Peak & Elm Cocina Y Bar

We had been here before and the food was memorable. I also remembered it was expensive, so I bought a Groupon and planned a return visit. I can’t see them garnering any new fans with the straight up Mexican food that we had, priced the way it is, as there are MANY restaurants that can compete with lower prices.
Jay Jay’s Tacos Tapatitos: 3 high quality shredded beef flautas cut in half served with sour cream and 2 tablespoons of a tasty coleslaw, a small rounded mound of Mexican rice and charro beans were $ 12.50.
A one avocado guacamole — nothing special $ 5.95, David’s Queso — an orange cup $ 4.95. We added Pico de gallo for $ 2 — a tablespoon, maybe, so $ 6.95 for nondescript queso.
Definitely the best beef flauta I’ve ever had. The best anything ends there and average and overpriced takes over. Bill with tax and tip: $ 44 for 2 people (minus a $ 30 Groupon.) Who wants to spend $ 22 a person for a flauta plate, guac and queso?

I’ve come here a twice with coworkers and I just can’t get behind the food. In fact, almost everything I’ve had here isn’t good.
The thing that bothered me the most was the fluorescent nacho cheese they poured over my cheese enchiladas. I ate some of it to be polite in company, but kind of wish I hadn’t.
The tacos are ok, the chips and salsa are ok, and I’ve heard their quesadillas aren’t bad.
As for positives, the staff is very friendly, fast service, cheap, and big portions. But… if the food isn’t good… why bother?

Damn good brunch. And it includes free mimosas. I had the Benedict Mexicano… very flavorful! The salsa is so good I just wanted to drink it. Small little restaurant with a friendly staff. They also have homemade tamales. YUM! I plan to go back for dinner sometime to try the regular menu.

We will not be coming back here ever again. How do you mess up Mexican food in Dallas Texas is beyond me?! It was absolutely awful. We order the cheesedip and it was litterally out of a jar, watery and old tasting. And for dinner we got the Tamales and Fajitias and they were just a bad. Tamales were dry, and stale like they were made 1 week ago. My husband couldnt put enough hot sauce on them to make them salvagable and then the fajitias were sub par. The tortillas are supposedly homemade– but they tasted old as well and no flavor.
The service was a nice american woman who said it was her first week– she was friendly but knew nothing about the menu. Looked like there wasnt even a cook staff in the kitchen when i peaked around the corner when we paid. Like a 1 man ordeal who was also running food out.

What the heck happened? After a couple of successful trips, this place has roller-​coastered down to 1-​star.
The heralded ceviche… Insipid, poorly-​marinated rubbish in a bowl, circumnavigated by four shrimps that were inexplicably bitter. We left most of the serving in the bowl.
Arroz…How do you screw that up? Weird to the point of being inedible. Left that on the plate.
Frijoles…Bland, very bland. Took a spoonful and left the rest in the bowl.
Taquitos…So-so and not so different from what you would find in your grocer’s freezer section.
Tamales…Pork ones had lots of masa that was pretty dry and a little bit of filling. Beef ones were ok.
Service…Ridiculously apathetic. Little attention paid to our table on a Wednesday night. No attention to water, salsa, how’s your food?
Our server spoke good English. When I told her that she gave, «Indifferent service,» she said, «Thank you.» When I followed up with, «You are a bad waitress,» she grinned sardonically and said, «Thank you.»
Well, thank you, too. We’re done.

I’ve been here a few times and yum yum yum. This is tex-​mex that’s not just a big plate of cheese and ground beef. The menu is familiar without being boring. Their beans are scrumptious and their salsa is refreshing. I’ve always had great service here, too. Not to mention their app gives you rewards whenever you stop in.

Better than my mom’s cooking– Shhhh don’t tell her!!!
We are in love. Great barbacoa, great prices and an amazing spot. You can tell how much love and effort goes into their final product at every meal.
Looks like a hole in the wall in the Deep Ellum area but highly worth the visit.
Authentic Mexican food with great local flavor.

GO HERE. GO HERE NOW! My husband and I tried this last night and had the most wonderful experience. Our waiter, Louis, was so warm, proud, and accommodating. The chips and salsa are some of the best I’ve ever had. However they fry the chips gives them a delicious, distinct flavor. The salsa has a great acidic tomato flavor with chunks of peppers (jalapeños and chile de Arbol) and onions. The food was so homemade tasting as everything cooked to perfection with clearly high quality ingredients. Our waiter proudly told us the secret ingredient to their food is love, and you can taste it. OH, and did I mention that they have FREE margaritas on Fridays? We had four … ;) They also have free mimosas with brunch on Sunday, so, I know where we’ll be Sunday!

