Small place with incredible foods and hot sauces. Not the lil baby tacos but good size tacos. I had to try the huitlacoche tacos-looked like mushrooms but tasted like delicious truffles . Al pastor taco was great and cheesy. The veggie taco was huge with with generous amounts of avocado! read more

Casa Cafe - Huitlacoche & Al pastor tacos - Mexican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Loved the senoras working, very polite and helpful. The restaurant itself is a bit small but definitely cozy. I ordered tacos and appreciated the meat, I'm so picky though with tacos and would have loved them even more if the tortillas were softer! read more

Another successful taco run. We came for pastor and left as part of a straight edge youth cult! read more

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Hands down my favorite restaurant. The service is good, the waitresses recognize me as I frequent this place. I recently decided to try their huaraches. I got a huarache de carne asare with a side of rice and beans. I have to say that I was one of the best dishes I have ever had. The meat was perfectly cooked; very tender. I received a couple of grilled onions and a grilled jalapeño with my food which was a wonderful surprise. They were so good. The restaurant is chill and usually full of people; they open the back of the restaurant up too. read more

Casa Cafe - Asada Huaraches - Mexican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

They give a very generous amount of meat on their tacos. The chicken under seasoned, asada was much better and both salsas were good. I liked the jugo verde but i recognize most ppl may not. Claudia was incredible and made my day! She checked on me a lot and had great energy. A solid classic taco spot right by the western pink line stop. I waited here while my car was at the autoshop nearby. Will come back anytime I have to wait again. They have rock shows in the back that sound super fun. Plus they have wifi so i got some work done. read more

1. The restaurant was uncomfortably loud. They had a machine on, which sounded like a blender. But extremely loud. Waitresses were screaming orders to customers. 2. I ordered 2 tacos with just cilantro and onion. The food took almost 25 minutes. 3. The steak taco had no flavor. Chicken was boiled and not flavorful. All tortillas were soaked in oil. Meat fell right through the tortillas. I would not recommend this place. They weren't at all concerned about customers. read more

Amazing food. Amazing service. Amazing portions. Very traditional Mexican food that you can brag to your family about! I will keep coming back for more. As someone who grew up eating traditional Mexican, this place has it all. read more

Hidden gem! Hand made tortillas and very large portions. Friendly service and authentic Mexican comfort food. read more

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I discovered this place right before the pandemic, and I'm so glad I did. The place serves authentic Mexican food, pricing is very reasonable (esp if you compare it to all the trendy restaurant spots down 18th street). The portions are pretty hearty, and the flavors are spot on. I usually order one of their specials, they're big enough to fill anyone's appetite. The specials are constantly changing and for the most part, stay at or under $10. The service is great, all servers are very attentive and courteous. Parking is street parking and can be a bit challenging, depending on what time you go, but it's never been an issue. This place needs to be on your radar if you work in one of the nearby hospitals, county offices or the brewery. The restaurant has a back room that is ideal for bigger groups such as a working lunch, family or friends gathering. This is a very family-friendly spot. read more

I discovered this Chicago culinary gem accidentally. I was having my car repaired nearby and during my visit with the owner, he recommended this cafe. Taking his advice, I entered the cafe to find a clean and orderly environment. The waitress greeted me with a kind smile and seated me promptly. I ordered the huevos con chorizo plate and a coffee. The meal was prepared, plated, and served in short order. The meal looked and tasted delicious! Everything was hot and fresh including the salsa and tortillas served with the food. The waitress was attentive and gracious. The price was extremely affordable. I could not have been any more delighted with my experience. I will definitely return to the Casa Cafe! read more

Casa Cafe - Mexican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Love the food here I always get Enchiladas Rojas they are so cheesy. Their service is amazing. always on time with everything I 100% recommend read more

Casa Cafe, how the hell did I not know about you sooner?? I am not exaggerating when I say that this place has some of the best quesadillas around.. I ordered one quesadilla con carne asada and a gordita de rajas con queso. When the waitress brought me my order, i was floored at size of the quesadilla. It was HUGE and generously filled with lots of gooey queso and carne asada, oh and the best part is that the tortillas are handmade to order!! I was very impressed with the quesadillas, but equally impressed with the gordita I ordered. The gordita de rajas con queso was also very tasty and stuffed with beans, and a mix of sauteed peppers, onlons, tomato and cheese. I barely finished the gordita, i probably should have ordered one item, due to the size of each, but it was so darn good I had to finish them both. This place is a must try if you are in the neighborhood. I will be back again real soon to try out some more menu items. The service was good, the restaurant is clean and the food is delicious and fresh.. four stars for sure in my opinion. read more

