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18th (Pink, Blue Cermak)
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Excellent Mexican.The price quality ratio blows your mind. Free parking around the corner.
This place is a sure bet.
Every year we go to the Mexican Art Museum to see the Day of the Dead exhibit and then head over to Nuevo Leon for lunch. It has been a tradition with Christopher and I for many years now. Being wrapped up in the tradition thing, may cloud my judgement, but I really enjoy my annual trek to Pilsen.
I love that it is crowded and crazy. I love the chips and the salsa and the cup of chicken soup they bring you, I love the ATM machine in the middle of the place. I love my meals as well. It isn't the best Mexican food I have ever eaten, but it suits me and the occasion quite well.
Many of the Mexican reviewers have trashed the place, but it was a Mexican friend that first brought me here over 15 years ago and today as in every visit, the place was full of Mexican families, who all seemed to be enjoying their meals. I guess the nay sayers don't necessarily speak for an entire ethnic group, anymore than I speak for the Norwegians and Swedes. It is all personal opinion.
So............ next fall, we will be back to look for parking, fight the crowd, slurp the soup, snarf down the meal and talk about everything we loved at the museum. After all, it's tradition!!
Let me preface this review by saying I'm Mexican born and raised and know Mexican food quite well. I wish I would have seen that none of the other Hispanic Yelpers are giving this a good review before I went.
Let's start by saying the place does not take credit cards/debit cards, and they will not split checks. Parking is tough, so take the bus or train.
Upon coming in, the place was extremely too packed to be comfortable (throughout my meal, I had someone's ass in my face bumping me as they walked out). The manager was extremely rude, seating others who came in AFTER me and many other people ahead of me in line (I don't know why, since the parties were the same size/had no reservation!?!).
After being seated and waiting for over 10min, I was served two bowls of salsa and chips and 3 tortillas. Both salsas were BLAND and FLAVORLESS. It's fine if you take out the hot/spice a little bit for the Americans, but for the love of god, this sauce had NO taste whatsoever. The waitress came and said "Ready to order??" Uhm...yeah, hi to you too. I placed my order for a 100% fresh squeezed OJ in their menu and some Mexican garlic shrimp (Camarones al mojo de ajo).
Alas, the juice came. Hello Tropicana....so much for overpriced "fresh squeezed OJ." A while later, a plate was more thrown on my table than served. It was 8 measly flavorless shrimp that didn't have an ounce of garlic, with dried and leftover beans from one or two days ago (trust me, I would know) and rice (which was also left over). The sides were super small portions as well.
The waitress never once checked on me, never once asked if the food was ok, and by the time my shrimp had arrived, the tortillas they served were cold as heck (a major sin against any Mexican).
NEVER AGAIN. This was by far one of the worst experiences I've had in any Mexican restaurant in this area. Crappy food, crappy service, crappy restaurant. For the first time ever, I did not leave a tip.
If you're Mexican and eat here, I'm stripping you of your membership card ;)
Kinda OK, but nothing to write home about. Take this advice from a Mexican. The machacado (eggs and dried beef) is OK and the homemade flour tortillas are good, but the place has lost it's lustre as tourists, transplants, and newcomers have started coming here. Seems that not only has the quality of the food gone down, but so has the service. Trust me, I have been coming here since I was a baby 37 years ago! Being a native and life long resident of Pilsen, I can tell you that there is better just steps away.
For the most part, each of the entrees my friends and I ordered here were bland and somewhat boring (enchiladas, tacos, etc.). I don't know what it is, but the ingredients in many of the dishes were just lacking. One did rave about the mole, however.
Some positives -- it's BYOB here, and they give you little plastic cups to drink your booze out of. Amusing. Free chips/salsa and some sort of pork meatball came as appetizers without asking ...
More negatives -- we had a vegetarian friend come with us, but they couldn't eat anything on the menu. Not even a quesadilla, because everything they cook is made with pork fat/oil/etc. Everything. Even the chips. I guess he could have ordered a Horchata, but he just didn't eat so we felt bad and rushed our meal.
