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    El Vado

    4.6 (19 reviews)
    Closed 10:00 am - 9:00 pm

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    Same leftover but shows the tortillo oily and doubled, very different from first visit.
    Jane O.

    So I went earlier in the week and could not think of one thing negative to say so I said to a friend, "this is so good, let's go here Friday too." It was a different experience this time. Altho I asked for it I got no lettuce and tomato on the side with my taco dinner like I got with the combination. Last time I got the pastor for my meat choice and was pleased with it. This time it seemed dry in the one pastor taco I ordered. The other two tacos I ordered as beef.it was good but did not have anything on it : no lettuce, tomato cheese.., nothing...the taco shells, which I was asked for my choice of flour or corn but this time was a get what you get thing, because she left quickly after the order, so could not catch her for my request. The beans and rice were good as beans and rice are hard to screw up altho some restaurants do. When we walked in it was pretty busy and we were seated in a booth. It took some time to be asked if we wanted drinks. We ordered margaritas and I expected to be asked large or small(again like last time) and swoosh.. he was gone. I tried to catch him with no luck.. I wanted a small but out came two large margaritas. Ok why turn that down? They were good and very large, served with a very large straw. So then it took a while longer than I think it should have to get menus and orders placed. It was kinda weird because the same lady and man that took the orders last time waited on us this time and were much more prompt during the week than at the end. So when we finally got the bills mine was $1.00 over what the menu said for the dinner. It's just a dollar I know but thought I'd mention it. Besides I was paying 10.50 for a large margarita instead of 7.50 for a small and didn't bring enough cash so I had to use my credit card, which I hate doing at restaurants. Oh and forgot to note, they give a slight discount for cash. They brought the corrected amount to the table on one of those cc pay machines(which I hate) . I had to wait to get my cc back, and then had to wait for them to print my receipt and the cc payment box was left on the table. Which I hated doing. Altho it was not an awful experience and the company was good at the table to fill in the waiting with conversation, I would not recommend it as a consistently good restaurant, but a 3.5-4 star out of 5 on average.

    Food and service were great. I had the Carne Asada Tampiqueña and my wife had Steak Fajitas. For some reason the rice on both orders was served cold, but the server quickly corrected it. Definitely large portions and we both left stuffed. Will definitely go back again.

    Sope Dinner

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    2 years ago

    Atmosphere is beautiful, service excellent food both in presentation and taste was top shelf best mole I have had.

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    2 years ago

    Excellent tacos. Delightful flavors. Very authentic. I'll be back! Nice, friendly service and great prices.

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    3 years ago

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    3 years ago

    Food, service, and ambiance all excellent. Generous portions. We'll definitely be back for more!

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    Ask the Community - El Vado

    Review Highlights - El Vado

    I believe the old name was el gordo.

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    Whiskey Diablo - Chilaquiles with birria

    Whiskey Diablo

    (74 reviews)

    Bring salt! Good atmosphere, good drinks(Mango Tango!), good service. Sadly, the food was…read moredisappointing: I ordered tacos and my husband ordered a Chile relleno burger; both were pretty tasteless. The proteins (beef and chicken) were not seasoned. Even the 'spicy' sauce for the tacos was bland. We had to request salt just to be able to eat what we ordered. However, the tableside guacamole and chips were good.

    Date of visit: December 13, 2025…read more I love a good Mexican place, and as much as I enjoy Carlos's, it is good to have other options for when I go to visit my friend in the McHenry/Spring Grove area. The restaurant is very large with a variety of seating options including some interesting swings. I say interesting because it's really more of a novelty than anything; honestly, do you really want to have a seat that moves while you're eating chips with salsa? The menu is interesting, with a heavy focus on birria (think brisket, if you're unfamiliar) including in a dipped/fried taco as well as a grilled cheese sandwich, which is what I went with. While the meat in the sandwich was good, there was very little cheese to speak of, and that should be an important component of a grilled...cheese. However the chips and salsa were excellent, with some of the best chips I've had in quite some time, they really taste like more. In terms of the salsa, they are not lying with the "Diablo" in their name. If you are not a fan of spicy, stay away from the salsas as even the mild is fairly potent after a few chips. Also note that sour cream is available but doesn't tend to come WITH things by default, so be prepared to ask for that if it's a key part of your Mexican meals. Also disappointing, the tacos come with raw onions on top. This isn't mentioned on the menu, and was a very unwelcome addition to the dish. Service was a bit of a mixed bag; Jasmine was nice and attentive but struggled on some aspects, including telling us what the three salsas were when she brought them to the table, and saying that birria was a "biscuit," which thoroughly confused us. She asked if we wanted more chips and we declined, but then she brought more anyways.

    Taco & Burrito Express - additional menu items listed by the register - October 2023

    Taco & Burrito Express

    (48 reviews)

    $

    Friends and i are on the hunt for the best tacos in mchenry... we decided to do a small taco tour…read morearound mchenry. out of the 3 places we went last tuesday (of course we had to do a taco tour on taco tuesday) Anyway, food was good we got a few different tacos to try. the steak taco was my favorite. i only order my tacos with cilantro and onion so i can not speak to the cheese i saw a previous yelper had an issue with. the food came out hot, quick and perfect. the decor is meh kinda looks like a hotstand with the old school booths and menu on the wall. def will be going back if im just interested in take out!

    I used to come here all the time at least once a week. But no longer, I always order tacos with…read moreonions and cilantro and now the onions are chopped so large you get a bite of onion and it just ruins the whole taste of the taco you need to go back to slicing your onions really really small like you used to. But another important factor besides that is the price, I ordered two Taco dinners which wasn't so bad in itself at $32 however I also ordered one side of rice one side of beans and an 8 oz side of guacamole which came to $17 and some change. Really!!! That was crazy and I told that to the girl there at the counter and she nonchalantly replied oh well everything has gone up. Well I won't disagree with that but to charge that much for a scoop of rice in a scoop of beans and a side of guacamole well that was just too much for me. Needless to say after years of being a faithful customer I will no longer be patronizing this establishment. Alvarado has better food now and cheaper prices.

    El Norteño - Ord Tampiquena

    El Norteño

    (168 reviews)

    $$

    Shout out to El Norteño Island Lake we have been going since they opened many years ago but tonight…read morewas the icing on the cake. We came in on a Sunday night with 25 people (we made a reservation prior for my son's birthday per his request) We were seated immediately. The service was on point and so was the food and drinks. They were already busy to begin with between other diners and takeout but our food took no time and there was not one mistake. Everyone had a good meal and we were all full at the end of dinner. Thank you for the birthday celebration!

    Checked out this local Mexican restaurant in Island Lake. El Norteño is one of those kind of…read moresketchy looking places that actually is a lot better than it looks to be serious. It probably is the best Mexican restaurant in town. Actually might be the only one around. The prices are pretty good for the big portions. Basic looking place when going by. It's a restaurant that looks like it's been around a long time to be honest. They probably get a lot of business because there's not a lot of other places to eat around here that aren't fast food it seems. Basic looking inside. There's a good amount of tables. Any okay Mexican restaurant has to have alcohol. It's about $8 for a margarita. Pretty amazing prices. It's about $12 for the Veggie Fajita Burrito. This is filled with beans, cheese, green peppers, lettuce, onions, and tomatoes. I got it without cheese. This was pretty filling for a lunch. For sure it gives people a reason to come to this town of which there's not much going on around. It's even open in the morning. They'll make burritos and tacos for breakfast too if you really want it but whatever.

    El Vado - mexican - Updated May 2026

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