Hacienda Los Jardines

Nice family atmosphere. Great margaritas. Not fancy, but reliable and consistent food and service. Carry out is fast and high quality.

After my review of Jardines last year, the manager contacted me and asked me to give them another try. Hacienda Los Jardines is a huge Mexican restaurant in the downtown area of Ottawa, Illinois. We arrived just before they were scheduled to close at 8 p.m. on a Sunday and took a seat outside.
The chips and salsa they serve are great! We couldn’t get enough. I started with a classic margarita, which is, of course, one of their specialties.
Having reread my last review of Jardines, I decided to go with the Fajitas Vegetarianas, which was a heap of marinated seasonal vegetables like red and green peppers and onions served with rice, beans, lettuce, tomato, and avocado. I thought the rice and beans were really nicely cooked. The tortillas were fresh and salsa was great. I was very pleased with my meal on this trip.
I will also give kudos to the server as she was very patient with our large group as she was cleaning up the restaurant towards the end of the night. We tipped her well.
They still offer a choice of veggies, soy chorizo, or cactus as vegan options. On the first visit, I found the soy chorizo to be a bit dry so I’d recommend the veggies as an alternative. All in all, it was a good time. On the next visit, I’ll try the cactus. Thanks, Jardines, for offering great Mexican fare in this small town.

I wish I could give the restaurant more stars but we were very disappointed.

Authentic, reasonably priced and delicious. We stopped in Ottawa after hiking looking for something quick to eat. We can never pass up Mexican food and were happy we found this restaurant on Unilocal.Good choice for lunch.

Tasty food — more for European-​American palettes, but still yummy. Great service and lovely ambiance. Definitely worth a try. Excellent margaritas.

It was pretty bad. The portions were tiny for the amount of food you received. The chips were not fresh and they were very stale. They overcharged us and when we brought it to our waiters attention. They simply said no. The kids meals were not enough to feed our 9 year old and he left hungry. Avoid this place if you can

We were visiting and thought this place looked good and were very disappointed. Chips are not homemade and you have to pay extra for anything — so watch out for them overcharging! Kids meals are a joke and my 3 year old left hungry after the 3 bite quesadilla we got for $ 6.
Lunch portion sizes are so small and just as expensive. They use fajita size tortillas not the normal burrito size most restaurants use so you get «3 enchiladas» but it’s 3 tiny ones that equal maybe ¾ of a normal size at any other Mexican restaurant.
Also I ordered chicken but they informed me it would be ground chicken in my enchilada so I changed to steak. The steak was tiny bits of the toughest steak I have ever had.
I hear the drinks are good but we didn’t try them. The service was average but I don’t think I would recommend this place to anyone.

I live in California and was very impressed with the Mexican food. I can get just about any authentic Mexican food in So Cal and this place really did a great job! The food had a homemade taste. I will for sure be back my next trip!

Ok Mexican food here. Tried the chicken fajita and thought it was decent. Mild flavor. Rice and beans were ok. Service was decent. The food is fine, but to me it lacks that something special that puts it over the top. I’d eat here again with friends, but probably wouldn’t be the one to suggest it.

The vegetable fajita was awesome! The décor is typical of a Mexican restuarant. Staff was very friendly. If it was summer, I would have tried the home made ice cream.

Not too many lunch options in downtown Ottawa on a Saturday so we decided to try this place. Most other restaurants/​bars in the area open late afternoon. The service was pretty good. Food was good as well. We had the tacos and tostadas lunch combo. Two pops and two lunch combos was only $ 19 so prices are reasonable.

The food here is really reliably good, the service is solid, and I hit it up every time I’m in town.

I just ate here yesterday. My friends and I had a great time.
Here are the goods: good food, good service and good prices.
That about somes it up. A woman in our party had a margarita, and she said that it was very good.
We watched the Bears game on one of their televsions. The waitstaff was attentive the entire time (3 hours). Also, great drinks and dessert menus. One of the better restaurants in Ottawa.

All I will say is that I ordered tacos, everything on it including cilantro. When the bill came they charged me for the sprinkling of cilantro on the taco. I asked why and they told me that they considered the cilantro on my taco the same as ordering a salad. That charge WAS removed from the bill and needless to say we will never go back.

Slow service, charging for extra chips and salsa are you kidding me? The food was not very good, bland! Hate to say it but I wouldn’t go back! Our waitress was nice but for there only being 3 tables occupied it shouldn’t have taken 35 minutes to get a bowl of soup and a wrap!):

Great food! Big portions! Service was friendly enough. We would go here again if we lived closer.

The homemade chips are good but they charge if you get an extra basket. The enchiladas are pretty small along with the gorditas. The chicken is not flavored.
We were taking salsa from the chips to spice up our meal a little.
Our waitress is still busy eating a couple tables over so I write this as we continue to wait for her to take our check.

tried this place 4 the 1^st time this weekend & i doubt i’ll be goin back. it didn’t suck big time but it wasnt anythin special either. the chips & salsa they give you when you 1^st sit down was ok. chips were not salted & didnt have any taste. the salsa had a little kick to it which i liked. but my food wasnt as food as i wouldve liked. i ordered the 3tacos with rice & beans. i got 2 steak tacos & 1 carnitas. all had lettuce & tomato but they seemed dry. they were pretty small and didnt have a lot of flavor. i had to add some sauce to them. the beans & rices didnt have a lot of flavorful 2them as well. my other friends werent that impressed with their meals as well. i was trying not to be judgmental of this place since its in a little ass town but i have 2 admit i didnt expect it 2 be that great. its 2 bad i was right. :(

The food prices advertised outside always seem fair and the restaurant area is very Spacious. In the past I have had take out here a few times and the food was nothing special but still pretty good.
The other night I visited for dinning area for the 1^st time and the special of the Day was ½ off regular Margareta’s.
Game on!!!
I selected the Mango as it was something that I have never tried before. While the flavor was pleasant… the alcohol content was next to nothing. I asked the waitress about the strength of my drink and I was informed that the top shelf brand had more alcohol, this was never brought up not was it advertised, if you order the regulars you might want to bring your own flask to spice it up.
I later made a return visit during the early Lunch hours and was appalled that there were no fewer than 4 little kids allowed to run around the dinning room screaming. I left before placing an order and I do not intend on ever returning.

I agree that the service was a bit slow and getting a refill was like pulling teeth, however the food was delicious. Our party of four each had tacos and they were accompanied by great rice and black beans. All around great food!