Adobo Grill

Adobo Grill has closed in Lombard. :(

UNBELIEVABLE… I am so dissapointed that this place closed down. I was really looking forward to some of that table side guacamole! Now I will have to drive to the city to get some of the delicious carne asada tacos. Too bad, recently we had also found out it was a gluten-​free restaurant, which was a good thing since one of my friends was diagnosed with celiacs! DOWWWNER!
I also really liked their tequila tasting event they had. guess we’ll have to see what’s poppin in the city location. =p

This is a cute little date place that me and the hubby go to from time to time.
The décor is beautiful… including a clay style fire place in the center of the dinning room, the staff is always attentive and friendly.
But like the other reviews, this place can be overrated… if you do not know what to order.
Their menu is limited, and most items are not traditional Mexican/​Spanish style entrees.
And they are a bit on the expensive side.
Having gone here a few times, however… we realize that their portions look smaller then what they really are. You will get stuffed on the food they give you.
Even my husband who when ordered their steak special… and seen the small portion was disappointed — but once he dug in and realized that there was much more then what it seemed… the steak was stacked for presentation… walked away fully packed… and he can eat!
Their steak is a bit pricey, but it was tender and delicious.
I enjoy their baja fish tacos… better then what I get in the City at a smaller local eatery.
Their guacamole is to die for — made to order right in front of you… just the way you like it… mild, medium or spicy.
I am also a big fan of their Margaretta’s and Tequila flights.
Their Argava Margaretta is a bit pricey ($ 7 – 8) and is served in a Martini glass instead of a traditional Margaretta glass… but a little goes a long way in this strong drink — and I enjoy a drink from time to time… so I am not a wimp! ;D
If you are low on cash and looking for a budget eat… try their happy hours — which I believe are between 4 – 6 Monday thru Friday — their specials vary… but you can usually find good prices on their drinks and a limited $ 1.00 menu so that you can taste test their food before committing to buying a large dinner and spending a decent amount of cash.

I had such high hopes for this place, and man did it fail. I don’t see how this place is any different from a chill’s style restaurant. Well there is one difference, the prices are higher.
I had the steak, and it was nothing special. I can do way better at home for around 5 bucks! We also did the table-​side guacamole… award! All of us ordered margaritas, and our server had to go back twice because he didn’t have enough in his cocktail shaker. It was just strange.
I will never go back! This place was so lame!

MEH. Methinks its a bit overrated.
I had pretty high hopes for this place, given all its hype. And I gotta say — I was disapointed.
Steak Tacos:
Steak: Chewy. Ugh.
The flavor of the meat was great, but, the execution was poor. The great Rick Bayless once said (okay, I’m paraphrasing here) «You have to be careful when cooking a steak taco at medium rare — because nobody wants a chewy taco.»
For real, regardless how good the meat tasted, the experience was totally ruined by the embarassing experience of having to gnaw on my food like a rabid dog.
Salsa Verde: Very, very mild. I need more heat!!!

I do like it when a new place opens up not far from my office as it can get pretty redundant eating at the same places all the time. This Adobo Grill is located at the Shops on Butterfield at Yorktown Mall.
It has a nice location toward the back with a large outdoor patio and a large indoor dining room. What I wonder about is what happens to some of my favorite city places when they come out to the «Burbs»? They lose all of their personalities and turn into a «white washed» version of it’s former self. And that’s the problem here too. This place lacks a personality. .. a «soul» if you will.
While the table side prepared guacamole is always one of my favorites– I guess I think it tastes better in a more intimate setting like the one in Old Town. Or that the luncheon menu with it’s limited selections, doesn’t showcase what makes Adobo Grill good to me.
I had the chicken enchiladas with mole sauce and my friend had the fish tacos. Both were fine but nothing special. Maybe we should have ordered something else but the wraps on the menu or the hamburger really seemed like one offs of what we really wanted which was good Mexican food.
Service was good. Our drinks came up quickly and they moved us through lunch at a good pace (most of the places out here do though for if they didn’t– they would lose business). It’s in a mall so there is plenty of free parking just steps away from the door as well.
As with most of my city favorites– I prefer the city location to the ones that they open out in the «burbs». While I doubt this will become a lunch favorite of mine– it offers up some variety to the options out this way, and for that, it’s «A-​ok» in my book.

Seriously not impressed with this place.
Menu is small and lacking. Really uninteresting. The salsa is some of the blandest tomato paste I’ve ever tasted. Luckily, I asked if they could kick it up a notch, and the server brought out some habanero salsa to mix in it – which finally made the generic salsa have a chance at flavor.
The ahi tuna ceviche was refreshing but small – perhaps a bit to much juice and sauce and not enough large chunks of tuna, Oh, and I mentioned I was allergic to avocado– when we were recommended the guacamole – and lo and behold, there’s huge chunks of avocado in the ceviche – which isn’t listed on the menu– nor did our lovely server mention this to me as we ordered the dish.
So, I thought, whatever, and picked the pieces of avocado out, piece by piece — but apparently, it was soaked in avocado juice, because I spent the rest of the night curled in a ball on the couch, ill as hell. Perhaps, our server could’ve mentioned this – especially after it was made known I had an allergy. But whatever, it just shows the lack of care. And yes, I should’ve skipped it… but I had no idea there was as much avocado in the food as there was.
Food portions were small and overly expensive for what was offered. This place was a big let-​down in terms of flavor, price, and service. There are too many chains around for me to return to this one.

