El Mariachi Tequila Bar & Grill

I visit this restaurant often.  The staff always treats me very well and I dream about their chips and salsa.   I've yet to try a dish that I wasn't content with.

I came here with a group of 12 people to celebrate a friend's birthday. It was a Monday night and the place was pretty slow. The service started off less than stellar, as folks were seated for 15 minutes before anyone even came around to take drink orders. When drinks were finally delivered they came out in an uneven fashion with the poor birthday boy sitting and having to wait for his frozen margarita while everyone else was already imbibing.

I ordered the chicken with mole sauce and was less than impressed. The sauce itself was pretty good, but the chicken breast was almost blacked in spots, so I tasted mostly burnt chicken rather than mole. The accompanying beans and rice were decent. I will say that the complimentary chips and salsa are very good.

Overall this place was a disappointment. You could argue that the service may have been effected by our large group, but we were literally the only people in the restaurant near the end of our meal, so there is little excuse for what we experienced.

I think you can do much better if you are looking for great Mexican in Chicago.

I went there for Valentine's Day last week and was very happy. We made reservations that morning and had no issue getting seated. The wait staff were very friendly and attentive, our drinks and chips and salsa were always full. They have very good drink specials and I also highly recommend the camarones al mojo de ajo, it is delicious.