We have been here a few times and we are quite satisfied with what we ordered.. today I tried carne asada dinner and I was amazed of how good it competed with some Mexican places in Libertyville and Vernon hills.. read more

I've been coming here for a very long time. Love the service and love the food. Great environment! Highly recommend. Best tacos and best Cecina. read more

It use to be so much better. Portion sizes are good, but food is really bland. They give you some squeeze bottle sauces, but the food (before the sauce) has no taste. After the sauce, my tongue just burned (the red not the green). Guacamole was made from way over ripe avocados. It had a grayish tint. It also had no flavor and I had to add salt so it wouldn't be a total loss. Prices are up as they are everywhere, but the value for what you get is not there. Don't mind paying extra if the food was worth it. It definitely was not worth it. Service not the worst I have had, but definitely room for improvement. Won't be returning anytime soon, but you try it and make your own decision. read more

We have eaten at Tacos El Norte several times and generally had good experiences, but the dinner we had there recently was not good, and the service was frustrating. The food we ordered was expensive at over $16 a plate for enchiladas, rice, and beans, and it was bland, too. In addition, our waitress spoke very little English, and couldn't understand most of what we asked for. Consequently, we had to order by pointing to whatever we wanted on the menu, as you might if you were ordering something in Italy and didn't speak Italian. She still got our orders wrong, but we ate the food anyway because it was useless to send it back. At one point, my wife ordered a rum and Coke, and the waitress brought her a glass of rum and a glass of Coke. The bill with tax and tip was close to $100 for three people, which would have been acceptable had the food and service been better, but it was too expensive for the value we received in return. We won't go back. read more

Remarkably bad service, slow and indifferent, needed the hostess to get water to our table after waiting 20 plus minutes for our server. Watched as an elderly couple at the next table left the restaurant as their food never arrived. Although I've never been to prison, this is the quality of service and food I would expect there. read more

I'm new to the area and wanted to try the Mexican food. I googled "best tacos in Gurnee" and this location popped up. I was very unimpressed by the food. I ordered a torta de milanesa and my husband ordered some tacos al pastor. The torta didn't have much flavor and left me wanting. My husband said his tacos were okay, but nothing to come back for. Besides that the service was fine, but not willing to give a second chance. read more

Food was good but the service was extremely trash, I am hispanic myself and I look white, when I couldn't understand their English, like I never understand any Spanish persons English I speak Spanish so I can understand what they're trying to tell me. I'm full Mexican and Colombian so every time I spoke Spanish she kept replying back in English so I thought she was comfortable speaking English okay cool but again when I couldn't understand i replied in Spanish and yet again back to English i was extremely offended and when I would reply in Spanish she completely ignored me and asked my partner in English I was extremely pissed they need less selfish people here, but when I was about to leave she had the audacity to give me the check in Spanish and reply to me in Spanish when she brought up the tip on her payment device literally horrible service!!!!! I'd love to give a -10 if I could read more

Just went there and ordered an order of fries. They completely changed their fries and they didn't even say anything. They were so bad and tasted just like the ones you get in elementary school. Ordered a quesadilla too and it was a mini one! Still got charged the same price. Terrible service & tacos were also flavorless. read more

Tacos El Norte - Mexican Near Me - Gurnee, Illinois

Here you find a typical cheap pseudo Mexican place that you take your kids because dinner doesn't cost much and everyone else has their kids with them but you can order alcohol which isn't possible at Taco Bell. Did I mention that there usually are groups of kids running around like they have lost their minds? Service levels vary wildly- that is once you get the attention of a server to place your order (which always seems to be a challenge no matter what night of the week). Avoid unless you have a lot of patience or are on a tight budget. Speaking and understanding some basic Spanish is helpful to place an order too. Oh good luck if you try to order any sides, extras or anything that's not straight from the menu. Sometimes pointing at something that you want on the menu helps, but only sometimes. read more

Could this be anymore hit or miss? I think not. Nachos were terrible. Soggy, greasy mess, but the week before they were so good! When I order and pay for guac - the large size, I expect it will be in the bag. It was not. The food was just not good and missing items- there is no excuse for that. I don't want to go back. read more

Went here with my family to try something new-it was a mistake. Our waitress was so slow. It took her 20 minutes to get our drink orders and another 15 to give us our drinks. There weren't even a lot of people in the restaurant! While we were waiting, I saw her sitting at a booth with another waitress just talking. I also saw that they have a lot of food going in and out of microwaves. Seems sketchy, the food should be cooked to order. The food was ok. It was nothing to rave about and I'm glad it did not make me sick. I'll pass though. I will never go back here. If you're going to Tacos El Norte, I suggest the Round Lake Beach location instead. read more

