Let me begin by saying that we weren't expecting the most authentic Mexican cuisine at a restaurant originally owned by Ike Sewell, and we know that service at Uno and Due isn't their strongest selling point, so our expectations were appropriately low. But it's right in the neighborhood and we'd never been there... It was surprisingly empty, which should've tipped us off. Perhaps because it was freezing. Apparently they had the air conditioner on. Our waitress was not especially interested in taking our order, finally showed up, then disappeared for about the next half hour. My companion had carne asada which, at $12.99, should've been both more plentiful and tastier. His plate was mostly beans and rice. It didn't even have those nice char marks - it looked kind of like it had been baked in an oven. My cheese enchiladas were barely warm, and the cheese inside hadn't even begun to melt. I wanted to ask the waitress to have them heated more thoroughly, but she never appeared. By the time my companion had finished his meal, I was ready to just take mine home and throw it in the oven myself. It turned out she was sitting in the bar having a cigarette, chatting. We debated just leaving, but our morals weren't quite flexible enough, so we waited for her to come by. Totally oblivious, she asked how everything had been. I explained that the enchiladas were cold, that we'd waited and waited for her to return, and that now I just wanted a box for them. We found the host and asked to speak to the manager. He said she was upstairs. Great, go get her. About 10 minutes later (still wishing we could feel right just fleeing the scene, but we've learned a valuable lesson) we realized that the incredibly loud, smoking woman screaming behind us was the manager, explaining to the host and a stray waitress how to tell the difference between heat and air conditioning. She never did come to speak with us. The waitress took the enchiladas off the check, so we were only ripped off for the carne asada and two of the tiniest Cokes I've ever seen. As we left, we asked the host why the manager never came if he said he was going to get her. He told us he thought she'd spoken to us already. Needless to say, this was not true... So we left. And we'll never go back. And it's really difficult to make us angry enough to boycott a restaurant. So if anyone knows of a cute Mexican place in the River North area (kind of along the lines of Mamacita's), please do tell!
Chicago, IL
Never returning to Su Casa (long and bitter!)
Someone wrote: > > So if anyone knows of a > cute Mexican place in the River North area (kind of along the lines of > Mamacita's), please do tell! > I've never been to mamacita's, but a few ideas: - Salvatores. I think it is on lake. a bit further south than you were looking for I think. I have only been there for happy hour, but they had pretty good margaritas and guacamole. - Uncle Julio's Haceinda (sp?). On north ave. Always a line and a bit more tex-mex, but one of the better less expensive restaurants - Frontera Grill. (clark??) It is in the neighborhood, but the fact that I have to either get there at 5 when the doors open (and wait in line really before 5) or wait 3 hours to finally get a table keeps me from going more than once a year. Chicago truly lacks good moderately priced mexican food. There is only expensive fancy mexican (e.g. topolobompo, salpicon, etc) or the tacquerias. If you get any other suggestions, please post them! Laura
NNTP-Posting-Date: 17 Dec 1999 17:15:15 GMT X-Newsreader: Microsoft Internet News 4.70.1161 Xref: alexander.INS.CWRU.Edu chi.eats:6605 > > Chicago truly lacks good moderately priced mexican food. ... on the near north side you might add. If you want better Mexican food, you've got to get away from the near north side. There's places in Pilsen, Little Village and up on Clark in Rogers Park that blow the socks off any of the Mi Casa or other faux Mexican places. Better food, nicer people, cheaper prices. It's a big city especially if you're willing to venture north of Fullerton and west of Ashland. Bob
NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 15:38:28 CST Xref: alexander.INS.CWRU.Edu chi.eats:6610 On 17 Dec 1999 17:15:15 GMT, "r gremley" wrote: >> >> Chicago truly lacks good moderately priced mexican food. > >... on the near north side you might add. > >If you want better Mexican food, you've got to get away from >the near north side. There's places in Pilsen, Little Village >and up on Clark in Rogers Park that blow the socks off any >of the Mi Casa or other faux Mexican places. Better food, >nicer people, cheaper prices. It's a big city especially if >you're willing to venture north of Fullerton and west of >Ashland. Try Quesedilla's on Western about 2 blocks south of Fullerton. Nothing fancy, but the food is good.
My personal favorite is Tecalitlan on 1814 W. Chicago. Very authentic Mexican with probably the best salsa (it could be a little spicer but the green salsa is spicy plenty). So authentic it has brain on the menu (never tried but I'm a vegitarian). Service is decent and fast and prices are competitive. Highly recommend it.