El Mexican Restaurant

Not happy about the chicken tenders being gone! Also, it’s extremely frustrating to go in there a 2^nd time now, and they are out of tacos! This is a taco place!!!

I’m clearly in the minority here although I feel bad about it. I will say this: overall the food was FRESH, not sitting around for hours, and they’re obviously *trying*, but almost everything was just plain lacking. And I wouldn’t go back, which means I can’t give it 3 stars (that’s the cutoff), so here’s the highlights:
5 stars — the tortillas are wonderful. Fresh pressed
5 stars — the red and green sauces on the side are very good
Puerco al Pastor — dry, lacked flavor
Carne Asada — dry, chewy, tasted like overcooked beef
Puerco al Pastor — the sauce is too sweet
Tinga de Pollo — the best of all of them, pretty good, lacked salt.
Vegan Refried Beans — very very bland
Basically everything needed salt, and I’m not usually a «salt» person, and, well, it was just disappointing… except for those tortillas. Those are good.
Oh, and as others have said, it’s counter service, and NOT a lot of seating. If you come for lunch, you might luck out on being able to sit.

I have never had better tacos! The tortillas are fresh and amazing! The guacamole is so good and the empanadas are delicious. My whole office raves about this place! It’s not exactly close to us, but we are wiling to make the drive! My only suggestion is more drink options but I can get over that. Horchata maybe. The place is tucked in the strip mall and easy to miss. If your in the area, it’s definitely worth finding!

Was good but wasn’t the real deal but if you are in a rush and want American Mexican than yes but other than that no. I brought my boys for a quesadilla. They enjoined it but the cheese to meat ratio was not good. The bathroom room wasn’t clean. It smelled they were no air freshener. Could have been better. NEVER AGAIN.

Excellent authentic food prepared instantly. Floor is sticky and tables are wobbly; the window counter is ok but take out is recommended.

The tacos were absolutely delish and I love the build your own concept especially because Chippies is not the most sanitary of options at the moment. The rice and beans however were super duper bland, I tried adding salt, pepper, and both salsas, but nothing. Once they fix those, they’ll get that last star. Food was made in the back pretty quickly and the cashier was also the server, very nice service.

I went here recently because I was craving a burrito. I decided to try this place that I haven’t been to in a while to see how it was doing. I was surprised how it turned out. It did improve from my last experience here. I started with guacamole, salsa, and chips. The guacamole I wish had a little more spice, but it was still good. The salsa was very improved. Had a good amount of spice and tasted really fresh. All the stuff is made to order so it can take a little longer that usual. I also got a burrito with steak. It was eight dollars and it was a pretty good size burrito for the price. The steak tasted really fresh and had lots of flavor. The tortilla was soft and warm, just how I like it. All the ingredients in the burrito tasted really fresh and good. Recommend this place for some good burritos and fresh food.

Wonderful food! Everything was fresh and tasty. I had the veggie tacos and will try one of the salads next time.

Soooooooo good! Btw, the hours have changed and they are no longer open on Saturdays! The last time I walked in there was a funny smell but the food is spectacular. Worst case scenario, you just take it to go.
I had the chicken tinga tacos with queso fresco… absolutely fabulous!

Empanadas are amazing. Tacos are great! I always ask for there homemade red and green salsa. My new goto Mexican restaurant.

Finally. A good Mexican place that have good tacos and burritos around this area.
Very simple and straightforward. Doesn’t try to be something more than it is.
They have good carne asada tacos.
Also, it’s a good price for the amount you get.
Would definitely come again.

This place is great! Carne asada burrito is excellent! The guacamole is superb. I would have given them 5 stars but their hours are very limited on the weekend. Fri. & Sat. 11am — 2pm. Closed Sundays.

Had a horrible experience there. Found a
small wire spring in my veggie taco. Before that, I thought the food was quite good. The green salsa and the quesadillas were among my favorite. I did raise the issue to the cashier and he was apologetic and reimbursed me for the cost of lunch.

