Restaurant No. 4: Fuego Mexican Grill

I went to Fuego with a large group of people, approximately 11 of us to celebrate my friend Luis' Birthday. Fuego is an upscale Mexican restaurant with a specialty focusing on 7 different varieties of mole.

Restaurant: Fuego Mexican Grill and Margarita Bar. Located in Logan Square, 2047 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago.

Who I went with: More like who didn't go. Luis, Brian, Roy, Paul, Rick, Joe, Aaron, Frank, Mark, Lady Jane.

Cost: Not too expensive, most of the entrees were $13-$20.

When you first walk in you have the feeling you are going to be eating at a chain restaurant as the place has a huge bar, gigantic dining rooms and a night club/salsa bar upstairs. Plus the over the top decor and the vintage pictures of Latin actors and actresses, adds to the feel. But it's not. While there is another location in Arlington Heights, that's it for this restaurant group.

We started out with guacamole, made table side. While this was a nice show, I have serious reservations about making the guacamole this way. Having made guacamole hundreds of times in my life, it is always better when it has a little time to sit and allow the flavors to gel. That being said, it was still good and the avocados were creamy. Overall, it was worth it and it was cool to watch someone else make it for a change.

For dinner, our orders were all over the place. The waiter did something above and beyond and brought out a sample of the seven different moles so that we could sample them and order the sauce that we liked best. I was really impressed by the different varieties and ordered the pistachio mole over a fillet. The steak was tender and juicy and the mole excellent. With all the people, the orders ranged from basic quesadillas to tacos to the other moles. Over all, the food was quite good.

I will have to say the service was excellent. Besides offering to sample the moles, he was very attentive. A lot of times when you have large groups, the waiter tends to slack off because he knows that he is going to receive 18% regardless of how adequate the service is. He was no dummy and kept the drinks coming. With 11 of us drinking, the bar bill exceeded the cost of the food and added to his tip. They seemed to handle large groups well which is nice to see.