Don Pico's Mexican Bistro & Cevicheria: Reviews | restaurant info + video | full episode video |

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Ray Scarabosio
Name:Ray
Occupation: Real Estate Manager
Location: Millbrae
Favorite Restaurant: Don Pico's Mexican Bistro & Cevicheria
Reviewed Don Pico's Mexican Bistro & Cevicheria: Friday, May 19, 2011

The place was crowded, so we waited at the bar and had a wonderful margarita. After a short, five-minute wait, we were seated on the newly expanded side. The entire restaurant is filled with authentic Mexican as well as San Francisco artwork and artifacts, all of which the owner, Isaac, is happy to tell you about. The restaurant was full at the time, and the atmosphere was jovial -- helped by the background music -- while the aromas from the kitchen were enticing.

We ordered our food and awaited our culinary trip through Mexico. The queso fundido was a gooey mix of cheeses, spices, tomatoes, onions and parsley: yum, yum, yum! The handmade guacamole was so fresh and green its taste exploded in your mouth. Our main courses arrived at a good pace after the appetizers were done. The crab enchilada with chile verde sauce was outstanding with the obviously fresh crab as the centerpiece of the dish. All of the accompaniments complemented the crab and didn't overwhelm it like in some restaurants, and it was a dish that was craved by all. The pulled chicken enchilada ranchero was moist and succulent, the spices gave new meaning to the word "tasty." Again, there was just enough to make the dish tasty without diverting from the taste of the chicken. The pork chile ranchero was just to die for. The sauce was a combination of several sauces that allowed the taste of the pork to shine through, yet still allow the spices to assail your taste buds. It was wonderful by itself or wrapped in the wonderful flour tortillas, and it was my favorite dish that night. The dessert of beignets with fresh whipped cream and cinnamon just sealed the deal on a wonderful meal!

We were lucky enough to have the owner Isaac come by our table. When we told him about the dishes that we had and how we had enjoyed them, he explained how he chooses from over 20 different sauces to arrive at the flavors that are achieved from his kitchen. You could tell he takes pride in what he produces. The service was timely and very helpful. This is truly a family run restaurant with 80% of the staff being related, and they all take satisfaction in providing an excellent finished product. Parking can be tough at times, but it is well worth the effort. We have been here many times and not only will we continue to return, but we will recommend it to others.

Dot Adams
Name: Dot
Occupation: Nanny
Location: San Francisco
Favorite Restaurant: Lovejoy's Tea Room
Reviewed Don Pico's Mexican Bistro & Cevicheria: Tuesday, May 17, 2011

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Though Don Pico’s Mexican Bistro had some good dishes, it did not impress my husband and I enough to warrant the drive out to San Bruno for another visit. To be fair we are a bit spoiled by living next to the Mission in San Francisco. We did loved the vibe of the place though -- a family restaurant that seemed to come straight out of my husband’s childhood in LA. He felt warm and fuzzy remembering nights out with his folks and brother in places with much the same décor as Don Pico’s. I liked it because it had two sides to it. The room you enter has a very casual feel to it, and the other room, the bigger room, has live music. We chose the live music room, and I’m glad we did. It certainly enhanced the evening, though at times it sounded a bit corny. We were both were struck with the artwork on the walls.

The service was a little uneven at times. They showed us to a nice table and gave us some chips and salsa. Careful of their salsa! It is HOT! I wanted to eat more of it, but I had to ask if they had a milder version. The waiter poked a little fun by saying he knew it would be too hot for me. He did say he would get me a tamer salsa but he actually never did bring it to me. After awhile another person came over to see if we wanted more chips, and I asked him if he could hook us up with a milder salsa. It did eventually arrive and was filled with fresh veggies and perfect. We also asked a few of the people working there if they knew the artist of a particular set of paintings we admired while we were eating and no one knew.

We ordered two margaritas with salt and thought they tasted like a mix. We liked the appetizer we had. The ginger pork empanadas were fried so they had a nice crispy texture with a good stuffing of pork and ginger. The best part of the meal was definitely my selection of Don Pico’s Specialties’ Tacos de Pescado (two bacon-crusted fish tacos with salsa fresca) and rice and beans. These were super yummy and the rice was especially good. I tried my husband’s dish, tampiquena (a grilled skirt steak) and that was delicious too. We did not order desserts.

At times the dinning experience was inconsistent, but the food overall was tasty.

