We went to their new location in Lake Zurich, on Rand Road behind First American Bank. I really liked it! Under $20 for lunch for two people including beer. Food was very flavorful. They give you four options of salsa to start and all are made in house. I had one steak and one chorizo taco and both were tasty. My date had enchilada suizas with steak and the meat was seasoned very well. We will definitely come back, I hope more people start coming! It is a different atmosphere than Tacos el Norte but it's super tasty! read more

Las Adelitas - Chorizo taco top with corn tortilla, cilantro and onion. Steak taco bottom (had to take a bite to make sure it was worth a pic!) - Mexican Near Me - Wauconda, Illinois

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This restaurant is holding on. Excellent drinks and the food is standard fare. This huge venue is excellent for business seminars and meetings including dinner. All the needed equipment is available, projector and screen and plenty of room to separate dining tables from the meeting. It could use a little more fiesta touch. The owner Delia has tried her best to attract more patrons, but it's not easy. I think she should go to flashy, real Alamo Hacienda decor. Bring some energy in and it's in a great location! Should be doing better than it is. Maybe trimming the hours of operation? read more

We just returned home after dining at La Malinche tonight. After reading the 2 reviews previously posted, we were hesitant to go to La Malinche; however for many years we have dined at the previous restaurants that occupied this building, so we decided to check La Malinche out. First, let me say that we love Mexican cuisine, and are quite accomplished at Mexican cooking. We arrived at 9 p.m. - a normal time for local restaurants to have stopped serving, and were welcomed by the owner, Delia, who could not have been more hospitable. Though it was Tuesday, and we were the only customers, she was happy to to serve us. The restaurant has been remodeled from the past, and has a nice ambiance that was lacking in the establishments which were in this location over the past 15 years. The menu is extensive, with lots of good Mexican fare. This is NOT a Tex-Mex place. You will be eating real Mexican food. We had 3 salsas and homemade chips with our Margaritas prior to dinner. The chips were very good, and the salsas were likewise good. The habanero salsa was the best - not too hot, yet quite flavorful. The Margaritas were also quite good - not too sweet and quite tasty. We had the house Margaritas, and they have many top shelf varieties. I had Chile Rellenos and my wife had Molcajete. The chiles were excellent, drenched in a tasty homemade sauce that complemented the dish nicely, without overpowering the chiles or cheese. When looking over the menu, the Molcajete jumped out at us, and both of us wanted to order it. However, my wife won out, and got it, with made with carne asada. I was surprised she ordered the steak rather than the camarones which Delia recommended. The meat was perfectly broiled and served with the cheese, vegetables (and broiled nopales) and sauce. It was indeed fantastic. If you have never had nopales (cactus) this will be a great experience for you. While talking with Delia near the end of dinner, I mentioned that our favorite Mexican sauce is Mole. She said that she had just made some, and brought us a small dish of Mole. It was excellent. I will have to have some enchiladas next time. We left around 10:20, and the kitchen was still open. They're doing things right here - despite what the 2 other reviewers have said. It's definitely worth checking out. You're not going to be eating Tex-Mex or flaming hot garbage, but real good food. Ask Delia what she suggests, or get what we had - you won't be disappointed. read more

