El Fogon — Restaurant in West Des Moines

I have been meaning to stop in here for a while as I see cars in the parking lot all the time. The decor hasn't changed much from the last couple of occupants, guessing it hadn't changed much since the original occupants. But we aren't here for the decor; we are here for the food.

We ordered the Tequila shrimp jalapeno and the Carne en mole. The shrimp was very good with great flavor, could have been a little fresher, and the rice and corn sides were refreshing. I was on the fence with the Carne en mole or the Chile Verde, and per the waiter I went with the Carne en mole. To my surprise, I absolutely did not like it at all, the steak is in a guajillo sauce, it reminds me of like a tangy BBQ like sauce, I guess I should have asked for clarification before I ordered. I ended up sending it back and ordering the Chile Verde. I felt horrible, I have never sent something back before because I couldn't eat it. I eat everything.

The staff was very accommodating and switched my order right away. The Chile Verde's sauce was a little tangier than I expected but overall a decent dish. We will be back for the Tequila Shrimp Jalapeno and the service, but I will have to continue to...

I had been going to this place for years it was my son's ang my favorite place to go eat. But on Saturday we went, i ordered a pollo loco. That chicken breast covered in cheese, had lettuce and white rice with veggies. The rice had no flavor, it was plain not even salt. The chicken had chorizo and thick cheese on top. I ordered cheese dip and it was extremely thick not only that i called them over so they could bring me the dip. The guy kept looking at me from a far like he didn't want to come to the table. I asked if the cheese was going to be brought out with the food or did the bring it out before like they used to. My waitress brought it to me. It looked like it had been sitting for a while. What seemed like 3min later food was brought out. I was extremely disappointed in the food. I and my 1yr old ended up eating fries from my son's plate. The waitress never came to the table and asked if we wanted more to drink as my son had finished his. After a while she asked how the food was and i told her the truth. I maybe ate 2 bites of chicken a lil bit of rice and a few...

We had a change of plans so ended up stopping in for dinner late Friday afternoon. The weather was nice and still plenty of room on the patio, so that’s where we ended up. Service was good and the margaritas were large and tasty. Our favorite meal is the Pollo Loco which we’ve ordered in just about every Mexican restaurant on the west side. This was by far, the worst meal we’ve been served of any of the Mexican restaurants in the Des Moines area. A favorite of ours is the cheese sauce which is supposed to smother the meal. With the meal we were served, if there was cheese sauce there, we couldn’t find it. So essentially, we ended up with grilled chicken breast with onions. I’m also not sure why their rice was so different. Rather than the typical fried rice, theirs was simply white rice, which was very bland. Maybe that’s the way it’s supposed to be, but we didn’t approve. We also asked for flour tortillas and ended up being served corn, which we’re not a fan of. Too many other good choices for Mexican around here, we’ll...