Chillin at Chilo’s

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.

The hustle and bustle of the holidays is done, and we are left with nothing to do. The Midwest has now plunged into the dull, gray, deep freeze of winter. On the plus side, we don’t have to see our relatives for another year. On the minus side, Jim and I are together in a 1,200 square foot home with nothing to do, and it’s getting ugly. We finally ran out of holiday leftovers, some of which turned blue and fuzzy, so we decided to spice up our winter doldrums with some Mexican food. We bundled up in our finest arctic gear, jumped into the Mini-Mobile, and headed off to Chilo’s Mexican Grill in Crystal Lake.

To add to our enjoyment, the heater in the Mini-Mobile decided it was too cold to work, so we relied on the heated seats, aka, bun warmers, to prevent frost bite. Instead of being cooped up in our small but warm house, we were now cooped up in a small car with no heat. Any minute now this will turn into a crime scene. Luckily, we pulled up to the restaurant just in time.

Walking in we saw a bar, six tables, eight booths, and to our delight, a roaring fireplace in the middle of the restaurant. The hostess/waitress told us we can sit anywhere we liked, so Nancy chose the table for two right next to the fireplace where we proceeded to thaw out.

The waitress brought over to our table with our drinks, a basket of tortilla chips with salsa, and containers of red and green hot sauce to munch on. We snacked on these while we were defrosting and checking out their huge menu.

Nancy usually orders either the Chimichanga or Chile Relleno’s at every Mexican restaurant we go to. Today, she felt particularly wild and crazy and proceeded to order the #4 Combination Plate which consisted of 1 tostada, 1 chile relleno, and 1 cheese quesadilla ($13.95). You get your choice of meat with your tostada, and she chose steak. This meal is served with rice and beans but since Nancy has a strict no refried bean policy, she asked for extra rice. She particularly enjoyed the chile relleno since the sauce had a little kick to it.

Jim, in his youth, always chased skirts, so when he saw a skirt steak on the menu, he went after it. He ordered the Bistec Oaxaca ($19.95). This was a marinated skirt steak topped with chihuahua cheese and chipotle sauce served with refried beans, Spanish rice, and tortillas. The steak was tender and the sauce was very tasty, but be careful, it registered about a 7 on Jim’s “sweat head” meter.

We decided to top off our spicy meal with a sweet treat. We ordered the (4) Churros (3.25). They were served hot and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and dollops of whip cream. These were really delicious, especially when you dip them in the whip cream.

FYI: The restaurant is handicap accessible, but there is a small curb from the parking lot to the restaurant.

The cost for our arctic adventure was $46.47, fixing the Mini-Mobile’s heat and a new battery, $1,600…

Jim’s take: This is now one of my favorite Mexican restaurants. Watch out for the red hot sauce!!!

Nancy’s take: Their rice had a hint of garlic which made this my favorite Spanish rice of all time.

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

---

---