Look, I've been patronizing Mexican joints in Bloomington-Normal since antes de que fuera cool, and I need to talk about what's happening at Herradura. THE GOOD: The service here operates at quantum speeds. I'm talking food-to-table in approximately 5 minutes. Did they have a DeLorean in the kitchen? Did they start cooking when I pulled into the parking lot? I don't know, but physics was definitely involved. The presentation looked solid--everything arrived hot and reasonably photogenic. THE "WAIT, WHAT?": Friends, we need to discuss the Great Portion Shrinkage of 2026. Herradura has apparently discovered the restaurant industry's worst-kept secret: instead of raising prices a reasonable amount, just slash 10% off the menu and reduce portions by 35%. It's like getting a "discount" on a car, but they removed the back seats and the radio. The chimichangas arrived looking like they'd been on a strict juice cleanse--smaller than expected and committing the cardinal sin of sogginess. These weren't the crispy flavor bombs I remember. They were more like... flavor water balloons? Still edible, but not exactly chimichanga hall-of-fame material. THE CHEESE TAX: Here's where things got personal. I've been a loyal "little extra cheese on the rice" guy for years. Today? Nearly FIVE DOLLARS for what amounts to 4 tablespoons of queso. That's approximately $127 per pound if my mental math is correct (it's not, but you get the point). I've seen cheaper cheese at artisanal farmer's markets run by bearded hipsters in suspenders. The beef tacos were... fine. That's the review. Fine. They existed. They were tacos. Moving on. THE VERDICT: On the Bloomington-Normal Nickel-and-Dime Scale™, Herradura ranks on the lower end, which is actually saying something in this town where inflation is hitting Mexican restaurants like they personally offended the economy. Will I be back? Yes. Will it be soon? No. Next time I'm trying the cheesesteak because apparently I'm a glutton for punishment and also curious if it comes in "fun size" now too. Pro tip: Bring your own cheese. Save $5. Live your best life. Also i turned macro mode on for my camera. Objects look bigger than they appear in person. Atmosphere: 4/5 | Service: 5/5 | Food Quality: 3/5 | Value: 2/5 | Portion Size: 1.5/5 read more

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Choritacos (chorizo + another protein) and Dos Equis Amber are principally what I need every once in a while and the lady really is a fan of good steak tacos, beans and rice. We like this place just as much as the more upscale East side joints...and ya know what...it's a bit cheaper and seems to stay pretty busy despite its 'back of the strip mall/behind a tire shop' location. Pretty fast efficient service too all things considered. read more

Food was very bland. Flavorless. The salsa was a can of tomatoes poured into a saucer. Microwaved bean's and rice. Service was acceptable. Atmosphere was subdued, only a few customers. Maybe this was an off day. I had the enchiladas in their Lunch Special but, I've never seen enchiladas like these. They were more of a wet burrito than an enchilada. read more

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Hands down, this is my favorite Mexican restaurant in BloNo! Fantastic service- quick, friendly, and so so helpful, great food and drinks, and low prices. I could not recommend Herradura more! read more

Love this place! The staff is so friendly and fun. There are lots of choices for all. Festive music - great place for large groups. Specials almost every night. Great prices. ...and very tasty Mexican fare *\0/* read more

Herradura - Mexican Near Me - Bloomington, Illinois

This is next to another restaurant/bar and the parking lot can get full. Friendly and attentive staff. Chips and pico and salsa are good, especially the pico. Thursday night 1/2 price margaritas- they were tasty but at least the frozen one was weak in the alcohol content. Food was cool, maybe from the guacamole, which was the best part of the meal. I would try something else next time. read more

Herradura - La Superior - Mexican Near Me - Bloomington, Illinois

Food is real mexican food, super tasty!! The personnel is always happy to help and very polite. My favorite pick are the Enchiladas Rancheras!! read more

Wonderful food & service. Consistently excellent . Have eaten here for years. The owner is on site!

