Carlos River Cafe — Restaurant in Illinois

The food here is Ok. The prices are good (they are about $2 a taco) but the service here is horrible, and it's not the cooks fault because they are actually nice people and fun to talk to. It's Mrs. Carlos! She is a very rude and unpleasant individual and she's got to go! This is the main reason why this place is going downhill!

I ordered a king burrito meal and six tacos of various flavors including "carne asada", "al pator", and chicken (for the family...geez...I didn't eat all that myself). They gave me two red sauces and one green sauce. I asked if I could please have some extra sauces considering I placed a pretty large order. Ms. Carlos told me that each additional small container of red sauce will be .75ct each. Mind you that's almost half the price of the taco itself and nowhere is it listed on their menu how many sauces you get with a meal and that each additional sauce will cost .75ct. extra. I told Mrs. Carlos that that's not fair and I'm not paying .75ct for additional sauces. Well she proceeded to get into an argument with me. She tells me "this is a business" and "look at my prices". I really don't care.

If you are going to bait and switch me into paying extra for food then why not raise the price of the tacos itself? Don't play stupid games like trying to charge me .75ct extra for each tiny container of red sauce. That's just ridiculous! Or if this is your dumb policy then at least clearly define that policy, print it in big bold letters somewhere where people can see it, and let people know up front. Just looking around, I saw people that were dining in the place with large containers of red and green sauce on their tables. Did they have to pay extra for those sauces Mrs. Carlos?

The bottom line is that you that should be grateful that I am going into your establishment and supporting your business. Mrs. Carlos learn some manners, don't be rude, and don't argue with your customers or you are going to lose all your patrons just like you...

Not what it used to be....We have been customers of Carlos River Cafe since it first opened 18 years ago, ordering carry out or eating in the restaurant about 3-4 times a month. This restaurant used to be a great place, unfortunately the owner, Carlos, doesn't seem to be active in the restaurant, we haven't seen him there in about 3 months. We usually order the combination platter because it has the chili rellenos on it. Until yesterday, 9/5/2017 , this had been consistently well made and delicious. Yesterday, the chili had not been cleaned of the seeds, I asked the waitress if there was a new supplier that was making the stuffed chili and she didn't know, but offered to take it back and get another one. Well that's when the woman in the back comes out calling me in a very condescending voice " Honey" these chillis are all made at the same time, and are all alike, you ordered it you eat it. I asked for a replacement item instead of the chilli and was told, "Honey, you ordered the combination plate and that is what you got.

We asked to talk to the owner Carlos, she informed us that he was her husband and no, we were not allowed to talk to him, she would not give us a phone number to call him. She then threatens to call the police because we were insulting her food. We told her to go ahead and call the police, then she tells us to get out of her restaurant. My husband stated fine, lets go, keep your food, you just lost a good customer.... she then tells us we are not welcome , to go.... my husband stated , fine keep the food, we are going, the woman yells you can't leave without paying the bill. (The plate was not touched except for the piece of chili that I tasted. We paid, and ended up giving the food to our chickens. )

This encounter was unbelievable, the perfect example of why restaurants go from being a five star to a one star. It's a shame, the former wife/co-owner of Carlos was always so pleasant, and Carlos used to care about his restaurant, but unfortunately that...

Where do I begin? One day my boss decided to treat my team to some tacos so we ordered ahead of time and when we showed up there were only two sodas at the table because only two of us ordered drinks over the phone. When I asked the lady with glasses for drinks she rudely replied "You only ordered those two on the phone" to which I replied "We still need more drinks, can we order them?"... Wow, does she not want extra money in the business' pocket from MORE ITEMS ORDERED?

Another time lady with glasses charged my friends and I $1.50 for red and green salsa cups that should have been free with our meals.

And today I went with my buddies to give the place one last try and ordered a regular burrito which was $5.75 on the menu and she attempted to charge me $6.90. When I asked why it was so much she said "because of taxes". I said I didn't want to get it, after all, because it was more expensive than expected. As I stepped away from the line she said "No, it's six nineTEEN" to which I thought she was correcting her bad enunciation so I replied "Okay, if that's the case I'll take it" and she then said "No, forget it, you can't get it now"... WOW. The cook had already began cooking the meat and she told him to throw it out right in front of us.

If you have complaints call the location on Route 14 and ask for Carlos. He said if she does something like that again he will fire her.... Doubt it but at...