Those tostones. THOSE TOSTONES.
Some of the best tostones I've ever had. I'm not Puerto Rican. But one of my friends is, and SHE also swears these are some of the best tostones she's ever had. So I'm not on crack, yay! :D
Ridiculously great sandwiches. I had the criollo de pollo. My aforementioned friend had the jibarito de pollo (which I wanted, but she ordered it first, so I got something else). My SO ordered the tripleta.
Puerto Rican rice was a little heavy on the olives, but completely tasty. They even serve Coco Rico and other PR drinks!
I'm hoping I have room for dessert next time. As it was, my SO had to take half of his tripleta home -- still can't believe that sandwich was under $7. It was huge, stuffed with meat, and delicious.
Will definitely nom again. So happy a PR place of this quality is out in the 'burbs!
We went with some friends one who is Puerto Rican and knows what shes talking about.  We ordered way too much food just to get a good sampling of everything. No complains very home-style and fresh.  I was happy to find a suburban place that make a good Jibarito. The Tostones  were very yummy and I love there rice. Next time I really want to try the Monfongo...and I will report back later
Review Source:It's pretty hard to find good Puerto Rican food in the burbs, this one is great. Â The food is very tasty. Â I would say the service is slow so don't go there if you're in a rush. Â I've been there twice since the new owners took over and I have to say the food is better than before. Â Today I took my daughter's friend there for her first Puerto Rican dinning experience and she was trilled with her selections.
Review Source:We went last night about 5pm and were a little skeptical when we saw the attached motel. It kind of looked like something out of a scary movie. We were able to get a table  despite the restaurant not having too many tables. There was only one server for the whole restaurant, so the service was slow, but the food made up for it. We had the cheese and beef pastellios. Both tasty. I had the mofongo with carne frita. You could smell the garlic before they put the plate down, which is always a good sign. My bf had the chicken mofongo which looked like a stew. He enjoyed it although the presentation was odd. The passion fruit juice came from a weird plastic container in their fridge and I probably wouldn't order it again.
If I'm back in the area would definitely go back.
New owners took over in November 2012 (I think). Â I'm sure they are nice people, but the quality of food has taken a BIG dive. Â Used to love this place... now, not so much. Â Won't go back unless I hear that the food has improved. Â We had our favorites (pasteles... etc)... all were sub-par, in flavor. Â I hope they make a change quick. Â Hate to see their business go under.
Review Source:Authentic Puerto Rican food, nice to have a place in the burbs. The food is good and the prices are fair. The portions are good, however the service is slooooooow. It would be nice to have a smiling waitress I thought I went on a bad day but when I returned a couple times same exsperience. I like the changes in the bathroom, however would prefer that your window cleaner man not clean over my food and climb on my seat with his shoes.
Review Source:My wife and I have been looking for a Puerto Rican place in the suburbs, and this one had good reviews. It did not disappoint. Â The atmosphere is cool and Kevin, the wait staff, was really friendly and helpful.
We ordered pork dishes--the carne frito was especially good. Â The fruit drinks-mango and guayaba- were as good as I've had anywhere, and being Mexican, we've had a lot of aguas de fruta. Â
The tembleque dessert was incredible. This was our first time tasting it, and it is now our new favorite dessert. Â
Overall, a great place, especially if you don't want to trek all the way into Chicago. Â We'll definitely be returning soon!
pretty mediocre,,, the sandwichs were fairly bland and the service was very slow.... we enjoyed the food, but the portions were small other than the plantains..... this wouldn't be somewhere I would go regularly....
my sandwich was a very thin chicken cutlet with a very small piece of lettuce and a very thinly cut tomato slice cut in half.... instead of bread I chose the fried plantain as the bun which was most of the sandwich... very starchy with little to nothing as far as sandwich filling....
My daughter also chose the plantain bunned Cuban sandwich which once again was light on the meats, cheese and pickles....
My wife got the chicken and rice soup which she said had great flavor and once again this dish came with fried plantains which were in all plates a majority of what the dishes consisted of.... with a side of mixxed catsup and mayo for all....
