Live, from Peoria, Illinois, it’s Saturday Night starring this week’s host, Hacienda El Mirador and featuring special guest stars, Julia, Julie and Roy! Now please welcome from Junction City, this week’s host, Hacienda El Mirador!
Here we are at Hacienda El Mirador in Junction City. The back patio is still open for dining but sadly in a couple of weeks it’ll probably be too chilly for dining out there. Hacienda El Mirador serves up breakfast seven days a week and I love that they feature a bucket of beer in the artwork for it! Okay, let’s go in and start up this week’s Saturday night!
Right as I walked in I ran into Julia, the pretty co-owner of Hacienda El Mirador! Julia owns the restaurant with her husband Lucas and together they’ve put together a fabulous Mexican restaurant at Junction City. Since I was dining alone this week, I decided to sit at their large wooden-topped bar and Julia led me to the bar area. I arrived somewhat near closing time, so there were plenty of seats to choose from.
As soon as I was settled in, Julia brought me one of their delicious jumbo margaritas. The evening is definitely off to a fantastic start!
This is my view of the back of the bar and an ornate chandelier hangs overhead.
There’s tables opposite the bar to dine at and a festive archway sits next to the bar with a guitar and flowers. And next to that on the bar is a leftover from the annual Día de Muertos celebration here.
I strolled into the main dining room and ran into Julie, who’s a friend of mine from way back when and she introduced me to her husband Roy. Great to see both of them and catch up a little bit!
Here’s the back dining room with artwork and south of the border decorations on the walls. The window overlooks the back of Junction City.
Meanwhile, back at the bar, homemade tortilla chips have arrived with four house-made sauces! I love that you get a nice selection of dipping sauces and since I was dining alone, I happily double-dipped!
Next up was an order of Tostadas Ceviche. I’ve never had this here, but it sounded intriguing on the menu. It’s a chilled broth made of citrus, tomatoes, onion and cilantro and you have your choice to have it made with shrimp or fish. I chose shrimp and this was such a delightful mix of flavors! It’s also served with avocado slices, tortillas and crackers. This could be an entire meal unto itself! But there’s more to come...
I got two tacos for my main course and I’ve had these before and I can testify that they’re even tastier than they look. I got a chicken and steak taco and these are genuine Mexican tacos. No cheese on these!
The chicken is juicy and flavorful and the steak is tender and slightly spicy. In addition to the plentiful chicken and steak, there’s also lettuce, cilantro, chopped tomatoes and onion all wrapped up in a warm, homemade tortilla. Simply delicious!
Julia told me that the night before they had a tequila tasting with David Reyes tequila. She told me that David is from Peoria and splits his time between here and Mexico where his tequila is made. I then realized that I used to work with David at Fleming Potter! I had heard he went into the tequila business and I checked out the website...
And there he is! She said he’s going to be at the restaurant next Friday between six and ten o’clock, so I’m going to stop by and say hello. I haven’t seen David in over 30 years!
Julia poured me a shot and this is the best tequila I’ve ever had! ¡Aclamaciones!
I’ve dined at Hacienda El Mirador more times than I can count and every meal had been nothing short of spectacular and this evening’s dinner was no exception to that rule.
I started off with homemade tortilla chips and a quartet of tasty dipping sauces and it was a tasty start to another fabulous dinner in here.
For my appetizer dish I ordered the Tostadas Ceviche which is a chilled broth made of citrus, tomatoes, onion and cilantro. I had the shrimp version and it was had such a unique taste to it. It was a little spicy and there was a nice chunk of succulent shrimp in every spoonful. This is such a satisfying dish and something you will not find at Taco Hell!
For my main course I ordered a chicken and a steak taco. As I mentioned earler, these are genuine Mexican tacos and they are so delicious! There’s a generous supply of seasoned meat on each one and they are some of the best tacos I’ve ever had!
SN Rating
Cuatro Galopando Gourmets—If you’re looking for genuine and delicous Mexican cuisine, this is the place to find it in Peoria. It’s also one of the friendliest places in town and it’s always a pleasure to dine at Hacienda El Mirador!
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Junction City Shopping Center
5805 N Humboldt Avenue
Peoria
309-839-2820
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Related Posts: Saturday Night @ Davis Bros. Pizza, Paparazzi and Lorena’s Mexican Bar & Grill.