Hacienda Los Jardines, Ottawa, IL

After my review of Jardines last year, the manager contacted me and asked me to give them another try. Hacienda Los Jardines is a huge Mexican restaurant in the downtown area of Ottawa, Illinois. We arrived just before they were scheduled to close at 8 p.m. on a Sunday and took a seat outside.

The chips and salsa they serve are great! We couldn't get enough. I started with a classic margarita, which is, of course, one of their specialties.

Having reread my last review of Jardines, I decided to go with the Fajitas Vegetarianas, which was a heap of marinated seasonal vegetables like red and green peppers and onions served with rice, beans, lettuce, tomato, and avocado. I thought the rice and beans were really nicely cooked. The tortillas were fresh and salsa was great. I was very pleased with my meal on this trip.

I will also give kudos to the server as she was very patient with our large group as she was cleaning up the restaurant towards the end of the night. We tipped her well.

They still offer a choice of veggies, soy chorizo, or cactus as vegan options. On the first visit, I found the soy chorizo to be a bit dry so I'd recommend the veggies as an alternative. All in all, it was a good time. On the next visit, I'll try the cactus. Thanks, Jardines, for offering great Mexican fare in this small town.

Previous review
December 5, 2014

Jardines
711 LaSalle Street
Ottawa, IL 61350
(815) 434-2833

Jardines, Ottawa, IL

Having had such a great experience with Mexican at La Fondita Mexican in Ottawa, Illinois, we decided to do Mexican another night as well while in this small town. This time, we found ourselves at Jardines.

Jardines is a huge Mexican restaurant in downtown Illinois. What really makes it stick out is its decor as you will find an array of random decorations such as fake plants and flowers, fountains, murals featuring Mexicans and their territories, and paper streamers. There isn't a color that isn't in this restaurant giving it a warm, happy-go-lucky feel! We were seated in the main dining area near other large groups that we knew.

As is standard, we were served the complimentary chips and salsa except that there were very few chips and a note on the menu that each basket of chips would be $1.50. That's a downer as we gobbled up the chips in no time. The salsa was pretty good.

And, of course, we all got margaritas. Yum.

I called ahead to this restaurant to ensure that there were vegan options and they were very nice. They stated that did not use an animal broth in their rice nor did they use lard in their beans so that they could serve vegetarians. Nice! As usual, I went with the fajitas, but this restaurant really surprised me. They offered three types of vegan fajitas: roasted veggies, cactus, or soy chorizo. Wow! It was a really hard choice, but I went with the soy chorizo. The soy chorizo was cooked with tomatoes, peppers, and onions and served lettuce, tomato, rice, and beans. It was good, but dry and way too filling. I could only eat half of the soy chorizo and wished, in the end, I had ordered the roasted veggies as I'm more of a veggie kind of person. But, it was still pretty good.

The service was a bit slow, but that was probably because there weren't many people working and there was a large party in the dining room. The fajitas were $12.95, which was pretty expensive for this little town, but not overpriced. And the food was good with several options for vegans. Next time I come back, I'm trying the roasted veggies or cactus!

Jardines
711 LaSalle Street
Ottawa, IL 61350
(815) 434-2833

La Fondita Mexican Grill, Ottawa, IL

I found myself back in the little town of Ottawa, Illinois again this year with a bunch of friends. As we reviewed options in the city, I thought the safest bet, given my bad experience with Thai in this city last year, was Mexican. So we headed over to La Fondita Mexican Grill. Located in a strip mall, this unassuming casual restaurant offered good, old-fashioned Mexican fun.

What is Mexican fun? That would be watching your friends consume massive amounts of margaritas before your eyes. Yes, kids -- it is possible for someone to consume 100 ounces of margaritas and live through it as I've now born witness to this. It was pretty spectacular.

When we walked in, there were just a few booths occupied. They rearranged the tables to bring a bunch together to accommodate our large party that had no reservation. This city is much easier to get a table in than DC! It is a very small restaurant with loud colors of green, orange, and red on the walls. The tables were cheap wood and the chairs were your standard vinyl seats. All around the dining room, the message was "drink more" with banners of Corona and Miller Lite across the ceiling and bottles of tequila in the back. I ordered a regular sized margarita while some of my friends started with the Monster-size. Goodness gracious.

