El Patron

We stopped in on a Tuesday night around 7:00 pm after running errands — kind of a spontaneous visit. I had glanced at the Google and Yelp reviews beforehand and didn’t have super high expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised! It’s a small spot, but very clean with cute décor, good Mexican music playing, and even some family-friendly Halloween movies on the TV. The service was warm and attentive from start to finish. My boyfriend ordered the Torta Cubana and I had the Torta de Milanesa. We also got a Mexican Fanta and an Agua de Horchata (which I was kindly offered a sample of before ordering). The tortas were tasty — my boyfriend really enjoyed his, and I tried it too — flavorful and filling. Mine was good as well, though it leaned a bit heavier on the beans and cheese than the meat. The breaded steak was on the thinner side, so it got a little lost in the mix. Overall, it’s a great little place to stop by for a quick, satisfying bite with good vibes and friendly service.

I order burrito a pick up order and when I got home there is 90% lettuce so I called and took a picture of it and took it back so they can see it. They made me another one and said I am sorry. Last night I ordered nachos and there with chicken and steak mixed which they changed me extra money and when I got home there was barely any chicken or steak on it it was mostly melted cheese so much everywhere. I had my friend over and he came and tried it and said this is so nasty 🤮. Where did you get this food? He said it’s just tortilla chips and cheese. I am not giving them a third chance. Pls take my advice and drive to other places where they cook good Mexican food so you will not end up having lettuce burrito. Take a look the picture please

The food was actually really good including the guacamole. The tables were dirty that is why I give it 4 stars but the bathroom was clean. The service was good. Will definitely come back

VERY CLEAN, nice place with authentic flavor. It has the perfect balance of authentic environment while also making it easy for non Spanish speakers and a very welcoming atmosphere. Menu is very diverse and EVERY item iv tried I have not been disappointed. Parking is nice and open. The best horchata I’ve had anywhere and best tacos. Taco Tuesdays is where it’s at here they NEVER fail to hook you up! Very chill and stress free place.

Recently moved to the area. To go order. First time trying this place. The food was so dry and tasted like it’s literally been on the grill all day. Will never go back.

I ordered two chicken tacos at $1.99 each! They are small but would be worth going back for them on tues for .99. The place is clean and the service was fast and friendly!

We stopped by and we got a steak burrito tripe tacos and a cuban torta. The tripe can be cooked to your liking well cooked or soft i enjoy well cooked its krispy and delicious. My wife had the torta wich was great (sorry no pic) They have a really good n spicy red sauce... must try the steak burrito was ok.

I wish that they would put the sauces that you tell them to put in your order, cause even if they ask me to make sure i wanted only green sauces, this lady still gave me red sauces when i specified and said "i dont want red sauce, only green" and i got often and just today i went again, ordered on the phone and picked it up on my bike. Got back home and theres 2 red sauces!! And 1 green sauce! what's wrong with your cashier's!?? Que les pasa a sus cajeras que siempre me ponen lo contrario a lo que les pido. Les pido pura salsa verde y me ponen pura salsa roja. Diles que se pongan las pilas las señoras.

Absolutely excellent steak burrito. Everything on it. Best carne asada in area. Best is on south side on Pulaski. $9.49 w/ tax charged extra $.25 for extra red sauce. Quality ingredients and fairly priced. Especially compared with other restaurants. Clean sitting and take out area. Very friendly service.

Tacos here are delicious! My husband even said the pastor taste like his dad's recipe (and my suegro lives in Mexico). So this place is authentic. We ordered both pastor and asada. I will return and highly recommend!

We ordered the skirt steak dinner today. A lot of steak and rice, hardly any beans and the beans is what I wanted. El Patron has the best beans. Very disappointed was looking forward to the beans as much as the steak. Stingy with the beans!!!!! We got about 1 tablespoon of beans. :-( The steak itself was very thin. Despite being over cooked it was still tender and juicy. Good grade of meat. Portions were huge (except for the beans). Two big slices of a nice fresh tomato. Big pieces of onion were nice. Avocado and lettuce complimented the meal. If whoever cooked this hadn't gone nuts with the salt this meal could have easily been 5 stars. Many Americans are older and on a salt restrictive diet. It makes no sense to over salt something when everyone can add more salt at the table but once something is heavily salted it's almost impossible to remove the salt. Way too much salt. :-(

I have been looking for a place that has delicious birria on the weekends. I'm so happy I found El Patron! It's hard to find authentic birria in the suburbs but they definitely changed that for me. Birria was a dish that I grew up on and being able to find good places that make it is hard. I ordered a small amount to go so I could try and I am not disappointed. A lot of the reviews here are commenting on the place not having alcohol, I don't think that should count against them. Some small business may not be able apply for liquor licenses for reasons unknown to us. Food was great and the service was great too. Will definitely be back.