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Very Authentic food and has a lot of flavor, the service was also great. Small and cozy restaurant

Why did we wait so long to return?? Came here today. Food was amazing!! Tacos so good; ordered a chirizo-papa, steak and lengua. All amazing. Best kept secret this side of town!! read more

Solid asada tacos. The 3-taco dinner is less than $10. I love their horchada too. Someone just ordered the pollo soup and it's gorgeous and smells like heaven. read more

This place has amazing Mexican food! Their tortillas are handmade and taste soooo good. The prices are are also extremely reasonable. Highly recommend. Warning: the food is quite addicting... I'm pretty sure the cook recognizes me at this point read more

Casa Cafe - Chorizo quesadilla 3 - Mexican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

They have the best menudo and it's hard to find good menudo. They also have great tacos and drinks. I come here all the time.

I stopped in here because I saw on the sign that they had Quesadillas de Huitlacoche, an ingredient I had only ever seen before at fancy restaurants. they were only $3.49 so I ordered two, expecting the sort of thin little quesadillas I made at home. Wow, they were ENOURMOUS! Instead of using regular tortillas like you'd get at Chipotle or Qdoba, they used a thick dinner plate size tortilla, more like a huarache. There was a thick layer of cheese (Something authenticish, not cheddar, but I don't remember what) and it was positively smothered in Huitlacoche. if you've never had Huitlacoche (or cuitlacoche) it's a sort of fungus that grows on corn, but has an amazing almost truffle-y flavor. One was definitely enough for a meal. Fair warning, this quesadilla is NOT finger food. I made the mistake of trying to eat it on the train with my hands, and wound up covered in the tasty black goo that the Huitlacoche was cooked in. I also ordered an Horchata, which was unremarkable. read more

Popping into Casa Cafe with a dream of hangover-aiding Mexican food, we noticed right away how clean and ready to serve it was. Greeted by a very friendly young lady at the counter, we ordered up. A three-taco al pastor dinner (includes rice and beans) was $5.99 plus a large horchata ($2). My friend got a burrito dinner (same price) and his own giant drink. Almost twenty bucks and what felt like a long wait later, we wandered out with our goods. The tacos al pastor, while hot and fresh with minimal toppings (onions, cilantro, cheese), were satisfying but not tasty. They lacked the sweet/tangy elements of a nice al pastor. I couldn't see the prep, but got the impression the meat wasn't carved off a spit as much as simply cooked up in a pan so there were no caramelized crispy bits. The beans were a bit runny, but the rice pretty good. It did the trick but it also disappointed a bit. The house-made horchata was excellent, however. And a large is indeed very large. read more

Casa Cafe is the cure to a long day in the office, a strenuous work out in the gym, or a night of drinking that continued well into the next morning. Nothing satiates the soul like quality Mexican food, friendly, personalized service, and Mexican soap operas! My experience with the food here has been very basic: I've pretty much ordered $1 Chicken Tacos or Steak Burritos. Chicken Tacos here come with onion and cilantro and your choice of red or green sauce. The red sauce has the perfect balance of kick and savory flavor. The green sauce has an herbal/zesty flavor. The red and green sauce are more distinct from each other than you would find at most other Mexican restaurants which is nice. Steak Burritos here are very rich and you will find that they are basically asking for spoon fulls of salsa with every other bite. They do include avocado as well as other common burrito fillings, steak, cheese, beans, tomato, etc. They are $5 and I promise they will make a hungry man sleepy and pleasurably lethargic. The Casa Cafe has always been squeaky clean in my experience and they are BYOB. I'd highly recommend anyone looking for some affordable and quality Mexican food to stop by. Update: they raised prices which for me is a little bit of a deal-hurter. In order to be honest, i need to drop down to 3 stars. Still a good place, but it wasn't the gem it was back when they were lower. read more

So, after a hospital appointment. I decided to stop by here & I ordered two steak tacos & a strawberry milkshake. The tacos were really good in my opinion. & well the shake could have been better, wasn't the greatest read more

