Just love this place. Been looking for a PR restaurant close to home and this is it. My wife is PR and the cooking here is on par with my mother in law's cooking...I love the jibarito sandwich...steak is the best but the port is pretty good too. The plantains are really good too....service is good, clean. Just really, really solid PR cooking. Go here. read more

New owners took over in November 2012 (I think). I'm sure they are nice people, but the quality of food has taken a BIG dive. Used to love this place... now, not so much. Won't go back unless I hear that the food has improved. We had our favorites (pasteles... etc)... all were sub-par, in flavor. I hope they make a change quick. Hate to see their business go under. read more

We were very impressed. I got a tripeletta sandwich that was amazing. The pork tasted so good and fresh. I got plantain chips on the side. They were fine. I haven't had them before so not sure what they are supposed to taste like. My husband got a dish that was mashed plantains filled with a chicken soup. Also amazing! The food tastes homemade. I'm not familiar with Puerto Rican food, so most of it was new to me. The flavors are more "basic" and familiar, not spicy or spiced tasting. The establishment isn't upscale, but clean and nice. It has a diner feel where a waitress comes but you pay at the counter. I think it would be great if they got a location that matched the quality of the food. Waitstaff was nice. It was busy on a Saturday afternoon, but not too crazy. It was affordable- we left for under $30 which is nice for a sit down restaurant these days. read more

Having lived in Virgin Islands and being married to a Puerto Rican girl I'm very picky about Puerto Rican food. Having eaten here 3 times in 5 years I thought it was time wrote a review. this place is fair to poor at best. Starting with parking. The lot seems to be laid out by children. Very confusing. Entering we waited at the counter for 10 minutes to be seated. 5 servers and a counter person kept walking past us without a hello or anything. The menu is confusing. The prices are moderate but the food isn't very good. We split a pastelli and pasteligo .Both were mediocre. We split a shrimp wrapped in Chicken covered in cheese. Then wrapped in bacon. Not good and not Puerto Rican. This place just doesn't cut it. Not very friendly and so so food. Next time we'll head into Chicago for good Puerto Rican food. read more

Uhh, this place is really good... like, amazingly fantastic good. I chose the "Bori-Cuba" (plantain sandwich with roasted pork, ham, swiss cheese, pickles and a bunch of mustard) and a side of the arroz con gandules (rice with peas). The rice was a big ol' mountain of deliciousness, so I recommend splitting it with your compañero. I also suggest getting two sandwiches for yourself, so you can eat one now and take the other one home. We chowed on the "Cubano" sandwich and really liked it despite feeling guilty for eating Cuban food at a Puerto Rican restaurant. The guy told me that the tostones (plaintain chips) are worth getting too, so check 'em out. Anyway, it was such a great meal, I'll be going back asap. read more

This place is sooooo good . 5 stars all the way . Hands down best puertorican food in the area. Next to my family's cooking that is . I'm still drooling over the pastelillos . And the rice . Yes yes yes . read more

Delicia Tropical Cafe - Latin American Near Me - Elgin, Illinois

Great, fresh, homemade style Puerto Rican food at an amazingly low price! First off, walking into this tiny old diner building I was greeted by the aroma of roasted meats and garlic. I had the kind of feeling you get as a hungry kid, when your friend's mom is making dinner and you are really hoping they will invite you to stay. We used a restaurants.com gift certificate so we ordered alot for 2 people. I had the garlic shrimp mofongo (amazing but so loaded with garlic that its for extreme garlic die-hards... You'll be tasting it the next day, trust me). My husband ordered a roast pork platter with hot broth. Tender with lots of flavor. The fried plantains rock but not as much as the tostones fried dough with meat or cheese. That can't be healthy, but that's not why we eat out, right? Also we had dinner salads with the house dressing (a zesty version of thousand island), and a side of Puerto Rican rice (made authentic with pigeon peas and olives), which was mild and filling. I want to go back for the soup and a sandwich (which combined only costs around $7). I only regret ordering the kola champagne soft drink. While having a pleasant aroma of cream soda with distinct notes of rose petals, at 52g of sugar I could actually feel it drilling holes into my teeth. We shared that nevertheless. So, for cheap authentic eats, check this place out! read more

It's pretty hard to find good Puerto Rican food in the burbs, this one is great. The food is very tasty. I would say the service is slow so don't go there if you're in a rush. I've been there twice since the new owners took over and I have to say the food is better than before. Today I took my daughter's friend there for her first Puerto Rican dinning experience and she was trilled with her selections. read more

Awesome food. Service was ok but no one mentioned that you need to get your check at the register. We sat for over 20 minutes waiting before we were checked on again and told to go pay in front. Food was delicious. Had the mofongo and steak jibarito as well as tostones as an appetizer. Everything was very flavorful and I will go back for sure. read more

