Chi Chi Wannabe?

OK don't mock but back in the days of our youth, hubby and I used to go on dates to the Golf Mil Chi-Chi's. So now our anniversary is coming up and we were kind of thinking of trying to find a similar place. We likes the cheesey, Americanized Mexican food that we found there. So is there any place that would compare? I pass this place Lalo's all the time. Would it compare? Better is good as well. We just don't want to go to Pepe's or Taco Bell.

How about Chevy's Fresh Mex, the venerable Emeryville, CA based chain?

The have a location in Schaumburg, just adjacent to Woodfield Mall. I was at Chevy's only once in my four years as a Californian--for a work colleague's going away lunch. It was wholly unremarkable, but it exhibited a certain Mexican chain je ne sais quoi. Might be right up your alley.

Chevy's Fresh Mex
1180 Plaza Dr.
Schaumburg IL 60173
(847) 413-9100

N.B. Chi-Chi's Wikipedia page, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi-Chi's, is great. It features some details on the Hepatitis A outbreak that led to the chain's demise, as well as some variations on Happy Birthday that the staff would sing.

On The Border probably fits the bill better than Lalo's. The one I knew on Lake-Cook road closed a couple of years ago, but their website still lists locations in Vernon Hills, Naperville, and St. Charles.

Lalo's is probably a half step up the authenticity ladder from Chi-Chis. It might wind up being better.

I do not like Lalo's very much at all, but it very well might be just what you are looking for. You might want to look into Chevy's in Schaumburg also.

http://www.lalos.com/

http://www.chevys.com/frameset.html

What I miss from the same level of Mexishness is El Torito. Thing1 said his first complete sentence there, and they had some stuff which was actually pretty good.

Was that the place kiddie corner from the bunny hutch?

jonathanlehman wrote:N.B. Chi-Chi's Wikipedia page, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi-Chi's, is great. It features some details on the Hepatitis A outbreak that led to the chain's demise, as well as some variations on Happy Birthday that the staff would sing.

Following this link, I came across another, more peculiar website, at least to me: Creepy, Abandoned Chi-Chi's. Weird.

Is Don Juan's good?

JeanneBean wrote:Is Don Juan's good?

I assume you mean the Don Juan's in Edison Park? I work in Rosemont and occasionally make it over there. I think the food is pretty good, and much, much better than any of the Americanized-Chi Chi's-type places. And please don't get me wrong, I really don't think that the food is dumbed down or Americanized. In fact, many of the dishes are pretty creative.

Don Juan's
6730 N. Northwest Highway
Chicago, IL 60631
773.775.6438

Thanks for all of the input! I was on the computer looking up places last night and I worked my way to a place that has all of the criteria we want. I know it seems silly to some but we only get out alone about 3 times a year! I wanted either nostalgia or a place I've never been. Nice atmosphere.Fun drinks. Reasonable prices. ( we have a 75 $ limit). At first we thought Mexican. We were not in the mood for Italian. Then Hubby mentioned a nice area that he is working at a job site in. So I started another post looking for nice places around there. That led me to some website that lists TONS of Chicago menus. So we had fun browsing those. We would check out a menu and then cross -reference it with LTH to see if it was good. You could browse by ethnicity. German caught our eye and we debated going to Brauhaus. So I was telling Babysitter (AKA my mom) some of our ideas and she told me about his really good Hungarian place that used to be right by her house. She said the food was basically German-like. (Our fam is Austro-Hungarian). But she said it was no longer there. I asked her what it was called and she said Paprikash. So I looked it up on LTH and it actually moved to Arlington Heights. I checked out their website and it looks tasty.Plus, it meets all of the criteria that I am looking for! That is our decision for tonight. Wish us luck!!! Thanks fro all of your help!