Mijo's Authentic Mexican Food — Restaurant in Fox Lake

FLAVOR and FRIENDLINESS will be the top two words that I'll remember from my first visit to Mijo's. Lake County has plenty of decent taco shops, which I go to often since I've spent lots of time living in San Diego and visiting Mexico. But, Mijo's is now my favorite for tacos.

After hearing an interview recently on WGN with one of the owners, I decided to stop in today at their Fox Lake restaurant on Route 12.

I order 3 tacos... barbacoa (seasoned shredded beef), El pastor (marinated pork), and chorizo (seasoned pork sausage). The barbacoa was my favorite for its juiciness and texture. In the WGN interview, I remember them saying it's their most popular and now I know why, and completely agree. The other two tacos both lived up to "Authentic" in the restaurant's name. They were better than my favorite San Diego tacos, reasonably priced, and had a nice portion of meat in each one.

I look forward to trying more of their menu options on my next visit. Except I'll eat in the building next time since they have plenty of indoor/outdoor seating and a nice bar areas with a couple of TVs.

I highly recommend trying Mijo's!

I spoke to the owner Leo (very nice guy who shared his restaurant's story) and he invited me to try their breakfast menu in the future as well. Since I love Mexican food, I may challenge myself to eat all three meals...

Update... 2/26/2025 I DO eat at many of the Mexican Restaurants in Fox Lake and I alwsys order Cheeze Quesadillas

Other restaurants have lots of cheese, no other fillers, and Quesadilla is about 1/4-1/2 inch thick

Our Server is the one who said "the cook considers it finger good and that's why it's in a basket (lined with paper) instead of a plate"

No one at our table ordered pizza

2/25/2025 You know the commercial, Where's the Beef... My question is Where's the Cheese

Tonight was our 1st time going to Mijo's... AND our last

I ordered the Cheese Quesadilla... $10.95, No sides (beans & rice... No)

It came to the table in a basket lined with paper... It was cold... It was cut in half, so not "finger-food"

It was very flat, so I opened it up, and... Where's the Cheese

It had chopped lettuce & tomatoes in it, but I could not see any cheese in it

I mentioned it to our Server, and she had no comment... Like she either didn't hear me

When the "bus-girl" came to clear out table, I mentioned to her my disappointment in the quality of the "Cheese" Quesadilla, and her response was.... "I'm actually one of the Owners and I'm sorry it wasn't to your expectations and I will left the Cook know"

Yea... Sure

Don't waste your time and...

These were the BEST tacos I have ever had in my life. I live in Chicago proper, have visited LA multiple times, even been to South America twice and I can hands down say these are the most flavorful and beautifully curated tacos of my life. (I have had multiple jobs traveling around to different Chicago neighborhoods on the west side, and have had many, many work potlucks with Latino/as and still....Mijos is the best.)

I had three different types: barbacoa, campechano, and the leftovers of my daughter's carne asana (which I stole greedily, eating another daughter's spilled meat like a raccoon with my hands). Each taco had a completely different flavor profile. Each one packed with tender, juicy and flavorful meat. Plenty of fresh veg toppings. Beautiful corn tortillas which maintained their structure despite my crazed lust to consume their contents.

The chips and salsa served ahead of time were also so. Darn. Good. Fried chips, fresh, but somehow not too greasy and my stomach felt fine afterwards.

Maybe the taco makers of Chicago see my white girl name coming and don't worry if the tacos are perfect, but nothing in Chicago has compared with these, not in Little Village, not in Pilsen. God bless Mijos! I will travel back to Fox Lake...