Our Take: Mago Grill & Cantina (1010 S. Delano Ct)

Food options at Roosevelt Collection have been slow to materialize, but that changed this year.  Yes, Chop opened last year and there always was the bar/restaurant at the Kerasotes movie theater.

This year saw Nando's Peri Peri Chicken and Mago Grill & Cantina open.  Both we're established spots so seemed like they would be good additions to the neighborhood and shopping complex.

We recently had the opportunity to head on over to Mago and we were pleasantly surprised.  Upon walking in, you're greeted by a strikingly colorful and huge "bar" space:

On the Saturday night we were there, there were no issues getting a table.  Maybe half the tables were taken?  But there are three different distinct spaces - high top bar area (when you walk in), regular tables in the bar area (see pic above) and then the main dinning area.  It's a really big space.

After sitting at our table, we were immediately greeted by our waiter - a nice and cordial man who immediately gave us a run down of the menu.  We quickly ordered drinks - a spicy margarita with a beer back for me and a sangria for the lady:

All I can say is that the margarita was better then expected.  

While all dinners get standard chips and salsa, we opted for the guacamole.  Like most "newer" American Mexican restaurants, they have the rolling guac carts which allows you to input on any additions/subtractions you desire.

One nice thing about our experience was that I like my guac spicy and the wife doesn't.  So the guac lady actually split the order and made each of us our own order to our taste - a very nice, but appreciated gesture.

In terms of ordering, we went the simple route and ordered a bunch of tacos.  My favorite was the "Camaron" which featured chipotle shrimp, queso fresco, picked purple cabbage and pico de gallo.  We also got the Tinga de Pollo (Chicken) and the Carne Asado (Steak).  All solid, but not super unique.  Presentation was nice though:

  

All in all our overall experience was good and we most likely will be back.  That being said, if you're looking for something unique or cutting edge, we'd recommend skipping Mago.  But if you're looking for traditional American Mexican food, with good and fast service we would say check it out.

To equate it to some well known spots, it reminded us of Uncle Julio's in Lincoln Park.  And for the locals, in our opinion it was better then Zapatista (the neighborhood mexican stalwart that closed in June of 2015).