El Sombrero

Went there for Cinco de Mayo Day. Order a margarita with salt… It came with no salt and in a plastic wine glass! it Didn’t taste the alcohol either. Hoping the food would be better so I ordered a chicken enchilada and it was horrible! The refried beans looked like they were refried under a heat lamp for days! Rice tasted like it came from a box… Nothing authentic. The waiter I don’t think understood English either. It was dirty and service was slow!!! Go to Maria’s on Foster! Better margaritas, better food, better service. Good luck staying in business!

El Sombrero is DISGUSTINGLY AWFUL! The place is outdated, dark, gloomy, and smells like cigarettes!!! I thought I was going to get 2^nd hand smoking just from being in there. The food is HORRIBLE!!! I ordered some Enchiladas; i could tell they were re-​heated, no sauce on them (unless they call the seeping grease sauce), the rice tasted like an Uncle Ben’s 90 second microwavable packet, beans were extra dark n crispy. My Frozen Margarita tasted like sour starbursts with a splash of paint! I rarely write reviews but I was so grossed out and disappointed in this place, I don’t want others to make the same mistake and spend their hard earned money for this crap!!!

This place has the best cheese and onion enchiladas in the area. Food is served quickly and the prices are very reasonable especially when they have their rollback prices. It is nice to see that this restaurant is still around as I would go to this place when I was a kid living in Des Plaines in the 70’s and 80’d.

I’ve never felt like I was experiencing the «before» segment of a Kitchen Nightmares episode… until last night.
It brings me no joy to write this, as I grew up in Des Plaines and El Sombrero was a regular night-​out destination for my family. I haven’t been back in a few years, and last night made me wonder if either my tastes have improved or this place really went to crap, because I remember really enjoying the food and the atmosphere. Unfortunately, I believe it is the latter.
You can read the countless other Unilocal reviews to get details regarding food, ambiance and cleanliness. They’re mostly true… it’s not good. This restaurant suffers from a bad case of «We really don’t care anymore». It’s dirty and cold (space heaters throughout did not really help), and makes you wonder what the state of the kitchen must be, given the general apathy regarding the dining room and bar area.
El Sombrero needs some help. Badly. A new general manager with some passion for good Mexican food and making a quality dining experience would likely do the trick, and I’d hope that it would. We find ourselves back in the Mt. Prospect/​Des Plaines area more regularly now, and I’d really enjoy being able to bring my kids to the place where my parents brought me.

This place is really nothing special. Although there is a large menu selection, I’ve never had anything really amazing the couple times I’ve been here.
Also, on weekends they have a musician dressed in a sombrero playing a guitar. I really do love the thought of the idea but what the guy does is walk up to an individual table and play them a few songs at a time. I feel like this is just awkward and uncomfortable while I’m eating. I wish there was some kind of designated stage like area that the musician can stand at and customers can admire… From afar.

DISGUSTING! We were there for dinner tonight and the place is a dirty pit. It smells like death in the back near the restrooms. There are 2 huge tv sets on a table outside the restaurant and tons of smokers right next to the door with ash trays everywhere.
The carpeting in the place is stained and smells musty.
The food is less than appetizing. The rice is bland, the beans are dark brown hard and has an oily cheese on top. The fajitas came to the table on a plate not on a skillet sizzling. The meat was gray, tasteless and the veggies were hard.
The plates were dirty, the silverware was stained and the tables wobbled.
The waiter was an idiot. Didn’t know wat a lemon was and never came back to check on us but he did enjoy a beer at the bar.
The fried ice cream was soggy and stale and it had a hair in it.
Look, this place needs to be shut down by the health department. It is worse than a horders home! PLEASE DO NOT GO HERE. IT HAS GOT TO BE THE WORSE PLACE EVER. ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SHOULD BE CALLED TO CLOSE THIA PLACE DOWN!!!

Most unauthenic Mex food I ever had. Canned beans. enchilada made with American cheese..

I really wish I had read the reviews before trying this place out. It is as bad as most of the reviews say. Chips and salsa were OK. Could barely taste the tequila in the margarita. I ordered the chimichanga… the tortilla was not crispy at all. My wife had chile rellenos which were soggy and disgusting. The beans looked like a hockey puck with cheese melted on top.
The staff is highly unprofessional. The 2 «waitresses» were sitting at a table out in the open texting when we walked. The bartender was wearing sweatpants and screaming at the Hawks game on the TV. It was pretty loud and distracting since barely anyone was in the place. And for some reason there were 2 giant tube TVs outside… I guess in case anyone wanted to sit outside and watch TV in December. Oh yeah, and it smells.

I come here with friends often. We get cheese enchiladas or I get a beef chile relleno. The food is consistent. Yes the place is dim, and if the weather is humid the chips are not crisp. But we get good service and are very comfortable there.

We come here often for lunch since I work nearby. The place is in need of a deep cleaning. The wait staff is half attentive, but friendly. The food is subpar compared to other Mexican resturants like Javiers in Arlington Heights. They have a buffet a couple times a week, but they don’t replenish it in a timely manner, so your stuck waiting or eating cold rice and beans. The prices are decent, never ordered drinks. The bar is always dark and uninviting.

