El Vado Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in McHenry

Of course I trusted Google when trying to find a place to eat before a show at The Vixen and being a big margarita fan, I was so excited to try this place! The reviews raved about the margs and that sealed the deal for me. Sadly, it did not deliver. While the margaritas were a great size, I've never had more watered-down margaritas in my life. Not only was there hardly any alcohol in it, the ratio of marg mix tasted like a toddler's watered-down apple juice. I was so sad.

A friend and I shared the chicken quesadillas and after we ordered, the food was delivered in literally record time--maybe 5 mins? Which in all fairness could be incredible...but the problem was that part of the meal was cold. The refried beans were literally cold (not even remotely warm) and the quesadilla temp was mid. The cheese was technically melted, but the chicken inside the quesadilla was hardly warm (weird, right?).

I appreciated the portion size of the quesadilla, but the temp it all came at kind of ruined that positive aspect of the meal. The chips and salsa were okay. I think both were homemade, but the chips were beyond greasy and the cups they gave you salsa in were made for children. You could hardly fit a chip in there!

The atmosphere wasn't for everyone. I will say it was "authentic," but it was quite loud and there was a fairly large (dare I say obnoxious) party on the other side of the restaurant that was fairly distracting and ruined the vibe a bit. You can't fault the restaurant for that (especially if they're regulars), but don't go expecting a nice place to have a conversation.

Service was great, but we had so many random workers come up to us asking if everything was okay, that I honestly don't know who our actual waiter/waitress was or who I was tipping! So it was hard to give feedback because I wasn't sure if it was a busboy, a waiter or a manager! I did tell "one" of the people about the refried beans and he kind of smiled and walked away. It was probably pointless to let them know our concerns.

Overall, I would not recommend this place. I had high hopes but will absolutely find another place the next time I'm in town. Nothing about our experience made me...

Not Door Dash nor in house service worthy . I spent $43 for two taco dinners, chips & salsa. The food not Great! Our Taco Dinners arrived swimming in water from lettuce that was not properly drained. The flour tortillas were drenched from the liquid. The Polla chicken and ground beef taste was very bland even though there was some red coloring on the meat. Oh my gosh the tomatoes, were not even ripe. My husband had yellow colored pcs and I found black bad pcs with insect holes. Please, please this is totally uncalled for. Please train your employees to not add tomatoes that are not appealing or possiably safe for the customer to eat. I ordered here because high reviews on door dash and now I see the truth here on Google. Some people think your great and others had bad experiences. I surely hope I don't get sick. As after my first Taco I was not feeling good. Also, your chips & salsa need to be upgraded. Corn chips are just that but yours are flour chips with very little corn taste to them. Yuck and the salsa is a pure cilantro bath. No worries. Will not ever order from your restaurant, establishment again. Plenty of better Mexican restaurants to go...

First let me start by saying this review is service focused. The food here is great, flavorful, and always hits the spot. Now, I am leaving a 1 star for service, we had ordered a taco rosa for a birthday party. It wasnt in the usual pizza box, it was just tacos in plain togo box. Lettuce and cheese in another box. This was not what we had normally gotten. When we called up the restaurant to explain that they had given us the wrong order, we were told that our order was still there. We explained were 40 minutes away and wouldn't be able tomake back in the same day. Maria said she would refund us the order and to keep the food we have, due to not being what we ordered. When I went back in to get my refund I was told that $1.74 was all I could get,even after telling us over the phone it would be a full refund. I did not argue with her as they were busy and was not trying to make a scene. I did tell her that this was the last time we would be in here. They have lost a customer and I will not recommend people to visit their restaurant. To me service is just as important as the quality of food. I am very...