We've been coming here for 7 years after a trip to Spain, looking for a good Mexican Breakfast Place. This place is incredible, the service is impeccable, very friendly wait staff and detail oriented. We are greeted with our favorite beverage and appetizer when we sit down. Whenever we return from Mexico we come back home to Our Favorite Mexican Restaurant in the World. Don't Pass Up this Gem!! read more

Service was good Salsa good with a kick but you only get one then you gotta pay They also charged me $0.25 for my soda refill. Rice and beans very good Spicy hot sauces Rolleno was bomb but a little soggy Good red sauce Jake liked his chimi but Jake also likes all food Margarita felt small for the price read more

El Norteño - Chicken Chimi - Mexican Near Me - Island Lake, Illinois

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Checked out this local Mexican restaurant in Island Lake. El Norteño is one of those kind of sketchy looking places that actually is a lot better than it looks to be serious. It probably is the best Mexican restaurant in town. Actually might be the only one around. The prices are pretty good for the big portions. Basic looking place when going by. It's a restaurant that looks like it's been around a long time to be honest. They probably get a lot of business because there's not a lot of other places to eat around here that aren't fast food it seems. Basic looking inside. There's a good amount of tables. Any okay Mexican restaurant has to have alcohol. It's about $8 for a margarita. Pretty amazing prices. It's about $12 for the Veggie Fajita Burrito. This is filled with beans, cheese, green peppers, lettuce, onions, and tomatoes. I got it without cheese. This was pretty filling for a lunch. For sure it gives people a reason to come to this town of which there's not much going on around. It's even open in the morning. They'll make burritos and tacos for breakfast too if you really want it but whatever. read more

El Norteño - Margarita With Veggie Fajita Burrito - Mexican Near Me - Island Lake, Illinois

On 07/30/2026, my boyfriend and I ordered two cecina tortas and one steak torta. Before pickup, I called to confirm the price and was told the total would be $38.49. When my friend picked up the order, he was charged $44. After reviewing the receipt, I noticed we had been charged for Cuban tortas instead of cecina tortas. I went back inside, and the pricing issue was corrected. However, when I got home, my torta appeared to be burnt, which was very disappointing. read more

El Norteño - Mexican Near Me - Island Lake, Illinois

If you're looking for quality Mexican dishes that are made fresh and with an authentic taste, El Norteño is a great place to eat at with family and/or friends. Dishes are made fresh with quality ingredients and the service staff is friendly and attentive. Seating is available indoors and outdoors which makes it a great place to visit year round. Restaurant has a large parking lot. read more

El Norteño - Ord Tampiquena - Mexican Near Me - Island Lake, Illinois

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Well this is our second visit and I must say, wow, their food is awesome. It's a 35 minute drive for us,we have a ton of good Mexican food restaurants around our house, but I don't mind the drive, they have a large menu selection. My 7 year old grandson insisted he's wants to graduate from the kiddies menu, so he ordered a large Taco salad. My wife ordered the Chile Relleno dinner, and my son and I ordered their burrito dinners. I asked for extra onions, our waitress recommended grilled onions, what an awesome flavor. So I can say, no more 10 minute drive to a local burrito shop. As I mentioned in a previous post, this is a hidden gem, and well worth the travel time. read more

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Best ribeye around, not much filler which is great. Super Mario Burrito worth the hour drive! read more

El Norteño - Best ribeye burrito ever made! Super Mario Burrito is made for two hungry people. It's delicious!! I would drive an hour to get it! - Mexican Near Me - Island Lake, Illinois

We came here for my moms 70th birthday and had about 20 people. Our server was Angie and she was so attentive and kind and very helpful when we needed things. The food was absolutely incredible and everything came out timely and at the same time which is hard to do with such a big group. This is absolutely my favorite Mexican restaurant ever! read more

Shout out to El Norteño Island Lake we have been going since they opened many years ago but tonight was the icing on the cake. We came in on a Sunday night with 25 people (we made a reservation prior for my son's birthday per his request) We were seated immediately. The service was on point and so was the food and drinks. They were already busy to begin with between other diners and takeout but our food took no time and there was not one mistake. Everyone had a good meal and we were all full at the end of dinner. Thank you for the birthday celebration! read more

Food is Excellent! Service and atmosphere is excellent too! what I don't like is they have a real problem bringing the check to the table. you end up paying at the counter and every time I feel cheated. my fault because I don't ask for a detailed check. Otherwise the best Mexican food around! read more

