Service was fast and very nice. The food was on point, coming from Chicago I was hoping to find…read moregood tacos. El Gallo hit the spot, good steak tacos and even better Al Pastor. Chips and salsa were tasty as well. The place had a good vibe. Great spot in East Peoria.

This is a small place, but nice inside. Has a bar, too. The food is okay, and I think a little…read moreoverpriced. The complementary chips and salsa were just okay. But our waitress was very nice. They did not have a lot to choose from on the menu, and we had to ask if they had certain drinks. Which they did.. it was nice to try.but probably will not be back.

This place is spot on!! I'm from the southwest, roughly 30mins from Mexico and I can vouch for…read moreauthentic Mexican food. The owners are both from Mexico, and they definitely brought their flavors from home! Being new to Peoria this was the first time we had a taste of home and it was much appreciated. We had the Quesabirria with the consome, the Asada, Pastor, and Carnita tacos. I was excited to see a Nopal garnish on one! Definitely took me back to the Sonoran desert where prickly pear cactus grows all around. The salsa were solid! The habanero was so much fire! Like good fire!! Flavorful fire! We chatted with the owner that was running the front and he was a cool guy! I appreciate when the owners are present and they are passionate about their food! So if you're looking for some solid comida de Mexico.... Bring your ass down here and enjoy!! Thanks for reading my review check my others as I'm new here to Peoria and showing the local spots some love! La Habanero FOR THE WIN!!

We loved this place. The food is creative and full of flavor. We ordered the vegan sopes and…read morequesabirrias. Amazing! Great owner was so friendly and interested in our feedback. We'll be back!

Wow!! Don't let the hole in the wall status fool you! This was excellent food! It was like going to…read morea taco truck inside a building. The food was very reminiscent of a food truck. Service was quick and polite. Horchata was absolutely divine. Chicken tacos were not dry at all. My only complaint is that they make their own chips out of tortillas and they are a bit thick for my liking. Will absolutely be back!

My friend and I never been here before and I saw the review by sethboyer and wanted to try some…read moreauthentic mexican! It was close to my work so tried it out! We both had the birria tacos and they were amazing!! I would go back for those! They were moist, flavorful, fall of the bone tender. It came with consume. The consume which is like a meat broth you dip it in was okay. I wished it was alittle more flavorful and thicker but it was sorta watery but still vey good. The al paster taco was good but alittle dry but loved the seasoning! The horchata drink was great for the size and price! It was super affordable and I only waited like 10 mins for my food on a friday at 2pm!

Review Visit: October 21st, 2014…read more So much food. So many memories. El Mexicano is one of those places that was located in a weird spot. It was on the corner of a street away from a commercial district but not quite in a residential area. Tim, Matt, and I pulled up for an early dinner one evening and were greeted by some friendly workers. We placed our orders at the counter and took a seat at one of the few empty tables. There were a few others in the restaurant but due to the sheer small size, it felt packed with just the few of us in there. As with a lot of Mexican places, we had our food out in front of us before we even had time to really dig in to a random topic. Not only was it cooked exceptionally fast but the sheer amount of food was borderline nonsense for the price we paid. You gotta start somewhere, so I started by eating the extra goodies that came with my burrito. It was a combination of rice, refried beans (?) and some salad stuff topped with sour cream, I think. Scarfing down the sides was easy as the food was pretty good aside from the bean paste stuff. That was a bit dry. After priming my stomach for the main course by downing the side stuff, I used my fork and knife to cut in to the burrito. As is the norm at these places, the burritos are massive. Like, this is half the size of a loaf of bread. It's gut-busting sized. But, I was able to use my knife and fork to shovel down most of the burrito. I had to tap out at about 1/4 left as I just couldn't do it. The food was just too much. I think my meal was under $10 so to get full for that much is an incredible value in my book. The burrito was on par with the side stuff. It was good, if not borderline great. El Mexicano would've definitely been a place I would revisit if they were still open. It didn't help that we put down a ton of chips and salsa in between bites as well. I love chips and salsa. Matt was in the same boat as me. Unable to finish. Tim was the victor and put down all his stuff and then some more of the chips and salsa. The man is a beast when he wants to be. So, it was a sad day when I was doing some searching around on Google and discovered El Mexicano had closed. Here is a link to an article the local newspaper did on it closing, if you are interested. I was surprised to see it had been in the area for 16 years. At that point, it becomes a staple to the area.

This is the grossest thing I have ever had. What authentic Mexican restaurant uses can cheese…read morechemical crap? Disgusting do not waste your money

Good good. Friendly servers. Rat-in service is slow for lunch, fast for call-in carry out orders.read more

Took a bit to figure out the menu and the waitress confused us more when it came to ordering chips…read moreand salsa. The salsa was kinda bland, but the salt and hot sauce on the table fixed that. The Smashburger taco is amazing. The fish taco was also kinda bland. And the pork belly in the Korean taco was cut in huge pieces that made it had to eat. According to my dad's girlfriend, her blackened chicken salad was the best salad she's had in a long time. We will definitely be back.

We had a table for 6, ordered drinks then our lunches for 6 people, server did not bring us any…read morewater until one plate of food was served. Only one person received their bottled beer, then another plate arrived after a long time and the order was wrong. (Asked for shredded chicken but got grilled chicken in a taco salad that was mostly sour cream lettuce bean soup in a tortilla bowl.) nobody at the table has received any water yet, not do we have d as by utensils or napkins either. Server returns with a second beer for the only person in our party who received their drink "this one's in the house, sorry for the wait" and we remind her again we need some water. Nobody has received anything to drink except one person who was given two beers now. The third plate of food finally arrived. The first person hasn't touched their food because we thought we would all be eating together at once, but apparently that's not possible at this restaurant. Eventually all six people received their meals, it was close to an hour to get all six plates of food and half the table was still wising for their cocktails. Server brought us the check at and tabs our cocktails showed up, so we had drinks for dessert and nothing but ice water with our meals. She did not comp any of the drinks on the check and added in a built in gratuity even though we split the party of six into three separate checks. The entire meal from start to finish took close to 3 hours of our afternoon because the service was so bad.

Their outdoor seating gives it an edge over other restaurants. The complimentary apps is an also a…read morenice touch and good quality. I was let down in terms of service - no silverware given when we were seated, server asked us to pour water in the kids cup ourselves, server did not hand over the order correctly. Kids steak tacos was overcooked and mama mole had no taste to it. It will take me a lot of re-thinking if I want to go back to Hacienda even though I really like the outdoor seating.

This place... is phenomenal... the wife and I had a very great experience here due to the awesome…read moreatmosphere, great service (Melissa) and of course great food!! We had started out with some duck Pattie's... and then my wife ordered the Chicken Cajun Alfredo, I ordered the Grouper, with crawfish, crab meat, over a bed of dirty rice... with this phenomenal Cajun creamy sauce pour all over it. You will not be disappointed if you get this dish.

absolutely some of the best tasting food in peoria ,il hands down...... smacking 100% recommendedread more

Excellent food! Great service! Everything was fresh! Great margaritas. Huge menu & nice clean…read moreatmosphere

We will definitely be back. Great service, terrific food. Servers were very attentive. We had…read moreChicken Fajitas and a chicken chimichanga. Good portions and delicious flavor. Chips were warm and salsa was mild, just the way we like it (with a little pepper for a little heat). We also shared some fried ice cream for dessert. Highly recommend checking it out.