Wanted menudo and birreria and found a great location at El Patron with the help of yelp. As soon as we walked in we were greeted and seated. They offer fresh agua frescas. I always enjoy an ice cold jamiaca and my wife indulged in horchata. Their red menudo was deeelish and tortillas nice and warm. I ordered one carne asada taco which was clean (no fat on the meat) along with a chicharone which I love to eat with my menudo. We both were satisfied and the hostess was friendly and offered for us to taste the birreria and menudo before we ordered! Major plus. The restrooms clean. The dining area spotless. We will be back! Thanks

the food was too hot for the container, the container melted down. never going back,food contaminated.

I finally came here to try after reading all the nice reviews. I ordered two chicken tacos with rice and beans. The chicken tacos are Mexican style with cilantro and onions in a corn tortilla. The chicken wasn't full of flavor, but the salsa they give you pairs well with the tacos. The salsa verde is mild, and the red salsa is spicy! The rice is delicious, but the refried beans are a little salty. I also got guacamole and chips. The chips were premade, but tasted pretty good. The guacamole is fresh and has great flavor. Totally reasonably priced at $4.25! They do take credit cards, but only over $5.00. There was no one there when I went, so the service wasn't slow. I didn't dine in, so I'm not sure how the wait service is. Overall, good food, reasonable price, and close to home. Win win for me!

Good food! Excellent pricing, the combos / specials were great. One of the very few Mexican places you will find good authentic food. We will be visiting again.

Beyond disgusting! I tried to remember why I stopped coming here, but now I see why! Lack of flavor. Lack of quantity and quality. I am so upset I don't even want anymore good way of shedding more weight thanks PATRON! If it wasn't for violation of yelp terms I'd curse the shit out of you for this garbage I paid for! Not only my food horrible, but so were my kids food. No I am not wasting my to call you to ask you fix my order or to add more food to order you should know better! I am to exhausted to keep writing as you were when made my food! How is your establishment still open???

Was craving some tacos, so I figured I'd stop by Patron which is five minutes away from my house (amazing). The place is clean and nicely decorated. I ordered four steak tacos, and it was under 8 dollars. I would say that's a pretty good deal! They took cash and credit card, so the old review about cash only has been updated now. The steak tacos were phenomenal. Authentic and seasoned to perfection. Texture was good, and the quality was fresh. Salsa was delicious as well! I'll definitely be going back here to satisfy my taco needs.

This is our go to place for no frills yummy Mexican food. It's a very small restaurant to dine in with only a handful of tables but everytime we have dined in service was quick and friendly. With that said, we mostly carry out from this establishment. We've tried several things on the menu and have not been disappointed. Everything is usually well seasoned and comes out hot. The accompanying sauces they give aren't spicy but they do add a complimentary flavor to whatever I order. My mom especially enjoys their chicharon on the weekends, my very picky nieces enjoy their quesadillas and I love that they have Jamaica as it's sweet hibiscus goodness is my favorite beverage to drink with any Mexican meal I indulge in. The only gripe I have with El Patron is that about half of the time we've order carry out over the phone there was at least one thing wrong with our order. It may be due to a slight language barrier depending on who is taking the order over the phone, but it has happened quite often. It hasnt stopped us from ordering and we try to do a quick check when we pick up our order.. but when we have a large order opening up each little foil packet is a bit of a hassle so a lot of times we just pick up our order and hope everything is correct! We've also recently made it a habit to have them repeat our order more than once which has helped make sure everything is correct. There are plenty of Mexican restaurants to choose from in our area but if you're looking for good no frills food definitely give El Patron a try!

Fist time, place it is small but we came when they just had opened. We tried pozole and birria of barbacoa, was very good ! Although the bowls portion are very small and expensive. Also, the place was very cold, no heater on.!! Was very disappointed as I was trying to hurry up and finished my food instead enjoyed it. Primer vez que vinimos a este restaurante. El lugar es muy pequeño pero no importa porque apenas habían abierto. Pedimos la barbacoa de borrego y un menudo , que estaba muy rico. Sin embargo la porción del platillo es muy pequeña y bastante caro el precio. Estuvimos comiendo de prisa pues está muy muy frío , no tenían prendido el calentón! estuvimos con mucho frío mientras comíamos y en vez de disfrutar nuestra comida nos apuramos para poder salirnos., hasta la mesera traía chamarra puesta.