I've been a regular customer at Herradura for years. I love the food and friendly service. Fajitas, tacos, and enchiladas are my favorite dishes to order. read more

This is SOLID Mexican place in blono. Service is great. Margs are decent. PRICES ARE GREAT- awesome value. Food is good not the best in town but good. 2 different types of salsa cleanse all pallets. I ordered a mole burrito- solid but would not get it again. All n all I'd come back here but nothing my first choice in the area. read more

Herradura - Mole burrito - Mexican Near Me - Bloomington, Illinois

This restaurant had incredible food and they give you good portions for one serving and I was overall impressed with the quality and cleaning cleansingness of this place. This bar is tucked away hidden in a far out of town Bloomington Illinois location but it is well worth the look for search for a good Mexican restaurant inside the place they have rehabbed and it looks excellent and brand new and is next to a outstanding bar I have gone to before and reviewed here on Yelp this Mexican restaurant is excellent and the service was A1 quality read more

Herradura - Mexican Near Me - Bloomington, Illinois

I have been going to this place ever since I was five. On my birthdays and my siblings birthdays, basically all the time!! The queso dip is absolutely AMAZING and a big part of the reason on why I come. Their food is stunning!!! Never fails to please me. I have been ordering the same meal every time and it never gets old! I highly suggest their house special and their fajitas my grandparents think they are delicious!! The service is incredible, I have always wondered how they carry that many plates at once; the talent is real!! Like I said it is an amazing place for birthdays ( young or grown ) I have pictures and videos of me when I was younger, when they would sing happy birthday to me and my favorite part... wearing the sombrero!! The enviroment is clean and festive I love the vibe; the quality of the furniture, the music, and the dining experience will never leave you second guessing!!!! I also enjoy the fact that you can order online for carry out. Makes it easier when my family wants to wind down and relax while watching TV! To describe it all, this place is a whole new level and you have to go!!! read more

Go to this place really HUNGRY because you will get a ton of food! I concur with everything Jamie H's review says. The decor inside is really beautiful. Artists have painted some fantastic murals. I would love to know who did the painting. I took home a paper menu to list some items: They have 9 vegetarian offerings which is pretty good for B/N. Lunch fajitas = $6.55 ($1 more for shrimp) Dinner fajitas = $9.25 for steak or chicken or combo of both = $11.95 for Herradura (steak, shrimp, chicken, chorizo) The lunches are all in the $6 range. Most dinners are $8 range. They also offer 4 egg dishes for breakfast/brunch on their lunch menu. I didn't try a margarita but will next time. Straws are too short for their glasses was my only miniscule quibble. My son and I left very happy and with a good quantity of leftovers. read more

Overall it was a good Mexican place. The portion is huge as other Mexican restaurants in town. Our waiter was very humorous and friendly. I ordered the House Special quesadilla and it was delicious! Generous portion of chicken and steak, mixed with grilled veggies and rice on the side. I didn't finish it and the leftover served as lunch the next day. But I won't necessarily call this place the "best Mexican place in town". For it doesn't have too many taco choices. But overall it's a cool place, and their decor is very on point! read more

Herradura - Mexican Near Me - Bloomington, Illinois

On the great and spooktacular Hallo's Eve, in year 2017 of our Lord Vincent Price, my fiancé and I decided to dine in the late afternoon before the dinner rush of zombies and ghouls alike, burst in wildly in search of fine Mexican meats. We were greeted to the tune of Mexican singing in the kitchen. It was glorious. At any rate, the server was a bit embarrassed we heard them, but laughed it off with us. Real friendly folk here at Herradura. Onto the food! The two salsas are delicious. One is a runny red salsa, and the other is a thick, spicy pico of sorts. The cheese dip is always yummy on it's on for the chips, but also atop your rice and beans. The Herradura Special is yummy. Really, everything is great and the prices are competitive as heck! You don't need Halloween for an excuse to come... So go now! read more

Herradura - Mexican Near Me - Bloomington, Illinois

This place has a lot of potential. The margaritas are really good and you can't find a cheaper menu. With that said something is missing with the food. I feel like this place pays it safe when it comes to the food. There is worse Mexican food but there is better. I just didn't feel the love in the food as I would feel at other Mexican restaurants in town. I will be back for their margaritas and some apps. read more

Food was bland and nothing special. Salsas given were either a plain tomato sauce or more of a mix with onions and tomato diced up. Neither one really had any flavor. Prices were better than a lot of other Mexican restaurants, but we won't go back. read more

