Maravillas Restaurant — Restaurant in Hyde Park Township

(The only reason this gets a 2-star and not just one is that the young waitress did try to at least smile and be helpful, which, of course, is her job...)

It was a hot day outside and we were looking to cool off in an air-conditioned eatery a few blocks from my boyfriend's place while enjoying an early dinner. Didn't happen.

1. A/C (if they even have it) was off - just a slow-turning ceiling fan that wasn't helpful - just stirred around the warm air.
2. I'm unable to eat very spicy food due to digestive surgery years ago - mild salsa is ok, though, except that unlike most Mexican places I've been to, they didn't have any - at all.
3. The guacamole was like the salsa - much too hot. Even my boyfriend, who loves spicy stuff (this place was his idea) thought it was too hot. So between not being able to eat either the salsa or guac I had to put up with just plain chips for an 'appetizer.'
4. I had one of the combo dishes - don't recall the exact name but came with either a tostada or taco (can't recall which but they supposedly had chicken) as well as cheese quesadillas...everything tasted weird and very, very greasy. The cheese or whatever it was had a funny under-taste. The chicken? Fuggeddaboutit. Very greasy and strange-tasting. Between the heat and the poor-tasting food, I couldn't finish it so I brought the remaining quesadilla home (and gave it to my ex-husband later the next day...he didn't care too much for it either - lol!)

Seriously, for the prices, you'd be better off driving out to the W burbs like Fox Valley and going to a Friarco's or Cozy Mel's - their food is fresher tasting, and about 2/3 the cost, plus their waitstaff are much friendlier and more competent. Oh, and their places are actually...

Good food just wish the prices were slightly lower. I have been coming to this restaurant for almost 3 whole years if not weekly at least monthly and almost a month ago 3 1/2 weeks ago I left a pair of glasses in there. I called. I had just left so I called an spoke with the cashier on duty for that night she took my name down and told me that she put them up to the side and it will be there whenever I came back. I have come back to the restaurant almost 7 times and have yet to get my sunglasses everyone I speak to tell me they can’t find them. They tell me they don’t know how to get in contact with the cashier that took my name down and don’t know where my stuff is at. I just really don’t understand because I was told that they were put up but now no one can seem to find them anywhere & it’s really frustrating! I liked the place never really had an issue with the restaurant or the staff but for this to happen it let me know that they have thieves working in the restaurant and they don’t wanna do anything to fix it. They don’t want to even try and figure out who stole my stuff or nothing at the store. They are totally acting like it’s nothing. Oh my sunglasses were expensive. I was in a restaurant to catch a train and I should not have to pay because of that. I won’t be returning anymore. They lost a lifetime customer in me with...

Good, inexpensive Mexican spot in Hyde Park. If you are looking something above Pepes but below a higher end Mexican restaurant, Maravillas is perfect for you. I'd even venture to say food-wise the needle points more to the higher end than the lower end.

I think the large disparity of reviews on Yelp have more to do with the service than the actual food itself. The food has always been great to me and again its inexpensive. So if you aren't looking to spend a lot but get a nice size meal, you would probably enjoy it. The burrito dinners I've had have been big and plentiful in size. And the taco salad is great too. My biggest pet peeve about Mexican restaurants is sometimes they don't provide you alot of meat in your meal and overload it with vegetables, but they don't do it here.

Now the service may leave much to be desired. The place isn't high end and when you walk in you may see tables that haven't been clean yet and stuff like that. But that usually is remedied pretty fast. And on a weekend or Friday night, you may encounter some wait for your meal so if you can, call ahead of time. But besides that, its basically just like a diner.

If you want to avoid all of that my recommendation is to order your food to go and I think you would well satisfied with the food. But makes you call ahead of time to...