Unbelievable! Homemade corn tortillas and a crispy version as well. Every newbie around me is commenting on the quality. 10 stars! read more

Taqueria Don Pedro - Mexican Near Me - Effingham, Illinois

Not to Nice Service, think he might have even been the owner. Over the phone nice but in person very not so much. Food portions small and expensive for Mexican Food. The Shrimp Fajitas were flavorless Shredded Chicken Taco Salad was ok Guacamole Small place connected to Wine bar. We did Take Out. This was $44 for those 3 things read more

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The food was good, but it's smaller portions for what you would typically expect at a Mexican restaurant. I visited when they were in the process of merging with the wine store. The menu was written out on paper and just didn't seem professional. read more

Came here to have some dinner with some friends. It's a unique restaurant that is connected a wine tasting place, bar, etc. it was cute though. The food is good. I had the menudo. It was pretty good. It has a lot of tripe. If would be perfect if it had hominy. Would def come here again. read more

I knew I should have left when I walked in at 12:30 pm and nobody was there. I was driving home to the Lou from Indi, and thought, "hey, I'll stop off in a rando small town, and try some Mexican food". Why do I do this? IT ALWAYS SUCKS. And this was no different. The menu was as on a QR code and I left my glasses in my Lamborghini, so when she told me the special was a fajita bowl, I said fine. It was a ceramic bowl with stuff I'm not sure was from this earth. The good news is the staff was as confused as I was by this weird never ending maize of rooms, random bars and retail alcohol. When you drive by Effingham, just wave at the gigantic cross and pray to the baby Jesus that this place is closed. read more

My family and I went to Effingham for an outing and tried Taqueria Don Pedro for lunch. I'm a fan of tamales and was intrigued that they cook/serve them with banana leaves instead of corn husks. I asked the owner why she used banana leaves, and she told me that's what they use in southern Mexico. And boy, that was probably the best pork tamale I've had so far. It was moist, pork was tender, and had good spice. Tacos though were ok as the al pastor could have had more flavor and was more on the dry end. Fish was fried well and moist in the center. They do have homemade tortillas, but for extra cost. They do have an interesting menu, and will try some other items next time, like the Pasta Verde! read more

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Nice stop off the beaten path. For the middle of nowhere Illinois, hey are we to Indiana yet?, this was a happy surprise. Authentic Mexican fare complete with homemade corn tortillas and some of the best verde sauce I've tasted lately. The chips were thicker corn chips, fresh fried, not that Tostitos salty crap. The salsa is hotter that your average Mexican experience. Not super spicy but with an excellent kick and delicious cilantro. We both got the enchilada plates with al pastor and green sauce. They were sizable portions on three handmade corn tortillas stuffed full of the tasty pork. It was swimming in verde sauce, which was the highlight of the dish. Tangy, zippy and perfect. The concoction was topped with shredded lettuce, rings of raw onion and slices of tomato and avocado. I loved it. I might do carne asada next time though as other tables of regulars all seemed to opt for that. The tortillas are a must, do not get flour. Pretty much anything in those with that green sauce is going to rock! read more

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We recently visited here on a Friday night and left disappointed. Food: The chicken fajitas I ordered were fairly bland, and the meat/pepper portions were probably the smallest I've seen at any Mexican restaurant. In addition to this issue I was surprised with how few chips and salsa we were provided. The amount of chips seemed to be the equivalent to about half of what the typical Mexican restaurant gives in a basket, and we were given only one small bowl of salsa for four people to share. Service: This was by far the worst aspect of our visit. Our food order was messed up, drinks were brought way late and not refilled until the end of our visit, and we asked for more chips and salsa but they never arrived. That being said, our waiter left a soda off of our ticket to compensate for the mess ups. Ambiance: The place has a great vibe. It feels like an old town dive establishment. Overall, we did not enjoy our visit and we will not return. That being said, it was a Friday night and the weather was perfect. Maybe they were just off their game or just overwhelmed by the volume of people. read more

Awesome service and the food was delicious! The Mole' was amazing! Will definitely be back! read more

We've been going here since they began in their first location. The food is always great and the owners are so friendly and welcoming, plus their tacos are goooood (just like everything else they make!). read more

