Mago Grill & Cantina

Awesome gluten free menu! And a number of vegetarian options :) Enchiladas de Hongos are delicious!

Love, love, love it here. As vegetarians, we both have enjoyed their tamales and rajas burrito! The margaritas are delicious too.

Food is still delicious. Went back last week and was a little disappointed. Ordered the chicken fajitas and had to search for the chicken. Everything else tasty and delicious
Service great. Chips and salsa wonderful. Table side guacamole wonderful.
But, virtually no chicken in the fajitas

So we came here for my parents anniversary and I was a little nervous because my parents are VERY picky vegetarian eaters. I felt relieved when they had a vegetarian menu, however that wasn’t it. My mom a picky eater who changed her burrito order to make it completely different and my dad who only eats «hard shell» tacos, Eduardo C., our waiter patiently listened as I modified the entrees. He even made us «hard shell» tacos for my dad. The food tasted fresh and no complaints from our hard critic mom. She was impressed as well. Eduardo C., you are we’re the best!

All around awesome place! From the hostess, to the servers, to the manager, to the bus staff, everyone was extremely welcoming and provided outstanding service. The ambiance was very warm and inviting, it felt upscale yet relaxed. The food and drink couldn’t have been better! Once seated we got chips and a trio of sauces/​salsa that were all very yummy. I usually don’t drink mojitos but after my boyfriend ordered one and I tasted it I had to order one for myself. I had the mahi mahi with a peanut verde mole; very unique and tasty. My boyfriend had the flat iron steak which he was impressed with as well. I wasn’t really hungry for dessert but my boyfriend talked me into the tres leches cake and I’m glad he did because it was so, so good! Overall I don’t think we could have had a better experience I am looking forward to dining here again!

I love Mago!!! I always judge a Mexican place by their al pastor tacos, and Mago’s definitely are at the top of my list. I absolutely love their al pastor tacos. They also have great guacamole, serving it with the guacamole maker who will go to your table and make it in front of you, making sure you have the exact amount of spice you want. Mago is unique in its vibe — modern and fun. It’s a great place to meet up with friends for a lunch or a birthday dinner (I had my birthday here!). If you’re in the mood for a more modern Mexican place with great service, definitely go to Mago.

Went on a Friday night date with my wife to Mago in Arlington Heights. We were enticed in with a Groupon and pleasantly surprised.
As with many Mexican joints, you are greeted with chips and salsa (in this case, three different, delicious salsas).
We started our dinner (post chips) with a ceviche appetizer. Hands down, best ceviche we’ve ever had. It is more tomatoe-​y than limey, and the portion is big enough for an entrée.
We knew we wanted to try mole with our entrée, but weren’t sure which one to select. When we asked our waiter for a suggestion, he let the food speak and brought us samples of every mole on the menu. We were impressed with this show of effort, as it was a Friday night and the place was packed. In fact, our waiter was extremely attentive, friendly and calm (especially with the busyness).
To summate, our dinner was delicious, and this was truly a stand out dining experience. We will most definitely be back, and have recommended this place to all our family and friends.

This place is OK for Mexican food. The first time I went I ordered horchata and hated it and asked for coke instead.
The second time I went I thought maybe they were having an off day with the horchata the first time I tried so I ordered it again.
ummmm no…
WORST.HORCHATA.EVER!!! I then told my server it tasted off so he went to get me a another horchata stating that maybe the kitchen didnt mix it well. I then see the bartender shake a plastic jug of horchata and brings it over to me again. I told him I didnt like it again and he then bring me another one… I said I didnt want to try it anymore just get me a margarita. I ended up getting 3 horchatas and they all sucked.
Aside from that, the food is alright, I like the chips and dips they bring you while you wait for your food.
Salsa 17 down the street, is the best choice for DT Arlington Hts.