We recently had a team lunch there with about 25 people. They only had one server assigned when the restaurant appeared to be empty. He took orders on individual tickets yet when it came time to bring the food he had no clue who ordered what and became outwardly frustrated with our group to the point of yelling at us "stop talking and pay attention to me"... as he would return to the kitchen to get more orders, he would utter cuss words under his breath and bunch the divider wall... It was almost like the orders he took were tossed in the garbage. At least 4 people in our party waited for 20+ minutes for their meals after the majority of the rest of the group had received theirs and were about done. There were others working in fact when things went south it was another individual that appear to be more of a kitchen mgr that salvaged the situation. read more

Food was very good, the margarita seemed a little weak though. Service was pretty good though perhaps a little slow, but it was busy on a Saturday night. read more

Good Tacos. Great Service. Good low Prices. Cold Cervezas. Waiter was GREAT. Also decent Rice and Refried Beans. Cheaper than others.( LP)

Fantastic!! Had lunch Burritos Fajitas with steak and rice. It was out of this world!!!plenty of food as well. I'll be back!!

The food was so delicious and the service was amazing. It was a fantastic experience.

Amazing food at very affordable prices. I had the big margarita....fancy myself as a margarita expert (only because I drink them too often) and was impressed. We brought our 7yo and 11yo, who are the toughest food critics in our family. They loved the food! Really glad we tried it tonight! We'll be back! read more

My tacos were soggy as heck, and they did not make my burrito right. I didn't want red sauce on it. I only wanted beef and cheese sauce on top. The food was nasty. I tried contacting to speak to a manager with no luck The burrito my first go round was amazing, same with tacos.. I don't know why they were soggy. My burrito wasn't made right either. This was all a to-go order. read more

Great service, food is good, my family and I are from Texas and this is one of our favorite places to go. Not exactly what we are used to but good all the same. Prices are fantastic, they have a great drink menu. Decor is awesome, kid friendly, great customer service. Would definitely recommend read more

Never had a bad meal here. Excellent service, great prices. Our favorite Mexican spot! read more

Herradura - Chili Colorado. My favorite! - Mexican Near Me - Bloomington, Illinois

The food is solid. They messed up my order last time but that's no biggie as THEY called me to point out the mistake. Always enjoyed the food and good service! read more

I LOVED this place. Extremely delicious authentic Mexican food in Bloomington Illinois. Giant burritos, delicious street style tacos, and great decor and fairly large dining room. Our server was so friendly and the manager even came to our table to make sure we enjoyed our meal and cracked some jokes. I am so happy to inform you that they do have a wonderful selection of hot sauces... including Valentina... which is the BEST. I loved this place and will be back! Oh, I almost forgot to mention.... the margaritas are ginormous and I was buzzed off of just one! I can't wait to eat more Mexican food. See you soon amigos! read more

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The best mexican restaurant i have been visited so far. 1. Chicken fazita 2. Shrimp fazita - Ask them fry the shrimp well to feel the spice & taste read more

I love the fajita quesadilla with steak and chicken. I never think I will eat the whole thing, but I always do!

I have been going to this restaurant since around when they first opened. Staff is always friendly and they treat my mother and I like family. Food is always delicious and if something isn't right they are glad to fix it. If i am stuck on what to order, the server always gives us recommendations. read more

The place was clean, the service was great but the food was not what I was expecting. I've read a ton of reviews that say the food is great or one of the best Mexican restaurants in town. However, I didn't think it was all that good. The rice and beans really didn't have any flavor, I didn't care for the enchilada or burrito I had gotten. I will give them another shot because they have some items on their grille menu that are priced terrifically that I'd like to try. read more

This was just about the WORST food I've ever had in my life, ever! It's definitely not Mexican food. Chips were stale & disgusting. Salsa was some sort of mashed tomato compote. Hot sauce was mediocre (best thing we had) but w/o a decent vessel, couldn't really eat it. 3 adults ordered all over the board - tacos, enchiladas, specials, etc. Bland, gross, greasy, cold. Seriously, most of the food didn't taste bad, there was almost NO taste/flavor at all... except the "cheese" in enchiladas. It was a white, rubbery substance that had the worst, indescribable flavor. And it was cold. Yuck!!! I ordered a XX Lager (was served an amber - I let it slide). My husband ordered a premium margarita, it was huge (like 22oz) but he only took a few sips & said it was the worst he's ever had. Staff was VERY friendly, server was kind. Just horrible food. I do not understand how this place gets so many stars. read more

