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Western (Brown)
Tue-Sun. 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
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Hands down best Mexican food in or around Linclon Square. Ingredients always taste fresh, guacamole is the best. The beans are a little bland, but the rice makes up for it. Chicken and chorizo are both very solid.
Only downside is that the service is questionable at best. I carry out a lot from there, they'll say it's 20 minutes, get there 20 minutes later and I've ended up waiting another 10 before. Have also been given the wrong order -- ordered a chicken burrito and got steak. I don't think I could even tell if I looked at it first. Seems like they can also come down a bit on the prices, but I guess you pay for what you get for because it is very good stuff!
Some of the most mind-blowingly-superb CEVICHE I've ever had in my life. It's 9.99 and I think my husband and I could just slather that stuff on pancakes and eat it for breakfast it was THAT good. It's a huge old margarita glass full of it, ta boot.
The rest of our food was good, but definitely paled by comparison. Cute little place with vibrant colors on the walls and tablecloths.
Their burritos are delicious. The unfortunate part is, they are *tiny* and come standard with very generic-tasting beans & rice. These factors combined made it not worth the $9 at all.
However, based on the taste factor of the burrito alone, I wouldn't mind giving this place another chance. I think they should focus less on the frills/presentation and just dish out solid portions of delicious Mexican food, which I'm sure they're more than capable of. I'd like to try some of the dishes other reviewers are reccomending, but I'd definitely not order the burrito ever again. Perhaps if I could get it with a price reduction and sans the rice and beans...
The guac rocks. Tremendously tender tampiquena. Fantastic fish tacos.
BYOB - even better. Yeah, there's generally a wait. Because its excellent food at a reasonable price in a comfortable, homey atmosphere. Get over it and come early, stay late.
I've experienced better Mexican food in the city and felt this place had something missing. We had the Chicken Flautas and the Mole Enchiladas with beef maybe we ordered wrong. The guacamole was the best tasting item from our order.
I have been here three times now...the first two, I was underwhelmed. Well, we just went back last night and man, oh man, it was amazing.
The first two times I ate at Los Nopales, I ordered standard Mexican fare: tostados, enchiladas. All of which was just average. Beans and rice: meh...average. This time, however, I noticed that there was an awful lot of carne asada on the menu--somehow I'd managed to overlook this before--and I decided to take the hint. What arrived at our table was divine. A flavorful, juicy piece of meat that was one of the most delicious steaks I have ever had. (And I grew up in Kansas City, so I've had a lot of delicious steaks in my life.)
Service was good (as it has been every time we've come here).
Prices are reasonable.
Decor is nice--bright colors without being too cheesy.
The steak was worth 5 stars; service worth 5 stars; but I had to take away a star for the lackluster food I ordered on previous visits.
Great little Mexican (BYOB) restaurant in the Square. I came here on Friday night with a couple friends. The weather was perfect for comfort Mexican food. This restaurant is on the small side so get here at the right time to score a table.
Their guacamole is excellent! It was enough to feed 4 people. I had the Chicken Enchiladas Verdes for dinner. I love Tomatillo sauce and it was smothered all over the Enchiladas, perfect! My other dining companions loved their entrees as well. For dessert we shared the tres leches and it was SO good.
If you are in the mood for some great Mexican cuisine head to Los Nopales. The staff are super friendly and the service is spot on!
I happened upon this restaurant a couple of years ago when they first opened and was so impressed with it, that I emailed everyone on my email address book to tell them about it.
The Mexican food here is prepared completely fresh every day. You can taste the quality of the ingredients in each dish. It is run by a husband and wife (he does the cooking and she runs the restaurant operations along with their children)
They bring tortilla chips to the table right away with two kinds of salsa--both are delicious. I have enjoyed every dish that I have ever had here--tostadas, tacos, chicken chimichunga, cheese enchiladas--everything was superb. I will come back here again and again.
Solid Mexican food and the price is great. Love that is BYOB. I noticed that things were a bit on the spicy side, so if you are a wimp like me, you might want to ask them if they can go milder.
Service was a bit slow and it was not that busy in there, but the waitress was apologetic.
I discovered this place when it first opened several years ago, and it's great!
For starters, its BYO (with a minimal fee of $2 per six-pack, or other). Then, the food is excellent. For apps, the guac is great, with perfect flavors and chunkiness. Queso fundido is also quite good, but how could melted cheese with chorizo be bad? I would highly recommend the Carne Tampiquena (or Asada), which is also a perfectly marinated and prepared (read...rare comes RARE) skirt steak served with a cheese enchilada (that I always request to be chicken with mole, which is done with no addit. fee). Otherwise, their chicken enchiladas mole plate is fantastic as well.