Absolutely excellent food! We'll be back! Fresh, hot, delicious food, we got to go boxes because they FEED you! Very good for a date night, pretty decor inside, it's clean and tidy, they have so much to choose from drinks and food wise, even breakfast dishes. Plus, children's choices and desserts. My Daughter, Husband and I loved everything they served us plus got excellent desserts to go because we were stuffed. Juicy flautas, such good tamales, my Husband got barbacoa chimichanga and it was HUGE and perfect tasting. Yummy read more

After a great meal, excited to try the ChocoFlan dessert! Great flan and chocolate flavor. Thank you to the staff for explaining the types of flan desserts available. Dine in or take out, it did not disappoint. Thank you!! read more

El Norteño - Choco-flan!!!! - Mexican Near Me - Island Lake, Illinois

I was invited to a birthday party on Sunday night, April 26 and arrived at 6 o'clock to a crowded restaurant and was escorted to a private back room with my family and friends of 20 people. Promptly had a margarita placed our order and received our delicious dinner in great time. Food was great service was great if you're looking for a Mexican restaurant in your island lake, this is the place.. read more

Excellent food and service. Down fall, smelled like sewer on outdoor patio and workers loud at the dumpster breaking glass. read more

We order this restaurant a lot on Uber Eats. I've been to the restaurant a couple of times too. The food is always delicious- the green sauce is my favorite. I just wanted to leave a comment on how well packed the delivery orders are and they read the extra instructions and everything. This is our favorite Mexican restaurant around! I had a suizo burrito the other day and it was bigger than a football! So delicious!! read more

El Norteño - Suizo steak Burrito - Mexican Near Me - Island Lake, Illinois

Wife & I have been going here for years since they opened love their food. Unfortunately, that is going to change at least for takeout. Ordered takeout from there 2 nights ago, they are now charging an automatic 20% gratuity on takeout orders! What a shame, but not a problem, there's no shortage of good Mexican restaurants in and around Island lake. Janet from El Norteno's just reached out to me, the 20% gratuity was a mistake and has offered a refund! This makes me very happy has we go there very often. Thank you Janet! read more

Super good food. Friendly staff!. They have really good margaritas! The restaurant was also very clean.

Been getting food here for years and it's typically hit or miss (lately, more miss). This most recent time was carry out and it was a miss. The steak burrito was filled with meat, but the meat was greasy and not crispy. It's always better when it's got a crispy texture. The lettuce and tomatoes were mushy and wet. This time around, the tortilla seemed to absorb the smell of cleaning products being used in the restaurant. I could taste what appeared to be the smell of lemon fabuloso. Needless to say, I was unhappy with this and will be giving El Norteño a break for a while. Their sauces were good as usual. The green is the better tasting one in my opinion. read more

Phenomenal in every way! Every meal was great! The tongue tacos were the best I've ever had! Tender and tasty. The octopus was cooked just right. This will be the only Mexican place for us. read more

Food was alright. I ordered fajitas and they didn't send my corn tortillas. So now I am just eating the shrimp, green peppers rice & beans. So disappointed read more

Best mexican around here. Amazing service and everyone is nice there. Food is absolutely amazing and the inside is clean and fun. Would definitely recommend read more

I can't even remember the last time I had an experience this bad at a restaurant. We walked in, with a line of angry people sorting out their checks at the counter, and that should have been our sign to leave. We sat down to eat at 7:30 pm on a night where they close at 9pm, and the entire staff seemed more focused on getting ready to close, than helping the customers eating dinner. They were pulling out booths, flipping chairs onto tables, and cleaning out refrigerators. We had to flag down our waitress three separate times just to get another drink or a refill. She dropped off our Coronas without limes, and they were almost room temperature. Then our food came....the shrimp was rubbery and inedible. The steak was tough and full of hard gristle. Almost no redeeming qualities about this establishment. Poor food, awful service. read more

Unfortunately lousy service however food pretty good . Problemo is I've come 30x and every time I swear never coming back .. they will never see #31 . I bet servers won't care but the owner should .. I've spent a lot of $ there . read more

