The Tavern Bar & Tacos

We wanted somewhere super casual, near downtown as we had another stop there, and Mexican sounded good.It is an unassuming establishment and calls itself a 'vibe' vs a dive bar. It's a dive bar IMO with really great food.They are located on colonial and although they have signage, it's easy to pass. They have several parking spots but it was a slow night and that lot was half full, so I imagine it would be hard to park there for games and such.This is not generally my scene, but we were thoroughly impressed. They had a jukebox, dart throwing and sports on. It was loud but we could communicate.Our server was Mark. He was incredible. He was managing several tables and the phones - all at the same time.The menu is impressive for such a small place and leans to bar food and Mexican. There are even a few Vegan and other specialty options. And they have happy hour too.I noticed that a lot of the food options were listed as spicy and that's not what I wanted. So, I custom-made a quesadilla. It was huge and so very good (one piece pictured). One of the best I've had here in Orlando and not overloaded with cheese - the perfect amount.My husband had 3 pork tacos and couldn't finish them. They were also very, very good. We had leftovers which was nice. And, they have great prices! I think our bill (without the discount) was only about $35!!I had a basic $5 glass of wine and he had a Corona. Not bad and satisfied the craving.If you are down there and looking for this vibe and food, check them out. We will definitely go again!

Orlando-Great lil dive bar with great drinks. Hard to believe their Old Fashioned was actually made with Woodford Reserve without even "calling" it! That was a very pleasant surprise! They make their own margarita mix too. I like the dive bar feel, but the gal working was definitely not happy to be there today. I like a more relaxed feel and she definitely was very uptight and wasn't friendly. The 3 of us ordered burritos. 2 Birria, and one pork, along with guacamole and chips. The guac had some kind of additive that made it taste off. Just avocado, lime, onions, jalapeño, and cilantro is allll you need. No fake filler to make it go further. All of the burritos were more rice than meat. They were ok, but not anything that would make us return.

The bar is a very chill spot. There is parking in the back but be careful because since the road to parking basically fits one car at a time. They have a few games inside and I love going to places that have dollar bills on the walls because there is always a story behind it.The server/bartender was running the whole thing as ithere was just a decent amount of people there. He was attentive and made sure i was good! I heard their birria melts is good and that was not a lie! The meat was well seasoned. The melt had the pull cheese when you bite from it. Of course the consume perfectly added to the whole thing. I also ordered half elote for my side. The corn was perfectly cooked. As I dined alone and just chilled for a bit watching college football (well trying to understand whats going on), I enjoyed this place.

Server was attentive. Prices are great. Unfortunately it's just a big dive bar and bad smell of dirty mop water mix with fabuloso that takes away any want to eat anything. Dollar bills from patrons are the wallpaper and just doesn't feel clean by any sorts.

Excellent place for a drink and bite before or after a show at the Vanguard. Good service, cold AC. Food was delicious.

I really wanted to love this place, but it was just OK for me. It is a hole in the wall, but the creative touch of the dollar bills and the small aesthetic wall are a nice touch. The taste of the burrito was just a little bland the rice was not good at all with little cheese and I have tasted better. Customer service was attentive and prices are pretty average to compare to everywhere else.

Came here for lunch because my coworkers swore it was good. I got 3 tacos. One chicken, one birria, and one shrimp. The chicken and birria meat had no flavor whatsoever. They just use the cheese and sauces as the flavor. I do like that the tortillas are toasted but this place failed to meet my expectations.

Tavern is one of the best hidden gems in Orlando. The menu isn't huge but everything they do is very, very good. The Birria tacos are my favorite thing, but the spicy chicken nachos, quesadillas, and elote are all awesome, too. The drink prices are great, staff is always cool and attentive, and as it says inside "it's not a dive bar, it's a vibe bar." Tavern is a 5/5 for sure.

I wanted to like this place but it just didn't live up to my expectations. The place has a cool vibe, but the food, not so great. They have a juke box to play music & 2 cart boards. You can choose to sit at a high top, a low top, or a booth. We ordered the tavern sampler & the birria melt with potato salad as a side.The tavern sampler comes with chips, pico, queso, guacamole, 2 elotes, & 4 tacos - chicken, pork, birria, & pork. Everything lacked salt. I usually complain about things in Florida being too salty, but all of our food lacked salt except for the chips. Their guac had WAY too much lime in it. I liked that the tacos were all crispy, but they were lacking serious flavor. The elotes were off. The corn was over boiled, there was no butter or mayo. Just a slight drizzle of crema, a heavy squeeze of lime, & some parm tossed on top. The pork & chicken tacos seemed like it was just meat slapped into the tortilla & then fried on the grill until crispy. The shrimp taco had cheese & what seemed like a sweet thai chili sauce in it. The taste was weird. The birria tacos were probably the best out of the 4, but probably the worst birria I've had due to lack of flavor. Points for actually making the shell crispy though.My husband had the birria melt & was pissed at the potato salad. Said it was the worst potato salad he's ever had, & going to Publix probably would've been better. I think we've learned our lesson. Don't stray from the Mexican places we know are good in FL, bc we'll just be dissappointed. Service was good, but very slow. The place was probably 1/2 packed, but I only saw 1 server running around the entire night.

Rice = instant microwavedShrimp = frozen warmed up in microwave at best not seasoned at allBeans= straight from a can and no flavorGuac- from a can/ def not freshPico- from a can/ def not fresh Long story short not worth it Taco Bell is cheaper and has good pepsi