Allende Restaurant

I want to like Allende more than I do. I’ve been here a couple times now. The first time was based on Unilocal reviews of their breakfast burritos. Let me explain. I needed to bring some food for a morning work meeting. Having just moved here form New Mexico, the traditional think to bring there would be breakfast burritos. Seriously, that’s what people bring to morning functions. Especially really early functions. So, I looked around here and found Allende. I tried their chorizo breakfast burrito. Good stuff, seriously. Okay, there is no spicy heat in there at all, but you add in some of their home made red chile sauce, and you’ll get plenty. It’s good. Not incredibly traditional, with beans, lettuce and sour cream in there, but good. I got a bunch of them for the work even, and went home and made New Mexican Hatch green chile sauce for them as well. They went over well.
But then I came back and decided to try their burrito el pastor (a kind of bbq pork, typically slow roasted with pineapple and sauce and looking kind of like shwarma), and a chorizo tostada. This is where things started to break down.
The tostada was fine. Not bad, but certainly nothing to write home about. A crispy tortilla topped with chorizo, lettuce, two tiny pieces of tomato, one slice of avocado and a tiny sprinkling of cheese (seriously, like 8 shreds of cheese, not kidding).
The burrito was generally pretty tasty. Again, no spice, but their red sauce helped again. The bummer was the pork was so fatty it was kind of gross. A big bite of pork fat in my burrito is not my idea of a good time. And I definitely wouldn’t call it al pastor. If they are slow roasting it like they are supposed to, well, they need to change their recipe. And seriously, trim the pork better! Eww.
I should have gone with the chicken…

The food is affordable (for the area) and the service is decent. I can’t say I was impressed by the food, which was soggy and bland. I had the chicken torta and fries. If you’re looking for a quick, affordable bite, this place is definitely convenient and fast, though the taste and texture may not satisfy.

As far as greasy burrito places go, this one is about OK. I think It gets high marks from the many tipsy students who make their way around at all hours.
I live just down the street, but will walk about two blocks further to another burrito place unless I’m pressed for time and super hungry.
Pros: Everyone if very nice, food is quick.
Cons: Prices are high, ($ 7 burrito after tax that was smaller than most, and lacking meat) Flavors are pretty straight forward, and lacking.
Even for cheap burrito shacks, I think the quality could go up a bit. Kind of a take it or leave place.

The food was ok, no wait time.
They don’t give you chips and salsa– it’s extra.
It’s an alright place.
Their taco prices are much cheaper than other restaurants but certainly adds up because you have to pay for each item. There are no dinner plates where you get beans, rice, and tacos.
If you’re looking for dinner plates this is not the place, but certainly more cheaper than La Pasadita if you’re looking for just tacos.

why is it impossible to get a chopped jalapeño inside my burrito? I like it spicy… the waitress said they will NOT put the jalapeño inside the burrito as its their policy. I said whaaat? and asked why not… and she grunted that they just dont do that. Seriously, is that such a strange request? I dont want to take apart the burrito when they can just make it that way. Arrogant staff with a policy that doesnt make sense. I wont be back.

They could not be more rude. Also went there once and the older woman that works there refused to give me an extra side of salsa for my nachos. When I asked the table next to mine if I could use the big bottle of it on their table. They let me use it, but the woman working came out from behind the counter and took the container of salsa and told me I wasn’t allowed to have the to-​go container full of salsa if I had the bottle…
When I went to ask for it back, she told me I had to pay for it. I was fine with that so I got out a dollar to pay for the .90 cent salsa container and then she snapped at me and asked me why I wanted to buy it. What kind of raving lunatic starts questioning a paying customer about why they want more food? I told her I wanted it to take home but she didn’t seem to care and gave me a dirty look.
This wan not the only time I’ve received rude and terrible service here and I would highly reccommend Taco Burrito Palace #2 which is a 3 minute walk away on Halsted over this place.

The best pork tacos in Chicago. Mouth watering. No others compare. None!!! The best!!!

Great late night good, close to Dupaul University. The service is great too, very friendly. If in the area check it out.

I have been to this place at least a dozen or more times and I agree with the reviews that the staff has some very rude people and the food isn’t worth it for what it is. I’ve tried multiple menu items, and while they were ok, the quality isn’t very consistent, and again, the staff is just so unpleasant. Would not recommend this place.

I can’t believe I never went to this place when I lived two steps away from it! Man!
Perfect Mexican food. Fast, cheap, yummy. And open late! Obviously they get a crazy crowd being in the location they are in, but you know that when you walk in and when you party nearby.
I got a steak burrito and it came out in seconds. And the hot sauce was delicious! Pretty spicy, even for me! But I loved it.
Little humid in here, but I love me some heat, so whatever. I love me some McDonald’s late night, but skip that and come here instead.

Back in the day of my Lincoln Park partying days I used to come here on the reg. There was nothing like ending a heavy drinking night with some allendes! The salsa was killer back in the day. 7 yrs later I came back one night sober, and to my surprise it is still good. They don’t seem to give chips and salsa for free anymore, but the prices seemed to stay the same. Tacos are good, I usually get the vegetarian nachos and drown it with the spicy salsa. This spots not as greasy as tbk or other late night taco spots. Only downside is the place is pretty small. But this place will always have a special place in my heart!

Excellent burrito for a very affordable price. This place is really authentic and was exactly what we were looking for.
Unfortunately, my friend and I agreed it both smelled and felt like an indoor pool — kind of made the experience less enjoyable and we didn’t hang around after we finished. Still, a great place and we could tell it’s probably popular during the late night hours.