On October 9th we had an amazing experience, we hosted 49 people in the banquet room celebrating a Baptism along with a Birthday. Food was delicious, open bar and staff service was good. Highly recommend working with Brian Green for any special event or just stop in the restaurant for a delicious lunch or dinner out. read more

Hi! The food was really good and the customer service was really good. Would recommend this place. The server Ruben did really well on checking in on us. read more

After what was an AWFUL introduction to Indian food in Gurnee, my friends and I decided to walk 4 doors down and try Mexican instead. AMAZING choice! The atmosphere is inviting, clean and comfortable. The food... Oh my god the food. Starting with the salsa and chips,you can tell they .make EVERYTHING fresh. The Guacamole was to die for!. I had the taco/flauta lunch with chicken. Tender flavorful meat. Great portions! Friend 1 had Shrimp Fajita: exceptional flavor! Amazing shrimp... The Horchata was fantastic.... The plantain milk shake changed my religion! Definitely coming,back!!!! read more

Tacos El Norte - Mexican Near Me - Gurnee, Illinois

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As you can see they use these cheap red party cups which is not very professional also my steak was so over cooked which made very hard to cut. Besides that everything was okay and other entrees were also fine. read more

Tacos El Norte - a plate of food and a red cup - Mexican Near Me - Gurnee, Illinois

I don't understand the negative reviews. I go here atleast once a year and I have been very happy. The margaritas can be better, but I have never been disappointed with a meal. I get the carne asada often, and never leave without tres leches cake! give it a shot! read more

I am disappointed that the quality of the food and service has gone downhill. There were 4 of us and only 3 of us ate. The 3 of us got sick to our stomachs. Chunks of fat in the tamale, taco and burrito had no flavor . Son's fajitas had hardly any meat and the steak was grisly with no seasoning. Daughter ate her cheese enchilada started to eat the chicken enchilada and it had fat chunks and bones. Please know that the fat was not potato as it is usually added as a cheap bulk to save cost. Sad that we knew we couldn't complain because the waitress wouldn't care and it wouldn't have made a difference. The sun has set on this restaurant for us. read more

How quick can a great place to eat go so bad? My wife and went there for dinner and the food was the MOST BLAND Mexican cuisine I have ever eaten! The service was slow. We had to ask another server if our waitress had gone for the day. Fajita, tamale, burrito and taco were absolutely tasteless. How do make guacamole with no taste? So bland. We will cross this restaurant off our list. read more

Another awful restaurant in northern Illinois. After trying another location, my boyfriend convinced me tor try these saying it was different. Sad to say it was worse than the other one. I decided to try something very simply like tacos and one margarita. Both things were terrible. The tacos were cold and bland, the meat was tough. The margarita must have been poured out of a bottle without mixing as my first sip was puree. The salsas were starting to go bad and our server was nowhere to be found for 30 minutes. This was on a very slow evening when they only had 3 tables. I do not recommend this place and will not be going back. read more

I ordered an asada burrito and an asada quesadilla off grub hub tonight. The quesadilla had almost no cheese after I specifically asked for extra cheese. Next the burrito was sloppily put together with grease leaking out of it before I even got to take a bite of it. It looked like mush they just threw into a flour tortilla. Also, I asked for no lettuce in the burrito and sure enough they put lettuce in it. The meat it self was flavorless and not what I expected for an authentic Mexican restaurant. I'm very dissatisfied with this order and will not be returning. read more

Tacos El Norte - Asada burrito with guacamole - Mexican Near Me - Gurnee, Illinois

I would give - 5 stars if I could. Placed an order that was supposed to be ready by 6:15. Waited in the restaurant for over an hour and went up multiple times to inquire about my order. Finally they told me someone took my order and I'd have to wait another 30-40 min. Arrived home after 7:30 with NO FOOD. Even with social distancing, there were over 100 people waiting inside w people no more than 2 ft apart tops. At the end of the day I need to dispute the charge w my credit card company because I prepaid. Real bummer and upset I even waited inside that long. read more

They have messed up each order I've made there and when I call immediately after placing an order on DoorDash to talk w them about it to make sure they have it correct and understand the order - they say they do and then and mess it up leaving off things things from each item (that comes w it so it's not alterations) or if there is an alteration it's very simple like adding cilantro or sour cream in the burrito ca on the side and they'll give you no sour cream instead and they charge sooo much for any changes I understand some charges but this place tries to scam customers - for example if you ask for something to be in the item vs it being on the side when it already comes w it and thus you have paid for it already they will charge you more and insist they can but not tell you especially if it's via DoorDash they will charge incredible amounts! Who had heard of 1.50 for a few sprigs of cilantro? Be careful at this place the other locations don't do this and don't make the mistakes they do - other mistakes are forgetting sauces that come on things - just totally leaving them off - happens often! They just don't seem to care at this place! Prices are too high for them to be getting peoples orders so very wrong! read more