Honestly, I cannot go there and order anything other than these two entrees, but each time they are sooo good that I have no interest in deviating.
This is a family run place, with the owners running both the kitchen (husband), and the floor (wife, daughters, siblings). They couldn't be more accommodating to requests made, and they provide a gracious place for not your run of the mill Mexican food. The only caveat, and reason they get 4 and not 5 stars, is that service can be quite slow sometimes (but its more lack of personnel then lack of them hustling their butts off).
Definitely check it out.
Great authentic Mexican. My favorites are the chicken enchilades with mole and the steak tacos. Also...the gauc is delish.
I have been remiss in my yelping as of late. I blame it on the languid summer weather.
Having had dined here several times I can report on a consistent experience. I will preface this review by saying that this is not my favorite mexican menu out there, but there are some treats to behold and the lovely staff more than compensates. I would prefer to have them incorporate some regional specialties, i truly believe they are capable and would execute superbly.
Not to say there aren't some gems on the menu. I think the fish tacos rise to the occasion, It wasn't that long ago (2000) that fish tacos were the domain of the west coast. No more, thank goodness! LN does them superbly and I adore them muchly!
I will need a return visit to sample some other offerings. Other items to note: byob! Just don't try to pay via debit at the junk ass wine shop up the street. But I guess that's another review.
In short, go to LN. You will be treated well, with tasty vittles. That will make up for any perceived lack of regional authenticity.
The gub is pretty good...but the service is consistently awful...i order a very expensive guacomole and ran out of chips....i told the waitress who took 15 minutes to bring me back some frickin chips...what the heck...the food can be just okay and if the service is great - I will go back...but if the service stinks...I won't be back..and I won't be back here.
The difficulty with rating Mexican restaurants in Chicago is that we've been spoiled by a few standouts. On its own, Los Napoles promises the standard Mexican platters--carne asada tacos, yellow rice, refried beans--with a lively atmosphere, made complete by an elderly guitarist with shades providing tableside ambience.
The food was good, even if conventional. We've loved Frontera Grill, Adobo, Dorado, all three of which I think push the extent of the flavors and play with more unique ingredients. Los Nopales is more comparable to El Cid in the sense that, if you're familiar with the old standards of Mexican food, you know what's on the menu.
The service on Friday night was quick but brusque (they shooed us out once we got the check). The backroom was also so loud that we had to yell to hear each other. The place definitely attracts the BYOB crowd in large groups. But that's just the thing--I can definitely see this place as a great place to be with a big group, drink a little, and talk loudly between tacos.
Service is fast and friendly, food is delicious, price is right, and BYOB :) Corkage fee is only $2. We started off with some guacamole- so amazing with their perfectly salted tortilla chips. Try the tilapia fish tacos, you will not be disappointed! The tres leches cake was amazing, one of the best I have had. I wanted to order a mexican hot chocolate because my sister and her husband told me it was amazing, but after all the yummy food I was too full to order it.
The burritos are good (i had chorizo, my girlfriend had chicken), but they're way overpriced. The burrito is really small and to make up for this, it comes with rice and beans standard. Since it came with rice and beans automatically, I thought this might be their specialty. It wasn't. The rice and beans were not good. At all. The rice could have come from a box for all I know. The horchata was good, but once again, way too small for what it cost. I like my horchata in a giant bucket, not a tiny glass. Chips and salsa were good though (and they gave you a decent amount!) While the actual burrito was good, I wouldn't come back because of the prices and portions.
Very very good food and so so service...
Waitstaff was certainly friendly but were slower than slow. We waited forever...even for simple tastings like chips and guac. The food was definitely worth the wait. I ordered the caldo de cameron (shrimp soup) and it was absolutely delicious. If you have never ordered soup at a Mexican restaurant please do give it a try. Although it doesn't have the ooey gooey chihuahua cheese that I live for at Mexican restaurants, soups are always chock full o cilantro and deliciously salty broth. Los Nopales knows how to do the soup right. My caldo de cameron was filled with about 10 JUMBO shrimp and was yum yum yum.
Highlight of my experience was the little older man in a suit who came by our table with a guitar and played Chiquitita by Abba for us. What a treat!
