El Pedregal Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Bloom Township

If you’re looking for a good Mexican restaurant THIS IS NOT IT! First off let me start by saying I was misled by the reviews, 4.6 stars?!? Maybe for some I however did NOT have that experience. The wait was very short to get a table which is why I gave the 1 star I did. I felt very rushed to order even after I asked for a few minutes, which I get it was a Friday night and they were busy. lt was my first time there I kind of wanted to check out the menu a minute. So after feeling rushed I ordered pollo maya which is a chicken breast with veggies and cheese with a side of rice and beans. So after I ordered I tried a few chips and salsa which were quite bland and let me tell ya I can eat chips and salsa when they are good, these were not, I ate maybe 3 chips. My family didn’t even eat half the basket. Okay fine chips aren’t great no biggie the food will hopefully be better I thought....no, not even close. The rice and beans again were very bland and the chicken?!? I have NEVER seen a chicken breast sliced that thin. It was literally see through in certain places. Picture a chicken breast that was sliced like deli meat...yep that was what it looked like. If you cook you know what super thin chicken on a cast iron skillet becomes, it was crispy, dry and rubbery. (Inedible)I took one bite and couldn’t even eat that. I never complain in a restaurant for the simple fact that I don’t want them to think I’m just doing it for free food so I paid for it. No problem I even gave my usual 20% tip. I ate maybe 3 bites max of my entire dinner...you would think someone would have asked me if something was wrong with my food but NOPE. They took my plate like it was no big deal and brought our bill. We paid and left. Which again is fine I ordered the food I’ll pay for it. What I won’t do?! I will never eat at this restaurant again. The only reason I did was I heard good things and the reviews were good. Again maybe a lot of people like bland food but when I think of Mexican food I think of spices and flavor that is not what you’ll get at this restaurant so if that’s what you’re looking for...

Based on very high reviews, I was expecting a really great dinner. I was sorely disappointed. First, as I was led through the house turned restaurant, my feet slid underneath me from grease, oil, food remnants or other substances on the floors surface. Once seated, I did get a server right away. The server didn't understand my order, as there was a language barrier and I do not speak Spanish. I wanted to ask questions about the menu options, but that wasn't possible. Ordered a safe taco salad with steak. Server came back and asked me about a fajita taco salad, and I said sure. No peppers. My food came out pretty quickly and immediately I noticed chunks of onion root (the part that should be cut away before slicing) as big as a golf ball in my dinner. Two of them. Set aside. And take a bite. Steak is tough as shoe leather, but well seasoned. Then I start to stir the contents inside my taco shell and realize there's a ¼ inch of liquid in the shell. I dumped all contents onto the plate to save the crunchy shell. Sadly, when I bit into the shell, it was stale with bad oil and there were particles of other fried food adhered to the shell. The shell itself tasted old. Soupy contents in my taco salad, shoe leather steak, soggy and old tortilla, onion root chunks ... I left half my plate. Server came promptly with my check but took another 8 minutes to cash me out. When I asked ANOTHER server if I needed to go to a register to pay, he ignored me and called to my server who looked at him and continued what he was doing. As I left, I used the restroom. Overwhelmed by fake scent plug in, surrounded by 3 over-full albeit tiny trash cans. Slid out of the restaurant (literally) and walked past 4-5 employees in the front of the house talking in Spanish amongst themselves. Left without a good-night or come again or bye from any of them. Will not...

GET THE JICAMA STREET TACOS

We just dropped in for a quick dinner tonight to try El Pedregal out. The value was great. We had a total of four street tacos, a tea, a coke, and an appetizer. Came out to $28 and we left satisfied.

Chips were perf and the salsa was fab. We're tough critics on salsa. This was garlicky and a little sweet. Definitely a solid salsa. We weren't sure on cheese dip (sometimes it's a really good queso, and other times just melted Velveeta and I don't take that chance) but the waitress recommended the Mexican chili. It's what the Chili's Skillet Queso wishes it could be. Absolutely delish.

For tacos, we tried a mix. I'd say the chorizo was a B-. Like I wouldn't recommend it, but I'll eat it if it's in front of me. Again. Tough critics who grew up in Texas with the most authentic Mexican outside of Mexico. The quesa birria didn't commit. C tier. I wouldn't call it quesa birria. It was tomato-ey but not enough to feel flavorful. The birria itself was well cooked but no flavor. The grilled chicken taco was a good B+. I'd get it again. Heavily cilantro, but I'm about that. We added some of that Mexican Chili on top and it was pretty darn good.

But here's the secret gem: the jicama street taco. I do not care who you are, you need this. It was sweet, crunchy, fresh, a little spicy... no actual jicama to be found, though. It's literally coconut breaded chicken (which is PERFECT) and a tomato/onion salsa. There was a bit of a chipotle something going on too... Literally 5 stars for this. Next time we will be getting two plates of just these tacos. Like I can't tell you enough. I was like "jicama, not feeling that" but then the description was interesting enough for me to try on a whim. YOU NEED THIS TACO. I want more of these tacos all the time. I will dream about this...