Patron's Hacienda - Chicago

This was my second visit to this restaurant. I enjoyed my first visit more. The service was very good, but unfortunately, the food arrived cold.

The service was very attentive, and they had fantastic happy hour specials on appetizers and drinks. I had some sangria and delicious guacamole, while my friend ordered the chicken mole. The steak quesadillas were tasty but a little too greasy for my liking. Despite this, we had a great dining experience overall thanks to the friendly and efficient server.

We made a reservation for a table of 7 on Cinco De Mayo. It can be challenging on a busy holiday like that, but we were seated early. We appreciated that there was no fuss about the whole group not arriving right at 7, which was nice. The food and drinks were excellent as always. However, there were some issues with our order being correct. It may have been due to the added noise from the holiday or our server, but it was annoying enough for me to deduct a star. The highlight of the night was the 9-piece Mariachi band that performed for the occasion. It was a really nice addition to the atmosphere of the restaurant.

The large red lamp shades make the bar side of the place more interesting. Decent Mexican food including a couple of nicely cooked skirt steak offers the carne asada was quite flavorful and surprisingly tender. The carnitas tacos were tasty. The queso fundido w chorizo was good but the proportion of chorizo to cheese was off needed more than a sprinkling of chorizo. Did NOT appreciate the waiter bringing two cadillac margaritas at $12 each when I ordered the House traditional margarita. To make the matter worse, the cadillac tasted no better than the traditional and just somewhat bigger in goblets as oppose to a glass at a significant mark up. Crazy busy on Cinco de Mayo. Should have paid more attention to what was served.

Very spacious. Separate bar and dining areas. Very happy having gone in not knowing what to expect. Not fancy, but good, chilled atmosphere with tasty drinks.