El Norte Restaurant

So sad this place closed, I used to live in the apartment above in the same building, I definitly took it for granted. They had THE BEST Mexican food in all Edgewater, and maybe even Chicago. My fav was the carne asada nachos with a large horchata, or the carne asada torta with a side of rice and beans, seriously delicious food and story nice staff. RIP

Laaaaate post… Huge delicious burrito. Hubby n I went there late night for some munchies n left thoroughly satisfied, still with half our burritos to go. False adv by the review for pineapple and al pastor (pork) burrito, but the woman was very nice and tried to accommodate my bf’s req and added piña juice.
Great place for late night, friendly staff and good food. Super fair prices!

wow. Sunday I passed by this place and it was close. I am praying was just remodeling or maybe they moved. I loved their fried pork tacos… true sadness…

Let’s talk about honesty in marketing, shall we?
$ 7 for a burrito doesn’t exactly set my expectations too high but with the option of steak coming in at extra cost, you have me prepared for something of higher quality.
Maybe it was the late hour, or maybe it was due to a bad cook staff, or maybe just a printing error on the menu. Whatever the case, why don’t you just call this thing for what it was? A Gristle Burrito.
It’s unethical. Were you stretching out the portion size with gristle? What the hell is wrong with you people?

Good Tacos (when you eat there, when the food is hot).
Terrible guacamole! Omg, onion overload (at least when I had it).
Terrible delivery, as in like an hour… for tacos… that I’m pretty sure the bag was turned upside down. The food was luke warm, at best.
I can’t personally say I’m sad that they closed… but I know a bunch of people will be. Drunk Mexican Food is pretty amazing… and no one cares if it’s cold or upside down.

Come in tonight if you can for a last Hurrah. they are closing. BYOB and Burrito out.

The order was made through GrubHub. Took a little longer then expected, but when the order was received the quesdillas were dripping in fat and oil, and tasted awful. The guacamole was OK at best. Definitely not ordering from here again based on this experience, I mean how bad can a quesadilla be… they made it bad. Can’t say I recommend

Around June, my then-​new boyfriend texted me telling me that he picked up pozole for me. I was really surprised, «What. When did I ever tell him that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE pozole???» I thought he was stalking me via Unilocal (which, ironically, is how we met) and Facebook. Uh-​oh. Not a good sign, I told myself…
Then came the tasting… Um, yeah, he totally won my heart over and I forgot about the scary stalker thoughts I had about him.
The pozole was SOOOO GOOD. No, I don’t think I can emphasize that enough. It was possibly the best I’ve had in Chicago since I was introduced to pozole at La Guadalupana in Lafayette, IN. What tender pork! Add the chopped onions, cilantro, and chili paste to the red broth full of pork and hominy, and it was almost exactly like the pozole I fell in love with in Lafayette…
I went there for the first time this past weekend because I wanted pozole again. We got it to go, and I was a little disappointed that they left the bay leaves in the pozole. There was also a lot less soup this time around, but it was still delicious and I still enjoyed it.

Can I write a review only for the Huevos Rancheros? BEST MEXICAN BREAKFAST IN TOWN! So, so delicious. For $ 5.95 or so, you get a HUGE plate of eggs slathered with sauce, rice, beans, tortillas, plus chips and two amazing salsas. So good. I’ve probably eaten that 15 times this year. Super friendly lady, great coffee, cheap fried plantains as a side. total goodness.
I’d give all the other food, both veggie and meat, maybe 3.5 stars. More for great location, late night hours, super bright seating (it’s pretty much glass walls all around), good salsas. Minus one for freezing cold temperatures in the winter. But, who wants to do math. Go for breakfast, definitely five stars!

I never – and I mean NEVER – give out one star reviews. El Norte has the dubious honor of being my first.
I waited for nearly an hour to get my food at this place. When I talk to the wait staff, no one seem to know where my order went. Worst of all, no one seemed to care either. I ended up walking out since no one cared to help me.
As far as I am concerned, I can get my Mexican food somewhere else. This place is terrible when it comes to customer service.