While I am not a fan of super ethnic Mexican food, I do love margaritas and fajitas!
First off, let me warn you, this place gets packed constantly. You can definitely expect to wait a while during prime times… and even later in the night. I have actually been able to get a drink in another restaurant down the street while waiting to be let in to Mago. It’s ridiculous! The seating is not always great if you come with only 2 people… you usually get crammed right on top of another couple in an awkward manner. I loathe that.
The margaritas are amazing and taste so fresh! They are some of the more tasty margaritas I have had in a long time. Usually places have some serious sweet and sour going on with their margaritas, but Mago makes it an art with good tequila and ingredients. I highly suggest getting the Cucumber Margarita or any of the Mezcal based drinks. The bar is super small though, so you can’t just chill and drink very easily while you wait for a table.
The food is alright in my opinion, but that is only because I do not have a taste for super ethnic Mexican food. For those of you that do, you will love it, I’m sure! I like the regular Fajitas and the tacos! Those are my key dishes. The more ethnic Fajitas were so ethnic that I couldn’t eat them at all. So be aware of the difference.
Also, the guacamole is good, but I have found that they are often times unable to make the guacamole as spicy as I like it…
The service is great! I have gotten ‘on the house’ Mexican coffee before when out for a girls night out! I have also gotten ‘on the house’ dessert brought to the table as well. Always a lovely surprise :)

Wow! I’m impressed! From the chips with the trio of dips, to the meal, to the special margarita for only $ 6.00, this was an excellent stop while I’m visiting Chicago.
I told our server, Aileen, that I’ve always wanted to try mole sauce, so she brought out six choices for hubby and me to sample.
Yum! I chose the mole de coco over sautéed chicken breast. If you like coconut, this is a must try.
Hubby had the ropa vieja (old clothes, but don’t let the name scare you). The brisket was tender and tasty.
Oh, and the plantains that were served on the side of both of our dishes were the best I’ve ever had.
Next time I’m in Chicago, I’ll definitely be back.

I’ll probably come back but I won’t come running, if that makes any sense. We came here on Labor Day to celebrate my dad’s birthday, not because he wanted Mexican food, but because this was literally the only place he could find that was open for dinner on Labor Day. Service was okay, nothing to remark about. The consumable items are what we should be concentrating on here.
To drink, I had «La Ilusión,» which is a guava juice based tequila cocktail. Or as I called it, juice. It was delicious! I totally could have had another but forced myself not to because I had a job interview in the morning.
We had tableside guacamole, another thumbs up. The chips were fresh tasting and refilled without question. The salsas on the table didn’t really do much for me.
I am a Mole fan, but the menu didn’t really give me enough information to choose which mole I wanted to have. There were 5 moles featured on the menu, but none of them jumped out at me as being «the one.» It seems like this may happen a lot because the waitress offered to bring out samples before I could even ask. The one I was looking for was the «Xico.» This is the traditional deep brown delicious nutty wonderful mole that a basic white girl like me thinks of when she sees the word mole. The others were green moles– much too cilantro and pepper based for my taste, as well as a red mole which was pretty much salsa. I ordered the strip steak with Xico mole, black beans, and plantains. The strip was beautifully cooked. Bravo, kitchen!
Unfortunately, my sides fell short. The black beans were too spicy for me to enjoy. I am not afraid of a little spice, but this went too far. And the plantains, while flavorful, were cold. Like I’m talking barely room temperature, first thing on the plate and then waited for all the other food to get cooked, cold. They felt stale, if that is even possible. I am so sad about these side dishes because I was totally looking forward to them! My dad also ordered plantains and corn to share as a table. The table plantains were better, if a little undercooked. The corn was another disappointment for me. The flavor was okay but the texture was sticky like microwaved green giant from the can. I also tried a few bites of a chicken tamale, which was really good. So I guess on my next trip to Mago, I’ll just skip the sides and be a happy girl.