As I never really know what to trust in Mexican restaurants, I usually just go with the Mexican fajitas. I ask the questions I need to: Is the rice cooked with chicken stock?; Are the beans made with lard?; Are the vegetables cooked in butter?; etc. Then, I enjoy the chips and salsa as I wait, which were, by the way, exceptionally good.

The veggies came out steaming on a cast iron skillet as they usually do in most restaurants. There were bell peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, zucchini, onions, and squash in a LOT of oil. It was way too oily for me. As I told them no sour cream and cheese, they instead offered me fresh avocado. Yes, I will take that instead! There were refried beans without lard, lettuce, tomato, and salsa as toppings. It wasn't anything to write home about, but it was food in a city where vegan options are scarce.

The servers were very attentive, helpful, and nice. Luckily there were enough of us that did not drink excessively to chauffeur those who did. My friends who consumed nearly 100 ounces of margaritas cite the picture I took of them starting on ounce number 50 is the last thing they remembered from that night. Margaritas make everything better.  So, in the end, the servers were great and attentive, the food was oily, but edible, the price of $9 for my meal was incredibly inexpensive, and the chips and salsa were very good. I'd come back here in a heartbeat.

La Fondita Mexican Grill
351 W. Stevenson Road
Ottawa, IL 61350
(815) 324-9002

Thai Cafe, Ottawa, IL

Not to be mistaken for Ottawa in Canada, the city of Ottawa in Illinois doesn't have that much to offer. A tiny town located 85 miles southwest of Chicago, it isn't exactly an ideal vacation destination. But, I find myself here once a year for an event and I have to find a way to survive. And when I say survive, I mean find vegan-suitable food. I think you are pretty much limited to three options here: a Mexican restaurant, a Thai restaurant, and a Subway in a gas station. In fact, options are so limited that I often just buy Amy's frozen meals and eat in my hotel room.

So, on this special night, we headed to the Thai Cafe. It had a real dumpy sort of look to it from the outside, but I remembered enjoying my meal here last year so I was actually looking forward to this dinner. When we arrived, there were only a few other tables occupied. We had about seven people with us so we had a fairly big party. We took a look at the menu for a bit then began to wonder if they'd ever bring us water. I finally had to actually request water for the table. After a 30-minute wait, a woman finally came around to take our orders. I ordered an appetizer and an entree. They had vegetarian duck, but I wasn't sure if it was vegan and the woman taking our orders not only didn't speak much English, but also didn't seem to have much time to answer questions and appeared to be the only server there that night, so, I stuck with a safe tofu- and vegetable-based entree.

The guy working in the kitchen then proceeded to fill our orders as if we were sitting separately. And he was preparing the appetizers at the same time as the entrees. So, one person at my table would be served an appetizer and an entree, then about five minutes later, another, then another, and so on. I was one of the last people to be served and by the time I received my food, most others at my table had finished. How awkward! I had ordered a tofu-based appetizer and entree so when they served them at the same time, I refused the appetizer. I no longer needed it.

To make matters worse, they no longer serve alcohol so we couldn't even have a drink while waiting.

Needless to say, my entree was a complete disappointment. I ordered the Basil sauteed entree that was supposed to come with tofu, zucchini, onion, basil, pepper, and garlic chili. I suppose it actually did come with all of that, but it was not well balanced. The dish was mostly tofu and onions with just a few zucchini cut in the shape of crinkle fries and a few peppers. I basically ate a pound of tofu with onions. The sauce was runny as well.

So, even though this is one of the few vegan options in this city, I can't say I'll ever return. The food and service were poor. The price for an entree was only $10, but considering the quality, I think it was overpriced. I can honestly say that I enjoyed my Amy's black bean enchilada meal the night before better. This is one of those experiences that make me thankful that I live in a vegan-friendly city.

Thai Cafe
610 Columbus Street
Ottawa, IL 61350
(815) 431-8090