Taco Mac

Taco MacTaco Mac
Taco MacTaco Mac
Bar, Eatery

423 Market St
Chattanooga, Tennessee, 37402-1204
United States

(423) 267-8226 | map
tacomac.com
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.65
Reviews:
18
Ratings:
27
pDev:
11.51%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by ddarden:
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Reviewed by ddarden from Alabama

3.55/5  rDev -2.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 3.5
I was passing through Chattanooga and decided to stop at Taco Mac and eat and have a beer. It is in a good location and has decent atmosphere. I walked over to the draft selection and noticed atleast 20 beers on tap. After staring at them for about 2 minutes, I realized I did not want any of the beers on tap. They were all very common. That was very disappointing because I was really in the mood for a good draft beer. I sat at the bar and the bartender was not very helpful about their beer selection and really did not take time talk. It was not that busy either. The bottle selection was much better. A very good SE micro selection and a few Stone, DFH, and Belgians represented. I ordered Stone Ruination and it was fresh. The bartender said that they had recently started carrying in place of Stone IPA. Food was good for a wings a burger place but the service was slow. All in all worth a stop but nothing spectacular. Chattanooga has down a great job with the renovation of this downtown area and is well worth spending sometime seeing the sites.
May 27, 2005
More User Ratings:
Photo of Rnodea
Reviewed by Rnodea from Tennessee

3.81/5  rDev +4.4%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3.75 | service: 3 | selection: 4.75 | food: 4
Awesome place to watch sports, with almost 40 TV's in this place you can nearly any thing on that you want. I was surprised by the quality of the food and the number of taps. Always have great service at the bar, however service at the tables is usually pretty slow in my experiences.
Jul 02, 2016
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Rated by Jason_Shaw from Tennessee

4.39/5  rDev +20.3%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.25
Good place to hang out and enjoy a cold beer.
Feb 16, 2015
Photo of MOVERTON1284
Reviewed by MOVERTON1284 from Alabama

3.81/5  rDev +4.4%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.25 | food: 4.5
Been to various Taco Mac's several times. Stopped in for lunch with the family while in Chattanooga. Service was slow, but the food was great. Tons of taps, but not a lot of really great choices. Good place to eat and grab a brew.
Feb 16, 2015
 
Rated: 3.75 by GeorgiaBeerGuy from Georgia

Nov 06, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by benloho from Utah

Aug 06, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by JIMMER from California

Jun 30, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by Sanmn420 from Alabama

Jun 15, 2014
 
Rated: 3.25 by ZinFanDave from Georgia

May 09, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by Justinbshelton from Alabama

Feb 06, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by PhillyStyle from Georgia

Nov 22, 2013
Photo of mwar
Reviewed by mwar from Kentucky

4.01/5  rDev +9.9%
vibe: 3.25 | quality: 4.25 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.75 | food: 3.5
Visited on a Saturday night and the place was busy. An NFL playoff game was on and the crowd was enthusiastic, though far form obnoxious.

Impressive selection...had to have been about 50 on draught and over 100 different bottles. I had the Red Brick Cherry Porter...very good. I was with a group and switched to Yuengling 16 oz. cans so as to not run up the tab. I enjoy domestic American Lagers, unlike most on this site, so this was not a sacrifice. At $3.75 it was quite the bargain as well!

Had beef Nacho's which were above average, though not spectacular.

Service was very prompt.

Have been here a few times before and have always had a good time and met fun people. Would consider this the best "beer bar" in Chattanooga.

Tip: Check prices prior to ordering bottles, on my last visit, I order a Samuel Smith and it was $9.50. The above "value" was based on the selection for that particular visit.
Jan 13, 2013
Photo of bamadog
Reviewed by bamadog from Ohio

3.28/5  rDev -10.1%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 4
I heard good things, but overall, I would say I was a little disappointed.

Atmosphere: The place was bright, and kind of obnoxiously loud with a bunch of younger looking people that appeared to all be in Greek organizations. Dimmer lights would have gone a long way for me, but they did have a couple of cool outdoor areas and the place was clean.

Quality: Not too bad, but I expected some higher end beers to be present, but there really wasn't. A friend of mine had a Fin du Monde, and I had a Rasputin, and beyond that, it looked kind of plain.

