Mayan Palace Mexican Cuisine

I truly would’ve given this place one star if it allowed me to. It would only allow me to give it two. I am truly not sure why everybody thinks this place is so great. The food takes like it came out of a can or bag. The queso tasted like cheese whiz from a jar.
I will say the service was wonderful. The atmosphere is darling and the margaritas were good. I would recommend this place for drinks only. I love Mexican food and this place is steps from my apt so I was very disappointed. Eat somewhere else and then go here for drinks.

Came here for Cinco De Mayo and were seated relatively quickly around 6 PM with a group of 8 people. The margaritas pitcher seemed to get smaller in size with every order and our server seemed rush. I ordered the #1 Combination and the food was Meh. I really disliked the mole sauce on the enchilada. I’m also not a fan of double tortilla on tacos. The tostada was decent. We left after an hour or so and went to another bar down the street.

This is my favorite Mexican restaurant over all! Amazing food and awesome staff. Chimichanga suiza is my favorite. They never disappoint me. Always the best choice for Mexican food! Of course 5 stars !!

Came here for my birthday recently and had a really good experience. The waiter was so sweet and gave helpful suggestions.
The food was great, and fairly priced (especially for Chicago).
They also have a wide variety of margarita options and the two we tried were excellent. I do not think you could go wrong with any of the margaritas.

This place is the best. We come here whenever we crave mexican food — so… every other week. The salsa is spicy and margheritas are delicious, STRONG, and half off on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Get the chili verde. Also, Alberto is the man.

Based on the reviews, I thought this was going to be a delicious semi-​authentic restaurant. It was not. Nothing was gut wrenchingly horrible, but nothing was very good. I had an order of queso to start and was surprised to learn it was orange liquid cheese in a bowl with tomatoes and jalapeños on top. It had a strong taste of Velveeta and no flavor at all. I had a couple bites and threw in the towel. I ordered the veggie taco and a tostada. Both were, again, very bland. The beans had an off taste to them — I’m not sure what made them taste so weird. The rice was good. It seemed like everyone at the tables around me was really enjoying their food. The service was fine. This was a very middle of the road restaurant — not good but not horrible. If you’re coming here, expect a truly Tex-​Mex style dinner complete with Velveeta and bland flavor.

Good service. Seems like a popular place. The food was enjoyable. Hard to go wrong with Mexican and tasty strong margaritas. I reccomend it!

Wonderful spicy salsa (if that’s what you like) Guacamole was very tasty too and a fairly large portion.
The margaritas rock especially during the week when they have discounts.
The food is exactly the kind of tex-​mex/​Americanized Mexican food that hits the spot.
You may have to wait a bit for a table but if you do it won’t be long.

So I went here again recently with a large group. the food was quite a bit better. Idk maybe it was a one-​time bad experience. I’m going to have to go here once as and give it one more go to really figure out what’s going on.

Love the special priced margarita on Thursday nights.

Mayan Palace is awesome. You can’t beat the half price margaritas on Tuesdays and Thursdays! The staff is very friendly and the atmosphere is always fun. We held a combined bachelor/​bachelorette party at Mayan Palace with nearly 30 people and the service and food was great for such a large group!

We went in a group of 4 hoping for something authentic as the reviews had mentioned, but we were a bit disappointed. The nachos were pretty good, but the queso was pretty much ball game nacho cheese… which obviously is normally delish, but not at a Mexican restaurant!
The veggie enchiladas were ok… way too much spinach.
overall, it was a pretty mediocre experience

Some of the best Mexican food I’ve ever had. Walked in and this place was empty, but I don’t understand why. Delicious food. We got the chicken adobo, taco salad, and carne asada. Everyone was pleased and thought their food was amazing. Go here.

I don’t know what kind of Mexican food others have had but this was definitely not that great. And I’ve had ALOT of Mexican food all over. They had a huge menu that’s great for people looking for a variety of options but none of the items we got (queso appetizer, veggie enchiladas, chicken taquitos) was good. It lacked flavor and that authentic Mexican taste. The only tasty things we had was their house salsa and sangria. 2 extra stars b/​c The service was excellent and very friendly staff.
However, I would not recommend this place for authentic Mexican food.

Very happy to call Mayan Palace one of my solid go-​to spots in my hood, especially on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s when their margaritas are $ 4.00! And they are actually really good!!! Not to bash any other restaurants on this review, but this place is a million times better than Las Fuentes that is down the street…
The service is friendly, and all of the food I’ve tried has been delicious. My boyfriend and I usually just go on a Tuesday or Thursday and max on margaritas and order nachos, which is quite huge and so good.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, this place is great – half-​off margaritas, only $ 4. They’re good. My favorite is the frozen pomegranate.
I usually get a veggie burrito dinner, which is pretty good and filling. The salsa they offer with the chips is great.
The décor leaves something to be desired, but it’s definitely worth it for a late weekday dinner. Servers are really nice.

Was running errands in the area and between the heat and hunger popped in this joint for a quick lunch. The salsa was amazing. I got queso dip which was nothing special — will just stick to that awesome salsa the next time I go. I had the Chimichanga Supreme which came with a green mole and fresh sliced avocado on top. For the meat I got chicken which was perfectly cooked. Chicken is a lot like fish where just a minute too long you dry it out and it is a waste, Mayan didn’t fall into that trap.
The meals are served with the usual sides of beans and rice which added nothing but between chips, salsa and a healthy sized chimichanga, you won’t go away hungry.

Disclaimer: we’re from Texas, so we know both Mexican food and Tex-​Mex pretty well. Obviously, there will be some bias.
Started off with the queso. It was obviously regular old ball park nacho cheese. So it was okay, but not real queso. We both got lime house margaritas as well, which were too sour but strong. The gf then got a red sangria, which was okay, but very strong.
For entrées, we got the Mayan enchiladas and the Diablo steak. Gf absolutely loved the enchiladas, which had potatoes and chorizo. Tasted too much like breakfast food to me. The Diablo steak was good, but not what I was expecting.
Overall, as our second foray into Chicago Mexican food it was a mild success. It was certainly better than our first attempt. I don’t know if we’ll be back for the food, but we may just be for strong half price margaritas on Tue/​Thu.

I really like this place… great service and food! Never too busy. Oh and also the sangria is prime definitely will be back!

I don’t know if Mayan Palace is great at anything, but it’s good at a bunch… tried the burrito suiza with shredded beef, a round of the house chips and the frozen house margarita. All above average, and the suiza was great, huge, and it came out lickety-​split. (The rice and beans served with it? Total bust. Just not very good!)
The place was a madhouse for Cinco de Mayo this past Tuesday, but the ability of the staff to text those who are in the holding queue for a table is a big plus, and once we were seated, our server moved fast and brought a smile with each round of food.
I won’t be back to eat since I have great Mexican in my neck of the woods, but as a one-​off, glad I checked it out!

This place is the bomb. A friend and I decided to get together here as I was craving some food and some cheap drinks. Naturally tacos and margaritas sounded like a solid combo and Mayan Palace is conveniently located off the Diversey stop.
The interior leaves something to be desired since it was nothing fancy except for a bunch of tables lined up along both sides of the restaurant with the kitchen near the bar. For food, chips were instantly served up to the table alongside salsa. Great chips with plenty of jalapeño in the salsa.
Since none of the specials looked that appealing, I went with three a la carte tacos: steak, chicken, and shredded beef. Though nothing special, each one was enjoyable and quite large, being packed with meat, cheese, and sour cream. But damn you definitely don’t come here for the food. The margaritas here are delicious and STRONG. Half way through the tasty passion fruit drink, I was feeling it. Good stuff! Though the waiter was kind for asking throughout the meal if I needed a refill, one drink was enough for me.
Mayan Palace has got decent food but wonderful drinks. Come on a Tuesday or Thursday for 4.25 margs and since they have a patio I’ll be back when the warm hits.

Came here on a Wednesday night and got margaritas and skirt stead with something on top that was recommended. $ 60 pitcher of skinny margarita which was pretty good. I felt like the server was trying way to hard to up sell but everything was great! The ceviche was pretty good as well! Would defiantly come back to this place when I’m craving mexican!

The food here is very mediocre in my opinion, although my friends seem to eat it up. I just moved from Texas where lard and oil are king, so my palette is not used to anything less. The tortilla chips that accompany the meal are cut too thick and hence not light or crispy, but rather rubbery chewy. I had mole here once, and it was just altogether not very good at all, and smothered on some very dry shredded chicken.
What makes up for the lackluster food is the variety and yumminess of the margaritas! You can get any flavor of margarita under the sun, and on the occasions that I’ve had the fruity frozen margaritas, it’s been quite good. Alcohol content is not high, but the fresh fruitiness of it is great for a summer night. They also have a large open air party room and a small patio.

Solid Mexican food. Great service and strong margs. There guac is excellent and my favorite thing on the menu is the Steak Enchiladas Supreme. You really can’t go wrong with anything here.
We live close and regularly take advantage of the Thursday ½ marg special.

Craving Mexican, my Unilocal app steered me here. There are better options elsewhere, my friends.
Let’s begin with the chips and salsa. I enjoyed them, but the salsa was very spicy. Too hot for my lady friend.
I ordered the steak enchiladas. Instead of nice juicy strips of steak, they were little Tic-​Tac-​sized steak pellets. Disappointing. I did enjoy the rice.
I also went with a raspberry house margarita on the rocks. It was delicious and filled with raspberry goodness… but it was also WARM. I had to wait until the end of my meal to enjoy it once it had cooled down.
I fear my first visit to Mayan Palace will be my last.