Also, no credit/debit cards are accepted here. There is an ATM, but it's always nice to know that sort of thing ahead of time so you could save a few dollars on fees.
Liked it a lot. Strong entrees (filete al nuevo leon and pollo mole ... I think that's what the wife had, anyway). Had chips, a decent appetizer (queso panelas) two entrees, an horchata and a soda for $32 before tip. And we both have lunch for tomorrow. Good value.
Crowded at 6pm on a Saturday, so be ready for that. Also, there are two rooms. Back room is brighter, maybe quieter.
Well... I... I don't know. I had heard several people say good things about this place and had only one person tell me it wasn't worth its salt. So, at face value it would seem this gamble wasn't too risky. However, if you factor in that none of the people giving this place a thumbs up was either Mexican or lived in Pilsen... and that the thumbs down came from a person that checked both of those boxes... it would seem I deserved eating/paying for this bland food.
Adding more injury to injury, this place doesn't serve booze and only takes cash. I went during the week, but I can't imagine how/why this place gets super-packed on the weekends. They say Montezuma's Revenge has to do with people not being able to travel to Mexico without getting sick. I'm starting to think the real curse is "gringos" shoveling down plate after plate at places like this, without ever knowing what truly delicious Mexican food tastes like.
I'll stop there and leave you with a few alternatives that are sure to please (even if I get lynched by my people for sharing precious, well-kept secrets):
1) Taqueria Casa Del Pueblo
2) La Condesa
3) La Playa Azul (for seafood).
So pick one, go, enjoy, and remember... you didn't hear about these places from me.
Mostly Hispanic families here for dinner on the Sunday night I visited, so I take that as a good sign of great food. I didn't notice any one dish that was ordered more than others, except that red meat in general was a popular choice. The menu is extensive - you can get just a few items (tacos, enchiladas, burritos) or a complete meal (meat, rice, and beans). I had the especial cazuela, which is sliced ribeye steak in a sauce with with grilled with onions, poblano peppers, and panela cheese - so good! Breakfasts are $5-7 and lunch/dinner is $8-12.
FYI - there's a tight parking lot that's free (get your ticket validated) around the corner, but it only fits 15-20 cars.
Cash only, friends, but Nuevo Leon is well worth the trouble. This restaurant is inexpensive, always busy, and very very tasty.
My favorite part about going to Nuevo Leon is that before you order anything, there is enough food to cover the table. Sure there is the standard free chips and salsa (not just one salsa, but two salsas that vary depending on the day), but then the waitress brings a free appetizer to each person at the table! The tasty treat varies depending on the day, but I have never been disappointed.
Although this place may not be the most authentic Mexican restaurant in town, it is a bargain for the money. A dinner sized entree can easily be had for under $10 and almost everything on the menu is under $15. The best part? I always leave with enough leftovers for the next day.
The one problem for many people is the crowded quarters in the restaurant. Even though it is a huge restaurant, there are always so many people that it is often elbow-to-elbow. Fortunately, the back room is often much quieter than the front room and for those that don't mind a little extra noise, the plethora of people just add to the ambiance.
INEXPENSIVE-CASH ONLY-BYOB
Reliable food, good service.
My daughter loves the huevos rancheros, the other daughter & I like the enchiladas suizas (you can choose your sauce-ancho, mole, or green & your cheese-white or yellow) and the chilequiles with tomatillo salsa and eggs. My husband likes the huevos americanos and the enchiladas suizas and the combination plate.
Nothing particularly exciting here---very reliably good food though.
Notably, Breakfast is available during ALL hours that they are open. Also good are the nachos dias, puerco asado, chilequiles, and the fresh pico de gallo, made on premises pickled jalapenos, fresh tomatilo salsa. I don't care for their mole, but my husband likes it.
I've been craving Nuevo Leon allll day!! Unfortunately I was stuck near campus because of a hellish class-schedule, so I was stuck with Chipotle. Normally I can get down with some veggie tacos there, but with Nuevo Leon on the brain, it just did NOT hit the spot. I'm still fiending.