Yum! This place was great!
I came here with a friend after work for dinner (and to catch up). We were seated right away, and had our choice of indoor seating or the patio. It was a little sticky outside, so we chose to stay in. As we were being seated, the hostess asked if either of us had a peanut allergy. We didn’t, but I didn’t understand why she asked.
We were immediately brought three kinds of salsa — one containing peanuts (that was why), which was really hot. All three salsas were tasty and a great start to the meal. My friend had looked at the website before we arrived, and she told me that sangria was on special that night (Thursday) for $ 6. We had to try them! We ordered them and they came out quickly.
We toyed with ordering an appetizer, but both of us had eaten larger lunches and thought we wouldn’t be able to eat our meals if we did. I do wish we would have tried the guacamole. I’ve heard good things about it and we saw it being made for a table nearby. Next time.
I ordered the taco salad with chicken. The portion was huge and I loved that it came in a big taco shell. The chicken was incredible — it had great flavor and a kick! My friend ordered some mushroom enchiladas and let me try a bite. The sauce was great!
We didn’t have any room for dessert, unfortunately. I’m sure it would have been delicious.
We’ll be back for sure.

I will not be returning to Mago. You couldn’t pay me.
I came in a few weeks ago with a group of 6 girlfriends for dinner. The salsa trio was tasty. I ordered a steak dish and the portion was disappointing for the $ 22 price tag. Service was still slow, and just flat out bad. Rude. Here’s the rest of the story.
When the bill came, we asked the server if she could split it. She told us she could, but that we would have to break everything down for her (apparently, she didn’t use the seat system, so didn’t know what we each ordered.)
So, we did. We wrote down on the back of the receipt the first name of each person, and how much to charge on their card. We were having trouble getting an exact total, so I made mine for over the amount I owed ($ 100 even), just to get it done, figuring that amount would count toward tip.
She took all of the cards and came back a few minutes later, saying she couldn’t run the card for over, it wouldn’t let her. So, I told her to run the other 5 cards first, then run the difference on my card. Not hard, right?
She leaves again, and comes back, hands everyone their receipts, charged me the full $ 100, and gave one of my girlfriends back her card and said «you didn’t owe anything.»
Um… that’s not how it works. She didn’t seem to understand at all what or how she had made a mistake. We told her to cancel out the charge on my card, and run her card for the amount she owed and my card for the difference.
At this point, we waited about 20 minutes while she was gone again. She never came back to the table, but the manager did, stating that they had refunded the $ 100 onto my card, but the subsequent charge of $ 80 something dollars would not go through and was being declined. There was never once an apology for the error, in fact, he was quite huffy with us. I explained that they needed to figure it out because it was their error, but he refused, saying there was nothing more he could do. The best he said to me was «people make mistakes.» That is NOT how a manager in the food service industry should be handling a server error. I ended up giving them another card, and asked for the receipt showing the $ 100 had been refunded to me.
He came back about another 10 minutes later with a receipt showing that the $ 80 something charge had been declined. I explained that this isn’t what I asked for, I needed proof that the $ 100 had been refunded or voided. He told me he had no way of getting me that. I call BS on that. When you go to Target and make a return, you get a receipt. When you go to the grocery store and make a return, you get a receipt. The computer prints a receipt every time you do a transaction.
He would not give me his name, I had to get it from the hostess, so I could call the next day to ensure that the refund went through.
Wouldn’t you know it, the next day, instead of no charge on my card, I had TWO $ 100 charges! No wonder the card kept getting declined. This isn’t a card I use all the time and transferred money onto it for dinner that night. I had to call, this time I was REALLY fuming.
It took over a week for both $ 100 charges to be reversed. The wait staff and management need an overhaul here. I will not be back, nor can I recommend with confidence that any one else come here.

Came here with friends for a quick bite before some fun. The server wasn’t amazingly friendly and seemed more annoyed that there were 2 kids at the table. The food was tasty but OVERLY rich.
Was a strange mix. The salsa was really bland but the entrée was on fire.
Maybe this is not a kid place, but it is loud, lots of music and has plenty of kid friendly options…