Service: Meh. She brought us our beer, but for some reason she wasn't allowed to even verify that we were of age (even though all of us are obviously so, I mean, come on...) despite our IDs and she had to have her manager confirm this. I was told this may be the standard practice for out-of-state IDs, but if it is, they need to rethink that since Chattanooga is a pretty tourist friendly city.

Selection: The menu was long, that's for sure, and I'll give them credit for housing that many beers, but the menu just didn't really impress me. Based on sheer numbers though, I feel that they should receive a 4. They also attempted proper glassware, which is always a plus.

Value: I likely wouldn't go back based upon this... My beer was 9 bones... Seriously? It isn't even as if it were on nitro tap.
Feb 20, 2012
Photo of Veristic
Reviewed by Veristic from Tennessee

3.75/5  rDev +2.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 2.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
As far as I know, Taco Mac has the biggest draft and bottle selection of any bar in the Chattanooga area. You are gonna pay for it though, BIG TIME! Extremely pricey beers. Good luck feeding your kids if you get sucked into their Passport Club program. They are one of the only places in town that has BBC's Jefferson Reserve on draft which is the kill! Favorite stout at the moment. Way better than the Clay Street Series bottles you can get around town.

This place is extremely crowded on weekend nights and service usually suffers because of this. Indoor and outdoor seating. They have a rack of Southern Brew News.

The food is good, never had a bad meal there. The chips & queso are great! The only reason I didn't give them a 4$ on value is because their food is reasonably priced.
Jan 19, 2012
Photo of JMforman
Reviewed by JMforman from Tennessee

3.7/5  rDev +1.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 5 | food: 4
Taco Mac prides itself with having the greatest beer selection in all of Chattanooga. There beer selection is, in fact, quite remarkable, but that's only if you can afford to pay minimum $5 for a good bottle of low-grav beer.

I've attended the Thursday pint night for the last couple months to build up my collection of branded pint glasses from my favorite breweries. It's a pretty good business strategy, but I still can't come to grips with the price, especially when Hair of the Dog Pub is just across the street with very well priced beer (and a good selection).

The food is quite good and decently priced. This is pretty much my only draw here. Service is hit and miss (especially at the bar).
Jan 16, 2011
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Reviewed by TheEclecticGent from Georgia

3.08/5  rDev -15.6%
vibe: 2.5 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3
On a recent trip to visit my sister, my girlfriend and I stopped by the Taco Mac. This location is much smaller in sq feet and available parking from it Atlanta siblings due to its downtown Chattanooga location. The copious TVs playing sports do nothing for me because I'm here for the beer, but it's a staple for the Taco Mac chain. We had some apps and beer here at the bar and were lucky to get a seat there. This place gets REALLY crowded on the weekends and is standing room only. The food is standard bar offerings and not bad. I would probably enjoy this place on a more quite week night if I were in town. The saving grace is that it has one of the few good beer selections in Chattanooga. Don't get me wrong; when I was younger and growing up in TN, there were virtually no places to get good beer in the whole state. Chattanooga has improved a lot since then. Many taps line the wall right of the bar, and several hundred bottles can be found in the coolers behind the bar. I had a New Belgian 1554 on tap (can't get New Belgian in Atlanta). Unfortunately, the New Belgian Mothership Wit was out. Like the other reviewers mentioned the servers are hit and miss for beer knowledge and service overall. We lucked out later in the night and got a good bartendress.
Dec 30, 2008
Photo of BamaBeerBuff
Reviewed by BamaBeerBuff from North Carolina

3.48/5  rDev -4.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4
Visited Saturday October 25th, 2008 for lunch.

It's located in downtown Chattanooga on Market St. alongside a number of other bars and restaurants. Inside, they've got lots of TVs and beer paraphernalia all over the walls. Better than your run-of-the-mill wing place, but not mind-blowing or anything. Then again, they're not trying to be a cozy pub or anything like that...

