I had an incredible shrimp and octopus tostada. It was fresh and delicious with very well balanced flavor. A baseball size heap on top made just one enough. Service was awesome with a smiling face up front. I placed my order and sat down. I was given two kinds of salsa along with free chips at the table. I received my food within five minutes.. The restaurant itself was very clean and inviting. I've told many people about this place. Can't wait to come back. read more

El Palmar - The shrimp and octopus tostada! - Mexican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Very good spot for a quick and tasty meal! The food has been consistently good every time we have come. The staff is very friendly and very quick to bring you chips and salsa and to get your orders in. The food was out extremely fast. We got 2 margarita's to start, the mango was a bit too syrupy for my liking, but the lime was nice and refreshing! This time we tried a shrimp empanada, pastor burrito, and pastor torta. All 3 dishes were very delicious and flavorful. The portions are huge for a very fair price point. If you're looking for a very delicious and quick place to eat, El Palmar is a great option! read more

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Was in the area looking for a quick Mexican meal and stumbled upon this place. The inside is nothing fancy, featuring checkered tiled floors, some small wood tables, TVs playing soccer games and cumbia music playing in the background - it's fitting for the environment. The menu has a lot of options but I had my mind set on a steak burrito. I was not ready for just how big this thing is. It was loaded with tons of steak, beans and veggies. It was a great deal for the portion, and a pretty decent burrito. I got a tamarind aguas frescas it too and it was refreshing. Another plus was the free chips and salsa, you don't see that often anymore. Salsa was good, red one had a bit of heat. I'd come back for an affordable quick mexican meal for sure. read more

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I did not enjoy my chicken tacos. The meat was very peculiar, and the rice n beans lacked some flavor. Very nice presentation though. read more

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Came here with husband, daughter, son in law and toddler granddaughter for dinner on Saturday night at about 6pm. Seated immediately and water and menus brought to table, along with chips and red and green salsa (both yummy- red was pretty spicy). Big menu, and also a children's menu. They have high chairs. We all got drinks- my pina collada was very good and they didn't skimp on the alcohol, husband liked his frozen strawberry margarita, daughter and son in law just thought their mango ones were ok. Granddaughter loved the chips! (They brought more graciously). For dinner I got the chicken enchilada suiza and it was excellent, including the rice and beans. Portions are huge. Husband got the pastor burrito dinner and he enjoyed it- pastor wasn't the best ever but it was good. Son in law got chicken mole dinner and he was very happy with it. Daughter got chilaquiles which she said was ok but nothing special. Granddaughter couldn't stop eating her quesadilla, rice and beans. Prices are reasonable. Lots of food was taken home. This is going to be our neighborhood Mexican go to. Sorry no photos- we were having too much fun eating! read more

El Palmar has become one of our go tos for a quick and yummy meal. We typically order take out - chicken chimichanga, tacos, burritos - and it's all be great. We finally ate in a few weeks ago and tried the shrimp cocktail and the chicken mole. The shrimp cocktail was good but the star of that meal was definitely the mole. The chicken fell right off the bone and the sauce had great flavor. Our friends ordered the paella and seemed to enjoy it! read more

El Palmar - Shrimp cocktail - Mexican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Went here once on a drunken day out and remembered it because it was that good! Today we went on a date before the beach, when I tell you the oysters with ceviche on top (prepared) were the best we have had it's not a joke. This place is also not for the faint of spice, if you're scared of spicy don't eat their red salsa. I'm the girl that asks for it most spicy and when you get their chips and salsa, the heat hit my mouth I knew I was in for a treat. The shrimp and octopus was chopped to perfection for the ceviche topped on top of the oysters and the drinks were not shy of alcohol. As we were then I told my girls we have a mariscos date coming up. For the price and quality of food there is nothing that beats El Palmar in Chicago. Please check them out you won't be disappointed. read more

El Palmar - Margarita on the rocks and Michelada - Mexican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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I love this place so much- food quality is unmatched. Fast, fresh- affordable. Definitely the best Mexican on the north side. Can't go wrong. Have been probably 100 times and will go 100 times more. read more

