New Mexican Restaurant, El Fuego, Opens; Offers Traditional Fare, American-Style Tacos

The idea came to Nino Hermes during a conversation with colleagues at the Fire Bar & Grill in Crystal Lake. 

The group wanted to order Mexican food. After talking about their favorite Mexican places, they realized none of them were within driving distance. So was born the idea for a new more accessible local Mexican joint with authentic food at a trendy locale in the Crystal Lake/Algonquin/Lake in the Hills area.

"I don't understand why everyone thinks a good Mexican place has to be at a 'hole in the wall,'" said Hermes, during a conversation Thursday afternoon at the area's newest Mexican restaurant, El Fuego Tacos & Burritos, which has clean-looking and bright interior and a handful of tables and booths along the wall. 

El Fuego Tacos & Burritos is located in the former Diced Fresh location at 132 S. Randall Road in Algonquin—in the strip mall immediately in front of Joe Caputos & Sons. 

The new Mexican grill opened on Feb. 19. Word-of-mouth has been good for the business. Hermes, who is the owner of Fire Bar & Grill, at 435 Angela Lane, has been promoting El Fuego to patrons who visit the popular sports bar off of Randall Road. 

Only three days after opening, there were lines out the door this past Friday night, Hermes said. And lines out the door again on Saturday. 

The Mexican grill features tacos, burrito bowls, nachos, quesadillas, burritos tortas, toastadas and huraches, whichh as an open-faced homemade bread with beans, your choice of meat and plenty of other fixings. 

The tacos can be ordered Amercian style, with meat, sour cream, cheese, or Cantina style, which is a more authentic Mexican taco with cilantro, parsley and a lime on the side. The restaurant has three authentic sauces with varying degrees of hotness and also fresh guacamole and salsa. 

El Fuego is still in the soft opening phase but plans to have a grand opening in coming weeks, Hermes said. There are also plans in the future to offer delivery. 

As for Hermes, he has been in the restaurant business his whole life. His father owned a mediterranean restaurant in Chicago for 25 years. And Hermes has run the Fire Bar & Grill over the past seven years.

He is excited for his newest venture and hopes people will stop by, give it a try and tell him what they think. 

For more information on El Fuego visit the business's website or Facebook page.