Unilocal let me down on this one. While in town on business, the iPhone app would only deliver the plethora of chain restaurants available in the Yorktown Mall, and this one seemed like it would provide in a pinch. Boy, was I wrong. The much hyped table-​side guac wasn’t prepared table side, and was BLAND. The margaritas were drinkable but nothing to write home about. And while I didn’t expect the quality Mexican food I normally get at home, I was hoping that the Tacos Al Pastor would at least be edible. If Hungry Man made Mexican entrees, they would be better then this meal. I have a feeling that most of the high reviews of this place are by Unilocalers desperate to knock back a few cocktails and enjoy the mall walking eye-​candy after a hard day at work. I’m sorry majority, I have to disagree on this one.

Grrreat Margaritas. Happy hour has $ 2 shrimp tacos that are muy tasty and go well with guacamole.

Looking for a fabulous Mexican meal??? Keep looking, you won’t find it here.
I like the idea of the table side guacamole but it’s very bland. Nothing I would ever crave and nothing I would write home about. The margarita’s are bleh and the ceviche was one of the biggest let down’s ever. It was such a waste of an animals life… NG= not good.
The meal portions are teeny tiny, especially for the price. This place should defo get 1 star for value. The food was just okay and after we finished up and got the bill we felt really ripped off and still hungry.
Go anywhere else for a better value and better Mexican food… in fact, you could prob go to a Chinese food restaurant for better Mexican food than here.

I know it’s a chain… but the service here was outstanding and I am a sucker for all kinds of attention from the waitstaff.
Three friends and I sat our butts in a booth and ordered flights of tequila shots, margaritas and guacamole. The server was extremely knowledgeable about his tequilas and the food was really good. We had one complainer among us and even she didn’t find anything wrong with the place.
We’ll be back.

My main attraction to this place is the guacamole made tableside! It’s so creamy and delicious and perfect. I wish there were more, though — we often find ourselves scraping the bowl!
The margaritas here are out of this world — this is definitely a great spot to relax with some friends and a couple of great tasting cocktails!
I’ve been for dinner twice, and for lunch twice. I will admit, I am a little disappointed in their lunch menu — it’s somewhat small. I enjoy their dinner menu a lot better.
The service is usually great. However, the two times I went for lunch, it took over an hour and a half. The first time, it was the day before Thanksgiving, and the restaurant was practically emtpy. Our waiter seemed to disappear a lot, and after we had eaten dessert, we waited a while for him to come back with our check. We were trying to get back to work, and got a little aggravated. The second time, it took longer for us to get our dessert than it did for our entrees — at least 20 minutes went by while waiting for dessert. I just don’t think lunch should take that long! I mean, don’t get me wrong– the churros and chocolate dipping sauce was great! Just not worth the wait.
Overall, I enjoy this restaurant and will continue to go back — just not at lunchtime :)

It was my third time going to this restaurant, but my first time at this location. I usually go to the one in Old Town, which the ambiance at that location seems 50% better. Let’s see I see everyone has mentioned the guacamole made fresh and in front of you, so I won’t bother going into detail about that.
The food here is decent, it’s fancier Mexican food that I think is overpriced just because of it’s presentation. You can got a whole lot more at your local Mexican spot for a lot less and much more flavorful, I mean seriously $ 6.75 for a single Tres Leches dessert when you can get one at El Burrito Loco for less than half that. I get the enchiladas, and for the portion that they serve at the price, I could’ve gotten two entrees somewhere else.
I only suggest going here for social reasons, but in regards to getting more bang for your buck, steer clear.
Overall–
Cleanliness: A
Food: C
Prices: C
Presentation: B
Service: B
— — — — — — — –
Grade– C

Decent service, food, and ambiance.
Being gluten-​free, Adobo Grill was near the top of my list to try since it has a gluten free menu. For this reason alone, Adobo Grill receives 4 stars. Without this extra detail, it might receive three stars (A-​Ok).
We got the guacamole appetizer, which is made tableside. I enjoyed my guacamole with jicama while the rest of my party enjoyed regular tortilla chips. There isn’t a whole lot of guacamole (they only use 1 avocado) for the amount of chips they provide.
I had the gluten free quesadillas, which had vegetables, cheese, and black beans and was very tasty. My husband had the chicken enchiladas and other people at my table had the fish tacos or the fish special. Everyone enjoyed their meal.
Service was a bit slow at times, but I couldn’t tell if that was because our party was so into talking and less about the eating.
I would go back, but I would probably go to the Old Town or Wicker Park locations.

