El Tio Pepe

I LOVE El Tio Pepe! Best margaritas in world and food isn’t overly soaked in sauces so you can’t taste the food. I’ve eaten at a lot of Mexican restaurants and this one is superlative. Customer service is outstanding. I don’t go to a bar/​out to eat to look at my phone, so Wi-​Fi is not an issue. My opinion, but an opinion based on lots of experience! Can’t wait until they expand in size!

Pretty typical Americanized Mexican food place. I tried to order something a little more authentic in hopes they would impress. Here are some observations:
* Mole sauce is very flavorful and probably in the top half of all mole sauces I’ve ever tried. The waiter reports they make it in-​house.
* Great service
* Best bite of the meal was the flan! Really, really good flan. The kind where it is made in a pie tin and you’re served a piece as opposed to it being popped out of an individual ramekin.
* No wifi — telling me to use another business’ wifi was a bit hokey.
I definitely prefer the taqueria just up the road so I doubt I’ll be back but the Unilocal rating of «A-​OK» seems to fit.

I had the absolute worst chicken enchiladas ever! Was starving so I ate one of the 3. The chicken tasted like it was canned and the green sauce was tasteless. My husband had ground beef tacos. The meat was the consistency of blended alpo. Will not try it again.

Food was good but nothing special. Good value for the dollar. The staff was friendly. Like any good Mexican restaurant you get free chips and salsa. The Queso dip was a little on the expensive than other places but you do get a good amount of Queso. The Queso could have been a little more (temperature) warmer. The salsa was a little spicier than your typical salsa. I had the taco plate which was good except the rice was a little bland. The beans were very good. The restaurant was overall very clean.

Gave this place two chances as we were shopping next door at Bass Pro Shop. The service is good. The décor is mediocre. The food and chips seem typical of a strip mall Mexican restaurant. If you’re hungry and in the area; it will do!

Great service, hot food and drink specials throughout the week (half price margaritas on Wednesday, beer specials on Tuesday). Usually go to the O’Fallon location but this one measures up just the same!

Got the lunch chimi special. Was super bland and the grease from the ground beef covered my plate. The cheese sauce wasn’t very good either. The frozen strawberry margarita is the only thing that was decent. We will stick to going to Chimis in St Peters.

Great tacos, great atmosphere, and friendly staff.
Take advantage of the happy hour or half price beer on Tuesadays.
The have dos Equis Amber on tap.
I always stop in when I’m in town.

Came by for a quick soft taco. The owners son was on the ball quick. I sat where I wanted. I ordered something but he told me a better menu item and he was correct about that. Cardinal game on. Large screen tv in bar but separate café area too

Not the best, but not the worse… just right in the middle. Fajita Quesadilla could have used more chicken and kick up the seasoning a notch. This was the first time I’ve seen tomato slices in there. Interesting. The Cheese Enchilada was cool though.

Don’t listen to the low star reviews.
This place is always good every time I come here. The chips & salsa are good. The enchiladas are really good.
Friendly and fast service.

One of the best mexicans restaurants in St.Charles. Food is delicious and they offer big portions.
Good deals on drinks and their margaritas are awesome!
Very good service in general.

They have great food and drinks. The employees are very friendly as well. They have been in the Saint Charles area for over 20 years.

This was a run-​of-​the-​mill Mexican joint. It was fine; nothing special. Portion sizes were much smaller than I’ve had at other places (I got a chicken chimi). I want toe room that the way the front dining area is situated, it was VERY cold in there (winter months) with the door opening.

I think the 5 star reviews are written by the staff. My wife and I ate here tonight and overall disappointed and not planning to return. The plate was much hotter then the food itself and overall the buritto supreme was very bland. I always get heartburn after Mexican food and had no effect at all which tells you it is pretty bland and was tasteless. The rice and beans had no flavor at all and the chips were extremely stale.
My wife had a cheese dip that was so gelled you could pick the whole thing up with a fork. We asked the waitress about it who just said that we must have misread the menu and ordered wrong — no apologies or any offer from them. There are other Mexican restaurants in the area if you want some actual Mexican food.

Nice little Mexican joint. I really liked their chips and salsa. Too many times I go Mexican restaurants and their salsa is bland and tasteless. But the salsa here was very good with just the right amount of spiciness. I ordered a lunch Chicken burrito that was very good and chocked full of chicken. The rice and beans were typical of most of Mexican Restaurants.

I am rarely in St Charles and was craving Mexican, so just happened upon this place.
I was there for lunch and ordered the quesadilla with rice and beans. While I waited for my lunch, I feasted on a basket of chips and salsa. I’m not an expert on salsa, but this was good and not too hot. Spicy hot and I do not get along at all, so I was pleased.
My lunch arrived relatively quickly and the quesadilla tortilla was buttered and grilled. It was delicious. The ingredients were simple, chicken and cheese. I am not a fan of onions or tomatoes on my quesadilla, so this simple recipe made my taste buds stomach very happy! The rice and beans were good, nothing out of this world, but I have not had any rice and beans that were out of this world.
Three locations were listed on the menu, so the next time I am craving Mexican, I’ll keep them in mind. I noticed they had ½ priced margaritas on Wednesdays, so that’s a good reason to visit again.

My family and I have been coming to one version of ETP or another for 15 years now, and we love it. If you’re looking for Casa style crap Mexican food, go elsewhere. If you want authentic dishes that have been passed down through generations, go here.
Also, they might not have Asadero cheese (Oaxaca), but they do have Chihuahua, which is better. Just gotta ask for it.

Lunch at ETP followed the running of some errands in St Charles. I have eaten here a few times in the past when they were on First Capitol and knew there was a location bear Bass Pro. There are two other locations in the area.
One visit only allows a small snapshot and it is not likely we will be back in the area very often for a meal. We found the food to be pretty standard. The restaurant is owned by some family members related to the owners of Mi Lupita. The menu is very similar but I did not find the food to be executed as well. I had huevos con chorizo and they were OK. The chorizo seemed stronger flavored and the corn tortillas were probably more authentic, although milder. I do like the way they warm the tortillas on the griddle, giving them a little toast. The rice seemed to have less flavor, the refried beans were not as creamy (less lard?). Ms T said the ground beef was pretty much the same but the tostada was a little stale. I was disappointed that the cheese garnish on the beans was not queso Chihuahua, it was orange like cheddar.
So it is OK but not much more, a weak three stars for this one visit. I should find out which location is the mother ship of El Tio Pepe and see if it is better.

Should I kick myself for not reading Lulu’s review first? She pretty much covers exactly what I was going to say, I can make better tacos and I. can’t. even. cook! The taco meat was some kind of sad mix and really a Mexican restaurant without asadero cheese? Get the hell outta here!
I was visiting a friend and our big plan was to hit up a Mexican restaurant before going out – which is usually always a good time but this came up way short. Not to mention I made the rookie mistake of skipping dinner then drinking your weight in alcohol that never ends pretty — can I give them my dry cleaning bill?