Playa Escondida

I cannot believe the reviews for this place. It has been one of the worst places I’ve visited since moving to the hood.
Jeff’s might have better Mex food than this place.
Our first experience wasn’t great but that doesn’t deter me, we went around 5pm on a Sunday. As we were walking up, a woman on the inside, who worked there walked up and locked the door…
So… we had no other option BUT to find something else.
Next visit, I get the flautas, I was stunned, not only were they harder than my phone, they were dry and unseasoned almost whole pieces of really fatty chicken, fell apart like sand it was so dry and hard, it was the most bizarre crap I ever did see. Maybe they thought??? Who knows why they would serve that to me but it was awful. I really couldn’t take more than a few bites.
The last time was just a mess, we order two waters &one horchata to start plus one order of guac. We get two horchatas & no waters & some really tasty guac…
On to the entrees, I order… in English first– then the guy taking the order just continues to look at me, so I order in Spanish & he writes it down, comes back w/​our food in a pretty quick amount of time. IDK what it is w/​their seasonings or if all the food here is just old due to no customers & they just keep the meat/​ingredients but its bland & awful textured.
I haven’t even gotten to the part where I’m sweating balls cuz the AC is either nonexistent/​they didn’t turn it on, the woman’s room was like a furnace & really gross, lets leave it at that. Also it would have been a nicer experience if this little child who was somewhere (I couldn’t actually see him) wasn’t screeching for what seemed like no apparent reason somewhere.

In what seems to be a bit of a restaurant desert, this place was a good find. Nothing veggie on the menu, but upon request, they whipped up a decent veggie burrito. And the chips & salsa were delicious!

I went to have a nice brunch with my wife but its not what I expected.
Saw the reviews that people left. So I decided to take my wife.
It’s a small place not quite at all. There was a little kid running around didn’t get to eat in peace.
Both of our food were really dry and over cooked.
The service was good it was a nice lady that forgot to bring the hand made tortillas were really good by the way. Just need to work on the food.

Maybe it’s because I have been living in Seattle for the past 7 years, but I am surprised this place is listed as $$. It’s super cheap! I ordered two entrees and made it out for less than $ 17.00. In Seattle, entrees usually start at $ 10.
Anyhow, while the inner décor is nothing spectacular, the food is really good. Being from Southern CA, I am a die-​hard Mexican food fan. They have an ample menu and the food was quite tasty.
I just moved to the area so I have not yet had the chance to try any of the other nearby Mexican restaurants, but for the quality of the food, the location and the price, definitely a place to try if you are at 6 Corners.

Great place for some good Mexican food. The chips are good and the salsa is always fresh, homemade and delicious. Very calm environment. Shy one star for the outdated décor, but everything else is great.

Straight from work to take my daughter to her basketball game, and this is what I can find rushing down Cicero to feed the fam before the game. I’m a Mexican food fanatic. I know Mexican food. I cook it well since my mother-​in-​law, who is a beast in the kitchen, taught me to cook the real deal.
I have no problem eating at «hole in the wall» places. Sometimes they serve up the best foods, but this place is not one of them. The food is really off on flavor, especially the seasoning. It was not good at all. I was beyond disappointed and was hoping to redeem it by making the excuse that people just cook differently. The excuse still doesn’t change the fact that the food is not really that good.
To top it off, I bought 3 different types of meals with 3 refreshments and it totaled $ 30! It wasn’t even worth it.
I’m reviewing the food specifically, as I was content with the service received. The women working and running this place are the sweetest and very attentive. Service itself is great, but the food leaves much to be desired. Overall, it has potential if the cook just lightens his hands on the seasonings.
(PS– There’s a possibility that the other reviews on this place are from friends and family members.)

I went here for a late lunch. It was pretty quiet, there was only a couple of other people in the place.
The meal started with chips and salsa. The chips were warm and crispy. The salsa was good. It was warm. I go more for the type of salsa with cool fresh cut ingredients, but still found this tasted good.
The steak tacos were really good. The steak was tender and full of flavor. The toppings were fresh.
The beans were good. They had the right texture and flavor.
The rice had good flavor and was cooked just right.
It was clean and the people were friendly.
I would return again!

