Trivia time: What do you call a place that pre-makes its food, has mariachi music playing, waitstaff that don't speak very good English and has Corona signs all over? Ding, ding, ding. The average Mexican restaurant. And Don Ole is just that. The food's not bad, or that great. If you want Mexican food in Highland but no Taco Bell, Don Ole is for you. And if that doesn't satisfy, I hope you don't mind driving to Edwardsville and O'Fallon (IL) for more selections. I remember when the place was a gas station (for real!). The bathrooms could use some fixing. read more

Don Ole Mexican Restaurant - Cheese steak - Mexican Near Me - Highland, Illinois

Oh my gosh my son and I went there today and it was awful we spent $40 I couldn't eat my food it was awful . There was spaghetti sauce on a burrito with Parmesan cheese. It was bad. So bad.!! read more

Always great food, great margaritas, great service! Truly Mexican decor; ambiance is a friendly atmosphere. Children are welcomed with many kid choices. read more

the food is spectacular and the staff are truly amazing I love the decor. Everything is always perfect. 10/10 would recommend

Stopped by here with a buddy of mine and the food was amazing. The staff were also very friendly and would always check up on us to see if we needed anything else! Would recommend to check them out if you're in town! read more

In my opinion the worse Mexican food I have ever tried. I ordered pork tacos and honestly they were really bad. I had the impression the food was cooked 3 days before I went to the restaurant. Otherwise the service fast and friendly. read more

I would give this place a 5 but it's super pricey. Some of the menu items are crazy expensive. I went with a friend of mine and decided to try it out. Amazing food but not great drinks. Diet Coke tasted a little weird but I dealt with it. Would I go here or McDonalds if I was on a budget McDonald's 100%. read more

What a delightful find... Just went driving through the country one day and found ourselves further in the country than we thought...? Mexican food in the heart of small town USA. Without much expectation, we went in and was much surprised by the locals who completely packed the place. It had a friendly Mexican wait staff with great service and original Mexican food. My fajitas were awesome. read more

Waited two hours for the worst Mexican food I have ever experienced. The waitress said she screwed up placing our order in the computer but the table next to us also complained about the wait so I think they are simply incompetent. Anyway, after discovering the error it was another hour yet before we were served. When the food finally arrived it was nearly inedible. My chimichanga was tiny and covered in sour cream (?) and my son's bean burrito had ranchero sauce all over it. I think it was a frozen/microwave burrito from the grocery store. I could go on. The walls are dirty and there are no paper towels in the bathroom. I admit I am from Southern California so I guess I have high standards in Mexican food...but this place is monumentally terrible. It's cheap, which I guess is how they stay in business. But if you want cheap Mexican go to Taco Bell. Stay far, far away from Don Ole. read more

If you are eating at Don Ole's, I have to assume you don't want to leave Highland; and thus, have realistic expectations of what's available here. Upon entering Don's I was immediately greeted by the friendly wait staff and shown to my table. Even though the place was packed they took the time to answer a few questions and promptly brought me my ice tea. The menu is extensive, offering everything from basic mexican fare to more courageous shrimp and fish plates. I went straight to the vegetarian listings and stifled a laugh.... of the four choices offered, not one contained a vegetable. however, in circling back with the friendly staff, I learned I could order a veggie fajita plate with broccoli, onions, peppers and mushrooms. Happy, I settled on in. When the food arrived it was crisp and flavorable, not soggy and stale. Yum. I opted for the flour tortillas, which were moist and delicious. I didn't order an alcoholic beverage but saw that most patrons were enjoying one, so you can probably get what you're looking for here. Prices are reasonable and portions generous, so you will leave feeling fat and well taken care of. In all a nice experience. read more

If I could give this place 1/2 a star I would. The service is killing this place! The food is ok. Just like any run of the mill Americanized Mexican food. But that's okay because sometimes you just want cheese dip and chips. But when we go in and eat it takes 30 minutes to get a drink an hour + to get food! Okay so bypass dine in and get carry out... NOT! This place put the phone down after answering it ( not on hold just put the headset down) and continued about their business. I can hear them cashing out customers okay fine 5 min. I can hear them taking other orders. Okay 10 min. I can hear them chatting together 15MIN!!!! I am on the phone. No one picks me back up. So I try calling back. Nope. Phones still off the hook 20 min later. They really need a re-staff or new management. Because I won't be going back until then. read more

Yum! Don Ole is your typical Mexican Restaurant with wonderful servers, food, and best of all: Margaritas! I was craving it so badly during quarantine that we even tried carry-out and they did not disappoint! They had clear signage, hot food, and great germ-free service. My only complaint is the odd one-way parking. I'll be back soon! read more

We have now visited this restaurant 3 times. We wished so much there was a decent restaurant in town serving Mexican food; we tried multiple times to find Don Ole to our liking but to have no such luck. The only thing to get here is an ice cold beer. The salsa tastes like ketchup, the place is filthy, and the food was tasteless except where it was burnt (which was inedible). My husband had a piece of chicken knuckle (or something that looked like and had the texture of one) in his chimichanga and the actual chicken meat had zero spices. It didn't look deep fried, but pan burnt. Each time we've been disappointed and this last time will be our last ever visit. read more

