Meet us where the flavors of Mexico are marinated
Tacos ‘76 is an homage to Mexico and to the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago where Mexican traditions and recipes infused the childhood of Owner and Taconnoisseur Karla Linarez.
When you walk through the doors of this restaurant on Oak Park’s Madison Street, expect to be met with the aromas of grilled steak and slow-roasted, marinated pork shoulder.
Those are just two of the proteins that you can choose for your taco dinner served with cilantro and onions and placed next to a side of rice and beans. You can also choose to fill your corn tortilla with braised chicken; poblano and vegetables; Mexican ground beef simmered in tomatoes, garlic, and onions; hibiscus flower; or beer-battered cod served Baja-style with guajillo-lime sauce.
Of course, no taco is complete without a fresh lime-juice margarita!
Tacos ‘76 is open Monday through Sunday from 11am to 8pm. (Closed Sunday.)
A single taco starts at about $4. The taco dinner with all the trimmings is about $12. Burritos start at $10 and the chilaquiles dinner is about $12.
Karla Linarez is the taconnoisseur behind Tacos ‘76. She grew up in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood but spent her summers in her parent's hometown of Guadalajara, Jalisco.
It was during those summers that Linarez learned about tacos. On summer road trips throughout Mexico, her family would stop at taquerias and mercados for shared meals. For Linarez, this delightful dining experience soon became a research mission that led to a passion for tacos and Mexican comfort food.
Though she is plenty busy with her successful restaurant and with her four children, Linarez still travels to Mexico regularly in search of new flavors and traditional family recipes.
Located at 838 Madison Street in Oak Park, Tacos ‘76 is a half-mile walk from the Oak Park Stop on the CTA Green Line or a half-mile walk from the Oak Park Stop on the CTA Blue Line. If you’re taking the Union Pacific Railway from Chicago, the taco shop is less than a one-mile walk from the Oak Park Stop.
