El Coyote Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Anderson Township

Last time my wife and I ate at El Coyote was over 22 years ago. It was a “friend dinner” before we started dating. We decided to visit the restaurant again last night now that we have been married 22 years as a sentimental gesture towards our relationship. We arrived around 5pm, not busy at all. Only one other person at a table eating dinner and about 6-7 regulars at the bar. We ordered appetizers (crab stuffed mushrooms) as well as our meals. My wife ordered seafood enchiladas and I ordered the prime rib. Appetizer was good, no issues there. When our meals arrived, I couldn’t help but notice a very pungent smell arriving with them. My wife and I both thought it was probably the seafood enchiladas, Mexican food with seafood mixing in would probably have a strong smell, right? Nope, it was the prime rib. So I tried a bite of the prime rib, still thinking the smell was from the Mexican seafood dish. The meat was obviously rancid. My wife and I both grabbed the plate and smelled it to agree that it was definitely bad. We told our server about the meat and she apologized asking what we would like to do. I asked to just get a comparable ribeye to replace it. Some time went by so my wife shared her meal with me and we told the server to just pack up the replacement steak to go. Our server finally came out with the replacement steak and said it was $20 more for the ribeye and they aren’t going to charge us for the “up charge” for the inconvenience. She then said that the meat was definitely bad and that 3 other customers at the bar had ordered the prime rib and she had them change their order due to what I found. Told me “sorry you had to be the Guinea pig”

Now I wasn’t looking to get the meal for free but at a restaurant that charges between $32-$130 for their steak dinners, I would expect to at least have the rotten meat they served be taken off the bill! As well as, possibly the manager, to come out to the table and handle this unusual situation. Especially since there were only a few customers eating at this early hour. Never saw the manager. We didn’t let this terrible meal ruin our evening because our night out was about reminiscing. We were just surprised at what unfolded. By the way, I opened the “take home replacement steak” the morning after and that smell hit me again. The ribeye had the same smell. I don’t think it was rancid like the prime rib but possibly could have been on the same flat top or the onion straws that WERE on the rancid meat were put in our to go box?? Either way, I threw the ribeye...

Me and my fiancé went here last night for date night we really enjoy trying new places so we thought we would give this one a try. While waiting for a table in the patio area we order drinks a sex on the beach and frozen margarita handed the bartender a $20 and only got $2.50 back! Very over priced but the bartender was extremely nice so we brushed this off. Waited 5 mins and our table was ready for us. As we walked through the restaurant I could not help but notice how very outdated it was several steps you must go up and down and the floor was gross food on it stained and just nasty. As we sat outside we order more drinks draft beer and strawberry margarita (which once I got the bill were $4 and $4.25) and we order an appetizer dip which had cheese mash potatoes and shredded pork in it. The appetizer is big enough to feed 4 people easy but was not to bad we both enjoyed it however the spoon given to us for the appetizer was dirty and had food caked on it from previous use. We had the spoon swapped out and our waitress did not even say sorry for the inconvenience which would of been nice. Our waitress then brought us salsa and chips, the chips were very salty and the salsa was too chunky not to mention had some spice at the end (beware if you don’t like hot peppers). We also ordered dinner my fiancé ordered pork chops with bell pepper and Mac and cheese, baked potato served with Texas toast and onion straw. I ordered pork chops with ribs Mac n cheese and salad also served with onion straws and Texas toast. The only reason I give this restaurant a 2 is because of the pork chops which were beyond amazing! Juicy thick and tender the pork chops are delicious! However the rib was tender but no flavor the bbq sauce used on top was gross. Mac and cheese was horrible big noodles and tons of processed cheese with a few peppers in the mix I took 2 bites and left it. The salad was decent nothing fancy however the croutons were soft and stale I believe they were old and been around for a while. Baked potato came wrapped in foil not cut or buttered they just hand u cups of butter. The worse and most disappointing thing on the whole plate was the toast... it literally was a slice of white bread grilled on each side and thrown on a plate. No season not even butter just stale burnt bread. Overall our meal was $80 for 2 great pork chops and a decent appetizer that’s it. If we ever come back we will only order pork chops nothing else. Way over priced for what this place...

DECEMBER 23 VISIT - I am leaving this review from Christmas! I know a bit late, but we all know how crazy it gets around the Holidays! And I temporarily misplaced my receipt. I am so excited I found it because I promised the Waitress I would leave a review because she was AWESOME. The Host staff not so great :( very disappointed. I have been visiting El Coyote for 10+ years and this time I made a reservation a week in advance, online. 4 people. Christmas dinner. We were running a few minutes behind on our 8pm reservation so I called the restaurant to inform them. I get it I've been in the F&B industry my whole life and communication is key. I was less than happy when the hostess informed me the kitchen closes at 8:30 and the restaurant at 9pm. This was different than shown online, but again Holidays, ok, what should we do?. The part that frustrated me was, how are you going to allow me to make a reservation for 8pm then tell me the kitchen is closing 30 minutes before the restaurant? They made me feel extremely rushed and stressed out.!!! We ended up ordering over the phone in an attempt to accommodate the staff rather than ourselves. This did not sit well with me.. We didn't want to cancel our reservation because we had talked so highly of it, the "half and half" margaritas and pork chop. THANKFULLY WHEN WE ARRIVED KELSIE WAS AMAZING!!! SHE REASSURED US "NO RUSH" ENJOY YOUR DINNER AND THERE WERE STILL A FEW TABLES AROUND US EATING. THE ONLY REASON I AM GIVING THIS EXPERIENCE 4 STARS IS BECAUSE OF KELSIE. WE SPENT $300 TO ORDER OVER THE PHONE. WOW! NEVER DOING THIS AGAIN. KELSIE WAS VERY THANKFUL FOR OUR GENEROSITY AND WE WERE VERY THANKFUL FOR HER PATIENCE! SHE IS A KEEPER. I WOULD SUGGEST HAVING A MEETING WITH YOUR HOSTS AND TIME BLOCKING 8PM RESERVATIONS IF THEY ARE GOING TO CLOSE THE...