This little restaurant surpassed my expectations.
I came here to grab a taco after having dinner with other Unilocal Elites at Pasteur down the street. I was a little hungry since we sat down and talked for a few hours after we finished dinner.
The ambiance:
This is what a taco shop looks like in Los Angeles. Good job, El Norte. There ain’t no fancy stuff here – you come here to eat your food under very bright lights and get on with your way.
The food:
I ordered a carne asada taco as a small snack before going home. It was okay. Before leaving, I ordered pozole (braised pork with hominy in a red broth with onions/​cilantro/​chili paste). The pozole was damn good.
The service:
I stayed there originally just to get a taco, read my RSS feed on my phone, and leave. I ended up chatting up with some of the employees here instead. They were really personable and friendly. They even talked me into buying the pozole (which was wonderful, as aforementioned). They were the real reason why I enjoyed my experience here.
The value:
It’s cheap as fawk. I got a large serving (enough for 2 for dinner and breakfast between me and my girlfriend) for, what, $ 6? Awesome. You really can’t complain about that much good soup for such a small price tag.
TL;DR — Order the pozole. Chat with the employees.

My girlfriend and I were both very indecisive when it came to where to go for dinner a few nights ago. We took a walk down Bryn Mawr and contemplated whether or not dining at our usual, Nookies, was the best option. That little Mexican Café? Nah. THai? Nah. Then we ended up across the street from El Norte. I’ve lived in the area for 2 years now and have never been. So we walked in.
It was quiet and there was only one customer dining on what looked like some Pork Al Pastor. He seemed to devour what was on the plate!
We sat down and perused the menu. There were some Vegan options for my girlfriend and I immediately gravitated towards the Sopes and Pozole. Not a lot of Mexican restaurants have Sopes and Pozole available mid week. This was a treat.
The waitress stopped at our table with some homemade (and hot) green and red hot sauce with chips. I’m spoiled because our regular Mexican restaurant we go to has fresh Pico de Gallo and fresh made chips. These were pretty stale and we missed the pico. Oh well. My horchata wasn’t the best, but I have to admit it was refreshing in a cold watered down sort of way.
We anticipated our meal. When it came it looked glorious! AND IT WAS! My poor vegan girlfriend gets to eat Mexican food, but boy does she miss out on the fabulous flavor of Chihuahua cheese, sour cream, and steak! Sooo good!!! The Pozole was some of the best I’ve ever had in the city!
I know I’ll be back. I’m going to attack a burrito next!
Oh! One other thing. I really appreciated that this establishment participates in offering 10% off if you check in on Unilocal.We had a great meal with drinks and dinner for under $ 25! Yum!

I’m going to temporarily take down a star for the slow service I received last night. 45 minutes for a burrito and cheese quesadila is not OK.
That said, they are doing some cool things at El Norte. I like the Burrito of the Day special. Yesterday’s BOTD, «The Smoking Jacket», a steak burito with onions, guac, cilantro, and roja salsa was very good. As always, the staff is great. I hope the next time service will be quicker.

Since I went to school in California, and this is the first place I’ve seen here in Chicago that serves up Carne Asada Fries, this is already AT LEAST a 3-​star joint. And El Norte serves up a legit version… good for a fourth star easy.
If you don’t know about Carne Asada fries, you need to get your life together and educate yourself. Quickly. My description won’t do it justice.
I also tried out the grilled chicken dinner plate – while the chicken was a little dry, it still had pretty decent flavor. the rice and refried beans were standard fare.
Tried some horchata too… a little too sweet for me, but then again I’m the kind of guy that likes his horchata on the rocks, so maybe it’s just cuz it wasn’t watered down. Jeez, I’m such a guero…
My friend picked up the shrimp, the spicy stuff, but with the habenero-​demon-​blood on the side. we tried some of it on our dishes… and it wasn’t too bad at all.
If the food isn’t worth the stars for you, then the service should be. I saw someone complain that the waitresses weren’t paying attention to them, but in my experience this couldn’t be further from the truth. The lady at the register (who happened to give us the back story on how Carne Asada Fries made it on the menu) always made sure we were doing ok. The check came slow, but we weren’t in a rush, so we didn’t ask for it. (That would be a tip for people who have issues waiting… try asking?).
Anyway, a Chicago joint that serves up legit Carne Asada Fries gets 4 stars in my book. Will definitely be back.
Oh yeah, and they’re open late. Go get um, after hours drunken crowd.

No I don’t think its appropriate you ignore bringing me my food in order to play with that random strangers baby for 15 minutes.
I also don’t appreciate that you give me chips and squirt bottles of watery salsa.
The food was not terrible, but for the price I’d rather go anywhere.
The meat quality was questionable and the produce was not even worthy of questionable. Meh… Meh… not coming back.

