At 9pm on a perfect summer Thursday night, pulled up to the drive-thru order window in our convertible and got a Nachos con Carne with everything and a Carne Asada Burrito just to try this place out. The food has great flavor, portions are huge, the staff was friendly and let us sample several salsas while waiting. All in all, a quick 5 minute trip for some great food to share with my hubby. We will for sure come back and try other items soon! read more

This place is okay but El Faro destroys it in terms of flavor, price and portion size. The burrito wasn't bad and I wanted to try it after my friends recommended it but I was not impressed. There are better places for Mexican food in Elgin. read more

Home of the "greasy burrito". It's ok if its a last resort meal. The food was a lot better when first opened. The chile relleno taco used to be one of the best, now it tastes like it's been refrigerated for days. read more

I had some tacos from here for the first time yesterday and honestly, they aren't very great. At almost $3 per taco I expect something fantastic. The chicken taco is awful, I only took one bite of it and I was done. It didn't even taste like chicken! The steak tacos were alright but tasted smokey. I won't eat here again. read more

Horrible drive through service speaker is down and lady at window watching laughing. Smh and when asked to speak to manager lady lied and said they are out. Then asked to put sign on speaker so people could know it's not working and completely ignored me. Avoid this place at all cost. read more

The food is delicious here! I have hd both the chicken and the skirt steak tacos. The Skirt steak tacos are absolutely phenomenal! They are among the best that I have had at comparable restaurants. The staff is bilingual, so they serve both Spanish and English speaking customers. Besides Mexican food, they also serve a hamburger and fries. I definitely recommend going here! read more

Food pretty good. No complaints in that department. Service is horrible though. They are never fully staffed for dine in and forget about the drive thru. Be prepared to wait. I have however found that calling ahead and placing a pick up order usually works best. read more

I used to go here after penny rd pub closed at 4 am ,cuz this place is open 24/7. Everything is fantastic the tacos tortas and burritos. lol even the burgers and fries are better than most places read more

So I ordered fajitas from the menu. Now in the menu it doesn't say its spicy. I told the waitress I can't eat it. So then she comes back and says I still have to pay for it. I said no im not I can't eat it. So then I go up to pay and the manager Instead of finding a solution like bringing me a different plate this bitch wants to argue. So I'm arguing with her yelling at her at how they treat their customers . I have never been so mad. I paid for what i ate but I sure as hell didn't pay for the spicy fajitas. read more

Drive thru has bad service, they always run out of certain meats, they take forever to cook food.

This had been our favorite Mexican restaurant for tacos and burritos since we moved to Elgin 8 years ago, but the last few visits have been average at best. We always go in and order for take out so I don't know if the bad food is because we dont find out until we get home or not. Meat used to be fresh and juicy , now orders have been barely warm and dry. Ordered burritos with sour cream and for the third time none was used, but they sure charged for it . No limes with tacos, used to all the time. Tacos were so cold that added cheese ordered wasn't even melted on . Burritos are dry and chewy. Although we order for take home, we only live a mile away so it's not the trip that affects the temp. Definitely will go elsewhere in the future. read more

The food was good. The service was incredible- the staff was so kind, accommodating, and patient.

Good Mexican place when no others are open cuz its 24/7. I work late so when I'm in the mood for Mexican then i go here. Its abit costly which sucks (drains the pocket) but its convenient and I appreciate it ,and pretty authentic. If i was in the mood during the day then there are other Mexican place options. This is more of a after 11pm restaurant. They don't exactly speak english, which I don't mind, but they get the job done. read more

I've been eating at this place for years. They have some pretty good Mexican food. But today the cashier at the window tried to steal my change. When I called here out on it she freaked out, and gave me $10 back. I was still short a little under two bucks. I asked for a receipt, and she threw one and closed the window. I'm never going to eat here again. read more

Steak burritos are delicious, service and prices are average ,some ice for the drinks would be exciting

I consider myself a taco expert, i have been a taco hardcore fan for more than 10 years. The tacos here sometimes come out ok but its unethical and disgusting to throw in so much animal fat along with the meat! whats wrong with these people!? i wanted marinated pork! not diced up fat chunks. Not coming here again. read more

This place is really good. The tacos are big and filled with meat along with the burritos, tortas, etc. the hagua de horchata is delicious and I think no Mexican restaurant in a 20 mile radius has anything on El Paraiso on summit. read more

I'm a little put off that the cooks don't wear gloves!! Just because your the cook....doesn't mean I want your greasy hands all over my food!!! Food...is just ok...there is much better tacos in elgin. Meat is not made to order so it's fresh....they have strip of meat that are cooked that hangout on a warming grill until someone orders.......meat always taste like it' was cooked 2-3 hours prior read more

i ate here once and that will be the last time i come here. the food was nasty!!! i asked for steak tacos and the meat looked like it was boiled in water and then served the milanesa was so thin (about 3oz of meat) that it looked like it was on the flat top for like 2 days this is not a place i wouldn't recomend to anyone !! read more

El Paraiso is best compared to Shooting hoops. Sometimes you make it, sometimes you dont. El Paraiso is well known for being open 24 hrs. I think it all depends on who's serving you. Some days you get great customer service and the food is delicious. Other days the service is terrible and the food is lacking flavor. Of all taquerias though, i'd say el faro is more consistent in service and quality. read more

