We have been going to Little Mexico for over 30 years. We drive 80 miles to go but the Mexican Food is always worth it. Over the years there have been some changes and the food was not quite like it was but that changed and it is a great place to eat! Carl is an excellent waiter. He is a hard worker and goes beyond to make you feel welcome! Keep up the good work Carl! We missed you when you were gone and we are certainly glad your back! read more

This place is terrible. Worse than the ostentatious decor is the food. We were recommended this restaurant by locals who think this is the best Mexican place in town, which is unfortunate for them. Our Mexican food was doused in what looked and tasted like chicken gravy, and we couldn't take more than a couple of bites. read more

Used Cheddar Cheese instead of White Mexican Cheese so not true mexican food. Service was slow and wasnt that busy. The salsa tasted like they used dried cilantro instead of fresh. The House sauce is a must try. read more

I hadn't been there in years because I didn't like the food before, and it hasn't changed. The texture of the food is bad - terribly overprocessed. The flavor of the food is bad. The salsa tastes like it's made from sugared onions, with no tomatoes to be found. My chimichanga had a decent tortilla, but there was hardly any meat and it was so finely ground as to be pasty. The rice was surprisingly good. The service was worse. We sat there eating chips & salsa for quite a while before our server came to take our drink order. He didn't write it down, there were only 3 of us, and we all three ordered Diet Cokes. But he couldn't remember that, and had to ask us again. He thought he was charming, but he was obnoxious and offensive. He playfully smacked one of my friends on the arm. He squeezed and rubbed my shoulder. He kept calling us "girls" even though we're 20 years older than he is (we know, because he told us how old he was). He didn't write anything down so kept forgetting everything. He was creepy and told me he was going to buy my meal for me. Of course, he didn't, but that was just creepy. He was just as bad to the table behind us. All of a sudden I heard one of their diners yell at him, "Don't take that plate away! I'm still eating!" What kind of a server does that. The atmosphere is beautiful, though dark and hard to read the menus. Felt like a cool summer evening in a little Central American Village. Won't be going back again. read more

Really good food.. The beer was cold quiet atmosphere.... Great price.. Will come again

This is probably one of the worst restaurants I have ever been to, food wise. While the service was really nice and accommodating, the food was awful and expensive. Actual quote from my sister: "This tastes like dog food." The salsa was bland and almost sour, and the guac tasted like it came out of a pouch. Our enchiladas had baseball stadium nacho cheese drenched over everything, and the beans tasted like my hungover farts. The turtle cheesecake was pretty good. read more

Anyone planning on going to this place.... make other plans! Service was horrible, drinks were garbage, food was cold and took over an hour to come out, and the manager was worthless when we complained. Kinda hope it goes out of business. read more

I have never complained about my meal at a restaurant to a manager before and try as I might I was unable to speak to a manager regarding my horrible meal last night. Our meal started with drinks (a beer and a margarita on the rocks) that took forever to reach our table. Once our orders were placed and we ordered another margarita and beer, it took 20 min to get our drinks and it to took over a half an hour to receive our food. My food arrived looking as though it sat under a heat lamp for that entire half an hour. The steak was so chewy that I couldn't get it chewed enough to even swallow it so I had to discretely spit it into my napkin. The chicken was beyond dry to the point of being more rubber like than chicken like. The refried beans looked as though they had been left over from the day prior and the rice stuck together so much that it had to be cut to get a bite. Surprisingly, the only edible thing on my plate was the shrimp. Our waitress asked if we enjoyed our meal and I told her no. I did not. It was evident as the food still remained stuck to the plate. Our waitress told the manager of my meal being in edible and she came back to tell me that the manager took $5 off my $16.99 meal. I asked to speak with the manager and the waitress came back and said that the manager took $10 off the bill. I said thank you but I would still like to speak with the manager. We waited quite a while and our waitress came out and said the manager removed my meal from the bill. I never got to speak with the manager. I'm appalled at the service and the fact that the manager basically told me I was not important by refusing to spend a few minutes speaking to me. read more

My $11 chicken queso skillet ended up being an unseasoned chicken breast with shredded kraft cheese on top.

We love little mexico and their longtime waitstaff. The cheese and onion enchiladas our my go to and tacos are awesome too. Be sure and try them with their famous southwest dressing. Yellow cheese dip rounds off this rant. Gotta try it!!! Its amazing!!!! read more

Love this place! A unique hometown take on Mexican dishes, and an awesome atmosphere!

