This place sells some of the best Mexican cuisine I've ever had. I'm pretty picky about my sopes and tortas but, this is one of the few places I love. The food is great and the atmosphere is also great. read more

My husband was craving tacos. After a long day of chores we decided to go to the nearest taco spot near our current location. The food was authentic, fresh and delicious. I recommend The Milanesa. Everything was great, the owner even greeted us and everyone else and made sure we were ok. I will say the only downside was the salsa. I feel like due to demographics it takes a big hit. The red salsa was pure tomato juice. Not literally but it was mainly tomato and it was not homemade. There was another green salsa in a separate container, that one was more traditional but it had no taste. Other than more work and love on the salsa this place was really good. The staff was friendly as well. read more

La Penca - Sopes de milanesa y asada y un taco - Mexican Near Me - North Riverside, Illinois

Nice lil taqueria....everything was good enough but not over the top. Maybe a lil too Americanized? Either way I would go again to try it again. The two disappointments was the gordita was sliced all the way through so when you pick it up everYthing falls out and the steak was flavorless. Staff was nice and food came out fresh. read more

A little bit too greasy, the burrito real little with hardly any filling, they was asked lettuce and tomato on side but still put it on my gordita. The steak pieces was full of fat little actual steak. Torta was okay but not enough filling mostly bread. The only thing I would recommend to eat is the bistec ranchro dinner & i Definitely enjoyed the horchta drink though. They both was very good read more

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This is not a gourmet Mexican food place. It is a clean, well run restaurant that specializes in Mexican food.. Service is quick, food is good, and you can order carry-out. Pricing is extremely reasonable. Can't ask for anything more. read more

Delish! We stopped here for a quick dinner pre-O'Hare and were pleasantly surprised at how fresh, quick and tasty everything was. We all agreed the guacamole and fish tacos were the stars of our meal! All very reasonably priced, with a good selection of beers, wines and cocktails. The waitress and the rest of the staff were super friendly and efficient, and the joint was neat and clean. Do note: the address that shows up in the Yelp app is a little off -- it's pretty much directly across the street from Sawa's, read more

La Penca - Delish guacamole!!! - Mexican Near Me - North Riverside, Illinois

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The moment you didn't realize it's potential the first time you came. I came here a few years ago and grabbed a chimichanga to go. I normally get this at my local taco joint (Taco Patio in Bellwood), but was tired of the low quality meat/fat. The meat was better but the size was about almost half compared to Taco Patio and slightly dismissed this place. After coming back almost four years later and trying a few items on the menu. I can deferentially say this is the real deal. The food quality is top notch. The flavor profile in the meat comes through and the meat doesn't give me the impression they are buying low quality meat to keep the cost down. Lis P. mention "no frills very good Mexican food" and I think that pretty much describes this place exactly. Lucky I didn't see any of the reviews otherwise the high expectation with all the 4-5 stars would have killed it for me. I walked in thinking this would basically be a Pepe's I wasn't really expecting for the food to be as good as it was. I think I only came back to to cross off my list as I've been hitting a lot of Mexican restaurants this year. Favorite item might be the fried Quesadilla (mmmmmm fried!) but a close second would be the tostada's, Have also tried the sopes, gorditas which for the price are also good. Looking to try the Pozole and the pambazo. I'll admit to not being the best fan of the salsa as the flavors didn't wow me as much as I hoped. Only tried three meats at the moment. Asada Al Pastor (Pork and pinapple) and Chorizo. Looking forward to trying the pollo, milaneza, picadillo and jamon Lucky I don't have to drive far but if I did I wouldn't mind as there are several fancy Mexican spots I've been to that I would pass up to come here. defiantly dine in and enjoy the complimentary salsa and chips and grab a fruit margaritas and enjoy the food. read more

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I found this restaurant on Yelp because I am visiting from out of state (my granddaughter is in the NICU at Loyola). We wanted to venture away from the hospital for some Mexican food and this place satisfied our craving. The portions are large, the salsas (both red and green) are both flavorful and spicy. My enchiladas rojas were very flavorful. The waitress accomodated us by bringing us three bowls of salsa which was nice (one to go with the chips and one bowl each for us). Our initial silverware was dirty, but other than that it was a good experience. read more

