Don Pico’s Mexican Bistro & Cevicheria

The atmosphere: I loved the funky Latin décor and clean dining environment. Very spacious and relaxed at lunch!
Also, we experienced friendly and quick service!
We stumbled upon this this place staying the night in San Bruno and were absolutely impressed with the quality of the food and the price! Not to mention, they serve breakfast all day!
Food: I had the ceviche baja, and my boyfriend had a breakfast burrito. The ceviche was tangy with delicious lime flavor and Mexican spices. Also, the fish and shrimp were super fresh and not chewy, like many ceviches out there.
We had a great time here, and highly recommend this place!

Normally I would not rate a place with only one experience but this was so bad I had to.
I had the pork carnitas plate and felt I’d actually ordered shredded pork rinds. The meat was dry and crunchy. I’d lay money down it had been in a warmer for a few days.
Corn tortillas were excellent and only reason for give no two stars…

We have been coming here for a few years and every time we visit in the last year or two, the quality has become worse. It’s possible they changed owners. The food was bland, lukewarm, and seemed as though it had been sitting around a while. We ordered the queso that we usually get and it was gummy. I could have done a better job at home. The menu has been shrinking, which is fine, if the quality of the dishes they kept on were good. Not the case. More like cafeteria Mexican. And the service is terrible. Drinks, fine. But how hard is it to make a decent margarita. Miserable waitress, who could not be bothered with silverware or drinks or water or getting our food. Her tip reflected that. There are a lot of good taquerias and Mexican restaurants in the area. Go to one of those

Had not being to Don Pico’s in a long time When for dinner a couple of nights ago. For was it was worth the food was kind of disappointing. In my opinion there is far better Mexican places for Mexican food. But I think at don Pico’s you are mostly paying for the ambiance

Love this place!
We used to go to Celia’s when we feel like eating big portions of Mexican food (we still do, sometimes). A friend of ours recently recommended Don Pico’s on El Camino and we are impressed. Besides the small parking area, the ambiance is not bad. The booths are pretty cozy, but the table seatings are too close to the other table, that it is sometimes hard to concentrate on your own conversation… unless you like listening to other people’s conversation and laugh with them. :)
The food, so far has not disappointed me. I’ve had several of their food on the menu and each kind have been really good. I especially loved the crab enchiladas and their tostada salad with carne asada — (licking my fingers) very good!!! They have different types of ceviche and they are all good. If it is your first time, try the Ceviche sampler (if you have a large group or if you just want to eat it all by yourself. that’s cool too!)
The staff are all friendly and accommodating. They will tell you which alcoholic beverage is good and not good if you ask them.
Overall, this place gets a 5star in my books! :)

HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT! !!
The food here was bland and lacking flavor, parking was horrendous, the wait was unbearable. We waited 40mins for a table and then 1 ½ hours for our food. Our waitress was wonderful and she was kind that is the only reason I gave an extra star. We were given complimentary guacamole and a roasted asparagus salad which tasted better than our actual meal. Presentation was nice but for the price the quality is severely lacking.
Will not return and recommend that you save yourself time and money and go somewhere else.

Don’t bother unless you need to see for yourself and then you will kick your self for not listening and going to Mi Tequila (Millbrae) or La Paloma (San Bruno).
There is no longer pride of service here and the food is horrible and too salty.
They used to be an excellent choice for dining.

This makes me sad to write.
Don Pico’s was a Bay Area favorite. They were known for great, fresh food and such great hospitality that eating a meal here, they made you feel like you were a part of the family. A couple of years ago, the owner passed away in a tragic car accident. From there, this place has just gone down hill.
The food has definitely changed and the staff has been completely changed as well. I have gotten bad service and bad food several times. I don’t know why I kept coming back. But now, I’m done. I gave them my final service. My enchiladas had no cheese, it was just a bunch of dry chicken. The rice is a different recipe than what they used to use and my drink tasted like dish soap. I’m surprised I didn’t get sick. Our waitress didn’t check on us once, and another guy helped us because he felt bad about us waiting around.
For the money I spend here (~$ 15-​$ 20/​plate), I expect better. Better of everything. It is so sad to see this beautiful restaurant turn out this way. Hopefully one day, the new owners come to their senses and swallow whatever pride they have against the way this business was run before the accident. I was rooting for Don Pico’s, but I am not a fan anymore.