A fantastic bit of Puerto Rico right in Elgin! My husband and I just returned from a trip to Puerto Rico and were missing the food. We searched Puerto Rican restaurants and found this one close by. We called, and they do take reservations, although they are not always needed. They asked that if you bring a larger party that you call ahead to reserve a table. They also said that you can bring your own favorite alcoholic beverages if you like. We started off with the pastelillos -- one chicken and one beef. My favorite was the beef -- the seasoning was just like the ones in Puerto Rico. We moved onto the bistec en salsa and camarones en salsa criolla: beef in a tomato sauce with onions and peppers and shrimp prepared similarly. We both got the rice and beans with sausage. Absolutely fantastic and I'm not a fan of white rice!! The portions were so big that we each took home half of our meal and are enjoying it during the week. Dessert was just as pleasing -- we tried both the flan and the coconut custard. Delicious!! It was also fun that the staff came over to talk to us. We shared stories of Puerto Rico, and they told us some very interesting history and other places to go to if we ever get that return trip in. There was pleasant salsa music playing in the background. Everyone was very pleasant, service was excellent, and the food came out fast (we had become accustomed to waiting a lot longer in PR). We're eager to share this restaurant with friends and will be coming back. read more

Fed my jibarrito craving without having to run in the city always a plus in my book!!!!

They have excellent service and the food is delicious! El jibarito is to die for. This is where we come when want real comfort food.

The Pernil, bistec, acapuria, empanada, tostones are very deliciosa. This is a very good authentic Puerto Rican restaurant. I highly recommend it. Especially the price is economical. We will definitely come back for more to try the other dishes. read more

I should mention, I ordered the Churrasco and that was delicious. Best mushroom gravy I've had in my life

pretty mediocre,,, the sandwichs were fairly bland and the service was very slow.... we enjoyed the food, but the portions were small other than the plantains..... this wouldn't be somewhere I would go regularly.... my sandwich was a very thin chicken cutlet with a very small piece of lettuce and a very thinly cut tomato slice cut in half.... instead of bread I chose the fried plantain as the bun which was most of the sandwich... very starchy with little to nothing as far as sandwich filling.... My daughter also chose the plantain bunned Cuban sandwich which once again was light on the meats, cheese and pickles.... My wife got the chicken and rice soup which she said had great flavor and once again this dish came with fried plantains which were in all plates a majority of what the dishes consisted of.... with a side of mixxed catsup and mayo for all.... read more

Wait staff lacks experience. Food is bland and lacks true Puerto Rican flavor.

We had the pernil with arroz con gandules, an alcapurrias, pollo guisado, a couple of bacalaito, and chamgagne kola. And flan for dessert. (We took this home to eat later: we were quite full!) Everything was delicious, the place was busy but not crowded. Staff was friendly. Prices reasonable. read more

My wife and I stopped in here for dinner. The staff was friendly. We were seated at a table that was dirty, but not the end of the world. We ordered the tostones. They were really good- crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The dipping sauce for the tostones was also very good. I ordered the steak Jibarito. It was good but I felt that the meat was dry and a bit lacking flavor. My wife ordered the Cuban sandwich. I thought the Cuban sandwich was awesome! Very flavorful. The restaurant had a good sized crowd. All in all I enjoyed the place and I want to go back and try the Mofongo (spelling?) it looks like a very unique dish. read more

No flavor in their food whatsoever and they forgot to include my sons sides which we noticed when we got all the way home. No thanks go to the city read more

Very disappointed with the service, you call and they never pick up the phone and when they do and you place an order you have to wait over a half and hour just to pay for the food. You should have two people when is busy taking care of customers, plates are sitting on the counter and the employees dont even go get them. What happened to this place, THE OWNER should be more involved. read more

I moved to Illinois 9 months ago from Puerto Rico and have tried a couple of puertorican places in the area and nothing made me satisfied, until I tried Delicias.. The mofongo is awesome!! Actually everything that I've tried there is amazing! I live like and hour and 20 minutes from this place and I can tell you it's worth a drive!!! truly recommend it!!! :) read more

You don't to go to Puerto Rico to get great Puerto Rican food. My days of driving to Chicago are over. Delicias Tropical is amazing. Just try their.Mofingo con Camarones and you will swear you hear the waves of the ocean. read more

Poor service and food took a long time to get. Also why so few green olives in the rice? Is there a shortage?