Had an overall average lunch at Herradura. The service was excellent but the food wasn't anything great. We started our lunch with the complimentary chips and salsa. The salsa was good, however the chips were not. I prefer some salt on my tortilla chips and these had none. They were very warm but overall flavorless. From there, I ordered guacamole which was also very under seasoned. For my main entree, I ordered the chicken quesadilla. It was massive with chicken and cheese in the middle, but again, lacking flavor. I think the food here has potential, however seasoning is needed desperately. I am happy to say that the service was excellent though with numerous waiters checking in on us to see if we needed anything. read more

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Lots of food. Hot and tasty. Staff was eager to please I'll come back to try something new.

The most unfriendly customer service I've ever required on a local business hung up on all be disrespected I want to song called made the right phone call read more

We are regulars to Los Potrillos, but finally made ourselves go and check out Herradura for comparison. Little did we know that doing so would begin to feel like, as my husband said, an episode of Seinfeld. The menus were so identical that we were able to order our exact same dishes as LP: Him Veggie A and Me Combo 17. The waiters used the exact same sorts of stchicks when taking the order, checking ID, bringing the checks. Salsas pretty similar. And dishes, just about identical. I'm not complaining. The staff were fun and nice and as for the food, Los Potrillos is a rut for a reason --we love it there. It was just funny to go to another restaurant and have a nearly identical experience. DID like the enchilada sauce better at LP than here, although my husband thought Herradura's guacamole was better. We'll probably continue to go to Los Potrillos, as that place just feels like home. But great to know there's another standby, should we begin to crave Mexican at Lowe's rather than at Meijer. read more

If you think of kind of your standard, Mexican restaurant, this place is better than average. The owner and employees are all really friendly. I would always pick here over El Toro or Fiesta Ranchera. Ps. Go to El Porton for really good Mexican food read more

Herradura is very, very similar to Los Potrillos in menu and food quality. I tend to prefer service at Los Potrillos, but Herradura is better for cleanliness and location (for me, plus parking is better). As a vegetarian, LP and Herradura are head and shoulders above other B/N options, and quite similar to Dos Reales in C-U. Much better vegetarian options than than El Toro or Fiesta Ranchera. Again, I've been to better mexican restaurants (and perhaps LP is a smidge better), but this is probably tops on my list due to convenience and cleanliness. I wish they'd buy longer straws (too short for their glasses!), but other than that, great addition to b/n all around. read more

Herradura... Let me count the ways. I love this place. If you've ever seen the episode of South Park where Cartman goes to insane lengths to get to "Casa Bonita," it's how I feel about Herradura. I live an hour a way from Bloomington these days and I make special trips just to eat here. They are consistent, courteous, clean, and friggan delicious. My boyfriend and I came in 30 minutes before close one night and the waitstaff were happy to see us, the chips were hot, and the food was fresh. Now I see a lot of people complaining about bland food. I don't understand how. I guess if you order Americanized Mexican food, expect just that (i.e. ground beef tacos, chimichanga, etc). But do yourself a favor and try something else. The menu is huge and I've never picked something I didn't like. I have yet to find carnitas anywhere else that are this good. I didn't even know what carnitas were until I tried a bite of my boyfriend's meal and they are amazing. Side note: I don't eat a lot of pork for ethical and health reasons, but these are truly an exception. They have wonderful flavor and a fall apart on your fork. I came in yesterday, ordered and ate my meal, and got carnitas to go. I'm not joking! A couple other favorites of mine are the shrimp tacos, chili Colorado, pollo chipotle, chipotle burrito, pollo a la parilla, and burrito gigante. The portions are huge and the price is exceptional. They have a great raspberry margarita too. And never have I ever had an icky after effect that can sometimes follow after eating Mexican food. I love HD. I just wish they'd open up a place in Champaign. read more