We discovered this place after it was recommended by my girlfriend's brother, even though I later realized I've driven by hear probably hundreds of times before because it's somewhat near my work and home. I have been searching for the best Mexican within a five-mile radius from my work/home, and as of Tuesday evening, I think I've finally found my favorite spot (no offense to previous front-runners New Rebozo in Oak Park, Zacatacos in Lyons, and Los Pinoleros in Stickney). We arrived at about 7:15 PM on a weeknight and were told we could take a seat anywhere. Although we had previously wanted to order food to go, we figured we would dine in, especially after realizing just how close La Penca is from my work. I immediately noticed how clean it is, unlike other "hole in the wall" type Mexican places I've frequented. I ordered the large horchata for only $3, which was a great deal. It is definitely the best horchata I've had to date (and the best-priced). I also ordered the torta al pastor and pombazo with chorizo to eat. Our waiter was really skeptical that I could eat that much, but I did in fact finish every last crumb. I was hungry and not messing around! They were both tasty, and not stuffed with rice as filler like others I've had. That being said, I think the pombazo with chorizo was the best, although maybe it's just because I'm really big on chorizo in general. My girlfriend was also a fan of her fish tacos. I was impressed by the cleanliness, the very comfortable booth seating, the food, and the prices. I will absolutely be returning in the future! read more

La Penca - Torta al pastor (left) and Pombazo with chorizo - Mexican Near Me - North Riverside, Illinois

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Very tasty and the margaritas are excellent. Service was decent considering they were short staffed.

No frills very good Mexican food. Good red salsa comes to the table with chips and the yellow plastic bottle has excellent salsa verde with a bit more heat. Service is always friendly and the food comes to the table pretty quickly after ordering. The place is clean and bright and has a very warm inviting feel to it. The food is consistently good and it's one of the reason it's my go to for Mexican food. read more

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Food is pretty good. Owner and workers are very nice and personable. Prices are very reasonable.

My boyfriend works nearby and told me about some good food he had here, so I wanted to give it a try. We both had steak burritos and they were SO good!!! Our server was very nice and service was good. Prices were decent too ($6.25 for a gigantic burrito). Complimentary chips and salsa were good too. I'd come back here in a heartbeat. I'm sure everything else on the menu is great! read more

Really delicious chicken Enchiladas Verde, melts in your mouth. Also had a margarita on the rocks and the guacamole. All very good. The salsa was excellent too. I like that they served two kinds of salsa with the chips up front too. Definitely a place to check out. read more

This is my new favorite place for Mexican. The pozole is as good, if not better, than mine. In fact, I won't even make it anymore, I'll just come here on the weekends ! The salsa is fresh and delicious. The staff is very warm and friendly. Service is quick and efficient. Best of all, it is down the street from my house, so I am supporting local business. I can't think of anything negative to say about this place. OK. I despise Marichai music...Go! You will not be disappointed. It is very crowed at lunch but tables seem to free up quickly. read more

La Penca - Mexican Near Me - North Riverside, Illinois

Dined there yesterday left a very expensive sunglasses there. Called there wihin 10 minutes after leaving there and was told they had them and would hold for me til today. Asked my name for who would be picking them up. I decided not to wait and went there last night and was told I must have misunderstood the person I talked to. The lady I dined with heard the entire conversation with the person I spoke with, there definitely was not a misunderstanding. Dishonest employees, will not be going there again. Owner believed his server and kept telling me it was a misunderstanding! read more

Sooo good. The al pastor was flavored nicely. Steak was not fatty at all and the fried quesadilla was great- kinda reminds me of a chalupa. I love that they have popsicles for sale here from la michocana. Service was also very pleasant. read more

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Nice people. Nice food. I wouldn't say it's better than Mexico City's tacos, but it's def better than what you eat at Cancun. Recommended!