Stay away from this place. Seriously. HORRIBLE SERVICE. They initially seated us at a booth with a table that was completely dilapidated, wobbly, and unstable. We ended up moving ourselves over to another booth right next to it. It took our server a solid 15 minutes to even acknowledge our existence. Then, she brought out our drinks. I ordered a classic margarita, which had little black specks of something in it. By the time I noticed the server was long gone.... for another 20 solid minutes. We didn't even see her anywhere in the restaurant. The food took forever to come out, and I'll get to that in a minute. I asked her for another margarita because the other one was infested with god knows what; probably mold from where they store the ice. She then proceeded to take another 10 minutes to bring another margarita. This one at least didn't have mold in it, but it was gross. I'm a margarita lover, and this was tasteless and horrible. My husband and I ordered chicken burritos with rice and beans. The chicken inside the burrito was absolutely bland and tasteless. The beans were watery and the rice was pathetically dry. I couldn't finish a quarter of it. Moral of the story is, if you're looking for an affordable authentic Mexican restaurant with amazing drinks.. stay far far away from this dump. read more

We had ordered for 5 de mayo and the line was crazy, the restaurant was so backed up, we've been eating here for years and it's literally like this only ONCE a year and for sure they were busy that day, we are grateful that they were serving people and the employees were extremely busy but still friendly. We got free food for waiting and even though it was delayed but was still delicious! read more

This place is way over priced. $12 for a Burrito with rice and beans. Asked for a side of pico... $2.99 WTF. And other three dollars for the drink. $20 hour lunch It took almost 15 minutes for someone to come over and ask me what I want to drink. And not one time did the waitress come back. This is during lunch hour and it wasn't even busy. About 6 to 8 workers all social hour for them. Won't be returning read more

This place is just meh. Service has always been excellent. Quick, pleasant, efficient. But, it's boring Mexican food for boring people who think a quesadilla is authentic, and pronounce the word like Napoleon Dynamite. Everything is just ok, and doesn't have much flavor. The best part are the Verde & Roja salsas they give you at the table. I use almost an entire bottle during my meal. 1) because I love salsa, and 2) for added spice/flavor. The place is what it is. It's not horrible, the food is just ok, and uninspiring. But, some people are into that! Also it's very affordable. I see a lot of complaints about it being overpriced. There's literally a whole page of daily specials that can be purchased Monday- Friday. read more

Just another chain. At these prices I expected the food to be more up scale. My Margarita was watered down and the hubby's fajitas like warm by the time they arrived at the table. Disappointing experience all around. This was our second and last attempt eating here. With so many Choices for Mexican and south American foods around lake county this place is obsolete. read more

I've come here before, usually because others suggest it. I am Mexican. I love real Mexican food. The food here is quite Americanized... too much cheese... not the right spices so I have a hard time calling this authentic Mexican. Still, we came to this place the night before my birthday because I wanted a margarita and wanted a place for the 12 of us to spread out well. First problem was our waitress. She took a while to get to us and when she finally did we let her know right away that we needed 3 separate checks, To which she glumly stated, "Yeah, I guess. At least you didn't tell me after I wrote it all up." Second problem: After she took our orders we asked her to bring us more chips and salsa to which she replied, annoyed, "Ok but I have to charge you for it." We had received 2 small baskets of chips for 12 people and had eaten it waiting for her and she tells us she will charge us for a miserable basket of chips? Would it really make a big dent in their budget to give us more chips? Keeping jn mind we had just put in orders over $150 in food and alcohol we found this to be TACKY. It's not like I needed anymore excuses to stop coming to this place, but in between the awful food, the waitress, and the darn chips... Done with this tacky place. read more

Not too big a fan of this place. Went out for lunch with some friends. The inside was a bit gloomy due to the red light fixtures, this made me feel very sleepy. I tried the ground beef tacos, and they were very salty, had to choke them down, and only half finished the third (last) one. I will say the service was somewhat good, but the waitress seemed a bit impatient. the place is not a dump, just needs to liven up a bit, and hopefully better food. I may give this place a second chance if I have to come back, but for now, no thanks. read more

Since I love Mexican food I had to try this one out! I was actually quite impressed by the service. They were very friendly and attentive. Their menu options are extensive. A little overbearing though. I couldn't decide what I wanted, so I went with my usual chicken quesadillas. They were pretty good. They were made simple. Just chicken and cheese and some lettuce and salsa on the side. I really liked them though. Sometimes mexican places can add way to much to a quesadilla. That can take a way from the flavor because you don't even know what you're eating. The rice and refried beans were delicious too! I'll definitely be back. I still want to try their desserts. I didn't look around too much and was facing the door, so I'm not sure what the 'aura' is like. But I liked it! read more