I tried two new things today at El Norte– The guisado de puerco and the tacos de chicharrones.
OMG.
I’m used to guisado de puerco being in red sauce, and have had it at many Chicago taquerias. This is the absolute best. I was surprised when it came– in a bowl in green sauce. It was spicy and soft and wonderful and plentiful enough for two. Just perfection. Also, the sauce on the chicharron was to die for– spicy and sweet at the same time. Very very good.
I’m Filipina, so I’m always seeking pork and the many wonderful ways one can have it. El Norte did the trick today!

So I go to this place because its right by my job and I have to eat. There is really not much to eat around here so…
There is another Mexican restaurant across the street but I didn’t like their steak, so this is the next resort.
There steak can have less fat in it, sometimes i have to take a lot of chunks out. IT really is good however, I just hate digging in my meat for fat.
The prices are good which is nice and easy on my wallet. The satff is very friendly and tey are pretty fast for my 30 min break.

Eh. Okay for the late-​night drinking set, but just barely.
The good: Friendly staffers, a big menu including all the Mexican faves plus some truly tasty + beautiful fries, clean environs, ability to pay individually at the counter.
The meh: Dark meat chicken in the quesadillas (ugh). I’d grade the beef in the burritos as a C-​. Also if you want to add cheese, sour cream and guacamole to your burrito each addition will cost you $.50. Who charges for cheese?! So, in my case since I went with the fully loaded edition, I paid $ 7.50 for a solidly average burrito (and they skimped on the cheese, sour cream and guac!).
The bad: The salsa is way too thin and overly hot for my taste.
Verdict: Skip it.

NICEST. PEOPLE. EVER.
I’m kind of glad that we skipped on three other places before finding ourselves at El Norte! I kid you not, I had just begun describing Carne Asada Fries just earlier in the day, and when we got here, it was on the menu! I had to immediately ask if someone on their staff was from California. Anyway… MEXICAN FRIES. GET IT. NOW!
The food was awesome. The pico de gallo was freshly made! The horchata was homemade and delicious. I found my new home!

My brother dragged me here saying that he and my dad love it cause of the awesome burritos, I’m not even hungry but I can eat Mexican food anytime so I agreed to go in here even though I would have preferred to go across the street.
We walked in and it was as hot in there as it was outside (about 85 degrees). Whatever, we’re only going to be here long enough to eat, so it shouldn’t be that bad.
There were about 3 or 4 tables who were already enjoying their food and 2 servers. We sat down. The one young lady brought out menus and water immediately. No chips or salsa… Interesting. Everyone else had chips and salsa. Oh well, I figured they were waiting for us to order. We ordered. Steak burrito for my brother; steak gordita and plantains for me. Still no chips.
Some time later, out comes the burrito. Out comes some other dish, looking real good, but not my steak gordita. I should have just eaten it. It looked like the gordita and a tostada. Why did I ask her if there was a mistake? She took it away, and came back with a vegetarian gordita. I said «where’s the steak?» but decided, just eat it… so I started eating it and the other server comes out and brings something totally wild! a steak sopa sandwich! WTF!!! and she takes away the plate that I’m eating from and gives me this other c***! I said to her, «are you going to throw it away? if you are, I’ll keep it anyway, I’ll pay for it rather than throw it out» so she walks over to the garbage can and throws it away! Weird!
So the third time is definitely not the charm, since not only did they get it wrong 3 x, they item that I was left with was so unappetizing and not what I wanted! and they throw out food which I think is unacceptable since what she should of done was just leave it, leave them both, I would have eaten the veggie one over this other thing that was too hard and not like a typical sopa.
After all that, all the new tables came in and got chips and salsa as they sat down. That’s OK, my brother finally got his chips after asking for them, which I’m not sure why he would want them since they stack the baskets on top of each other… the bottom of the basket sits on tables and then the refill it and stack it on top of chips, so the top chips probably have whatever was on the previous table, ewe! Thanks, I’ll pass on those fabulous chips.
My brother was happy with his burrito and all he said was, see, I told you to get the burrito… yeah, thanks! He’s the reason for the 2^nd star since I have to take his food into consideration otherwise, 1 star would have been plenty for this joint.
Sorry. I just can’t believe I just spent $ 15 for this S**T! I will not be back.