My husband had the chilaquiles and I had a torta de milanesa de pollo. The meat in both dishes did not have flavor. I am used to Mexican food that has more flavor and perhaps the restaurant is toning the flavor down to align with what customers like in the area? read more

Wow. Very authentic, VERY affordable. Great service - both waitstaff and culinary. Server was super nice and polite. Our food came out very fast. It was amazing. I would have taken a picture, but I ate it too fast. Ordered the Taco Plate dinner with asada, cilantro and onions. Just like the tacos I remember by Abuela making when I was young. Next time we are back in Berwyn we will be back for sure! Thank you! read more

This is more like a 2.5 than a 2. Yelp needs to take part of the blame on this as this was recommended as a quick serve restaurant, which it was not. I thought this was Americanized Mexican food, which is fine, but here are the cons: -salsa was not crisp -hot sauce was not hot -guacamole seemed to be a factory made mix Pros: -Adding jalapenos really, really spices up the dish. No additional hot sauce needed! This restaurant is okay, but its not "quick serve". read more

This place is great. The food is always solid, the service is top notch and prices are great. We've been coming here for years and will continue the trend. Don't forget to try the horchata. It's the best! read more

La Penca - Horchata! - Mexican Near Me - North Riverside, Illinois

Went there today! I tried the pastor pork and steak tacos and was very impressed. The tacos were delicious and will definitely be coming here again! read more

I would give them 5 stars but they are greedy af with their hot sauce. 1 container of hot sauce for 6 tacos (of course all for me) is not cool. The hot sauce to $ ratio is literally 1 hot sauce for every $10 spent. This happens all the time! I was just there last week and spent $29, I guess they pitied me and gave me 3. But the food. Ugh it's so good. So good that idgaf that they are hella shiesty. I have had every taco on the menu and they are all good. Well except the chicken...it's a little bland. My top favorites are the chicharron and fish tacos. The chicharron is something I've never had before. It's fried pork skin that is later soaked in some kind of spicy goodness sauce. I'm literally drooling as I am writing this review. And the fish taco is good because it comes with this mango sauce (I think). I guess the reason I like it here is because it is more like a mom and pop place but the food, if dressed up nicer, is totally the same caliber as fancier tacos you would find in the city. read more

The food is usually good here, however today I took a big bite of my burrito, which had a long black hair in it. Needless to say, I was not interested in eating anymore of it. The server asked me if I'd like another, I declined. I would imagine that taking that particular item off of my order would make sense, since I didn't eat it due to the hair in it, but that wasn't offered. I paid the bill and chalked it up to a bad experience. I get it, it happens, but they should have offered to remove the item from my bill. UPDATE: An hour after we got home, my wife was in the bathroom vomiting her dinner. Probably our last visit. read more

Can't recommend this place for carry-out/catering enough! We have ordered the Make Yourself a Taco packages for bigger gatherings, and the family pack fajitas and mini burritos for smaller gatherings. Everyone has given us compliments! Orders are sometimes going to be ready so fast that we have to say to give US extra time before we can get there. Our favorites are the steak/chicken fajitas, chorizo burritos, shrimp tostadas, and steak tacos. Can't beat their weekend deals either! read more

Nice place but wasn't a big fan of the chicken burrito. Not a lot of flavor but maybe that's the way the chicken is cooked (I think boiled).

This is an Americanized Mexican restaurant. They have 2 sauces that aren't even spicy at all. Food is flavorless and they forgot to bring us limes after we requested them. Mexican food is supposed to be full of spices and flavor which la penca lacked. read more

La Penca - Chilaquiles con carne. - Mexican Near Me - North Riverside, Illinois

Hi this was a hidden jewel for us. I ordered a steak tostada and chicken tortilla soup. Horrible! The soup was broth only, a sprinkle of cheese and half an avocado. No chicken, no beans. Very disappointed in service tonight! read more

Love this place! The sopes, gorditas and pazole are the best! Reasonably priced as well

Great place to eat, very accommodating. The steak is perfectly seasoned. The tacos, burritos and tortas are a good size. The pico de gallo is excellent. I highly recommend the clean establishment!!!!!! read more

My favorite restaurant. Great staff who always know my exact order (best Camarones Diabla I've ever had) and the owner is very approachable & personable with his customers. read more

My second visit...purposely went on the weekend so that I could purchase the Pozole. I have never had it before but friends said it was good. I didn't like it BUT not sure if it was a personal choice because of my palette as I have no experience to compare it to. ground beef and chicken tacos were good. I didn't like the pork. I noticed the waitresses posted up behind the bar. They were eating in plain sight and as they ate from their plates one waitress was also eating chips from the container used for customers. I didn't like that. the Horchata was awesome! read more

