Lady Dahlia — Restaurant in Elk Grove Township

I’m a little shocked at all the 5 star reviews on here. Our experience was really sub par.

First off “Tequila Bar” is in the title of the restaurant. We ordered the pineapple/jalapeño margarita and the cucumber margarita. Mine had a nice flavor but both tasted like short pours. Neither drink tasted like there was much tequila in it which is disappointing since you pay $13 each for a fruit drink with a splash of tequila. For aps, we ordered guacamole and chips and salsa. The guac was ok. The salsa was interesting because unlike most salsas this had a good amount of cumin in it. It tasted like meatless chili. Sadly the salsa was the star of the evening.

We decided to try a bunch of different tacos. The steak were ok but you can find much better at your favorite mom and pop taqueria. The birria tacos were like none I’ve ever had before. They had not been dunked in the Consomé and folded and grilled, the only way I’ve ever had them. Nor did they come with the Consomé to dip in which is how every birria taco I’ve ever seen is served. I’m ok with innovation but when your version is weaker than the norm, not so much!! Those were blah. The pastor tacos were ok, but again you could do better at your favorite taqueria for half the price. The shrimp tacos. I could see shrimp on them but sure couldn’t taste the shrimp because they were so overly salted. Strangely too, the tacos were brought to our table literally 2 minutes after we ordered them. Like this wasn’t cooked to order but instead is just plopped onto a tortilla from containers in a steam table. It was more like we had stumbled into a more expensive Chipotle with less tasty offerings. The decor is bland and thematically you could be standing in a juice bar, a pancake house, a sandwich shop, etc.. There is nothing really that ties the decor to the menu. The service was ok but we were there at 7pm and there seemed to be very few tables seated, so being attentive was pretty easy for our server. Our bill was $117 before tip. Not astronomical but way more than I would have liked to spend on a very lackluster meal. Mia’s is a few doors down we have dined there dozens of times and always enjoyed the drinks and food. We actually felt odd walking into a Mexican restaurant 100 feet from one we loved for years. Like we were being disloyal. Well we gave it a try. We won’t be back though. You can find better food at 75 % of greasy spoon taquerias in the area. If you’re looking for more upscale Mexican with creative cocktails walk 100 feet north and...

We have been regular customers of Emerson's since it opened (we eat there 3-4 times a month) so when we saw that Lady Dahlia had opened, it wasn't hard to convince us to go check it out. The restaurant is near Games Plus and parking was easy to find. I recommend making reservations (we did) as the restaurant was very active but parties walking in from the street were able to be seated in 10-15 minutes based on what I saw. All the food was SOLID, the house-made corn tortillas are delicious and the basis upon which the menu is built. For appetizers we tried the sopes and the queso fundido con chorizo, both were very good but the queso was the table favorite. For entrees, we tried the birria tacos (a favorite from Emerson's), the steak tacos with elotes and steak enchiladas with salsa poblano. While the star of the dishes were the tortillas, we devoured everything. As it was very, very good, I'm going to nitpick a tiny bit and say that the dishes could have more spice, more salt and more acid, but that is a personal preference among our group. For someone who might be spice-averse, we did not come across anything that I would recommend against trying. They happened to be out of the churros but we tried the tres leches, very tasty. The staff were great, they were very friendly and attentive and speed-to-table time was very fast. As the restaurant just opened, the environment was buzzing, there was plenty of space around tables and there is a nice bar that people can also enjoy. Overall we enjoyed Lady Dahlia very much and look forward to making it another restaurant that we...

Update 4/19- we tried them again tonight. Very pleased to report they do take advise from their customers and reviews. Jalapeño Pineapple Margaritas were fantastic with some heat. Per request they even garnished with fresh Jalapeños. Nacho Pizza came out nice and hot with crispy crust and again per request fresh Jalapeños. Our server was great as well. Desserts great. Big improvement and we will be back to try some other meals.

We are excited to try this place. Our party of four agreed on our experience. I’ve heard it referred to as upscale. Unfortunately this is not an upscale restaurant in terms of food and flavors. While the atmosphere and decors is nice with a modern vibe they will have to make improvements in the food quality.only fresh ingredients should be served. The meatball appetizer was bland. The trio guacamole tasted as if it were premade and not fresh lacking any wow flavors. Food was served luke warm at best. Our favorite dish was actually a salad. There is no salsa offered at the tables and when asked the only one option was a smoked option. Other than bottles hot sauce there was no spicy options or homemade salsa varieties. Or if there are they were not offered. I’d describe the food as Mexican bar food. The deserts however were excellent. Drinks had an excellent presentation but the flavor was average at best. Salsa 17 in AH has fantastic drinks. Our server was very pleasant and gave recommendations. We will give them another try but based on our first impressions we would go to Mia’s for dinner and here...