I had the pleasure of lunching here with fellow Unilocal co-​workers before heading to Arlington Racetrack to place some bets! In a nutshell, I left full and happy. Here’s why…
We started with a trio of salsas that I couldn’t quite identify, but they were each a different color with three distinct tastes. I believe one was supposed to be on the spicier side, but my taste buds didn’t think it was that spicy. The chips were warm and delicious.
Next up we placed an order of guacamole. Because well, that’s just a must when at a Mexican restaurant. The menu said it was to be prepared table side, but either I was too busy chatting and missed that, or they whipped it up in the kitchen and brought it out. Regardless, it was muy delicioso!
To wash everything down I indulged in a glass of peach sangria which was a refreshing blend of chilled wine, fresh fruit and a spash of fruit juice. I highly suggest it!
I had a tough time deciding what to order to eat. Everything sounded really good. Our server was really informative and helped me make a decision. The Las Recetas de Dona Paula (grandma Paula’s recipes) section of the menu has a lot of amazing options. I choose the Ropa Vieja and it was phenomenal. Shredded melt in your mouth beef brisket, sweet plantains, cilantro white rice and plantain chips. A sweet and savory combo which is my fave.
Needless to say, I left pretty full. Mago is conveniently located downtown Arlington Heights with it’s restaurant entrance inside the Metropolis Theater lobby. I’ll definitely come back next time I’m in the area.

Decided on this spot for a Father’s day brunch /​lunch since reservations were a cinch and reviews vs food photos looked and sounded decent. I love mole’s and molcajete offerings, so having both of them were pluses for me.
Since we had a large group, we placed orders for many shared appetizers and sides. (Checking out reviews and photos ahead of time are of the most importance. The typical is not awesome, i. e tacos or the sizzling plate of fajitas. Go beyond that. The brisket was OK but the mole was WHOA!) I got the sauteed chicken breast in a Mole Xico (chile ancho, chile pasilla, chile mulato, toasted seeds, dried cherries) sauce which was excellente to me! I cleaned the plate and with seeing this my niece was too curious and asked if she could stick her fingers in the remaining sauce. (She liked it also.)
Those that got tacos were okay about it. (Note, they are soft corn or you can opt for soft flour) Another with the brisket adobo was less than impressed. Part of that lessening in impressing, could be due to the lengthy amount of time needed to get dinner plates out. There was an exuberance of time between the appetizers and the dinner. It must be said that we placed the dinner order some ten minutes after receiving the appetizers. Those that got plates with sauces and or melted cheeses were thrilled. Those that didn’t and stuck with staples were not.
Appetizers were decent, many of which came topped in sauces. The risotto although tasty had the most overdone pieces of baby octopus I’ve ever tried. It was so over-​grilled it was hard like jerky. It had to be returned. (I can’t stress enough, the importance of grilling seafood correctly. Also, the octopus is fired at a time different than the risotto and is placed atop when it is served. I think our waiter said, it was cooked in advance.)
Since we’re all South Indians and love plantains, I ordered a couple plates of that. They served it on a long plate, fired and topped with chihuahua cheese. Kind of an odd topping if you asked us. The plantain was not sweet, so it didn’t get finished.
Drinks. The kids thought the lemonade was «way too sour» and that was with adding extra water and sugar to change it. I thought my Jeffe margarita was grossly sweet. Like pre-​made sweet with a minor pour of booze. And a cousin ordered the El noble marg, and that too was overly sweet. We stuck with the one drink and then moved to a ton of water.
For me, food was pretty good and I would give them a 3.5 in stars. Many of the others thought the experience was a solid three. We all left with terribly full bellies. Service could have been a lot better, speedier with stopping by, asking about water refills or servicing the table. Empty plates sat a long while before they were taken away. At one point we bused our table because we wanted the empties gone! Which is odd since they had bus boys and those guys did a pretty good job of cleaning off tables that had since been vacated. Our waiter at one point became the bartender, so at different times he would take off (although within view) and wouldn’t return for a great amount of time. Like when I returned the bill with CC’s for a split check. He instead served a couple drinks to other patrons and then took his time returning with the credit cards and check balances.
If service got a kick in the culo, and the bartender poured those drinky drinks with a steady hand but light in the sweet department, they might have themselves a suburban winner.