I had a good experience here and a bad one. Most recent so bad it wiped away any good.
Chips– stale
Sangria– was dry wine with some fruit slices in it, I sent it back
Plate with beans and rice was so microwaved the beans curdled, (got crisp outer edges).
arrachera tacos, were edible, barely.
Cannot justify a trip back.

First time here. Food was bland with salt being the only spice present. Chips were stale and the mild salsa tastes like watered down tomato paste. Margaritas were watery and small. The employees were nice but there are much better options in the area when looking for authentic Mexican food.

Middle School Cafeteria. Salt is the only seasoning… well, there was also a hair in my food.

I don’t usually leave bad reviews for places. However all the other horrible reviews are sadly correct. I drive by this place all the time, I thought it’d be fun to try. I should have read the reviews first. Do yourself and your stomach a favor R U N.. .

This place is anything but «Authentic», the food was ok for it being owned by a white guy. The place needs a lot of work, pulling out the stinky carpet would be my 1^st suggestion. Next would be to hire Latin looking staff to tend the tables. They should also put on some Mexican music.
We ordered the Tampiqueña, Chile Rellenos and a Flan.
The Tamipiqueña was a reasonable size plate. I could have done withOUT the microwaved beans. The «salad» was not chopped or fresh, plane, no lime, no tomatoes or anything else. The enchilada that came with the plate was made w/​yellow cheese. The rice was out of a box but the best thing in the platter.
The Chile Relleno was good, NOT what we are used to at all. Usually they are dipped in egg batter and fried, covered in a nice and spicy chunky red sauce. These were wrapped in a thin tortilla and covered in sauce no chunk no flavor. They came with the same microwaved frijoles, rice, and so called salad.
The flan was bought at the Jewel across the street.
The prices are reasonable for the size and quality of the food. The white lady that took our order was very nice.

We came in a few of days ago to have a quick meal and conversation with friends from out of town. We decided Mexican food was a safe bet for everyone and this was the closest place to us.
After stepping into the foul smelling vestibule and sitting in the poorly decorated restaurant we waited for about 10 minutes before the waitress finally came over to take our orders. We placed our orders and waited patiently. Meanwhile we could hear the pink haired, tattooed, loud mouthed, bartender yelling across the restaurant. Not only was this girl screaming but she was cussing up a storm and spewing profanities left and right. She was loudly talking and laughing with what I’m assuming was a friend sitting at the bar. Who hires these types of trailer trash, unprofessional, unhygienic looking people? Or even allows them to show up to WORK looking like this girl did. If I was her employer I would be embarrassed.
Back the food, it was mediocre at best. The plastic serving plates were old and over used and most of the food was lukewarm. Nothing tasted fresh, and seemed like it had been frozen for months. Don’t waste your time here, take your business to an actual Mexican restaurant not this place posing as one. If you do decide to come here, all I have to say is may the odds be ever in your favor.

I should have stayed away from this place after reading the other reviews but I gave this place the benefit of the doubt. BIG MISTAKE. My friends and I were the only people eating in the restaurant. There was literally no one else in the dining area. Only a couple people at the bar. Other reviewers are not lying or overexaggerating about the smell. It smells as bad as it looks. It smells old and musty, like this place hasn’t been cleaned in its entire existence. Also, they allowed solicitors to come into the restaurant and ask us for money at 11pm.
Now, the food… This is not real, authentic Mexican food. I ordered the chicken fajitas thinking that it would be a safe choice. The chicken was dry. The vegetables were mush. The beans came out looking like a beef patty with cheese on top. The guacamole was VERY salty. The tortillas tasted store bought. The only good thing on the dish was the sour cream.
Lastly, the cherry on top. This place is so overpriced. I got the chicken fajitas because I thought the price wasn’t ridiculous. However, I was shocked when I got my bill. I was charged more than what the menu stated. I didn’t bother asking the waitress because I just wanted to get the hell out of there. My receipt said «*sharing» because I split the dish with my friend and that’s why I believe I was charged more. Also, they conveniently added an 18% gratuity because we had a party of 5 or more. The waitress was really nice, but I didn’t go there to speak to a nice waitress. I went because I wanted to eat some decent Mexican food, but that didn’t happen. Trust the reviews on this place and find a different restaurant to go to.

Chicken fajita was dry. Guacamole was oddly salty. Rice was hard. Beans had some sort of yellow cheese on it and was shaped like a burger patty.
Service was pretty bad. My group was literally the only ones in the restaurant. It took way too long to bring us the menus and serve water.
I shared a plate with someone and they charged us extra for it. What the crap is that?
I can surely say I will never come back to this restaurant.

This place is horrible. I am not sure how it is still in business. It is outdated, has a funky smell, and just looks dirty. Not only that, the food is terrible. The salsa has zero flavor. I got some sort of beef burrito and the meat inside was not flavored at all. It was pretty much a flour tortilla with ground beef and cheese melted on top. The other weird thing was that the sour cream had no flavor. I was a little nervous at that point.
We only went because our kids received coupons from the library for free kids meals. We won’t be returning ever again.

I think Taco Bell makes better «Mexican food» than this place, that should say a lot.
When I came into this neighborhood, I was sent here and what a big mistake that was. It’s one of those preppy Mexican places you see in the north side of the city except the good food and atmosphere. It still has the high prices though!