Lalo's
(between Harrison St & Van Buren St)
Oak Park, IL 60304 (708) 386-3386
- Nearest Transit:
Oak Park (Blue)
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Alcohol: Full Bar
111 reviews
Neighborhood: Lincoln Park
"Oh, how I love the Mayan Palace. I've treked halfway across the city in a snowstorm for this place. Where to start? Well the food: I'm…" read more »
18 Reviews for Lalo's
I don't think there is anything bad here (or at least from my 100's of experiences here). They always bring out homemade chips and a chunky salsa. Thats the only pretty basic thing there. Then they bring out this AMAZING chicken soup with potatoes, carrots, and everything. (My #1 fave soup! I always get a chicken taco. I've tried the enchiladas too, and thats great. I would definately come here with the family. Try it!
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The food is extremely mediocre, but once you've had one of the enormous margaritas, you don't care. The wait staff is exceptionally nice.
Ok. I am a loyal Lalo's lover. When I was little, my p's used to take me to the one over on Harlem in Berwyn. Therefore, I am a little less enthusiastic about this location as I am about the aforementioned Lalo's. The other place is bigger, more lively, and they have better service. In any case, they still serve the same food and the same margs at the Oak Park location, so I have to round up from 3.5 stars to 4. Lalo's has decreased in the food quality over the years, which is why it will never get 5 stars from me. They used to be a hell of a lot more authentic than they are now. I can only guess with all the locations they have now, they make all their food at a commissary and ship it out as restaurants need it. However, the margs have stayed the same since before I could even drink, so Lalo's is still Lalo's as far as I'm concerned. I always get the combination dinner with chicken, but I have had practically everything on the menu. Flavorful, large and quickly served portions make this place a destination at least a few times a year. When paired with consistently great margarita's, it's definitely worth the visit. Thanks.
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I love coming to lalos. The atmosphere is lively, the music on Friday and Saturday evenings is fun, and the Margaritas are strong. I often stop by for a carry out order of chicken soup, marinated vegetables, and salsa. They even throw in some limes and rice. The buffet is only okay however. The selection is rather large, but the food itself is buffet quality.
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I live two blocks from this Lalos and walk there once every couple of months. I love it though it is a bit on the small side and the tables are quite close together. There is an awesome weekday lunch buffet (check the site for exact days/times) and every meal comes with the chicken soup and hot pickled veggies.
You can still order Tacos de Loma even though it's not on the menu. It is delicious here. The prices have gone up over the years we have been going, but what hasn't!
Also a Shout Out to Maria the manager!
This is the best location of all the Lalos IMHO. It's a nice small place with a great mix of people. Get a table by the window and it's a nice little date place or just a place to hang with good people.
The service is excellent. the majority of the staff are long time family members and workers at the place. Take the time to get to know them and they will treat you right. The food is prepared fast and you never have to wait around.
The food is good. not great but very good. I have never had anything to blow you away but never had anything bad either. The reason to come here is the margarita' and the chips and salsa. Fresh baked chips and the best salsa ever with just a slight kick.
The great thing about this place is you will have the avg joe dinning next to an executive. Good food, great drinks, great atmophere, what more could you want?
I can't believe anyone would complain about waiting on a friday night. If you want to get in right away on the weekend go early or go late. Otherwise you can usually get in real quik any other day
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I have dined at almost all of the Lalo's and I like this one best. When I'm feeling fruity, the mango margaritas are great. I love their fajitas, I usually get a steak and chicken combination. The botana combinada is another favorite of mine, nachos, quesadillas, flautas and tamales. I don't like ham in my quesadillas, so they happily substituted chicken, which was all white meat. Once in awhile the tamales can be a little dry. When I do save room for dessert I chose the flan that comes with the side of sauce--yummy.
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I agree with Pat G - this place was great when I lived close by in the late 90's, now it has faded. But, I still come back here for the fajitas and green salsa and chicken soup. And, the sopapillas are the best I have had in the area.
The pricing is still reasonable and if you pick a weeknight and go early, you won't be smashed up against the door waiting for a seat. The kid factor is a downside - this location is just too small to handle the massive amounts of brats running around and screaming.
I agree that there is so much hype around Lalo's, but I love Mexican food so I was up for it. Well I was extremely disappointed about the nearly hour wait we had on a Friday night (this place really needs to find a new, larger, location.)
After the wait we finally got seated and ordered. I liked the food, but I wasn't nearly as impressed with the 'ambiance' as everyone else seems to be. I wish I would have tried the guacamole (it looked delicious as the table next to us). But the whole time I was getting a draft from being too close to the door and couldn't hear my boyfriend over the live music.
Hate to say it but I'd go to Fuego Loco over Lalo's next time.