For me, Nuevo Leon is only for certain occasions. Like when I'm feeling especially heiffer-ish and don't have anywhere else to go or anyone to impress. This way I can chill in some pants that stretch, because the food is tasty but does a number on your waistline, if only temporarily (unless you eat there regularly, then you might just need to do some new wardrobe shopping). But seriously, cheese wrapped in fried tortilla topped with more cheese will do that to you. But it may just be worth it.. and I'm saying this as someone whose favorite cuisine has never been Mexican.
My favorite things to get here are the enchiladas with mole... sooo good.. and the flautitas de queso panela are also sinfully delicious. There are many other yummy looking and smelling things that family and friends have gotten (and raved about), which I haven't gotten to try because I'm pretty sure the beans are not vegetarian.. but oh well. My brother is so taken with this place that one day (and I think this was food-coma induced) he made up a tribute for Nuevo Leone to Bob Dylan's "Forever Young." Not sure why that was his song of choice and can't remember what his exact lyrics were, but I do know that it was entertaining... and a great reason to come here, because apparently the food inspires creativity!
Nuevo Leon even brings you complementary appetizers, which vary but are always good. The food has stayed really cheap too. I spend less here than I do at really sub-par, hole-in-the-wall taquerias that cater to drunk people. And everybody knows drunk people think anything greasy tastes good, even if it sucks. My only complaints are that the servers aren't that friendly and they only accept cash, but again, considering the prices it's really not unreasonable.
AHHHHH!! TE QUIERO NUEVO LEON!!
Maybe tomorrow..
This place was SO BUSY today. We came here around noon but had to come back around 1:30pm, but when we saw that the line wasn't getting shorter, we just decided to wait. We got seated fairly quickly after we decided to stay, but the line was still growing.
Anyway, I ordered a combination platter because I couldn't make up my mind about what to order and my friend got a pork dish. She said it wasn't super flavorful, but my tortas and tamale were delicious.
The last time I was here, I got a pork burrito that was super huge and super delicious.
And the appetizers they give you before your meal are so yummy! they give you chips + salsa and a soup of sorts, along with pickled jalapenos.
I like this place, and it's reasonably priced. Just wished the line wasn't so crazy on the weekends.
Nuevo Leon is always bustling. It's a very casual restaurant that resembles a busy high school cafeteria. There are tons of people everywhere and you can't quite tell what line to wait in. It's extremely noisy. Very diverse crowd - families, hipsters, grandmas, yups, you name it, they go here.
The menu is pretty standard fare and competitively priced. The food resembles that of what you would think a home cooked meal would be like. The food is good but not great. I find that it is a little bland for my taste (I like really spicy food and marinated meat and such).
The service is a hit or miss, especially when busy. Most of the time you will be waiting for your check. I find this to be a good place to bring groups who aren't necessarily foodies and want a casual meal that's not in in yuppietown Chicago.
Make sure to bring cash as this is a cash only joint. Street parking is available - pay box.
Great Mexican food just far for me to go on a regular basis. The steak tacos were really good. Big cuts of ribeye not those small little squares of meat you get at other places. My friend ordered a side of mole and OMG! I haven't had mole that good since Oaxaca (home of mole)!!
It's worth a visit for the food and price (my three steak tacos were $5).
Neveo Leon is my neveo go to Mexican restaurant. Cheap, authentic and always tasty.
The only problem? I leave uncomfortably full each time from over eating! The eating starts from the moment you arrive.
Before you have a chance to look at the menu you are brought three types of salsa, escabeche, tortilla chips and some sort of an amuse bouche (entretiene boca?).
Everything is cheap. $6 combinations platters, $10 entree platos, and under $6 appetizers.
Highlights:
Escabeche
(warm) Green Salsa
Steak Fajitas
Pleasant and fast service
PS- I don't know if there is a difference between the two dining rooms but I have only sat in the front room.
IMHO, I give this place 3 stars. But my 1 yr old son loves this place. He really ate up the chips and guacamole, the rice and beans a.k.a. singing food, my hubby tells him, and the barbacoa, while he was shaking his half-chinese booty to the mexican dance mix coming from the jukebox.
Note to self, dine out with son at places with jukebox.
