Don Pedro's Family Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Evanston

Food was alright. No sauce on the chili which was odd, but the chicken inside was seasoned nicely. The chile relleno was good, but covered lightly with salsa, not smothered in relleno sauce. The worst thing was the service. Waiting tables is a skill from the first welcoming comments to seeing that everyone has something to drink to clearing plates after people have eaten so they can enjoy each others company. Aecha nd every trip to the kitchen or back room by the wait/bussing staff involved coming back with one or two things. They need to be trained on how to efficiently work. I had to ask for water and when I did I asked for no ice. They brought it with ice. I asked again nicely for no ice and was given a huffy face response. They brought the good out one plate at a time and one of our dishes was chile verde with tortillas to eat with it. They didn't bring the tortillas. When I asked for them, I was told, "I'm not finished bringing the food to everyone else yet. I'll bring them." They're part of the meal....and bringing.l everyone else food out took another 10-15 minutes, one by one. No one ever came back to ask if we needed anything. Not once. So again, I had to ask for extra napkins and was again given attitude. And again, acting as if grabbing a stack of napkins was a monumental task. We shouldn't have even had to ask, when crumpled up, super messy napkins are in front on everyone. No refills on water. In the meantime, they were cleaning every table around us as people left, though there were loads of empty tables. So no prioritizing service to those having meals. It was so strange. We all had to ask for to go containers and rather than the waitress asking who else wants one, we each individually had to ask for one. So weird. No one cleared our plates, BUT as we were standing up to leave, and chatting a little, they brought the bussing tubs , sat them in the table and began bussing the table! Like, what? The whole thing...

We stopped by Don Pedro’s on Sunday afternoon after spending time at Wyoming Downs. We were hungry and looking for a place where my daughter, who eats gluten free, could eat. We selected Don Pedro’s because mexican restaurants usually have options for her and the “vibe” looked good. We had never been. We were a little concerned about some of the reviews but decided to check it out anyway. I’m SO glad we did! We were seated quickly. The decor was the typical mexican restaurant decor, lots of wood tables and booths and sombreros on the walls. While the padded seats at the booths could use a little bit of rehab, overall we liked the atmosphere. The service was quick and friendly, answering all of our questions. First they brought us a basket of chips, a bowl of bean dip (which was a nice change/addition) and a bowl of salsa. The salsa was chunky, smoky and had the right amount of heat. We all loved the salsa and the bean dip. We agreed, our visit was starting out well and didn’t in any way match some of the not so good reviews. My husband got the Burrito Verde. Great flavor and lots of chunks of pork! My daughter got the Quesabirria and a Horchata. Again, the flavors were excellent. I had the carne asada plate. Excellent flavor and the steak was tender. The portions were large, we ended up taking some home. We would definitely stop again if...

Got seated relatively quickly and drink orders were taken as we sat down. Then we wait a good 10 minutes for chips and salsa, standard Mexican restaurant. Then drinks took another 5-10 minutes. Not terrible, give time to check out the menu. Order, sizzling fajitas and a 12oz steak, medium rare, with bacon wrapped shrimp. Half an hour goes by, other tables get their food that came in after us. Our food comes out, kind of. Wife's sizzling fajitas' beans and cheese come out, another 5 minutes goes by, her main dish comes out when my main dish comes out. Waitress asks if I would like another drink, as by now its been a good 40 minutes, so I say yes. Waitress states that's she'll be right back and bring my wife's tortillas with..... another half an hour goes by. We're picking at our food. My steak has a massive chunk of fat on one end that was completely unrendered and raw in the middle while the other end was about 3/4 inch thick and WELL done. After this much of a wait, we finally decide we're done and call a waitress over. Explained everything that was wrong and just asked for the check. I stated that id be fine paying for the drinks amd my wife's meal but we weren't satisfied with the service. Got the check and they gave us 50%off my wife's meal and charged us full price for everything else and a drink I never got. DO...