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The ranchero sauce on the enchiladas was a little too spicy... and my wife wasn't thrilled with her shrimp fajitas... but I think this place has potential. The hot carrots were a pleasant surprise... the chips and salsa was excellent, and the service friendly. A return visit is totally warranted.
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Being a huge supporter of the chicken taco movement, it is in my job duties to verify the chicken tacos at all local establishments. Being hooked on Uncle Julio's made it difficult to get around to Lalo's until a few days before moving out of Chicago.
Based on those nasty thick, bland ass chips and boquet of pickled vegetables I wasn't expecting much. I couldn't fuck with the veggies, although they looked interesting. I knew that nobody ate them and they just got shuffled from table to table. Sitting there soaking up all the coughs and conversation (mini-germaphobic)
But the chickens were ok. Not dark meat either. But I am skeptical of any Mexican joint that serves white rice. Its a blatant violation of the Code of Ethic for Mexican Joints that I've established in my head.
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Great margaritas, ok food. I mean, the food is good, but I've had better for cheaper. We've never had to wait or anything--we've always gone later at night and on weekdays, so it's usually bordering on empty.
Plusses for the chips and salsa, relish and soup with your meals though.
Lalo's is the default famiy restaurant in our neighborhood. It is very child friendly, so if you want to escape the rugrats there, go after 9:00 p.m. The kids menu comes with crayons, all meals come with this interesting chicken soup (it contains potatoes, which is unusual but good) and a plate of pickled spicy carrots and other veggies. Between these and the good chips and salsa, we're usually full by the time the entrees come. But try to save room, because the dinners are quite good. You won't get Rick-Bayless-type "snooty" Mexican, just good, predictable food.
It's okay. The best part about this place is the guy in the tiny booth playing the music. If you didn't see him, you'd think it was the radio.
I'd really want to give this three stars if it weren't for all the hype around Lalo's being so good, when in fact, it is not.
This place used to be GREAT, now it is just so-so, and with a ton of Mexican restaurants to choose from in the area, I would go elsewhere.
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The food this resturant is really good. But it's more than the food. It has a dimmed lighting that gives it a romantic feel. And on the weekends they have a live band playing. The walls are decorated with pictures from different Mexican artists like Diego Rivera. When you add up all the elements, you get a great evening of food and ambience.
For really great mexican food and kicka** margaritas this is the place. Just dont make the same mistake I did on one of my first visits and insist on the "Large" margarita. After struggling through Eisenhower traffic I was seated and, looking around the room, noticed two drink sizes and decided the larger was the right one for me. I ordered a "large" margarita and the server, looking skeptical, asked "Large?" which I confirmed. He asked if I was sure and I insisted that I ordered what I wanted. Well, to my surprise the drink he delivered was fishbowl sized and drew laughs from my dinner mates and people seated around me. Sad to say I did finish it before heading to our destination, the Bulls game. Reportedly it was a great game, unfortunately I didn't recall much of it. The size I should have ordered was a medium.
The food is very good and fresh. My favorite, chicken soup, is not on the menu and is excellent. Large chunks of vegetables and enough chicken to satisfy anyone's hunger.
The chips and salsa are very good as is everything else I have ordered. The mole is very tasty.
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My daughter, grandson and I went here for an early afternoon lunch. I really liked the decor, with azulejo tiles and Mexican artwork. My grandson, who spent his summer at the Mexican Fine Arts Museum summer day camp recognized one of the pictures on the wall of the legend of the two volcanoes near Mexico City that look like a man leaning over a reclining woman (Iztacchuatl and Popocatpetl; you can read the legend here-http://compactURL.com/...) as depicting a play he participated in at camp. The staff were all dressed very neatly in white shirts (with tie for the men) and black skirt/slacks and were very friendly and courteous. There were crayons and a coloring sheet for my grandson and our waitress acknowledged him which was nice. We come from a Mexican family so we're pretty particular about the authenticity of our Mexican food. Lalo's seems to stay close to what is REALLY Mexican food. My daughter ordered the Lomo in Chile de Arbol which, though she's very used to eating spicy Mexican food, was a bit too "hot" for her (but then chile de arbol IS one of the hottest chiles you can find, so that should have been expected). My grandson and I decided to have the buffet lunch which was extensive and varied, quite nice, all served in large elegant silver heated buffet platters. For our beverage we all had orchatas (a rice/cinnamon-flavored drink) which were not watery, as some can be, sweet and refreshing. All in all, it was a pleasant, tasty lunch.
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Very reasonable Authentic mexican food. I had the omo de res en chile de arbol (chopped ribeye steak simmered in chile sauce), it was really really good. A little on the spicey side so be prepared.
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