Don Sol

I come to Mattoon about 4 times a year and always make a point to go here. My favorite entrée is the Camarones de Sol. This dish consists of seared shrimp, roasted vegetables, rice and an avocado salad. Perfectly delicious and healthy. As soon as you are seated, the waiter brings you warm chips and fresh salsa. The salsa is SO good. And if you finish it they will bring you a refill… no charge or judgement. If I’m going to get a drink, I go with the classic margarita. It is delicious. Service is always friendly and attentive. Prices are reasonable. I like the fun and colorful atmosphere at Don Sol.

Love their Shrimp Fajita Nachos half order so much good fresh food… friendly waiters and waitress!

Pretty decent Mexican food. Not too much competition in the small town of Mattoon though. Their salsa was the highlight of the visit.

What a great recommendation from my fellow Unilocalers!
I got here on a Friday evening just as the dinner rush was leaving, so getting seated was not an issue, but I’m guessing this place probably draws a good crowd so you may have to wait for a table.
Upon entry the the décor is the standard Mexican look and feel. Roomy booths that offer a somewhat private feel, clean surroundings and, adequate lighting. The menu has a good offering of foods, a nice list of of appetizers, a variety of platters and I felt a larger than usual options for seafood.
I was going to go with one of the Nacho items for an appetizer but my daughter said she was not that hungry… a big bummer for me on account as I observed some very tempting nachos as we were lead to our table. Certainly an item for next time. The waiter was very friendly and helpful with the menu items and very accommodating to my daughters various tweaks.
We were only seated for just a few moments and our drinks came along with a basket of chips and a cup of salsa. The chips were good. To the point that I was wondering if they were made here at the restaurant on account they did not seem to be the typical out of a bag type of chip. For me, the salsa was fair. I like mine with a bit more cilantro and some kick, but it passed with flying colors from my daughters perspective.
I ordered the Steak Tampico (see pic posted by me) which comes with some lettuce, tomatoes, raw onion, rice, beans and grilled vegetables which consisted of onions, red sweet peppers and zucchini and of course a few four tortillas. I also asked for a grilled jalapeño pepper just to add in some spice. The meal came out on a long rectangular metal platter which I thought was a nice touch. It was all presented very well and the wonderful smell urged me on to quickly cut in and start eating. The steak albeit a bit thin, was larger than it first appeared as it was covered by the grilled veggies and it was very tender and most importantly tasted fantastic. The first piece in fact felt as if it was simply melting in my mouth. Just wonderful ! The mixed veggies were really good as well. Not overly cooked, and with each bite you could clearly pick up the taste of the various veggies and I cut up the jalapeño to mix in which added a nice little kick. The salad was good and ohhh, I forgot to mentioned it above, but there was some avocado included and that was really fresh as well. The rice was good, and the beans were very good. The only disappointment with the beans however was there was not enough of them. Next time I come here, I’ll see about getting an extra side of beans. The flower tortillas seemed very much to be made on premise and they did very well stuffed with the food combination, thus making my own little tacos. The best part was saving the last tortilla for mopping up the wonderful combined juices which remained on the platter.
There are are number of Mexican restaurants in the Mattoon area but what led me here were my fellow Unilocalers as most gave raving reviews. As I’m new in town, I do plan on visiting each Mexican restaurant in the Mattoon/​Charleston area, so figured I’d start here and use it as the «local» bench mark. Thanks Fellow Unilocalers !!

great tasty food!.. im from jersey and im on the business trip, this restaurant is like a mile from the hampton, and i would come again.

Being a connoisseur of Mexican restaurants, I make a point to eat at them when I travel. Many have come close, but none have been as good as Don Sol. This place is the pinnacle of Mexican cuisine. The staff is friendly and has an excellent work ethic. My favorite dish is the steak fajita quesadilla.

Love Don Sol! It is a staple in our date nights. The service is always quick and the waiters are very nice. The food is very tasty and always hot. They are very reasonably priced, also!

Decent service. Food is better than average. The beans are great here. I think they fry them with chorizo grease. Good stuff. Recommend overall.

