Lorena’s Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in East Peoria

Staff is friendly, some of the food choices have excellent taste filled with flavorful meat, however, I don't think they want customers that come in and order regular tacos for dinner. I ordered regular ground beef tacos for dinner. Granted, I came in around 8:25pm when they close at 9pm but the tacos served were bland in taste, meat was lukewarm and loaded with grease, two of the tacos were filled with adequate beef, one of the tacos was inadequately filled, and the last taco, well, it hardly had any beef at all. All of the tacos just had a small amount of cheese, not even close to what I consider adequate cheese. I didn't complain, had I complained, I'm confident the staff would've corrected their mistake. Finally, I ordered my favorite dessert, the Fried Ice Cream, it's fantastic, however, I got the excuse they were out of ice cream. The young man didn't have much of a poker face, I could easily read his face that they weren't out of ice cream, it was that it was 20 minutes before closing and they just didn't want to make me Fried Ice Cream. I loathe when this happens, closing time is 9pm, one should be able to order exactly what they want and it be made fresh. And finally, this is very untypical of staff, but my waiter was more interested in sitting at the slot machine instead of serving me and filling...

Unfortunately there are no decent Mexican restaurants around Peoria Illinois. Having lived in California for eight years before moving home and constantly traveling through out the southwest, I know good quality authentic Mexican food. Like all the Mexican restaurants around here, Lorena's is nothing more than a bit fancier Taco Bell, with bland hamburger filler and cheap cheese glopped all over. The biggest insult was their joke of a Chile Relleno, which is usually a Poblano, or a Anaheim Chile stuffed with cheese and sometimes meat, then breaded and fried. My plate arrived with a burrito and a glop of cheese on the side with a piece of pepper about the size of my fingernail in the middle. When I asked the waitress, who was very nice by the way, where is my Chile Relleno, she pointed to the glop of cheese. Sorry Lorena's, but I have eaten several hundred, maybe even thousands of Chile Rellenos from California to Texas, and the only place this joke is done is the few Mexican joints around East Peoria. You may be able to pull a fast one on the gringos that never left town, but I am too well traveled my friend. This is also why I don't even bother to order Chile Verde around home. I either make it at home, or wait till I get out on the road back in the...

Pros: Food is always VERY hot, which may or may not be good for some people. (Some of the plates have to be brought out with an oven-mitt. Dangerously hot for children or elderly people. They do warn you, but if you touch one of these plates, you will regret it.) Quality of the food is always great. Have never had a bad meal here. Portion size is at or slightly above average for the price in our area. Plenty of seating. Wait times are usually 10 minutes maximum on Friday/Saturday night Decent kids menu Relaxing environment. Wait time for food is minimal.

Cons: The gambling machines (3-4 of them) are basically right at the entrance. The only waiting seat they have if there is a wait is about 12 inches from the closest gambling machine (Sitting for 9 minutes with kids next to drunk gamblers isn't always fun) If there is a wait and there is more than one party, you will be standing. It is also crowded at the front area if there is a wait. Not enough room for people that do have to wait. Also have people coming up to pay making it worse.

Overall: Nice place for a quiet date night, a place to eat with the kiddos, or just want to fill up for lunch. Definitely one of my favorites! Nothing bad enough to remove a...