The reviews I have read seem very harsh based on my experience. I recently had dinner here with a large group and was very impressed. The service was great and the menu was extensive. I had the shrimp and crab enchiladas and the flavor and portion size were both excellent. Most at my table had tacos and they all looked very creative and delicious. There was a large crowd for a Tuesday and that alone should speak volumes. Overall, this is a very good choice for upscale TexMex in Bloomington. read more

Ancho & Agave - Shrimp and Crab Enchiladas - Mexican Near Me - Bloomington, Illinois

This place is just outstanding in every regard--the food, service, and atmosphere are heads and shoulders above most other restaurants. The various salsas, quesos, and guacamoles are inventive and have tons of flavor. I appreciate the number of vegetarian options, the avocado and sweet potato tacos were AMAZING! I can't wait to visit again! read more

Food is ok. Service is good. The sitting area and atmosphere are pleasant. Will try again.

We were on Father's Day and the food was great. Our waitress was friendly and the food was brought out quickly.

Visit Ancho & Agave on our way through Bloomington. It was a random choice and I'm glad we went with it. Traveling with a toddler is a relatively new experience for my wife and I and I now add that perspective to every review of an establishment that I complete. With regard to that, they were very accommodating providing a high chair (or booster), crayons and paper to color, and a plastic children's water cup. The food and drinks were actually quite good! We had a Tex-Mex mule, The Signature Margarita (excellent), a variety of tacos, fried plantains (also excellent) and the "off the cob" Mexican street corn. I won't go into detail about everything but the fried avocado taco was probably the winner of the day. Overall, a pretty good experience considering they were really busy and did their best to accommodate us. Give them a try! read more

Ancho & Agave - Mexican Near Me - Bloomington, Illinois

See all

Great place to have a good date night. Food: I ordered fish tacos, fish was very crunchy and definitely good taste. Tacos: beef & chicken were ok.. good seasoning. Meat was a little hard to chew but ok. Guac trio, was good. Guac is the same just toppings vary, found it pointless because they were stingy on the toppings. Mac n cheese: delicious, I added pepper when I got home though. Drinks: strawberry margarita was really good & definitely try the horchata & agua de lemon (non-alcoholic) This place is only good to go for the atmosphere and aesthetic, not authentic Mexican food, definitely have their own twist. For me, it was a one time deal. Price for food not worth it, price for atmosphere as a date night once... it's ok. read more

OK, we finally made it to the 'hot' new place on the east side. More than that, we actually managed to to visit twice before rushing to judgement online. Our assessment? As much as the place is worth 4-stars, it's hard to go there, given the single irritating issue I found at each visit - a burrito with sour cream that was ordered 'sans' sour cream, and the puddle of barbacoa grease that came outta my taco. Bottom line though...this place is classy, fun and boundary-pushing enough to actually earn those 4-stars. What cinched it was the incredible outdoor lounge, the variety of tacos, a respectable 'local heavy' beer menu and enough employees that really seemed to care about the customer experience. Some additional observations from our first 2 visits: ⁃ pleasant ambiance/music (not too loud for the open concept!) ⁃ indoors is very warm weather-functional w/huge patio garage doors ⁃ fantastic warm tortilla chips, at least the ones not in tiny pieces ⁃ Al pastor burrito had too much non-meat filler, does it need 2b that huge? ⁃ Shrimp-crab enchiladas were quite cheesy/creamy but VERY tasty ⁃ Margaritas? Ya, nice selection but thanks for asking about the rim trim cuz a sugar rim trim should not be served w/any margarita?! ⁃ we thought the table water decanter was a nice touch - In addition to the beer and the 'rita's, the bar is impressive with sangria, 6 TVs and plenty of bartenders ⁃ we love the guacamole variants, how bout guacamole flights? ⁃ the people of Nashville would be offended by he lack of spice in the 'Nashville-Hot' taco. And yes, it's a fried chicken taco...thats still damn tasty! Overall, it can be a tad expensive, especially for street tacos, but we have to recommend a visit, especially on a beautiful night for a later evening al fresco experience! read more

Ancho & Agave - Place is jumpin' on a Sat nite - Mexican Near Me - Bloomington, Illinois

The food is amazing! Great vegetarian options! Great service and fun atmosphere! Fun place to go with friends

The food is good! The service here is very good when they're not busy. Never had to send food back! Only had to actually ask once for a refill on my drink, but I don't count that as a bad thing because they were super busy read more