First time here. Came because of positive reviews. Small place. 6 four tops and 6 booths. Nice waitress. Waited about 5 minutes for her first stop to me. Was busy with 4 tables. I ordered 3 tacos with steak cilantro and onions. I asked for flour tortillas and she said they were large tortillas for tacos. Bigger than corn. I also asked of the had hard shell tacos. She stared yes but only with the taco dinner only. A table of three came in after I did. They were served food before my order came out. I think she was set back a bit as I was only one person at her table. She apologized their food came FIrst but mine was coming soon. The tacos were barely filled with meat or toppings. It was lost In there. The meat was finely chopped. A bit dry. After a couple bites all I tasted was pieces of fat. It was disgusting. I did not finish the food Got my bill. I was charged a surcharge of 25 cents for each flour tortilla ! She never mention this ! $9.26 for some of the worst tacos ever. These positive reviews have been influenced ! Don't eat there please. read more

La Penca - Embarrassing ! - Mexican Near Me - North Riverside, Illinois

So a friend of ours told us this place was pretty legit. I must admit, when we pulled up, I was a little skeptical. How good can a tiny strip-mall mexican joint be? Um, SO good. Especially when you factor in low prices, speedy service, and very friendly servers. I was not a HUGE fan of the guacamole - it seemed like there might have been mayo in there or something. But it was still pretty good. I wasn't super hungry, but just had to try a taco. So I had a steak taco on a flour tortilla, with cheese, sour cream, and avocado. They don't skimp on the avocado, which is fantastic. The meat was wonderfully seasoned, cheese perfectly melted - it was basically my perfect taco. I had to stop myself from ordering a second one! My dining companion had steak tacos, and steak quesadillas. We both left happy, and full! I've been telling everyone all about it, and can't wait to go back when I'm actually hungry and try a few more things on the menu. Hidden little gem, for sure! read more

Note: listed address on yelp is wrong. Actually, the address is correct, but it's not on the corner of Cermak and 9th. It's actually about 7-8 blocks west of there near the Old Warsaw restaurant. This is some of the best Mexican food I've ever had. I had an excellent gordita with poblano peppers and cheese, which was excellent. I also had one of the best steak tacos I've ever had. I was extremely full when I finished and my meal was less than $5. The tortillas were fresh, the meat was delicious and well spiced, and the salsas were great. Go here! The food was good. read more

Ohhhhh boy, thank you Yelpers for helping me find this cute little cozy place!.... This is now my new favorite Mexican restaurant,!...I am so picky when it comes to Mexican food (especially the meat). And let me tell you, everything we had here was GREAT! (Not one weird, grizzly piece of meat in any of my tacos) We had the $8.95 taco dinners w/ rice, beans & your choice of 3 tacos (I picked chorizo, al pastor & steak w/ only cheese & cilantro) and think I can honestly say they were the best tacos, that I have ever had in a restaurant before. For 2 (3)taco dinners, 2 large drinks, 1 sope asada and dessert, cost us approx $30. *P.S....Make sure you try the "Fried Cheesecake" for dessert...Don't ask me why, just trust me, you must try it! ;) And the customer service was phenomenal! The owner/manager greeted everyone's tables before they paid their bill, to make sure everything was good. read more

After driving by and reading some reviews about this place..I knew I had to check it out. I always feel like I had to judge how authentic a Mexican restaurant is (hahah) We stuck with the tacos and I ordered a gordita for tomorrow's lunch. I couldn't help myself! The salsa was delicious..of course there wasn't any left by the time our food came. Steak tacos were good..they actually were a decent size (lately tacos have been shrinking). I really liked their chile relleno tacos and tacos de rajas (a bit spicy but soo good). I can't wait to have my gordita de rajas for lunch! I was also pleased with the service...food came out promptly and the waiter was very attentive. read more

My husband and I really wanted to like this place. But god was it awful. Salsa was bland, watered down and flavorless. My burrito was so carelessly put together it was pathetic. Just generally gross food made by lazy kitchen staff. I guess we will continue to drive to Pilsen for quality mexican. read more

I think we've eaten here three times, at least once in the restaurant and once we picked up (and yes I know that's only two, I don't know what happened to the third visit). Anyway, it's a tasty little place with reasonable prices, good service and good food. Between the two of us we've tried several items on their menu and only found one item we didn't care for - but I think it was our tastes more so than their cooking, so I won't name names. Casual, convienent. I dig it. read more