La Mejikana — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

I’ve been to La Mejikana on multiple occasions and it has always been a great experience. The prices are a bit elevated, but this isn’t your run of the mill Mexican restaurant. There’s definitely more of a trendy/hipster feel, however the food mostly sticks to staying authentic with a bit of a twist here and there. The pastor wings are a must try! The chopped pineapple served with it has oregano and other spices that make it mouthwatering. The queso birria tacos are VERY good here. I’ve also had the burger which I thought was good for what it is (I’m a burger snob so it’s hard to please me there). The tampiqueña was tender and juicy. I’ve also had the aguachiles and stuffed pineapple which were surprisingly good considering they don’t come off as specializing in seafood. I’ve also had an asada cemitas that I enjoyed, although if you can’t get that right, the place probably isn’t that good. Drinks are decent and pretty standard city cocktail prices.

With that being said, I didn’t give a good rating because I just went yesterday and noticed they added Stuffed Chilaquiles to their menu. I was pretty excited to try these as I’ve never had chilaquiles this way. Two other people at my table also ordered them and it was a HUGE mistake. First of all they were not made with tortillas, they were made of masa. I could’ve looked past this had they actually been stuffed with cheese. There was barely any cheese in them! They also weren’t fried enough, so it felt like you were just biting into a thick piece of dough. The salsa could’ve been better, there was zero spice to it. All three of us were very underwhelmed with that experience. I figured I would bring them home to doctor them up, since we had so much leftover. That’s when I discovered that a lot of the pieces, in fact, had no cheese in them. When you’re charging so much for food, the quality really needs to be more thoroughly inspected. I’m not the person to return food, but this really...

If zero was an option, I would certainly rank it a zero. This place was CLEARLY racial profiling. They have come across the wrong one. Let me preference with saying that I am doctor with my MBA and I pay 28% in taxes. Upon entering this establishment, I sat at the bar with my partner who is Puerto Rican and I am Black. One of the persons behind the bar (a short, a little on the heavier side male) walked by us 10 times (I counted) and did not offer us water, a menu and hardly made eye contact. It took around 10 minutes for us to finally be acknowledged. One of the guys behind the bar asked the women behind the bar to ask us what we wanted to which she could be seen saying "I don't want to". We were finally greeted with a condescending attitude. Following, they catered to everyone at the bar besides us. It could not have been more obvious that we were being discriminated against. They must not have known that the person I was with spoke Spanish (or perhaps oblivious to how loud they were talking), because the heavier set shorter guy (same one mentioned earlier) made jokes in Spanish about our skin tone. We continued to be neglected as they treated everyone around us with respect. Perhaps most concerning, there was a guy sitting two bar stools away from us that was seemingly signing checks and did nothing to stop such mistreatment, but instead was complacent. As mentioned previously, this was OBVIOUS. There is no way that this could justified as a misunderstanding. I will be contacting my colleagues at the BBB to make sure that this not taken lightly. This is 2021, there is no reasoning for paying customers to be treated this way regardless of the way they look, how they choose to identify, and any other "ism's" of the world. We will not be back, and I encourage others not to dine here and hold this establishment accountable for such actions....

Work-in-Progress, casual DATE VENUE. Common Ingredients prepared well in temp and balance of ingredients.

CAUTION: Bar setup in NOT optimized for fast service in a way that drinks are prepared at the back end and ingredients are up front. Therefore, DO NOT expect your drinks to come sooner, but later it will show up. Lol

Single/Small ELOTE LA MEJIKANA 🌽 is the same as Street Vendors. Here, you can get it ANY time of day, with more cheese and balance of ingredients. It's $0.50-0.75 difference from the Street Vendors w/ taste guaranty. HITS the Spot doesn't it?

$3.50 LOMITO PLANCHADO TAQUITO/TACO (& Pescado) is the only worthy tack on the list. Ribeye was dry in nature, but not overcooked. Appreciate the Blue Corn Tortilla! Apple is MIA!

18-pcs of halved LANGOSTINOS 🦐 has worthy praises! Bread or Rice comes with it. If you eat with gusto (photo attached), you can make 3 meals (2 from Langostinos w/ side dishes of bread or rice, +1 from the sauce itself as a dip/condiment to Korean Enoki Omelette Pancake).

One and only dessert, CHURROS. Forget the overloaded cinammon sugar. Meh on CHURROS. Caramel with goat milk is the Star! ✨🌟 Suggested plating: (1) stack the CHURROS, (2) 2 separate small containers for Star Caramel, & Cinnamon Sugar. Fruits can have their pile as well, or wherever it lands on the plate.

🍸🍻🍾🍷DRINKS -- Impressive boiled flower, JAMAICA. Less ice, HORCHATA is the creamiest, smooth & best price of them all (can you make it hot and/or mix with coffee for perfect drink with dessert?). LOVE LOVE the flight of ALL MEXICAN BEERS! (Or, beer brands preferred by Mexicans). Choose wisely on COCKTAILS/TEY QUIRISI - I think 2 Booze Cocktails 👍👍 are worthy compared to Booze+Juice 😐.

Slow SERVICE is the norm for the neighborhood. Great for Dates. Bad, when it's...