The beer tasted ok to me--no dirty tap lines. The menu was up-to-date and they had a couple of seasonals. My girlfriend got a Sweetwater Blue, and I ordered a New Belgium 1554 Black Ale and it tasted decent, though it was served much too cold. I had to drive so I didn't have another, though I was tempted to try some of the Belgians they had in the bottle. Not sure about glassware for the whole menu, but I'm guessing everything comes in/with a pint glass. Still, the beer tasted good once it warmed a bit, so I can't knock 'em too much.

The service wasn't that great. As one who's worked in restaurants for my entire working life, I know good service, and I know how hard it is to provide. Nothing particularly bad happened, but our server was a little slow (despite the fact that we were one of only a few tables in the entire place). She didn't seem to have knowledge or enthusiasm about beer, but like I said earlier, this place isn't exactly aiming to be some beer-geek pub.

Selection was really good. They've got 46 taps and tons of stuff in the bottle, but a decent chunk of the selection is devoted to macros (Bud, Bud Light, Bud Select, all the michelob stuff....you get the idea). Still, they DID have a decent amount of stuff--the whole Sweetwater lineup, New Belgium (though only the 1554 on tap), and a few other notable crafts. Stone and Rogue were among the bottled selections, but rather expensive (between 9 and 13 bucks for a bomber).

The food was actually not bad for a wing place. The wings were good--not sauce drenched and gross. I got a Philly Cheese steak and it was hot, juicy, and rather delicious. The menu had a number of interesting tex-mex/southwestern items, but I didn't bite.

Price was very reasonable. 2 meals, 2 beers, and a 20% tip and I was out the door for 30 bucks. Can't complain there at all.
Oct 27, 2008
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Reviewed by tipperofcows from Virginia

4.15/5  rDev +13.7%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 4
This place has the largest beer selection in the area by far, with over 40 on tap, and over 200 in a bottle. Many of the taps are standard fare, but I'd go as far as to say that about 15 or so of them feature beers that you won't find on tap anywhere else in town. If you're going to stick to bottles, give the server a list of two or three choices. They tend to run out of bottles quite frequently. Beer prices are on the higher side of the area; if you're going to be drinking something more common all night, then I'd reccommend going elsewhere. However, if you're going to try new things, or if you're looking for something less common, this is your place. For an added bonus, go on Thursday night if you can; if you order two pints of the beer of the month on Thursday night, you get a free pint glass.

The place has a patio overlooking Market St on one side and Jack's Alley on the other. The side on the alley has part of a building hanging over it, so it's always in the shade; perfect for those summer days when it's too hot to sit in the sun. Inside, the first thing you'll notice is the very long bar stretching down what looks to be a hallway. Behind that hallway is a lot more seating, so the place is a lot bigger than it looks.

Taco Mac is almost never as crowded as some of its downtown brethren (Hair of the Dog, Big River, Mellow Mushroom are almost always busier), so if you're looking to escape the loud, unruly atmospheres of some of downtown's other bars without sacrificing on beer quality, this is your place.

The waitstaff is friendly and generally prompt. Most of them will have a couple of beer selections for you if you ask, but they're not the most knowledgable bunch in the world.

The food here is reasonably priced, and very good, especially the chicken wings. If you're in the mood to munch on something, try the wings and fries with the homemade wing sauce. You won't be disappointed.

Overall, this place is a very solid addition to downtown Chattanooga's bar scene. It's not worth a special trip, but if you're in the area, it's definately worth a look.
Jul 25, 2008
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Reviewed by ckeegan04 from Texas

3.88/5  rDev +6.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
Dropped in for an early lunch this past Satuday. My wife and I were two of about 10 in the whole place. Long bar with a few coolers and a wall of taps. Very nice selection, especially for Tennessee. I think they claimed 40+ taps and 200+ bottles.

We sat on the outdoor patio. It was a little dirty and there is a bus stop about 20 yards down the sidewalk so you had a bus pulling by every 5 minutes or so. Great day for some outdoor dining though. Our waitress knew very little about the beer list but was willing to check with the bartender and relay info. Ordered a Ft Collins IPA bottle. She didnt bring a glass with it so I had to ask. Not a big deal, but I always feel places that are going to make such a big deal of being a beer place should just bring a glass. On top of that the glass was frosted, cold as could be. Beer was fresh though and the beer list was impressive.