Was told my carry out order would be ready in 15 minutes. 45 minutes later I got my order. Watched my food sit there on serving shelf on kitchen for 15 minutes. Once I asked the second server, both equally rude, could I please have my order she finally put it a bag. Got home to curdled sour cream read more

Great food. Great lunch specials. Great service. Really enjoy going here. Food can be a bit salty at times. But overall will keep going back

Walked in this place on a Friday night place was about half full of customers. When we walked in there was two lines of customers 4 people waiting to check out and 4 people waiting to be seated. After all 4 people were checked, about 4 waitresses walked by everyone waiting, no one talked to us or acknowledged those who were waiting to be seated. After another family checked out, I asked if we have to wait to be seated or could we seat ourselves. The waitress was extremely rude and said yes you have to wait. Then continued to ignore us. Not sure why it is so hard to manage both groups of people but seems easy enough to handle customers based on when they arrived. After a total of 20 mins we just walked out. I'm tired of paying for crappie service. Won't go back here. read more

We have been going here for several years. Over the past couple of years, it has declined in quality of food. We decided to make another visit to see if they have improved. First glance, the place was not very clean or organized. The food arrived, it was by far the worst taste I have ever taken. There was so much salt, you could not eat it. The waitress did not seemed surprised, and offered to have another plate remade. Upon arrival of the second plate, it was better, but not very good. Do not waste your time or money on this restaurant. A real shame to see this place go bad after several years of good food and service. read more

This is the absolute worse my family and I have ever been treated!!! Horrible rude service and not even busy! Hand down the worse restaurant in Highland!!! read more

After reading the other reviews, I am wondering if I am at the same place they are talking about! The salsa had some spark to it but is made for the tender palate and the chips on both visits were hot and fresh and REALLY good. They are unsalted which is fine with me--you can always ADD salt but you can't remove it. Moving on, I had an excellent quesadilla and a chili relleno that was delicious and a beef taco that was about the best one I have ever had. My husband had chicken and steak fajitas that were FABULOUS. Perfectly cooked, sizzling and not salty at all--which is unusual since most fajita recipes use soy sauce for marinade that adds far too much salt to the dish. I like to order a la carte and without sauces since I can't eat the rice and beans for medical reasons and I'm not a sauce person. I had enchiladas on my first visit that were also excellent--even the iced tea was good Service was pleasant and efficient and the prices were totally fair. I'm STUNNED by all the bad reviews--and I didn't write ANY of them! Beloved husband and mama G enjoyed their meals as well, so I don't understand why it's not more highly rated. Two visits on two consecutive weeks and it was consistent as well as really good. The beans are a little soupy though--I prefer chunky and thick beans that mound up on the plate (like Chavas in Edwardsville serves) rather than a puddle of bean soup like many places have but I can't ding them a whole star for that since they ARE thicker than many places. Ignore the reviews and give it a shot--you'll be glad you did. read more

My favorite local place for Mexican food. Good service, good atmosphere, good prices.

This place is awful. No, this isn't from 1 experience. Sadly, we have shirt term memory loss apparently and keep going back. So, here is my collective 4-5 visit experience. Their serviceice is nothing short of terrible (last night, my 2 year old dropped a fork on the floor..we never got another one). Their chips are stale, their salsa is blah, their food is incredibly oily. Oh... margaritas? I think they are made from some mix. Just embarrassing for a Mexican restaurant. There are plenty of options in Edwardsville. I'd recommend heading west. read more

Let me start off with saying this was not our first choice of places to eat but apparently everything in Highland closes up before 9 o'clock. We were in town playing some softball and after the games went out looking for a place to eat. Don Ole was open, kind of. We were the only guests in the place and they were tearing the place a part cleaning it (maybe they got work of all the other reviews that said it was dirty). Anyway, I ordered the Don Juan taco special they had advertised on the door and my husband some sort of nacho plate. As with most Mexican restaurants the service was very fast, salsa and chips on the table nearly immediately after sitting down. The salsa bowl was nearly empty though, they brought enough for less than 10 chip dips. The chips were stale and the salsa was the most bland I've ever tasted. Then, the food came. My dish was meant to have fried taco shells and it did but they were cold and soggy, clearly not fresh, the chicken had absolutely no flavor either. The beans and rice tasted acceptable so that's basically what I ate. My husband's nacho dish looked to be huge, but it was basically all lettuce piled up, seriously it only had a handful of chips around the edges too. He said it was also flavorless. No salt, peppers, spices, anything that you would expect from even the most basic Mexican food. I'll definitely but going hungry and drive back home before I'll stop and eat here again. read more

Went here to eat with a friend and was disappointed with the experience. Service was slow, the salsa chips were stale, and the food was served on plates scalding hot - not warm, but oven temperature. Table top was wobbly and the place wasn't very clean. read more

Wow what happened to this place. It has been about six months since we last ate here and it has gone downhill. The salsa dip tasted like ragu spaghetti sauce. A taco salad was half the size as it used to be. The seat we were on was torn. A cheese dip we got to replace the bad salsa was over three bucks and was terrible and tasteless. Will not return. read more

Best Mexican food for 20 miles. Great food. Great service. Clean. We come here about every other month to get our fix.

get the cheese steak...its to die for! i travel over 20 minutes once a week to get this delicatable meal!!!