El Cid Tacos

Nice little joint to grab dinner with friends but the food wasn’t all that great — at least I didn’t think so, my boyfriend and the friend we had dinner with were fond of it. I would not come back unless the other person was really passionate about coming here.

Apparently I went to the wrong location, which I discovered 30 seconds after I sat down when I received a text message saying, «go to the one on Kedzie, not the other one!»
Well, crap.
But I was already there and seated, so it would have been awkward to leave.
The food was… meh. I ordered chicken tacos and the chicken was incredibly dry. So dry that I made it through one and a half tacos before I gave up. I got a to go box to be polite.
Despite the meh food, service was great. Our server was attentive, patient, and since it was slow no one minded that we sat talking for over 2 hours.
Okay place, but I won’t be rushing to go back anytime soon.

Good Authentic Mexican Food !
As someone who grew up on TexMex «cuisine» and currently lives in Denver and can enjoy Green Chile in less than ½ mile walk– I am very skeptical of my Mexican food.
El Cid gets the nod.
Good service– and a Great place to people watch– or I should say Hipster watch!
Another plus (see my photo) is the interesting combo of German beer with Mexican food– try it!

The service here can be spotty. I’ve had my order take forever to arrive on occasion. That said, I genuinely enjoy the fare here. The fish tacos are good, which is something on which I tend to judge a joint, as are the enchiladas. They have good beer specials too, and a cool countertop area if you don’t need a table. Decent bathrooms as well. I’ve made frequent use of them during shows at the Congress in the past… ;)

Blerg. Advertised as «The most authentic Mexican in Chicago.» If this is the case, then thankfully others have taken it upon themselves to make better Mexican food. I got some chorizo tacos, they were overdone and hurt my tummy. The dining partner got a sad looking/​tasting torta. The michelada I got was beer and bloody mary mix AKA not how to make a good michelada. I’d come here again for drinks if I was in the area or if I needed to take refuge from the snow again.

Meh. El Cid was alright. I’ve heard amazing things about their margaritas. After trying them, I’m not sure I’d say the same thing. I suppose this review might be a little unfair because i cant really remember much about this place but i can defend myself. This past time I went was actually my second time there. Both times I went I was so unimpressed I forgot what I even had. Its not that anything was real horrible or offensive or anything. Its just that nothing wowed me. The place is cute enough and I think the servers were pretty nice but this is Chicago. There’s a billion Mexican restaurants here. Unless you’re going to El Cid for convenience, I’d think you could find a better and more memorable joint.

I recently accepted a job out by O’Hare, which meant that my Hyde Park apartment just wasn’t going to cut it anymore. As I started looking for apartments, I kept seeing things that I liked in Logan Square, so I thought I’d check it out.
I walked around the area a bit and ended up at El Cid. I LOVE the chunky salsa — more like Pico De Gallo than actual salsa. Yum! I had a picadillo burrito, which was actually the best non-​Chipotle burrito that I’ve ever had. It was pressed with an iron/​Panini press and the flour tortilla was toasty. I’d ordered guacamole with it, and they put it right inside, which was delicious. I also had a strawberry margarita, which was pretty good, although margarita’s are so filling, I don’t like drinking them that often.
All in all I was very pleased. Service was quick and attentive (granted I was the only person there on a Thursday afternoon).

El Cid is not bad… we pigged out on the chips, guacamole and margaritas. The guacamole was ‘tas-​ty’, as my homegurl would say, and the margaritas were pretty good. Our other dinner companion had the nachos and some fish with a healthy heaping of fresh garlic on top (ummm, ok). We also ordered (2) Talapia taco dinners — pretty good. I had to add some hot salsa to my tacos, but I like everything HOT. The dinners were very healthy portions. We were stuffed.
With appetizers, drinks, and entrée’s we spent about $ 80. So, El Cid is pretty reasonable. The service isn’t bad, but parking can be challenging.
All in all, the food is ok, prices are reasonable, and its on Milwaukee. My best friend and I seem to be on Milwaukee quite often on the weekends… so it’s convenient to have a ‘go to place’ when your favorite spot isn’t open or is too far way.