Suzanne Henricksen
Name: Suzanne
Occupation: Market Researcher
Location: San Francisco
Favorite Restaurant: Saha
Reviewed Don Pico's Mexican Bistro & Cevicheria: Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Christian and I love Mexican food, so we were excited to venture out to San Bruno and try out Don Pico’s, especially when we read that it has been around since 1975 and attempts to use the freshest produce and highest quality meat available. I took a 45-minute BART ride to get there while Christian drove; a bit far for a normal dinner out. Upon arriving at Don Pico’s we were a bit skeptical. It was on a busy road in a strip mall-like setting with neon signs in the windows. Walking through the front door we didn’t get the expected overdone and exaggerated Mexican decor but instead found ourselves in an eclectically designed bar/lounge-like setting. The nice wall-sized windows let in a lot of afternoon light, allowing us to see a beautifully colored bull fighting mural covering one wall, a large clean bar area, and bright blue upholstered booths for seating. There was also a separate seating area in a different room, which I believe is the original Don Pico’s space, but it was a bit darker and had a dingier feeling, so we opted to dine in the lounge setting that I think was just added this year.

Since it was only 5:20, we were only one of about four tables, so the service was attentive from the start, bringing waters and taking our drink and appetizer orders right away. I got a margarita and some handmade guacamole ($6.95) to go along with the free chips and salsa that they had brought over. I love spicy food, but the free salsa, while fresh, was extremely hot. It was so spicy that it had me coughing and choking with my first bite, so I would have appreciated a slightly milder version to go along with my chips (although this spicy version was good to combine with the somewhat bland guacamole). The chips were nice and thick and crispy, but not too greasy. My margarita was quite tasty and had a nice kick to it without being too acidic or sweet. However, I found it to be a bit small for the $7.50 price, and while I love salt on my margarita rim, it was coated a bit too thickly, so I found myself having to lick a bit off but then drink from the straw in order to not be overwhelmed with saltiness.

While we waited for our entrees we enjoyed reading the history of Don Pico’s on the front of the menu but were then shocked to find out that it is in fact a cevicheria. We love ceviche, but hadn’t seen any on the menu, if we had we definitely would have ordered that instead of the guacamole. When we asked the waiter about it, he told us that they don’t actually put the ceviche dishes on the menu and instead you just have to ask. A bit of a strange choice if you're going to call yourself a cevicheria! Before we had time to be too upset by our oversight, my carnitas Yucatan ($15.95) and Christian’s homemade chile verde ($14.95) arrived. They came out so quickly that most things must not be cooked to order. Both were served with rather bland rice, guacamole, pico de gallo, and your typical refried beans. I say "typical," but they were yummy, although I’ve never met a refried bean I haven’t liked! While my carnitas were good, they weren’t anything exceptional, but the chunks of pork in Christian’s chile verde were extremely tender, and the sauce, while mild, was nicely flavored.

While we were feeling quite full, Christian is a huge flan aficionado so we couldn’t pass up the chance to try Herlinda’s Homemade Flan. Except for the fact that they were out of all flan. How can a Mexican place have five different flan desserts and be out of all of them? On a Wednesday when the weekly food surplus should be nice and high before the weekend rush? On a Saturday at 9 PM, I would understand being out of something this central, but on a Wednesday at 6 PM? Disappointing. We should have just skipped dessert after that but we persisted and tried the pastel de tres leches ($6.95). While I kind of liked the soaked, soggy texture of the cake, it was overly sweet for me (frosting and whip cream?!) and definitely not homemade.

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So overall, I would give Don Pico’s a “good, but not great” rating. I like the long-standing history and idea of Don Pico’s, the atmosphere is kind of fun, and the food and service are decent, but I likely wouldn’t go back or encourage friends to try it out unless they happened to be right in the area. While $60 for dinner for two in the Bay Area certainly isn’t bad, I think you can get higher quality (and likely healthier) food for that amount of money elsewhere or the same quality Mexican food for much cheaper. With all of the tasty and affordable Mexican food right here in the Mission District in San Francisco, I likely won’t be returning to Don Pico’s anytime soon. Decent Mexican food, but really not a great value or worth the hassle of getting there.

Don Pico's Mexican BistroDon Pico's Mexican Bistro

Don Pico's Mexican Bistro: Restaurant Info

Don Pico's Mexican Bistro: Reviews