Don Pedro. Ahh yelp. Love hate rel. Sometimes it's on point others not so much.. Stopped here bc felt like mexican n reviews r so positive. It's on the way n off the freeway. Needed it to go n fast. No online menu n yelp has outdated one. We ordered 6 lunch specials n a tostada. $7 for lunch specials which would be fine if they gave a good portion but note rice n beans r not always included n some say rice OR beans or add $1 and I think she heard wrong and charged us for rice n beans on 1 :/ We r spoiled Texans here n taco connoisseurs bc we've had the best in Texas n Arizona n this altho tasty n passable isn't it. 1st they nickel n dime u here. Not too friendly either :/ Is that how it is outside of Texas? Free chips n salsa it says but with all the food we ordered we got 1 bag n a small container of salsa. When we asked for more she said $2 more. I think we r too used to ayce chips n salsa back home :/ The food was skimpy:( for lunch special. Is it like that for their regular plates I wonder? All except my combo. That has 3 things n worth it. Taco choice of filling, quesadilla n tostada with rice. Mine was good. Everything tasty. Rice tasty. Not wow but tasty. I got asada. The fish tacos n asada were 2 tiny tacos with rice. Chimichanga was small. Quesadillas were 2 tortillas. Tostada was pretty n ok. Burrito was by itself bigger n orangy. It tasted fine. Again just wished they gave more :/ n reception was a bit friendlier. After she saw me take pics of the food she became kinder explaining the salsa n asking if all is ok. She knew I was gonna write a review lol She wasn't as kind with my hubs. Curt lol idk. It's ok. I can tell customers come here bc of loyalty or yelp reviews. But I need people to read the fine print on their menu carefully. Nickel n dime. And if you are expecting wow Mexican food content keep driving south:) read more

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Small friendly. Good Mexican food. Authentic flavors. Worth the stop from a road trip.

Just meh, maybe our expectations were hyped because of all the good things my mom keeps hearing about the place and the promise of all the people grabbing to go orders here but we weren't really impressed. Mom and I both ordered chimichangas I had carne she the ground beef. Best part of the chimi was the cheese sauce it was covered in, carne had little flavor but I can't count the number of times I had to stop and spit out a chunk of fat or gristle that I just can't handle, it was chopped in such small pieces many could probably handle it but anything aside from the actual meat I just can't do. Pico and lettuce in place was a nice touch but lacked any overall flavor in the pico. Horchata was good in that it didn't have the grit many places do but lacked some cinnamon IMO. Table salsa had good flavor we all love it when we can actually taste cilantro and you could here. Hubby had a taco plate but he does his own reviews, what I remember is that the onions weren't fresh probably (no flavor) and that the radish could have been pickled. Also a bit disappointed in the tortillas being all wrapped up and only having one per taco! Would we come back when back to visit mom again, possibly but doubtful. Hubby read more

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Saw the Yelp ratings, so decided to come give it a try. Walked in and it was pretty busy. I think the margarita was $3 or $5 in a small glass, but it wasn't bad. Guacamole - Small portion and very bland. I usually don't salt my food, but this needed it. We went with the molcajete for two. First, it doesn't even come in a molcajete that keeps the food warm. It was more just in a bowl. I agree with another reviewer about how they nickel and dime the customers. This thing only comes with 4 tortillas. I like flour and my guy likes corn. So, they said they'll do half and half. So, basically we got only 2 corn and 2 flour and they charged us a $1 for the corn. WTH! She claimed the flour tortillas were thick and fluffy. Nope, just some store bought tortillas. read more

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Food there is generally good, but the service is terrible. Went their on a Friday night and waited over 20 minutes for someone just to clear the table...they never came though they saw us coming in and sitting their waiting. Table next to us said they waited a very long time and finally had to go inside to get someone to help. If this was a one time occurrence I'd give them a pass but it isn't. If they are going to run a restaurant get more help or have your help at least look like they are interested in serving people. read more

We happened upon this gem a year ago while traveling from AZ to MI. We got off the freeway to get gas and right next door was this restaurant. We loved the outdoor patio. Great food for some weary travelers. Here we are one year later traveling with our 7 lb pup and remembered homuch we loved this place. We made a point to revisit only to find that the patio is not pet friendly. Darn. Crazy thing is there was not one customer inside or out and the turned away their only customer. Not nice! read more

