Mystery Diner in northern Kane: El Diablo Cantina a new spot for upscale cuisine

When my girlfriends and I go out to dinner, we try to mix it up and not just go to the same old places. With a few new Mexican restaurants in our northern Kane County stomping grounds, we have options.

El Diablo Cantina, billed as an upscale Mexican restaurant, was Spotted Fox until it rebranded in March in Carpentersville. Its sister location dubbed Spotted Fox Ale House is at 3615 E. Main St. in St. Charles.

El Diablo Cantina showcases classic south-of-the-border dishes and new takes on others. It also has a large outdoor seating area, for a nice location to enjoy end-of-summer evenings with a drink, dinner and conversation.

We started off with the complimentary chips and salsa, and probably went a little overboard on the chips. They were salted perfectly, and the two salsa options satisfied both my Midwest taste buds and my friends’ more adventurous palates.

Our appetizer was the Diablos queso fundido: queso, Monterrey and Chihuahua cheeses melted and topped with poblano peppers, sautéed onions and chorizo. The presentation was perfect and, again, we filled up on the pre-dinner appetizers.

The entrees were the stars, of course, and I was pleasantly surprised with the presentation to start. My bacon-wrapped shrimp momias were fanned out across a huge cutting board, and nestled in mashed potatoes with sides of summer squash, zucchini and corn on the cob. I got through just more than half the shrimp, one of the corn cobs, and had to box up the rest for lunch the next day. The spices were perfect and tasted just as good on day two.

One friend had the salmon topped with grilled pineapple. Everything she tried was “full of flavor and not too spicy or overly seasoned, from the chips, fresh salsas, bean dip and queso fundido to the Sandia margarita,” she said.

Our third companion knows Mexican food straight from her, her mother’s and her in-laws’ kitchens. When she raves about the mole sauce, you know it is good.

“El Diablo’s mole chicken enchiladas are delicious. The mole sauce is traditionally made with chocolate, spices and peanuts. El Diablo’s has just the right consistency, not too thick and not too runny. It had just the right amount of heat without drowning out all the other spices. The chicken was moist. The rice and beans were authentic,” she told me.

The menu also highlights tacos, burritos, enchiladas and fajitas, as well as black Angus burgers with chorizo or guacamole, or served straight up.

It was the menu’s seafood selection that reeled me in: crab legs, oysters on the half shell, tilapia, red snapper, mussels and prawns. After really enjoying the food, we look to return soon for an upcoming girls night out.

• The Mystery Diner is a newsroom employee at Shaw Media. The diner’s identity is not revealed to the restaurant staff before or during the meal. If the Mystery Diner cannot recommend the establishment, we will not publish a story.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: El Diablo Cantina

WHERE: 113 S. Western Ave. (Route 31), Carpentersville

PHONE: 224-484-8907

INFORMATION: eldiablocantina.com