El Puente Mexican Grill — Restaurant in Chesapeake

So we decided to try somewhere new since we are looking to move out this way and decided to try this place due to the great reviews. First the staff was great. The place is very cleaning and has an appealing charm. We were seated and given chips and spicy salsa which I love spicy. But I requested mild salsa for my young daughter. I had to ask three times and then they brought out burrito sauce as a "mild salsa" 😐 So they only have one kind of salsa. The cheese dip was not bad. So we ordered tacos carne asada with one carnitas instead of steak. Well they brought the food. The steak was enough for one taco but was sprinkled across two. And the carnitas looked so yummy. Well we got Pico with it when I was expecting the classic white onion and cilantro and lime. The tomatillo sauce looked interesting. So I tasted the partly fresh Pico and the flavor was decent but I prefer it no not be mushy. So I tasted the tomatillo sauce and about threw up. It tasted like dandelion flowers and dead flowers ground up and mixed in. It even smelt like it. So pass on that. Took a bite of the carnitas and while the texture was great and the moisture was just right it was extremely salty and mean like the cap must of fallen off the bottle into the carnitas and instead of throwing it out they served it instead. When I asked about what was in the tomatillo sauce they said they have never had a person dislike it before and that they sell tons of it. Well I guess it must be the area or I just got a bad batch because that was not tomatillo sauce that was dead rotten ground up flowers. Plus tacos carne asada should be served in corn tortillas not large flour ones. So we tried and it was a disaster. Will not be...

Having tried Mexican food from nearly all areas such as New Mexico, California, Washington and even overseas I will do my best to review this place. Before I rate the food I always start off by reviewing the chips and salsa and then my first visit is always a 3 combination plate with tamales, enchiladas, taco and rice with beans. I do this because if you can't master the basic then why even return? My second visit is typically something else depending on how the first visit went. If it passes the 2nd trip then I become a regular. However this is my first Mexican food restaurant in this area of the states. So here goes... The atmosphere was nice and the staff were very friendly and attentive. The chips were good but needed salt on them. The salsa was fresh but lacked any heat. They did serve a "white salsa" which tasted like it was ranch or something. I didn't prefer it to the regular salsa. The combination plate was eh and kinda bland! Nothing special but I was disappointed because when I asked for beef in the taco and enchilada it was ground beef. I asked if they had shredded beef and I was told no. The tamale was pork but there was hardly any meat in it. The meat was also kinda dry so I'm guessing it was store bought. Typically store bought tamales when heated up dry out so I was disappointed there also. The rice and beans were ok. Canned beans which I am fine with had plenty of cheese and the rice was soft. But to be fair this was my first Mexican restaurant in the area. I will update later after eating at a few more places....

My husband and I were in the area after visiting some family friends. We were originally looking for a pizza restaurant but spotted El Puente as we were pulling into the parking lot so we changed our minds on pizza and decided on Mexican. They weren't very busy at 7pm when we got there but it took about 3 minutes for someone to seat us. The restaurant was very clean. The tables weren't sticky and gross.

Their prices are AMAZING compared to other restaurants. We were very happy about that. Chips, salsa and white sauce arrived quickly and tasted great. We ordered a water and a tea and cheese dip to start. It also arrived quickly and was warm and delicious. (I ate way too much of it!)

I ordered three hard tacos with beef. I can't recall what my husband ordered but it came with steak and a pita on the bottom. He loved it. My tacos were piping hot. No complaints there! The meat was good in my opinion. Just not great. But there was a LOT of it! At one point it was extremely messy and I almost felt like I was eating chili meat. It didn't taste like seasoned taco meat. Weird. It was too much meat from for me to finish. We were stuffed when we left so that's a bonus. Our bill came to $34.34. They charge you a dollar more for not paying with cash. I left a $7.00 tip so it came to $41.34 which I think is pretty decent.

We'd definitely go back the next time we're in the area. I'd just order...