This business only wants to serve the Latino community, they are consistently rude and refuse to serve items on their menu. I thought it was my imagination so I brought a friend and he confirmed my suspicions, ...white boy not welcome. Food is actually delicious and good prices but not worth the angry sour puss attitude that goes with the meal. Pathetic

If you want little sharp bones stuck in your throat come here! They charge high and use poor quality meat and watery beans. Be careful!

Ordered tacos definitely wasn't worth the price. Ordered steak and birria tacos. Maybe the other food is better but I definitely won't be spending anymore money to find out.

My husband and I got food poisoning after eating burritos from this restaurant yesterday. It was the only thing we had both consumed within the last 24 hours so we know it was from this restaurant.

I love this place because it's no frills, they offer $1 Taco Tuesdays (select meats only), and the service is quick & courteous. I like their chorizo tacos the most, but the al pastor was very flavorful as well! Burritos are filled well and don't unravel when man-handled. It's a small taken-for-granted detail but it makes a huge difference when it's done poorly! They do have a few weekend-only specials but I've only ever come during the week. Will definitely need to stop by and try more of their menu!

Minus 1 star for no alcohol Minus1 star for blah food All these reviews rave about this place so I was expecting great things. Especially with the waitress speaking only Spanish, which at times was confusing but I thought the food would be legit. Bland food. Really disappointed, won't be back. You literally need the alcohol because there are children with families who seem to not care if their kids are running around screaming at the tops of their lungs. Look I know this place resembles the inside of a fast food joint but there's no play place. You want to let your child run wild take them to McDonald's or chick fil a

So this is really a 3.5 star review. I'll go towards three stars though this time. Torta was excellent - did the milanesa torta and was not overloaded with sour cream or avocado - it had just the right amount of condiments to enjoy all the flavors in the sandwich. Tacos were ok. The steak was a bit overdone. The carnitas were deep fried and lacking flavor and the al pastor were the star of the show. Horchata was great. Staff very nice and helpful. Space was super clean. I will go back and try more items and revisit this review.

I called to place a pick up order, I asked if they had quesabirria tacos and they said they did so I placed the order. When I got to the restaurant they didn't even have my order done or have it at all so we had to make the order again. When I get home I realize I payed $30 for plain tacos, no flavor, no juice, it was all plain!

It's hard to find some good pollo asado that's not dry, went to this place and I got to admit the chicken was moist and tender, definitely going back for sure.

I have eaten here several times since the place opened. The food has always been fresh and flavorful, no day old leftovers or dried out meats. Just had the grilled chicken for lunch and it was amazingly good. Seasoned and juicy served with some grilled onions and jalapeños with a stack of warm corn tortillas. Defiantly worth a stop, if for nothing else then to get a picture with the bull's head (relax PETA people its ceramic)

This place right around the corner from me and it is a amazing place the burritos are so good and they fill you up ! It is reasonably priced ! Their tacos are amazing too, you get good portions and they don't hold back! I would def recommend !

Took my son here for dinner. I had a burrito and he had the tacos. He loved the tacos (had four of them) and my burrito was very tasty. We'll be back.

Extremely satisfied with this restaurant! We travel all over the country and to find truly authentic Mexican is a delight for us! Will definitely return when in town and have time!

The service and the food were great. The tacos were amazing. I had the carne asada and the pastor tacos and they were full of flavor. This place has been in Hanover Park for a while I just never got around to trying it out, I'm glad I did. I will be coming here more often. I also like that the prices are reasonable your money will go a long way here.

This was a pretty good place. They have good prices and decent array of menu. I would have liked to see more choices though. It was a Tuesday night and we were here an hour before the closing. The ironic part is we ordered chips n guac -- we were told THERE WAS NO GUAC anymore. No options if you any vegetarian/vegan friends since the beans are made with red-meat as well and there was hardly anything on the menu as well. But this definitely looked like a family run small restaurant.

Place is ok but the prices are steep for just regular chicken tacos. Nothing to go back again fot

Great flavored food here! I like to base a Mexican food rating on their carne asada and they had some great carne asada here! Wait times were average and it would've been nice to have fountain drinks but that's ok.