One of my favorites!
If you are looking for great Mexican food that has fantastic gluten free options. go here! They have a very large gluten free menu. Being an individual with a gluten allergy, it is such a treat to be able to eat the empanadas — one of my personal favorites! My husband and I work near here and go regularly for lunch on weekdays.
They did close for a few months, much to our dismay, but when talking to an employee there he said that they closed in order to open a new restaurant and put their main focus there. I understand that, but wish that they would have better communicated that to their loyal customers. I thought they were gone for good, but was quite pleased when I was in the area and noticed they were open once again!
Try it out, i don’t think you will be disappointed!

This place rocks!
If you are looking for authentic mexican flavors, quality, great service, and value, this is the place to go!
I like that they use local sustainable ingredients. Tinga empanadas are my favorite here, but everything else I’ve had has also been delicious. This place is a must for your mexican cravings. I’m so glad they are back!

Ok so here we go, if you put this place in Pilsen it would still be a damn good authentic mexican taco place. The carne asada tacos are outstanding and can be ordered authentic with cebollo cilantro and lime or gringo style with lettuce tomato and cheese. Go authentic please. Also you can order «off menu» jalapeños toredos «grilled fresh jalapeños» to give the kick you may want.
The chips are also outstanding, they are freshly prepared with lime and salt on them. They come with what appears to be freshly made salsa and very good guacamole that has huge chunks of avocado in it.
The empanadas con Tinga De Pollo «marinaded shredded chicken» are wow good as are the beef barbaco empanadas.
The food is solid 5 stars. The prices are very reasonable and the place is very clean. Finally the great white northern suburbs gets an authentic taco shop that is a match for any from the Pilsen mexican restaurants for authenticity BUT with a higher quality of ingredients.
Two tacos for $ 6 is a great deal.
POST SCRIPT
Ok I left this out of my review so I am putting it in as a post script– all the pictures and reviews prior to 2 months ago are no longer valid because after this place opened they closed it for 6 months to allow them to open another restaurant and then they reopened a month or so ago and the ingredients for the menu CHANGED! They use PRIME beef NOT strip steak for the steak tacos & the TORTILLAS are HAND PRESSED & COOKED MINUTES before they are used for tacos!

I like getting what I want when I want it…
Holy Guacamole! El Mexican made that possible, and in the tastiest of ways.
Yes, it’s in a strip mall. Yes, it’s a little tricky to find if you’re not familiar with the area. But, if and when you see that El Mexican sign on the building, I encourage you to pull into the parking lot, get out and get in there for some deliciously authentic and healthy Mexican fare.
This place just reopened, so I was thrilled to be back again for those yummy tacos. Of course stopping in on a day when your hunger is out of control is both good and bad, because the menu is reasonably priced with a great variety of the basics to cure any appetite.
Today I had lunch with my vegetarian hubby. Prior to coming, I read the rave reviews about the veggie burrito and knew he’d be perfectly satisfied and he was. In fact he brought half home for dinner and said it was perfectly delicious several hours later.
I ordered up a steak and pork taco — two for $ 6. The steak was loaded with the perfect amount of tasty moist chunks of meat and a mix of lettuce, cheese and sour cream. The pork was also moist, and loaded with the right amount for every bite. The best part is you can choose your toppings. Vegan refried beans, rice, etc.
On the side we also ordered the homemade tortilla chips and beyond fresh and simply fabulous guacamole. I wanted to lick the bowl clean. Three salsas to choose from.
Clean, courteous service. Left just full enough and without that I-​just-​ate-​a– crap-​load-​of-​greasy-​Mexican-​food feeling. Healthy and fresh ingredients.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, I will be back!

The finest, most authentic Mexican we’ve enjoyed since leaving LA last year!
The steak tacos are out of this world. We added a steak quesadilla and were amazed at the flavor!
The meat was well-​seasoned and perfectly paired with the sautéed onion and peppers to make a wonderful taste treat! When we added a little sour cream, my mouth was So Happy!
A great place, eat in or take out. Muy Authentico!!!