I'm the kind of restaurant critic that tries to find the good in everything. But with this place, I really had to try hard. This location has been a Mexican bar/restaurant/night club on and off several times over the years but despite the intense Mexican population in this area, it just can't seem to find its audience and last very long. The latest name for this place is La Malinche. Its essentially a long hallway with tables for eating and a dance floor/dj area in the back. To the right is a walled off area for a bar. So I walk in here after not being inside this building for probably eight years or more and decide to see what they have. Despite cars being in the parking lot, there is nobody inside this large dining area. Except for two people talking who turn out to the the owners. I get a table and decide to go with their $6.50 lunch buffet. The buffet looks small but for $6.50, I am fine with that. They have a bucket of scrambled eggs with pepper and cheese on it which looks like its been there a while but I try it. Its actually pretty good with some salsa on it. Then they have this bucket of what looks like pork rib pieces and parts swimming in a greasy green fluid. I go ahead and try that. Not bad actually but probably more cartilage and bone than meat. But not bad. Then they have a bucket of greasy hamburger meat with peppers but oddly enough, no tortillas to put it in. The do have some freshly fried up taco salad bowls which I dump some of the meat in. Not bad, not great but not bad. A little guac, salsa and lettuce helped it along. Then they have a bucket of southern fried chicken. Not very Mexican but whatever. I get a small piece, its not that great. Then there are soupy beans which were nice and fresh gauc and salsa to dump on whatever you like. I order a blue margarita which was not bad but had too much ice. It was not a $8.50 margarita but it wasn't bad. Strange my drink cost more than lunch. After getting seated, the service was not great. She checked on me once I think despite nobody coming in while I was there. Actually, a guy came in, waited at the front to be helped but after several minutes of nobody coming out of the kitchen he left. So I continued to have the place all to myself. I finish up and go to pay the bill. I hand her a $20 bill and she says hold on, I need to get change. Then immediately walks out the front door. No idea where she went but after a few minutes she comes back and gives me my change. I am now pondering if stuffing myself on a cheap $6.50 Mexican buffet with no other customers in the building was in truth, a very bad idea. I suppose I will know in a few hours. Unfortunately I don't see this place lasting much longer considering the empty seats. They had a full but small menu but nothing looked all that different than the typical Mexican restaurant. Would I go back? Yeah sure I might go back again. It wasn't awful food at all. But I doubt they will survive much longer. read more

Horrible restaurant! We went here for Cinco De Mayo and the service was awful. We asked for waters to start and the waitress brought us only one water, for the two of us apparently to share and it was a glass full of ice with a little water. We ordered guacamole as an appetizer and it tasted like onions. It was pretty much pico de gallo with a little bit of avacado mixed in....not worth the $6 it cost. The food came out and was not very good. We would have ordered drinks, but the waitress was too busy chatting with other restaurant staff to wait on us. Did not end up finishing our food, but took home the left overs. My boyfriend ended up not feeling well that night and ended up having food poisoning for the remainder of the night and next day. We will never go back to this place and hope no one else has to suffer like we did with poor service, awful food and painful aftermath. read more

Despite its kind of seedy looking appearance, we stopped in here for lunch today. We were working in the area, and my buddy said he remembered this place being good ten years ago. We were the only people in there. I ordered 3 ground beef tacos. Probably the easiest thing on the menu to make. My buddy was a little more adventurous, and got some kind of sizzling cactus dish with cheese and veggies. (I wish I could tell you the name of it, but the restaurant's website is blank where the menu should be.) About 2 minutes after we order I see our waitress walking out the door. I didn't think much of it at the time. I was right behind her, since I forgot something in the car. What I witnessed next was the ODDEST thing I have ever seen! I watched the waitress disappear into a Mexican supermarcado y taqueria a few store fronts down advertising tacos for .99 cents. She came back in carrying what appeared to be a "to go bag," and disappeared into the kitchen. Shortly after, she brought out our food. The cactus dish actually looked good. My buddy said it was just ok. My tacos were mediocre at best with a big pool of grease sitting under the meat. Women's bathroom seemed clean enough but stunk to high heavens. He said the men's restroom was pretty vile. Decided to give this place 2 stars because the chips and salsa were pretty good. Also, the waitress was pretty nice. Will not return. read more

I went here with a co worker when it first opened and my meal of chicken tacos was fine, but my co worker found bone or gristle (or something crunchy) in every single one of his three chicken enchiladas. Very unappetizing. The menu was also pretty uninteresting considering the other Mexican restaurants in town. read more

It was ok, prices where a little high. Everything was pretty good and the drinks were decently strong. I hear the pazole is amazing but there are many more Mexican restaurants in the area that are much more superb. read more

I really hate to give bad reviews but there are only a couple of positive things to say. The server was very nice and attentive without being obtrusive (which is why I gave them 2 stars instead of 1). It is all downhill from here... I think we stopped in late Winter of this year. There was signage outside that said "Grand Opening" or maybe "Re-Grand Opening" or something to that affect. Inside there was only one other person. He had a table full of food so I/we figured the food must be very good, but still how can one eat that much food? Anyway, we were there around 2 or 3:00 on a Saturday afternoon so we weren't expecting a restaurant full of people so didn't think much about it. We were given a basket of chips and salsa. The chips were terrible (I don't *think* they were served warm) and the salsa tasted like it was dumped out of a bottle. How can chips and salsa be bad? But they were, we didn't really eat any. We ordered a burrito and enchiladas. The food arrived lukewarm and wasn't very flavorful. They were still working on the restaurant because there was a lot pounding noise coming from the kitchen area and the bathroom door was propped open with a ladder. Maybe karaoke on Fridays or the DJs on Saturdays makes the place a happening spot, but I wouldn't recommend the place for food. read more