5 stars for the food, 1 star for the service = 3 star average
I walked in and was told to "Wait just one minute" while they cleared a table. The hostess/waitress the told me that it seems immediately forgot I was there. She went back to doing everything she could except seating me. Luckily the extra 8 minutes gave me plenty of time to peruse the menu and decide on what I wanted. Not that it mattered that I could order immediately because after I was seated in was another 8-10 minutes before a server appeared.
Finally I was able to order and the food arrived fairly quickly, along with the can of Diet Coke I ordered with it. (The server had to be reminded of this)
The chimichanga was great as was the steak taco and cheese enchilada that accompanied it. It was refreshing to see a Mexican restaurant not have their food and plates go nuclear and serve it at a temperature that is ready to eat. Seriously though, the food was excellent.
BYOB is a bit of a drag, something I didn't find out until after I sat down. I was craving a margarita, no luck.
When it came time to pay, I had my card out, but never saw my server again. Another waitress took my card and rang up the meal quickly.
It didn't matter how fast that was though, I missed my train anyway.
The time between when I walked in the door to when I finally ordered food was longer than the time it took to arrive, be devoured and bill paid.
That's annoying how inattentive they seemed. The place wasn't busy, there were empty tables and plenty of staff. I might go back.
Excellent Mexican restaurant with helpful servers.
Following the server's suggestion, I ordered the tilapia dinner that came with tortillas and made my own tilapia tacos. The dinner came with some aspargus, vegetables, and rice. I'm not sure what they put on the rice, I think it was a lime based sauce, but it was a perfect companion to the fish.
Remember to bring some beers or other alcohol, it's byob.
I've been going to Los Nopales for a couple of years now. Every time I try something new off their menu and leave completely satisfied. The staff is very friendly and their atmosphere is very laid back. Quality of food is amazing.
Mmmm delicious Mexican food! I had the enchiladas verdes with chicken, friends had other enchiladas, the steak special. BYOB, service was prompt.
Slow as fawk. I think it took longer to get the bill than it did for me to drive down, order and eat half of my food.
The menu is not very extensive. Everything said NO SUBSTITUTIONS on it. Man, whatever.
I ordered the mini sopes. They truly were mini. The steak was not seasoned much. It had that weird meat taste. I knew I wasn't going to like it because it looked like pellets. LOL. Meat should not be uniform. Yuck. This kind of reminded me of Amigo Chino.
The horchata was watery and not very sweet.
The salsas were pretty good (green and orange). I don't know what they're called. I do prefer chunky over the pureed stuff but this was probably the best part of the meal.
I wanted to go brush my teeth after this dinner. It was not enjoyable. I will not be going again.
I could have eaten a better tasting meal for cheaper at El Gordo. Their sope is large (one for about $2.95 and it has your choice of meat, beans, lettuce, tomato, avocado and cheese). These mini sopes which did not really equate to the amount of food at El Gordo only come with your choice of meat, beans, tomato, sour cream and cheese. And I think the cost of the mini sopes was about $6.
Boo!
Oh, I went over to the bathroom and opened the door and there was this little boy on the toilet. I was like uhhhh and turned back around. I think he was the owner/manager's somebody's son. Then he was yelling for his mom. It was awkward. I wanted to get out of there so fast.
I had high expectations...and left unsatisfied. Several people had recommended Los Nopales to me. The food and service was as authentic as I expected given the name (the Nopal is a Mexican cactus which is present on the flag linking it to its historical foundations). The waiters were super friendly, slow and difficult to understand--I guess I should have kicked into my secretive Spanish-speaking mode that surprises every Latino by having a fluent White boy in front of them. The interior is cute and quaint, perhaps 10 tables total. Now too bad the prices are far from authentic (tacos are meant to be cheap not nearing $10). Also it's BYOB and when they ask you what you'd like to drink, don't ask for a margarita because they don't have them.
When you are seated they serve chips and 2 salsas. One star is given to the salsa verde alone because it has just the right amount of spice and a lot of cilantro flavor. For my entree I had the Pollo en Mole. The mole sauce took up 3/4 of the plate while the rice, beans and small, bony chicken pieces took up the remainder. The mole was tasty with a super hint of chocolate, but the over-spiciness drew away from the true flavors. Definitely not a $14 dish! The tamales were probably the best thing that I had here, but I've still had better. I was so disappointed that I didn't even try their homemade desserts. Simply overpriced and not the "crema de la crema."