This unassuming place serves some delicious homemade Mexican food. My nonalcoholic strawberry margarita was delicious and not too syrupy sweet. My pop's margarita had flavored lime salt along the rim that was a hit--everyone else's fingers were drawn to his cup for a sample. Yum! I suggest the shrimp or chicken tacos in a "hard" shell with the rice and beans. It came out hot and delicious! My dad and sister split something similar to a quesadilla, the name starting with a "t"? Sorry! They really liked it! We left in pain because we ate way too much. read more

Taqueria Don Pedro - Mexican Near Me - Effingham, Illinois

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Very authentic southern Mexican food! Mole is good! If mole is good you know the rest is good!

Excellent service. Truly remarkable tacos. Get the al pastor filling and add the green sauce they bring to your table. Perfect little hole in the wall. read more

Got here after lunch time and had the place to ourselves. We broke down in Effingham and decided to taxi to get something to eat. After reading reviews here on yelp, we decided on Don Pedro. Extra nice staff as they catered to us as if we were the only customers that they ever had. Great service. Started with chips and salsa and some quest. Salsa was perfect as was the chips and quest was just the right consistency. Salsa had a little spice, which I loved. Ordered the taco platter with homemade tortillas. Barbacoa, garlic shrimp, and al Pastore. When they arrived and took my first bite, I was blown away! The handmade tortillas were like none I had ever had. Light and just plain delicious. This was a great choice for lunch and I will be back when I come back to Effingham! Kudos to everyone involved with this restaurant! read more

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There's a lot of work to be done here. The staff all seemed frazzled and confused. It also seemed weird that cooks in the back had masks, but no service staff did for COVID-19 protection of guests. The unorganized atmosphere waiting for food for take away was a rough energy, but not as rough as the salsa. You could taste the canned crushed tomato taste. The veggie burritos were mediocre. read more

My fav Mexican restaurant in Effingham! Ask for homemade shells ever time won't be disappointed!

This has gotta be the best Mexican restaurant in the bustling metropolitan of Effingham. My family that lives in the area swears by their secret green chile sauce. Our table ordered guac and queso to start out with, which took longer than we wanted it to. The guac was a little lackluster for my taste (not enough lemon juice or spice), but my family really enjoyed it. Chips were crispy and addicting, and the house salsa had the perfect kick for a spice lover like me. I ordered the chile verde burrito with chicken, rice, and beans. They gave me pork (), which put a damper on the burrito for me. BUT, I will say the chile verde sauce was stellar. Super tangy! This place does one thing really right. All the sauces were on point. Our service was pretty average, with a wait time that felt a little long for a Mexican eatery without a lot of customers. Come here if you want a little bit more of an "authentic" Mexican meal in the area. read more

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Is this the best Mexican food in the Midwest? After one tasting I know that I'll be making the 90 minute drive from St Louis on a regular basis to taste the menu and find out. I used to live in Mexico, and this is both incredibly authentic and incredibly well done. Their al Pastor tacos were fantastic, and the tortillas were steamy and fluffy... their Pork tamale was on an entirely different level. Wrapped in a banana leaf Yucatán style, with such perfect masa and pork. I am so thrilled we found this place read more

Passing through town on a longer trip and stopping for the night, we hit this place for a quick late dinner. Like some others, I was pleased and somewhat surprised to find some quite good Mexican food here. Probably helps that from what I could hear it sounded like the cooks were actually Mexican. My wife was disappointed to find they they did not serve bowls of chili, went for a taco salad instead, which was good but that all the refried beans were hiding at the bottom. She did really enjoy the mango margaritas, which were on special. I chose a chicken chimichanga which I thoroughly enjoyed. Hearty and filling, generous and flavorful chicken, enough side lettuce, sour cream, guac and pico to make nice mixings. Our waiter did forget to bring us chips and salsa, but when they did arrive the chips were fresh and warm and the salsa chunky and piquant. She says she'd give them a 3. I'd give them a 4. And since I'm the one posting reviews... ;-) read more

Excellent food and service... but the comfort of the restaurant should improve a lot.