Food was also good. I had a Cuban and my wife had a filthy plate of chicken nachos. Overall a good place. Beer prices a little high but not bad. Food prices very reasonable.
May 19, 2008
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Reviewed by Poser from Alabama

3.8/5  rDev +4.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 3.5
The place has a very good atmosphere. We had to sit inside because of the heat, but there was some good-looking patio seating that probably would have been very nice. Located in the touristy area a couple blocks from the aquarium.

For the first time of all my "good beer bar" experiences, they actually had everything I asked for even though they originally thought they were out of a Dogfish Head (don't remember which one now, but it was one of the rarer ones). The taps weren't anything too interesting.

I got a sandwich that was tasty, but it didn't knock me down or anything.

Service was friendly, but beer knowledge was limited to being able to tell me what size bottle it came in. Overall, a good experience. It was my first Taco Mac. It was a very enjoyable lunch spot.
Aug 22, 2007
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Reviewed by KiltedCulinarian from Georgia

3.45/5  rDev -5.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 2.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5
Not quite as nice as the Atlanta location I frequent, but as a minor branch spot it is not bad. A little cramped, but they are hampered by the squashed downtown location. They provide a decent selection of beers both on tap and bottled, but the serving staff is not very helpful in helping new drinkers choose quality beer, they know just enough to bring what you ask for but can't comment on anything. The selection changes frequently, and on Thursday nights if you order the Beer-of-the-Month you get a pint glass or other glassware from the brewery to keep. They will not have extremely exotic beverages, but for the average drinker the selection seems extensive and is well worth the visit.
Apr 09, 2007
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Reviewed by afordney from Tennessee

3.83/5  rDev +4.9%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4
Based in Atlanta, the Chattanooga version boasts over 200 different beers, their selection is not as impressive and the Taco Macs closer to Atlanta

Servers are a bit of a crapshoot with the beer. They're always helpful, but the don't always know much about the beers they offer.

I'm partial to the wings, they have plenty of other burger and bar food type selections. You can definately get enough for your money.

Atmosphere is a little down, you have to push your way through frat boys and stupid women trying to simulate the club atmosphere, there are plenty of TV's with sports to pay attention to, don't expect sparkling conversation since it's usually pretty noisy. Probably doesn't help that I hate frat boys.
Mar 09, 2007
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Reviewed by Enola from North Carolina

4.2/5  rDev +15.1%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 5
Almost didn't come here. We were going to another resturant and decided to hoof it about four blocks to get here and I am glad we did. The place is a real labrynth with multiple seating areas and nooks everywhere. There were about (guessing) 40 tv's and every single set was on the Tennessee-Georgia football game. So the atmosphere was pretty cool with everyone rooting on their favorite team. There were 46 taps and over 250 bottles according to the menu if I remember right. The food was great. My wife and I got the double fajitas and at $21 for two people it was fairly reasonable. Oh yeah, the food was outstanding too. If you are in Chattanooga for any reason, be sure to check this place out. Service was a little slow but the place was jammed so they get the benifit of the doubt. I will return here. Be sure to mention the fact that you are a UNC Tarheels fan during the TN-GA football game too. That goes over like a fart in church. You coulda heard freakin' crickets chirping.
Oct 12, 2006
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Reviewed by Graebner from Germany

2.9/5  rDev -20.5%
vibe: 2 | quality: 2 | service: 2.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5
The atmosphere at Taco Mac is pretty lame. They have cool bar mirrors and stuff, but it's *always* full of frat boys drinking Michelob Light and not even pretending to watch a football game. The waitresses are all college kids, usually sorority-type girls, who just do it for a job, and theres no character to anything in the place.

Not really sure what is meant by "quality." I guess I could say that they often fail to bring me a glass with a bottled beer, and often enough when they do it's been frosted. The wait staff know jack shit about beer, and the bartender is only minimally better. Very lame.

Service is slightly below average. It seems like most of the times I went there on Thursday nights for thr free pint glass deal, the waitress would tell me they had plenty, and by the time I finished my beer they had suddenly run out. One time they didn't even have the beer of the month (Spaten Oktoberfest) at 6pm on the first Thursday. Not too impressive.

