El Canelo — Restaurant in Thornton Township

My search has, for now, ended. El Canelo is a diamond in the rough, and in my opinion a "must try" when it comes to authentic Mexican cooking in the South Chicago suburbs. I've spent a year searching for a place like this, but just haven't quite hit the mark with other locations. There's a lot of good ones in the area, but there's something very special about this place.

On the surface, it's simple and there's absolutely no fanfare. Basic tablecloths and unadorned chairs in a small but cozy dining area that is decorated by a few sombrero and colorful drapery. The TV is in spanish and nothing about the little diner seems to stand out, but the moment I walked in that was when I was sure this was the kind of place you NEED to try out.

I unabashedly adore Mexican cooking. But, to walk into a store where you find not "Beef, Pork, Chicken or Shrimp" but Carnitas, Al Pastor, Birria, Lengua, Barbacoa, Chicharron, Chorizo, Flank Steak, Shrimp and so many more options, there is an attention to all the countless meats that can be prepared and how they have such flavor. Your eyes will dizzy a little when you look at the laminated and brightly colored menu as eight or more protein options are there. You can just smell it a little walking in.

Fresh cilantro, mouth-watering pico de gallo, a variety of salsas to enjoy (none of them truly mild mild.), and the prices are right on point. This is the kind of little diner that you have to go into, not merely once but multiple times to try out how they prepare everything and to know what you'll enjoy most. The food here is excellent in quality and I will be back.

Started with the barbacoa. It's not actually on the menu, but there were signs advertising, so I knew they'd have it. Juicy, flavorful, stringy and delicious. They have Jarritos soda available because of course they do, and I recommend them as a nice complement.

Prices for a plate range around $15-20 USD. The portions are reasonable for the price, especially considering the variety of cuts available and the costs. This place is...

Giant margaritas, 32 oz to be exact, and some honey Mexican food were a great ending to a rainy Friday night.

It was pretty busy but we were seated quickly. We were greeted with a heaping pile of hot, crispy fresh chips with the perfect amount of salt. The salsa here is not too thick but packs the perfect amount of heat. The giant margaritas helped cool us off. They offer several sizes of margaritas but we decided to get the jumbos because why not?

The menu here is huge. Tons of options so I’d suggest extra time to go through it or take a look before you come. I ordered the Barbacoa tacos which are new to the menu. The plate came with 3 tacos and they were filled with meat. It also came with a side of beans and rice. This was a huge meal and was easily several meals for me. Part of the reason for this is also because as always I ate so many chips and salsa I had to take most of my meal home. It was delicious warmed up the next day for lunch. My significant other ordered the my special plate. It was a nice mix of shrimp, chicken and chorizo and came sizzling on a hot plate.

The servers were very attentive and were happy to bring out more chips and salsa as needed. We had a nice time and are always happy...

Hungry and ready to eat. Outdated place made it seem dirty. Waitress was very nice,fast and friendly. I wish I could say the food was the same. 1st order was a quesabrirria was okay ,6 out of 10 but the consomé was flavorless and watered down. 2nd order was some tacos al pastor WITH HAIR! 2 out of 10 they ended up re doing my meal but man I was already disgusted finding hair on my limon Hair on my tacos and the salsa had chips from previous meals so they reuse the salsa dips. Only one family besides us were dinning in should had left once we saw the place empty. But we wanted to give it a try for the first time. 3rd order was menudo 4 out of 10 But also found a small facial black hair on one of the meats. Over all honestly the best part was drinking can soda and paying...