Wow. I really need to check my own reviews before trying a "new" place when I'm traveling. I've been here before, but not for 6 years, apparently. Well, here goes--let's see if they've improved. Service much better this time. Tomato salsa still too bland. Tomato-y with a bit of cilantro & onion, but no complexity. Definitely needs a bit of salt and some peppers coming through. My advice would be to skip the house salsa and ask for some of the spicy tomatillo salsa they keep in the back--it's very good. Spicy, but vibrant and home-made tasting, with a great balance of tomatillo, cilantro, and mix of peppers. Ok, the Mole Chicken is a winner. Kudos to them for even offering Mole. Sweet and complex, it's a chocolate-based sauce, sometimes compared to sweet barbecue (but without too much sweetness). Some Mole recipes have over 50 ingredients (some are also store-bought). Wasn't the best I've had, but good nonetheless. AND homemade tortillas? Much better this time, Don Pedro. Rice and beans were great, too--at first glance I thought the rice might have been overcooked, but it was fine. Now comes the part where the food was good, so I probably should get a flan to make sure it is good too, right? It was. Great caramel flavor and super smooth, almost like a more firm creme brulee. Buen trabajo, Don Pedro! read more

Taqueria Don Pedro - Chicken Mole w/ refried black beans and homemade corn tortillas. - Mexican Near Me - Effingham, Illinois

One of the best local Mexican restaurants I have ever had the pleasure of enjoying. I'll keep it simple: They wrap their tamales in a corn husk/banana leaf, and I've enjoyed their chicken enchiladas too many times to count. Their new location is more situated for outdoor dining and takeout/delivery at this time, but I'm excited to see them continue serving delicious food. read more

The food was very good and reasonably priced. Service was good and friendly. Would recommend eating here

I came here for lunch just after noon time and there was no trouble getting a seat. The dinning area is somewhat small and has around 20 tables with each accommodating around four people. The tables are not packed in, so there is elbow room, even if every seat was taken. The staff was friendly, accommodating, helpful with questions and cheery. The overall cleanliness of the dinning area, and what I could see in the kitchen was clean. With this being my first time here, I usually keep it to my Mexican bench mark of taco's, which helps me gage one Mexican restaurant with another. It does not get any more basic than a taco, but you would be surprised on how many places goof it up. So I ordered the three taco platter, which comes with rice, refried beans, a little sour cream, guacamole, and some chopped tomatoes and lettuce. I also elected to get the white cheese sauce for the corn chips. For the three taco's, there is a selection of meats to choose from and for this round I picked the sausage, pork and steak. While waiting for the main meal, the customary corn chips, a small bowl of salsa and the white cheese sauce was delivered. The chips were ordinary, and a bit bland so I salted them. The salsa was also ordinary. A few fellow Yelpers mentioned the salsa had some kick to it, but I did not detect any, although I generally like a good amount of spice. The cheese sauce was really good. They also gave me two bottles of sauce, a green and red variety. The red tasted okay, but had no heat to it. The wait staff said to be careful with the green sauce as it was spicy. It too was good and had only a little bit of kick to it. I also noticed it was not the typical green sauce, and it was more of a creamy texture. I didn't have to wait long for my meal and when it came out I was a bit surprised as there was what looked liked a small burrito wrapped up in aluminum foil, and at first I thought they gave me the wrong order, but they confirmed it was the three tacos. Sure enough, as I opened up the foil, I could see some steam escaping, a pleasant aroma emerged and three nice looking taco's beckoned to me. I first tried the sausage taco, and it was good, 3 stars (out of 5). The pork taco was a bit dry, so it got 2 stars. The steak taco however was outstanding and gets four stars. The guacamole was also very good and deserves four stars as well. The refried beans and rice were also good. In conclusion, I enjoyed Taqueria Don Pedro, and glad to see there is at least one good Mexican restaurant in Effingham. If your traveling through, this is a good bet as it is close to the interstate and it will not break your wallet, or take too much time. I'll certainly be coming here again. read more

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Effingaham? More like Effing awesome. Not many places to stop between Chicago and Nashville and this Mexican food did not disappoint. Eat this food (in your face). Also will accommodate vegetarian!!!!!!!! read more

