When I review restaurants, I am often asked about the food, the service, and the ambience. First, I'll start with the last - ambience. This restaurant is well decorated and taken care of. When you arrive at the large expeditious parking area and you come inside, immediately you feel like you are in an authentic Mexican environment, complete with natural native music - at the proper volume level. Next, service, since I speak Spanish, I enjoy speaking with the staff, however, they treat everyone in a cordial manner. My wait for food to arrive on the table was normal, and I did not see anyone complaining. Finally, the delicious filling food is excellent, and again, I hate to use the word redundantly but, it is very authentic and properly spiced. I have had the taco salad in both chicken and beef, which unlike many others, has more than enough sour cream and guacamole to enhance the dish. Today I opted for an appetizer, the shrimp cocktail. This dish is rather deceiving. You only see four shrimp on top, garnished by lime slices. However, in the sweet relish sauce, you will find more tender fresh plump shrimp. A wonderful beautiful cool dish for a hot day. I would encourage everyone to come by and not only enjoy the restaurant, but the magnificent view of the largest man-made lake in Illinois - Carlyle Lake. Next time, I am going to have the combination shrimp, steak, and chicken tropical pina fajita served on a pineapple half, or maybe, perhaps the Pollo Fiesta. We shall see. Until then "Tener un apetito agradable!" read more

Good street tacos Especially the pork. I love when there's a little bit of char on my meat Service was good read more

Los Amigos - Street tacos - Mexican Near Me - Carlyle, Illinois

We were at the lake for a few days so thought we would try this place. we ordered the nachos since we weren't starving. The food came in a timely order. the food wasn't done, the cheese was no where to be found, the bottom of the nachos were soaked with grease.? Cheese? It was just not very desirable to look at and tasted bla! We didn't eat it and waited for a server to come around but they never showed up. We normally are good tippers but bad service, bad food ...= no tip! Lo and behold they wrote themselves a tip on the credit card. Which means they had to write over our totals. I would highly recommend anyone going to pay cash because of the shady practices! We will never go back! read more

We were stopping in at the campsite for the night and just needed somewhere to grab an easy bite before settling in for the evening. This place hit the spot! The servings are pretty massive and they were over-the-top busy, but the food was pretty good. The ground beef queso is exactly what it says it is. Even beefier than it is cheesy, so if you're looking for more cheese - I wouldn't recommend this, just get the normal cheese dip. The cheese dip is the standard fare that comes from every Mexican food joint of this caliber. White. Kinda watery. But tasty. Your arteries will love it. The chunky guacamole is more expensive than the "normal" guac, but if you're looking for fresh and delicious, it's the ticket. Huge chunks of avocado, yummy pico mix. Good stuff. The Burrito Los Amigos probably had the best taste of anything we ordered. The pineapple, which I questioned in a burrito at first, was BOMB. I'll never question pineapple in burritos ever again. Get it. Enjoy it. I ordered the Pollo Fiesta in an attempt at being less cheesy and grabbing veggies as a side and was not disappointed. The sour cream sauce they use has a slight chipotle taste to it and the chicken/veg ratio is pretty superb. If you want something that isn't super carb heavy, I definitely recommend this. In conjunction with the chunky guac it was aces. Only downsides were it took a longer than expected amount of time to get our check/refills/etc. The normal things in a sit-down that you look for, but they were also pretty packed. That, and the first order brought to me was not mine and before I could say so, the server had zipped off instead of even looking and checking in with us. He was very very nice, but there was a bit of inattention that may not have been his fault and could very well have been staffing stuff. Also, the seat I sat in (you know those double benches where it's like two benches attached to each other back to back?) wobbled literally the entire time. There was a teenager on the other side of mine who was VERY animated, which is great! Get it, kid! Be excited! But the wobbling was a bit much. Seems some of the seats could use some repairs, or even just a shim or two underneath to keep the movement at bay. read more

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A solid Mexican restaurant! Very good food and 'Rita's! Very friendly and attentive service! And EXTREMELY IMPRESSIVE atmosphere and decor! Clean, well-lit, very comfortable tables/chairs, and we'll laid-out floor plan. Enjoyed Los Amigos very much! read more

Getting out of the lake after a wonderful day of fun with the family leaves you very hungry. Luckily, Los Amigos is very close to the lake and has great food! I came here with my family and had a great experience. The food was fast and fresh, the service was phenomenal, and the restaurant was very clean and new. Everyone seemed very happy to either be here eating, or working. As far as Carlyle is concerned, this is the best Mexicans restaurant there is! read more

Stopped in while in town for work, and was pleasantly surprised. Great food, friendly service. Sports, news, and people making out on telenovelas were on the tv's. I had the Pollo Playa, which is basically arroz con pollo with queso dip dumped over it. The chicken was properly cooked and tasted great, the rice was great, the queso was great, and the corn tortillas were high quality. Definitely ask for a bowl of salsa picosa that they keep in the back--so much better than the generic tomato salsa that comes with the chips. It still wasn't bad, though. Would definitely come back. read more

Los Amigos - Pollo Playa, w/ corn tortillas and salsa picosa - Mexican Near Me - Carlyle, Illinois

I'm not sure if you guys know this, but this place has GREAT margaritas. They must be a BIG deal- they have their name carved on the chairs!!! read more

