My partner and I did a little tour of Carbondale to relive our our college days and we were excited to go tres. We were shocked when we looked at the menu and there was just fajitas and nacho chips with cheese dip and guacamole, but we're told this place is no longer a Mexican restaurant.. I don't know what to say about that considering the history, the name, and now it's a sports bar? I don't know. I think they're having an identity crisis. We're really sad and ended up going to quatras for pizza to at least get a little bit of food and added nostalgia. read more

Tres Hombres - Chips and guac at a former Mexican restaurant that is now a sports bar. - Mexican Near Me - Carbondale, Illinois

I went in a few months ago on ST Patrick's day with my fiancé. We were looking for a sit down Mexican place and all the pictures looked so good! We showed our server a picture of what we wanted from their reviews. Turns out they didn't serve ANY Mexican food anymore. Our server said "we have queso and fried jalapeños!" Who wants that when they are looking for food... especially actual Mexican food... she definitely saw we were disappointed and barely helped us after that. After paying we left and got don taco. read more

While the food in the old Tres was pretty mediocre, both the food and the menu are significantly better. The service is excellent. It still looks like the old Tres, so I didn't really notice any ambiance. read more

The food was amazing. Very flavorful and as ordered. Staff was pleasant and checked on us throughout the time we were there. Margaritas were wonderful! read more

Tres Hombres - Catfish sandwich with crispy seasoned fries. - Mexican Near Me - Carbondale, Illinois

If you're looking for delicious, flavorful food in large portions, this is the best option in Carbondale. Food always comes out fresh and made to order, the drinks are always cold and delicious, and the staff is extremely friendly. Typically a lively environment, and if you're a Carbondale native you're bound to run into an old friend during a visit to Tres! read more

you can't get a bean burrito anymore bit you can be up half the night puking up your overpriced bean buth with food poisoning like me. NEVER going back again. eat there at your own risk. read more

The service wasn't that great. The atmosphere was very dull. There was virtually no Latino food there. Been 12 hours and already gone through a roll of toilet paper. read more

Went early in the morning. Took a while on the food but it was good. Service was also pretty good read more

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It was ok, menu was limited and they were out of many items. The cheese queso dip was bland and watery, hamburgers were dry. Onion rings and fried Jalapeños were very good. Not really worth it, won't go back.. read more

The food was simple but good. I got a 7 layer dip. I liked their drinks. I had two Moscow mules. Good service. It was a really laid back and chill atmosphere. read more

Good portions, nice variety on the menu. Place was packed on a Sunday when we went, with a 15 minute wait. A good ethnic option if you crave Tex Mex and are in Marion IL. read more

If the restaurant messes up on the rice, then we got a problem. All the food we ordered smelled good. It all smelled authentic, but when you put it in your mouth, there was no kick of flavor or spices at all. Bland, bland, bland. And they messed up on the rice like I said before. It was undercooked and underseasoned. Save yourself some trouble and go somewhere else for Mexican food. This place is not authentic. It's might be up to par with Taco Bell, but I think Taco Bell knows how to cook their rice. read more

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Decided to try the restaurant as we hadn't been there in a LONG time. We like to support local non chain restaurants. It was not good. We decided to eat in the bar area as they said they had 1/2 price appetizers and $2 domestic beers. It took quite a while to get waited on. Someone came and gave us chips and salsa and said our server would be there soon. Waited a while again and ordered an appetizer and beers. Disappointed the appetizer of nachos we wanted was not half price. Ordered it anyway. Waited ,waited for our beers. No bartender or wait staff around. It was 5 on Thursday and very few people in there. Saw one of the beers sitting at the bar finally went up and got it . After bartender came back she pour the other beer. Wait staff never noticed that we got our beers ourselves. Got our 1/2 order of nachos and it was crammed on a very small plate. Couldn't get the chips off without them falling off the plate. all the cheese was on the top layer chips and the ones below no cheese and below everything was the chicken. Salsa very plain NO heat at all, tasted like eating diced canned tomatoes. Use to LOVE Tres salsa. Had to ask for plates. After we were done waited waited for server to come. Finally got up found the server talking with other staff. Got the check was charged full price for one of the beers instead the $2. Pointed it out to the server, they took it to get it corrected came back and it was still over price. i Just said forget it and paid. Think that the wait staff need to be better trained even if it is slow. read more

