Mi Pueblo is not in our part of town, but I'd seen a lot of Facebook ads and we were in the area, so decided to try them out. We were pumped to find the dining area so nicely appointed and clean. They appeared shorthanded,...like many places these days. Our server was answering the phone and carrying take-out orders to the front desk while also waiting on several tables. This obviously distracted him because we had to ask for our drink order to be delivered. Despite this he kept a good attitude.
They served free tortilla chips with a cheese dip that resembled and tasted like canned cream of chicken soup. We ordered queso blanco as an appetizer and were not sorry. I was delicious! Our entrees were a bit slow in coming but were tasty. My wife ordered the Mi Pueblo Special, and basically enjoyed it. She wasn't a big fan of the ranchera sauce on it. (I really liked the flavor, and would love to try it on cheese enchiladas.)
When all was said and done we were very happy with the experience. Then "it" happened. My wife, a two-decade veteran of food service, spotted a dishpan of meat sitting in water on the floor. This is a big no-no in food prep. Meat is supposed to defrost in a refrigerator or under running water...and certainly not on the floor.
After some discussion she called to discuss the situation with the manager, who confirmed the pan was still on the floor. She also indicated they were defrosting pork for tamales, and pork requires special handling. The manager did not indicate they'd make any changes.
As a result, we're undecided about returning. According to online sources, Mi Pueblo scored 99 on a health department review this year, so clearly they're not in the habit of doing thing haphazardly.
I really don't think this is such a bad place, but honestly can't rate them higher than a three because of what we saw and their reaction to our question.More