Good Mexican food! In a sea of fantastic Mexican restaurants (oh Pilsen, my delightful oasis for good, cheap tortas, enchiladas, horchatas, tostadas, tamales), Nuevo Leon stands out for its memorable decor & waitress "uniforms." So colorful!
In any case, food is good. Love the free chips, the various dipping options, and the meat on top of flour tortilla thing-a-ma-bop.
BYOB is also nice. Great for groups, good for small tables as well.
It is a beautiful Saturday afternoon and my wife and I are home with our two younger children. They both love Mexican food, so we decide to take them out for lunch to a Mexican restaurant. I take a look at my Check Please database (I know I'm a nut about that show) and we decide on Nuevo Leon. We have never been there before, my older two children have (and they loved it). We have heard rave reviews, so let's give it a try.
We arrive in Pilsen, after a good 40 to 45 mile drive. The place is busy for a late lunch, early dinner time period. We get seated almost right away. The place is really colorful inside with all the nice decorations.
So we start with a mini-taco appetizer. There were six delicious tacos on the plate. They also brought out chips, two different salsas and a complimentary appetizer of Puerico Asado, a bean and red pepper sauce (like a chili almost) that was truly outstanding on it's own. We even asked for an order to go, it was so good!
Then for our main course my wife and I ordered a Carna Asada type dish (only difference was no salad and an enchilida instead). The thin skirt steak was unbelievable. My wife and I both thought the steak was so well season and just out of this world. The only negative was we thought the guacamole on our plates was bland. Also if you are not a lover of Mole sauce (a type of dark chocolate and peanut butter mixed sauce), which my wife and I think is great for desert but not on our enchilidas, be aware that the Mole sauce is on your tasty cheese enchilidas.
Well my youngest daughter ordered a burrito plate and my youngest son ordered a taco plate. They both loved their dishes and finished everything off. Being the Dad I of course had to sample and I will say that the burrito and taco tasted like some of the best I have ever had.
So after being quite stuffed my wife and daughter both had a little bit of room for desert. So they both ordered Flan. I'm not a big Flan lover fan, it seems like people either love it or don't. Well they both loved it. They said it was some of the best Flan they have ever ordered.
So after finishing our lunch and feeling like we are ready to burst we get the bill. It was only $67 dollars, I think that is a good deal for all the food we ordered. The service was outstanding! Our waitress was so friendly, my wife said she reminded her of her mother. I will say she did remind me of my mother-in-law, with that friendly, caring type approach.
So will we go back to Nuevo Leon in Pilsen for more flavorful Mexican food? The answer is YES! It was definitely worth the 40 to 45 mile drive north for us. My family and I highly recommend Nuevo Leon!!
Guys this place doesnt even deserve 1 star.
We got 2 different salsa, chips and chicken soup as soon as we sat down. 1 salsa was bland and the other tasted funny (I still can't pinpoint the flavor, it might be of rancid water). The chicken soup was ok, bland as well.
I ordered the ENCHILADAS SUIZAS for my main which came with the usual beans and rice. The rice tasted of freezer burn , my enchiladas was smothered in cheese and flavorless. My friend tried my beans and said "beans are not supposed to taste like that". She ordered 3 steak tacos which she said were ok.
My best advice - go elsewhere.
Nueva Leon is not only low priced it's freakin' FANTASTIC!!!! They make one of the best Mole's (it rivals my favorite place in Mexico I love to go to for mole, they KNOW what they are doing). The place is clean, the staff is friendly and warm and the food will bring you back time and time again.
If you love mole, you'll love Nueva Leon!
Note: If you feel intimidated about going into the neighborhood, don't let this stop you, this ol' White Girl (me) has never had any issues and I have been going there for years with my friend Cindy.
i've only been here once but OMG good food. Would go again it's a hike for me though. It's BYOB I don't drink and i was at a table with many drinkers so that's good for me since we split the bill i didn't have to pay for a million drinks that gets added into my portion of the bill.
Parking sucks around this joint though and the parking lot fills up fast and sometimes cars get blocked in and takes forever to get to yours.
