Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant & Tequila Bar — Restaurant in Libertyville

We just went to Casa Bonita in a group of 5 to celebrate my high school graduation. It was absolutely the worst service we've ever had anywhere. I'm not normally one to complain because I work at a restaurant so I know things happen, but this time I can't even try to come to their defense. We walked in around 7:30, we waited 10 minutes before anyone even looked at our table, let alone take our drink orders. It wasn't busy. There were maybe 12 tables sat so it wasn't like they were overly busy. It shouldn't have been hard to grab us drinks and bring us chips and salsa. Eventually someone who was supposed to be off grabbed our drinks because we were already looking upset and said he'd make sure our server would be there soon. She finally comes over and asks for our drink order and when we say a guy has already taken the order and proceeds to call him "such a dork" when in reality he was trying to save her butt. Then we get our drinks but chips and salsa are still not out and nobody has been by to take our order. When she FINALLY comes back to our table (and just to intensify our frustration, she was sitting at the bar 5 feet away talking with two other waiters and playing on her phone) she takes our order. We never saw her at our table again. Just watched her sit back at the bar, continuing to chat and play on her phone. We are visibly upset, especially when we start receiving dirty looks from other waitresses and then notice the owner ALSO sitting at the bar just playing on his phone. We're sitting there, looking around and another waitress notices and asks if she can get us anything to which my mom replies "food, drinks, anything really". We watch her go over to the owner who immediately goes back on his phone. Never in my 2 years working at a restaurant has a guest complained and my manager didn't immediately go over to there table to discuss the issue. Finally, we're so upset and hungry that we just decide to leave. In every similar situation we've ever been in, we usually still pay for the drinks we've had at least, but not today. The owner sees us leaving and jumps in front of us. My mom says "just cancel our order we're going we've been waiting way too long" and he immediately gets defensive saying how busy everyone is and saying he's been stuck in the back for awhile now. Clearly not. We watched him and three of his servers sit at the bar for the last hour. He begs us to come back in saying "come on you came to celebrate your graduation please be my guest". Absolutely not. We waited too long and then he lied right to our faces. Honestly, the worst part was that he was arguing with us in front of the restaurant , begging us to stay, while trying to contradict every complaint we had. It was just disrespectful and makes me never want to return to my...

First and foremost I would have to give this place 5 stars for the service alone. We were seated promptly and greeted by our super friendly and helpful server Jido who I would highly recommend the next time you come here. He took the time to tell us a little bit about the place, what they had to offer and the new ownership, which was important to me because this place wasn't the greatest in my opinion when they first opened. We ordered the watermelon margaritas that they were advertising outside the restaurant and they were delicious! Definitely tasted like they used real watermelon, and the liquor to juice ratio was spot on. I'm EXTREMELY picky when it comes to how drinks are made in regards to liquor content and taste, and these definitely made my list! Their salsa is handmade fresh and the guacamole is made to order which is important to know because you can change the contents of it if you prefer!Their base recipe includes red onion which I am not a fan of in guacamole and wasn't aware of when I ordered originally. The GM was quick to address the situation and insisted they make it just how we liked it! We gave him a list of ingredients and the guac that came out the second time around was a charm! The GM took extreme pride in his work and his utmost goal was for us to leave satisfied and happy and we did! I almost forgot to mention the the music was great as well! They played all the latest Spanish hits. I recognized and enjoyed every song. I will definitely be going here next time I'm...

Update...so sad that with Covid and RSV surging they have just completely enclosed the heated patio, allowing for NO airflow. This was one of the few places that those of us who can't dine indoors could still enjoy in the cold months. The highly efficient heat lamps always kept us toasty. What a wonderful Birthday we celebrated, thanks to Casa Bonita! If still not comfortable with indoor dining or just prefer outdoors, check out the amazing outdoor, open air, covered, HEATED from above, beautiful patio! We loved the party atmosephere, the vibrant FUN music and being warm enough to take off our jackets on a 45 degree night! The service was top notch! Our server, Ben took excellent care of us. Fairly priced diverse menu. The Fajitas and Sauteed JUMBO shrimp with garlic butter jalapeno sauce were the best!!! Next time we can't wait to try the Grilled Molcajete Bowl, which looked amazing! The fresh, warm chips went pefectly with the not to spicy salsa. The whole staff came out to sing "Feliz cumpleaños!" with a surprize complimentary dessert and commemorative sombrero! We loved the entire experience and will make this our go to place! My only critique would be that although the new pub tables & chairs are beautiful, they should offer some lower tables for seniors, handicapped, shorter or...