I really like Mexican food, and I've been to quite a few local restaurants, including Nuevo León, which is my #1. This place is a close #2, and it is deserving of 5 stars. First of all, I HATE horrible customer service, which includes places with unfriendly wait staff. Not here! The young lady who helped us was super sweet, and she made us want to come back. Now, my 5 stars is based solely upon the meal I selected. I don't care too much about the ambiance and things like that, but overall, this "hole-in-the-wall" restaurant was clean as a whistle. By the way, "hole-in-the-wall" is not a negative description in my mind. I mean, Nuevo León falls in that category too. Now, if you want foo-foo, so-so food at ridiculously high prices, and it makes you FEEL better because you spent a lot of money... Goto the Gold Coast. I'm more interested in good flavor at reasonable prices. All I have to say is... Steak Burrito for $6.95 with a Horchata... What did Lynyrd Skynyrd's mom say? Be a simple man! You can thank me later. read more

This is. Hidden gem in summit! Delicious dishes from Michoacán Mexico! Drinks were amazing - and service was great! The location is big, loud and a great environment to have some good family time! Ask for drink specials recommendations from the house because the cooking style is different! A must visit when you need an evening out! DJ, karaoke and more! read more

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Excellent food, great value, good portions, everything is fresh. Delivery is always on time and hot. Order is always right.

Really good service & quality food. The lady at the counter is really nice. I ordered the steak burrito dinner last time and it was reallllly good!! I remember it having great flavor. I had a cold this week so I ordered the caldo de pollo and carrot juice. The caldo de pollo comes with a generous portion of chicken - a full chicken breast and a leg. The chicken and large vegetable chunks (zucchini, potato, carrot) in the soup are sooo tender. The soup had a really nice flavor and comes with a lemon wedge, cilantro, onion, corn tortillas, and a cup of rice on the side. I would definitely order it again! The carrot juice was freshly squeezed & tasty. read more

El Muchacho Alegre - Caldo de pollo (chicken soup), Zanahoria Juice (carrot), and quesadillas. - Mexican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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This place is still my family's (even extended family's) go-to Mexican spot by our house in Avondale/Hermosa. Everything is made super fresh, with pride! You must try the al pastor when they have it. The staff is friendly, accommodating, and everything about the food from prep to presentation is masterful. Horchata is on point. read more

This is my first and last time trying this restaurant. I bought a horchata, torta, and taco dinner. The horchata tasted sour and was really thick we immediately saw that as a red flag so we threw it away we proceeded to take a couple bites from our order we did not finish the food the food did not only cause me sick to feel horrible, but also my partner. I had to miss a day of work to go to the Emergency room. For your health please stay away from this location it's not worth the food poisoning/ Stomach infection. read more

I work in three different schools and one of them happens to be less than a block away from this restaurant. The other options are Subway or Wing Stop, so I have been here many a times. It is pretty good. Is it the most amazing tacos I have ever had? No. But does it hit the spot when I am craving tacos at work? Yes. I like their al pastor tacos and their guacamole. And their service is very friendly! If you are on a time limit for dining in, I would recommend calling in your order because their food takes awhile... read more

El Muchacho Alegre - Al pastor three taco meal! - Mexican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I absolutely love this place, until they started hiring new people. The food is amazing, but ever since they got new cashiers and new cooks it's been a disaster. I had ordered a taco dinner to go and instead of rice and beans the cook gave me double rice lol. Then I came back furious because obvi and his excuse was "sorry I just didn't have the beans ready." Well next time you let the customer know that it's going to be a longer wait instead of giving me double rice!! The food also tasted bland, not what I'm use to! I never dine in, I always do pick up. Lately just to get a hold of someone over the phone so I can order is impossible! I've spent 20 min trying to call them in advance and when someone finally picked up I was on hold for 6 min. By then I had already gotten there and just ordered in person.... Both of these times were not busy or at a hectic time. It's clear no one knows what they're doing. Like I said, amazing food. (Which is the ONLY reason I continue to deal w/ the bull) I strongly suggest to who ever owns this place that they do some extensive training if they don't want it to fail. Not everyone is going to be as patient as me. read more

so good! lived down the street forever and stopped in at random today and im so glad i did. loved the birria meal :) and our server was really sweet! read more

Came here for breakfast & had chilaquiles verdes which were fantastic! I was surprised to see they didn't have a yelp page given the quality of the food. Also, the prices are so cheap! $5.50-$6.00 for chilaquiles, huevos rancheros, etc?! I'm in. Our server (the only person in there from what we could see) was the absolute sweetest. She smiled a lot and wanted to make us feel welcome. Was also pleasantly surprised to see they took debit. I'll definitely be back. read more

El Muchacho Alegre - menus for the main dishes - Mexican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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I'm sorry to say this location is very disappointing. We went to get some authentic and quality, hole in the wall type Mexican food. The camarones a la Diablo is one of my favorite go-tos. Never had it where the sauce was essential bbq chicken wing hot sauce. To add to that, the shrimp tasted none to fresh. I don't like giving negative reviews, but this was not good. read more