With so many reviews why even bother. Concordantly, I'll remain brief. There's a consistently good menu; however, nothing really stellar. The service is great. They should skim the fat off the chicken soup they serve and there's a dearth of vegetarian options, though that's somewhat expected with Mexican food. I like this place, a solid 4/5 stars.
Truly an institution, though it's in one of the best sections for Mexican food in the city. Nay, the country. Nuevo Leon, named after the Mexican state whose culinary style it is informed by, has some of the best Mexican food in town, made all the better when you BYOB your own Negro Modelo.
I need to go back there.
I had the "Pollo en Mole" (Chicken in a chocolate/bean based sauce) and it was delicious. This dish was something totally new and tasted like nothing i ever had before.By looking at my friend's plates, I knew i was going back there.
They serve chips w/ salsa and a small soup as free appetizers. The horchata there is legit.
Oh I really liked this place. The outside is so cute and the waiters are very nice on the inside. Also, and this is so silly, this is the first time I've been to a place that was BYOB. What an awesome way to drink! The portions are good, everything is flavorful and tastes fresh, and it's pretty reasonable. While the food is good, there's nothing really that stands out. I also don't think the guac (my favorite thing of ever) was all that great. Also, they don't take credit cards. A few minor quibbles, but nothing to stop me from going back.
My co-workers were kind enough to take me to this place for what they said was "the best" Mexican food (besides home cooked food obviously). Good Lord. I left with my stomach being full beyond belief. I'm not usually the type to just keep eating regardless of how full I might feel. But this place brought that side out of me.
The main room when you walk in is just way too crowded for my taste so I suggest going through the hallway on the right to one of the other two rooms. The seating is relatively tight but nothing too crazy.
After our waitress promptly took our order, she brought out a complimentary dish which had a big slice of potato and a meatball on it. I have to admit, I hesitated for a moment because I didn't understand the correlation between the two. But I ate it. Oh my gosh. I've never had a potato cooked so perfectly before. The meatball was so moist. And the sauce that both were cooked in...yum!
For a main course, I decided that I was going to stray a little from my usual choice of enchiladas with cheese. Ok maybe I didn't stray too far because I got three enchiladas suizas (with mole sauce). With that, you get refried beans and rice. For starters, I do not eat refried beans. They just don't look right. However, these were amazing. They weren't mushed up completely like I'm used to seeing. The mole sauce was unbelievably good. I cleaned the plate. And all for $6.
I honestly wasn't expecting to have such a great experience at this place. Its definitely one of my top choices for lunch! By the way, its cash only.
I was here with in a group of 6 last night, and I thought they handled the group well. Since they don't take reservations, I thought we would have to wait a while. But there were lots of tables for 6, so we were fine!
I saw another table had tequila and margarita mixer, and I thought we should bring that next time instead of wine.
The food was good, and quite plentiful. I was pretty much full by the time we were done with appetizers. After chips and salsa, veggies, chicken soup, and the queso con chorizo and a small other queso dish, I'd consumed a lot of food! The queso dishes were so good that I ate way too much of them.
I had flautas and they were good (except for the fact that they had sour cream on them when I asked for no sour cream, but I wiped it off). The rice was delicious, but the beans were a weird texture.
All in all it was very much worth the $11 I paid!
As others have stated, service is slow. The waitress was nice but she was serving the whole room. So everything took forever.
They say ''absence makes the heart grow fonder," but does it?
I was down the street shopping and couldn't resist the opportunity to pop in for a bite; it had been years since I last ate at NL and had fond memories of the food. I think, at least in this case, absence may have made my heart grow fonder, but it definitely made my memory grow foggier and forget some of NL's shortcomings.
The place was pretty busy when I arrived, but since it was the tail end of the lunch hour it thinned out quickly. Once I sat down I was given a menu, water, warm chips, 3 kinds of salsa, and a dish of peppers & carrots to nosh on.
Perusing the menu I was a little confused. I swear the main section was titled "a la carte," but all of those items were priced in the $11-12 range which seemed a little steep for a la carte, let alone Mexican. Maybe I misread it, or it just may be that my Spanish really sucks! On the back I found the Mexican standards, which was what I had in mind.
