El Puerto Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Fox Lake

If you want to sit by the water and drink then you couldn't find a prettier place. The tables are spaced great and stunning views of the water and docks. IF however you want to eat a decent meal you may want to eat beforehand. This place was PACKED and I was so excited. I love a good sizzling fajita plate and had already decided that was my plan. We started with Margaritas on the rocks with salt. Went with the house margarita because that's always a great indicator on trying other blends. Fun fact, when you over fill a very small margarita glass it washes OFF the salt and will splash onto your clothing when the waiter pops it down onto the table. They appeared to have a ton of staff so the wait to order seemed a bit excessive. Queso Fundido was our appetizer. This required a knife to cut and we placed a few of the hardened chunks of over cooked cheese onto store bought chips before we gave up and went back to admiring the beautiful view and sunset. The steak/chicken fajitas arrived on a sizzling plate and as soon as it was set down my heart sank. As a wide consumer of fajitas from all over the country from California to North Carolina I can confidently say it was the worst representation i have ever encountered. The chunked strips of Greenpepper were easily 3 inches wide . Now, you may love a good thick raw slice of green pepper in your fajita but for my tastes i like thin, sauteed strips of peppers and onion that take on the flavors of the meats and oil that they are cooked with. What i got was a roughly chopped undercooked produce section that was paired with overseasoned and over cooked meat. The steak was chewy and inedible. The chicken was dry and again, the seasoning was so thick you couldnt tell the color of the meat. I tried to eat it, but only managed two bites and couldnt make it past that. I was so dissapointed but it was still a lovely night and we would need to leave to go get actual food so we asked for the check. In explaining that the meal was absolutely inedible the waiter offered to take off the charge for the Queso. We paid, tipped more than fairly and left. I wanted SO MUCH to...

First time going here. Unfortunately it was disappointing. We ordered steak fajitas. They were large pieces both on the meat and the veggies. You will need to do some work and cut it into bite size and may need to bring your own knife.. Also had to ask for lattuce, tomato and cheese since they didn't come with. Portions are big so two people could share for a small meal. Outside sitting was nice. However some of their chairs will hurt your bottom side bars are going across on the wrong spot. Either scoot down or grab a plastic chair instead. If you have lot of cushion then don't worry about it.. Service was so so sitting outside. Since there was two of us the waiter didn't have as much time to make sure we are doing alright. Introducing them selves would be helpful since we had no idea who is our server once he left our table. Inside was way to dark and absolutely would not eat there. I guessing would be fine if you like a dark bar surroundings. Hopefully they will work on improving the basics and will be a place to go to eat outside...

My Hubby and I went to El Puerto on a rare occasion that we didn't have our 3 children for a night and before our 4th arrives. Anyway, my family is mexican and I LOVE the food I grew up on. I am therefor very picky on "authentic mexican" resturants and since I am new to the area we had no idea where to go.

We chose El Puerto because of reviews and their website, I love to see the food from the resturaunt to get a feel for what I am in for. When we got there, we got to sit on the patio on the lake. Beautiful sunny day, great breeze off the lake, we loved it. Sadly we did not get the chance to drink as I am very pregnant and my hubby was driving. But great service, I ordered the tamales, which are my favorite comfort food that I grew up on. They were so yummy, I was grinning like a kid. We each ordered Fajitas and again great. I couldn't stop snacking on the chips and salsa. Everything was great. We got to relax, eat slowly, enjoy the day and food and eachother without being bothered.

Can't wait to go back again! And...