On December 22 in Hongdae, I was searching with a friend for a nice place to eat dinner. We were walking in the south of the main area when we saw a sign for Taco Lab: Maxican Casual Grill and Pub. When we entered, the waiter told us that they were having an opening sale.

English speakers will see that I have made a typo above – but, I have not. I asked the owner about the name of the restaurant, and he told me that it was his mistake. “Max” can also mean “extreme”, so I suggest that he fully embraces this accident!

Because I love burritos, I ordered the beef burrito. My friend, Ms. Y, ordered the “supries”. In Korean, the Hangulization of the English word “surprise” (서프라이즈) has the same ending sounds as the Hangulization of “fries” (프라이즈). The subtitle identified these as kimchi fries. The opening sale allowed us to each have a free soft drink.

Ms. Y’s “supries” had steak, red onions, hot sauce, cheese, sour cream, and Mexican kimchi on them. Ms. Y and I still do not know what Mexican kimchi is. These tasted good, but they were not hot when they arrived – only warm.

My burrito was very tasty, but I added hot sauce to it. It was an average burrito, which is just what I wanted to eat. The burrito itself was also not hot – it was warm. It also was a little small.

Taco Lab is a good new restaurant in Hongdae. However, it is nothing special; it serves normal Mexican food. Ms. Y and I thought that the quality of the food was not good enough to justify the high prices, but overall food was not bad.

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Rating: 

Tasteless  |  Bad  |  Okay  |  >> Good <<  |  Tasty

This restaurant has closed down.

Name (Korean):  타코랩
Name (Official English): Taco Lab: Maxican Casual Grill and Pub
Name (Romanized): Taco Lab
Name (Translated): Taco Lab
Website http://www.instagram.com/taco_lab_2016/
Phone 02-332-7848

Credit Cards? Yes
Apple Pay ^[?]? No
Bathroom? Yes
Reservations? Yes (via Instagram)
Take out? Yes
Delivery? No
Wifi? No
Outside seating? No
Wheelchair friendly? No
Alcohol? Yes
Dogs allowed? No
Bike parking? No
Car parking? No

Date night? Yes
English-speaking staff? Yes
English menus? Yes
LGBTQ friendly ^[?]? Yes
Information updated on: February 5, 2017
Prices ^[?]: ₩₩₩₩

Hours:
Monday: 11:00 – 22:00
Tuesday: 11:00 – 22:00
Wednesday: 11:00 – 22:00
Thursday:  11:00 – 22:00
Friday:  11:00 – 22:00
Saturday:  11:00 – 22:00
Sunday:  11:00 – 22:00

Address (Korean) 서울특별시 마포구 와우산로23길 18-7
Address (English) 18-7 Wausan-ro 23-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul