Since this place has a bar and is walking distance from home, I've been going here since it was in the soft-opening stage. Had I rated it after the first visit, I'd have given 2-3 stars because I thought the food, while fresh, was bland. Apparently the chef has discovered that not everyone who dines on the North Shore has the taste buds of a nursing home resident because the food has become spicier and more flavorful with each visit. They could still dial up the heat a bit more (give us some habeneros please!) but at least the salsa has a fair amount of kick now. My favorite entrees are the steaks. From the carne asada to the weekend specials smothered in veggies, cactus and cheese, the meat is cooked and seasoned as good as any place else and reasonably priced. As for drinks, the margaritas can be made with a huge selection of tequila and they are always potent. There's also a decent selection of craft beers like Rogue Dead Guy Ale. The dining room is not very big, but we never seem to have to wait long. If you don't want to dine with kids, go around 9; on some nights, this place can almost feel like Chuckie Cheese. read more

Vegetarian menu is terrible and when I requested a fajita with just vegetables the staff was difficult and uncooperative

The food was too saucy and lacked nuance. We could not even finish one of the dishes. It is expensive too! By far, one of our worst experiences with the Mexican cuisine. The reason I am giving 2 stars is that the margarita we ordered was fine. read more

Over priced crap and littlest serving size.. The owner charged us for shrimp fajita with no shrimps ordered..then was being over generous by adjusting price to chicken fajita while all we got was small side of peppers and onions...won't be going again.. read more

If you want to pay 6.00 per taco, this is the restaurant for you. I ordered 4 shrimp tacos and was charged 24.00. When I asked to see the menu, they said they raised prices and that was the cost without showing me any menu. The menu has 3 shrimp tacos with with skinny coleslaw and a creamy avocado sauce on flour tortillas for 18.50 served with rice and beans. I did not get any coleslaw or rice and beans but was charged 6.00 per taco. The owner could have cared less. When I brought the food home, in addition to the overpriced tacos, they gave me shrimp quesadillas instead of the chicken quesadillas I ordered. The food was cold and inedible. There are so many great mexican restaurants, I have no idea why anyone would go here. read more

Heard it was a good place, but didn't get to experience it. Sat for 15 minutes waiting for service, many people walked by, and nothing.

Horrible service!! Sat down when they opened at 11 am. 15 minutes later I walked out because no one served me. I asked for a waiter.

The soups are amazing as well as their food. The service is great... and atmosphere is fun... can't beat this place!

Best Mexican food on the north shore. Great service!

My favorite place for Mexican food!! So authentic, the margaritas are delicious, full and don't taste like artificial syrup or formula. If you ask for salsas, they have habanero, salsa verde, etc. There is an extremely wide variety of options, and they never disappoint. Chipotle salmon is my favorite! read more

Great food for a local Mexican restaurant. Enjoyed the many tequilas offered!

Good food and good selection. Try the chile relleno, goat tacos, or carne asada. Excellent margaritas with many tequila options. Expensive for Mexican food, sometimes too busy, but i'm walking distance, which is a big plus. read more

Been to Guanajuato numerous times and think it offers good value. Vegetarian tacos for me and they are tasty with a nice green salad. House salsa is on the bland side, but they will supply a hot habanero salsa to blend in if asked. Very tasty coconut flan! Friendly service and fine atmosphere. read more

Best Tacos in Winnetka. In and out at lunch in between client meetings-- couldn't be happier. 2 carne asada tacos with rice and beans with a side of jalapeños and lime is all you need. read more

i will say the same thing about guanajuato that i said about everest burger in the same strip mall...bland. we got the tacos and chilaquiles. the chilas. were dry. the tacos were okay, but the tortillas themselves were not tasty. the quality of the meat was good. the rice and beans were average. you can't say it's "bad" mexican food. the chicken soup (broth, veggies) was perfect except for the grilled chicken in the soup! i understand nuevo-latino, but i don't care for grilled chicken in my soup. ;) unfortunately --will not be visiting again. read more

Best mexican food on the north shore and my favorite margaritas in the entire world! The staff is very friendly and prompt, and the food is always delicious! This is one of my favorite places and I highly highly recommend it to all! You can't beat Guanajuato! read more

This place is our new favorite including all the others in Highwood and Highland Park.... Their Habanero (Verde)and Rojas (both on request over their standard table salsa) are excellent! And hot!!!! Their grilled talapia tacos are fantastic, as is their tamales and barbacoa. The ambiance and service are great too, plus the mariachi Trio de Dos adds some nice background flair.... They also havean extensive (I mean 15+ )microbeer list as well as a great selection of wines. We couldn't be happier finding this place. We'll be back... read more

The service was very good and the tilapia I had was delicious. My margarita, however, was one of the worst I've ever had. Almost all sour mix and nothing else. I would still go back. The food was worth it. read more

This place is a true gem!! The food is very authentic and the drinks are STRONG. They are delicious, though. The only flaw this place has is that it is tiny, so they get packed very quickly and sometimes service can be a bit slow. I would recommend this place to anyone who loves Mexican cuisine! read more

I have been coming to this restaurant for the past 5 years. It is a rather high menu price for a Mexican restaurant. But they offer the best Margarita in the Greater Chicago Area. They squeeze lime every day to make lime juice. It is not as sweet as conventional sweat and sour mix margarita. Drop by after beaching at Winnetka or Glencoe. read more

A great go to Mexican restaurant spot. Kid friendly with authentic Mexican cuisine. Service is above average and on weekends the have a fun Mariachi band that I invited to play at a recent local party. good spot. read more

The food is okay, got a couple dishes mostly bland. Their taco, which should be a staple, seemed fresh but lacked flavor and toppings. The margaritas are decent but for the price, taste basically the same as a BOGO pitcher from somewhere cheaper. The food is okay, the tequila and beer selection is good and they have some patio seating. Worth a try, if you like overpriced Amexican food. read more

Easily my favorite Mexican restaurant! Lunch menu is perfect...inexpensive, large portions and freaking delicious! Friendly and attentive staff keep me coming back:) read more

I want to start out by saying this is my second yelp ever. I usually give the restaurant the benefit of the doubt, but tonight I just can't. My family and I carried out from here this evening. We put an order in with two allergies in our family one was tomato and one was onions. We were very specific in our orders and they even called back to double check out orders. My sister and I went to pick up our orders and got home to our family who was waiting to eat. We opened up our orders and 3 of the 4 things we ordered was wrong. We called in and complained. They asked us to send pictures of the mistake in our orders so we gladly did. A manager called us back and told us they were going to refund our meal, but asked us to never return. This was totally uncalled for as we didn't do anything wrong all we did was call and tell them how wrong our food was and that 3 out of the 4 people couldn't eat their dinner. If you are thinking about going there just keep this in mind. read more

I start saying first thank you to all the crew from Guanajuato for they effort cooking great traditional Mexican Food and especially to the chef for put his heart to every single recipe something not everyone appreciates cuz it's very relaxing and simple to write comment and criticized someone's work right ?....continue giving my humble and respectful opinion I will definitely recommend Guanajuato for Mexican experience!!! read more

The food is good, and the service is decent...one of the waitresses did not check to see if we needed anything as often as she should have (she barely checked every 20 mins.)...other than that, Guanajuato is a great place! Good service every time except the one above! read more

Since Guanajuato opened, I have noticed the quality of food and service diminishing. Originally, I was ecstatic to see a good Mexican restaurant open on the North Shore. Sadly, this was my last and final attempt. The quality of food was poor, the service was poor, and oh my, the owner's attitude was poor. She refused to give us her name when we stated THREE times that we were not happy with the quality of the food. She WALKED AWAY FROM US! I finally had to get her name from another employee. As a business owner, this type of customer service blows me away. In a nutshell, Guanajuato is sub-par as far as Mexican restaurants are concerned and it is incredibly over priced!!! read more

What an absolute delight Guanajuato's restaurant was to me and my family last night. I rarely take the time for a review, but I so appreciate the delicious authentic Mexican food served with kind and thoughtful staff all in an environment of festive warm. I cannot recommend this restaurant enough to all of the families of the North Shore. I adore the Margarita salmon dish with a top shelf skinny margarita! My children also had other kid friendly dishes to choose from. I cannot recommend Guanojuato's enough. read more

We started eating at Guanajuato several months ago, and it serves the best Mexican food we've had in a long time, definitely not the taco/enchilada Mexican restaurant you might expect, more gourmet Mexican carefully prepared and presented. It's a small neighborhood establishment with many repeat customers, and the only issue we've had was the last visit, when a group of people with a SCREAMING baby disrupted everyone's meal and did nothing about it and certainly could have cared less that they were ruining everyone else's Saturday night out. We moved our table to outside even though it was hot out, and talking to one of the owners outside, Margarita (a delightful and caring host), she said when she finally requested they try to resolve the issue because many tables were complaining, the group reacted in an angry and insulting manner and did take the screaming toddler out for a while but said they would never come back. It's a shame that civility has seemingly disappeared and that people could feel so entitled that they really don't care about anyone else. They even wrote a nasty note on the check. In any event, it's a great place to eat, they have terrific live guitar music and I would highly recommend it. read more

Get the horchata! Delicious classic Mexican food. They have outdoor seating, but it is located on the inside of the strip mall which isn't ideal. But, service and space is good, a neighborhood classic! read more

The food here is tasty but it can make you sick We placed 3 take out orders. We worked with the hostess to choose 2 which would be gluten free. When we were back at home and served them our guest looked a little suspicious. We called the restaurant just to double check. We spoke to a new contact who indicated both meals in question were definitely not gluten free. We told him of our earlier conversation and he put the hostess on the phone . She confirmed she told us they were gluten free and pointed out that they only put a little bit of flour in the sauce on one dish and the other dish she said was completely gluten free except the flour tortilla it comes in ! We live near by and we won't be going back. Too bad- the guacamole is good. read more

The food wasn't bad, but the portions were paltry and they charged extra for sour cream-- that is like charging extra for ketchup. The prices were high for an unappetizing plate. read more

Sadly, Guanajuato continues to slip. I have been twice in the past month, once on a Friday and once on a Tuesday. Friday night was packed and server was ridiculously slow and unengaged. Last night we went and the menu has changed. Chips are different, not thin and crispy, heavy and cheap tasting. They no longer offer a cup of shrimp soup, just a bowl for $15.95. They were out of Posole. Margaritas are now served in old fashioned glass and most likely smaller quantity than they used to be in large Margarita glass. Queso Fundido with Chorizo was undercooked, cheese not melted enough, no evidence of broiler on top and chorizo lacked any flavor at all. Sopapillas taken off the dessert menu and the table next to us was trying to order them as well. Ummmm, sopapillas are simply fried flour tortillas, how can you not "have" them? We ordered the churros which were not authentic, heavy and greasy. Very disappointing. read more

We went with old friends at their suggestion. It was great to see them, but the food and service was just OK at best. I waved my arms at the waiter several times to get his attention and it became a joke that he had to be deliberately ignoring us to not see me or hear us call his name. Now, when I get my Visa bill I see they added $5 extra to a very adequate tip when my receipt shows clearly the tip and the total. I called and was told they would look into it and get back to me right away. Two days later no response so I will contact credit card company. I really don't like places that do that. read more

Best Mexican food North of Pilsen. The owner Mahrgarita is charming and the food beautiful and delicious

Food is wonderful! Atmosphere is fantastic! Service is great! In addition to what I normally order, I ordered the grilled vegetables and they were out of this world! read more

Just ate here. It's absolutely awesome. The food: I got the chicken El Molcajete. It was incredible. Might be the best Mexican dish I've ever had. Wife got the duck enchilada. I was not a fan of the mole - too chocolatey, not enough spice - but that's why I didn't get it. The salsa was really interesting, in a good way. The drinks: Best Margarita I've had since the closing of El Jardin Del Norte. If you like Margaritas that are sweet (all lime juice and simple syrup or sweet+sour mix), you won't like it. If you like the flavor of tequila, you'll love it. I got the one with the Grand Marnier and my wife got the house Margarita. Both were absolutely awesome. This is going to be my regular spot to get a drink this summer. Might be the best Margarita I've ever had. The rest: We were seated right away. They had crayons for my toddler and the staff was very friendly. Waters were refilled regularly, the food didn't take long, and the atmosphere was pleasant. read more

Went there for dinner on Valentines day. The host was a grouchy old man who wasnt very welcoming, plus when he was sitting us in the bar, I pointed to the dining area (because the bar was very cramped and too bright), he didnt seem to care. The chairs in the bar area are literally up against each table and you had to move your table into your partner to get out or just totally bump the person behind you. I wanted a margarita and the server mentioned the special cherry margarita, it turned out to be in a champagne glass full of ice, you literally couldnt drink it unless you wanted the ice to spill all over your face, I shouldve asked for a straw for this $15 over priced drink. What a waste of $15. The food.... over priced and BLAND. I cant believe this place is so busy!!! Have the uppity north side families never travelled to the south west or mexico even??? My boyfriend ordered a bland chili relleno and he said it tasted bland and they covered it with tomato sauce. I ordered salmon tacos and wow, super dry and super bland. The live music was nice but all in all, we will never go back. We can find better mexican food on Clark street or the south side and we LOVE taco diablo (but they burnt down recently!! Sad!). i guess this is good for the uppity north shore people with zero taste level and dont care about blowing $80 on a bland sad dinner for two. If you want quality good authentic mexican food, do not go there. But if you are happy with the mcdonalds overpriced mexican food, its perfect for you! read more

Food was horrible and way over priced. We ordered the guacamole asking if if were freshly prepared, was told by waitress they make it when ordered. It was delivered in a small bowl with the guacamole shaped like they just scooped it out with an ice cream scooper and tasted like it came from the Jewel down the street. The entire menu is way overpriced. Service was just ok. Don't waste your time or money. read more

The worst Mexican food in Chicagoland. Poor quality presentation, ingredients and taste. Drinks are great at the bar. Bartenders are great. But, sorry food is slop. There are so many great authentic Mexican restaurants around who needs to pay the over inflated prices for a bunch of beans. read more