I was in town visiting my family over the holiday weekend. My sister had a great experience at Ancho & Agave a few weeks ago, so we made a reservation. Prior to arriving, I called the restaurant to confirm that they can accommodate highchair seating for my niece. The answer was yes, but was met with some resistance from the host. In the end, the seating situation worked out. Similar to other reviewers, I really wanted to like this place. Bloomington-Normal finally has a small array of independent restaurants that I didn't get to experience while growing up there. The service was good, but the food was meh. My mother recommends taking a hard pass on the steak enchiladas. The steak was tough and dry, there was no sauce, and the corn tortilla was very thick and unappealing. The steak fajitas were also dry. Yes, it's probably skirt or flank steak, but it needs to be cooked appropriately. Unfortunately, the chicken was rubbery and a strange texture that I can't quite explain. On a positive note, the guacamole was good... Not sure we'll go back when I visit again. Perhaps it's best to stick with the tacos and try out some vegetarian options. And to clarify, we don't eat at Fiesta Ranchero. read more

I'm sure pizza enjoy it and I kind of did too, it just felt forced across the board. Spent a shit ton of money to serve so so Mexican food . Street tacos were varied and imaginative but felt like they used every trick in the book to amp the flavors but not at all wholesome. Felt like Jim gaffigan with a hot pocket. " did I really eat that! " Feels like a Las Vegas Disney version of a Mexican restaurant. read more

I really want to enjoy this restaurant. I have been here a couple of times and keep hoping I order something that is SO good. Their Sangria is the one thing I really do like. We have had their tacos (just meh and not enough portion-wise). We have had their enchiladas (don't like the crushed chips on top and reminded me of the corn flake casserole toppings growing up - which I just scraped off). I also didn't appreciate two servers discussing close to customers that one just got back from being out with Covid (this was our first time eating IN a restaurant in over a year). The restaurant itself is beautiful - we might give it another chance, however, there are other places that will be our first choice. read more

See all

The food here is very tasty. We called our order in and nothing was missed. Avocado Taco were good, tortilla soup also good. They have a to go margarita kit which was handy too! read more

The Great food and great atmosphere. I had several steer tacos and the Mexican street corn. The corn was delicious. The server was friendly and knowledgeable. read more

First time at this establishment and I have to say it was wonderful. We order several drinks and a appetizers guacamole with their great chips. Lunch was fish and pork tacos the best. Our waiter was great and patience also knowing that this was our first time. Will return read more

It's been a while, we enjoyed dine-in. So, when I that it is time to go back to restaurant scene in a proper way, it has to be special. I was torn between a couple of known and tasted and loved places or a completely new joint to explore. When I decided to visit a new place, there were quite a few on my Bookmarks ( on @yelp ), so another decision to make and finally we opted for @anchoandagave in #bloomingtonillinois . And I am so so glad that I visited them. First of all loved their decor, their use of various light fixtures did take my breath away, beautiful. At night, it's gonna look even prettier. Secondly, the hospitality, this is extremely vital for me, you can cover a not-so-good food by your behavior but you can never cover how you make your customer feel by your good food; read that again. And I am impressed by their greeter and our server Scot. They were welcoming and friendly. Now, most importantly, the food, I tried three different tacos, pork alpastor, shrimp Acapulco and smoked pork belly all of them were excellent but the smoked pork belly one was beyond excellent. Arijit had steak and chicken burrito bowl and he enjoyed it thoroughly along with it I had pina-Rita, which is essentially pineapple Margarita and as expected it was very refreshing Can't wait to go back to try the other varieties of their Tacos. And next time I will go for dinner just to see the beautiful lighting. read more

See all

Unfortunately our server wasn't very attentive and not the friendliest. We got our drinks towards the end of finishing our entrees and then had to wait to be cashed out a bit after our table was cleared. Food was amazing though! Atmosphere: comfortable. read more

Ancho & Agave - Gringo, baja fish crispy, and steak asada - Mexican Near Me - Bloomington, Illinois

See all

Food is excellent. Some of the best Mexican I've had. Service was friendly and pleasant. But - because it's so good, the place is stuffed. Our reservations were 1/2 hour late and our group was split in two not close to each other. The food took another lengthy time to arrive. Very mixed review. read more

This is a beautiful restaurant. I have been here at least 4 times. Our first experience was getting a taco board to share and that was so fun trying several different tacos. My last experience was excellent with ambiance and service and average for food. The shrimp tacos were my favorite but my one taco was just too small for me. The steak taco was delicious but difficult to chew. The steak pieces were just too thick for me personally. I was always feel that I spend too much there but it's just that type of place. It's a little fancy and a special treat. read more