I heard a rumor that the owners of El Mexican are opening a second location in downtown Northbrook, and it certainly seems like attention of El Mexican’s leadership is focused elsewhere.
During prime lunch time (12:30 or so):
— the unoccupied tables were not clean
— there was no soap or paper towels in the bathroom
— the kitchen ran out of barbacoa empanadas
— there wasn’t any diet Coke (with a Jewel next door)
— no napkins were available at our table
I also noticed the tortilla for my carne asada taco wasn’t fluffy, fatty, and delectable, as it was on many of my early visits here. Rather, it was dried out and tasted a day (or more) old.
I’m a little saddened that I can’t rave about this place as much as I’ve been able to in the past.

Ooh. Yes. They certainly gave me something to taco ’bout.
I had the good fortune of meet co-​owner Jen Eisen while checking out the farm-​fresh, sustainably raised rations at Glenview’s El Mexican Restaurant today.
Opening the day after Thanksgiving 2012, this still sign-​less establishment is certainly on it’s way to making a name for itself. Jen Eisen can be found at EMR most days, while the rest of her time is devoted to working under Chicago’s Top Chef, Stephanie Izard, of Girl and the Goat fame. Not a bad mentor in any scenario, and unquestionably *THE* ideal mentor should one want to open any sort of restaurant-​related business in the Chicago-​area.
I wasn’t able to meet Eloin Amador, Jen’s partner and co-​owner at El Mexican Restaurant, I was able to to taste the fruit of Eloin’s endeavors. Raised in Mexico and working his way up through the restaurant ranks in America, Elion’s specialty are the made to order corn tortillas. Jen had attempted to describe their splendor, but no words could do these maize-​born miracles justice. I’ve never, EVER, tasted a tortilla like this. Like an out-​of-​body experience.
With that being said, we had to try EMR’s tacos on the famed homemade tortilla’s, along with their burrito, just because it was calling out name, though we heard from another table that the empanadas were noteworthy as well.
The burrito was fantastic, BUT the tacos are the true star. Again, the tortillas. THE TORTILLAS. I pledge my devout and undying love to those heaven-​sent tortillas. We got the veggie tacos, all the trimmings, and added guacamole for a dollar and added the house-​made hot sauces to enhance the flavors, though the tacos stood on their own without. The refried beans were tasty, as well as being vegan, the lime rice was outstanding and the cous-​cous salad was an unexpected favorite. So much more flavor and absolutely the perfect light, dish when topped with a dollop of salsa.
We washed our eats down with grapefruit and tamarind Jarritos, or ‘Mexican Zima’ as some would call it. I’d love to see them serve some house-​made horchata in the future, but honestly, they’ve got me hooked enough with the tacos that it doesn’t even matter.
The restaurant is counter service-​style, pretty small, and meant mainly for carry-​out orders, but there are three tables with a total of 10 seats hanging out in there, if you’re lucky enough to snag ‘em. There’s also a few tall stools with a small ledge running along one of the windows, but there isn’t a ton of room so I’d imagine this as being a better spot to sit and wait for your carry-​out order, but eating here is totally possibly, though likely a bit cramped.
As far as pricing goes, the prices are definitely higher than your standard Mexican stop or the likes of large chains like Chipotle, but there’s good reason, and that reason is honest to goodness good and good for you food. Sustainable, locally-​farmed, hormone-​free meat blended with old family recipes from Eloin’s upbringing in Mexico and fresh-​off-​the-​vine produce that give way to unbeatable flavor and the ability to taste the individual ingredients, as they work to compliment and enhance the character of every taco, burrito, salad and empanada El Mexican Restaurant puts it’s name to.

First time here. Wow. Great tacos. Bummed they were out of Carne asada, but very happy with the rest. Best fish taco I’ve had around here in a while. Carnita tacos were excellent, as well. Home made chips and salsa/​guacamole was well done. Menu is perfect. Not too big, but plenty to choose from. Also, great place to go if you need to watch out for gluten. Will be back for sure!