El Xangarrito

This place is SO good! We loved our server and he did a great job explaining the dishes and providing suggestions. We unfortunately didn't get any pictures because we dug in immediately when we saw the food. This is a small place with a few indoor seats with more patio room and BYOB. I cannot express what a fun time we had here with our server and how good the food was. You can tell how passionate the staff are and how much they care about their craft.

The food was good. It's BYOB which we did not realize in advance. There is a liquor store down the street which is handy if you need to get drinks. The outdoor seating was nice. The service was good.The Mole sauce was delicious. I have never had rice in my chicken tacos before.That was unusual to me but they tasted good none the less.

By far best Mexican food in the city. Authentic, delicious, well plated, beautiful ambiance, and amazing and genuine service. I would bring my abuelos here.

We came here on a Friday night. From the outside El Xangarrito looks like a small storefront with some tables scattered around the entrance. Inside it is tiny place with tightly packed tables and an open kitchen. We had reservations at 8 but we waited about 10 minutes to get seated. We chose to sit inside. Once seated, they handed us a small menu. It is a BYOB restaurant and we were about the only ones who didn't bring something. They brought us some water to drink with some tortilla chips with yellow sauce that was not very interesting, no spice or heat. There are a few vegetarian options available. We ordered a couple of appetizers, plantains with mole and veggie quesadillas. They arrived about 10 minutes later. The veggie quesadillas were the star of the evening. My friends said the plantains were well made. I had the veggie enchiladas, my friends had the chicken mole and flautas en mole. Our entrees arrived about 15 minutes. Everything looked wonderful. My veggie enchiladas was covered in a red tomato sauce. The sauce was a little bland but not bad. My friends said the same. They both had mole based dishes and said it was missing the spice and heat level of a normal mole. We have eaten in several cities in Mexico and the one thing you can't say in Mexico, that the food is not spicy and hot. The food here tasted very subtle, not bad, just not what we expected for Mexican food. You don't go to a Thai or an Indian Restaurant for a dumbed down version of those countries cuisines, you go to experience a taste of that culture and their cuisines. Overall great service, interesting atmosphere, tight dining area, the food could have been better for this price level. I don't think we will return.

El Xangaritto translates to "The Small Shop". Which is very appropriate because the restaurant is really small. There are only about 8 table settings inside and it feels very cozy. They do have outdoor patio seating which will come in handy on summer days. The restaurant has the vibe of a nice neighborhood spot. Parking isn't too hard, there is plenty of street parking on the side streets, and paid parking on main streets.I recommend making a reservation ahead of time because it's so small. And if you do you'll be welcomed with a table with your name and reservation time. Service was excellent, our waiter Eric was real nice and attentive. And a girl came around often to refill the water. The food was equally as good. We got the Mar Negro (Black Sea)ceviche to start. It's a shrimp only ceviche that that has a small kick and sweet mango in it. Really light, refreshing and a great appetizer. For mains we tried the Carne Asada and Al Pastor tacos. The carne asada might have been some of the best I've ever had. It was really nicely marinated, juicy and perfectly cooked to a nice tender medium. The al pastor tacos were super packed with pork, more on the dry side but they come with pineapple and some pickled onion and cilantro to add flavor, on some home made corn tortillas.Finally for dessert we had the lava cake which was hot ( not too sweet) and decadent with rich vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, blueberries and strawberries. It's the ultimate combo and really hit the spot, we basically licked the plate clean. El Xangsrrito is a cozy neighborhood spot with well thought out and prepared dishes comparable to some of the finer restaurants. If you're looking for quality Mexican that might have a slightly different twist this is the sport for you. I'll be back to try other dishes.

Amazing food. Before ordering I read the Yelp review that stated the mole was not spicy enough. The owner wrote a kind response asking the diner to return and request the mole be spicier. As he wrote, it's easier to spice up a dish than make it more mild. So I asked for the three flautas with mole to be "spicy un poco" (limited characters in online order form). It was perfect. A nice kick and a deeply flavored mole. There's no lack of great Mexican food in the neighborhood but this place is head and shoulders above the rest. Although I ordered take out the outdoor seating area was very nice and the inside looked very nice as well. And BYOB! The accompany beans and rice were also filled with flavor. My new favorite Mexican! Will be trying all the entrees.

What a treat for the family! El Xangarrito in Chicago's Ravenswood Manor delivers authentic, homemade Mexican cuisine in this lovely neighborhood spot. Ample patio seating & super friendly staff. Your chips never go empty. Highly recommend - Fried plantains - sweet, crispy, caramelized goodness - Shrimp enchiladas in creamy shrimp sauce with jicama salad - Chicken mole is their signature dish with one of the best dark, rich mole sauces!!

If you love mole , and I LOVE MOLE, I have found my new favorite #Mexican restaurant in the city right near Lincoln Square. They have a delicious pollo en mole dish which is one of the best I have had . The mole is so rich you don't want to waste any of it. It is served green beans and Mexican rice which is the ideal accompaniment. Service is great here and servers are so thoughtful and friendly . They even brought out tortillas to eat my dish in. Highly recommend you call for reservations since they have limited space inside and outside. BYOB . #mexican #northside

Recently had an amazing dining experience here. Service was absolutely impeccable. The atmosphere in restaurant is small yet beautiful. I didn't feel cramped and loved the lighting. Food was amazing. We had the ceviche (you must order this), fundido (delicious), steak/enchiladas (must order) and blackened salmon in mole (also great) the price point was so reasonable with quality of food and byob made it an even better deal. I can't wait to come back

I made a reservation last evening for 2 people at 8:15 inside. Upon arriving it was very busy but there were 2 tables free inside and we waited for 15 minutes until we were told that we would not be seated and the kitchen was closing, even though the hours stated that 10:00 was closing time. Needless to say we were extremely disappointed and had to find another place to go, which by that time was quite difficult. I can't imagine why the staff would accept a reservation and then not honor that request, especially when there were 2 tables available. Very sad because I've enjoyed the restaurant on a prior visit, and I had a friend visiting from out of state that was looking forward to the experience.