restaurant row!

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I have been living here for about a year and a half and finally got to try this place. The only good thing about this place is the fact that I could walk 3 blocks to get there. When I goto new places I play it safe at first, then if I like it I will definately go back and go nuts. We tried the taco platter which gave you a choice of 8 tacos for $29. A bit much for tacos but I said what the hell. By the time I had 1 beer, 1 marg., chips and salsa w/guac which was about $10, the bill with tip was $70! Maybe I had orderd the wrong thing, who knows. Take some advice from someone who is presently in the food business; if you are looking for tacos take the ride to La Pasadita on Ashland and put $50 back in your wallet!

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