Another rainy Friday, but this time my colleagues and I were headed to the race tracks…
But first… lunch!
My favorite part of any Mexican restaurant is the chips, salad and (of course) guac. And Mago didn’t disappoint. The chips were warm and crispy… and as usual I ate way too many. There were 3 different salsas to choose from and I found one to be much better than the rest. Although my colleagues seemed to prefer a different one so there’s a salsa for everyone!
As for my entrée I went w/​the shrimp fajitas. I probably should have split them w/​one of my colleagues since it was quite a large portion, but it was really good.
I live far from here so probably wouldn’t be worth the long drive, but I“d go back again if I was in the area.

Came in today with a group of colleagues for lunch. Two of us arrived early and were seated right away and offered menus and drinks while we waited. As I browsed the menu, I honestly had no idea what I wanted to order because it’s pretty large — for a person like me that left too many options. If you’re someone who has a hard time making a decision, you might want to pull it up online first.
When I go to a Mexican restaurant, the first thing I take note of are the chips and salsa. Having lived in Chicago for years, and in a community where there is some pretty decent Mexican fair, the chips weren’t very memorable. I did enjoy trying the three different salsas that came to the table though. We also ordered a table side of mild guacamole for $ 10. That seemed kind of pricey, but it was chunky good. Did I notice a bit of green pepper in there? I’m not sure, but it was a nice addition whatever it was.
On to the food. I was torn between some unfamiliar atypical specialties, a great variety of tacos (3 for $ 10), and enchiladas. I opted for the enchiladas and was pleasantly surprised. It’s funny, but I haven’t had an enchilada in a million years, not since my mom made them. Not that this is anything against my mom, but I’m glad they were different than what I anticipated. I ordered a chicken, chorizo, and cheese variety. The verde sauce was just right for my mild taste buds, and I was hungry, so the meal filled me up for lunch AND dinner. It was a little on the cool side when it came out, and I may have even enjoyed it even more if it was warmer. But, nonetheless, I’m 100% satisfied with my decision.
The pricing is a bit upscale for lunch. It ranges from $ 10-​$ 22+ for the specialty dishes. Certainly a nice place to take colleagues or for a special date. Not a place I’d frequent on a daily basis if I worked in the area because of the price… maybe if it was in Chicago I could justify it a bit more.
Bonus for the restaurant being in the performing arts center downtown. Since the bathrooms are down the hall and off the ticket lobby, I saw signs for some of the shows. What a nice addition to the community. BTW, speaking of bathrooms, they were super clean. I mean so clean that the floor tiles were shiny like they were wet!
Overall the experience was A-​OK in my book. Oh, and I’m still full several hours later ;-)

Our waitress Wendy was amazing. When it comes to customer service they win.
I ordered the Mole de coco with mahi mahi which also comes with Mexican rice and sweet plantains, my bf ordered the pork burrito with a side of guac. The secondary waiter took our order and completely messed it up. I ended up getting the peanut mole with mahi mahi with mashed potatoes. I didn’t make a big deal about it because it was still good and I like mashed potatoes. My bf’s order was right but the guac never showed. The secondary waiter came back with the guac saying «I know it’s late but do you still want it?» And we just said no. Our main waitress came by to see how we were doing and told her what had happened. She felt terrible and went back to talk to the manager. They offered to make me what I had ordered originally and pack it to go for me and took off the entrée out of our bill. Even the manager came out to apologize. This is customer service. I was impressed.
The food is really good here and they said Mondays and Tuesdays are $ 5 margaritas!!! Will def be going back!

2 stars goes to their tortilla soup and chips and salsa and location, .
Thank you Groupon but no thanks. This is totally overpriced and over sauced. Again, I’m an authentic Mexican food girl so I give very hard reviews to Mexican restaurants who just can’t get it right… to me. I’m sure this place is great to some but just not what I’m looking for.
Negative: the pastor (which is my favorite) is chunks of meat in their pastor sauce. Their quesadilla has beans in it. Empanada was too bready. Tacos were over sauced.
I will not be back. Although I’m glad I tried it =)