Casa Cafe - Mexican Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Had a taste for a Burrito and strolled into Cafe. The place is clean and is quite snug about 30 people fit in the place. Chip and salsa cost a dollar if you eat in. The BURRO comes with lettuce, tomatoes, beans, Avocado, and crema'. A sign in spanish warns patrons that bones may be in the fish soup. Showing another indication of low costing fish being purchased. I watched the cook while standing at the counter a senior citizen whose speed was not suited for cooking at a restaurant. I observed the meat on the grill which looked similar to steak but was a very low grade. Fat was apparent on most the meat. the prices were typical of Pilsens taco joints. So if you are getting on the pink line near 21st and western and dont feel like the golden Arches this place will do. BUT... google tacos in Pilsen and you can find at least 5 other places that will make you smile. read more

This is my favorite Mexican restaurant by far. The pollo con crema y rajas (chicken with cream and peppers) is perfectly seasoned and full of flavor. They also have the best guac ever. The avocados are perfectly smooth and it's so fresh. I also really enjoy their quesadillas, which are made on corn tortillas, so they're gluten free! The freshly squeezed orange juice is also really nice. I will definitely be back for more. The service is great too, and they have a large room in the back that has space for larger parties or events. read more

This is my favorite place to grab lunch in town! I've never had a steak taco that's been as fragrant and flavorful as Casa Cafe's!

I may not be from Mexico but they have the best steak tacos I've tasted out of all the "best places" in chicago.The waiters are pretty friendly and nice and service is really good. They also make their own tortillas for the quesadillas because they are so big and thick, one quesadilla will fill you up. I go to this place regularly with my boyfriend and its still our go-to place all the time because the food is really tasty. I recommend stopping by if you haven't. read more

I was running late for the Bulls-Heat game three at my buddies place (thankfully he DVRd it, bonus no commercials) when I realized I still hadnt eaten. Given my buddy was born, raised, still lives on 19th street in Pilsen, I knew he would have a reasonable go-to taco/torta stop. We hooved it down the street, only to find the family torta shop closed for business. Next door was Casa cafe so I headed in for some take-out. The menu is simple, offering breakfast, tacos, burrittos, and a few other adequate mexican dinner staples (nothing over the top or crazy here). Atmosphere is lacking and will definitely have you determining that take-out is a reasonable choice. I ordered the taco combo dinner. The tacos are standard mexican street-tacos style, small double stacked corn tortillas filled with choice of meat. I went with the Lengua, Carne Asada, and Pastor (all with cilantro, onion, salsa verde, lime). The lengua was tasty, and I appreciated that it wasnt a whole slab of tongue, nor was it chopped to hell so you couldnt see the rough exterior taste buds. This is how I like my lengua. The pastor was the best of the three and was well marinated. As for the carne asada (generally how i judge my street tacos), it was par for course, but nothing special or worth heading back for. Sides that come with the dinner plate: The spanish rice was tasty and actually had fresh veggies and good flavor, but the refried beans were horendous, a perfect mess of lard and something that resembled a white cheese. The beans tasted of cardboard and looked like a ghost had hit them they were so pale in color. A bonus goes to the friendly women that took my order. We worked through some serious spanglish so my gringo belly could get some feed. of course my buddy chiming in at the right times in perfect spanish probably helped a lot more than I could understand. Of note, i did not get sick as can occur from random taco shops. If youre in a huge hurry and close, stop in for the tacos, ditch the sides, and grab a mexican coke for good measure. read more

I went here for lunch today right after a visit to Textile Discount Outlet which is two blocks away. It is a cheery and bright atmosphere with some nice touches such as wooden table tops and real glass for water glasses (not the usual beaten up plastic). I ordered Huevos Rancheros which was delicious. I especially liked the tomato sauce on the eggs which was a lovely orangey-red. The beans and rice were a bit bland but still good. Look for interesting things on the menu like huitlacoche which I think is corn fungus. I am way too chicken to order but my friend ordered another time we went there and liked it. The food is made with care and it's cheap. read more

My neighborhood go to place. Love the tacos de Carne Asada or any of the Guisados all yummy. Great value and service.