Thanks to all of the great reviews I read here on yelp about Delicia, I finally went tonight! Â Oh, what a fantastic treat! Â I took my daughter and my 2 granddaughters, ages 8 and 6. Â We ordered way too much food!!! Â Everything was very good! Â We had the amarillas (fried plantains), the bacalaito (fried cod fish fritter), pastelillo de pollo (chicken turnovers). Â MMMMM!!!! Â The daughter and the grandkiddos didn't like the texture of the plantains, but loved the flavor. Â
The entrees were pechuga al ajillo and mofongo - both were chicken sauted in garlic butter with onions and red and green bell peppers. Â MMMMMM!!! Â
I will definitely go back soon!!
Thank you, all of you previous reviewers, for you great recommendations!
We went to Delicia tonight with friends based on a word-of-mouth recommendation and had a wonderful time. Â Superb friendly service, massive portions of excellent food, and reasonable prices. The owner bent over backward to recommend the house specialties and explain everything. Â You can tell he loves his business and sharing his Puerto Rican heritage. Â Everything was like home-cooked and delicious. Highly recommended.
Review Source:After vacationing in Puerto Rico, I yearned for some mofungo. Â I searched the internet, and Delicia was the only Puerto Rican restaurant I could find west of Chicago. Â
When I found myself in Elgin, I made a stop. Â What a delicious experience! Â In addition to the mofungo, my girlfriend and I tried the aranitas and a bori-cuba sandwhich (a Cuban sandwich on plantain slices). Â My friends, you *must* try the aranitas--they are like hash browns, but they are made out of plantains and served with a garlic mayo sauce. Â Absolutely brilliant.
The mofungo was exactly what I remembered from Puerto Rico, and the bori-cuba sandwich was delicious in its simplicity.
The service is generally attentive, though this past time I had to remind my waiter of several things (e.g., refilling water). Â One of the waitresses there always speaks to us in Spanish even though she can speak English. Â (I don't speak Spanish very well.) Â All the servers are friendly, though.
Definitely check out Delicia for a taste of the Caribbean.
Since this was my first time trying this place i tried the classics. I ordered tostones, steak jibarito and pernil with sides of arroz con gandules and the white rice and kidney beans. I must say I was pleasantly surprised. The food had great flavor and was at a great price. I can't complain about any of it.
I usually go to the city for good PR food but I can say I'll finally be saving on gas coming here instead. Definitely going to be coming here again and again.
Gosh, I hope this place stays around! I have never had PR food before, ever... and a friend who had explained how they roast this and that and the plantains yada...all this while I was practically DRINKING their salad dressing and chowing on the fried plantains with the same dressing. Yes, I smelled like garlic for two days, but it was completely worth it. Â
I got the roasted pork mufongo which comes w/ soup or salad (salad drsg - the bomb!) and we ordered an extra order of the fried plantains so I could take home to the hubs. It was so much food that I had two meals out of the leftovers. Â My husband was impressed with the flavor. My boss, whom I got the same but chicken, was not impressed -- she said the chicken was dry, which it was and flavorless. NOTE: she did not realize she had to use the broth to moisten up the plantain mash etc.
I drove past last Thursday night on my way to Bartlett and noticed it was EMPTY. I hope that this is not a sign of things to come. Â According to the manager/owner he said many catering orders were going out, which is good.
BTW, atmosphere in the restaurant is very plain and nothing spectacular. Focus on the food... the bathrooms were clean. (this is important!)
Great, fresh, homemade style Puerto Rican food at an amazingly low price!
First off, walking into this tiny old diner building I was greeted by the aroma of roasted meats and garlic. I had the kind of feeling you get as a hungry kid, when your friend's mom is making dinner and you are really hoping they will invite you to stay.
We used a <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Frestaurants.com&s=8b83bf0ff8b716aae84527dc95577a310f201b166dcca25c8ca3824b15703869" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://restaurants.com</a> gift certificate so we ordered alot for 2 people. I had the garlic shrimp mofongo (amazing but so loaded with garlic that its for extreme garlic die-hards... You'll be tasting it the next day, trust me). My husband ordered a roast pork platter with  hot broth. Tender with lots of flavor. The fried plantains rock but not as much as the tostones fried dough with meat or cheese. That can't be healthy, but that's not why we eat out, right? Also we had dinner salads with the house dressing (a zesty version of thousand island), and a side of Puerto Rican rice (made authentic with pigeon peas and olives), which was mild and filling.
