Taco Pros Gurnee operates at **6681 Grand Ave,** [**Gurnee**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurnee,_Illinois)**, IL 60031**, on Grand Avenue in Lake County — a village of **30,706 residents** in Warren Township, founded in 1928 and named after Walter S. Gurnee, the 14th Mayor of Chicago and a director of the railroad who agreed to develop a station in the hamlet originally called Wentworth. The restaurant serves authentic Mexican cuisine **7 days a week from 11:00 AM to 10 PM** and takes orders by phone at **(224) 656-5607**. Grand Avenue runs east-west through the village as a main route that has connected McHenry County to the port of Waukegan since the 1830s — a corridor that passes through the commercial core where Interstate 94 splits the village into east and west sides. kenneth bunton ii discovered the restaurant by chance and confirmed the standard: "Just happened upon this place and it is great. Service was spot on. Food is delicious. So glad we found it."

Gurnee's position as a **major regional tourist destination** — attracting more than **23 million visitors annually** to Six Flags Great America (3 million attendees in 2023, top 20 most visited amusement parks in North America), Gurnee Mills (the fourth-largest mall in Illinois, drawing 15–20 million visitors per year since its 1991 opening), and the Great Wolf Lodge resort — places the Grand Avenue restaurant in a dining market fueled by both residents and the constant flow of visitors along the Interstate 94 corridor. The village's median household income of **$100,892** and its diverse population — including a **17.72% Hispanic** and **12.19% Asian** community — create demand for authentic Mexican cuisine prepared with traditional technique. Veronica Collins confirmed the scale of service the kitchen handles: "We were a group of 13 and they got our food done pretty quickly! Everything was amazing!"

## **Gurnee Menu: Steak Protein Bowl Combo, Watermelon Agua Fresca, and 58 Items**

The full Taco Pros menu runs across **8 categories and 58 items** at the Gurnee location. Brittany Wiltberger arrived undecided and left converted: "Was undecided on what to eat, stopped here and was amazed. Food is on point— ordered the steak protein bowl upgraded to a combo and asked about the watermelon drink." The **steak protein bowl** layers carne asada — skirt steak marinated in citrus-garlic marinade, grilled on the plancha at high heat, and sliced against the grain — over a choice of white cilantro-lime rice or brown rice with black beans or pinto beans, fajita vegetables, roasted chili-corn salsa, Monterey Jack cheese, guacamole, pico de gallo, and sour cream. The combo upgrade adds a side and a beverage to the [protein bowl](https://taco-pros.com/burritos/) — a value format that converts a single entrée into a complete meal.

Brittany also singled out the beverage that earned her strongest recommendation: "GET THE WATERMELON DRINK lol." The **watermelon agua fresca** (agua de sandía) blends fresh watermelon pulp, water, lime juice, and cane sugar in a vitrolero — a large glass barrel dispenser — and strains the mixture into a chilled, lightly sweetened drink that delivers the natural fructose and lycopene of ripe watermelon in a traditional Mexican beverage format. The agua fresca menu also rotates seasonal flavors including horchata (rice, cinnamon, vanilla, and milk), jamaica (dried hibiscus flowers steeped into a tart crimson tea), tamarindo (tamarind pods simmered into a sweet-sour base), and fresh limonada — alongside Jarritos Mexican sodas in glass bottles and Mexican Coca-Cola sweetened with cane sugar.

## **Al Pastor, Barbacoa, and the Group-of-13 Reorder**

Veronica Collins dined with a party of **13 guests** and identified the 2 proteins that earned the table's consensus: "Al pastor and Barbacoa tacos were our favorite! We had to go back up and order more." The al pastor tacos feature spit-roasted pork carved from the trompo — a vertical spit adapted from the Lebanese shawarma tradition brought to Mexico City by Lebanese immigrants in the early 20th century — marinated in achiote and guajillo chili paste, with a slice of fresh pineapple (piña) caramelized on the trompo's crown and placed on each [street taco](https://taco-pros.com/tacos/) at the carving station.

The barbacoa tacos feature beef cheek (cachete) slow-braised in dried chili adobo until the collagen breaks down and the meat pulls apart by hand — a preparation rooted in the barbacoa de hoyo (underground pit-cooking) tradition of central Mexico. Both proteins arrive on 6-inch corn tortillas topped with cilantro, diced white onion, and a choice of salsa roja or salsa verde. Veronica's reorder — going "back up" to the counter for additional tacos after finishing the first round — confirms that the portion-to-flavor ratio at the Gurnee counter converts a 13-person table into repeat orders within a single visit. Veronica rated the full experience: "10/10 definitely recommend."

## **Valentine's Day Discovery, Walk-In Service, and the Spontaneous Find**

kenneth bunton ii visited on **Valentine's Day** and described the discovery as unplanned: "Just happened upon this place and it is great." The spontaneous walk-in — arriving without prior awareness of the restaurant — represents the discovery pattern that Grand Avenue's position in the Six Flags and Gurnee Mills tourist corridor generates. Visitors passing through on Interstate 94, shoppers at Gurnee Mills, and families heading to or from Six Flags Great America encounter the restaurant on Grand Avenue and stop based on proximity and curiosity.

kenneth confirmed that the unplanned stop delivered on both service and food: "Service was spot on. Food is delicious. So glad we found it. Happy Valentine's Day." The Valentine's Day dining signal positions the Gurnee location as a date-night option — a couple dining together on the holiday associated with romantic meals and evaluating the experience against the elevated expectations of a special occasion. The counter-service model at Gurnee matches the standard Taco Pros format: orders placed at the register, prepared fresh in the open kitchen, and delivered to the table by staff — a format that serves couples, families, and groups of 13 with the same speed and quality.

