El Rincon Azteca

A Mexican restaurant in Chicago has pretty stiff competition. With places like La Pasadita and Picante offering cheap and delicious Mexican fare, there’s not really much room for forgiveness, especially if the place in question has roughly the same menu as the other ten thousand Mexican restaurants in the city.
So with that in mind, El Rincon Azteca, I regret to inform you of my 2-​star Unilocal rating of your establishment. It’s not that you are bad, but you did not inform me that there would be lettuce, tomato and sour cream on my burrito when I ordered it. And though I can certainly applaud the foresight in assuming that, like most other White American males, I would want a bastardized version of your country’s food, stereotyping is a dangerous game and today it cost you one Unilocal star.

Not sure why this place is empty most of the time that we pass by it — we thought that it was very good when we recently came for brunch. Nice to know that there is somewhere to sit down for some quality food, without the big lines.
Its BYOB and has free Wi-​Fi. So, come on in and support this neighborhood joint, order some chilaquiles and potato tacos and ENJOY!

I recently played guitar for a birthday party there. They were so friendly and accommodating to me, and it was very obvious that they wanted me to feel comfortable (moved chairs around, offer me plenty of food, drinks, coffee). Same goes for everyone at the party.
I had their chicken Mole enchiladas, which is on their menu for about $ 13. I’m a big mole fan, and these were more than satisfactory, and also more than I could finish. The place is a little inconspicuous. I’ve driven by so many times, and never noticed it. it is a little bit of a hole in the wall, so eating there feels like a local secret.
It was a very festive birthday party, so I didn’t have the regular dine-​in experience, but I definitely left happy with a good first impression.

I really wanted this place to be good… but super disappointing. Food was over priced, dry and lacked flavor. Not to mention it took a long time to prepare a to go order.
Hate to see a business not succeed, but they better get the menu worked out or won’t last a year with so many great, cheaper options within a few blocks.

Stopped in the other day, enjoyed it. It is a family owned taqueria, I found that the family is originally from Cicero and opened shop here a few months ago.
They have a slightly bigger menu than a run of the mill taqueria, with some items that I have not seen on menus before.
If you don’t want to pay $ 3 a taco at Big Star, and you’re looking to just eat and not drink $ 3 dollar whiskey shots, swing over here you wont regret it. The tacos are only $ 2 and very flavorful with a variety of meats and toppings.
The salsas there are great. They brought out a tray with 3 different sauces, be careful the brown chunky one is SPICY, but delish nonetheless. The mole sauce on the enchiladas hit the coffee and cocoa notes that I was looking for. The burrito was well wrapped and large and didn’t fall apart like some other places’ do.

We have been wanting to try this relatively new place in the neighborhood and finally got around to it a few weeks ago — what a disappointment. We decided to call our order in ahead of time and carry out, which was the first of our bad ideas. When I arrive after 20 minutes of waiting for our order, I walk in to pay and it’s clear that our order was not started — so I have to sit and wait another 10 minutes for them to prepare our meal.
Once I returned bearing the tacos and chilaquales we ordered, our level of disappointment increased. Very little flavor on the tacos and the salsas truthfully were not that great. The chilaquales looked like it was stuffed with black tar — I wish that I would have taken a picture of the disgrace so that I could have posted it on here. Needless to say I won’t be returning soon, and it looks like I’m not the only one. It’s empty most of the time and I’ll be surprised if it survives the upcoming winter.

This place is horrible. They offer coupons but do not know how to call them into
to redeem them. Food was dry and the guac had little to no flavor, we had to use the limes and extra onions they provided for soup to perk up the guac to be edible. Will not go back.

This is a family-​owned new place on North Avenue that can be easily missed. I never even noticed until I received a flyer from them. I’ve been there a few times now as it is right next to my place. The food so far has been quite good — the rice and beans and entrees are prepared with care, and more refined than most of the other tacos-​and-​burritos Mexican places down the block. The salsa is good and spicy. The juices are amazing — no additional sugars, completely fresh, and very thirst quenching. I really like the horchata as well, not too sweet and right amount of cinnamon. The dinner price is about $ 1 – 2 higher on average than the places on Ashland or Western, but I think this place does better preparation, the space is nicer and more comfortable, better location, and if you get their daily deals it’s actually an excellent value. I would definitely come back again.

This place is really good — great, authentic Mexican food, nice people and atmosphere, and the restaurant is a lot larger than you think from the outside. I have had several tacos here and they are all really delicious — especially the asada, and everything is inexpensive, most of the menu is under $ 10. Definitely give it a try, especially if you are craving good Mexican and want it quickly! We live in the neighborhood so this will be our new go-​to place for a quick and yummy weekday dinner. BTW, the breakfast tacos were good, too — can’t wait to try the chilaquiles!

A sturdy entry on North Avenue for this new taqueria. My family makes a point of eating at taqueria… and are always up to try a new one. We had dinner, which for us is usually 2 or 3 tacos each and a quesadilla for my daughter. In general, OK Al Pastor, good Carne Asada, and GREAT Chicken Tinga! They also make beef tinga, which we’ll try next time. Enjoyed their taco chili relleno which they had stemmed the chili, so it was not crazy hot (spicy), we split the chili, and place in a pair of corn tortillas and add beans and rice. Sweet, cheesy and good. Be sure to ask for an extra order of tortillas if you’re going to give that a try and share with your friends.
Chips were a little stale. Horchata very sweet and might like a little more cinnamon.
All together, we’ll be back to give the menu another try. Give it a go!

This place is seriously amazing. First off — they are super friendly and helpful. Second — their food is totally delicious. Third — they are byob for now, but were so accommodating when we brought in margarita fixins. They provided a blender and ice. We went for dinner in Cinco de Mayo and they even busted out a sombrero for us. I will happily come back here for dinner some time soon. You should try it too.

Just tried the gringas and lecheras and both were good. I know Big Star gets hyped but if you want to skip the lines the flavors I had here were just as good.
I’d definitely try this place again.

We had take-​out from here today, the chilaquiles and enchiladas. They were both delicious. Guacamole could be a little better though… it was a little bland. We’ll be back though.

I’m excited that there is a neighborhood mexican place that is not Flash Taco! I carried out a burrito w/​carne asada and it was exactly what I was looking for. The burrito was large, the ingredients were fresh, and the service was pretty fast. The prices are affordable as well. I would definitely go back to this place.
The ambience isn’t much to boast about; I don’t care about this but I worry it will scare away business. I think it would help if they de-​cluttered the register area.