We are visiting for our second time and rally enjoy the food and casual atmosphere here. The serving staff are nice but the service can be a little Slow and they aren't always on top of things. That's my only issue at El norteño as this was the same experience last visit. The food is extremely good. We tried a few things. To start we had guacamole and chips. It's excellent and a great starter. Main dishes are excellent and can be made to order veggie burritos - Loaded with all kinds of good veggie from green peppers, onions, beans rice and guacamole. Big and boarder line Tough to finish there so much food Shrimp fajitas- these are served on a plate (not sizzling pan) but are very good. 8 larger shrimp with rice beans and sour cream. Flour tortillas were nice and tasty. Chimichanga - this was a veggie style And loaded with good stuff just like the standard veggie burritos. Horchata was excellent and tasted great Again service was not great- once served the wait staff girls sat behind the register talking the entire time. I was not happy since we were all out of drinks and never asked us to refill them. If they could Do a better job covering tables this would make up for 5 stars rating from me. read more

El Norteño - Good food served at El Norteño - Mexican Near Me - Island Lake, Illinois

Had dinner on their patio yesterday. Food was great as usual!! Great Margaritas and Negra Modelo!! Friendly and attentive service!! Best Mexican restaurant in Lake County!! read more

Excellent food and love the service and atmosphere. The carne asada was cooked perfectly.

I had high hopes for this place but The food was just alright, the steak and al pastor tacos lacked flavor. The hot sauce also had no flavor and lacked any sort of heat. The salsa wasn't very great either. read more

This is my go to Mexican restaurant in Island lake. The food is excellent and reasonably priced. The tacos are very good I had the steak and BBQ pork. I would recommend this restaurant. read more

I ordered a torta de carne asada during lunch and it took longer than expected for it to come out, but the wait was definitely worth it. It was one of the best tortas I've had in a while, the bread was toasted but soft, the carne asada wasn't chewy, it was soft and flavorful, and everything else in the torta blended together greatly. That and the aqua de pina was delicious, and both of those being only $13 was an absolute steal. read more

Great place good food and awesome service. Would go back again and again! Great atmosphere as well.

Great food. The lengua, enchiladas, burritos and milanesas are my favorites. I usually order delivery and that has always worked well. It's a friendly, family-owned business that is so good that it survived COVID and thrives. It's a local, come-as-you-are kind of place where you can get a good meal at a good price. One small caveat that's not their fault--it's an older building that's tricky (but doable) for wheelchairs and scooters to enter; plus lots of friendly customers holding doors. I don't know the bathroom situation. read more

Eaten there several time and it seems like it is hit or miss. Tonight was a miss! Two of three orders were wrong and my taco salad was mush!! read more

El Norteño - Taco Salad with Shell - Mexican Near Me - Island Lake, Illinois

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This place hands down is excellent! Everything is super tasty and the food is always hot! Love the chips and salsa, chicken enchiladas, tacos etc.. it's all really good. The staff is very friendly and the outdoor patio is beautiful! read more

I just want to say that El Norteno has the BEST MEXICAN FOOD that I have ever tasted .. I would highly recommend to eat at this Mexican restaurant.. read more

Good and affordable - if in doubt always go with the special! It never disappoints xxx

Always fresh and tasty! Tortas and steak tacos are delicious and my personal favs. Order from here at least once a month.

The food is really good. Beans and rice are always fantastic! I've Only ordered tacos, but they've always been fat and full of toppings!! Great portions sizes and service was stellar! I would highly recommend! I'm looking forward to a margaritas next time! Nice bar with open view to kitchen which I love to see !! read more

My absolute favorite place to get tacos in the area. I go here all the time and it's very consistent quality! It's so delicious and they are very fair with pricing. My job goes here on Payday and we love love love it! read more

The 1 star is for flavor and that's it. Spent $50 on take out tonight (steak and chicken fajitas $17, super mario burrito $16, Quesadilla with shrimp on the side $16), rest was 1 Corona while I waited, tax and even a 2.25 tip FOR TAKE OUT!!! As you can see from the pictures 2 of 3 meals are seriously lacking. The quesadilla was 2 small corn tortillas with little cheese and 2 shrimp cut up, this wasn't the dinner one that included rice or beans so I am furious this was $16!!! The fajitas were a absolute joke! Would you like some meat with your onions and peppers? 4 little pieces of steak and not even 1/4 of a chicken breast!!! I try to spend my $ in my hometown vs large chains but NEVER AGAIN!!! I'll go to taco bell instead next time! read more

El Norteño - Would you pay $16 for this quesadilla with shrimp on the side? - Mexican Near Me - Island Lake, Illinois

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Been here quite a few times now & it never disappoints. Friendly, clean & delicious, fresh food. read more

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