Was disappointed with my meal this evening. We ordered carryout and got a seafood burrito with a guacamole appetizer. The burrito was so small and not at all filling. The guacamole did not taste fresh in the slightest. It was served in a tortilla bowl. I was disappointed we didn't get any chips and salsa with the order as we normally do at most Hispanic restaurants. I ended up eating my significant others meal from another establishment as I was left still hungry from not eating my dinner here. Probably wouldn't return. read more

I got the chicken enchiladas and it had giant chunks of chicken inside that were extremely rubbery, and they had almost no flavor. It was extremely overpriced for extremely mediocre food. I would not recommend to anyone. read more

Good to be back! Having a drink on the patio and I've really missed this place. Personally for me although I've been emotional sometimes it's a very fond and repetitive memory and so I will come here forever. They really I have great food and drinks too and I truly enjoy several of the regulars!! read more

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The food was amazing. I highly recommend the Mexican Pizza and the Tequila Chicken Burrito

It's hard to make a bad breakfast but, this restaurant managed to do it. Even after adding the packets of Cholula they gave us, our meals were bland. In addition, our meals weren't even close to what the menu described. I couldn't finish mine and I was very hungry. 100% disappointed. I don't post negative reviews very often but this place warranted one. I will not be returning. read more

I ordered for pick up I was told it would be 20 minutes after 35 minutes I started to get pretty irritated they showed no effort to get my order anywhere near the time that they said it would be ready. If they say 20 minutes I would expect it to be 40 minutes minimum. No professionalism. They act like they're the only restaurant in town. I would give them zero stars if it was an option. $28 to stand around for half an hour waiting for my food is not acceptable. They said they got busy I guess they consider 1/3 of the restaurant occupied as busy. You shouldn't tell people 20 minutes when it's really gonna be at least 40 minutes read more

We called ahead for a party of 15. Took 15 minutes to get our drink order and things went south from there. We understand with COVID they are probably short staffed but we were here an hour before we received our food. Ended up being here for over 2 hours total and it did not take us long to eat because the food was luke warm at best and not good. We barely saw our actual waitress. The guy bringing water and chips was the only saving grace. Really a shame as we brought students here to enjoy a meal together as we celebrated our success this year. read more

I choose 2 stars strictly for the service. They were fast and had great communication. As for the food? That's another story. The carne asada was flavorless, the beans were from a can, the rice tasted from a bag and the corn tortillas were microwaved and soggy. I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone visiting from out of town excepting to eat authentic Mexican food. read more

Horrible. Food was awful. Poor customer service. I ordered a burrito and received a taco.

This is probably the furthest thing from Mexican food I've had in a long time. You stand a better chance getting a good meal out of the frozen food section at Schnucks. For starters, I'm pretty sure all the chicken comes from a can. That flavor is entirely too distinct to ever mask behind the price of a $10.50 chimichanga. Next, the price. No Mexican food should ever cost that much, ESPECIALLY in a college town. The service wasn't bad. I can't blame them for the fact that the food was not any good. No one at our table even wanted to finish their meal though. The only thing this place had going for it was that the Pepsi was correctly carbonated. read more

Came to the area looking for a different restaurant but couldn't find it so I stumbled into this Mexican restaurant instead for dinner. It was absolutely terrible. I ordered the Mexican pizza and my girlfriend had the taco salad. Its practically trash. It was extremely poor quality. Ingredients were definitely not fresh. Microwavable food is better than this. Questionable if there is even a chef in the back. I assume its supposed to be drunk food but I wouldn't even eat it in those circumstances... In terms of service, it was poor as well. Did not fill up our waters and checked on us once when no one was even there. Will never go back. read more

It is what it is. It's nothing stellar. It's loud, it's not always clean. The service isn't always good. But the food (for me at least) has been consistently okay. I have never had to send anything back or had any complaints about it. It's pretty standard Americanized Mexican food. read more