Taqueria Don Pedro - Chimichanga time! - Mexican Near Me - Effingham, Illinois

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Support a local business! Based on the limited number of restaurants here in Effingham, we were happy to find a places that was locally owned. Inside, there is a large open window to view the kitchen/owners preparing the food. The family who owns and operates this restaurant, I was told by our server who is a relative, is from Acapulco. The food has fresh ingredients! The salsa ranked among the best I have had, containing a lot of cilantro. I had beans, rice, veggie chimichanga with guacamole. All very tasty and prepared ideally. Homemade chips were slightly over salted but airy. My friend had the chimichanga with carnitas. The carnitas was seasoned to perfection and moist. The verde was different than the verde I have tried previously. It was creamy, a family secret, and the server would not tell me how it was made. Note: They staff is extremely friendly however they are slow. Be patient, don't come starving or when your time is limited. read more

Taqueria Don Pedro - Veggie Chimichanga platter with rice and beans. - Mexican Near Me - Effingham, Illinois

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This is hands down my favorite Mexican restaurant in effingham. The food is amazing and the service is the best around

My absolute favorite restaurant!! The best al pastor I've ever had. I love all of the employees here. They were all super welcoming and made me feel like family. Everyone should go here!! 10/10 recommend!!!! Yummy homemade salsa is hard to find but theirs is so so good. I just love it at Don Pedro and I could keep talking it up for hours!! Go eat :)) read more

Outside: Divey Inside: Divey Food: Typical American Mexican Fare Service: Barely Adequate Price: Fair I am shocked this place has such high reviews. The chips are clearly simply from giant wholesale bags. The salsa was nothing special and probably store bought as well. Staff took several "breaks" while we were present and as a result our service was slow, and drinks were rarely refilled. The food itself was fine. Standard Mexican-American fare with nothing terribly exciting or authentic about it. The prices were reasonable for what you get but what you get it nothing special. If you are passing though and hungry it's probably a better option that the gas station and fast food restaurants that surround it but not by much. If you can hold on another couple of exits and find something better, I recommend you give this place a miss. read more

We stopped here while driving on vacation and I'm really glad we did. Fast, authentic Mexican food that's a better alternative to fast food! My husband and I shared a couple dishes because everything sounded good. We ordered a taco salad with steak and a quesadilla with chorizo that was out of this world. Make sure you order the trio as an appetizer. Chips are hot and fresh, made to order. Guac is also fresh and yummy and you can never go wrong with white queso cheese. And the pico was fresh too! read more

Taqueria Don Pedro - Taco salad with steak. - Mexican Near Me - Effingham, Illinois

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The place was clean The meal didn't fit the price. We shared a 3 enchilada plate and ordered without tortilla. Chicken was cover with some lettuce on top. The chicken would not have made 2 enchiladas in other Mexican restaurants we have been to. The price normally include rice and beans, not here. Pay a few dollars more. I wouldn't recommend it. read more

Hey, this is a quality Mexican spot! It seems pretty random to be in Effingham, IL, but that's where we are. We were fortunate to stop around 1pm, so the lunch rush was passed. This is pretty different than the other hundreds (thousands?) of Mexican restaurants that have sprung up in the last decade. The food is original and there are some creative takes on classics. We had guacamole with our chips and it was basic: fine, but nothing special. Around the table, I saw more standards and they were all good. I, however, ordered the green chile burrito and it was fabulous! Spicy, loaded with green chile flavor, and HUGE. Yum! Certainly, the place hasn't worried too much with the decor. The service was okay, but we had a bit of a wait for our check. The prices were fair. Because Effingham is on my way to both Chicago and Indianapolis, I fully expect to stop back by here again! read more

We happened upon this gem a year ago while traveling from AZ to MI. We got off the freeway to get gas and right next door was this restaurant. We loved the outdoor patio. Great food for some weary travelers. Here we are one year later traveling with our 7 lb pup and remembered how much we loved this place. We made a point to revisit only to find that the patio is not pet friendly. Darn. Crazy thing is there was not one customer inside or out and they turned away their only customer. Not nice! read more

Who knew? Solid Mexican food in Effingham. Great place. Friendly staff. Good food. Excellent house made hot sauce.