El Chilaquil — Restaurant in Lake Township

Late lunch/early dinner with my parents and my adult daughter. First thing walking in, WAY TOO LOUD!!! If a restaurant provides music, fine. But not as loud as they had their music! We all had to practically shout to each other to hear each other talk. I had to ask the waitress a few times what said said. I would prefer no music at all. On top of that, they had the TV going loudly as well! So which is it? TV or music?! Why have both? I prefer for any and all restaurants to have no music and no TV.

As far as the food, it wasn't that great. First off, they use vegetable oil to cook their food! What kind of Mexican restaurant uses vegetable oil? I've known Mexican restaurants to use lard or tallow to cook their food. Vegetable oil is NOT good for anyone! It's basically canola oil which is one of many bad industrial seed oils that are high in Omega 6 which is inflammatory and good for no one. It affects more people than anyone realizes. It's a good thing that I told them that I can't have vegetable oil.

I ordered the Fajitas Mixtas without the chicken, which I do not eat. The peppers weren't even cooked! I don't eat peppers anyway. I gave them to my dad but he didn't eat them because they were not cooked. How could they have raw peppers in a fajita dish? The meat was overcooked. The flavor overall was not that great. The whole dish itself did not look like your typical fajita platter that you get at any other Mexican restaurant. Usually, fajita platters at other Mexican restaurants are bigger than what they have here, and they also have way more meat on the platter.

My mom was the one who suggested this place. I should've figured it wouldn't be that great. She likes other places that aren't that great and that I do not like. It's one of those situations where she doesn't know how bad a place is until you take her to a great restaurant. Then she'll realize that the other place is much better and in comparison, the one she likes is really not that great.

The only good thing at this place is the waitress, Carla. She was very nice, sweet, and cute smile. God bless Carla! I give her 5 stars! Cannot give the overall restaurant 5 stars though. Sorry. (not sorry). I will not return to this restaurant, and neither will...

I read some of the bad reviews and was shocked by them. I LOVE this place! I think the food is one of the best Mexican food I ever had (and I have eaten a LOT of Mexican foods at many, many restaurants). I can't wait and look forward to coming here. It's my new hit and I don't want to go anywhere else. I love how they make their beans, it's perfect and exactly how I like them. It's not canned looking refried beans smashed on a plate; instead it's like mashed potatoes and super tasty. Their Mole sauce is on point. I love their birria dinner. My favorite too is the Chicharron Ranchero and Chilaquil Especial. Horchata and Hibiscus is great! I love they give appetizer while you wait. The meatballs and potatoes are made exactly how my mother makes her golumpki and she makes the best. And I'm not saying that because she is my mother. She makes the best and El Chilaquil gives me warm feeling of her recipe. I do not eat to just eat to fill my belly, I look for authentic homemade flavors because I really, really enjoy food, and I have not had a bad experience at El Chilaquil yet. The waitresses are beautiful. Israel is so nice always with a smile and social. Everyone there is friendly and I like the outdoor seating and indoor seating with TV and great music! I know if there is something you are unhappy with, tell them right away and I know they will fix it for you. They are super! And as I write this, I now have to go there today to get something delicious off their menu! Yum, this place is a definite authentic gem. I refer...

They started off strong with the complementary they bring out which was like a taco in salsa ranchera and chips with salsa. The cafe de olla was delicious too.

My main dish we ordered was the green chilaquiles with skirt steak. Unfortunately it was disappointing. The steak, which wasn’t skirt steak, tasted old and seemed to be seasoned to mask the fact it was borderline bad. The beans were also old and refried too many times.

When you pull into the parking lot there’s a big speed bump so drive slowly and in an angle so you don’t scratch the underside of your car.

Really wanted to try it since we drive past it often. As we left we noticed there were multiple tables filled. Perhaps we tried the wrong dish or just not a good day at the kitchen. But I can’t move past the dishonesty or serving meat (and up-charging for it) that wasn’t up to higher quality standards.

2 stars because server was great and very...