Honestly, the food is good. But it is great option as a carry out service. The waitress/owner is a little weird. This is her first time having a formal restaurant, and so her Customer Service is a bit questionable. They sell coffee but their coffee maker is always "down" so she brings out hot water, and prepackaged instant coffee for you to prepare. You are paying what? $2-$3 for this coffee and you still have to prepare it. No thanks! Like i said, I come here for their food because it is good, but only for carry-out. They are close, and affordable. They have good take out broiled chicken. Bring your own McDonalds Coffee if you want to drink some. Their is terrible.

Ok, not bad... But but very good either. I finally tried this place for lunch today and was underwhelmed. I got the 3 taco dinner which was expensive! $10 and change! Both the steak and pastor was ok, nothing special. They don't use the light corn tortillas unfortunately like the best taqueria in the area, tapatillos, does.

We had a coupon from restaurants.com for $25 off I purchased that clearly states "NEVER EXPIRES". Had dinner there tonite; the waitress says, oh, we don't take those any more. What? I said it says here it's basically good forever. Well, the owner isn't here, and he said we can't take those. How in the God's name is this allowed? We threw the money on the table and left. You really make it worse for your business when you do things like this, because now, I will surely tell everybody this is not an honorable establishment.

First stop in since it has just been open two weeks. It is a small place but room enough for a good seating area. The people were friendly and helpful as I looked over the menu. I asked what the day's special and was offered a sample of pork & potatoes in a green sauce. Forgive me for not remembering the exact name but it was tasty. There was just enough spice to give it zing. This was my choice with a side of rice, beans and warmed tortillas. You could tell everything was fresh from the cuts of pork to the chunks of potatoes. I took it to go but I'll be back.

I got 3 tacos, steak, pastor, and chicharon in salsa verde.... all amazing! Cocktail de camaron was delicious too. Service was great.

Decent food. But no AC, place felt dirty, girl working was rude and has a $10 credit card minimum.

This place is seriously really good. Great prices. Nice people. Tacos and Burritos are amazing. They grill the tortilla and its perfect.

Stopped by for the first time today. Place is super super clean! I got the steak burrito. It was delicious and beyond fresh ingredients. Definitely will be going back for many more burritos!

Overall the experience was nice. I was surprised they served no ground beef for their tacos. You get the special only on certain tacos. Churros were hard. Was told "they would have more the next morning".. It was 11am around. Id give 3.5 stars cause their service was fast plus they let me sample a few things.

Came here later in the afternoon, and the expierence was horrible. Started off with the worker greeting us at the counter saying "good luck finding a clean table to sit at". The place was packed. One waitress (as stated in previous reviews) running the carry out counter as well as taking orders at the tables. Pastor was good, steak was bland as well as bland rice and beans. Within the 45 minute visit, multiple people walked in, and walked right out. People had to sit at dirty tables with old food on them, until the waitress came and took the food away. No personality at this place.

Torta Cubana is so delicious! A must try. My boyfriend got his regular carne asada tacos with avacado and he says they are very tasty!

Very good place to stop by and have lunch. The food is on par with other Mexican restaurants. The restroom was clean and smelled wonderful. I really have nothing bad to say about this place.

Meat is old.... That's all I have to say. It had a wet dog smell and it also tasted like metal

My boyfriend and I love this place! Get their rib eye burrito and tacos. Also their chicken burrito it has guacamole inside! The shrimp tacos are amazing. The elotes and the horchata! When we plan to go there we don't eat anything so we can max out when we get there. *****they only take cash*****

Took a while for the waitress to greet us. She was very nice though. Chicken tacos were good. Steak tacos were fatty and a little over cooked. Tortilla chips were a little stale. Would have preferred fountain drinks instead of cans. Prices were cheap. Could use another waitress for faster service. Ok the fence about going back or not.

Love the food. The mexican sausages is not greasey like other places. We go for taco tuesday can't beat 99cents. The people are nice and welcoming. My kids love the rice. Good food and good prices.

Really like this place! Their burritos are good sized and filled perfectly. Everything was very flavorful. The salsas are really good. Tacos were delicious. Their pricing is perfect! This has become my new place for Mexican food. Very happy we found it.

1st time there, amazing food. The steak tacos were awesome and the homemade guacamole is to die for. Will definately go back.....oh the horchata is great too.

The grilled chicken is delicious if I do say so myself! Torta Cubana is unique and filling and there is a great variety of meats and special plates too :)

I use to LOVE this place, but it's so different now, even their employees are not so great. They literally treat you like it's an inconvenience for them to take your order. I'm sorry but that's a huge turn off! I'll go get better tacos elsewhere! From 5 starts to 1, no more Patron fan here.!