El Fuego

Tastes better then your average Mexican restaurante! My family lives walking distance from El Fuego and we are so happy about it. We are repeat customers. They always remember us and are very sweet and patient with the kids’ needs. The food has never disappointed! There is a uniqueness about the flavor. Not your average Mexican eatery. Can’t wait to go for salsa dancing. Sometimes we just get up and dance in the spacious dining room while waiting for our food! Yes, that was us :)

Finally, a great addition to downtown Skokie. Full bar, great food, salsa nights on Friday, and soon to be open OUTDOOR PATIO. The word on the street is that they have killer margaritas. Definitely something that Skokie needed. A great place to check out!

Outstanding — El Fuego Burrito w/​steak AND chorizo –best burrito I have ever had.
Delicious — Margarita with sweet chile salt on the rim — nice touch
Homemade flan tasted like cheesecake! Also outstanding Salsa night on Fridays and looks like a good place to hang out and watch a game too. Tom the owner could not have been nicer. We will be back often, especially when the huge outdoor dining area opens.

Nice new Mexican restaurant in downtown Skokie — had the chilli rellenos which were excellent. What was unique about then which I have not seen before is they use Mole sauce

I drive by here alot and never really tried it out, went in today because I was doing business across the street. I am glad I did. From the moment you walk in you are greeted with kindness. It was very empty, but then again I am sure it gets busier in the evenings when they have all of their activities going on (i.e. salsa dancing, karaōke, etc). I asked if I could have a suizo veggie burrito, right away he (the owner) started asking about what style veggies etc. Made to order and it was delicious!!! I am definitely going to go back for an evening out… The burrito was huge, grilled veggies, rice, sour cream, beans, guacamole, cheese, the works! I could not finish it all. I would definitely recommend this place to anyone looking for a place in the area with good food, and delivers (there is a $ 20 min to deliver). Has a great dinning area with bar on the other side and it is CLEAN!!!

food = good, service = bad.
ordered tacos all three times I’ve been here.
tuesdays is $ 2 tacos, but only for select tacos which the flier doesn’t specify.
2^nd time I went there I was charged original price for the tacos until I brought it to the cash register person’s attention. the dude acted liked he forgot… I wasn’t buying it. I still tipped generously.
3^rd time I went there I was charged the sale price for the tacos, but somehow I was charged an extra 40 cents or so… WTF?! do I need to ask for an itemized receipt? seriously.
honesty and generosity needed from this place in my opinion.

The drinks were great and the staff was extremely friendly and attentive! Would return!

I want to support this business. The food was decent. The fish tacos were a little strange, with a heavy kinda ranchero sauce and a ton of cabbage. The vegetarian burrito was fine, I’d get it again. Guacamole was fine. Service has improved since the first time I went. Basically, it’s not going to be my favorite Mexican place in the world but it’s convenient and I can see going back there. I also want a casual downtown Skokie Mexican restaurant to survive. The tequila bar is a nice touch even if the décor is rather blah right now.
But all that being said, they need to move beyond this no free chips thing. I don’t know of a single Mexican restaurant that doesn’t lay a bunch of chips down on your table as soon as you sit down. Like many others have stated, it’s insanity! I feel like I don’t want to encourage them until they start giving out the chips.
I also don’t understand restaurants that are open for a year without having a website with a menu. Hire someone and get that website done. Give them some free chips if you must.
So please, if you want me to bring people to this restaurant and to not be ashamed by the fact that they are not getting chips and salsa when they sit down, change your free chips policy.

We noticed this place while traveling through downtown Skokie a couple of weeks ago. We always turn to Unilocal to help us decide on a new dining spot. The reviews of late were very good, so we ventured out on Blackout Wednesday. We were surprised to see that the place was empty. Come on people! Give these folks a chance! Wonderful people serving up some really good food and drink. I had blackened salmon tacos– loved the slaw. The rest of the family was also very pleased with the food. The margaritas were delicious and a very good size. No doubt that we will be back again soon.

Love Mexican and living in Evanston I have often complained about the absence of great Mexican. Finally!!! I have found my place. Excellent flavor profile and good prices. LOVED my jalapeño margarita with sweet chili powder in the rim. Usually skip margaritas at restaurants as the are too sweet. Not here! Perfect balance of hot (fresh sliced jalapeños), minimal sweet, and lime (sour) and huge serving. I had two! Oh, yeah, the rim treatment, fabulous.
Not to hungry so we split chorizo nachos and a grilled mahi mahi taco. Not a big nacho fan but these were delightful. Chorizo was excellent. We cleared the plate. Taco was outstanding! Lived the mango salsa and the red cabbage slaw.
Lastly some of the best flan I’ve had in at least 10 years. Portion was generous and rich.
Service was lovely and friendly. Cannot wait to come back again and again. If you are big in ambiance you might be let down but if you are about the food, then you delight in this treasure in Skokie!

