Hacienda Real brings authentic Mexican experience to Geneva

The Aréchiga family introduced their newest rendition of Hacienda Real to Geneva in February 2023, which set the standard for an elevated, authentic Mexican dining experience.

Hacienda Real’s first location is in Yorkville.

“People can see how we’ve presented Mexican food in a different way,” Carlos Aréchiga said. “At this location, it serves better for special occasions like a birthday, baby shower, or a Friday night out with your family. The community is not only excited for us, but a lot of people that have been to our other restaurants have seen the growth in our family.”

In fact, the Aréchigas wondered why they didn’t open sooner. Part of their resounding success lies in a rather subtle feature: the architecture.

“One of the things we’re learning as we grow as businesspeople, my brothers and I, is that the ambiance has a lot to do with our product,” Aréchiga said. “In our case, we have worked with selling food for so long that we have always focused on recipes and presentation. But the more we grow, we realize the more we invest in the surroundings, like at the table where you’re going to enjoy our dishes, it just makes the experience a more wholesome one.”

The layout of Hacienda Real was already established with their predecessor, Bar Louie.

“In this case, because we inherited a beautiful building that was already designed pretty well as far as architecture goes – the way the kitchen is positioned and the way the bar is the first thing you see when you walk in –we just decided to modernize it and make it fresh with a little bit of a wow factor.”

The Aréchigas had several handmade pieces imported in and installed a display of cages above the bar.

“One of my favorite things to do is stand by the door and watch people get their phones out and record,” Aréchiga said. “With the social media world, they all want to have stories of recording from the moment they come in to when we take them to their table. It’s pretty cool to see that.”

Aréchiga has received plenty of requests from fashion brands and photographers hoping to use the restaurant as a background for their camerawork.

Keeping fresh means updating an already spectacular menu as the seasons change in Northern Illinois. Aside from exciting new menu items, the restaurant will continue to enjoy their patio during the warmer months, bringing the outside in for a truly singular experience.

“The openness has a direct effect on the mood and the vibe, it’s refreshing and something we want to keep going as long as we can,” Aréchiga said. “At least for a few hours people can say ‘I just want to go to Hacienda Real, sit at the patio, enjoy a margarita and feel like I went to Mexico for a few hours.’

“We set out to build the place you want to go when you go out. And we have had amazing success with the wonderful people in this community.”

Hacienda Real is located in Geneva Commons, 1602 Commons Dr., Suite 600, Geneva. For more information visit https://www.haciendaflavorsofmexico.com/.