I love this place because they're fast and the food is good. Occasionally my burrito is a little too greasy and that is why I didn't give it 5 stars. But, the staff are friendly and I've never had to wait more than 5 minutes for my drive thru order... read more

The food is amazing. Meat lover's dream. They load the entrees with meat. Service could use work (maybe an english-spanish speaking person). It's hard to understand them sometimes. An upgrade to the drive-thru service would be a huge help. So many drivers end up going to the McDonald's next door because the drive through is open and not congested like El Paraiso's. Would highly recommend!!! read more

The positive things about this restaurant is that it's cheap and open til late at night. However beyond that the place is quite bad. Most of the staff are nice enough but a few lack the English skills to communicate in case something goes off a bit. The food is extremely forgettable but a decent choice if you've got no other options. read more

WORST RESTAURANT IVE EVER BEEN TO. I've gone 3 times and I always left disappointed. Terrible service. The waitress never came except to have us order and give us our food. The drive through woman was a "joy". She asked for our name had us wait for 20 minutes on an order we had called for. Then she told us that we were blocking potential customers at the drive through. She messed up the order and acted rudely and disrespected us. She said (after she got things wrong) that if we didn't like her service we could leave (we were not rude to her!) Then when we asked to speak to Tue manager she refused to answer. My dad went inside aslnd asked the workers but they pretended to not know where they were and refused to give us their number!! The food is dry, without much flavor, and awful. If they had better service I would return but customer service is key to good business. Very upset with this place :/ I wish I could give it 0 stars but yelp won't let me... read more

Food is good, service sucks. Staff doesn't speak English and apparently needs a new speaker for the drive through. Very frustrating to order from here, but the food is worth it I guess. Oh well. My Spanish is improving. read more

Wonderful food at a reasonable price! Friendly staff and easy in and out. Portions are HUGE so bring an appetite. Flavorful and spicy without burning out taste buds. You can add the sauces, but it was great as is. This restaurant replaced The Alcapulco, which was a blessing. The Cubano torta is incredible. We had tamale - fantastic, enchilada - super, chicken taco was fantastic. And the flan was PERFECT! This will be one of our favorites from now on! read more

We like this place and go pretty often. We are from LA so we know authentic Mexican food, and this is it! Husband loves steak/carne asana and I like tamales rice and beans. read more

We went here for first time yesterday. The nachos, steak burrito and chili rellano burrito were good, we have no complaints. But the service was ridiculous. When we sat down no one acknowledged us and after several minutes I walked up front and grabed two menus. Another several minutes went by and a young teenage boy with a drive-thru head set on his head shuffled to our tabel to (I think) ask us for our order and he seemed annoyed. I said it was our first time here and that we were going to get something to go and I asked him if they had menus to take with. He barely said the entire one syllable word "yes" and turned around and left never to be seem again. No may I take your order or you have to place your takeout order with the cashier, nothing just turn around and walk away. We said we would try this place one more time but we would use the drive thru but after reading the other reviews, probably not. read more

I used to go here occasionally because I get off really late being a waitress, it was on my way home from work, and it is open 24/7. It never was that great, however extremely convenient. I will NEVER eat here again. A few months back I ordered my usual chicken burrito and it tasted like it was DIPPED IN CLEANING SOLUTION. So disgusting. I will never forget how gross it tasted or made me feel and because that I will never go back. No thank you. Check out El mariscos though, it's just a few blocks down and it is super clean, without the chemicals being all over your food. read more

I LOVE Mexican food. This place absolutely sucks. Tough meat, no flavor. Kids couldn't even eat the quesadillas. If you like beef fat, I mean huge chunks of fat, by all means...go here. Taco Bell is 5 stars compared to this dump. There are many Mexican Cuisine places in the Elgin area. Do yourself a favor and avoid this establishment. read more

I'm super picky with Mexican food. If it's too greasy i will not eat it and I can't handle it. But I came here on a Sunday and ate a gordita it was really good! Not really greasy and the skirt steak wasn't all fat and gristle. My bf had a burrito suizas he liked it a lot. He also got rice & beans they were ok nothing special. The rice was mushy. The beans tasted canned. But all in all we will be coming back! read more

Food not a big deal. Good but not great for the price you're paying. Now... the music has got to go! Either they need to tone it down or turn this restaurant into a club. It's a juke box! So you're eating, having a conversation and all of the sudden that thing just blasts!!! Goes without saying... Waited a good 30mins to get my check! What the heck. Not good! read more

The food is great, i had tongue taco which is excellent, steak and pork tacos. The bistec de mexicana i think its called was really good! But service is very bad and they dont give you chips and salsa! Every mexican restaurant ive been to gave chips and salsa. Bad service and no chips and salsa this place get only 3 stars for good food. read more

I love this place. I'm not a fan of going through their drive-thru. The service there is very slow, however, the food is amazing. Hands down the best tacos I've ever had and the horchata is also the best. The food quality really is worth any wait you have, but that's just my opinion. I always recommend people to go to this place when they're looking for good tacos. read more

This place has the worst service ever. Sometimes you pull up to the deive through wait 10 minutes and still nobodys served you. The food is pretty bad quality and i have seen rotting meat placed outside. Do not eat here for your own health honestly your body will thank you. read more

Horrible costumer service!!!! The food it's not that good because it's a really low food quality! I will not go there anymore