Estrella Negra — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

I really wanted to love this place based off my first visit a month ago. Yesterday, early evening my sister, my brother-in-law and I went to estrella negra for dinner. I came across an Instagram post from the restaurant that advertised taco Tuesday(margarita and tacos for six dollars- no details on quantity). What a steal!! I know! WRONG!!! we get there and the waitress takes our order. I wanted to be sure about the promo so I asked her if the pricing is correct? She had no idea what I was talking about so I pulled up the post for her. After she reviewed it she stepped away to call her manager to confirm the promo as she was unaware. The manger didn't answer her call so she agreed to honor the promo at six dollars. The meal than would consist of three tacos and a margarita per person. Great! We placed our order for the 2nd time with a total of nine tacos and three margaritas. The waitress came back to our table 20 mins after we placed our order and tells us the manger had called back and modified the prices. Ha! So now the tacos would be three dollars a piece and margaritas at six dollars a piece. She preceded to ask us if we wanted to modify the quantity of tacos. So after all that of course we did! We ordered six tacos instead all with NO ONION! 30 mins later (now at 50 mins) we received our tacos and they all had onion. Since I refused to send my food back I decided to take the onion out myself. I was waiting for the waitress to check on our table and she didn't show her face. My brother-in-law asked her for the check and still didn't receive it after 15 mins of waiting. He took it upon himself to walk up to the bar area and ask for it instead. I'm beyond disappointed with the entire dining experience. Owners if your reading this.. do the consumers a favor and stop posting false promos! It hurts your business more...

Very nice place, and I'm definitely glad we went. It seems a little unsure as to "what" it is though, not that this is exactly a criticism. At first glance, it presents itself as a bar with a slightly strained "Dia de Muertos" design theme. But if you look at the context a little more carefully, you can tell that they really do take the concept of "Mexican American Pride" (and also "Member of the Community") quite seriously. And all that becomes secondary once the food comes out, seriously. Now, I'm not dismissing the bars that have a hot plate for burgers and a toaster oven for pizzas, they have their place. But Estrella Negra really, really is a restaurant in its bones, and it has a "real" kitchen and a really real chef who knows his stuff. Even menu items that are typically quite pedestrian in most places, thinking guacamole and nachos here, are elevated thoughtfully and made well. And once you get to the pozole, and you owe it to yourself to get to the pozole, anybody paying attention will realize this is more than a bar. I got the tamales, pretty much out of curiosity as I've never thought of that as a "restaurant" dish, and they were very good. Various other items were gotten by the folks in the party and everybody was satisfied. And just to prove that they don't completely ignore the expectations of "regular" folks, the Margaritas are very good too. To be clear, they lose a star for the location. The neighborhood is run down and parking is a major challenge (assuming you're driving, and we were). I'm not sure I'd make this a "destination" spot, but it absolutely deserves to survive the current crisis, and if I was in the area again I'd definitely drive around a bit to see if I could find someplace to...

update

4 weeks after going for the first time my experience was different this time… The guy server has been consistently nice the 3 times I’ve gone. No complaints about him AT ALL. There was a girl today that sits at the bar and BARELY helps the server when he has so many customers to get to and when she would “help” she had a very nasty look on her face and approach towards us. She would make me feel uncomfortable with any of my requests. I did notice she wasn’t that way towards every customer so that was a little odd. Also, the $14 steak torta had VERY little meat. It was pretty disappointing. We asked for hot sauce (for the torta) and instead were given salsa like the kind you’d eat with chips and it cost $1 for a salsa we didn’t even use because it’s not what we asked for… mind you it was the tiny little condiment cups. My opinion has changed about this place so pretty bummed about that. The chocolate tamale is NOT good at all. Would NOT recommend. Changing my rating to a 3 for my overall experience the 3 times I’ve gone. Not sure if I would consider going back. I’m HUGE on great service and the girls service really ruined it for me.

So glad we discovered this restaurant!! It’s definitely going to become a go to for me. I was obsessed with the pozole. Taste soooo homemade and delicious. The elote tamales are soooooooooo fire!!! Please add the limon! Owner’s recommendation and he was spot on. Food is 10000/10000 the green tea horchata is 10000/10000!!! Overall a great experience. Place is very welcoming and cute. I will be back most definitely and will be raving all about this place to all my loved ones. So please check it out and support your local family owned...