C and I went last week. The place was busy. C had the chicken mole and loved it. I had a taco dinner (al pastor) and found the tacos perfectly fine, but not outstanding. C said she would come back; I told her I would, if she insisted, but I would not seek it out. My rating: Atmosphere: Bueno, so it gets a star. Food: Based solely on my meal, I give it a 1/2 star. I didn't particularly like the salsa that comes with the chips. It was purée'd and aerated or emulsified, which gave it an unusual texture. Also, the hot one was barely spicy. I didn't like the refried beans; too thin and watery. Service: Perfectly fine. BYOB: I nearly always give a restaurant a star for that, although they won't let you drink it at the sidewalk tables. A lot of people seem to like this place. Perhaps C will make me come back and I'll give this place a second try.
This place is excellent. The only reason I'm giving it 4 instead of 5 stars, is the service is slow. The food is excellent though. I had the carne asada, which was cooked to perfection. The GF had a half flank of carne asada and 5 huge shrimps. Huge.
It's BYOB, which is great. I brought a 6 pack, and it seemed it took forever for the waitress to come and bring a bottle opener. And then we had to wait awhile for them to finally take our order. That being said, the staff was very nice.
It's a small place, so you might wait a bit fo a table, but the food makes it well worth it.
Oh noes, I didn't love it! I took my stepmom here for Mother's day, and she is already a fan of it.... the atmosphere was great, but I was crazy disappointed. The highlight of my meal was the tortilla soup, which was cooked exactly how I like it. The rest was just honestly underwhelming... the guac was average, the carne asada tacos were average (and overloaded), and the service was spotty as hell. I had to go track down the manager for the check after waiting for what seemed like an eternity. The other upside was the vanilla flan, which was a pure blast of vanilla flavor and the perfect texture.
I guess it doesn't help that I had dined at Frontera Grill the night before, but still, I expected more based on the popularity of this place. I will give it one more try in the future since it is a favorite of my family, and hopefully I can update my review with some better experiences.
Delicious. I don't know why it's taken me over a year to review Los Nopales, given the fact my husband & I eat here at least twice a month. Reservations are helpful but not a must (especially for a group of two).
Servers are friendly and only once did I have a complaint about slow service. ..I can forgive that when they've been prompt on 30+ other visits, regardless of the size of our party. It's convenient, it's BYOB and the food is consistent. I love their emphasis on cactus and have made the Griddled Vegetable Platter my signature dish. Yum.
The owner Mirella is a total sweetheart and works her butt off. The food there is phenomenal and try their steak, my mouth is watering just thinkin about it.
A great Mexican BYOB in Lincoln Square.
I love their chunky fresh guac. Good sized portion. Always order their specials, we think this is what they excel at. We've never left here disappointed.
Very good food. Not very good service.
Highlights: the guacamole, tilapia tacos, carne asada.
Not so much: tamales.
BYOB is nice.
One thing that really irritated me was that because we were in a large group-- about 10 people-- they did not allow us to order tacos for our main courses. They gave us some excuse that sounded like BS to me. Forbid me to order tacos in a Mexican restaurant!? For that alone, I cannot return.
¡MUY DELICIOSO!
I am officially a fan of Los Nopales.
The restaurant is bright, warm, and inviting and the food is solid.
Before your entrees arrive, crack open one of your BYOB selections (hopefully a ice-cold cerveza), and start devouring their amazing tomatillo and chile de arbol salsas. This ain't that Pace crap you get in a jar; this is the real deal.
For dinner, try their special skirt steak which is incredibly tender and bursting with flavor. The portion could be bigger, but hey...I always think the portions could be bigger. I also tried the chicken mole which was good, but not great. You're best sticking with mainstream Mexican favorites here.
All in all it was a satisfying Mexican meal in a warm environment at a fair price. That makes Los Nopales a winner in my book.
YUM! I went there for dinner tonight, and it was really good! It's Mexican, and it's BYOB -- score! I have no idea how we have lived here almost a year and never really noticed this place. It's on Western which is probably why -- we tend to stick to Lincoln. Anyways, it's really filling and pretty cheap with the BYOB. It's not amazing or ground-breaking, but it's solid, inexpensive Mexican food -- good stuff!
I had the Camarones a la Mexicana, and my friend had the Bistec a la Mexicana. I really enjoyed my dish, and she liked hers too. They give you two salsas with the chips -- one red and one green, and the green was fabulous! I have had a hard time finding Mexican food I like since moving here, and this was solid. I am excited it's so close! :)
My girlfriend and I loved this place. I had the Skirt Steak Special and she had the Griddled Veggie Platter- we both dee-stroyed our food. Had some fried ice cream for desert and with the $2 corkage fee for our wine our bill was about $38 for the two of us before tip.
Friendly, polite service and they didn't chase us out once we finished our meal. We'll definitely be back again.