An antique looking neon that reads
«peak and elm» has been perhaps resurrected from a 1950’s pharmacy to a basic tex-​mex joint with prices that no local Mexican family would pay in this neighborhood. ($ 13 chicken mole enchiladas for example.)
This higher price discrepancy doesn’t account for atmosphere (it’s a hole in the wall.) or the food (it’s standard stuff with flaws.).
Chips and salsa were nothing special. The pinto beans were slightly undercooked and my parents beef fajitas were somewhat overly chewy. Service was charmingly amatuer, but it just made me more uneasy about how happy my out of town guests were.
I thjnk the big draw here is the free booze until they have their liquor license.
This place comes very close to three stars and could even be better, but I can’t really recommend this place since I felt we left dissatisfied over all.

«Would you like a free frozen Margarita? It comes with the meal.»
«Uhhh…YES! Bring me a pitcher if it’s allowed!»
And so the electric green frozen love was brought with my delicious vat of queso with chrizo. And that’s how dinner started. You just can’t go wrong with free booze and cheese. You just can’t.
Dinner was not the standard Tex Mex you get at El Cheapo. It’s similar. It will take care of your enchilada craving, but there’s a little twist. It tastes like the food my mother used to make – and my mama could cook! Is that a diced potato mixed with the perfectly seasoned beef in the taco? Why yes it is. I had the taco, tamale, enchilada combo – pretty standard. But it was some of the best food I’d had in long time. I expected the tamale to be outstanding. Sister to the landmark La Popular, Peak & Elm is expected to excel in the tamale arena. The rest of the food was equally outstanding, down to the last bite of rice and beans.
Service was pleasant and spot on. In all honesty, after bringing me a free Margarita the server could have ignored me for the rest of the night and I would have been fine, but the service was 5 stars! This may become my new go-​to spot for neighborhood Tex Mex.

I had brunch with a group of 6 friends. I don’t eat beef, pork or chicken (except eggs) so didn’t sample the other dishes. Those who had the Chilaquiles, Pork Tamale Pie, Pork Tacos and Menudo seemed pleased, but didn’t rave.
I had the Farmers Market Omelet, nicely filled with veggies, but oddly dry and lacked much seasoning. I requested shredded cheese and queso crème on the side; both were needed (with some salsa) to add flavor and moisture to the omelet.
I’m reserving my Groupon for a return visit because I want to give this place another try. I’m a big fan of their tamales (La Popular Tamale) and hope they start offering some of their veggie versions here. I will try the Cerviche next time!

I grew up in Los Angeles, so anytime I hear «authentic Mexican» not «Tex-​Mex» I get excited. Unfortunately, very disappointing and a big miss. I do not understand where anyone who knows Mexican food would say this is good. Apparently, you have no or low standards for food?
We ordered queso (not my idea) and it was glow in the dark, irradiated, from the can cheese; bland, flavorless, and overpriced for what it was. Main courses consisted of taquitos, which the menu states 6, but it’s 3 cut in half. They were not seasoned at all and were extremely greasy. My date ordered a platter with 3 items, all of which lacked basic seasoning (i.e. salt) and were generally flavorless. What was most disappointing was the tamale. I was under the impression Peak and Elm had «great tamales»…hard miss. The masa was okay, but the edges were hard and again, lacked any seasoning or flavor.
So…overall, if you buy into the movement of Dallas’ «local and fresh» or «locally owned» then be my guest. You’ll be disappointed; this is not good Mexican food nor is it worthy of your time.

I was not very impressed with the food here. I ordered the chicken quesadillas and it was not what I expected. I honestly feel like it’s hard to mess up on it. The quesadillas were very salty and there was no pico de gallo in it which can make a big difference.
The margaritas were complimentary which was nice but I felt sick after drinking half of it due to the excessive margarita sweet and sour mix. I guess I can’t complain because it was free!
The restaurant provided a nice authentic vibe to it which was nice. I don’t think I would recommend this restaurant to anyone.

Heard really good things about this place but I was not impressed. Chips and salsa were ok. I had the mole cheese enchiladas, it smelled funny and tasted bland. My boyfriend had the fish tacos, they were plain and tiny. The slaw was gross.
The atmosphere is cute but can get loud if it’s busy. They did offer us free margaritas.