I want to go back for the soup and a sandwich (which combined only costs around $7). I only regret ordering the kola champagne soft drink. While having a pleasant aroma of cream soda with distinct notes of rose petals, at 52g of sugar I could actually feel it drilling holes into my teeth. We shared that nevertheless.
So, for cheap authentic eats, check this place out!
This is the only PR restaurant I've been to in the Chicago Metropolitan Area. They've set a high bar. Their food is fantastic.
Other than the fact that they serve Pepsi, I love this place. I can't remember the names of most things I have and I usually just point to the menu because my pronunciation is horrid. But their tostones are so so good. And every dish I've had has been good.
Next time I go, i'll update this review with what i've gotten. Oh I've gotten the mufongo (sp?) with the steak and it's YUM.
Also got the coconut pudding dessert. And it's good too.
My husband and I took our 4 year old twin girls. Service was a little slow, but the food was very tasty. We tried the Rellano de Papa (don't bother), and Pastelillo de Pollo (supurb), amarillos (yummy), the pastel, Â mufango, and El Jibarito were all excellent. There was plenty of food, our girls liked the rice, and the bill completely reasonable. Can't wait to go back.
Review Source:food never taste the same, I've gone there 3 times and order the same every time it taste different! only once it was good. portions are small. pastelillos are VERY greasy, rice had no flavor.... I'd Rather drive to Chicago or make the food at home. oh and service sucks as well.. not friendly at all and very slow
Review Source:This place has legit PR food. I vacation there last summer and the smells and tastes were pretty reminiscent of my Caribbean holiday.
The pork, chicken, and mofongo dishes were delish. And the puerto rican rice and fried plantains? Muy bueno!
Top off your meal with the coconut ice cream. It's really not an ice cream per se, but more of a shaved ice texture. Whatever it was, I'll definitely be going back to Delicia over and over again!
Very good overall. Salads simple and delicious - green leaf lettuce (not cheap iceberg) and ripe red tomato. Shrimp and rice soup was flavorful and satisfying. Â Sampled plantains three different ways - all fantastic. Beef tender. Chicken had good flavor but touch dry. Bathrooms could be cleaner. All staff were friendly. Prices definitely reasonable. Congratulations to the owner.
Review Source:The place was great suprise. We don,t venture into Elgin often but the reviews sounded very interesting. The restaurant itself could use some updating and spicing up. I think that may keep some patrons away. The food was just terrific. Everything was made from scratch and everything was given special attention. I will be back many times. If you go be patient order the appetizers and take your time. A great food adventure.
Review Source:ok, admit it! Â There are restaraunts you go to that you that you don't understand their offerings.
The place is in a seedier end of Elgin than I would desire but is far from worry-some and inside looked really nice!!! Â (another customer commented about their recent remodel)
So back to not understanding their menu, we ordered all of their frittas appetizers. Â There are 5 of them, they are a buck fifty each, we received 4 (and accurately billed as such)... Â I can't tell you what was what but they were a steal for the price and damn tasty.
We had salads that (while I am not a fan in any way shape or form) had some of the reddest, ripest tomatoes I had ever seen.
For the main course,  I'm not even sure what I ordered!  something about fried plantains that are turned into mashed potatoes  and steak with vegetables  (the best I can tell you was it began with an 'M').  The fried plantains mashed potatoes is probably more ethnic a texture than I will understand.  The steak cut is very thin and seemed a bit overcooked.  The topped peppers and onions were the absolute perfect thickness and major props for that.  And it was over a very watery "salsa".  I don't think I understood how to properly eat it but I did very much enjoy it.
My date had one of their seared shrimp in garlic butter with vegetables and Spanish rice. That was a damn good dish!
Oh and they had my favorite soda: Good Cola's Cola Champaign.... Â mmmmmm. Â
To overview the experience, Â the neighborhood is a bit off-putting and I don't think they are accustomed to clients ordering in english (so some order shortings but the billing was accurate), but I really enjoyed my experience there and will certainly be back again! Â And the pricing was fantastic, Â 2 people ordering twice the amount of food they should have totalled to 32.25.... Â Thumbs up!
5 stars for a Puerto Rican restaurant in ELGIN? Yes, it's true. Delicia Tropical Cafe is fantastic!