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Tried some more yummy foods from El Palmar. They definitely hit the spot when you're craving some authentic Mexican tacos. We also ordered ceviche which comes in a small or large portion size. The large portion size would probably be best for 3 or more peopl because it was a lot of leftovers for my fiancé and I. The drinks were strong and really delicious. The service can take quite some time especially since they're always busy so you may need to flag them down frequently to get their attention! read more

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I want you all to do the math and tell me if it's okay.....I have never in my 40yrs of life as a Mexican spent more than $20 on a plate of chilaquiles. They advertise chilaquiles with eggs for $13.95 BUT THEY STILL CHARGED ME $3.95 on top of that $14 for a piece of "market priced" cesina $14 dollars for a total of $32. Ask how much the meat is before you get it because they are charging $14 for chicken or steak!!!!! read more

El Palmar - Menu - Mexican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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I called to ask to talk with the manager because I had a question about something and they said the manager doesn't work at all. The food is okay but service sucks. Don't waste your money, time or energy! read more

The Michelada El Palmar was great. The Al pastor is phenomenal. We also really loved the Ceviche Tostada. The service is also very good read more

El Palmar - Michelada El Palmar - Mexican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Good service . Terrible, awful food. I order steak flautas and the meat was raw , all fat , nasty . I had to spend the back. Than I order Chile relleno taco and chorizo, no flavor. I don't recommend this place, will not be going back. Half of food items are market price , seafood its understandable but enchiladas , flautas etc., ridiculous. I never been to any Mexican restaurant in chicago that almost the whole menu its market price except tacos read more

....just, no. The tables are so sticky. I couldn't even remove my paper receipt from the table after I signed it as it stuck to the table. Actually kinda gross. Weirdly most of the menu items have no prices. They say "market price". This is for standard items. I asked my server how much the enchilada dinner was. "It's like....oh....$19", she said. I said, really?! "That's for steak enchiladas." I told her I wanted chicken. "That's like......oh.....$15." I need prices more concrete than "like". I have a suspicion that the restaurant charges, like, whatever they feel like doing. I ordered the chicken enchiladas for "like $15". Huge portion, but I've had much better. The refried beans were like the color of grey-wallpaper glue. Was given only, like, a fork to eat with. No spoon or knife. Maybe I had to pay extra market-place prices for cutlery. read more

I didn't know how I felt about a drink with seafood in it, but their drinks are so fun, I got the Michelada El Palmar, like a bloodymary with a whole upside down Corona (I substituted) 6 shrimp, two huge cucumber slices and a side of crevice (I think can be served in the drink). It was $15 and well worth it, it was a meal in its own, I barley touched my entree. They also seem to have inventive entrees, I saw a guy get a bunch of seafood served in half of a pineapple! Even my friends enchiladas were presented very nicely. Everything was large portions. The Mango margarita is soooo good with the sweet and salty rim they put around it! I also heard they offer Mexican hot chocolate even for delivery through GrubHub! Mexican restaurants are a dime a dozen in Lakeview, but this one is so special, definitely check it out! read more

El Palmar - Michelada El Palmar, so good! - Mexican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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At one point this place was one of my most faves. All around. I had previously stated this. And now... not sure we'll go back. The prices have gone up and they are just not clean. The napkin my spoon came wrapped in... dirty. The extra napkins brought to our table dirty. The service was not the best and... just, I can get better for cheaper. #shrug read more

The wife and I met some friends here for dinner. The service is very good. I like that the server spoke to me in Spanish even though I am not a Spanish speaker. Friends translated what my high school Spanish could not. We started with margaritas, which I liked and the wife did not. She found them to be too sweet and sticky. I didn't have that problem. The chips and guacamole were good, but not awesome. The salsas provided with the chips were unremarkable. I ordered the camarones a la diabla, which was a bunch of shrimp in a spicy (by Chicago standards) red sauce. The fish came with about 25 soft corn tortillas, which were useful for making mini-shrimp soft tacos. It was messy, but good. The wife had enchiladas rojas, which she called the best enchiladas she has ever had. It was all about the cheese. read more

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I love this place so much!!! Best, most authentic Mexican food in the area! High quality meat and seafood. As I've seen in other reviews the wait staff may seem a bit cold at first, but I am a regular here and they are always very nice to me but I think it is because some of them just don't speak the most fluent English which just goes to show how authentic this place is. I may be a gringa but I love Mexican food and this is truly some of the absolute best!! read more

