Pepe's Mexican Restaurant

Pepe's is one of those restaurants that I MUST visit when I come home to Chicago. I honestly realize it's not going to be a place everyone enjoys, but I grew up on this food and it is the standard at which I measure all other tacos. I used to practically live at the 95th and Damen location (which is now closed). Over the years I've tried many things here, but my staple is the beef soft shelled tacos with a dash of salt and their delicious hot sauce (along with the usual toppings).

If you are from the Los Angeles area and enjoy eating @ Tito's Tacos, the meat filling at Pepe's will taste nearly identical. The only difference: Tito's is hard shell whereas Pepe's is soft shell. I eat a 1/2 dozen every time I visit Chicago and take another dozen back home to Atlanta :-)

The flavor holds a lot of fond memories of simpler days. This old fashion taco served between two thin corn tortillas has been in my life nearly 4 decades and still tastes like I remember them as a kid. Unfortunately, that may prove to be their downfall since Mexican restaurants have grown so much more sophisticated than they were in the 70's. But I hope they can survive the overpriced, overglamorous world of eateries we now live in. It would be a shame to loose the classic taco I grew up loving.

THE VERDICT
Pepe's is no longer my favorite, but I could never abandon my love for them. There are certain foods that no matter where life leads you, you will always crave the opportunity to come back. Pepe's is one place I'm excited to visit whenever I come home.

NOTE
Honestly, I thought about not posting this review. People are gonna think I'm crazy giving them 4 stars when all the other reviews seem to suggest otherwise. I hope Pepe's survives! They have been around a long time and just need an excellent CEO to re-brand their image and service. They really are authentically good despite what the previous reviews say.

Yelp100[60]

Sadly I am forced to give it one start. There should be a negative scale, so I can give it a negative 100. Okay lets face it. It's Pepes. I have pretty low expectations for food and service. I don't expect stellar, great, heck or even good. I would have been cool with mediocre to a little less service.

Instead, this was the worst dining experience of my life. I was verbally assaulted and physically confronted by the waiter Lalo (he didn't touch me, just caught in my personal space pointing his finger speaking with an attitude telling me what he was and wasn't going to do. Oh yeah the manager was right there. Stood and smiled. That would be the Mario someone spoke of before).

The server had an attitude from the moment we sat down. Never asked about our food. As soon as the food was brought to the table, he came and dropped the checks and stood there waiting on the money (that would be before I had my first bite. So much for "Is everything alright."). Which is awkward from a personal space standpoint (he needed to step back a couple of feet) but also from a sanitary standpoint. Hell I disinfect my hands before I eat, now you want me to touch money and other crap. Fast Forward past the rude service and snatching the check off the table...I asked another staff member there what was the policy for ordering food (I'm always careful not to ask with a leading question so they wouldn't say "oh yes that's policy" if it wasn't). Well that was NOT  the policy. (Oh and they have a whole bunch of policy s and restrictions posted outside the door of the bar seating area. We stopped to read all of them. Yes were nerds like that. And no it was not listed).

We were the only ones treated that way. (We paid attention. Like most people do when you enter the twilight zone of service). We asked to speak the manager who came to the table with the offending party and stood there and said and did nothing. While said offending party got upset and started arguing back and forth with me, not letting me finish my complaint to the manager. I asked him to please leave cause I was complaining to the manager. He points his finger "I'm not going anywhere. If you are complaining about me I'm staying....."
I turned to the manager and asked him not once, not twice, but three times to please have Lalo sent away.

The manager, while this man was being rude to me not just a customer but as a woman and a human being, stood there and smiled.
The manager said "I'm sorry he normally works in the restaurant part." That is the only resolution he offered. At first I thought it was a language barrier because he didn't seem to understand what I was saying. If so, why the hell would you have a manager that doesn't speak English when 99% of the patrons of that establishment are English speaking. So I asked did he understand English, then asked it in Spanish he said yes. But even if he didn't understand English and didn't understand what Lalo was saying to me, his body language and actions said it all. And he DID NOTHING.

And this fool had the nerve to add the gratuity in. That was our one minor resolution because Pepes automatically adds gratuity after 9pm. All of this happened before 9. So by policy we were able to get our $5 back. Nope we were never offered a comp or a free drink or anything just "oh he normally works the restaurant' smile "sorry he doesn't work the bar"

when asked what he was sorry about.
Silence then "he works in the other area"
When asked about a resolution
Silence

I called corporate. I'm still completely and utterly unhappy with the results. Next stop - attorney general. (If I wasn't so utterly pissed and shocked I would have just called the cops when he started getting confrontational).

So yes Pepes sucks from food and service. But this takes the cake. I still left out some stuff from my bad twilight zone disrespectful day at Pepes. Yes there is more bad. Just with all the one star reviews, whats the point.

The worst Pepe's I've ever visited. The quality of the beef tacos were so bad, they tasted like they came from a vending machine. The beef didn't taste, smell, or even look like REAL beef! The cheese and shells were cheap & horrible tasting as well. The lettuce was the only portion that seemed authentic. Really cheap specials, this place is suspicious! Stay AWAY!!!