I went with 2 others last night after googling PR restaurants. We were surprised to see one pop up in Elgin, and decided to give it a try since it was by far the closest. (We spent all afternoon staring at the menu, starving ourselves for the feast to come)
The neighborhood is a little skechy, but isn't that where you find the best food sometimes?
Small parking lot and directly on the main street, so it's easy to find.
Upon entering, we all looked at each other with empty stomachs and agreed that the place just smelled delicious already. We were excited.
The server (can't remember his name, but there only seemed to be two present) was friendly, helpful and must've thought we were Puerto Rican because he was rambling off spanish like we were from the islands. Good thing we could keep up :)
We ordered several items, all of which were absolutely homemade and delicious. A LOT of food for 3 hungry girls. But that's how we roll.
[DRINKS]
Kola Champagne all around. Yum. Looks like Cola but tastes like Cream Soda. And straight from Puerto Rico.
[APPETIZERS]
1) Tostones - huge, double-fried, drizzled with a garlic oil and served with a mayo-ketchup dipping sauce. Hot, freshly made and delicious!
2) Pastelillos - we ordered one beef and one cheese. Again, delicious. I loved the beef filling and could eat maybe 3 of those as a meal.
[ENTREES] (all came with a pretty good, fairly large side salad)
1) Pernil y Arroz Blanco con Habichuelas Rojas - This was my entree and I was completely happy with it. I've had delicious homemade pernil before, and this didn't disappoint. Perfectly seasoned, on the salty side, which I love. The habichuelas... omg... Can I have a bowl of just that with rice please? They were so, so good and comforting!
2) Pechuga con Salsa Criolla y Arroz con Gandules- I had a bite to taste and it was flavorful. The chicken was a bit overcooked (fried), and without the salsa would've been too dry. Altogether though, pretty good. Arroz con gandules - YUM!
3) Mofongo con Camarones Al Ajillo - I was too busy with my Pernil to taste this one, but my sis thoroughly enjoyed it and got her mofongo fix.
[DESSERTS]
1) Flan - One of our all-time fave desserts. This one didn't disappoint.
2) Tembleque - Um, are we IN Puerto Rico? We felt like it when we took a bite of this delicious coconut custard pudding. SO. GOOD.
We used a <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Frestaurant.com&s=c5fe485af4df376130bee54f875814d79c4d7913e1258123b1206d2bdbf4873b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://restaurant.com</a> Gift Certificate... but I almost felt bad using such a discount on such delicious food. The service was great too - friendly and helpful. Total came to about $30 after the gift cert.... A STEAL for this food.
I'll definitely be back, and recommend it to everyone. I'm determined to get people to this place so that they never close down. Already getting a big group to go back!
Go. Eat delicious food. Enjoy my favorite salsa songs in the background. Support this authentic spot deep in the burbs. They deserve it.
Pretty good. I'm more familiar with Mexican than Puerto Rican so I wasn't too sure what to expect. The sandwiches are great, but the plantain chips were kind of blah. The service was prompt and very friendly and the price was very reasonable. The waitress also gave us some good drink recommendations.
Review Source:Uhh, this place is really good... like, amazingly fantastic good. I chose the "Bori-Cuba" (plantain sandwich with roasted pork, ham, swiss cheese, pickles and a bunch of mustard) and a side of the arroz con gandules (rice with peas). The rice was a big ol' mountain of deliciousness, so I recommend splitting it with your compañero. I also suggest getting two sandwiches for yourself, so you can eat one now and take the other one home. My bf chowed on the "Cubano" sandwich and really liked it despite feeling guilty for eating Cuban food at a Puerto Rican restaurant. He told me that the tostones (plaintain chips) are worth getting too, so check 'em out. Anyway, it was such a great meal, I'll be going back asap.
Review Source:This review is long overdue but it's hard not to give this restaurant justice, it is THAT DAMN GOOD!