Very clean, fresh food and friendly overall. The food has a homemade taste to it. Really recommend it prices are average. I had ordered two gorditas and were great only ate one they're pretty big. A friend introduced me to this place PLUS FREE WIFI read more

Everything was fresh and tasted so good. Was a nice unexpected stop after a long day of fabric shopping. The staff is friendly, clean restrooms and nice atmosphere in the restaurant. read more

My mom and I stopped in to try the audthentic Mexican food. and WOWEE! we had Chicken tacos and steak tacos--superbly seasoned, the Horchata was smooth and flavorful, perfect. The Guacamole was Perfect and fresh. The salsa was nice and hot seasoned with Serrano peppers (we had the owner Elijah stop by our table). We tried the wonderful Mango, Cantelope and strawberry icees--a little slice of heaven on a hot day! The Quesadilla and strawberry shake were so good. We were truly impressed and definitely will be back again. The prices were good, food yummy and the service was friendly, perfect. read more

Great lengua tacos! The rice and beans are delicious. Taco dinner is a great price, I would highly recommend this place to my friends and family when they're in the neighborhood. They also have a spacious backroom to rent for parties. The restaurant altogether was a good experience from the service to the food. read more

I stopped into this place for the first time today. I ordered chilaquiles with fried eggs, salsa verde, rice and beans. It was so good I couldn't put my fork down. I ate until I thought I would explode. It was that good. My friend had a steak burrito which he thoroughly enjoyed as well. We definitely got our money's worth for under $20. The agua fresca was a tad too sweet for my liking but that's just me. This is not one of those trendy places, just a good little neighborhood joint. I will definitely be back to work my way through the menu. read more

Friendly staff and the food is absolutely delicious. Try the tilapia dinner! Perfection. read more

I came in to this location in attempt to eat a veggie burrito after placing and receiving my order for a veggie burrito to go I ate a small portion and began to feel light headed and my mouth became parched, I had chest pain, my heart began to speed up drastically almost as if I had consume a narcotic, Honestly taste like tabacco. I immediately returned to the location in attempt to ask for the ingredients. The manager could not tell me the ingredients or provide me with a refund. I told him that I did not feel well and would need medical attention in which he refused to call EMS. I had to be rushed to the hospital. read more

Stopped in on my way home from work. Ordered chicken tacos and a mandarin soda from the waitress. With my attempt to say mandarin in Spanish apparently it sounded like tamarindo and she brings me the wrong drink. I tell her i said mandarin. I work in the service industry so I know how to treat people so I wasn't rude but instead of her being apologetic or understanding that it was a miscommunication she becomes combative with me and gives me attitude. Each and every time I speak with her I feel like i'm bothering her. Then at the end when I read on the menu that the cheese is 25 cents and she charges me 40 cents She again give me attitude about that there is a sign on the cooler. And talk to the owner. Kiss my ass lady i'll just won't tip and won't come back. If you can't deal with people get out of the service industry woman. Wow i'm sure she's upset that she doesn't make enough money but treat people nicer and maybe you will. Just saying read more

A very nice surprise. Walking in, it doesn't look like much, especially with the incomplete / typo menu above the grill. I order, and then wait. And wait. And then, some Wonderful Food. Waiting is what happens when you get fresh/handmade gorditas and tortillas. You walk in, and it looks like you order at the counter, even if the 'menu' is incomplete above the cash register. But please go, and sit down, and review the real menu. And enjoy! Some dedicated ladies doing their best, yummy best. read more

My daughter and I had dinner at Casa Cafe. I had the Rajas and pastor quesadilla. It was delicious! The owner came by, recognizing we were new customers, he gave us a tour and told us a little about the history of the place and the expansion. There is a large room in back that is perfect for large family parties. The food is authentic homemade Mexican food. The prices were extremely reasonable, actually I thought they were low for the quality of the food. I don't live in the neighborhood, I was just passing through. However, I plan to go out of my way to come back again. read more

BEWARE!!! WARNING!!!! They are not clean at all, they grab the raw meat by hand and without washing their hands they add tomato, onions, cilantro, etc to the food... The raw meat may be contaminated with a DEADLY BACTERIA, you never know... read more

Casa Cafe never misses. They have some great tacos. They have great tacos (chicken tacos especially). If you need them to create an item that is not even on the menu, they will make it. I really appreciate real authentic Mexican food. They take time to make their food. Which is a gift and a curse. Other then that, their homemade horchata is awesome. I would really recommend them. read more