I’m probably not saying anything different from the rest of the posts, but the margaritas and guacamole are the reasons to come to this place.
And since you’re already coming for some grub, try out practically anything on the menu. Lately, I’ve been eating here twice a month and I’ve yet to find anything on here I didnt like.
This place gets PACKED on the weekends, we suburbanites are slaves to shopping/​restaurant meccas like Yorktown, so plan ahead.

Margaritas made table side! How do I get the guy to come to my house?
We ventured out in the cold weather to this location and weren’t disappointed! Fortunately, they have a revolving door near the entrance, so while you are waiting for your table, those bursts of cold air are quite limited.
We (table of 4) ate lots here. The homemade guacamole (I’m not a guac person, but everyone else really enjoyed it), 2 people had meat dishes and 2 of us had fish dishes. It was all great. We also had some dessert. I got a banana/​ice cream thing to split with hubby and it was YUMMY! My only complaint was that there was a twig or something non edible in it which I mistook for a cookie (insert your laughter here).
Our server was very nice and accommodating and he earns bonus points for steering me towards that wonderful dessert! He kind of reminded me of Ricky from Project Runway, except he was in a much better mood and no crying!
The women’s restroom was very clean, but the toilets were really low. So watch if you are guzzling those margaritas!
We saw several people with kids here. I didn’t see the children’s menu, but it is very noisy which can be good or bad, depending on the kid. I wouldn’t bring young kids here, at least when it’s busy, There’s not much room if you have an antsy kid and need to walk him or her around. I think older kids would do just fine.
Minus one star for the prices. They seemed kind of steep for what you get. I’m ok with having an expensive meal, but I would expect more.

Great Guac. Made tableside and they can spice it up for you. Unique Mexican — great margs made tableside. A nice alternative to Uncle Julio’s (which I really like as well.)
Worth pointing out they have fish tacos which are hard to find in Chicagoland. Not quite west coast but close!

The Old Town location of this place is one of our favorites… This location, not so much…
It was the first night they were open when we went there, so take that with a grain of salt — or a salted rim, if you will.
The food is as good, although I’m thinking the quacamole is a little steep in price for what you get — especially considering they didn’t bother to actually make it tableside as advertised.
I do like all of their dishes — especially the ceviches and the moles. And where else can you get a flight of Mezcal in the ‘burbs?
I’ll be back to check this place out again in a few months — mid-​January sounds like a good time

Delicious, trendy and yet homey Mex restaurant in the new portion of Yorktown Mall (@ the Shops on Butterfield). The aroma that welcomes you as you come in is a wood-​burning stove, tortillas, and salsa.
Very pleasantly decorated in Mexican traditional colors (earthy, pink, etc.) and features space for private and semi-​private parties. Wonderufl looking chimenea embedded on one wall of the larger dining area.
Amazing dishes are featured in this shorter menu. We went there for lunch and had so many things to oooh and ahh over we almost weren’t able to pick something. We started with their delicious and table-​side made guacamole. Very tasty! Then we had limeades, which are traditionally made just as in Mexico, with sugar syrup, so they’re tart but tasty.
I proceeded to have the chile relleno, a little spicy and on top of a bed of delectable stewed black beans, a red sauce, and sprinkled cream. It came with homemade (and hand-​made!) tortillas, in the typical Mexican size… which is just the size of your palm.
Mom had the milanesa sandwhich which burst full of goodies and flavor. It came accompanied by chile seasoned french fries and a side of ketchup for dipping. I kept ogling the lusty dessert menu, but we had to head back to the office. Delicacies like Mexican banana split, pastel tres leches, and crepas con cajeta with pumpkin seeds.
I also noticed that the menu throughout featured some dishes with plaintains and I truly can’t wait to try some of them!
Truly a promising and delectable spot. I can’t wait to have many more delicious lunches over the fall and winter! Something to sustain me through blah weather.

Muchos gracias, Adobo Grill! Finally the western burbs gets a great Mexican restaurant! Several reasons why you should try this newly opened suburban outpost of the famed city restaurant:
1. Awesome mojitos, made with tequila! (It’s all about the mojitos, you know!)
2. Guacamole; creamy, spicy, delicious!
3. Butternut squash soup, so creamy, so good!
4. Tuna Ceviche, need I say more?
5. Butternut squash enchiladas, a tasty delight!
6. Hand shaken premium margaritas made tableside (we did not have any, but they did look pretty good!)
7. Too many wonderfully diverse entrees and appetizers to list!
I look forward to trying many of these tempting entrees and appetizers over the next couple of months. One star off because they are newly opened, and their service has a couple of issues. But the servers are very nice and enthusiastic, so I’m sure the small kinks will soon be worked out!