Never tried the Gurnee location until recently. The food was bland and very much Tex-Mex. If you like Americanized Mexican food this is the place for you. The decor and inside was very dreary. I wouldn't come back here. read more

The food was actually quite good, the prices are reasonable, and the restaurant is clean enough, but unfortunately you still leave with a sense of disappointment because the service is SO bad. When a beverage is finally brought to you, cherish it, because you probably aren't getting another one - even if you ask multiple employees for a refill. The overall sense we got from the staff was that they were very much annoyed we came to patron their establishment, so I can't help but feel they will be delighted that we won't be returning to Tacos el Norte. read more

I actually enjoy this place a lot for two reasons: Fast service and affordable prices. You might be concerned that I'm not raving about the food but I like that too. Not amazing, but good. Served hot and fast. You can get in and out in about the time it takes to eat at Culver's or the like and because of that Tacos El Norte has become our go to "Mexican" place. Also be advised. If you show up on Cinco De Mayo they have a loud Mariachi band and on some Saturdays you'll find Elvis wandering up and down singing a variety of songs (not strictly the Kings greatest hits) read more

Had a bad taste in my mouth about this 'chain mexican food' however I was pleasantly surprised! I thought it was better than on the boarder and more bang for your buck than wholly friole or the place in Libertyville with outdoor seating on main st. Good chips and salsa, the chimi is great with flavorful meat. Tasty, I'll be back! read more

Last time I was here, the food was the same as the one in Waukegan. So, it gets the same thumbs up review: Tacos El Norte? Yes please! The reason this place is so awesome is because it's cheap, so delicious, and so convenient! The chicken nachos are heaven. The burritos are heaven. The bistec with ranchero sauce and cheese is heaven. I really miss this place a lot. I didn't realize that trying to get good Mexican food in Colorado would be such a hassel...it's so convenient in Waukegan. Oh, be grateful Waukeganites...be grateful. In this case, be grateful fellow Gurnee-ans...be grateful. read more

I wanted mexican food last weekend and I had never tried this place before, although it's right around the corner from my house, literally. It's very reasonably priced, but the food didn't really move me much. I gave it three stars for the guacamole.....YUM-O! I had the taco dinner with three soft tacos, rice and beans. It was....so-so. I would still go back and give something else a try, just not the tacos. read more

I have been going to this location for almost 8 years. There is a reason for that continued patronage. When our ordered food is made as we requested, it is very good. However, orders are usually only accurate 20% of the time. When the meat and poultry is not over cooked it is very enjoyable. Again I refer to the 20%. It appears that there is a wave of new employees that are not as good as the average previous staff. We always had issues with getting toppings we do/don't want but now we find very lengthy wait times as well. Often times we see our server sitting and talking with other servers in a booth right by the counter. I always have to get up and ask for more chips or salsa while we wait for our food or check. The staff that does tend to you is good. Not great. The restaurant is clean despite being a bit beat up. It can be said the same for the bathrooms. We will still eat here with the acceptance of the issues. As stated, when done to their best levels, they have given us food that is great and at very reasonable prices. FDA keeps our food safe. Don't over-cook food because staff's country of origin requires it due to less quality of meats and poultry. read more

Went to have dinner by myself around 8. Everything was wonderful, food came out right away. However, I went to use the bathroom in the middle of my meal and when I came back there was a couple sitting in the same spot I was at and my food was nowhere to be found. Mind you, there were plenty of open tables so it wasn't as if mine was the only one available to be seated at. The waitress asked if I was ready to check out when she saw me... well I mean I guess so since my food is gone (I thought to myself). All in all very disappointing experience. I was looking forward to taking the remainder of my food home. Instead I paid full price for a half eaten meal that was literally taken away from me. read more

If you are saying this is great Mexican food then you must not have eaten at any other Mexican restaurant. Growing up in California I suppose I got spoiled. I think the food here is bland, watery, and gross. The customer service stinks. By far one of the worst Mexican food I've ever had. read more

A solid 3.5 stars with friendliness rounding it up to the 4th star. Reading through other reviews, service seems to be the issue. Maybe it's because I sat at the bar and ordered but everything went ok. There was a lively jukebox and the Simpsons on TV. The food was better than expected and it was affordable. The size of the location really surprised me (it was huge!). I'll definitely come back, I might try sitting in a booth to see how the service changes...or...maybe I'll be risk adverse and continue to order from the bar. read more