Tabu Burgers & Bites

New downtown Santa specialty burger joint
I had a mango and pineapple drink. and some french fries. Some of the fries were stuck together so they did not get heated all the way they were cold.
The young girl who helped me was very nice friendly I wish them good luck

I really had high hopes for this place, but alas, it was quite the disappointment. First off, they always seem to be closed during their listed business hours. This being my third attempt.
The only reason I came down here was to try their skirt steak but to my dismay they ran out of it. It’s only 2pm! After I got over that, I decided on an order of empanadas. Turns out they thought I meant deep fried tacos.
The only reason I’m giving this place a two star rating is because the staff was very attentive and courteous. What a let down!

Eh. I was hoping this would be a great spot to hit up during my lunch break at jury duty, but it didn’t live up to the help hype. :(I ordered a black bean burger and fries. Fries are an extra cost, and they are oddly found and very very greasy and soft. Pretty gross actually and lacking flavor.
The place is small but cute, servers were very nice. Just not somewhere I’d go again.

Hmmm? It is almost 5pm on tue and they are closed!
No notes no signs Unilocal says they are open?

(This is not for the food.)
If your hours say that you’re open, then the establishment should be open for business. Came to try out Tabu on a Thursday around 6:30 p.m. and it was closed. No hours even posted on the doors or windows. I had to look at Unilocal again to make sure of their hours and it said they close at 8. Smh.

Wonderful lunch spot. I immediately felt like a millennial in this cool, hip, casual atmosphere.
Big, generous sodas, Plain Jane burger with cheese was prepared to perfection (no pink, not too dry) and the side of cut potato fries was enjoyable.
Total for the lunch combo was 11 bucks plus tip for a hard working host/​hostess, waitress, bus all in one who did a great job of balancing a mild lunch rush.
After (or before) lunch stroll over to Rags and pick up a magazine or newspaper to complete your «hang out» time!

Long narrow room, quiet. Needs music. This combined with the fact they don’t serve booze makes it quite a stale environment.
Shared a Tabu Burger. Requested medium rare, came out medium well. Not a good sign for a place that has «Burgers» in its name. In theory, a chile relleno on a burger sounds like an innovative idea, in actuality it was just an under seasoned mess of a burger.
Had the Tabu Fries which were thinly sliced potatoes, not fries. Odd sauce but they were ok. Tons of cheese. Large portion.

So I call and ask about their vegan options. They explain they have a black bean burger, and it sounds good so my friends and I head down. We get there around 11 AM. I step up to order a black bean burger and they tell me the burgers are not ready yet. I explain that I JUST CALLED LIKE TEN MINUTES AGO. They say they aren’t ready yet. I ask how long it will be. The girl is like, «A long time. We haven’t even made the beans yet!»
Really?
So there was nothing for me to eat at this joint. My friends and I piled back in the car (we had already fed the meter, mind you) and drove to The Gypsy Den where vegan options abound. Thank God I’m so likable, or my friends might’ve been annoyed by my high-​maintenance vegan lifestyle.
Happy eating, friends.

If you plan to come here during lunch, be prepared to wait a little while and snag a table as soon as you see one since space is limited. The cashier who took our order was super sweet and handled the stress of running this busy joint really well.
I got the Tabu Burger which was so juicy, and the chile relleno with cheese was a great touch!
I enjoyed that burger so much that my coworker told me I had some burger in my hair, and that I dropped some sauce on my shirt. I’m not usually a messy eater so that says a lot about how amazing that burger was!

Im usually always at DTSA every week. so when I heard new rest opened… Im There!
I got:
–Tabu burger: which had chili relleno with cheese in it. I love spicy food… this burger was pretty meh and bland. Nothing special about it. I pretty much had to dip every bite in the chili paste that they serve it with.
–DTSA burger: Better than tabu burger; more flavor
–Elote: I love mexican corn but ehh it was whatever
–Aguas: I got some sort of lemonade… I think i make better lemonade
–Fries: Good i liked it.
Food was whatever… would I come back? maybe not… so many other better burger places; nothing really stood out to me. Service was really good though!

This place is awesome and worth the drive from the San Fernando Valley …
The fresh waters and diferent menu is all good the place is nice and the people very nice to young and up beat with a big smile in their face, parking is convinient and no matter how busy they are service is prompt … hope if you go you get to enjoy as we did…
We will see the menu again in our mext visit

I ordered the chile relleno burger. It was a bit pricey at $ 10. Though it did have a nice brioche bun, it didn’t make up for the $ 10 charge. It’s basically a burger with a chile relleno on top (roasted poblano pepper, with cheese inside, and battered). Unilocal checkins earn a free order of fries.