Tried this place out on a whim The Taco joint next to the liquor store had their credit card machine down, so we opted for Muchacho Alegre Omfg What have we come upon??! Super Fresh Guacamole w homemade chips My shrimp fajitas are generous, muy rico Bf is demolishing his steak tacos..havent heard a word in 10 minutes. Excellent value Superb service Will be back. :) read more

The chimichanga and fajitas were delicious! Service was fast and friendly! This was a very nice spot within walking distance from our place that we will definitely visit again! Loved the colorful artwork! read more

I hate to give a bad review because the staff was very friendly, but the food warrants it. I was craving tacos Tuesday night and because l'patron was closed I decided to try somewhere new. The place looks like your typical hole in wall Mexican joint. I ordered the taco dinner and an order of nachos. The nachos were just kinda weird. Melted cheese randomly throughout and blobs of sour cream and guac. They weren't awful but nothing great. It was the tacos that really disappointed. The meat was very bland and the toppings were just off. They advertised onions but I didn't taste them. Mostly just lettuce and tomato. I like my seasoned meat greasy and with a punch of flavor. This place doesn't do that. Seems like it would be decent drunk food, but not great dinner food. Also, my boyfriend ordered tacos with no lettuce and they gave him lettuce, so there's that. read more

El Muchacho Alegre - Taco dinner with steak, pastor, and chicken. Under seasoned. - Mexican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

The tacos are a great price and larger than your typical taco. So tasty! 10/10 recommend

The reason why this place doesn't get a five star for me is because I've been ordering here for years sometimes the meat is good sometimes the meat tastes like I just got scraped off the grill along with everybody else's order I can taste the charcoal and its not good sometimes are good sometimes they're bad I don't go there lately because it's just too iffy I'm not sure what it's going to be any more so I rather go to El Gordo's that is just down Belmont where food is great every time read more

Love this place! Great authentic Mexican food, very fast takeout service, super friendly and they also offer delivery. I have had the flautas, enchiladas, chilaquiles and carne el muchacho alegre entree and it has been delicious and fantastic service every time. Grateful to have them in the neighborhood and highly recommend! read more

Best food in Belmont Gardens by far. I'm mainly writing this review because the girl that works the register is just the sweetest. Super friendly and polite on the phone, wish I knew her name! She's the reason we keep coming back! read more

Ive only had tacos from here and they're great! I especially love their rajas con queso tacos.

My family and I frequently have dinner here. The shrimp soup is delicious. I also love the enchiladas. The chips are served warm the prices are affordable and they also have a vegetarian menu. read more

Amazing service and delicious food. I have a habit of making difficult orders. Or irregular orders I like extra meat and to hold certain toppings the waitress didn't even blink an eye and she was pleasant throughout my entire meal. read more

My hubby works late hrs. So we like to go here for dinner. Amazing food. Friendly ppl. Their Muchacho Alegre plate delicious and spicy. And byob. You gotta try it. read more

This place was amazing! Fast, fresh and affordable. Im usually not in the mood for Mexican food, but this is my new go to spot! I'll order again in a heartbeat. read more

Favorite taco dispensary in Belmont Gardens. Go to place for tacos and guacamole. Fast, cheap and above par.

I love this place. I've tried their tacos, enchiladas, flautas, and camarones a la Diabla. Delicious!!! Small place, fast service.

The tacos, burritos, rice, beans, chips, and salsa... All very good! :) I've been here too many times and even went through the phase of coming here once a week. Very friendly staff here as well! read more

Good food. Friendly staff. They can do "delivery" but you probably shouldnt ever get mexican food delivered and expect good results. That being said... i've done both. Eat in and delivery (once in a while). They pull off both well. For a neighborhood shop they hold their own. The horchata is fresh. Typical tacos and dinner specials are good. Especially eating in. Seems like portions are better sized than if you go with delivery. On occasion i've gotten a pretty good complimentary appetizer chicken soup. My favorites are the tortas and flautas. Dinner style brings more value. They also dont fail on custom type orders. I myself dont like tomatoes. And this place has always kept my order correct when i tell them to "no tomatoes". It typically upsets me when small shops cant keep a detail like that correct. This place does get it right that way. The prices are perfect for a place this size and for the food they have. I dont want to say "cheap" and have that imply the food is 'cheap'. The food is great for the low prices or reasonable prices they have going. I live in the area and like having them as an option when i'm commuting home. Also the hours are pretty cool for someone like me. I come home late and in this area it not easy to find places open after 10pm on weeknights with food this good. They have also saved me with phone in orders for pick up. I've done that a few times to keep from having to cook up dinner. That to me works better than delivery. Since i've asked them to have my order ready at a specific time and then i swoosh in to grab it and go. They have a big screen tv going. Most times its on spanish channels. but often its on futbol (soccer). Either are pretty entertaining if you eat in. Go and give it a try. Its worth it. read more