We went here for lunch. The service was great, food was good, clean and all around nice. I would like to come back for happy hour… I was told it is great. Will have to check it out!
Thanks

My husband and I came here for a date night on Sunday night around 7:30. Usually the service is great but we had to wait to get a table (there were maybe 4 tables occupied, it was very slow). Everyone was in the back and not watching the front, but several workers saw us and we still waited. We were seated, and then a couple were seated 5 minutes later across from us. They got their food before we’d even had our drink order taken. Food took longer than usual for this place being so empty. I’m pretty sure our waiter was new and we weren’t in a hurry, so we forgave him. The food was EXCELLENT as usual! Love their fajita quesadilla, I always have enough for lunch the next day. The food is really the only reason I give this particular review 4 stars. Hopefully that waiter learns to pick up the pace.

Clean, consistent, nice people, beautiful building
GREAT food and wonderful drinks.
Go as often as we can!

I come to Mattoon for work a few times a year and try to stick with the local places. I tried Del Sol this time and give it a resounding meh. Mexican food lends itself to assembly line kitchen practice, you can tell that is the norm here. I got seated and served quickly, the girls at the door are really friendly and helpful. The waiter I had seemed a little indifferent and I only saw him one other time, when he gave me the check. My drink was refilled by one of the girls at the door coming by after seating someone. I don’t think any of the buss or delivery guys speak any English. As a test, I ordered pollo potosino and some guacamole. Getting back to the assembly line, the guacamole was the consistency of thick soup and a little warm, it was hand made but not recently. The pollo came very fast, was covered with half melted and half crumbled cheese, and was very salty, which means they probably use canned gravy. On the other hand I had to salt both the guacamole and salsa for flavor. My tortillas were cold, as was the rice. If I hadn’t ordered something that required a grilled piece, I doubt anything on the plate would have passed the board of health temperature regulations. On the bright side the dining area is very bright and clean, and a lot of people were drinking and having a good time. If you want somewhere to go with friends for a drink come here. I come from an area where we have a lot of very good mom and pop mexican restaurants and I don’t think this one would survive long there.

Took a little bit to get waited on but the food was good. Really enjoyed it and would go back if I lived closer

I always get the Don Sol fajitas, so I can’t really comment on much else. The steak, chicken and shrimp is great. Add some cheese sauce and rice, I’m good to go! It’s clean, friendly and has a nice feel inside.
My wife loves Don Sol more than I do, she gives it 5 stars!
Cons: They used to have fruity starlight mints at the counter, loved the strawberry! Now they’re boring old peppermint.

first timer, it was good man

For anybody that knows what true Mexican food is, avoid this restaurant. We were in town for a weekend track meet and with the limited choices of restaurants, we gave Don Sol a try since it was one of the highest rated on Unilocal.
The service was horrible — took at least 30 minutes to receive our food, and our waiter couldn’t be bothered with us. The food was only a slight upgrade from Taco Bell. I had a combo platter with a chili relleno, a flauta, refried beans, and a guac salad. The beans and salad were passable, the flauta was bleh… chicken should be shredded and not in huge chunks… the relleno was a complete joke and disgusting. It was more of a chili omelet, as the egg «batter» was strictly scrambled eggs — a complete turn-​off and yuck.
My husband had a combo platter of a quesadilla, chimichanga, burrito, and rice. The steak in all of the entrees had absolutely no seasoning and he had to add a ton of hot sauce to get any flavor.
The residents of this town may think this is good Mexican food because they don’t know any better, but anybody that has been outside of Mattoon, will know that this is very americanized and just a fancier taco bell.

Don Sol is our favorite place for Mexican. We love the pollo loco.

Big fan of this particular Mexican Restaurant. Since there are a plethora of others scattered around Mattoon, I would rate this at #1. We kindly nickname Wednesday as «Margarita Madness» for their margarita special and there used to be a buffet on Sunday (sadly, no longer).
The staff is extremely friendly and the food comes very quick.
Very attentive waiters are not hesitant to bring plenty of chips and salsa for a large group or for a very hungry couple!

Don Sol’s buffet has an odd choice of selection of fajitas, grilled meats, shrimps, french fries, chicken fingers, fried green beans, bacon, rice and beans. They are not quite Mexican but also not quite American. Most did not look appetizing, the steak was tough, chicken was burnt, and rice/​beans looked old. The only thing I liked is the shrimp fajita, tomato salsa and ice cream. I also asked where the bathroom was but the server do not speak any English. He rudely pointed and directed me to another server instead. I am baffled as to how he even got a job in this country.

The atmosphere is great, the wait staff is great, and despite what one reviewer here said, Don Sol is the cleanest Mexican restaurant in the area. Free chips and salsa.
Sadly Don Sol ended their Sunday Buffet, Thus I’m dropping a star off my review.