I was disappointed that there was only 1 combination to choose from. Half of the items in it were veggie and half were not; I would've asked to change it up, but that seemed too high maintenance (even for me). I looked for an option to get a single taco, enchilada, etc. to create my own meal, but everything came in 3's - FAIL.
I settled on the 3 tostadas for $6. My food came quickly and there was plenty of it, but it was pretty bland and flavorless, even after adding some of the salsa. My meal was really messy and hard to eat - thank goodness my place setting had a few thick napkins.
I struggled with giving this place 2 or 3 stars given the service (or lack thereof) that I received, I guess I'm feeling generous and maybe a little nostalgic by giving it 3. Her Surliness, my server, was very inattentive and unfriendly. If avoiding my table was a contest she would have taken home the blue ribbon! Her Surliness only stopped by to take my order and drop off my food; I had to flag her down to get more water. When I finished my plates were bussed quickly, but I sat trying to catch her eye for my check. The table next to me tried to do the same thing, but despite her knowing glances back at us she continued refilling and restocking salsas. It was only after about 10 minutes when another table near us was seated that she came by at which time we both flagged her down for our checks.
Bottom line: I doubt I'll be back. The food was adequate, not amazing like I remembered and the service stunk.
WARNING: Cash only! Once you get your check pay at the cashier.
TIP: It's BYOB
For Mexican food in the city it doesn't get better than this. Everything on the menu is great. Trust me I have had just about everything in the 20 years I have been going there. I was introduced to this by my father who religiously ate there while he was a resident at U of I med center.
The service is still good, the food is amazing, its byob so its cheap to drink, the food is amazing, they have parking for customers with an attendant, the food is amazing, its cheap as hell, oh and the food is amazing.
Amazing, inexpensive food! The Carne Asada is mouth watering! And their flour tortillas can put you into a glorious carb coma. If you're looking for some amazing eats at about $10 per person, this is it. Plus it's a BYOB. Breakfast is also great at about $4-8 per person. Just come early or else lines can get insane.
I was at a tattoo removal doctors office with my new girlfriend and wondered where we'd be able to eat after I got my old girlfriends name taken off the small of my back.
The doctor was kind enough to recommend Nuevo Leon, which has an excellent reputation here on yelp as well.
We were only a few blocks away, so after the XXXL band aid was placed on my back we headed out and down the street.
You cannot miss this place on 18th street. There is always a street vendor right outside the door.
So due to the location, public transit is easy...18th street Pink line is just 2 blocks up 18th street. But if you take a car, they have a free parking lot just down the block, though I didn't use it, I noticed it walking back to the car after the meal.
The menu is a great example of great mexican dishes. Aperitivos (Appertizers) consist of cooked and fresh items. Bedidas (Beverages) do not however include alcohol.....it is BYOB. An A La Carta section gives some great choices, but there are also Pescado Y Camarones (Fish & Shrimp), Almuerzo (Breakfast), Antojitos Mexicanos (meaning little mexican cravings) and is where you'll get the greatest varity of food in one dish PLUS the greatest cost savings....Finish off the menu with Tostadas, Tacos, and Postres(Desserts) and you have a great little menu. Prices for entrees range from as low as $5 for a veggie burrito to $13.50 for skirt steak so dirt cheap prices.
My girlfriend....Ouch....careful with the back honey.........became of like minds by ordering the same thing on the menu us which was off the Antojitos Mexicanos (meaning little mexican cravings) section and was the "Combinacion"....you don't want me to actually translate that one do you?!?! This dish allows you to try several items at once and only for $6....We got 1 beef taco, 1 bean tostada topped with cheese, lettuce, tomato, guacamole (yea) and sour cream, 1 tamale, and 1 cheese enchilada.
But hold on....I got ahead of myself. When you sit down you get water, chips and salas, and 1 Tostada which if you just sat down and ate this, you'd be half way through a meal. This is included in our $6 per entree price, so this is a real value. I ordered sweet tea as I rarely see this on menus in the Midwest and me being from the South I miss it terribly. They serve it with a lime, which is interested and actually good. The tea isn't quite souther tea, but good nonetheless.