What a shame!
I’ve been coming here for over 25 years and was always thrilled. After moving to Foster City I didn’t have a chance to visit for almost 3 years. It was always my «go to» Mexican restaurant with great margaritas and awesome food. Things have changed dramatically after the tragic passing of Isaac in 2012.
My wife and I were so terribly disappointed! The salsa used to be my absolute favorite and was replaced by spicy tomato soup. The margaritas were watered down as they were pre-​mixed and in very small glasses compared to hand poured drinks in margarita glasses in the past. The combo ceviche was mostly pre-​cooked shrimp. The fish tacos had mushy fish. The beef tacos had lots of fat and gristle. The jalapeño poppers were chewy and not much filling. Besides, who puts refried beans between the shells in a street taco?
EPIC FAIL!!!
I like to support family businesses and this used to be my favorite Mexican restaurant!
Unfortunately, we will NOT return.
Lastly, I should have known something was wrong as we only saw about 10 people in the entire restaurant and 2 others in the bar on a Friday night. I used to gladly wait in line to eat there and listen to some great guitarist. Time to find a new place.
What a crying shame!

Haven’t been here for awhile because I moved away. This is the place for high end seafood and ceviche’. I learned the original owner passed away. Sad to here but I hope his spirit lives on in his recipes. I asked for shrimp diablo in crispy tacos. Which is an off the menu option if your in the know IT was as great as I remembered. Loosing a captain and patriarch of any family and a business can be devistating. Way to go Don Picos staff honor his memory. I hope your chefs continue to grow and perfect their craft. My server was really wonderful. Great ambiance and very filling.

Epic fail!!!
I have never regret ordering from a restaurant so much. My order consisted in the following items:
1– caldo de pollo
1– agua fresca de orchata
1– baja ceviche
$ 33 later I was wondering why didnt i got so Campbell soup and so tv dinner. It was HORRIBLE. The horchata tasted like plain rice milk and it was sooo nasty. The caldo de pollo was more like a caldo of red peppers and the ceviche was ok but damn the salsa for the chips was nasty and the rice with the soup omg worst rice ever
Never ever coming back.

I gave this place a second chance last night, but I secretly wanted to go to Celia’s a couple blocks away with WAY better food. Well, I have had heartburn for 2 days after the dry chicken and ground beef enchiladas. AND $ 12 for a small margarita? I wish the bartender told me she was serving me a «Top shelf fresh fruit maragrita» I would of saved myself and ordered a $ 3 Negro Modelo. Very disappointed.
Ugh back to drinking my sprite.

Epic fail!!!
Went for brunch today at 10am — as indicated on their website only to be met with closed and locked doors.
Luckily delicious dim sum right down the street.
So what’s the deal, Don picos? Are you open at 10am for brunch or not???

Don Picos, what happened to you? Gone are the days of Isaac and Florencia. They knew my order by heart… Super burrito with shredded beef. I have been a loyal customer of Don Picos since 1999 and after returning to have dinner here after being out of the area for about a year was a bit of a shock.
I ordered my normal super burrito with shredded beef. It was good, definitely not like the original when Isaac and Florencia were around but still a good burrito. Why the 3 stars? The better question to ask is why the burrito shrank from 10 – 11 inches to about 7 inches. I was in shock. I know times are tough but really? This was the tiniest super burrito ever. I was so disappointed.
The burrito itself was good as usual but stuff like this really turns me off especially coming from where it used to be back in the day. I will still patronize Don Picos bc its the best burrito around especially with shredded beef (lots of places don’t do shredded beef) but I’m not as happy a customer as I used to be.
Other than that staff and service is good.

