Tamales... A Mexican Joint

I came here the other night with a friend of mine for dinner and we had a nice time. I've always wanted to come here in the summer when all the tables are out, and what better than enjoying nice margaritas and guac when the sun is shining? Well, that's okay, we had the more authentic in door experience.

The place is cute, has Mexican music playing all the time, it's got nice colors inside on the walls, a few black leather booths as a layout which makes for a comfy sitting atmosphere. The place has a nice, simple, casual Mexican restaurant vibe. It's not like Mercadito in the city where you have to see and be seen. It's mostly the Highland Park community in their casual gear.

Now onto the food, the chips were served warm but a little too hard in my opinion, the complimentary salsa was a little wattery and not my cup of chiwawa if you ask me. We ordered the guacamole, full portion is $9 and half is $5 and that was pretty good, it had a nice flavor to it, but a little pricey for how little you get. I've definitely had better. Later straying aside from my typical tacos and fajitas that I order at Mexican restaurants we each ordered the enchiladas. I got the chicken ones which were served with beans and rice (on the bland side) and some lettuce and sour cream. The enchiladas were actually my favorite part of the meal, you get 3 for $14.50 and they were pretty good, lots of flavor, liked the mole sauce on top and the cheese was also not overwhelming. So I'm happy that I ventured out. I wanted to try their caramel flan but from all the dipping with those chips, we were too full.

Overall, the place is just okay, I liked the casual vibe, service was good too, and the food was good, not spectacular but not horrible. I may have to come back in the summer and get some cold margaritas next time.

I may have expected too much after reading reviews about the food here and I was craving tamales like crazy but overall I thought the food was just ok.  

On the house: Chips and salsa
-never ending if you let it and super addicting

Appetizer: FISH CEVICHE
-delicious but super duper spicy! The fish tasted so fresh. I actually preferred eating the ceviche with the tortilla chips than with the saltine crackers that came with the dish.  

Tamales: PUMPKIN,CHICKEN,MUSHROOM
-the pumpkin was a little too sweet for me but I would get this again
-the chicken was good but I wish it had a bit more flavor
-the mushroom was good as well but nothing amazing to report

I got the tamales with rice and beans and the tamales were smothered with different sauces.  I didn't care too much for the sauces and I actually thought they were a little overwhelming and salty but the rice and beans were great!

Portions are huge and our waiter was really nice.  I would come here again when I'm craving tamales (still looking for a place with amazing tamales.. any suggestions?) or if I want that amazing ceviche again

It's been difficult finding good tamales in the suburbs, but my friend was craving them so we decided to check out this place.  Food was ok, a little on the expensive side, but hey it's downtown Highland Park, what else can you really expect?  They had Spanish music playing throughout the restaurant, and lighting was pretty dim, but the atmosphere was still pretty laid back.

We started with the fish ceviche, which was really good.  It had a nice spicy kick with fresh tomatoes, ripe avocado, and big chunks of fish.  Between that and the pico de gallo with tortilla chips we were already getting full before our main dishes came.  My friends ordered the tamales because, hey, it's called Tamales so they must be good.  They were much bigger than any tamales I've ever eaten and my friends seemed to enjoy them.  I had the chicken enchiladas with guajillo/red sauce and they were pretty good.  Very cheesy.

Food was just ok, the extra star is really for the service, prompt, friendly and very patient with us as we were figuring out the bill.