Tried it last Saturday. As I went in I realized it is bigger than I expected. Chips and salsa were good, I tried a lomo en chile de arbol and it was good, portions were large. beans, rice and fresh salad and I must mention the handmade tortillas you don’t get this in many places, I would go back just for the tortillas. all for about $ 13.00 + tip.

It’s been a few years since anyone reviewed this storefront and I get the impression that while the name is the same the ownership is not. No big money gringo combos anymore… I think I was the only one who didn’t habla. That being said the service was great. The waitress spoke some English and we Charlie Chaplin-​ed the rest. I really should invest in Rosetta Stone.
Anyway, I stopped to have lunch and do a crossword after going to that amazing museum of old time banking and excess across the street. I used Unilocal to find something close.
When I walked in I could tell this place does more Spanish than English business. And they had a larger crowd than I expected– a large group of animated laborers, a weathered older couple staring, a young man being manly for a younger woman. I found myself forced to go with a simple steak torta dinner ($ 6.50) because I wasn’t sure what else to order. Besides I was more interested in my paper than expanding my horizons.
The food was good, the fresh lime was still there, and the horchata was fantastic. The salsa had some kick. I like that since the space used to serve eggs and hash browns there’s counter seating. Sitting at a counter while eating alone and reading a paper just feels right. I also like a place that pays no attention to the crooked, mismatched wall hangings. I’m all about the cake, not the frosting. I’m there to eat and wouldn’t feel under dressed in a bathrobe.
A large part of their menu is devoted to seafood and I saw a bunch of it coming out of the back… a large bowl of reddish broth with a full fishtail coming out of it, an intact (head and tail) and lightly breaded fried fish on a huge platter, etc. Maybe I’ll do some research and try not to go all Taco Bell when I stop in after the next time I do my banking across the street.

Is Portage Park the new Logan Square? As the square turns into condos will there be a great exodus northwest up the main thoroughfare? Those two questions may never be answered; but here’s one that might be: where is the best Mexican place in the Milwaukee Avenue corridor?
The answer might be found in a little storefront place just off the corner of Milwaukee and Cicero in the form of Playa Escondida.
Living further down Milwaukee, I thought I had seen it all in the way of taquerias. And from the outside, this place looks like every burrito joint in Logan Square. But where this place is different than its southern counterparts is the quality of the food.
This was no day old refried beans scooped on a plate place. If the Logan Square Mexican joints are Taco Bell, this place is at least Qdoba (though the food tasted healthy like Burrito Beach). The ingredients were fresh, tasty, and light; and the presentation was sort of, and this is odd for this kind of restaurant, classy. The kitchen even sliced the lime on my side salad into a beautiful approximation of a flower.
And surprisingly even that bit of artwork didn’t take that long. Being as Samantha E. and I were cutting it close for a movie (as we usually do), the speed of the service here was amazing and I thank them (though the remnants of Hurricane Ike that were drenching Chicago did make the place empty).
It’s a bit pricier than their southern competition (about $ 13.95 for a full dinner as opposed to the $ 9.95 in a typical Logan Square place). But they do have $ 6.99 combos (I got a burrito combo with rice and beans) that are more than filling. And when the competition all moves in to this up and coming neighborhood, I’m sure even that will drop.

My friend Michael G. and I came in here before seeing a film screening at Portage Theater. It was very clean, and we were served quickly. The food cost a bit more than we expected, but it ended up being totally worth it. I mean, it wasn’t expensive, just a little more than a typical Mexican diner.
The food was very fresh, and had nice presentation. I got the chicken enchiladas with verde sauce, which was excellent. The sauce was only a little spicy, but very tangy and light; it tasted of limes, and I love limes.
Overall very cute, and nicer food than you’d expect from it’s outward appearance.