My husband and I went in yesterday 9/2 (Labor Day) around 2:15PM. We asked to sit on the patio and were told it would be about a 15 minute wait because they only had 1 busser out there. We should have took that as a red flag but decided to sit at the bar. The bartender did get us our drinks pretty quickly, hence the 2 stars. We soon realized that they were extremely short-staffed as we continued to sit there for the next 30+ minutes with no water, chips, or anyone coming up to us to take our food order. We watched multiple food items sit on the food counter for a long time before anyone came to grab them. I eventually noticed we didn't get water because there were no clean dishes. Most of the employees looked extremely stressed. The poor bartender was on autopilot and constantly moving but there were simply too many people for him to keep up. About 15 mins into sitting there, we decided it would be better to leave and get lunch somewhere else. Unfortunately we didn't have cash so we had to wait until we could flag down the bartender, which proved to be tough because he passed by us at least 10x. I know he was doing the best he could as were most of the other employees, and this review is not a reflection of them - I feel bad that they were put in that situation. If there weren't enough employees to work then the restaurant shouldn't have opened. I don't even think there was a manager on site. Not sure if we will be back after that experience. read more

The fact that Ancho has 3.5 stars on yelp is an atrocity. Not only does this spot have some of the best meals in BloNo, they have some of the best meals I've eaten in my life. I would suggest the carnitas burrito, the Nashville hot chicken taco, or steak and goat cheese enchiladas. Order any of these items and you will not be disappointed. read more

See all

Had been following their Instagram before they opened and was super hyped for what looked like a new more upscale Mexican restaurant in Blono. But I have to say, this place was just okay. I hope that the issues I had will get resolved over time as they work out the kinks, which I hope they do! It would be a shame to lose the opportunity for some decent Mexican food in town (other than the casual Tony's Tacos, which is by far my favorite). Ambience: big open space with lots of cute interior design. A bit loud, but that's expected for a place with a full bar. I loved the hanging lamps. Food: lacks seasoning overall, but still interesting and had a wide variety. The guacamole needed more salt. The house salsa was smoky. The chips were thick. Next time I would order the other salsas and guacamoles on the menu since they seemed more interesting. The tacos overall were hit or miss. Some were delicious, others lacked seasoning. The tres leches cake for dessert was a huge slice and satisfying. The Mexican elotes street corn was delicious. I definitely want to come back another time and try other menu items like the Mexican poutine or the churros waffles for brunch. Price: we went for Happy Hour and got the $5 margaritas and $2 tacos. The prickly pear margarita was sweet and refreshing. The avocado taco and pork belly taco ($4), and carnitas taco were delicious and filling. I think Happy Hour is a good deal for a quick bite and drink after work with friends. Service: this was by far my biggest issue. The waiter was a bit young and it seemed inexperienced. Maybe it was his first server job. When I asked what were the crowd pleasers on the menu, he had a great detailed list. However, when we ordered, he would walk away immediately, when we still had questions and even wanted to order more. He came back and when we did order another drink and taco, it seemed he forgot, as another person came by and was able to get out our 2nd order efficiently. Other servers and workers checked in on us more often than our server did. Maybe he had a lot of other tables and was overwhelmed. Either way, he didn't really make us feel welcome. Overall, I was excited to try this place especially because it seemed like they had some vegan and vegetarian options. The vegetarian stuff I tried was good, but I heard that the poblanos taco was mostly steamed cauliflower and very disappointing. I look forward to trying this place out again when they have worked some kinks out with their lack of seasoning and bad service. For now I'm a bit disappointed but I really hope they step things up. read more

Ancho & Agave - Tres leches cake. Delicious! - Mexican Near Me - Bloomington, Illinois

See all

This is our go-to date night spot. We had an especially great time last night as our server, whose name we failed to get, was phenomenal. We had the shrimp quesadilla and the May special steak & chicken poutine bowl; Both were outstanding. The strawberry-pineapple margarita is a must-get as well. We love it here and can't wait for our next visit! read more

Awesome food. Probably the best queso I've ever had. Chicken asada taco was spicy and delicious and Barbacoa was cooked perfectly with great flavor. I didn't think I'd like the Nashville hot taco because of the toppings but they worked together perfectly and it was super flavorful. Burritos were a good size with lots of different flavor profiles. Gave us tons of chips and salsa. Our waitress was just great in general. Great kids meal options. Prickly pear & mango habanero margs had the perfect flavor, not overly sweet. read more