Almost a three but there were several things that just didn't go right. The first issue is that for a table of 7 they only brought one basket of chips and they were slow to refill them. Second half our table was eating and the other half was just sitting there looking at us. I noticed similar service at other tables as well.
The food was tasty but the enchiladas were a little to soggy. Good guac and tasty salsa. More then likely I'll give this place another chance. The biggest bonus is the fact the they take reservations. Oh yeah and it's BYOB.
Not your average neighborhood Mexican joint - the food at Los Nopales is fresh and original beyond the burrito and enchiladas suizas standards. The carne asada is amazing, but the tilapia tacos are absolutely where it's at. I would come here several times a month just to bask in their awesomeness.
Yes, the service is slow, sometimes annoyingly so. Bring a bottle opener and crack open your BYO and the wait won't seem too bad.
Aside from that - a culinary trip south of the border that's actually affordable in this economy? I think yes.
Everything was delicious! I had the fish special & my fiancee had the steak w/ beans & nopales, and we tried the fish taco appetizer... Pretty authentic, good portions, cheap and BYOB... my kinda place!
Still heart me some Los Nopales and was excited to see them on Check, Please!
I know everyone complains that service is "slow", but I love not feeling rushed, like I'm more than just a table to turn over. The food has always been prompt, but you are encouraged to linger, talk, enjoy the company of whoever you are with. Big ups for that.
I can't believe that I didn't find Los Nopales before now, but I'm sure glad I did. This is a small… Read more »
Yum. Yum. Yum.
I'm pretty picky about Mexican food. I'm not really a fan of Tex-Mex. I want authentic tastes of Mexico, not the Epcot Center version.
Los Nopales was a pleasant surprise. We got in with no wait at 7:45 on a Saturday night. Shortly after, there were about 10 people in line. We squeaked in and grabbed the last two top.
A bright, clean and a little loud place that's perfect for a quick dinner out on the night that you don't want to cook or, in our case, a simple date night dinner before moving on to other places.
I love mole and the chicken mole enchiladas were so good. So good in fact, that I'll probably order them again if isn't wasn't for ... the fish tacos! The fish tacos are enough to make me forsake my beloved mole. We ordered the three fish tacos as our app and they were perfectly cooked, hot and dressed to perfection with a little pico, lime & avocado slices. Yum!
Our other meal was a combo plate with a chimicanga, a carne asada taco and a cheese enchilada. The carne asada was great and so tender. I never order a chimi, but this was a really good one. Light and not greasy at all.
Before our app was served, we were asked to switch tables to help accommodate a large party that had arrived. At first I was a little peeved, but in the end it wasn't a big deal at all and they sent dessert over to us at no charge. A nice gesture for sure.
Another hiccup was that our fish taco app didn't arrive just once, it arrived twice. When we explained that we'd already gotten our app, they offered to wrap it up for us to take as it was their error. So nice, huh?
The beans were creamy (and I'm sure full of lard) and the rice was fluffy and well seasoned. I really liked the salsas served with the meal, also.
Los Nopales will definitely be on my rotation!
Plain and simple - delicious food and love the fact that it's BYOB. Great for a group! The sopes are perfection... last time, I got them with chicken which was nice and tender, no "mystery meat" to be had. The complimentary chips come with two fantastic salsas, which are great on their own but also taste delicious mixed together or poured on your entree. This is one of those restaurants where you'll want to go back a million times and try everything on the menu!
What I want to know is, when half the Mexican joints in town make enchiladas in green sauce, how is it that they're so good at Los Nopales? Or it is this kind of enchilada is so bad everywhere else? Who's doing the cooking in all those other restaurants?
two weeks ago I had enchiladas in green sauce at another Mexican restaurant, and they were okay. Tonight, these were delicious. Even stuffed with cheese, they were light and flavorful. I ate the whole thing, rice and beans included, and I didn't feel stuffed, just satiated.
My friend asked for two different stuffings for her order of tacos. I started to say, the menu says you can't mix. But the waiter interrupted me. He said, no problem, of course we can make you the dinner you want. And it happened.
What does this restaurant do to hire such nice people? The waitress poured my friend's sprite and said, that looks like it might be flat. Do you want to taste it and see if it is okay? My friend tasted it, said, yes, it is flat, and the waitress immediately went to get another Sprite. The waitress didn't have to be told or asked; she actually paid attention to what she was serving.
Why do I go eat at other Mexican restaurants, I'm wondering? Beats me. Boy was this a good meal.
Come Eat and Enjoy Music
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