When you first walk into El Faro’s Restaurant #3, located at the corner of Lillian Street and McLean Blvd, just a short drive from Elgin Community College, you are greeted with a sub-par atmosphere to compliment the sub-par service. However, the food substantially makes up for where the environment lacks . Overall,  this is a very popular place for ECC students because of how close it is, however in these reviewers’ minds it does not come close to what everyone thinks it is, well at least in the atmosphere and overall feeling of the restaurant.

When we first walked into the restaurant, on a cold, rainy Wednesday in Oct. we were a little disappointed at what we saw and the mood we felt. The overall look of the place was not very eye-appealing and quite boring. The walls  looked a bit outdated, almost as if the paper was peeling right off the wall. We quickly ran into the issue of not knowing whether to seat ourselves or allow someone to seat us in a designated booth/table. (Observer Tip #1: You seat yourself.) The location of the actual restaurant, mostly the parking, deemed an even larger issue. The parking there is limited at best. If it’s busy, walking from across the street is recommended. After seating ourselves, we waited a short while before someone came over with chips and salsa, which we gladly accepted. The chips at El Faro had a great crunch and tasted like they were fried to perfection earlier that day. Two types of salsa were served with the chips: a salsa Verde, which is a green salsa that is usually a mild-to-medium heat, and pico de gallo, which is a chunkier consistency, generally very mild. Both were excellent but the Verde was a clear winner by the emptiness of the bowl as we finished our meal. El Faro had one of the best chips and salsa this reviewer has had in a very long time. Overall, we give the chips a 4 out of 5 stars.

After starting with the chips, we decided to order our drinks and main dishes. A little note for thirsty customers, there are no free refills there, which is sort of strange and unheard of since 80 percent of the time when you go out, you will get free refills. The first dish that we decided to order was two roasted pork tacos, “Al Pastor.” Overall, the meal was okay at best.

It came in wrapping that keep everything in it’s place, but the problem with “keeping everything in its place” is that once you open it, it all fell out, forcing the customer to pick it back up and put it back together with a fork. However,  the meal itself was really good and all the fixings (tomatoes, lettuce, and sour cream) made the overall dish much better. The roasted pork was nothing special and while treated okay, it didn’t make the dish taste any better or any worse. Overall, I would give this dish a 3 out of 5 stars.

Next up, a burrito suizo which is filled with all the standard fixings that is then topped with a red sauce and melted cheese. This burrito came loaded with steak, Spanish rice, beans, cheese and a bit of sour cream then smothered in a delightful red sauce and melted cheese. The steak was a bit flavorless on its own, which was a bit disappointing, but there was little gristle and it basically melted in your mouth, which more than makes up for it. The unfortunate problem that comes with getting a burrito is “burrito pockets” which is when each main part of the burrito is tucked away and you get a bite full of just beans or just rice. This isn’t to say “burrito pocket” is a sign of a bad burrito, it just means there is room for burrito improvement.

Overall, El Faro’s is a very close meal to ECC and that fact alone is basically the only selling point for this restaurant. In its entirety, the experience there was not bad, but it just wasn’t something that makes me anxious to return for more. The food was just okay at best good, the atmosphere was not eye-appealing and the service was sub-par. Overall, we would give El Faro’s #3 3 out of 5 stars.

*This is a review on El Faro’s #3 and not on any of the other El Faro’s Restaurant that are in the area.