Now, being born and raised my whole life in Chicago i have experienced most of the Puerto Rican restuarants in and around Chicago/humbolt park area. Â I also have been to Puerto Rico this past year and i can say that Delicia is one of the best, if not the best Puerto Rican food i have ever had (Besides my Wife's of course :) )
I have been here a few times now and the food has never disappointed me. Â As hard as it is to find mofongo, Delicia's is perfect and the best i have ever had. Â The Pernil was juicy and very flavorful and was perfect with the mofongo. Â
The Jibarito is great as well, the steak is very tender and again, the best jibarito i have ever had (Sorry Borinquen). Â
Now the rice (Arroz Con Gandules), is the best i have had from a restaurant. Â Very traditional and perfect. Â
VERY good cafe con leche and i must say the service was very good the few times i have been there.
I really hope Delicia stays around for a long time, now that i live out in the burbs i dont have to drive to the city to get my PR food fix. Â
The owner takes great pride in his restaurant and reading the stories on the wall about him, made the whole experience even better.
I enjoyed this place, it was my first time eating puerto rican food, so I can only base this off my taste buds since I have nothing to compare to.
Tostones- good texture, good sauce, but definitely needed to be salted, not such a bad thing because I like to control the amount of salt I used.
mofongo with fried pork- flavor city, the pork was delicious- some parts a little too dry, but still delicious. the mofongo was garlicky and had enough chicharron for texture, and I really liked the broth. portions were good, we had a lot of leftovers.
Service was good, they were all very nice and helpful, and they have carafes of water. More restaurants need to bust out carafes for water!
Just returned from Puerto Rico and I loved this restaurant. They have GREAT service and are willing to answer questions and make recommendations of what to order. I thought their rice and beans (pinto beans) were spiced perfectly and the Pechuga al Ajilo (garlic chicken) was very good. I think this restaurant is a good value and overall I had a great experience. I can't wait to go back to try more.
Update: We catered from this restaurant and it was fantastic. You could not beat the price, the food, and we ordered the perfect amount of food. The owner was super helpful and dead on with how much food to get. I can't say enough about this place, I love it!
This place is DA BOMBA! I've gotten food there on several occasions, both eating in and carry out. The service is excellent and the food is mucho tasty. They are still building their menu but sure to be FIRE in the future. My wife and I stopped in this weekend and they gave us a free sample of the new cuban coffee they serve. I almost fell out of my seat! It was soooo delicious. I didn't expect coffee to taste that good! Better than Starbucks in my opinion. I'll continue to go and recommend this place to anyone in the Elgin area. This place is a hidden gem in Elgin!
Review Source:I used to live in Puerto Rico and I love good Puerto Rican food. Â Unfortunately, finding good PR food is sometimes difficult. Â
Then I find Delicia Tropical. Â I've had carry-out from this restaurant on a number of occasions. Â Each time, the food has been decent. Â Not the best Puerto Rican food, but certainly good enough and without the 5 hour flight to San Juan. Â
Good mofongo. Â Rice and beans with that very specific Puerto Rican flavor. Â And I've also had a couple excellent chicken and beef dishes as well. Â
The area around this restaurant is a little seedy, but it is definitely worth the visit in my opinion.
Just been there once and will definitely reurn to taste some more stuff.  I had the carne guisada (beef stew), white rice and mofongo.  I agree with previous reviewers, the carne guisada is worth writing home, or Yelp, about.  Just couldn't stop eating it.  The white rice passed the test - yes, something so simple as plain white rice can be pretty hard to get right.  The grains were firm and it was ever so slightly sticky - done right in my book.  The mofongo, not so.  Lacked what are essential tastes to my palate - garlic and tocino.  The worst offense though was that it was pretty undercooked - the pieces of plantain were not mashed together and tasted a bit raw.  This may have been my fault - service was a little slow and I was sort of pressuring my server who might have had the kitchen hurry it along.  Gotta give it another try and be more patient next time  - good things come to those who wait!
Review Source:Ok, I went to this restaurant today. Â It was pretty good, and WAY CLOSER than Humboldt Park....BUT...I do have to say, it's not as good as some Puerto Rican food I have had before. Â
I would go back though. Â The tostones were mighty delicious, with its little dipping sauce. Â The Jibarito was pretty decent...but their BEEF STEW was yum yum yummy! Their arroz con gandules were also pretty good too. Â
The service there was a little slow, but that's just because there was only one guy working all the tables! He was super nice though, and would answer any of our questions that we had. Â I'm sure I will be there again, and will try something different!
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