Javier’s

Went on a Friday night. Loud noisy loss of kids in a small hot room. Took 10 minutes to see a waitress. Food was bland and everyone in our group of 6 said their food was mediocre at best. Would not return.

Absolutely love this place, been here about 6 times. Great food, great service. I have never been disappointed. Food portions are huge and every diner I order here lasts me two nights of leftovers, so great value for my money.

Everything was very good. Servers were very attentive and made good suggestions regarding the menu. The menu has a wide variety of offerings. Our party of four ordered four different offerings that were all very good. We felt all items were very reasonably priced. Much better overall experience than other nearby Mexican restaurants.

Did not enjoy my experience, so sorry to say. We had to wait a long time for our meal, even though they were not busy. The sangria did not appeal at all. I had enchiladas. I normally can eat anything and everything, but there was something very odd tasting with the ground beef enchilada. The enchilada sauce was not tasty at all. I don’t think I’d return, sorry.

Not your Taco Bell or El Famous Burrito! I’ve known Javier since 1984 and he is an honest, hard working amigo! Best to call for reservations! I love this place!

One can usually tell about the caliber of Mexican food based on the chips and salsa served by the establishment. Based on this theory I knew we were in for some bad food when the tasteless salsa was served.
If you are looking for any resemblance of Mexican food then this is not the place.
The house margaritas tasted like household cleaner.
The appetizer we ordered… Rellenito… some kind of stuffed and breaded pepper was greasy and tasteless, like some thing one would find at a carnival or country fare.
For our main course I ordered the chorizo burrito and my wife ordered the ground beef burrito. Mine was nothing but salty and greasy and my wife’s was bland and greasy. One bite and we both asked for the check and left.
If you like your money and don’t want to waste it on sub par «mexican» food don’t go here. Yuck!

This is some of the best Mexican food I have had in so long. My boyfriend got fish tacos and I had the shrimp fajita tacos and we both agreed that the seafood was INCREDIBLE.
We had also got an appetizer that was called a chorizo queso type deal with tomatoes and poblano peppers and we thought it was going to be more of a queso dip but it actually turned out to be like mostly chorizo with just cheese on top, so not so much of a dip but like a taco filling. A little disappointed with this but our tacos absolutely went above and beyond to make up for this. Can’t wait to come back!

I love this place — always good food, great service, and delicious drinks. My boyfriend and I go here almost once a week! :)

Yum! We came here for dinner and our meals were delicious! The staff is incredibly friendly and the food is awesome! We will certainly be coming back!

Delicious food. Large quantities. Good service. Great drinks. Loud but great atmosphere.

I heard good things about Javier’s but was sorely disappointed after my dinner last night. I stopped in for a late dinner and the place was fairly empty however service was still pretty slow. The 3 stars is mostly for the mediocre food and I was expecting so much more. I knew it wasn’t a good sign when the complimentary chips and salsa were just meh. The chips were tasteless and the salsa was pretty spicy but had no flavor which seemed to be the theme of the night. I had the pork tamales and my friend had the flautas. Both lacked seasoning and my tamales were super dry. If I happened to be back in the Arlington Heights area and wanted Mexican, I would definitely go to Salsa 17 instead which is down the street from here.

I’ve been to Javier’s 4 – 5 times and I would say it’s hit or miss. I’ve gone there times and thought it was the best Mexican food around, and other times I’ve gone and ordered the same food and it’s been a much different quality.
Good food for the most part though.
Customer service is great here.

Six Words: Decent Mexican, don’t get cheese dip
The food wasn’t bad but it isn’t anything special. It’s good, American-​style Mexican food and the flavors are good but again, it’s nothing special.
My family and I have been coming to Javier’s on-​and-​off since it was La Chicanita. And we’ve always felt the same way toward it — meh. It’s good in the sense that’s it’s good food at a decent price at a convienient location. But Javier’s is not some place I ever crave.
The last trip we went here, service was good. We were seated immediately and our waiter was ready to take our order immediately. Which was fabulous. The menu wasn’t as fabulous. It’s as expansive as the Cheesecake Factory — too many options spread across too many pages. It could just be that I’m a city-​girl now and that I’m used to one-​page menus but their menu was too much. With so many options, it’s hard to find something.
We ended up with the Cheese Dip for an appetizer because we forgot what they called their queso dip. Turns out they have two. The cheese dip is more like a nacho cheese, but slightly fancier. It’s missing the flavor and I solidifies a little to fast. It comes to you hot and goopy and by the time everyone has gotten a taste, it’s a thicker paste. Not a fan. I forgot what the other one is called but it’s the more authentic cheese dip, if there’s such a thing. That one is better and you should get that.
For my entrée, I split steak fajitas with my father. Fajitas came out well seasoned and the steak wasn’t chewy or tough at all. Peppers, onions, tomatoes, and steak all seasoned well. To add onto the fajitas were quacamole and pico de gallo. I was surprised there wasn’t any cheese and mildly disappointed by that. My mother had the Steak a la Mexicana. The steak was tougher than the fajita steak but it tasted good as well. The rice and beans were the spotlight on that plate though.