So yummy! Went here tonight with a couple friends. I ordered the DTSA burger. Such a great blend of spicy and sweet with the pineapple. The burger was extremely juicy. We also ordered the tabu fries. Definitely worth trying!
Can’t wait to come back! Thanks Alex.

I decided to give this place a try right after I saw flyers displayed at the Santa Ana college bookstore, and might I add this was the best decision I’ve made.
I came in with a couple of friends and decided to order the Bisteca sandwich, the Tabu burger, Tabu fries, the DTSA burger and we got the agua frescas.
The food was amazing. The sandwich might I add, was cooked perfectly and delicious. The pomegranate lemonade was also very good.
The service was amazing friendly. We asked our servers name and I believe her name was Monica. She was extremely helpful and very attentive. Overall, everyone there had a cool vibe to them.
I would strongly recommend this place and I definitely will be back for more delicious food !

So my husband and kids decide to surprise me at work and take me out to lunch for Valentines’ Day. One of my co-​workers had gone to Tabu and thought it was good, so I decided to trek my family over.
This is a very small restaurant with very limited seating. We ordered the Lomo Saltado Dog, Bisteca Sandwich, Citrus Quinoa Salad, Chicken 65 Bites, Tabu Fries, and 2 Agua Frescas. This cost me about $ 40. Seemed pricey, but I was going to suck it up if the food was good.
So we ordered and waited. And waited, and waited. It took over ½ an hour to get our food. One of the employees comes over to talk to the table sitting next to us. She asks them how their food is, but doesn’t bother to say, «Hey, I’m sorry it’s taking so long for your food.» She acted as if she didn’t see us waiting for the past ½ hour. I had to ask why it was taking so long. She went back to the kitchen and finally, like 5 minutes after I asked, the food comes out. The lady who brings me the food apologizes because she says the kitchen is still trying to get it together. Um, your kitchen should have gotten it together before opening your doors. She then tells me she can give me a take out menu so I can order in advance next time. Um, I don’t want a take out menu because I shouldn’t have to wait over ½ an hour for my food. Plus, not yet having tried the food at this point, there is no guarantee that I’ll like it enough to be back.
So we take our food and wow, was it a disappointment. My $ 6 quinoa salad was an absolute joke. It barely filled the small to-​go box. I could’ve bought quinoa for like a buck and added a few measly slices of strawberry to it.
The fries are not fries. They are more like greasy, thick potato chips. The dipping sauces were flavorless.
The onions and bell peppers on the Lomo Saltado Dog were sour — like it had too much vinegar. They were also posted on the menu for $ 7 but my receipt says $ 9.
The Chicken Bites, again, laughable in quantity for the price. Greasy and flavorless.
I didn’t try the Agua Frescas, but the cups are much bigger when you eat in vs. take-​out. My kids didn’t finish it, so I assume it was much like the rest of the food.
Overall, I am massively disappointed in the food and the experience. Whereas I wasn’t sure earlier if I was going to need a menu for future — I now know I won’t.
Your prices need to go down, your food needs to improve, and your kitchen and staff needs to get it together.
Wasted lunch and wasted $ 40. Next time, I’m going back to Crave.

We stopped by for a quick bite to try this new place out. It has a Latin American gastropub food vibe. The Oaxacan Lamb Burger (spiced lamb patty, baby rocket, queso fresco, roasted tomatillo, tamarind sauce) was a delicious gourmet burger with some gamey taste to it, served with a side of salad. The buns were actually way greasier than the meat or even their tasty beer battered onions rings (which looked more like onion nets). My friend’s Chicken 65 were yummy little spiced chicken bites that came with good sour cream and guacamole dips.