This place is a gem hidden off the beaten path. It’s just outside of downtown and there is plenty of street parking available. The chips and salsa were great! What kind of magic do they use to make the chips soooo good? I ordered the ceviche and was so please y surprised by the large chunks of white fish and shrimp that were marinated to perfection. I will say that it’s THE BEST I’ve had in Dallas. My date had the tamale chili pie, and let’s just say there was nothing left on the plate! BYOB or go Fridays for free margaritas or Sundays for free mimosas during brunch!

Stopped in for a quick meal with my groupon while I was in town. The restaurant is in the Queen City Heights neighborhood. Quaint little joint. I failed to realize that it was BYOB when we went there but we had someone drive up to the 7 – 11 for a quick beer run. The windows stated cocktails on it but I guess they don’t have their liquor license.
Started with the ceviche which had large chunks fo sea bass in it. You could definitely taste the lime. It was good but not the best ceviche I’ve ever had. That honor still goes to a little joint in Spain.
However, I did try the Pozole Verde. This soup was delicious. I usually don’t eat large portions of anything no matter how much I love it but I devored this. The broth was so flavorful that I think I might have been slurpping it up from the spoon. Definitely worth ordering. The rest of my part ordered fish tacos which had two tacos with the same sea bass as the ceviche. The said it tasted somewhat similar to the fish in it. One also ordered the fajitas which looked good but I didn’t try.

WOW! What a pleasant surprise. I didn’t have super high hopes for Peak & Elm what with the odd location and neighborhood.
This is proof that you should never judge a book errr… restaurant by its cover.
I came in for lunch on a Sunday which also happens to mean there are FREE Mimosas all day! And these arent skimpy mimosas — these are big goblets garnished with fresh strawberries.
The service was great, very helpful and informative. If you can, ask for Charlie — he was a great waiter.
The food couldn’t have been better. We started with the Bonita appetizer sampler and everything was delicious. We did guacamole as well as ceviche and I have to say. the ceviche may be my favorite I’ve found in town and I have eaten A LOT of ceviche, folks.
If you happen to read this review soon — Peak & Elm is on Groupon so you can get a great meal at a discount!

Great, small Deep Ellum place by local owners.
Really wonderful flavors.
Food that isn’t super heavy but is super tasty.
Good prices, plenty of veggie offerings.
Gluten free chips, which are delicious.
Cruditos at sit down.
Get the Ceviche, the soyrizo tacos, the veggie fajitas.
Y U M.
BYOB for now with free margs on friday and free mimosas on Sundays.
1 star for space
1 star for nutrients
1 star for flava
1 star for price point

I could easily go 4.5 for this place.
The ambience is modest. But it is clean and the service is very warm and friendly.
Contrary to some other reviews, we received homemade chips and salsa immediately upon being seated. Both were excellent. The salsa in particular was excellent because of the heat and the big chunks of real vegetables. Chips are crisp and not greasy. We loved the chips and salsa.
We started with the ceviche and it was one of the best we ever had. Very different than the usual version, with big pieces of bass that have been marinated until really tender. Some guac is included, and the spice level is just right. It was delicious.
The wife got the enchiladas with mole sauce and said it was one of the best moles she ever had. Nice kick, not too sweet. She loved it. I got the tamale pie and thought the flavor combo worked really well. The tamales are homemade as well. My only criticism is that the dish was warm, not hot. But the chili on top with the fritos was excellent.
I cannot find a reason why anyone would complain about this place. It’s still BYOB but I hope that soon they get their license so they can start making some money and stay in business. It’s a real find in East Dallas. Sort of off the beaten track, but definitely worth the trip. They trip to put a little original spin on everything to make it unique. Next time I will try the tacos or fajitas.

Great Find!!! Peak and Elm Cocina is a new hidden gem in Dallas’ list of Mexican restaurants. We were got super excited on our Tuesday lunch visit because we found out that every Tuesday is half price off your entire order. We felt like we hti the jackpot… the only thing better is Friday is complimentary margaritas all day. The waiter said these specials are there until they build a larger clientele base, so check with them first before you say R. Mark sent you for a half price meal.
I had the tamale-​frito pie… fresh, pork tamales cover with chili, cheese and fritos… highly, highly unhealthy but so delicious… if you want healthy, my friend ate fof the the vegan menu and had soy tacos which were good. My other friend has the taquitos and liked them.
It has the feel of a nice hole-​in-​the wall establishment with a creative menu. There are a million Mexican food restaurants in Dallas, but this is one is definitely worth a second visit!