My team had an outing and we ended our day with this restaurant, on suggestion of our coworker who used to work nearby. Based on older Unilocal reviews, it sounds like this place was certainly at its peak at one point in time, but sadly, it sounds like that time has passed.
But I digress. First off, DON’T EVEN THINK OF TURNING INTO THE PARKING LOT. It is a bad, bad idea. You will regret it. There are a total of possibly 8 spots, all of which are probably taken, and if someone else has the bright idea to try and go in after you when there are no spots available, you’ll have a hell of a time backing out onto El Camino again. Unless you’re 500% sure you see parking, don’t bother trying to go into that lot. You’ll get yourself into an accident!
That aside, they had live music when we were there on a Friday night. The guy was awesome! However, if you’re close to the loud music, do note that it’ll be hard for you to hear your server. The downside is that your server is probably not going to care and won’t bother trying to make it so that you can hear them, so you’ll have to ask them to come over to the other side of your table to repeat whatever they said beforehand. This would many anyone annoyed, of course, but that’s just the start of it.
I’m glad I brought some small games to play while we waited, because after playing two rounds of cards, we noticed that no one else had their food, even people who were there before us and had significantly smaller parties of 2 – 4. This helped the wait go along smoothly as well as the live music, so we weren’t antsy, but I’d hate to think of the position I’d be in if I didn’t know someone in my party already.
Honestly, the worst part of the experience was that they gave our only vegetarian person the carnitas enchiladas, saying that it was the vegetarian one. Yikes…
My food was actually quite good. Some of the best chilaquiles I’ve had in a while, ever since my favorite spot closed down. I got the two item special with tamales and it was pretty much all I require of my Mexican food. Everyone else thought that I ordered correctly. I obviously thought I ordered correctly, because those were my favorite foods.
That said, food is pretty good if you get the standard stuff, but the service is something to be wary of… especially if you’re a vegetarian among omnivores.

We use to be regulars here, but now only come once in a while. This place has changed significantly and not for the better. The waiter seemed annoyed as soon as we walked in. We had to get our own menu’s and flag him down to order our food. Did i mention we where the only people in the restaurant. This place use to be staffed with friendly people that made you feel like family. Now its like your an annoyance. Sometime later more employees startes their shift and where very friendly and helpful. When our food finally arrived it was delicious, just like i remembered.

I frequent this establishment because of the ambiance. The booths are comfortable and great for small groups. The bar half (full bar) of the restaurant has large flat-​screen tv’s, which is great for sporting events since every other place in the area is packed!
The main salsa they give you has a good spice but is extremely runny. I prefer the pico you can ask for on the side. It is perfect for the semi-​thick, lightly-​salted chips and has a great consistency.
I recommend the walnut-​crusted sea bass! I get this almost every time. It’s pan-​seared with walnuts on a bed of greens and tortillas crisps. Comes with refried beans and pico and has an amazing sauce drizzled over the top.

This used to be a favorite when Mr. M worked on the peninsula. We stopped by this week, having not been here in a few years. When we saw how the Unilocal rating had declined, we were worried!
Not to fear, everything was still very good. Mr. M’s favorite Carnitas Yucatan was as good as ever, and little M’s and my food was also delicious.
Phew.

Very disappointing after everyone told me it ‘used’ to be the best spot for quality Mexican food. Never coming back!
We came mainly for the «burrito sliders’ which was a unique chicken burrito cut into sushi roll style pieces and they told us they had been sold out for 2 weeks straight. First, what kind of special sauce or ingredient is required to make your most popular and highest selling dish, as seen in your pictures, it’s your top seller. No wonder you were empty. Second, 2 weeks??? And you said many others had asked for it too. Get on it, there is no chicken or tortilla shortage. Shameful.
Service took forever to take our orders and some people ordered regular maker’s mark and coke and were charged $ 9.50 for a tiny serving, wow.
My $ 19 carne asada rib eye was overly chewy and not done right at medium well. My friend’s burrito was just rice beans and chicken and very bland.
I guess they simply fell off after being great for years.

Large portions, big pitchers, reasonable prices. I ordered Ceviche Hawaiiano — the veggies and taste were great, though the salmon was a bit rubbery. Side of beans was excellent. The other 6 people in my group seemed to enjoy their food as well. Service was attentive and the décor/​ambiance is eclectic and funky with lots of Latin paintings. Seating is available in the main seating area and separated bar area.
Tip: parking is pretty much non-​existent in their tiny lot so be prepared to find street parking which can be tricky during heavy traffic.

I was staying at a nearby hotel with my family and didn’t know where to go for dinner. So we entered that restaurant and were not disappointed. The staff was extremely friendly and the fajitas we ordered were excellent.

Two Words.
Queso Fundido!
Delicious=)