Tacos El Norte

This place is good for what it is. A cheap fast decent Mexican food joint.
The horchata is good, as are the shrimp tacos. Desserts are ok too. Great value. Fast service. Recommend.

Only have ordered there take out and they are pretty quick usually ready in 10 min. I have only had there grande steak burrito which is awesome but my fiancé last time had the guacamole and got sick afterwards for 2 days. So we think the guacamole was the cause of her getting sick because she was fine before she ate it.

Came to have dinner here last month. I really was hopping for good food and servixe, like I have had on the past visits. Food didn’t taste fresh. I could taste the freezer burn on the meat from steak burrito. And my girlfriends steak was undercook (we ordered it well done). Waitress too it back to get cooked and didn’t ever waited 5 mins to get it back but was still undercook. I ordered a michelada, I was disappointed on how they made it. Presentation was weak, and taste was horrible, too spicy with no flavor at all. Not once did our waitress came to table to see if we need something else. I really felt like she was avoiding us. I will never return to eat here.

We went here Saturday night for dinner. All in all, it was a good time. We didn’t have any issues with service, but I could see why others complained. Lots of friends of the servers at the bar.
Our experience was good. The only reason they didn’t get five stars, is they had entertainment that was actually pretty good, but way too LOUD! And we were all the way on the other side.
I ordered the mixed Fajitas. Everything was done great and seasoned very well. My son ordered the quesadillas. They looked great. He wouldn’t share and ate them all up.
My wife ordered a steak burrito and loved it.
Their food is really fresh and they did a great job.
They need to keep the music a few decibels softer please.

Don’t even know how to make a bloody mary and your food will be cold.

The food is pretty good, worthy of about 3 – 4 stars. The service is 0 stars. We were seated immediately then began the waiting. It took a full 5 minutes before our waitress came to even say hi and take our drink order (and we were one of 2 tables in the restaurant at the time). Then we waited and waited for our drinks. We probably saw our waitress 3 times the entire meal. Avoid this place if good service is something that’s important to you.

Walked in, and I was seated immediately. They give you complimentary chips and salsa, but for some reason I did not get a bowl to contain my salsa. Instead there were just squirt bottles. So then the waiter comes by, asks me what to drink, then I order. The order came out really quick, maybe about 5 minutes. Also the food was pretty good, and the prices were very reasonable. But the one thing this place lacks is attentive service. I needed some more water and I never got a refill. When I was done with my meal it took so long to bring up my check. It’s just a shame to see a great restaurant with poor service.
Come here if you’re not on a tight schedule. The service is okay, but the food is delicious!

Horrible service and not so great food. Waitress kept messing up the order. We had 4 different waitresses throughout the meal. Had to ask multiple times about food that the restaurant forgot to make. At the end, we waited 30 minutes to pay the bill and the waitress was like you can always just come up and pay. Very rude, will not go back again.

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.

The rating of 1 Star is a stretch! Our waitress was not attentive and spent most of her time with the table behind us. Apparently they were employees not working that day. I ordered a combo plate with mole, it was the worst I’ve ever had, no taste, no spice, actually the consistency of watered down chocolate milk. Rice and beans were lukewarm at best. Ordered a Sangria which came in a wine glass, served like a glass of Burgundy… no ice no garnishment and had to ask for a glass with ice… poured straight out of a bottle. May I suggest going to the Tacos El Norte location on Grand Avenue in Waukegan. ALWAYS has excellent service with food served the way it should be… Grand Avenue you get 5 Stars Plus!

I brought my family here for lunch one Saturday in July. We were at Great America and we’re looking for a restaurant close to the park. I am glad we stopped in. The wait staff was very friendly, the food was above bar for Mexican fare, and most importantly affordable. I had the Grande Burrito (Steak) it it more then frilled me up. My wife and daughter were equally satisfied. I am adding this place to my short list of out of the park places to eat lunch/​dinner

I love Tacos El Norte and have been going to there for years. (Them, because you know they have more than one location.) But I’m writing about the one in Gurnee, IL. However, last night we were charged almost 50 bucks extra by mistake. There were four of us and we ordered plenty nicely. But it was my husband that picked up the tab and he noticed like right away! They apologized for the mistake. So, beware if you go and betta check that bill. Their service is good though and the food is delicious. I’ll continue going.

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)

Bad experience for our family outing on Mother’s Day. Service was bad, how does an order of tacos de asesina come to table presented as tacos de milanesa? and how does a burrito come to the table with a big slit across it, it was cut in the middle like it’s suppose to, but on one of the slices, there was a slit across it and it was all open and the meat was spilling everywhere, and of course my favorite, how does a fish a la Mexicana come back to the table without pico de gallo? Guess the cook was just wanting to cook things his own way. Oh and my aunt was told it would take them an hour to bring her tacos back to the table, were they chasing the cow in the back? And to think we have to return here for my little cousin’s celebration of her first communion for her banquet. Ridiculous.

This place has awful service! It took 30 minutes to place our order and the waitress ignored us

Authentic food. Good atmosphere. Recommended for authentic Mexican in Lake County. The only thing I can say negative is that we have waited a long time for our check multiple times and the chips and salsa usually run dry. Servers need reminders to stay attentive. But, overall recommended if you’re not in a hurry.

A solid 3.5 stars with friendliness rounding it up to the 4^th 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.

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.

This restaurant is very Americanized, mostly because of the location and the crowd it’s marketing towards. Service and staff have been pretty bad each and everytime i’ve been here, but i’ve only visited here due to coming along with friends and family. They really need to give a class to their staff about customer service, because this place is really quite terrible. At least it’s clean, safe, and plenty of parking space, I give them that. Haven’t been here in a while but I honestly, and sadly enough, wouldn’t be surprised if it hasn’t changed a bit.

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.