New restaurant brings authentic, upscale Mexican food and style to downtown Elgin

A long-awaited new Mexican restaurant finally is welcoming diners to its stylish downtown Elgin digs.

El Patio has been giving patrons a small taste of its offerings by being open on a limited basis since the summer while the finishing touches were being made on the kitchen. There is still a little work to be done behind the scenes, but the colorful and eclectic dining room is fully ready to give people a taste of Mexican culture.

The restaurant, at 60 S. Grove Ave., is owned by three men originally from Mexico. Juan Guerrero, Sergio Lopez and Hebert Garcia are longtime friends who own the building and decided to open their own place when their previous tenant, Billy Bricks Pizza, left abruptly.

None of the three have owned a restaurant before and only one, Guerrero, has even worked in one. But they saw the need for an upscale Mexican restaurant in a town with such a large and vibrant Hispanic community.

“Everything in the restaurant, the decor, the menu, is part of ourselves,” Guerrero said. “We're not copying any other restaurants' ideas, we're creating everything ourselves.”

While they're not trying to look like any other restaurant in the area, Lopez said they are trying to bring the spirit of Mexico to Elgin.

“The other day I was sitting at the bar with a couple of friends who had been in Puerto Vallarta a couple of months ago and they said this place made them feel like they were right there,” he said.

The building dates back to around 1910 and originally was the first theater in Elgin. Much of the original charm of the old building shines through under the updated decor, like a brick wall that has been turned into a series of black light murals by a local artist. Authentic Mexican art enlivens the colorful indoor space, which has about 15 to 20 tables. A private dining room upstairs that could be rented out for events is in the works.

One of the highlights of the restaurant in keeping with its name, El Patio, is, in fact, the patio. The large space that looks out onto the Fox River features tables brought in from Mexico and larger than life-size metal sculptures of mariachis. Weekends over the summer saw more than 40 patrons a night enjoying the space for drinks before the kitchen was ready.

“When I sit out here, I feel like I'm back in Mexico,” Guerrero said.

The signature item on their still evolving menu is the marranada, a mixed grill dish of meats, seafood and vegetables served on a terra cotta grill shaped like a pig that is brought to the table with charcoal embers that keep the food warm. It comes in two sizes and is meant to be shared by parties of three or four and up.

“It's good for families because there's a lot on there,” said Lopez, who added the idea for the dish was inspired by a traditional Mexican parillada. They bought the pig grills in Guadalajara on one of the trips they made to purchase much of the authentic decor.

They got their first taste of what a full house will mean during the recent Nightmare on Chicago Street festival.

“It was terrific,” Guerrero said. “There was no place to stand inside.”

Lopez said he talked to people who said they just wanted to stop in for a drink.

“But once they came in they didn't want to go,” he said.

Guerrero said he's glad the roughly two-year process to open the restaurant finally has reached the finish line.

“Right now, I'm happy,” he said. “It's hard to open a restaurant, especially for three partners because we have to put all our ideas together. But we're doing good together so far.”

The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week. For reservations, call (224) 238-3153.