Went to el palmar as my coworkers suggested. We had the enchiladas, chip, and steak tacos. They really loved the horchata drinks too from this place. The pricing is fair and the food is good, Probably better than most places surrounding Irving Park and Broadway, thorek hospital. Margarita was very nice to super sweet to my son. You can actually find parking here at this location right in front. Some other diner suggested the Langostinos, Next time I will have to try that. Decent authentic Mexican fare and good Variety too they offer. read more

Went here about a month or so ago. The food is very good. Big drawback is lack of street parking! However I did find some on side street so it is possible although I would avoid area if Cubs are in town. The Guacamole was fresh and very flavorful and they give a good size portion. I had enchiladas verde and they were excellent. The chicken was tender and tasted very fresh. I recommend this place although they do have several items that display " market price" but just ask and they tell you . It wasn't very busy so that was nice because it is not very large. All in all give them a try I was satisfied and will go back to try some of the other items. read more

The food was good but the service very bad and have a bad attitude, sends out food but no napkins and when we asked for napkins she put them on top of our food. We also got plastic utensils I would expect to get real utensils unless it's to go so we are here struggling to fit our food in the tiny forks read more

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Really bad experience here. All I wanted was a steak burrito. What I got looked like and had the texture of a wet diaper. The tortilla was soggy but the cheese on the inside of the burrito was all melted. The steak was hot with absolutely no flavor. I couldn't get through even one bite of this. My best guess is that they had precooked steak (I never heard the sizzle of steak on a grill being cooked), added cheese etc, then microwaved the burrito inside the tortilla. I've eaten a lot of Mexican food and burritos in my time, and this was easily the worst I've ever eaten. This was an embarrassment to Mexican food. I imagine you'd risk being shot serving this disgusting mess anywhere near Mexico. Obviously, I'll never be going back. What a shame. read more

Was a random spot choice but my man and I were starving so we went the distance for our cravings! Let me say this place did not disappoint! Everything we ordered was so bomb and fresh! The portions are pretty huge so keep that in mind when ordering. We ate pescatarian and both were stuffed and impressed. So I highly recommend the pets tees with ceviche on top! Omg! And the michelada with the 40oz corona familiar! Omggggg! I'm in a food coma and can't move. Go enjoy! read more

El Palmar - Michelada el pierda - Mexican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Came here for a quick lunch. It was not busy and it is seat yourself. Ordered the El Pastor burrito. It was good and very filling. The chips and salsa was provided. Chips were very scarce as compared to others sitting alone. read more

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YO. This place is BOMB. It's right next to the Holiday Club and the tacos are cheeeeeeeap. The tacos are HUGE, btw: the toppings are just MOUNDED on top. I felt full after two tacos (pastor and tripe). Damn that tripe taco was mind-blowing; perfectly crispy exterior and chewy...interior? Lol. (Next time, I must remember to ask them for just cilantro and onions; they ended up handing me tacos that has tomatoes and lettuce on them. Eh. Next time.) The whole place is very bare bones with bright, fluorescent lights, but they're open until 2 AM, which is a godsend so I ain't complaining. They also take card which is GREAT. They give you chips and salsa when you sit down and both the red and green salsas are smoky and spicy AF. They're great for spooning over the tacos but I wasn't personally a fan of dipping the extra crunchy tortilla chips in 'em. The next time you stagger out of a Cubs game, do yourself a favor and hop down a few blocks to El Palmar, post up there for a few tacos, and your belly will thank me later. read more

El Palmar - Chicken tacos up top, guac in the middle, and my pastor and tripe tacos below. - Mexican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Large delicious portions and very reasonable prices. Excellent tacos. Service was great

It was good, music was loud (not even good loud) & on heavy rotation, it was a bit annoying. The wait was terrible to get the check but overall, food is good read more

Came on a Saturday and they said they were closed . It was almost 10pm and online it said they closed at 2am. Very disappointed.