My friend used to work with the founders/​chefs so we stopped by here to show support. We came during their soft opening? It was hard to locate at first because they didn’t have their store sign up yet! We had to peek inside and kinda stare; good thing we recognized the logo from Unilocal reviews! We walked in and were greeted by a friendly young girl. I think she was new because when we placed our order, another girl magically took her place and took our order for us. I really wanted to try the Breakfast Burger because HELLO CHORIZO. But we decided to split the Tabu Burger, Tabu Fries, and the mango coconut agua fresca that Unilocalers were raving about.
Tabu Burger ($ 10): has a cheese-​stuffed deep-​fried green chile, crispy egg, and tomato chutney. Came with a small mixed green salad. This burger was big! For me it was just okay. My friend picked it out, soI normally wouldn’t have ordered something like this anyway. The burger was pretty greasy, I’d pick it up to take a bite and have shiny grease all over my fingers – gross! The green chile was cool but more mellow in flavor. The tomato chutney was not distinguishable (basically tasted like chunky ketchup to me) and the crispy egg batter? Halfway through my burger, I said «oh, there’s an egg in here,» and my friend goes «huh? what egg?» All in all, given that this was the namesake burger, the flavors were kind of one-​note to me, pretty underwhelming. It needed more acid or something to brighten up the flavors. I can imagine big, burly guys digging the burger though.
Tabu Fries ($ 4): Very interesting take on french fries. The deep-​fried taters are cut into little medallions. Cool concept but they need to work on execution. A lot of the fries stuck together and were not cooked evenly. They were different sizes as well so some would be delicious and crispy and some fries would be hard/​soggy still. I freaking LOVE fries so I would definitely want the chefs to know that if you’re going to call these «Tabu Fries» they better be damn good and crispy (or atleast evenly cooked, is that asking too much?). Ain’t nobody be wanting soggy potatoes!
Mango Coco Drink ($ 2.50): OMG, liquid heaven in a cute tall mason jar. Funny that the one thing I loved was their drink. This drink tasted like fresh mangoes, made creamy, with a little bit of carbonated fizz. It was awesome that that drink was not made with super ripe mango, so it wasn’t super sweet. It had a lil sour tang to it and when I took my first sip, I made a O_​_​O face and said «whoa, try this!»
Food: I give 3 stars. being lenient given that I came before their grand opening. Based on the burger and fries, I would not really be excited to come back and try more. The only reason I’d come again for a visit would be for that mango coconut drink and the CHORIZO burger! (Yes, I have an obsession with it, if you can tell) But another reviewer said the chorizo burger was bland, sooo maybe not hah.
However, the people were friendly, they stopped by and checked on us multiple times. The venue is open, bright, trendy. When we came in on a weekday after the lunch rush, there were multiple families dining there. I’m talking husbands, wives, cute abuelas, and little babies. Although it wasn’t amazing to me, I think Tabu Burgers & Bites is a low-​key, positive place in Downtown Santa Ana for friends and family to hang out and eat some A-​ok food.
Hilarious side story: My friend used to work with the chef at another place. Apparently he had a crush on her, so when our food came out, he brought out a plate with his number spelled out in tamarind sauce! We cracked up so hard. He told her «you better have written that number down!» She’s taken, so she did not, but the tamarind sauce was definitely tasty with our fries!

The lamb burger is not baaaaaaaaaaaaaad. In fact, it’s amazing!!! Highly recommended. We were so happy with the onion rings, too. Light, fresh, flavorful, just perfect.
Service was very friendly, especially the cute blonde.
Overall, innovative food and great vibes. We will be back!

WOW. HERE’s a new discovery! Great new little restaurant, nice and clean, very diverse menus, helpful server.s. Fabulous cook named John. I had the chicken tamale which may have been one of the best I’ve ever eaten. Quinoa salad was excellent ! Stop by if you’re near the courthouse, in the area, or just want to drive a bit for. A great meal!!! Good luck to the owners, cooks and all involved. I think you have a winner!

New little gem right in the heart of downtown Santa Ana! There really isn’t a burger joint in Santa Ana, so I was happy to hear Tabu was coming to town:) Went in for their first day and it was packed! Cute little shop with lots of seating.
My boyfriend and I ordered the Papas y pollo, elote, the citrus quinoa, the breakfast burger, the carnitas burger, fries, and a side order of the fried jalapenos. Had to get a taste of everything:) The burgers were amazing! The breakfast burger was probably one of the best «breakfast burgers» I’ve ever had and the carnitas burger was packed with meat making it absolutely delicious. The carnitas were amazing and super tasty. All the burgers were super juicy and flavorful and not greasy.
The papas y pollo was also delicious. Great portion size for two people and had a little zing to it which I enjoyed. All of the food had incredible flavor and was unique to feature on a burger.
I also really enjoyed the quinoa salad. Super light and refreshing with pieces of grapefruit, mango, and avocado. It was wonderful to know they had healthy options as well. Also, instead of fries automatically coming on the side with my burger, a side salad came with it. Also a nice change from a typical burger and fry plate.
I am very excited to continue going back and try everything on the menu. The staff was incredibly friendly, and the owners. Alex and Andrea, were very attentive and helpful to everyone who walked in the door. Every time we had a question about the food, they were very knowledgeable and really took the time to answer our questions. I can’t wait to come back and would recommend Tabu Burgers and Bites to anyone looking for a kick ass meal. Great job guys and good luck!