Salseria Grill & Cantina

A friend of mine suggested Salseria one evening and I have heard wonderful things about it and have been wanting to go so we went last Thursday. The food was amazing the wait staff not so much… Our waitress was rude and snippy. She barely stopped by the table to check on us/​ask how our food was if she could get us anything NOTHING. A pretty huge disappointment since my friend and I personally know the owner. I gave three stars because the food was delicious but our waitress was not. Being my first time here I was not pleased to say the least. I would suggest that management have a talk with the wait staff about their attitude or hire people who actually look like they enjoy their job.

I love the salsa bar but that’s about it. No one ever seems to be happy to work there and the food is just… Meh.

So I am a seasoned Salseria customer — I have been here countless times. And there are a handful of aspects about this place that I would rate lower than 4 stars. HOWEVER, the chips and salsa bar are what keep me coming back.
These chips are BOMB. Absolute crispy, heavenly goodness. And the salsa bar has a wide variety of flavors to amp up your chips with. The chips and salsa bar are 5+ stars easily.
The margaritas are also great. Lots of flavors to mix and choose from. However, I don’t think they’re actually that strong. I give the margaritas 4 stars.
The food is so-​so. Definitely not authentic Mexican — more of a TexMex (which I’m a big fan of), but nothing amazing. I would give the food 3 stars.
And lastly, the service is about 85% of the time pretty poor. I often get the same waitress when I come here (I don’t remember her name, but she tends to work Saturday evenings) and she has been fairly rude and always has a sourpuss demeanor. The other servers have also all been overall poor to mediocre.
So all in all, this place is great to come for a margarita and unlimited amazing chips. But yes, you will deal with service that’s on the crappy side.

We loved the salsa bar! Lots of excellent salsas and really good chips. We really enjoyed the margaritas as well.

Food is ok. The prices are way to expensive. For my family of 3 was nearly $ 65. The 2 waitresses were both very rude and never smiled. We waited 10 mins to get menus after we sat down! They acted as if we were putting them out when we asked for simple refills on drinks. I don’t think we will be back. Do yourself a favor and drive 10 minutes to grand ave to DeCampana.

Had Taco Salad recently. It was a little unusual for not having very much lettuce which made for a rather bulky meal. Some might like that — I didn’t. Also considering the name of the restaurant they seemed to be a little chintzy with the salsa. Had to ask twice for refills.

I called this location for some catering information for a large event, a woman by the name of Johanna answered the phone. She was very rude and lacked customer service experience. Every question I asked was quickly shut down with the response of «there is no one here for you to talk to, call back another day.» What if I wanted to place my order for tomorrow, then what would she have done? Needless to say, I will be taking my business elsewhere from this point forward where someone can treat myself and others with some respect. Two thumbs down for customer service.

So disappointed, I used to LOVE this place. Everything has gone downhill. The salsa bar is usually my favorite thing about this place. Not this time. The chips were cold and greasy and half the salsas offered were almost empty. I ordered the Nachos and it was just a mess of a lump of stuff on a plate. I wish I snapped a pic. The sour cream was just running all over the pile, the chips were greasy and soggy. I returned them, they were that bad. I the got the enchiladas and they were not good. Nothing had that fresh taste it once did. Even the service was different, bartender was more of a order taker that a bartender. I won’t be back.

Synonyms of Elmhurst Salseria = AWFUL, DETESTABLE, APPALLING, REPUGNANT, LAZY LAZY LAZY… did I say LAZY!!!
I’m going to keep this a bit short and hope that whoever reads this doesn’t go here… EVER! Crap service. My family didn’t wait long but the servers didn’t come for a good 20 mins with water or menus. Just sat there waiting.
Finally after giving us water, we ordered our food. The family got their food but they made me the WRONG FOOD AFTER I CLEARLY SAID WHAT I ORDERED. I ordered Tilapia and they come with lamb. Hmmmm, does that sound the same as tilapia!!! What a bunch of morons.
So they take my food back. 10 mins pass…20 mins… now 30 mins. The waitress finally after 30 mins tells me the kitchen was backed up. So you wait to tell me that instead of offering me a discount or anything like that??? I’m livid at this point and told her to cancel my order.
Salseria, your company sucks! Not planning to go back. There are WAY WAYYY BETTER MEXICAN RESTAURANTS THAN THIS PLACE. Chipotle at least aren’t idiots.

Came here because we miss their green garlic salsa and chips. They closed down Sears tower location our staple location for Mexican during our break. Good food and margaritas are delicious. The staff friendly as always. Will definitely make the 30 min drive again to visit Salseria

It was good,
I don’t want to mix my own salsas so that part didn’t appeal to me.
I got a shrimp burrito that was slathered in some creamy sauce and it was delicious!
I would go back but its not my first choice for Mexican cuisine.

The food continues to be just ok-​ay! It’s the atmosphere, the quality of service, and their Sangria/​Margaritas that keep me coming back.
I’d be back at least once a week if the food was good. It just isn’t, unfortunately so. Perhaps I’ve been spoiled, and have had great authentic Mexican food. This just doesn’t cut it for me.
My bartender; Bethany, is awesome. She’s always here, and always takes good care of me. Their Sangria/​Margaritas never disappoint, and their Salsa bar is always on point. Up for a dare? Try their Gordo sauce. It’s a hot one!
They’ve earned my business, but definitely not because of their menu/​food.