The dishes were delivered and I ate everything off the plate...it was very good. Total bill was $14 for 2 people....insanely cheap no matter where you go...you couldn't buy this stuff and make at home for less.
If you are seeking great mexican at an even better price and BYOB, this is a must try on your list of places to try. It is a solid 4 stars for all the right reasons.
If you need the tattoo removal name just let me know...............*wink*
Ewwy, there are sooo many better places in Pilsen than this.
The best part of my meal was the hot chocolate... that in itself was 5 star and the only reason this place got the 2 stars I'm giving the overall rating.
My BF and I went on a Sunday late afternoon and it was friggin packed! They took us into the second room that was chalk full of SCREAMING children and everyone packed in so close that they don't even take you to your table, they point to it and let you find your own way to get to it. You'll be expert at sucking your gut in and apologizing to people you've knocked into by the time you make it there. The service is some of the slowest I've ever seen. For messy tacos, we were there for 2 hours. We had tiny water glasses that were never refilled and our food was dried out and old tasting at best. I could have licked a sidewalk and felt better about my day.
My work had gotten food and margaritas delivered from here for a company event and it was absolutely awful. Most people felt sick afterwards, there was not enough food for what we had ordered, and the margaritas had to be nothing more that sour mix and sunny d... they weren't even a normal color and tasted disgusting. Everyone there left hungry and with a sour, turned stomach.
Skip it unless you're looking for a grade A cup of Hot Chocolate.
This is a great gringo-friendly joint on 18th St. I have not had the chance to explore some of the other restaurants, but the food is cheap and the service is super fast. The restaurant can get very crowded, and if you go on a night that is busy, it can be a bit overwhelming.
If you want to stuff yourself for less than $20, this is the place.
Food coma. I just got home from dinner here and I am so so happily full.
For the food alone, this experience would rate 5 stars. Everything was outstanding. From the chips and salsas (and chicken noodle soup!) you get just for sitting down, to the quesos we ordered as appetizers (huge and full of melty cheesy delicousness) to the meal (I had the combination because I couldn't choose but everyone's food looked amazing) everything was delicious. It was hard to stop myself halfway through the meal and get a take home box (because, you know, I was stuffed from the queso) because it just tasted so good!!
Service, on the other hand, leaves something to be desired. They get kudos for trying. However, it should not have taken us 30 minutes just to get our check. They were clearly understaffed.
Luckily, we had plenty of wine to make the time pass and the food was so good that the service didn't matter as much. Oh, and did I mention that it was also super-cheap?? My combination meal (1 taco, 1 tostada, 1 enchilada, 1 tamale) was only $6!!! I will definitely be back!!
I have a love/hate relationship with Neuvo Leon
Many happy memories there, many sad memories there..
But when you're feeling sad... there's always the......
Combinacion! Plus chips and salsa, plus soup.. Gratis!
Add a horchata and the sadness is whisked away.
They also have delicious Menudo if you can stomach (PUN intended) it! Sadness again when there's no more to eat :(
The line at 1pm on a Saturday was out the door, and snaked to the back of the restaurant. Had I walked by, I would have found this off-putting and kept walking.
Luckily, we had sent someone from our party of 7 to get in line 30 minutes before the rest of us, so we only waited a few minutes. Line forgiven.
We sat down, and they immediately brought us this delicious pork appetizer. We also had guacamole, queso con chorizo, & a pitcher of horchata - triple yum! I kept my order simple - carne asada tacos, add cheese & sour cream. They were very good. Everyone at our table ordered something different, and everyone rolled out of there fat & happy.
Service was on the ball, and very friendly. For being a larger group during a crowded time, this was pretty impressive. The decor is bright and cheerful, nothing fancy but nothing to complain about. And the prices are great. My three tacos = $5.
I'd be happy to come back, as long as the line isn't too insane.
Obligatory disclaimer - Nuevo Leon is a solid 2.5 stars. Damn you Yelp for making me round! My boyfriend and I came in on a Friday night this past winter with some wine to kill and a mutual Mexican craving. I don't know why I expected this place to be nicer, but I was slightly disappointed when I arrived to find a very wood paneled, counter service, fast food setup.