«Give them another shot» in this case is the best advice I can offer.
It is like a whole new place. New bar and dining room filling in yet another long empty storefront on Lincoln Avenue in Downtown Skokie.
Food is great. Margaritas are big. Family owned and operated. I carry out to my office once a week and the food is always fresh and prepared fast while I wait.
Beautiful outside dining available. Free parking on Lincoln and behind the restaurant in a public lot.

Salsa was good, word was that it is home made, seemed so, nice flavor of garlic and charred tomato.
Burrito and enchiladas were great. Mole is also home made and very good.
The Tequila bar/​club is open.
Nice spot in downtown Skokie.
Will return regularly

Awesome little Mexican place in downtown Skokie. I would recommend the El Fuego Burrito. The steak was cooked perfectly. The fries and burger are also pretty good. I would definitely come back.
Came here with my Indian friend would just came to the country. He loved the food. Also came here with my Bulgarian friend which was his first experience with Mexican food.

My family is from Rogers Park so we are very familiar with Mexican food. When we moved to Skokie we were thrown off by the lack of good restaurants in the area, especially Mexican.
We were drawn in by the beautiful painting and artwork you can see from the huge Windows. The owner Tom greeted us and chatted and was so welcoming and hospitable. He recommended dishes for each of us and described each one. The bar and restaurant are clean, warm and inviting. It felt like we were back in the city!
The food was fantastic. My husband got the biggest burrito we have ever seen. The rice and beans were not your usual greasy mush. The beans had a distinct flavor and the beans were seasoned and filled with veggies. I got the blackened salmon tacos which are topped with a beautiful slaw that Tom explained he brought from San Diego.
I am thrilled they will be having salsa night on Friday nights so my friends and I don’t have to haul into the city for a night of dancing!
Check it out soon because it is all decked out for Dia de lots Muertos right now and is really beautiful!
Thank you Tom and compliments to the chef!

Came here for a nice dinner with the wife and was not disappointed. They just expanded into the building next door and it looks nice and clean. Started with some chips and guac, both of which they make themselves, and they were tasty. We both had margaritas, I had a tamarind and she had a jalapeño, and they were both awesome. Entrées were chile relleno with molé sauce and steak burritos. The molé was super tasty and the steak was really tender and flavorful. We’ll definitely be coming back, especially with the great prices.

What appears to be a whole in the wall turns in something magical when you walk in. They have a huge back yard for outdoor seating and they leased out the space next door for a margarita bar set to open soon.
Now to the food: amazing! I got 3 tacos, ordered another one when I was done just to try out everything they had. Rice and beans definitely hit the spot! I strongly recommend this place if you’re interested in outdoor seating, or amazing Mexican food!

Good place to eat with some people. However, I’m guessing the place is newly painted so it kinda smells when you first come in, it will smell for the first 10 minutes when you’re still with the menu, but when you got the food, who cares about the smell? It’s legit, and they give you a good serving. So my thanks to the chef.
OH, also, I am in no place to say this, but I’m gonna say it anyway, I thought the Horchata was good but kinda lacked a tad bit more flavor. But that’s okay, I still drank all of it.

My family loves good Mexican, and hubby picked up flauta dinners from here tonight. They were good! You have your choice of chicken or steak and we had steak. Delicious! The three flautas weren’t very big, but with the rice, beans, and vegetables, they were a filling meal.
The green salsa was so tasty that I didn’t even bother to open the red container. Seriously good stuff!
We also got guacamole and chips and at first I thought the guacamole looked funny (lumpy with a lot of stuff in it, whereas I prefer my guac smooth) yet it was creamy and tasty. The chips were very fresh too.
The owner told hubby they are expanding and will have a bar, in addition to the outdoor seating when the weather’s nice, so we look forward to checking it out. And I want to try the horchata my friend Vikki recommends!

Solid.
Had some munchies and was craving some horchata. I wouldn’t call myself an horchata snob but that’s definitely a reason why I pick certain food establishments over others. If there’s horchata within a 5-​mile radius and I’m craving it– I’m there.
I think this place is fantastic as a «to-​go» place (as opposed to a sit down restaurant) because there aren’t many places to sit down at. Talked to owner, Tom– who told me to address this issue he is expanding El Fuego to the place next door in mid-​March. It’ll be interesting to see what it is like then.
Tried the chicken and steak tortas and they were yummy! Definitely fresh and crunchy. The prices were okay (3.50/each) plus the 4.00 for the horchata (which is kind of high) but hey– I know it’s fresh and made in-​house daily!
Will definitely try it again with friends and re-​review it once the weather gets warmer!

The whole family enjoyed this place. My husband & I came with our 1&4 yr olds. The kids loved their chicken flautas lunch — I swear they inhaled the food so quickly! The ceviche appetizer was amazing! I ordered the green chicken enchiladas and they were delicious. My husband ordered the ground beef and the chicken tacos and says the were really good.
There is free parking everywhere. We parked in back with the intention of looking at their outdoor seating. It is beautiful out there! I truly recommend this place to eat there or even try it for delivery.
We have found a new place to be addicted to :)