Last night, after running various errands, my wife and I thought it would be a good idea to have dinner at El Campesino, especially given the fact she had a restaurant.com coupon to use.

We used to frequent El Campesino quite a bit since it came to the McMurray area close to seven years ago. That changed after discovering the “El Paso” and more recently, “Old Mexico” restaurant establishments. That being said, we wondered how El Campesino would stack up against the competition.

We arrived at El Campesino around 6:10 last night and were surprised as to how busy the place was for a Monday night. If a place is bustling, that’s a promising indication the food is damn good.

The customary tortilla chips and salsa arrived as soon as we sat at our table. While the salsa tasted okay, it had a very acidic overtone. The tortilla chips were also burnt. Even after requesting a replacement basket of chips, the second basket arrived burnt as well. Ohhh-kay.

We each started off with a bowl of chicken tortilla soup. It was very good, quite hardy with generous helpings of tender chicken meat in a rich and tasty broth.

The main course consisted of three hard shell beef tacos. What a disappointment, not only did the taco shells arrive so soggy the beef dropped out of the bottom, some of the lettuce on my wife’s tacos was frozen. Are you kidding me? Frozen lettuce?

A close up of frozen lettuce:

Also, since when did El Campesino add onion to the taco meat? Completely nauseating.

I don’t know what happened to El Campesino between now and the last time we dined there, but if last night’s dining experience is any indication of the quality of their food, well, they can keep it. I’ll stick with Old Mexico. By the way, an Old Mexico review will be coming in the future.