Went there for lunch, waited forever for someone to take our drink orders. So when the waitress came we ordered our drinks and our food. Someone else brought the chips and salsa to our table. Waitress dropped off our drinks and we never saw her again. Received food, it was alright. Ordered the steak fajita nachos, hardly any steak. Got drink refill after drink was completely empty. Had to flag a person down to ask for our bill and a to-go box. Finally got the box and no bill. Stood in line to pay and had to tell the lady at the register that we never received our bill. Ironically she knew exactly what our bill was. She asked how everything was and I told her the service sucked! She said "What?". I said your service sucked and the man behind us in line agreed with me. She smirked. That woman proceeded to tell me that they were all hurrying as fast as they could and if I could only see how hard the kitchen staff was working and continued with excuses. I wasn't complaining about the kitchen staff, just the service. Snails are faster!!!! She continued to make excuses. I asked for the manager and low and behold, she was the manager. She sucks at being the manager and she needs to dress like a manager. I told her that she should comp our meal at that point because I was furious. I was going to pay for the meal but after she argued with me, heck no! She gave us our money back. Needless to say I am not going back. I should have went to my favorite mexican restaurant (El Vaquero) in town, they have great service and are super fast despite how busy they are and they have excellent chicken chimichangas. read more

Came in for late lunch on a Wednesday. Sat down waited for someone to bring menu and get drinks Hostess came by got menu and chips asked what we wanted to drink and left. 5 minutes later another couple comes in waitress gets them menu takes their order then comes over and confirms our drink order. We give her food order too. Other couple gets their food (almost identical order) almost 10 minites before us. No return to ask aboit another drink or how things are until we are diwn to our last bites. Total of five tables most are two people so not busy by any means. I used to think this was a good resturaunt. Service is poor food was good price a little much but not overly high. Get back to the way it was or I am NEVER spending another dime in here again!! read more

Only got one star because you have to give at least one. By far the worst mexican food I have ever had. The salsa tasted like pure onions. I got a chimichanga. It was way over cooked. The meat in it was dry and bland as can be. I thought maybe it was just my food so I tried my girlfriends tacos and they were bland and dry. Our server was realy nice and cheerfull but our food was just gross! read more

I recently went back to Little Mexico eagerly to see if anything had changed since my last experience there. I can honestly say that I was extremely pleased with my experience this time. I can tell they have stepped up to the plate with their quality in food and menu. The atmosphere is also beautiful and fun. I would advise anyone looking for good quality food and a great atmosphere to try out this restaurant!! read more

Not the same little Mexico! I grew up eating at Little Mexico and even worked at the old location. Every time we are back in Mattoon we make it a point to eat there at least once during our visit. The food has always been good and so was the service....Not so anymore! Today was my first time back at Little Mexico in a couple years and it downright SUCKED! We arrived to a "seat yourself" sign, we sat down, and 15 minutes later had someone at the table to take our drink order. Ten minutes later we had our drinks and put our food order in. I ordered the Little Mexico Chili Cheeseburger with green chili, my son ordered two hard shelled chicken tacos no lettuce and my daughter ordered the same but with lettuce. At the very least a half hour went by before our food(most of it) arrived. We immediately noticed that both of the kid's tacos were soft shell and my daughter only received one. They agreed that soft was fine and the server said she'd get her second taco right out, which she did. My son bit into his first taco to find it cold inside. I then cut into my burger, yes cut into it (this chili cheeseburger has chili((if that's what you want to call it)) dumped over the inside and the top of the bun) to find a very very very extremely over well done burger. I took a bite and it was downright nasty. The burger was burnt and tasted like it had been deep fried for a half hour in 6 month old fryer oil. The chili is definitely store bought canned crap from the generic Isle. I choked down what I could of the burger and while there I sent a text message to my brother in-law to ask what happened to Little Mexico. He explained that from his understanding it had changed management and they no longer go there due to the downhill backslide the place has taken. He said I should have contacted him, he'd have warned us! I proceeded to send him and a few other people pictures of my crispy charred burger. After receiving the bill I proceeded to the counter to complain about pretty much everything. The same woman whom was our server waited on us at the register. I showed her my burger and explained all of the issues. She gave a somewhat sarcastic apology and took $3!! off the bill! We walked outside and as we got to the car I decided to go back in and ask for the manager. Upon doing so I was greeted by the same not so friendly woman whom proceeded to tell me that she was the manager. Not sure if this was true or not as she definitely didn't seem like the manager type and it seemed odd for the manager to be waiting tables but at that point I gave up and decided we will never be returning to this joke of what once was a decent restaurant ever again! read more