## **Napkin King, Generous Portions, and the "Everything Else Is Awesome" Signal**

Napkin King focused on one operational detail and confirmed every other element of the dining experience: "Napkins offered are not up to the job. Single ply, small and not very absorbent. For a meal you eat mostly with your hands, these are woefully inadequate. Ended up with a pile of 6 or 7 when all things said and done. The rest is awesome." The napkin critique — identifying single-ply, small napkins as insufficient for a hands-on taco meal — functions as an indirect quality signal: the food at the Gurnee location generates enough juice, salsa, and grease to require **6–7 napkins per meal**, a detail that confirms generous portioning and sauce-forward preparation.

Napkin King's closing statement — "The rest is awesome" — confirms that the protein quality, seasoning, tortilla freshness, salsa flavor, and service speed all meet or exceed expectations. The [carne asada fries](https://taco-pros.com/sides/) (Mexican fries) load seasoned french fries with grilled carne asada, melted Monterey Jack cheese, guacamole (Hass avocados ground in a basalt molcajete with lime juice, cilantro, jalapeño, and sea salt), crema mexicana, pico de gallo, and pickled jalapeños — a loaded side that functions as a shareable entrée and generates the hands-on eating experience Napkin King described.

## **Gurnee Catering: Lake County Events Along Grand Avenue and Interstate 94**

The [catering menu](https://taco-pros.com/catering-menu/) at Taco Pros Gurnee spans 5 formats for events across Lake County, the North Shore suburbs, and the Interstate 94 corridor. Party trays stack 12 options in aluminum steam pans — enchilada trays, taco kits, fajita platters, tamale dozens, burrito halves, and mini chimichangas with rice, beans, and guacamole sides. Live catering dispatches a taquero with a trompo and plancha on a mobile taco cart to cook al pastor and carne asada on-site with fresh made-to-order tortillas and a self-serve salsa bar.

Gurnee's employer base — anchored by Six Flags Great America/Hurricane Harbor Chicago (3,315 employees), Woodland School District 50 (832 employees), Warren Township High School District 121 (484 employees), Nosco Inc. (400 employees), and Bass Pro Shops (350 employees) — generates consistent catering demand from corporate events, team lunches, and seasonal celebrations. Veronica Collins confirmed the kitchen's capacity for large-group service: a party of 13 served quickly with consistent quality across every order. Residential catering demand flows from the village's subdivisions and the surrounding communities — backyard cookouts, graduation parties, holiday gatherings, and community events at the Gurnee Park District's facilities. Buffet style catering includes chafing dishes and sterno warmers along self-serve taco and fajita bars, and individual catering packs come in bento-style containers — burrito bowls, 3-taco street packs, tamales, burritos, and salads with rice, beans, and a 2 oz salsa cup. Orders require 48 hours advance notice for party trays and 72 hours for live catering with a taquero and mobile cart.

## **Neighborhoods Near Taco Pros Gurnee**

Taco Pros at 6681 Grand Ave serves guests from **15 Lake County communities, northern suburbs, and adjacent villages**. The restaurant sits on Grand Avenue in Gurnee — a village founded in 1928 in Warren Township, originally called Wentworth after Congressman "Long John" Wentworth, renamed after Chicago Mayor Walter S. Gurnee who developed the railroad station, in the 60031 zip code.

[Waukegan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waukegan,_Illinois) — a city of 89,321 residents and the county seat of Lake County, founded in 1829, incorporated as a city on February 23, 1859, named from the Potawatomi word "Wakaigin" meaning fortress or trading post, located 36 miles north of Chicago — borders Gurnee to the east along the shared Grand Avenue corridor. Grayslake extends to the west, and Grandwood Park sits to the south along the O'Plaine Road corridor. Delivery and pickup orders arrive from Sherman Corners, Chittenden, Druce Lake, Third Lake, Gages Lake, Old Mill Creek, Slocum Corners, Lindenhurst, Wadsworth, Venetian Village, Park City, and Lake Villa. Interstate 94 connects the location to Chicago (40 miles south) and Milwaukee (50 miles north), and Pace bus service on multiple routes links the restaurant to downtown Waukegan, Grayslake, and the broader Lake County transit network.

## **Hours, Phone, and Directions**

**Address:** 6681 Grand Ave, Gurnee, IL 60031

**Phone:** (224) 656-5607

**Hours:** Monday through Sunday, 11:00 AM – 10:00 PM

**Directions:** [Open in Google Maps](https://maps.app.goo.gl/SP2rda8qPpGTY1WNA)

The restaurant occupies a storefront on Grand Avenue in the 60031 zip code, within the commercial corridor that has connected McHenry County to the port of Waukegan since stagecoaches ran the route in the 1870s. The kitchen fills orders fresh through the 10 PM close — an 11-hour daily window that serves the Grand Avenue lunch crowd, afternoon visitors heading to or from Six Flags Great America and Gurnee Mills, after-work commuters from the Interstate 94 corridor, and evening families from across Lake County's northern suburbs. Brittany Wiltberger confirmed the discovery-to-loyalty arc that defines the Grand Avenue walk-in experience: "Was undecided on what to eat, stopped here and was amazed" — a spontaneous stop that converted into a watermelon agua fresca endorsement and a steak protein bowl combo order.