Jim and Nancy do not disclose the fact that they will review a restaurant before they attend, ensuring their reviews are unbiased and uninfluenced by their position with My Sun Day News.
There is a Mexican restaurant we have gone to for quite a while and we reviewed it three years ago. Suddenly the restaurant was closed for “remodeling” and we were thinking the worst. Lo and behold, we heard it had new owners, was completely remodeled, and is now even open for breakfast. We are talking about El Molino Mexican Restaurant in Carpentersville.
El Molino Mexican Restaurant
2112 Elgin Road
Carpentersville 60110
(847) 551-1602
elmolino1984.com
Directions: Take Rte. 47 to Algonquin Road East to Rte. 25, South to restaurant.
Estimated Travel Time: 24 minutes
The outside looks like a Mexican hacienda and the Mexican theme is reinforced on the inside with their two large dining areas and a huge bar in between. It was completely remodeled with new tables, chairs, and booths. The décor was much brighter than the old venue was. All of these changes were a welcome improvement.
The waiter brought over a basket of tasty chips with a hot salsa (red), and a mild tomatillo salsa (green) for dipping. Caution: On Jim’s sweat head meter on a scale of one to 10, the red salsa measured a solid 10, but still was very tasty.
To start off our fiesta, Nancy wanted to torture me even more and ordered the Jalapenos El Molino ($13). These were four large stuffed jalapeno peppers filled with cheese and deep fried, topped with ranchero sauce and sour cream. What arrived was a beautifully presented appetizer. They were not greasy, they were not that spicy, and because of that, you could taste all the ingredients. They even included flour tortillas to sop up all the goodness.
Jim’s favorite dish at the previous El Molino was the Bistek a la Mexicana ($28) and he decided to try it again. This was tender pieces of skirt steak seasoned with green peppers, onions, tomatoes, and ranchero sauce. He liked the refried beans, and said the rice was tasty. This dish comes with either corn or flour tortillas and he chose the flour tortillas. Jim was disappointed when his dish arrived and the ranchero sauce was missing. This is the key ingredient that brings the dish together. He brought it to the waitress’ attention who took it back to the kitchen and brought it back with ranchero sauce poured on top. Somehow, the dish was just not the same.
Nancy went with the Chiles Rellenos ($18). This was two poblano peppers stuffed with your choice of: machaca beef, chicken, or ground beef and dipped in an egg batter and deep fried. It was topped with ranchero sauce, melted cheese, and sour cream. Nancy chose the machaca beef for her stuffing and asked for more rice, no refried beans please. Her dish was delicious and she brought one pepper and half her rice home in a doggie bag.
It’s comforting to know that the new owners kept the high standard and recipes from the old El Molino. This is still our favorite Mexican restaurant even though they messed up Jim’s entrée. People make mistakes and his steak was tender and juicy.
FYI: We did notice a 3% service charge on our bill. Could it be that we were a table of five? We did pay with cash, so we’ll see next time if there is a service charge added for just two people. This restaurant is handicap accessible.
The price for our Mexican fiesta was $78.58. Time for a nice long siesta…
Jim’s take: Next time we go there, I might try one of their breakfast entrees.
Nancy’s take: Just give me their Machaca beef in any form and I am there. Next time, a chimichanga stuffed with Machaca beef.
Have comments or restaurant suggestions for the Dining Duo? Send them an email at: thediningduo@gmail.com