Have you ever been to Carlyle, Illinois? Even with manmade Lake Carlyle firmly ensconced since 1967, Carlyle is a small town. When I say "small" I mean when I was a small child, there were still hitching posts in the town's main street. Even with the tourism brought by fishers, the town's population is a little 3,500. Restaurants? Not many. Good? Some are reasonably good, but not enough to write a glowing Yelp review good. So it was a shock when I was pointed to Los Amigos, almost directly on Carlyle Lake, down along the piers, down the road from the town cemeteries, and about 3 city blocks from the Walmart (if there were sidewalks along the curvy path). I figured, why not? If it's bad, Walmart is right there with Pepto Bismol. It was not bad. It was not good. IT WAS PHENOMENAL!!!!!!!!!!!! I have eaten American-Mex, Tex-Mex and real Mex in Chicago, Milwaukee, Orlando, Mobile, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio (Riverwalk and in-town), El Paso, Nuevo Laredo...my friends' picnic tables and kitchens. So I know whereof I speak. Every single point of what makes a restaurant, any restaurant, worth the time and money is exceeded at Los Amigos. When a restaurant in little Carlyle can out-cook, out-serve, out-clean, and out-price the likes of Mi Tierra in San Antonio, you know you will be dining well. The atmosphere and staff are welcoming and accommodating. The margaritas are smooth but sufficiently potent. There is a wine list that is the rival of lists in St. Louis. The chips are not stale, but fresh, crunchy, served with a carafe of salsa. But you came to dine. And dine you shall! Royally! Regally! Imperially! Montezuma should have been this fortunate! Every bite of food is expertly prepared. My Ribeye Fajitas was perfection on plate! Next day, I had a shrimp salad that was actually a green salad, second to none. Except that the local motels offer continental breakfast with the standard flip waffle iron and packaged breakfast fare, I would recommend Los Amigos consider a weekend breakfast buffet. Hey Los Amigos! Do it anyway! The guys fishing who stay in the cabins will appreciate it, as will the locals. I bet a Los Amigos Sangrienta Maria would wow the crowds, along with that humble Tex-Mex delicacy, migas. Throw in some real chorizo, a cilantro and citrus fruit salad, and you have a winner. In any event, should you venture to Carlyle or surrounding communities (Beckemeyer, Breese, Hoffman, Highland, etc.), give Los Amigos a try. You will be so glad you did. read more

The chips were good but when my cousin asked for a steak they said "taco" other than that the ambiance was relatively good and the seating comfortable and it was really clean. Other than that the service was also very good. read more

Went to this restaurant even though it had only two reviews and one of them was negative. What a wonderful surprise! I am from San Diego so we have an abundance of Mexican restaurants. I had the rib eye steak with shrimp. The rib eye steak was amazing. My husband had a combination with taco and enchiladas and loved his meal as well. If you don't like hamburger meat which my husband does the tacos were good. My sister and her husband thoroughly enjoyed their meals. My margarita was probably one of the best I've had the mix was great not tart at all. Reasonably priced and great atmosphere. I highly recommend this restaurant! read more

Food is nothing special but not bad. Language barrier can cause issues. Place is very well kept and has an outdoor patio.

This was absolutely amazing. Some of THE BEST Mexican food I have ever had. Great presentation and fantastic flavors. Those jalapeños... perfect. Topped off with perfect versions of traditional deserts. Loved it so much. read more

We were staying at Dam West campground and decided to skip cooking. We enjoyed our visit to Los Amigos. We had the fajitas in the pineapple shell and it did not disappoint. Food served hot and delicious. Courteous staff. read more

Terrible service. Stale food. Taste like every other Mexican restaurant in Southwest Illinois. This is in regards to the OFallon restaurant. Just terrible and horrific read more

Good food but we waited 45 minuets for our food and wasted 2h 30m of my life. Filled up on chips cold food, got forced to overpay 60$ instead of 40$ ,expensive, got 4 baby shrimp on my 13 $ quesadilla Witch has way too much cheese. Salsa and cheese dip watered down and just horrible experience. They didn't take our order and get drinks at all until 25 minutes later. We were about to leave. Go to Guzmans instead! Paid for 2 piyayas and got one. Had no rice and didn't tell us read more

I am originally from the San Diego area and my wife lived in Del Rio, TX we have been looking for authentic Mexican food since we left 12 years ago, We finally found it at Los Amigos in O'fallon! Welcome to the neighborhood Los Amigos you are my family's Mexican restaurant. read more

The service was awful. I ordered for pickup and they messed up my order. No problem, stuff happens, I get it. I called to have the problem fixed, he admitted he did the order wrong, basically said it was my problem and hung up. I'll pass on going back. read more

Disappointing! Will I go back? Definitely not. The more Expensive margarita tasted like they forgot the tequila. Mentioned to the waitress she barely responded. I read great reviews on the tortilla soup. Oh, my! It tasted Like it had brown sugar or something sweet in it. Disgusting! Chunky Guacamole was the best thing we had but it was flat. Service was lousy. Food sucked. read more

Very clean restaurant. Food was delicious and drinks were great . View of lake on patio was a 10.

very very good mexican food, very authentic and great food and also have american food and kids menu