Many of you may have over the past twenty years visited the original Casa Bonita in Waukegan. On July 24th this Waukegan icon opened a second place in Libertyville on the corners of Lake Street and Milwaukee Avenue. Recently my wife and I have started to make it a point to go for a walk every Saturday evening after services to talk and enjoy each other’s company. On one of our Saturday walks, we were walking through the revitalized area of downtown Libertyville. We noticed all the new restaurants along Milwaukee Avenue and decided we would review one for this month’s newsletter. My wife loves good Mexican foods and when we saw Casa Bonita we knew we would have to try it. Fortunately the wait was only 25 minutes so we enjoyed the nice night and we even lucky enough to get a table on the patio, right by one of the heaters used on cooler nights. While we were waiting outside a very helpful server asked if wanted to order a cocktail or if we had any questions while we waited. We did choose to look over the menu so we could order right away when we were seated. Once we were seated, we were served some very nice homemade chips along with three different choices to dip them in, and guacamole, a spicy red sauce and a traditional salsa. Not being avocado fans we passed on the one but the other two were very nice, combined with the chips with just enough salt we were very happy we decided to wait. We first ordered a very nice appetizer of Queso Fundido a nice combination of Pico da Gallo, cheese and sausage served with tortillas. My wife ordered her favorite Chicken Fajitas and I went with the Pork Chimichangas. While both were good, neither were the best we have had. My wife’s chicken was a little bland and mine was a little dry but the pork had been marinated in a nice combination of spices. Of course each was served with refried beans and Spanish rice which was nicely seasoned and moist. Our server was friendly and professional even on a very busy Saturday night. Now even though this restaurant has only been opened for two months, the staff seemed to be working well as a team to ensure everyone was being well taken care of. I would have thought that the opposite would have been true, the service would be still working out the kinks and the food would be essentially a carryover from the original restaurant. The food, while good could use a little tweaking to bring it up to real authenticate Mexican flavor. Overall it was a pleasant meal in a nice atmosphere, with very good service. Would it be our first choice the next time we wanted a Mexican meal… probably not, but would we try it again, definitely. Every restaurant, does take time to come together and being only open for less than two months is hard to judge what they will eventually become. If they can last for over twenty years in the competitive market of Waukegan, I would bet on this restaurant becoming a winner.
Overall Rating 3.75 out of 5 cars
About Casa Bonita:
In 1957, Horacia and Isabela Lopez came to the United Staes from Moroleon, Guanajuato, Mexico. In 1969, they started a small diner in Waukegan, Illinois. In March of 1989, they were presented with a new business opportunity and were able to open a New Mexican restaurant at 1515 belvidere road in Waukegan, which they named Casa Bonita.
Combining some of their favorite family recipes and exemplary customer service, they soon became known as “Lake County’s Favorite Mexican restaurant” In 2003, with the passing of both Horacio and Isabel, the Lopez passed on the tradition of serving the same authentic food with the same excellent service.
They can be reached at:
Casa Bonita – Libertyville
633 North Milwaukee Avenue
Libertyville, IL 60048
Phone: 847-362-4400
