Garcia’s Restaurant

We dined at 9:30 pm. Service was slow… Waiter was non excistent. Food was mediocre… I have a litmus test when it comes to Mexican food. If I get heartburn afterwards it is not real Mexican… Guess what gang. I got heartburn… Hasty LA Vista baby. No more Garcias… Next time I will take my chances with Taco Bell.

All I can say is I was not disappointed by Garcia’s at all.
Came around 9:30 pm after work and I was surprised to find that the place was packed with people on a regular Tuesday night. The good thing is Garcia’s has good enough space to accommodate lots of people.
Pros:
— seated and had our orders taken immediately
— water/​chips and salsa were served promptly
— our orders came out after what felt like only 5 minutes but everything was hot and delicious
— they have options for vegetarians! A+++
Cons:
— the salsa for the chips didn’t taste very fresh, also had a weird sour/​tangy after taste
— not the fault of the restaurant but some of the patrons watching the game at the bar were so loud cheering/​screaming it literally kept scaring the rest of us trying to enjoy a meal. LOL The place is pretty big and does carry and echo.
I ordered the enchiladas and was very happy to see they offered veggie options such as spinach and mushrooms for the fillings. 4 enchiladas with rice and beans and two filling options for $ 11 is a steal.

The food was ok nothing too good nothing too bad, we ordered some tacos. The chicken one was the best… The service was slow but the server although she forgot a lot of things was nice… The mango juice with milk was good.

Came here a few times before a pretty spacious area and very loud music usually. But this time it was pretty busy waited for a good 45 min before being seat because it was that packed.
Ordered and everything else went smoothly. Good was great and all but felt a bit rushed in the end. Couldn’t blame them it seemed to be a busy night.

Garcia’s is a very safe place for a get together because it’s spacious, has a menu with options for everyone, and is in a great location. The décor is so fun, the drinks are good, and I’ve always received great service. However, the flavor of the meat is super bland and that makes me so sad! There are so many hole in the wall places in Chicago with much better flavoring, but Garcia’s has the superior environment. I do enjoy going there on a beautiful day and sitting out on the patio because you have the great Lincoln Square vibe all around you. Make sure you look for parking on Western because Lincoln is always packed and the restaurant has an entrance on both sides.
I guess you can’t have it all!

I came here with a group of friends back in January, and we didn’t have a reservation. We had a group of 6 or 7 people and when we walked in they said it would be at least a 45 – 50 minute wait. so one of my friends gave them his number so he would get a text notifying him when we got a table. It was barely 20 minutes when my friend got the text saying our table was ready.
I absolutely LOVE Mexican food! And Garcia’s has REALLY GOOD Mexican food. Not too expensive, and the food is definitely worth every cent!
Only draw back is that it is pretty noisy, so not the best if you’re trying to have a conversation.

Vibrant Mexican restaurant in the heart of Lincoln square. Fills up on weekends and most evenings so you might have to wait around for a couple of minutes but totally worth it. The food is traditional Mexican with little American substitutions.
Pros:
— house margaritas are inexpensive and potent
–portions are huge and menu prices are reasonably priced
–chips and salsa is complimentary
— friendly staff
Cons
–parking
–limited seating
–fairly noisy and crowded

Not very good at all. I wouldn’t recommend this place. The 3 of us had the guacamole, vegetarian combo, #3 combo, and taco salad. None of us really liked our dishes and the guac was just ok.

HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE. Living in the area, my and my bf (used to) frequent Garcia’s regularly. We decided to go there on a Saturday for a date night (we wanted to eat-​in rather than getting our usual take-​out).
Well, we walk in around 6:30 and stand by the «Please wait to be seated» sign. 10 minutes go by and not ONE employee even acknowledges that we’ve walked in, or that we’re standing there. Literally dozens of different waiters, busboys, and hostesses walked by during that time, and no one even bothered to greet us or tell us someone would be with us a in a moment.
Finally, after 10 minutes of just standing there looking like idiots, some random woman who’s sweeping asks me if we’ve been helped. I say no. She goes and gets the hostess. The hostess tells me, it’s going to be a 25 minute wait, is that ok? I say ok. She puts my name on her list.
50 MINUTES GO BY. We still have yet to be seated. By bf hunts down the hostess and asks her, «You told us it was going to be 25 minutes, now it’s been 50 minutes, when are we going to be seated?» (at this point we’re both starving). She replies «Well, I told your girlfriend 35 minutes and anyway you’re next on the list.»
She did not tell me 35 minutes, she told me 25 minutes. AND either way it’s now been 50 minutes, double the wait time she quoted.
So, we’re both pissed now. But we’ve come this far, so we might as well wait since we’re going to be seated next.
It only gets worse.
10 more minutes pass and the hostess walks by again, my boyfriend asks again, «It’s been over an hour now, when are we going to be seated?» The hostess leaves for a few minutes then comes back and asks «Do you want to eat at the bar? No wait.»
NO I HAVE NOT BEEN WAITING 60+ MINUTES TO SIT AT THE BAR, BUT THANKS.
We politely tell her «No we want a table.» My BF then notices there are a few empty tables within sight, and he asks «Why can’t we sit at one of those?» And she literally just says «No.»
So…my boyfriend tells her this is ridiculous, you told us 25mins, at this point it’s now been AN HOUR AND 10 MINUTES. And we haven’t been seated. She says «Yah, I know, sorry.»
I tell her to take our name off the list and we leave, starving.
I have never in my life had a worst customer service experience. BEWARE, DO NOT EAT HERE. They are rude and don’t care about their customers, clearly.
There are sooooooo many better Mexican restaurants in the area anyway, forget Garcia’s.

Solid, decent Mexican food in Lincoln Square. Don’t come in expecting your life to be changed, but if you need tacos and margaritas, they will get the job done.

Garcia’s — and if you slightly rearrange the letters, it becomes Gracias — is a great Méxican place on the north side of the city. Know going into this experience that parking can be challenging to find. However we found a «hidden» pay lot just south of it with the same kiosks that line the city’s streets. So, parking for two hours was about $ 4 and better than circling the block endlessly searching for parking.
Inside Garcia’s — definitely not a place if you’re seeking a quiet romantic meal lit by candlelight. Very loud! Lots of families and children! But also scads of Méxicans dining there, so it must be good Méxican food, right? Definitely. This was some truly excellent cuisine. The menu is large but manageable. We chose horchata, tacos (beef and chicken with a variety of toppings), a burrito that we split, and they bring out chips and salsa at the beginning. One thing I really liked was that they brought small plates with this, thus eliminating the «community salsa bowl» which I find kind of gross when there are multiple diners at the table. The chips were great and didn’t taste «mass produced served from a bag» as is the case in some Méxican places.
The main courses were excellent. In fact the soft corn tortilla tacos were among the best I’ve had, even off of a street cart in Guadalajara. Service was excellent and fairly quick. The place is bright, airy, very clean, but as I started, very noisy. Fiesta time!
Highly recommended. I will absolutely return, and soon!

Love the food here. Especially the fish tacos!
Parking is a drag, but that’s Chicago’s New World Order.
Wish they could do something about the noise level, tho. Meeting friends on a Friday night for dinner means straining to hear someone sitting right across the table.

I think this is one of the best Mexican food restaurants I’ve been to in IL by far. My family really enjoys coming here often.

Stopped by this place for a late night dinner and even though we came in at about 1am, the place was still buzzing with hungry people. First off, the staff was incredibly welcoming and warm. We got seated right away and devoured the delicious chips and salsa. I ordered a vegetarian combination plate and my two friends ordered burritos. So I just want to take a minute here and talk about the burritos here. Never in my life have I seen a burrito the size of a small baby. The burrito was literally bigger than my forearm! That thing was nicely crafted and can be eaten for two meals or split between friends. I like that you have a lot of options when it comes to how you want to dress up your dish!
The food was very good and the portions were large so we ended up taking some of our food to go and eating it again the next day. The prices here are also very reasonable for the amount of food that you get. I would definitely come here again the next time I have hankering for some Mexican cuisine!

Came here with a couple of friends for a late night dinner. It was still pretty busy for being past 11:30PM on a weekday. From the minute we walked in, we had excellent service! The waitstaff was super friendly and always made sure that our drinks were filled. They also give you chips and salsa. The salsa was quite good!
The menu is huge. It took me a while to decide what I wanted but in the end I ordered the burrito with eggs and chorizo with the added avocado and sour cream for a dollar something extra. It was still under $ 10 for a huge burrito that lasted me two meals! It had a good amount of meat in it and wasn’t just all beans and rice like other places. It also held up really well in the fridge and was just as tasty for lunch the next day.
Overall, would recommend if you want Tex-​Mex in big portions for a decent price. They’re also open relatively late, even on weekdays!

It’s weird — the only time I’ve been to this Mexican restaurant is when I’ve been in the area for German events. See, Garcia’s is right across from the DANK Haus and there’s only so much «watching octeneagerians slow-​polka to the oompah version of Ring Of Fire» a body can take before they say «fuck this, I need tacos».
And so it was last night — the event we were at was dragging and there was little to nothing for food available. Enter Garcia’s — they were very nice to our party even though some of us (not me) were wearing weird German Karneval hats and clearly had been hitting the Spaten Optimator. The interior is fairly generic but very clean — especially the bathroom which is appreciated.
I went for the 2 taco dinner which netted me 2 VERY generously filled tacos, rice and beans for a mere $ 7. I’m serious — those tacos were piled high and pretty tasty too. Rice and beans were «meh» — the beans in particular tasted like something from a can. Margaritas on the other hand were pretty great — I opted for the Don Julio version ($ 13) which was absolutely huge — at least a ½ liter’s worth. And there was plenty of liquor in there too, so yay!
Overall, I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat here as I know there’s much more authentic Mexican available, but I’m sure happy they’re right across the street from a place I get dragged to a few times per year.

I loved having dinner here! Our server was very nice. The chips and salsa were fresh (chips were still warm). The flautitas appetizer was very good. Our food came out at a reasonable time. My burrito was flavorful. The horchata was good and creamy (which was nice for a change because a lot of other places water it down).
We also had a mango margarita pitcher. No complaints. Can’t wait to visit again. Thank you.

This place is deal if you love cheap Tex Mex and *massive* portions! The chorizo burrito I ordered was about the size of a small infant and was stuffed to the brim with chorizo — they definitely didn’t skim on the meat… and the best part? It cost a whopping $ 7. The frozen marg I ordered was also huge — one of those, and you’re instantly drunk.
The only qualm I have is that the chips they served were kind of flavorless and gross, but I’m not a huge fan of corn-​based tortilla chips.

Absolutely wonderful. Absolutely. Go here! The staff are friendly, professional, and really helpful. I sat at the bar and at the suggestion of the bartender I tried the CHICAGO’S BEST burrito. One word: AMAZING. OK one more word: FANTASTIC. OK last word: DA BOMB! Prices are super reasonable; I had the burrito (which was HUGE, btw) for $ 10 and a house margarita for$ 6.50 (which was so HUGE and stiff I couldn’t finish it). Definitely worth the money and the time. Will be returning for great service and food.

Well today i had a group of 14 but a few didn’t show. only about 11 showed… but as we sat at the table about 10 – 20 minutes we all realize we didn’t have chip and salas. So i went up to to register and sad something. wait let me back up i was the first to order my drink but all my friends got theirs but i didnt so i had to ask for my drink again… wow the i dont about Garcia’s they slipping… then we were ask to leave because they had another party. this is a first… t
This reservation was in the afternoon. it was about 6pm andbthe restaurant was not croward at lrr. so disappointed

Para comida mexicana este lugar es mediocre. Las bebidas es otra historia, disfrute margarita. Las bebidas es la única razón para visitar este lugar. El servicio fue terrible ninguna atención necesaria. La mejor parte de la noche fue la selección de música.