Taco Boy

If you ask most people in Grand Rapids to name a locally owned place to get a burrito, they'll likely name one of three places - the Beltline Bar, Maggie's Kitchen or Taco Boy. Taco Boy is a bit of a Grand Rapids restaurant institution. The Beltline Bar is known for wet burritos, and to be honest, I haven't been there in ages so I won't carry on about it (not my favorite). Maggie's Kitchen is a favorite spot of mine, but it's nowhere near my office, so it's more of a weekend/day off place to grab a bite. Taco Boy, on the other hand, has a location close to my work and we eat lunch there OFTEN. And by often I mean at least once a week. Sometimes twice, usually it's when one of us didn't go on the first visit of the week.

The first time I ever went to Taco Boy was in high school. I had friends that lived near one and they kept talking about how if we ever go, the "taco meat burrito" is the only thing to order. It's known as their best menu item. This vegetarian has even had one. It was back in the day, before I stopped eating meat.

These days I get their bean and cheese burrito with onions and it does the trick. The other gem about Taco Boy is their hot sauce. It's awesome! It's gotta be home made. They keep it near the counter and as you can see in the photo, you fill up as many tiny cups as you need and administer it as needed. It's on the spicy side. I'm a bit of light weight when it comes to hot sauce...it only go through two cups. One of my work friends who digs on the hot sauce uses five, so you get the idea!

It's nothing fancy, really, it's just good. The food is consistent. The decor is pretty simple and clean. They get an interesting mix of people - office kids like me and my work pals, dudes working the trades - there are usually a few work trucks in the parking lot. Everyone's a Taco Boy at heart, because it's soo good!