I always love coming to El Palmar. Great great food, with a bunch of amazing options. This is one of the few places where I feel I could order multiple things from the menu and be happy with all of them. They have really good seafood too. The drinks here are so fun too! The only bad experiences I've had with El Palmar would be ordering delivery on the phone, because the woman who takes the orders seems to have trouble understanding even the delivery address, which is definitely a problem. We've learned just to go in rather than try to order delivery. read more

El Palmar - Mexican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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I want to go to the order tonight this restaurant there is 2 waiters working I ready too order my food and I tell them both ready too ordered but no one like nothing hear me I still standing waiting them like 10 min no one take my order so bad service and I nothing order just leave the restaurant so annoying read more

Still my favorite spot for Langostinos & raw oysters . My mouth is watering just thinking about it. I think the plain raw oysters is better in my opinion. It has a touch of olive oil . Taste soooo good with the tapatio hot sauce, lime and a pinch of salt ! read more

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Came in here, a little hungover, and got chilaquiles. They were fantastic. Huge portions and great flavor. I got them rojo, with eggs on top. The coffee was also very good. Ambience wise, this is a pretty standard taqueria setting, either you like that or you don't. read more

El Palmar - Mexican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Rather unfortunate experience. El Palmar is located close to my job, but many of my coworkers have warned me against coming here, because their meat has always been substandard. As a vegetarian, I figured this wouldn't affect me, and decided to give it a try for lunch, around 12:30. It was fairly busy but my friend and I had no trouble getting a table. Free nachos and salsa for dine-ins, but they might as well keep it to themselves- the chips were stale/old. I wasn't a huge fan of the salsa either, they weren't spicy or flavorful enough for me. I appreciated the vegetarian taco options- I bought a chili rileno and veggie taco, but the chili rileno's batter had an odd taste to it, like it was undercooked, and I ended up throwing it away. Service was very prompt though, and the veggie taco was decent. I'm hoping this was a one-off experience, but due to no dearth of taquerias in the area I don't have much of a reason to return. read more

El Palmar - Chili Rileno Taco - Mexican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

The pastor tacos were awesome and the rice and beans tasted like grandma made them! Super fast and fresh.

I used to live close to El Palmar and would frequent the location quite often. Their food is priced reasonably and their takeout is really quick but their sit down seating service is terribly slow. Their tacos are also extremely dry, but their posole is delicious. read more

Good tacos, meat could use a little more seasoning but that's probably just me. I ordered 2 steak tacos around $3 each. Comes with lettuce tomatoes and green and red sauce. Nice size, fresh and hot. Will definitely be back the next time I need a taco fix which is every other day. read more

I am very upset and dissapointed at the way the waitress handled my situation. I came on 10/18/20 around 8:00 pm. My husband and I ordered mar y tierra. A 20$ dish with absolutely zero flavor! The Pico de Gallo was better that the entire dish. I spent 50$ for bullshit. When I nicely spoke to the waitress she told me she would go speak to the manager, came right back with the bill and said sorry...that was it. Mind you the full bill with a full plate in front of her. The manger should of came out and offered something....maybe a discount to "get" us to come back. An apology...since he was the one who cooked it per the waitress. I wish I would of spent my money elsewhere. read more

Close to me so tried for the first time. Low-quality, grissly pastor with a funny taste. Re-fried beans are low-quality. Will not be going back. read more

The restaurant is very small and VERY crowded. The service wasn't too impressive as the lady taking our order didn't smile and didn't speak much. I was a little uncomfortable standing inside the restaurant as I felt like we were in people's way as we were placing our orders Anyway... This review is based on one burrito..so I will have to come back and try their other foods. Al Pastor Burrito: Negatives: -soggy -large chunks of fat in the meat -way too much cheese (I do like cheese but it was overkill) Positives: +big burrito! +flavorful meat Conclusion: I've had better burritos but it was decent and I would go back here whenever I'm craving Mexican food but I wouldn't go out of my way to drive to the restaurant as I don't live near the area read more

Tacos are delicious. Rice and beans are really good as well. I always order to go and when I get home the food is still hot. They also LOAD up the tacos and fill up every crevice of the container. Employees are nice, and the food comes out real fast. read more

El Palmar - Picadillo Taco (Ground Beef) with rice and beans - Mexican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois