Authentico Mexican Restaurant in Lake Forest

When driving southbound on Western this evening, I noticed a lot of folks in the little courtyard area in front of the Prudential Rubloff building. I spun around the block to confirm if a restaurant had opened up under my nose. Sure enough, Authentico Mexican Restaurant opened up with from what I could tell, not much advance publicity. I always hear about new spots, especially one a mile from my house. We are in uptown LF daily, and on Saturday morning walked all over after the farmer's market and still missed it. It looks like they have a nice outdoor area.

I will try to get over soon.

Authentico Mexican Restaurant & Bar
770 N. Western Ave.
Lake Forest, IL 60045
847.295.3500
http://www.authenticorestaurant.com

Hours of Operation:

Dining: Sun.-Wed. 5:00pm-9:30pm
Thur.-Sat. 5:00pm-10:00pm
Bar: Sun.-Thur. 5:00pm-11:00pm
Fri. & Sat. 5:00pm-1:00am

Al, I like how you call it "uptown" LF. I grew up in HP, and though we called its business district along Central Ave "the downtown area" or "downtown Highland Park," when we were going there we'd say we were going uptown. "Going downtown" meant going to Chicago.

As you can see this is my first post but wanted to try and give something back to a forum that has provided several hidden gems. They have been open about 4-5 weeks, with lines at the door many nights. We had a reservation for 6.30 on a Thursday night three weeks ago and our group of three adults and two young teenagers were seated within 5 minutes in a large and comfy booth.

We liked the order of fresh guacamole (it easily took care of 4+ people). They have a fun flight of margaritas that includes three ~5oz samples. The two non-traditional were ordered as full drinks for a second round (I had the pomegranate - i think?). The cornmeal-crusted calamari was not as big of a hit, not sure about corn meal as breading for this dish (I far prefer grilled calamari). Did not get to sample much of the other dinners meals (as all plates were cleared by the respective owners) but really enjoyed my pescado's #3 (firm but not too) with corn tortillas and a light salsa. A chef (the Chef) walked by and noticed I was looking for some more salsa and brought out what he said was a special sauce for heat lovers - yes it was! Daughters had the burrito (carne) and braised pork tacos, the pork tacos got raves and the burrito was cleared except for a piece of tortilla. We ordered three deserts, the bread pudding was very good, and the other two I did not have a chance to sample.

They make special note of glutton free and vegetarian items on the menu. Two or three friends say they had slow/poor service but we had the attention of at least two servers+ and did not want for more attention (it is also the first month of operation). Total tab pre-tip was $135 dinner for five, including 2 aps, 3 beers, and 4.5 margaritas. It's a good addition to LF as a dinning choice and we may return, although after a few more visits to my favorite local restaurant just 2 miles north.

Al-
They didn't have a particularly well publicized opening, but I am surprised that you didn't notice earlier. The window had been papered over for months, and there was a small sign announcing the restaurant there for most of the summer. I have only been there once, and while I thought that the food was good, the service (we were there on a very busy Tuesday night) still showed signs of opening pains. We had a group of 10 and they got 2 of our orders wrong and forgot a 3rd. They quickly fixed the problems, but there was a decent amount of confusion. Drink orders were forgotten, etc. My fish tacos (grilled mahi) were very good, particularly the homemade tortillas. I suspect that they will do well there, unless Chipotle opens in the old burger king space and pulls in all the kids.

c7umpm- what is your "favorite local restaurant just 2 miles north?"

-Will

Katie wrote:Al, I like how you call it "uptown" LF. I grew up in HP, and though we called its business district along Central Ave "the downtown area" or "downtown Highland Park," when we were going there we'd say we were going uptown. "Going downtown" meant going to Chicago.

When I moved to Highland Park in 1970, the local usage of "uptown" was very confusing to me. I was already aware of the Uptown neighborhood in Chicago and could not imagine why this phrase was used. Of course, after 42 years it is said without any thought.

Regards,

My kids say uptown to refer to downtown (East) Lake Forest. "After school can I walk uptown with my friends?"

-Will

WillG wrote:c7umpm- what is your "favorite local restaurant just 2 miles north?"

Can I make a guess?

I don't want to detract from Authentico and I do really like having one more restaurant were we can walk uptown to have an evening meal (So far I would say LF is lucky to have them). But it is Inovasi as you likely guessed and more to my personal-tastes when spending $25-$35/head for a meal, besides they have a nice rotation of craft brews.

Do Well and sorry for the user name anonymity,

Mike M

I took a look at the online menu for Authentico, and I'd like to try the restaurant, but it only being open for dinner is a bit of an obstacle for me. Maybe I'll get a chance to try some carryout. I am also intrigued by the idea of glutton-free menu items.

It's gluten, not glutton.

What does this mean? Is this their passive way of saying "no substitutions"? It is at the bottom of their menu:

Executive Chef Antonio Gutierrez has creatively and thoughtfully paired all dishes so that each flavor compliments the whole dish.

Sigh... Should have used a smiley. O, for the old days, when you could make a joke without having to point it out with an emoticon.

My bad...my intentions were pure. I didn't realize it was a joke.

I thought of this thread when I saw Dean Richards on WGN interviewing Kevin James about his new movie, Here Comes the Boom, which involves mixed martial arts. The caption on the screen said "Kevin James" and the sub-caption below said "Gluten for punishment".

Anyone been recently or any new intelligence. Just booked a table for a birthday celebration in February.

We eat there fairly regularly. Popular with the wife and kids. The food is decent and the service is much better than earlier. Fish tacos are good and everyone seems to like the enchiladas. They do have some imaginative specials from time to time. Not particularly authentic, other than maybe the elotes, and quite expensive for what you get, but par for the course in the suburbs, where it seems there are a few divier places like tacos el norte (which I prefer), but mostly higher end mexican restaurants where people seem to come for the margaritas as much as the food. If it wasnt close to me, I wouldnt go out of my way to eat there, but it is good to have it nearby.

-Will

Thanks, Will. Sounds like it fits the bill for my step-mom's birthday. She wanted Mexican and someplace we haven't all been, which ruled out the Casa de Isaacs.