La Magdalena Wonderful Mexican — Restaurant in Addison Township

First off, this place has been one Mexican restaurant that I drove past for literally over 15 years. Ever since I was a kid I have seen this place and always wanted to enter, but didn't until today.

Let me tell you I was missing out for sure. I'll start off with the bad perks about this location. When you enter in, parking is pretty tight if there is any avaliable, but there's a Walgreens 25 feet away you can easily park in. Upon entering the restaurant through the back door, no one really noticed us or cared so I took it upon myself to find the host and get our table. The restaurant was full and jamming, but there should be some level of guidance especially for people who have never been there before.

5 minutes later we got a card to get our table, and another 5 minutes passed and we where seated. The place is small, with mirrors to make it appear much much larger than it actually is. Once we got seated however the experience went much better. The chips and salsa was great, I couldn't tell you if the tortilla chips where home made or not, but the salsas (mild and spicy) and spicy here actually means spicy which is great for a change, where great. Mild is a lot sweeter than the spicy, but all around both were great choices. I ordered shrimp tacos, which I was expecting more of a grilled/fish taco type of situation, but you can't tell what your getting on the taco itself because it just lists what type of taco it is. A bit more descriptions would have helped here immensely. Rice and beans on the side. My tacos once arrived (10 minutes or so, fast service) where good! I have no issues with them, but it definitely fell into the 7.3 range. Good, but not enough to make me want to come back to the restaurant.

My friend however ordered Al pastor which is my usual go to, and wow. Let me tell you those where the right choice. Those tacos saved this place from a semi negative review from me. They where the perfect example of an Al pastor taco, pineapple, onion, charred pastor and cilantro. By far some of the best Al pastor tacos I've been served in the greater Chicago land location. 9.1. The only way they could get better is if they where carved from the spit itself.

So it goes to show, if they updated the menu (which really sticks to each pages with heavy plastic by the way) to add some descriptions, I'd be much more happier with this location and the possible choices. If you come here get the Al pastor, you won't be...

Let me just share that we have visited this location for about 20 years now...Not that we are old. My inlaws knew good food in the area when I initially moved..we have been since taking our kids. And now our son his daughter. The food is always consistent. We are frequent visitors to RockNWheels down the street and decide that our money is better spent on small businesses then Portillos. (Not that we do not love a good Portalimules visit..in the burbs it has become common). Their shredded chicken - anything - is freakin amaz. Burrito, tacos..I prefer mine with minimal filler so that I can taste the goodness...the food is brought out fast and fresh. The service however can be hit or miss. Let's just put it this way. There are some who enjoy their jobs and others who do not. We have had attentive service and another time just left sitting while the restaurant was closing and other chairs were being put on top of tables. I will say that we are super picky about the food that we choose to spend our cash on. When we express to the staff how much we enjoy and how consistent the food is, it is difficult to hear a generic sentence as Yes. Mexican food is good. This is taking into consideration the possibility of anxiety or communication barriers. The restaurant has not been overly busy. Generally we are among 5..maybe 6 other seated parties. Unfortunately this is the same person that left us sitting. Leaving me to believe that they are not the best staff for waiting on tables. We have a small biz in Addison, perhaps it's not what it seems..who knows? the last few interactions have been bummers...but back on to what is important..the food. We will just work around them next time and find management to take our payment. Margaritas are a good value, FUN and will leave you a bit happy. Soup can alter between salty and not..but this is not always a deal breaker. It's super hard to vary our selection beyond their shredded chickie. Their spicy hot sauce is the bomb. Perhaps one day we will explore beyond our comfort zones. They used to have a good steak..I just don't partake as...

I could not believe my experience here Wednesday Oct. 28. There is one vehicle in the lot thus only 1 table seated upon entrance. The mandatory temperature and mask was not a problem. But the person greeting us also demanded I put on his sanitizer at which time I declined, I have cracking dry hands, not that I need to explain that to anyone, I asked if I could wash them instead...never received an answer reluctantly put on product my cousin had, also I'm sensitive to chemicals and odors it was extremely uncomfortable and noxious. The man wouldn't respond to washing my hands as an option but insisted I use his sanitizer, and of course ended up disallowing me to be seated. I don't know how good or bad the food is here but politically I can't harm myself even the smallest bit to eat a bite of food. I WON'T GO BACK other places served us without hassle up and down lake st. I can't imagine that was about if my hands would be clean enough through simple washing THAT WAS CONTROL. LA HACIENDO WAS PACKED FOOD WAS GREAT about a mile away....