A vine-covered hacienda

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 the Sun Day.

A restaurant’s life is a very complicated one. It has its ups and downs, highs and lows, with new owners or management in control. Years ago, we loved a nearby Mexican restaurant, but as time went by, it fell out of favor. We recently received a letter bragging how good it was, so we decided after 26 years to give it a visit once again. We are referring to El Molino Mexican Restaurant in Carpentersville.

When you pull up to this vine-covered hacienda you are transported to scenic Mexico, and since it’s in the U.S., you can drink the water without repercussions.

The Mexican theme is reinforced on the inside in their two large dining areas. An interesting note, this restaurant has chairs with the highest backs we have ever seen. Jim felt like a Mayan King on his throne.

The waiter brought over a basket of warm tasty chips with a hot salsa (red), and a mild tomatillo salsa (green) for dipping. Caution: On Jim’s sweat head scale of one to 10, the red salsa measured a 42. I loved it, but Jim was sitting across from me sweating up a storm and his breath was burning off his mustache!!!

To start off our fiesta, Nancy wanted to torture me even more and ordered the Jalapenos El Molino ($12). 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 plate of the most delectable peppers we have ever had. They were not greasy, they were not that spicy, and because of that, you could taste all the ingredients. These Jalapenos El Molino were out of this world. Nancy said she could make a meal out of it.

Jim loves skirt steak, so he ordered the Bistek A La Mexicana ($24). This was tender pieces of skirt steak seasoned with green peppers, onions, tomatoes, and ranchero sauce. The skirt steak was delicious and the ranchero sauce is what made the dish. All entrees are served with refried beans and Mexican rice. He liked the refried beans, and said the rice was tasty. The dish comes with your choice of tortillas and he went with the flour ones. Dipping those into the ranchero sauce was an excellent complement. He took half of his dinner home in a doggie bag.

Nancy had to try their Macho Mexicano Chimichanga ($18). This was a ginormous chimichanga filled with your choice of filling and she chose the Machaca beef. It was topped with suisa sauce, guacamole, cheese, and sour cream. Nancy asked for extra rice, no refried beans, and hold the guacamole. This was indeed a mucho, macho chimichanga. The Machaca beef was shredded, tender, and delicious. Half of her meal also came home in a doggie bag. She said it was the BEST chimichanga ever!!!

To sweeten up our Mexican fiesta, we shared the Mulitas ($5) for dessert. This was a flour tortilla filled with your choice of peaches or strawberries (we chose the peaches), then deep fried and topped with cinnamon sugar and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. This was a sweet ending to a perfect fiesta.

This restaurant has now captured the “sombrero” as our favorite Mexican eatery. There is not one bad thing we could say about this restaurant, so if you like Mexican food, you MUST give this place a try.

FYI: This restaurant is handicap accessible.

The price for our Mexican fiesta was $69.22. Time for a nice long siesta…

Jim’s take: The seasoning in my meal was spot on and the flour tortillas were a nice touch.

Nancy’s take: Just give me their Machaca beef in any form and I am there. Next time, Chile Releno stuffed with Machaca beef.

Have comments or restaurant suggestions for the Dining Duo? Send them an email at: thediningduo@gmail.com

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