The night was cold, and despite being seated towards the back of the room, we were hit with an arctic blast whenever someone entered or exited. Because of this, we never removed our coats. I sought optimism in that some of the most run down places in Chicago have the best food, but my optimism was sadly misplaced. The food wasn't bad, but there wasn't anything special to differentiate it from any other Mexican restaurant.
For an appetizer, we had the Nachos Dias which consisted of a cheese quesadilla with dollops of sour cream, guacamole, and bland ranchero sauce. For this, I give an apathetic 2 star "MEH." The same goes for the salsa, which was of regular grocery store jar quality. At least the chips were decent.
I ordered shrimp fajitas and they were shrimp fajitas. The shrimp tasted fresh and was of good quality, but it was the same dish to be had anywhere. It was good, but not great. My boyfriend had a special that consisted of skirt steak and a chorizo based sauce. I don't do chorizo, so I took my boyfriend's word that it was average as well.
I don't see myself making a return trip to Nuevo Leon because (as Candice G. stated) there are many places that are clearly better. The only cool thing about my visit was running into Astronomer Joe and his bad ass Chevelle as we were walking from the car.
Now we are talking MEXICAN! This place has the best tacos sabinas. These tacos have the right amount of "Spicy"in them and a delicious fresh flour tortilla which is unusual for me since I dislike flour tortillas. Trust me when I tell you, you will not find tacos like these anywhere else. The skirt steak, guisado the res and menudo are fantastic! They also have a great breakfast. I've only had one bad meal here which was the flauta dinner. Something about the corn tortilla they use for this meal isn't right.
This is the best authentic Mexican food in town if you don't mind the confined space.
It's a casual restaurant that can get cramped. Try to get seated in back area, which is a separate section of the restaurant that is away from the main entrance. A line will back up through the middle of the restaurant with people who are either waiting to be seated or waiting to order for carry-out.
The steak flautas are my favorite thing to get there! It has the right amount of filling and the right amount of crunch. The tacos are delish too. Really, I don't think you can go wrong with whatever you order.
The waitresses are super cute in their Mexican outfits. They say, "Excuse me!" when they serve your plates. The owner can be standoffish but who cares, the food is killer.
Definitely bring visitors from out of town or bring your significant other for a casual "try something new" date.
Every time we've headed to Pilsen on the weekend, we've stopped by Nuevo Leon and there's always a line and we've headed off to find something else but we tried it one Tuesday evening, no lines and no trouble parking, there was a spot right in front. 2nd visit was on Labor Day Monday, there was a line through the restaurant but we were seated almost immediately, the service and turnover here is very quick.
The interior is very casual, none of that hoity toity downtown Chicago gourmet Mexican food or atmosphere here. And none of that downtown hoity toity pricing either, we were stunned when the bill came and the damage was only $44 for 5 people including tax!
***Cash only, BYOB***
No hoity toity artfully designed, how much are those three nacho chips, small plate dishes either, the portions are enormous and the prices low. Before we saw the size of the dishes, we ordered a couple of appetizers, queso con chorizo ($8), Chihuahua cheese with onions, tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, homemade mexican sausage and fresh flour tortilla chips and Nachos Dias ($3.50), quesadilla halves with ranchero sauce, sour cream and guacamole. Even with 5 of us eating them, we were almost full after we ate them. And we still had main courses coming!!! I ordered enchiladas suizas ($6.00), 3 corn tortillas with a choice of sauce filled with ground beef or chicken, topped with cheese with rice and beans. 2nd visit I had a combinacion plate with a tamale, enchilada, tostado and taco, all of it good.
Free Taco with Combo Order!
Neighborhood: Roscoe Village
BYOB optional until 12/30/2009
Neighborhood: Logan Square
Neighborhood: Pilsen
Category: Mexican
Neighborhood: Little Village
Category: Restaurants
Neighborhood: Pilsen
Category: Mexican
Neighborhood: Pilsen
Category: Mexican
Neighborhood: Pilsen
Category: Mexican
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