I can't say enough good things about the food here. It's authentic and delicious and tastes just like the home cooking. My only complaint is the guy in his mid-20s that works there, pretty sure it's his family that owns the place, can be a little standoffish sometimes. Very obvious that he cares more about the money side of things. But the rest of the staff/owners there are wonderful and very friendly. I recommend this place to anyone, especially if you're missing that home cooked meal. read more

We ordered take out and when I came in the car my kids couldn't wait to eat the food with the aroma in the car. My son (12) had Chuletas and it was too hard and dry. I guess I ordered it wrong because I thought i ordered Chuleta en salsa. My daughter ate all her Pollo Frito. I guess it was good because she's only 5. She ate some arroz con gandules on my request but my son ate a lot of it. Mine was really good. I had Pechuga de pollo rellena de camarones con pimonte sauce with sweet plantains on the side. Empanadas were ok but I've had lots of great ones my mom and aunts made. So I'm a little biased on empanadas. We will definitely go back since it's only 10 minutes away from the house. read more

Don't waste your money. I've just moved to Elgin about 2 months ago from Humboldt Park in Chicago. I ordered a mofongo with caldo de pollo, my husband ordered arroz con gandules (bad rice) and pork chops. 1st and foremost, the kid that was our "waiter" did not know what a Mixta was. Every puertorican knows when you go to a puertorican restaurant on the menu there is a list of Mixtas which is rice, meat and your choice of side and salad. I am not upset at the kid, he said there was no mixtas, but when we asked him if he knew what it was he said NO. I blame the owner. 2nd,my mofongo did not have garlic or tocino and the chicken caldo was a chicken broth like the cubes broth. last but not least, we got charged separately for everything, the mofongo was one price, the rice was another, the pork chops were separate and my bill was $35.00 for a dinner we did not finish and was horrible. Spend your money elsewhere this place is not worth $35 for 2 people. read more

Delicia Tropical Cafe - chicken caldo? no, that is broth - Latin American Near Me - Elgin, Illinois

It's not bad for the burbs. Could use some more flavor in the Jibarito. Will go back soon to try more food. Mofongo first. Went back this past weekend, big mistake. They had a Catering job and would not sit anybody down and the food would take a minimum of 1hr. So if you ever go and they have a Catering job you are screwed, just leave and go somewhere else. read more

Ate their once and it was the saltiest food I nearly have ever eaten. Not going back. I had to drink tons of water the next day

Really good puerto rican food. Loved it. Would recommend this place for sure.. will definitely come back

Can't say enough good things! The shrimp mofongo is crazy good with a side soup that is awesome and if you order another meal that comes with the rice, mix the rice in the soup and WOW!! The service was great, they were so patient and excited to explain items on the menu. They were all smiles and even let us try a sweet pastry with cream cheese in the middle. Great place! Meant to take pics but we ate it all, sorry... read more

My friends and I went to Delicia Tropical Cafe and we were not impressed. We have tried La Boriquen and Boriquen Lounge in the city and we by far say the jibaritos is much better in the city than elgin. Our food took forever to be served and we were just left there with only bread and butter. Then when the food arrived it only comes with just the sandwich when in other restaurants with rice. If you ask you rice they charge you an extra 3$ and in my opinion that's really overpriced for a jibarito meal. It came out to be 8.25 in the end which is very overpriced than the restaurants in the city and they include rice. I would not recommend this place. Sorry. read more

I went there for lunch and had Cuban sandwich. It was ok, nothing spectacular. It's probably my bad for ordering Cuban food at a Puerto Rican place. The sandwich is cheap ~$5-6. However, it doesn't come with any side (the side is at $3) read more

I was looking forward to the Mofongo, but I was a bit disappointed. The plantain was very dry and mealy, and the shrimp base was very salty and had no flavor. The Alcapurria was very greasy and had next to nothing meat. Prices are fair, but they need to revamp the dishes to get my business next time. read more

The potato balls are awesome and I'm in love with the pork Jibarito!! So good. Good prices and a very friendly staff.

We went to Delicia tonight with friends based on a word-of-mouth recommendation and had a wonderful time. Superb friendly service, massive portions of excellent food, and reasonable prices. The owner bent over backward to recommend the house specialties and explain everything. You can tell he loves his business and sharing his Puerto Rican heritage. Everything was like home-cooked and delicious. Highly recommended. read more

OMG the flan was to die for delicious!!!! And they made my garlic chicken with extra garlic as I requested, soo good. The mofongo was like being back home. All in all, great service and delicious food. Will definitely be back! read more

If your looking for Puerto Rican food this is the place to go great service, great food.

I come from the Humboldt park area and love the food out there...I moved to the suburbs a while back and couldn't find a place that tasted as good as home until I found Delicia Tropical Cafe . The people who work there are very friendly and welcoming and there food is great. Love the alcapurrias and rellenos de papas. read more

My husband and I took our 4 year old twin girls. Service was a little slow, but the food was very tasty. We tried the Rellano de Papa (don't bother), and Pastelillo de Pollo (supurb), amarillos (yummy), the pastel, mufango, and El Jibarito were all excellent. There was plenty of food, our girls liked the rice, and the bill completely reasonable. Can't wait to go back. read more

Great steak jibaritos!!! We tried the chicken jibarito but it was missing cheese and did not taste as good as steak.