Let me start by saying La Pasadita is my fave and has fed me well for many years. I stopped by El Cid since I’m moving from Wicker Park to Humbolt and I’d been there years ago and remembered it being OK. The interior is much better than any Pasadita and alcohol is served but my real test of a Mexican place is the Torta, a simple sandwich.
I was sorely disappointed as the quantity of meat that barely covered the bread. «Please sir, may I have more?»
The other test is the salsa and pico de gallo. I like picante, and unless you make the salsa out of habaneros or thai chilies, you can’t hurt me. Heat was barely there and the pico de gallo is sweetened somehow. I kinda liked that as it’s different from the fresh styles I’m used to, but I would probably tire of it quickly.
So as a reader of this review, you have to decide whether a major fail in the making of a lowly torta is enough reason to skip El Cid as they do a lot more than basic Mexican food. For me, tortas are a filling (at least at most other Mexican places) inexpensive lunch or dinner. Not a signature dish, but certainly should be skimped on. Also, I can walk out of Pasadita pretty darn full from a torta and the chips and pico de gallo for a whopping $ 3.82+ tip. El Cids set me back over $ 7 w/​tip. Not a good deal.

Let me start by saying that the servers are amazing here! Friendly faces, big smiles and attentive service is what you will get on your visit to this little Mexican restaurant.
Unfortunately, my food experience was just ok. I ordered a few side orders:
Rice: had the rice been sitting in a pan for days or what? Every single bite was crunchy and was sticking to my teeth. It was clearly dry or overcooked.
Cheese Enchilada: I ordered a green sauce cheese enchilada and was served a red sauce enchilada. No big deal, I can do both. The cheese was only melted halfway! You know how you can tell it’s shredded cheese because it’s not fully melted? Yeah, that’s what I got.
Potato and tomato Sope: I love sopes! How disappointing! The sope was rock hard and it really was just smashed potato and chunks of tomato. No lettuce, sour cream, or some sort of sauce to add flavor to it. So bland and dry. I ended up using so much salsa on it just to add flavor.
The vegetarian Tostada was good. Perfect amounts of fresh ingredients!
All in all, this place is ok. Probably better in the summer time when you can drink some margaritas along with a fresh plate of guacamole and chips. Maybe the experience will be better then. We’ll see.

My favorite Mexican restaurant in the city!
My favorites are the flautas de pollo… amazing!
The pico de gallo is so good, it’s beyond words. It’s the first thing I had there (they serve it gratis, with delish fresh chips and almost-​as-​yummy salsa verde), and I have loved El Cid ever since.
Plus I adore the waitresses– friendly, fun, and help me practicar mi español!
They also have a lovely singer/​guitarrist every once in awhile– very romantic!

My fiancé and I ate here tonight and agreed that it was a zesty, tasty, Mexican restaurant with big portions and a lotta soul. We shared the steak fajitas which came with lime wedges, which I loved (then again, I believe that everything’s better with citrus and hot sauce).
We also tried the «guisado de puerco,» a pork stew in a tomatillo sauce. Just watch out for the creeping heat, it’ll knock your socks off (must have been the jalapenos). The pork was a little tough, but the tomatillos were nice and the flavors were right. The restaurant had my favorite flavors — sour and spicy, and bold (definitely my favorite flavor).
The prices are reasonable, from $ 9-​$ 12, and the ambiance is cozy and casual (the upstairs is a bit more chic). The host stopped by to ask if we enjoyed our meals… a nice touch.

I was disappointed from start to finish. We were served two salsas. The red salsa was sweet — it was unexpected but not in a good way. The salsa verde was too hot. Where was my happy medium?
I ordered chicken kabobs which was a nice surprise to see on a mexican Restaurant’s menu. The chicken itself was good, not dry or bland — but the sauce that covered it. I dont even know what the sauce was, really. It was a mexican flavor foreign to me… a sweet watered down BBQ sauce perhaps? My last food bashing is about the mess in my rice. I like my spanish rice palin and that’s usually how it is served. This rice had peas and lima beans and some other stuff in it. it was just weird.
I did find the black bean salad yummy and the service was very friendly, but slow (oh crap I said no more complaints).

I really want to like this place more than I do. Kinda like when you’re in high school, and the dude you’ve had a crush on for several years finally succumbs to your stalking efforts, and you go out for dinner and he’s utterly average. Hypothetical of course…
I got there earlier than my party, so I claimed one of the three tables outside. There was a techno-​show at the Congress Theater, so there were lots of people walking through, and it was rather loud. But… not El Cid’s fault. However, some of the things I saw people wearing… yikes! Kids these days! Anyway…
I was brought water and chips and salsa immediately. Both were rather unremarkable. The salsa was ok – too much acid, but ok. Chips were almost stale. So, I order some guac. It was good actually, and the chips that came with it were much much better.
I also had (numerous) daiquiris. Good. Not very strong, but fruity and good. For dinner, I had tacos, but was too full from eating all the guac to really enjoy them. But they tasted fine. Nothing special, but good.
Service was lackluster. Our server was nice, but didn’t really go out of her way to impress. When I got there, it was empty inside. She came out a few times to check on me, but my drink was empty several times (which maybe says more about my ability to down fruity drinks like a champ). When my party got there, she was not much more attentive, but seemed obviously stressed. By the time we were leaving, the restaurant was empty again, and she was back at lackadaisical. Nothing terrible or negligent… but she could have sold several more rounds of drinks.
Overall, I would consider going back. But wouldn’t go out of my way. The Blue line blaring past every 8 minutes doesn’t help.

