Cali's Mexican American Grill

First of all I want your business to succeed. There are not many options this far in the Deep South (loop) and the neighborhood needs as many restaurants and it can get. That said, this shouldn't be viewed as trajeta blanco to offer up a so-so performance because your business is an oasis in the food desert that is 60616.

The Good - The quality of the food was great, with one exception, which I will get to later and we enjoyed the surprise desert at the end of the meal. The chicken in my burrito was flavorful and the portions were a great deal for the price. However, no one in our party liked the refriend beans (which were of a variety I had never seen before).

The Bad - The service was very slow and water was only brought to the table upon request. When we needed a refill, we had to yell out across the room, strange,  considering we were the only people there. When we were ready for the check, the server was no where to be seen and we had to go up to the counter to pay.

The Ugly - Time. It took an entire hour to arrive order, get the food and eat. It took at least 30 minutes from when we placed our order to get two burrito dinners and one taco dinner. Did I mention we were the only people there? For a restaurant to work in this fast casual segment, its got to be fast. So please, I beg of you, find a way to cut that time in half and maybe people will put up with an inattentive server.... you nailed the food.... but it was 15-20 minutes too late.

It is quite unfair to give a new business a one-star review on their second day of operation.  I went there today and ordered a steak burrito.  It was a very generous size and priced right at $8.05.  All items were fresh and full of flavor.  

This is the farthest south tacqueria on the South Side E of I-94 between the Loop and Hyde Park.  If you are headed south on the way home or if you are in the South Loop for a Bears game then you won't regret coming to Cali's.  If you are in town for a conference at McCormick Place it is just a couple of blocks West of the new building and well worth the walk.

You will get a taste of authentic Mexican fare without having to travel way West to Pilsen or Little Village and you can feel good knowing that you supported a small business instead of getting Taco Bell (88% beef) or Chipotle.

They are a small restaurant owned by a man who used to run a tacqueria years ago and decided to get back in business.  They are not lightning fast, but give them a chance and tell your friends.

I went to this restaurant, hopeful that we'd have a good, long-lasting place to go to in this food desert.  The table had one, meager napkin under the fork.It's the thin kind that you have at hot dog stands. If they want to use this cheap napkin, they need to put a box of them on each table. The tri-fold menu had half of the items crossed out. Not a good impression for the 2nd day in business. If they couldn't handle the ambitious menu, then print a new one. It looked like they didn't know what they were doing.  The tv was BLARING. There were political ads. Then the news came on. I did not want to hear about shootings and fires and trauma while I'm trying to relax and enjoy a meal. I went to the counter to ask them to turn the tv off. They all had their backs to the counter and couldn't hear me over the tv. I yelled "hello?!" Finally, one of them turned around. I asked them nicely to please turn off the tv. (There was only one other table occupied in the restaurant at the time.) They turned it down, but not off.  I walked out.  Such an unpleasant place. Cheap napkins, staff that ignores you, blaring tv.  Too bad I won't ever get to taste their food. It's not worth it.