Disclaimer: I am from southern CA where you can get authentic Mexican food/​tacos very cheap on almost any corner.
I was visiting friends at DePaul when we went out one night and came back hungry. Allende was open, so we decided to go for it. I was really disappointed and grossed out. Nothing about this place was fresh or delicious. The lettuce looked like plastic, the cheese wasn’t even melted, and the meat looked like cat food. I got a carne asada burrito after looking at what my fellow Unilocalers order and was highly disappointed. Again, I come from the land of holy Mexican food so I can’t say I had high expectations, but wow this place is not good at all. I ended up throwing away my meal after two bites because it was making me sick.

I have yet to find a better drunk taco joint in Chicago. And trust me, I’ve looked. I initially found it back in college at Depaul, where I was minoring in being drunk and hungry, and I wish there were more places like it in the city. Especially close to me.
To be honest, I’ve gone here sober in the harsh light of day and it doesn’t quite compare with a lot of other quality Mexican restaurants in Chicago. However, it is fast, cheap, great food for any time after 1AM, and has since served as a sort of time machine for me. When the drunken college kids pour in around 3 AM, loud and full of the bravado of the nouveau-​drunk, I’m instantly transported back in time. A time where I had a crate full of ramen back at my dorm, a car that was a breath away from the scrap heap, many amazing friends living a stone’s throw away, and a great late night taco joint to go to at all hours of the night.
Don’t ever change, Allende’s.

If you’re in the DePaul area and craving Mexican food without wanting to spend too much, Allende is your place to go.
In terms of serving quality food, I didn’t think this place met my expectations.
I had a carne asada burrito and tacos. The meat was cut up in super tiny pieces and overall was salty to me. I thought my burrito had a disproportionate amount of lettuce compared to other ingredients. The hot sauce they give you was good though.
I wouldn’t go out of my way to come here again unless I’m in this area. There’s too many other taquíeras in Chicago to go to!

This place had the best carne asada tacos I ever had! I’m from California, where Mexican food is every where, and this blew me away! Besides the tacos, the customer service was unreal! We got there right before 3am (closing time) and they said they would stay open for us even though it looked like the stove was cleaned already. This was after Mughal Indian in downtown basically kicked us out at 10pm the night before (look for my negative review for that place).
Allende even took some people after us. Amazing tacos, amazing service… I might move to Chicago just to be a regular! Thanks guys!

Oh jesus this place is good.
Food:
I had an al pastor burrito suizo, and despite the great guajillo-​and-​pineapple Pastor sauce on the pork, it still had this wonderful charred pork taste like it had been grilled first. Their food is also cheap — incredibly so. Large burritos, you’d have to be hungry to finish them, definitely did the trick; but not so huge that you’d be able to get two meals out of them unless you were a very light eater.
Non-​Food:
Their service is fast, they’re open late. They’re completely unassuming. Tiny, standard looking mexican joint, big open window where you can see them cooking. Their kitchen is all up front, and you can see the ladies behind the counter hustling all hours that God sent their way; there’s something to be said about that as it lets you know they keep a clean shop.

Since this place is located near DePaul University, it is open late for all the drunk college kids to get their drunchies satisfied. My friend lived nearby so after a concert, we stopped by here at like 2 AM for some tacos and burritos. The line was out the door but service was pretty fast. I got 2 tacos and it came out to about $ 5. I was still kind of buzzed from my night out so I thought the tacos were delicious and ate them really fast. The next morning, I asked my friend if they thought the same and they said it was okay, not the best.
We are all from California so we are pretty spoiled with cheap authentic delicious Mexican food. Even though I was drunk, this place still did its job in satisfying my cravings so I would come here again if I am ever in the area and in the mood of Mexican food.

I cant decide which place is better, Allende Restaurant or Taco Burrito Palace 2. They are both open late, both have authentic mexican food. Its a nice spot to go for a couple tacos after having a few drinks! I always get the al pastor but when im trying to be a little healthier i get the chicken tacos!

Todos los días voy a este restaurante, tengo dos meses trabajando en la universidad DePaul, y voy todos los días a comer ahí a la hora de my lonche, siempre esta limpio y el personal es muy amable

Mexican food is always great late at night whether you’re drunk, sober, or somewhere in between. Allende is located in a prime spot right next to Lincoln Hall (music venue) since people are always hungry after a show. or at least I am! It’s a fairly small restaurant but I think that adds to its charm. When we first arrived on a Sunday night, it was packed and no tables were available so we left. My friends and I walked around Lincoln Park looking for another Mexican restaurant that had decent reviews and was still open, but there weren’t too many options. In the end, we came back to Allende and lucky for us the place cleared out. We ordered our food and service was super quick!
One friend and I both ordered carne asada burritos and my other friend had the huevos rancheros. The cashier/​waitress was super friendly and efficient which I loved. The burrito was very yummy but I don’t know if it had anything to do with our tiredness from searching for a restaurant, the alcohol, or because we had the munchies. The burrito came out to be $ 6.06 with tax and it was pretty large. I only ate half and saved the other for lunch! The burrito was filled with a good amount of ingredients and the carne asada was flavorful and not overcooked. I didn’t try any of the huevos rancheros but I’ll take my friend’s word that it was good!
Check Allende out if you’re at Lincoln Hall or in the general vicinity. I especially love that they’re open until 3am on a Sunday!