The beer selection is phenomenal...they have about 50 on tap and well over 200 bottled. However, they've recently taken to the practice of listing beers on their constantly-updated beer menu that they don't even have. For example, you'll see beers that are listed, but are simply unavailable. They print the beer lists every couple of weeks, so that practice is ridiculous and lame. Still, the selection really is the best I've seen at a restaurant. Bear in mind, though, that they go through the same distributor that Riverside Beverage does, and Riverside has everything that T-Mac has and more.

The food is slightly better than average. Their wings are just barely above average, but alot of the stuff is pretty good. Their burgers (esp. the blue cheese and wing sauce one) and their nachos are really good, and the nachos is 2-3 meals for $8. Their queso dip is also the best that I've had in town. Their sandwiches (other than burgers and the Club) are pretty blah, usually too dry.

The beer here, despite (or because of) the huge selection, is really truly ridiculously expensive. Expect to pay 50-100% more than you would somewhere else. Guinness is $5 a pint, compared to $3.25-$4 around town. At one point they had a beer (Ayinger Celebrator) that went for $22, though I think they got rid of it and now the highest is about $15. Still, anything on the menu can be had for 1/4th the price over at Riverside. Expect to pay no less than $4 for the bare minimum that's drinkable, eg: Amber Bock. Sierra Nevada will run you about $5, other microbrews about $7, Trappists, about $12. The Hair of the Dog pub down the street sells these for half this.

All in all, Taco Mac is for frat boys and tourists. I go there occasionally for the food, but unless I can get a patio seat I usually end up regretting it. I recommend making your way to the Hair of the Dog.
May 05, 2006
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Reviewed by TPSReports from Alabama

2.63/5  rDev -27.9%
vibe: 2.5 | quality: 2.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 2 | food: 2.5
Great hamburgers at this joint and quite a beer list -- 200+! The only problem was, the first 10 beers I ordered were not in stock. What's the point of having such a huge list, if you're not going to keep it stocked. My guess is a marketing ploy of poor management.

I ended up ordering a corsendunk brown ale, which was served at 34 degrees in a pint glass. Umm, not exactly what I expected, but oh well. My guess it the place turns the Bud, Miller and Coors products quickly and the rests just sits around.

If you're looking a a particular brew, I would call ahead and make sure it's in stock before committing to a meal.

Just my 2 cents.
Jun 27, 2005
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Reviewed by FormatKid from Tennessee

4.25/5  rDev +16.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
My birthday is this weekend so I had my pick of restaurants for dinner. I chose Taco Mac of course for its beer selection.

The inside of the place is clean. There's a bar, high tables and stools, and some booths in the back (non-smoking section). TV's are everywhere, pretty standard sports bar arrangement.

The beer selection is vast, especially when compared to what I'm used to seeing around here. 54 beers on draught I believe, about maybe 10 of which I categorize as "micros or craft imports". This is bolstered by the fact that there are about 150 more choices available in bottles. Highlights included, Stone, Dogfish Head, Chimay, Sammy Smith. Unfortunately the first two things I chose they were out of, Stone's Imperial Stout (which is Seasonal I believe so I can understand that), and Rogue's Dead Guy on draught.

Service was great. Our waitress was professional and friendly without being in your face and annoying. She was knowledgeable about the beer menu, and dealt well with my beer geekery. The bartenders answered me quickly and courtesly when I had a question.

The menu is decent, tex-mex and grill style stuff. Now this is just me but if I'm eating spicy/tex-mex style cuisine, there are only certain beers that I want to go with it. I want something big, zingy, and hoppy. Belgians, Stouts, Etc. are sort of lost on me here, unless I wasn't coming in to eat. Ended up getting a 22 of Stone's IPA which paired deliciously with my shrimp poor boy.

One thing I have to mention is prices. Be prepared to pay $10 for a bomber of something, maybe that's standard pricing but it was pretty shocking to me when I can get them for $5 at the store. I absolutely love Indian Brown Ale, but the price for a 12oz here was $8 and change, I can't see paying that when I can head down the road and get one for $2.

Overall a nice place, good food, great staff, and an astounding selection of beer. Just not somewhere I can afford to go regularly.
Mar 28, 2004
Taco Mac in Chattanooga, TN
Place rating: 3.65 out of 5 with 27 ratings