El Cid can be the most amazing mouth sensation OR a foul taste left lingering on your mouth after a single bite… Two extremes, here’s why:
The fist tacos were really good. Not amazing, but surely worth a try. The fish were pan-​fried and tasted very fresh. For the money, its a good buy and a good taste. (Out of 10 stars, this gets ⁶⁄₁₀ for quality).
The shrimp ceviche tostada tastes great, albeit a bit too liquidy/​saucy for my style. This was the highlight of our meal. Once it was mixed with a tad of Valentina sauce and avocado, this tostada was off-​the-​heezy. (Out of 10 stars, I’d give this one ⁷⁄₁₀).
However, the chicken tostada REALLY was bland, nothing special, and even was not tempting to try another bite. I guess the point of this story is that we should of stuck to just eating fish at El Cid.
To make the chicken tostada more palpable, we added tons of the very delicious salsas — pico de gallo is unique in that it has a sugary sweet taste alongside the fresh tomatoes! Very cool. :-)
All in all, El Cid was a good restaurant and we left feeling happy. Come during nice weather and sit outside on the sidewalk. Enjoy amigos.

Alright… so I eat alot of mexican food. like at least once a week alot.
Out of all the places around the city I have come to the conclusion that El Cid is the best «overall» for vegetarians. I’ve had it in the past but I’m not sure how I overlooked this diamond in the rough til now.
Their chips and salsa are really really great. You get a green salsa and also a pico. The pico is a bit sweet for me (kind of strange) but still delish.
The mini vegetarian chimichangas are incredible. comes with a side of guac which is super fresh, super good. my bf gets the cheese enchiladas which look really good as well and are well priced. $ 8 for a 2 enchilada dinner. my mini veggie chimichangas were $ 6 (3 minis + guac and a «salad») and you can actually order them a la carte for like $ 2 each if you so desire. you know, for those not so hungry times.
I highly recommend trying El Cid if you’re in the logan square area. Good food for a great price!

‘Lish is the word. I love this place and it’s super cute & homey, friendly waitstaff, smiling cook, nice dim (lighting) and a margarita I can get busy with. Nothing fancy, and no pretending to be either — that’s what I love about it… and I can get dinner for 3 (including 2 m’gitas) for less than $ 30. Me likey. Taco De Papa, & Aguacate Torta, I’ll be back for you! Tamales con nopales… mmmmm.

Note: This is for the location on Milwaukee, which I find one star better than the Kedize counterpart.
Where I came from, there was no such thing as authentic Mexican food (or if there was, I never had it). Casa Guillardo (or whatever it’s called) — the Olive Garden of Mexican, was about as far as I got.
So when I moved here I went to a couple of places — Lazo’s, Puebla, blah blah… and everywhere I went I felt silly and shunned for mispronouncing dish names. Sorry! Jeeze.
It was El Cid that was always wonderful and friendly and served up the best Mexican food I never had, in a cute atmosphere to boot!
I’ve been in Chicago about 4 years now and I still list this as one of my favorite restaurants. Everything is fresh, visually appealing, and served by the sweetest women in the neighborhood. The margaritas are killer.
I’m sad that I don’t live right over there or work shows at the Congress anymore ONLY because I don’t get El Cid on a regular basis.

The wife and I stopped in this past Sunday to pick up a few tacos to take home. I’m glad to report that there was no drop-​off in quality compared to the more popular El Cid II on Kedzie. The dinning room here is larger than at the Kedzie Ave store as well. No paitio, that I know of though. Not that it matters in November. We’ll probably head back for dinner soon.
Carnitas tacos were quite good.

Hmm. I’ve only been to this place once and was very impressed with the restaurant. The place was very clean. The food was very authentic and delicious. I was here with a bday group and no one seemed to have any problems with their order or service. Nothing was fatty, greasy or squashy (as someone reviewed).
The margaritas were excellent as well.