Not a lot of sit down restaurants have salsa bars. And the ones that do don’t come anywhere near this one. The habanero salsa was the best salsa I’ve had. So good.
If that’s not good enough they have pretty much every bottled hot sauce imaginable. A few of the opened ones were at the salsa bar. But I imagine you can grab whichever one you want off the wall. Oh yes, the walls are covered with shelf containing hot sauces. All the ones from the hottest to the ones with the funny names (Queen of Farts). LOL
I ordered the Tres Shrimp Combo, and it was pretty damn good.
This was our first time coming here. Only discovering it by walking downtown after the movie. A little pricey, it’s true. But every bit worth it.
I want more. I want to go back. Salseria is haunting my dreams. We must return.

This is one of my go-​to places. Not so much for food as the drinks, but sometimes for the food. Particularly their chips and salsa (hello, salseria!). They have a salsa bar with a large selection of salsas, both mild and spicy.
I love their margaritas! Though I don’t like their passion margaritas; stick with the strawberry or mango. They also have an impressive tequila list.
Sometimes the service can be a bit dry here. One of the waitresses I had didn’t have much of a personality. She sort of just smiled and walked away. Though I’ve had better experiences with the service before, never anything to complain about.

I’ve been here a few times. I LOVE the sangria. The bar is nice and I like the ambiance. Awesome complimentary salsa bar with a variety of salsas to try out as soon as you sit down. I also like the food, but here is the reason I am taking off two stars:
The chips are too greasy and broken. For the type of salsa bar they have (which is awesome), I would expect some well made, non greasy, non broken authentic mexican chips.
The food is good and the portions are normal, but the temperature of the food is not right. The food comes out warm, and then gets cold fast. I have specifically ordered chicken and shrimp fajitas, something you would expect to be on a hot sizzling skillet. Instead, it comes out on a regular plate and NOT hot at all. That is not how food is supposed to be served (just warm), let alone FAJITAS!
Guacamole on the fajita dishes ($ 19-​$ 20 per plate) is almost non existent. That is just not cool to be so stingy with GUACAMOLE at a Mexican restaurant! If you want some actual guacamole, you probably have to order yourself the $ 7 guacamole appetizer.
If you could improve on those, I would give you FIVE STARS.

Donde esta Fuego Loco?

The last time I went to the Salseria it was called Fuego Loco. I don’t know how many years ago that was, but quite a few. While the inside hasn’t changed much, the food seemed to be much better than I remember. I’m a real fan of the salsa bar. I must have tried five or six different salsas. I’ve got to say the spicy verde was my favorite. I could have made an entire meal out it. If you like hot sauce, then this is the place. You can try any of the hot sauces on the wall, and there are plenty. Also, I had a mango margarita. The waitress said it was all natural ingredients with no added sugar or sweetener. I’ll take her word for it. It wasn’t super sweet, and as such, it was pretty refreshing. Thumbs up to Saleria.
As of this writing there are ninety-​six restaurants in Elmhurst. I plan on eating at, and reviewing, every one. Follow me on Unilocal

Very good variety of salsas and really good food
The ambience os Mexican-​American but the flavor on the food is very authentic
The taco samplers is what I recommend

This place has a nice feel when you walk in. The staff is always nice and attentive. The food is great, I am never disappointed when I order something.
The tacos and guac are good. I myself order the chicken tacos and margaritas, I am never disappointed. The fajitas are very very good, the combination platter is great as well.
They have a salsa bar with different items to try, the hubby loves that.
Overall I would definately recommend people to this place

A girlfriend of mine had a Groupon and suggested we use it together since her husband isn’t big on Mexican food. I’m usually a fan and so off we went.
Parking was a riot! We were parallel parking on the street for longer than we should have been. Take note Non-​Parallel Parkers: It’s a semi busy street so you may want to find a lot and walk a little. My friend kept trying until she got it right.
We were seated toward the back of the restaurant and I almost immediately checked out the salsa bar. It was a mess. Everything was mixed up. Everything I touched seemed sticky. I didn’t spend long checking that out.
The chips were extremely greasy. I love a nice, crisp chip, but I couldn’t eat these. I knew a stomachache would be forthcoming if I did.
And so we moved on to the entrée. This was okay. I chose fajitas and although they were greasier than I would have liked, they were edible. The rice was bland. My friend had enchiladas that she enjoyed with rice and beans.
The atmosphere seems okay and the service was okay. But the other missteps mean I won’t be back.

I like salsa.
Scratch that, I LOVE a good salsa.
I like tacos and enchiladas and refried beans. I like choices. I like Mexican food.
Salseria gives me all of these. Including tons of choices on the fresh, homemade salsa and dangerously addictive and yes, greasy, chips.
Here’s what you won’t find here: a good beer list or super-​fresh hand-​crafted cocktails. No, the margaritas come out of a slurpee machine, it’s true. I’ve never had them.
But I’m all about the salsa bar and the Little Village taco platter. Shrimp! Lamb! Carne asda! Carnitas! All on the same plate! By the way, I saw a complaint that the tacos didn’t come with cheese. Silly gringo, cheese is for Taco Bell. Authentic Mexican tacos do not come with cheese.
Look, it’s not your local taqueria, it’s not Bien Trucha, it’s not a Rick Bayless restaurant. But Salseria fills the void that the absence of Fonda Isabel/​Taco Grill left in my heart.