My husband and I had dinner here on Friday evening. We were the only diners in the building. There were 3 men playing pool in the front of the restaurant. The clatter of the pool balls being hit and bouncing on the floor was not conducive to a good dining experience. The waitress tried to take our food order at the same time as the drink order. We told her we were in no hurry, but she insisted on taking our food order when she brought the drinks ($8.50 mojito, Ouch!)! The food came out within 5 minutes of being ordered. The molcajete which I had eaten before was barely warm instead of being served sizzing and my husband's burrito was fresh from the fridge. He sent it back and the waitress said, " I nuked it for you." As another reviewer said, the chips were stale and the salsa came right from a jar. Needless to say, we won't be back, and judging by the number of diners (2) at 7:00 on a Friday evening, there are a lot of other ;people who feel the same way. They obviously are doing everything in the cheapest way possible and charging prices that would be better suited to Rush Street in Chicago. I doubt if this restaurant will be around much longer. read more

We (me, husband & brother) have eaten at La Malinche several times for dinner and once for lunch. I was not impressed by the lunch buffet. BUT we love the dinner entrees. This is not a typical "American" Mexican restaurant. The food is interesting and authentic. I was surprised at the number of shrimp and fish dishes. Their skirt steaks are some of the best around! And served with interesting sides, like grilled cactus (we thought it was asparagus at first). On Valentine's Day we were given a complimentary glass of average champagne and women were given a rose. A very friendly gesture. The owner, Dalia, is always on site and very friendly and cares about your experience. If you go there and have any concerns just let her know. My husband loves their fresh salsa and she made sure we had plenty of it. We will continue to go back. Give it a try for dinner. If you go for lunch, order from menu rather than the buffet, (which I think is geared for local workers in a hurry). read more

HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT! I really wanted this place to be good as my husband loves Mexican food and we have such a hard time finding good places. Will NEVER go back again. Chips were stale and rest of the food was just ok. We were the ONLY customers in the place yet it took at least 5 minutes for the waitress to come over and bring our chips and salsa and take our drink order. My husband's house margarita was just ok. His burrito was warm, not hot, my fajitas were piping hot but side of beans were just warm. The kicker was, although we remained the only customers in the place, the waitress did not come back to ask how things were or if we wanted another drink. She and other staff proceeded to sit down and have a meal of their own. She did come over right before sitting down (too little too late- we were almost finished by then) to ask if we needed anything. I had to go over a few minutes later to ask for our check. So we were very disappointed and won't be back. Too bad, wanted to enjoy it read more

Nice ambience. Good food. Attentive service. Had the entire family there and everyone was happy. We'll be back!

This was by far the worst experience I have ever had in a restaurant. To start out they were out of salsa to go along with their half burned chips. Then half of the food that we attempted to order we were told they did not have, but it was on the menu. Then to finish it off 7 of the 10 meals we ordered were cold like they just came out of the refrigerator. And 3 of the orders were wrong. The service was piss poor. Two couples walked in and waited about 5 minutes and were not approached by an employee then turned around and left. In my personal opinion this place should be shut down. I felt like we were not welcome because we are white, not Hispanic. I hope no one else has to endure the horrible food and service this place has to offer. read more

I'm not sure what happened to those previous diners, but my experience was great. Yes, this isn't a crowded place but the food that was served was very fresh and hot. We were there just for appetizers and drinks. The chips and salsa was tasty. The quesadillas were very fresh and good.. We had mini chimichangas as an appetizer and they were very tasty. The pork tamale was served in a banana leaf and had a nice kick to it. We finished up with some fried ice cream: yum! I'm coming back again for sure. read more

My boyfriend and I ate here on a Friday night. When we walked in the place was nearly empty, and we chose to eat here because we want to support local businesses. The staff was friendly and nice, but there is a very big language barrier. I had the chicken tacos and the chicken was cooked weird, looked weird and tasted a little weird. It was unseasoned. That evening I got a horrible stomach ache that lasted until the next morning. I do not recommend eating here. read more