Best Mexican in central Illinois Great Marquita's Suggest getting reservation. It's worth the wait if not

Stopped in for lunch, seated quickly. Social distancing in place. Had the tacos and a signature margarita . Daughter had enchiladas, 1 chicken and 1 shrimp. Very delicious meal read more

See all

Carnitas Enchiladas-- asked for a side of Red Chili Coconut Sauce on the side-- beyond amazing!!! Others in our party had Carnitas Burritos with the mentioned Red Chili sauce (still amazing), Cauliflower Taco--Sweet Potato Taco both got raves. Excellent flavors in salsa and nice medium thick chips for the table. Never a bad experience here. read more

Thursday 29, 2021 Server: Sierra This place has a great aesthetic. The staff was very nice and our waitress was a delight! *only bummer was outside patio wasn't open* Drink: Skinny spicy jalapeño margarita. SO fresh. Very well done. Ordered: Tacos Avenue - Steak asada, Fried chicken - Nashville hot, smoked pork belly and Barbacoa. Street - Cauliflower Favorites: Barbacoa! The rest were tasty but the Barbacoa stood out. For those who left less then 4's?? ‍ read more

See all

An exciting menu with the same Biaggi's professionalism. If you want something with a fresh take on Mexican staples, this is your place. I highly recommend the Sweet Corn Tamale Cakes. I personally like the Gringo Burrito, but all of the entrees are pleasing. You can also try Biaggi's next door for a restaurant with the same owners and amazing atmosphere, just with fine Italian food. For more traditional Mexican food, try Los Potrillos. Check out my profile for more food recommendations in town. read more

Ancho and Agave is special for there talent, the service is respectfully handled in a lighting clean enviroment.

Great twist on Mexican food. I would give it 5 stars but it's a little on the pricey side for tacos

Best food I've eaten in a while. The carbitas chimichanga is to die for. Crafted cocktails and margaritas and perfection and the vibes are great. read more

See all

This pace has always been consistent. Food is great and the staff has always been amazing. I love the Senor Hector Guacamole everyone should try it. read more

Perfect place for a first date! The atmosphere is awesome!! The drink menu is a God send especially if love tequila like me. But they have many other drink options too. The food was only so-so for me. The guacamole had way too much lime and the tacos had too much liquid. But the chips and salsa rocked! read more

Great place! I love it and will definitely be back! We enjoyed everything and the atmosphere is very cool.

I can't think of something I disliked about my experience here. My boyfriend and I had the white and red sangria, chips salsa and (absolutely amazing) cheese dip and split the taco board. I will 100% be back here, I hope they add a location in Saint Louis closer to me, it would be a hit for sure! read more

Ancho & Agave - Taco sampler, cheese dip, sangria - Mexican Near Me - Bloomington, Illinois

We had a late dinner Tuesday night and had an exceptional experience. Our server Della was prompt, bringing out water and chips and salsa as soon as we sat down. The chips were delicious and the salsa (and guacamole) complemented them well. The margaritas are tastefully presented and had just the right amount of kick. We do not eat meat and were very pleased with the amount of fish options, enjoying fish and shrimp tacos, shrimp empanadas, and plantains. Setting up multiple small plates and sides was a great way to try a variety of the menu. Beyond the food, the environment is charming. The restaurant is clean and the actual plates are uniquely decorated. In summary, excellent food and punctual service. This is definitely my favorite Mexican restaurant in town. read more

Ancho & Agave - Baja fish tacos, shrimp tacos, empanadas, plantains, rice and beans - Mexican Near Me - Bloomington, Illinois

Truly an amazing restaurant. Service was so quick, drinks were wonderful and our server, Conner, was fabulous! Definitely will be back.

I heard great things so we tried this place out- we have an ISU student. I'll come back yes but not so much for the quality of food. While the chips and salsa were pretty good, the tacos sounded better on menu than they tasted. Tacos came with cold tortillas- all of them were cold but we didn't have enough time to complain and wait for a new set so we ate it. Service with our waitress was 7/10. She was super nice but while we waited for refills on drinks she hung out behind the bar drinking her water bottle. So... will we be back again? Sure... the ambiance was super nice - good music and all. we might just order other things from menu and see how round two goes! read more

Delicious veggie tacos and pineapple guacamole!! The sweet potato and avocados tacos were so flavorful! Great ambiance.