I have very mixed feelings about this place. The food is tasty and the service was good, but I am almost positive the "Mexican rice" was simply Uncle Ben's white rice with some coloring. The entrees themselves were good, but they were a little higher than Carbondale pricing. I did love the chips and salsa. I am not sure how this compares to other Mexican places in Carbondale, but it's not a bad option for a tasty meal. read more

Tres Hombres - Margraona! - Mexican Near Me - Carbondale, Illinois

In a blind taste test, cat food wins every time over anything on their menu.... service is amazing tho

While the service was good overall, this is not what I look for in a Mexican restaurant. The food is as authentic as Taco Bell. It is a great place to grab a drink as they have a large bar and patio area, but save your appetite for somewhere else. If you enjoy cilantro, corn tortillas, and/or barbacoa skip over this place. Really, Tres is more of a bar that happens to serve "mexican" food during the day. read more

Diarrhea just from chips and salsa. Seriously? Chips and salsa? What gross thing could they possibly have done to those? read more

$1 taco Tuesday? Thought it was a deal, turned out to be a rip-off. The 3 tacos I had would not have made 1 acceptable taco. Disappointment a bound. read more

Tres Hombres - $1 tacos, - Mexican Near Me - Carbondale, Illinois

Horrible customer service. Got there around 9:30 on a Thursday and we couldn't even get chips and salsa, and when we asked if anywhere close served food we were told to look it up. A-holes with attitudes, we were not from the area and didn't appreciate the rudeness. read more

Tres Hombres is a nice little restaurant. The food is alright, nothing great, it's a little highly priced, and none of their salsa is very good, but if you're going to drink and want some food at the same time it's not a bad spot. The atmosphere is pretty relaxed and chill and the outdoor seating is nice on warmer days. read more

Steak Adobo & Enchiladas Rojas! Steak was really good, service was an afterthought. Locals love this place, more of a 'place where they know your name', rather than 'excellent mexican food'. The dining area isn't very clean looking, though it might be just because it's REALLY old. They have a few good items, but if you're looking for excellent mexican food, look elsewhere. read more

Ordered large beef nachos. Was very obvious they were microwaved. Two plates, soggy chips, rubbery cheese. Just gross.

Not great, but certainly not bad. The food is fine, and like most tex-mex places fairly cheap with large portions. I'm not sure what else to say about it - Tres Hombres is a pretty standard tex-mex restaurant. You'll find better in other places, but you can definitely find a lot worse. So if you're really hungry on a tight budget, or just really craving some decent burritos this is the place for you. read more