The food wasnt bad by any means but it wasnt anything special.
To start off with my girlfriend and I ordered calamari. The calamari was a good crunch texture and not too greasy. It came with a dipping sauce that was unique and flavorful, so that was good.
I ordered a combo entrée which consisted of a taco, enchilada and burrito. They all tasted fine… a little Americanized, but fine.
To drink I ordered margaritas, they were great, no complaints on those.
Overall my experience was ok, although I did feel a little rushed by the server. I probably wont come back and will continue going to Salsa 17

Our server was great ! Our food was great ! But we had a coupon for a free appetizer and no where on the coupon did it have a maximum amount. after we asked for the manager This lady came to our table with absolutely no training or any type of customer service trait. After yelling she walked away like nothing. Her name is Lilliana. I have no clue how she became a manager. I am very sure she is related to the owner because no one in their right mind would hire her as a manager. This is my second incident with her. Horrible attitude. Too bad cause the enchiladas were wonderful.

Now that I live out here in the burbs it is important to have a go to Mexican sit down restaurant. Well it’s important to me… me of the awesome tan and cravings for picante food!
We ended up at Javier because of its proximity to the new digs.
Its in downtown AH. Nice location, nice interior. Yeh… I can do this was my thought.
The host and waiter were very nice!
BUT they messed up on the most important part. THE FOOD!
Bland, Tex Mex type food. and they use crappy tortillas. I’m more of a El Milagro tortilla type of guy instead of the stale white corn junk.
So food as eh… for the price and location it should be AWESOME.
Hipster infestation level: 1

We started coming here a few years ago and really enjoy their food, drinks and atmosphere. The salsa and chips are warm and fresh, margaritas are great and my husband enjoys their selection of beer on tap. The steak tacos, fajitas and chimichangas are some of our favorites.
We have always had great service and delicious food and love eating in the outside dining area in the summer!

Our first clue should have been while we were waiting at the hostess station, a woman rushed by us to the ladies room clutching a napkin to her mouth. Later they apparently called an ambulance for her because the dining room was bathed in throbbing red lights coming in from the windows.
We were disappointed that there was a private party being held on the ENTIRE outdoor seating area, and as such we couldn’t be seated there on what was a beautiful late summer evening.
Our next impression was that service was nearly non-​existent. I felt that this was because the dining room was understaffed– not that the servers were inattentive. After finally being seated and waiting for what seemed like an eternity to have our drink orders taken, I considered for a moment just telling the hostess to forget it that we would go elsewhere.
But we stuck it out for better or worse, largely because we had a coupon.
While waiting we tried to chat among ourselves but the steady din in the background made it difficult. I’d put this down to poor acoustic design if I had to guess.
The food was basically the very typical Gringoized tex-​mex that we all have seen time and again, nothing that I could see that was really unique or special. It seemed almost as if they ran to a Tacos El Norte, ordered takeout and re-​plated it in the kitchen.
Today I have a bit of stomach distress and I generally have a cast-​iron stomach; making me question if the overall experience was worth the 20% off coupon that we used.

Mediocre Mexican food that carries the downtown Arlington Heights premium. I had a Margarita and Enchiladas with their spicy Mole sauce.
The Marg was warm, as well as a bit too frothy for my taste. Skeptical if any tequila was actually present.
I got three different enchiladas with their spicy mole sauce. The mole sauce was void of any spice, tortillas were hard and stale, and the ground beef/​chihuahua cheese/​chicken enchiladas were all meh. Refried beans seemed they were scooped from a cold vat right onto the plate.
Service/​décor/​ambiance was fine. It was just way too expensive for what you got. I’ve gotten an equivalent/​better meal for the quarter of the price. If the prices were cut in half I’d consider 3 or 4 stars. I won’t be back.

I’m failing to understand the low star count and negative reviews for this restaurant. My wife and I have been coming here for 12 years and it’s hands down the best Mexican food and service we’ve ever had… and we’ve travelled extensively. I’ll be honest, in all of the years we’ve been coming here we had ONE bad service. That’s not too shabby considering the frequency of our visits.
The food is always bursting with flavor no matter what you order. The ingredients are always fresh and the chips and salsa, while inconsistent with heat, are always perfect starters. Their margaritas are top notch. Overall, I’m at a loss here since I would have assumed that their service and food would speak for itself, but I guess folks in Arlington Heights are a bit out of touch with what authentic Mexican food and excellent service should be.