Lorena’s Mexican Restaurant - Mexican restaurant in East Peoria - 422 Riverside Dr, USA

My dearest friend and I would go get margaritas and food here once and sometimes twice a month. Although, she's recently passed away I still keep up our tradition of going to Lorenas. The margaritas are really strong and good. The price is affordable and the portions are plenty for leftovers the next day. The staff is super quick at preparing orders and kind.

There is always a quick service time from kitchen to table. Many of the staff are long time employees. The food is served hot and the ingredients are fresh. The venue is consistently clean. Custom orders are no problem. The lunch specials are a particularly good value. Lorena's is one of my regular haunts.

Ordered the fajita for two. So much food. My wife and I are on a clean diet, I requested they cook our fajita without oil. They cooked it as requested. Did not eat the beans, rice, or tortillas. The food was good, the service was great. I would eat there again. Did not eat the chips, but I did try Salsa. It was good.

Overall the food was good, the tamales, however, were a bit dry and a bit crusted on the ends. Also the salsa was a bit off from usual (my wife's words). To me the salsa was a bit bland. She got the chicken fajitas, super good. I ordered the burrito deluxe, also really good.

The special of the day was good food served so quickly that I was caught by surprise! The “burrito especial” was good and pretty close to traditional too. The service was efficient although not much for conversation. I definitely plan to visit again when I’m nearby.

I called in an order to go after reviewing their online menu. I arrived and the price was quite a bit higher than I saw ON THEIR WEBSITE. I politely told the cashier that the prices were wrong. His reaction was to argue with me and treat me like I was out of line for asking why my food cost more than their website states. Price and service were why I used to go here. Now they're overpriced as much as any other Mexican restaurant and rude. I will not be back.

We had the Chicken, steak and shrimp fajitas and the tilapia and shrimp fajitas. Was pretty good. Tilapia a little dry but good flavor. Decent amount of food.

Review Date: March 28th, 2012 Lorena’s was a lotta fun! Lorena’s was an early stop for my friends and I. We managed to get a giant group of people together for a night of laughs, chips and salsa, full bellies and memories. We descended upon Lorena’s at the beginning of the dinner rush and we didn’t leave until nearly close. We took over a large table for the 6+ of us that were there. It was a fun group consisting of Danielle, Jeremy, Tim, Rod, Brian, and a few others. This is one of those places where I don’t remember much about the eating experience as the camaraderie was the thing I remember most. I know we went through a ton of chips and salsa, a ton of cheese, and tons of drinks. The one thing I do remember was how good the food was and how it wanted me to try other Mexican restaurants. I guess I can blame Lorena’s for getting me hooked on giant burritos, chips and salsa, and feeling stuffed. I miss days like this when adulthood hadn’t fully kicked in yet but we had enough money and time to go out and enjoy life. Cherish it while you can.