I go to Tres two or three times a week and have been doing that for over ten years. Someone said on another review that the specials are usually better than the regular menu. That is true, with one exception. The late-night menu, now served all day and evening, is authentic Mexican and excellent (it is made off-site I believe, like down the block, by people who don't speak English). The cuisine is fusion otherwise --well, it would be called fusion if it were more expensive. As it is, maybe eclectic is the word. This is not really a Mexican restaurant, and it isn't really Tex-mex either. This is the Midwest. People don't like spicy food in the Midwest, but there are some exceptions on this menu, stuff spicy enough to make a Texan happy. The sauces on their hot wings (buffalo style and barbque style) are genuinely hot. Their diablo sauce (which you have to ask for) is genuinely hot. The verde sauce they serve with late night menu items has a pleasant kick. Their queso is weak --too much flour, not the right blend of cheeses. The veggies are hit and miss, and change every day. But anything with their chipotle sauce will be good, their cilantro pesto sauce is the bomb, their chiles rellenos are not bad, and when they have the shrimp version of that for a special, it rocks. They are better at cooking chicken than beef (whether steak or shredded or what have you), but all the meats on the late-night stuff are first-rate. The catfish sandwich is quite good --ask for the chipotle mayonnaise, and then get extra of it too. Anything they cook cajun style or blackened will be good. The crab cakes are good enough for the Midwest, which is the best crabcakes ever get in the Midwest. The wings (with and without bones) are very good. They are always good with seafood and fish, understanding that this is the Midwest and we can't get fresh seafood here for a reasonable price. The breading on the fish for fish tacos and the like is always excellent, and the same goes for anything breaded --never greasy, always light, crisp and yummy. But it is true that not everything on the menu is equally good. I can almost guess what the people who rated this place low ordered. No, the rice isn't the greatest. The beans are ok. It isn't Mexican food, ok? Is some stuff frozen? Yes. But the place is a $7.95-9.95 a plate restaurant. More of which in a minute. Is this a bar or a restaurant? Both. The bar is noisy and fairly popular. The bands start after 9. The restaurant side is quiet and pleasant. It closes about the time the bar cranks up, except for Mondays, when drinks are half price and the bar become boisterous with middle-aged people. But they are different rooms, like totally different places. There is a small banquet facility off the restaurant part they use for overflow when the restaurant is full. It is pleasant too. There is a very nice patio where there is live music early in the evening on Fridays, otherwise quiet. Extremely good place to sit when the weather is nice. The service is almost always excellent, highly professional. There was a brief lapse in cleanliness during the change of ownership 2014-2016, but now it's very clean. Do not worry about this. It was a temporary issue while the place was being upgraded and updated. It's all very nice now. I go there three times a week for a reason. First is the atmosphere, comfort, and service (the prices are good too). But I am actually a foodie and a serious cook. The specials are always interesting. The cooks do try new things and have interesting ideas. Those ideas are probably partly inspired by whatever ingredients were available cheap in our (rather impoverished) supply market, probably sometimes inspired by what was over-ordered, but for the price, order the special and you'll likely get something interesting you never thought of before, something that may give you some new ideas for your own cooking. Even if it sounds weird, even bizarre, order it. It's almost always really good. This is about the level of Chilli's, but the food isn't corporate. You can't expect all fresh ingredients for this price, but it's quite good for what it is. They do care about the food and they do give the cooks (and they are either chef-ish cooks or cook-ish chefs, not graduates of fancy culinary institutes) some freedom to make things up. Once or twice a week they strike silver, if not gold. You want golden cuisine, you pay gold. You want something predictably and surprisingly decent while spending copper and getting silver-level food, you will like Tres. I will try to reform their queso recipe, if they'll listen. read more

The food was amazing! And the service was excellent! I absolutly loved there margaritas and everyone was soo friendly! Make sure to stay after your meal because they have some really good bands that play!!!! I have been here quite a few times now and i love it!!! read more

The food can be good, you just have to know what to order. The burger and chicken sandwich are surprisingly good options for a Mexican restaurant. The guacamole is the perfect consistency and the black bean toastada is a great vegetarian option. Specials are always changing and are usually better than the menu items. The soups are also good. And you have the option of subbing out the rice and beans for the vegetable of the day. The bar has a good craft beer selection on tap and most of the bartenders are friendly. Since the floors have been changed it smells better and looks way nicer! I would recommend this over other Mexican restaurants in Carbondale. It offers something different than the usual Mexican fare. read more

The reason why people go here? Well, you are right- it is NOT the overpriced food. And, the bar isn't that big. BUT! It's located farther from campus and the strip of Carbondale, so you'll find a more chill, relaxed atmosphere because the younger college crowd doesn't venture out here. Therefore, it's a more experienced party crowd with less worries about underage drinking and underage behavior. And what I love most- go once and know everyone. :) read more

Atmosphere and friendliness abound! While in town visiting, TRES HOMBRES was on my list, escorted by a newly found friend, we made our way to dance the night away while the Ventures rocked out to anything from 72' backward....can I say, what an evening! As the "new girl in town" I was blessed with the giant sombrero and danced my castanets off all night long....service good, music, excellent, friends...priceless...and to think I just got into town a few days before, as I've stated prior in my reviews, there are no strangers in Carbondale. To be honest, it was as if I had left my "vacation" and was actually "home." That's how the people I met and this flavor of Carbondale left it's taste in my mouth....absolutely Unbelievable and Memorable! No wonder I met so many people from the Chicago area, they all migrated to the happening spot of Carbondale. My thanks go out to all those that made my journey and adventure worthy of writing about. This has given me the "oomph" to start writing again and I thank you all. Just remember it's the "Angel from Montgomery" that's writing here, so keep a look out for more reviews to follow... Life is SHORT, stay Happy! read more