Don Pedro's Peruvian Bistro

This is my first time visiting their permanent location! I usually visit the food truck and try their paella.The seafood paella is delicious but also quite pricy at $15. The lomo saltado beef ($12) is flavorful-it's pretty much stirfry beef with onions, tomatoes, fries and white rice. I still prefer the paella.For drinks, their passion fruit (maracuya) drink is delicious and I also really like their Peruvian purple corn drink (chicha morada). This is a solid food truck to go to!

This is my first time eating Peruvian food, so I cannot comment on Don Pedro's authenticity. I discovered the food truck parked on the South side of the street across Banner Hospital North on Allen Rd. The menu looked great, and it's nice to try something different. I loved the salchipapas. Who doesn't enjoy french fries with seared hot dogs layered on top? The Aji Verde sauce had a unique taste to it; I could detect hints of cilantro and lime within the deep flavor. It was delectable! The lo-mein had the texture of the typical Chinese Lo-Mein, but the spices were quite different. Both dishes I ordered were decent portions, and I wouldn't hesitate to try more items next time I see their truck!

Good Peruvian Paella. The food truck is not quick at all, so be ready to wait, my order took more than 20 minutes. The flavors were good and the seafood was a generous portion for the price. I think it was $15ish? Peruvian is an underrepresented cuisine and it's great to see one make good food.

I don't know where to start. I've had great authentic Peruvian food in Lima and Cuzco. I've had very good Peruvian food in Atlanta, Georgia. Anywho, We bought a few dishes from Don Pedro's to go and had them at home. Cevice Mixto (camaron y pescado)The fish and shrimp was RAW. I was floored. I could not believe at fifteen dollars a plate that we got home with RAW CEVICHE. Yes, ceviche is obviously originally raw but it is served cooked in lemon juice. No, it was vividly, obviously, grey colored and raw. Served on the side was sliced sweet potatoe, large corn (choclo), tiny cup of toasted small corn (cancha), and chili. Huge disappointment!Chaufa Chicken Fried RiceThis was decent but its Your typical chicken fried rice with rectangle-cut pieces of cooked egg. This topped off at 12 dollars a plate.Anticuchos (beef heart)These were also decent but some pieces had pink and weren't cooked thoroughly. Decent texture. Not too rough. BUT at ten dollars for two skewers and 4 medallions/pieces of sliced potatoes, not worth it. Last but not least,Chicha Morada (purple corn drink)This tasted like it...its hard to describe. A mixture of old kool aid and fruit punch syrup. This tastes nothing like real chicha morada. At 3 dollars a cup, not worth it. I was overall deeply disappointed. I had been looking forward to trying this spot ever since they announced their grand opening. I did drive by a few times and trangely it would be closed like on a Friday or a Sunday...This was my first Peruvian food experience here and Tucson and I am deeply saddened because 1.I am a foodie and 2.I am Peruvian on my dad's side. I would not return. 2 stars because the anticuchos were decent.

Each time Don Pedro's truck shows up at my office, I order lunch. Even if I've already eaten, or brought my lunch that day. It's really that good. I even had their food when they catered a party at sand reckoner tasting room. It constantly delights . The paella is excellent, as are their other entrées. But for whatever reason, the salchipapas will always be my favorite. It sounds sort of horrible - deep fried hotdogs over french fries, with an assortment of sauces - but it's truly amazing. I suspect if I ever traveled to Peru, the street from there still wouldn't be as delicious.

The only words needed to give Don Pedro's an accurate review...Absolutely delicious.

We cam here for their happy hour which run from 4-6.They have a few beers on offer that are actually from Peru- Franca and Cuzquena. These come in a bottle and are 3$ during happy hour, so it's a great time to try them out. The food..well, I wasn't too impressed. The Calamari (5$) came on a massive plate of super soggy, greasy fries. I don't eat fries anyways, and since I ordered calamari I was looking forward to eating that, but there were maybe 6-7 pieces of calamari on the plate! Barely enough to share without eating the fries...which we didn't. I don't think anyone at the table who ordered this enjoyed their fries. The Papa Rellena (5$) was interesting..think something like mashed potato formed around ground beef with spices and raisins. It was pretty nice, but very heavy. Glad I tried it. The Anticuchos (5$) were the best item we had- I think everyone at the table agreed with this. It came with a spicy red sauce. If you haven't tried beef heart, this is a safe way to go about it- they come on a skewer and are super flavorful. When we got our bill we didn't notice that they added an additional 18% gratuity, and we tipped again. Watch out for that. I had been wanting to try this place for ages, but after eating there I don't think I'd ever go out of my way to try their food again. Too bad.

Hey I would liked to have liked this place, I tried and it did not cut the mustard. To start off with Peruvian food is usually never good unless its seafood, and that can get a little dicey. The service was lacking, I had to get up twice to get something, and the place was empty. The food was greasy and the fries were soggy, they had beef heart which wasn't bad but did not warrant a return trip. My opinion is the 1st opinion I had when I went there a couple of years ago, Peru is a great place to visit but I would not want to eat there.However; the chocolate cake in Peru is not bad, that's what ate when I could find it.

I am giving Don Pedro's 3 stars because I really want this local business to succeed, but there were some pretty big flaws on our recent visit. Pros: The chaufa was very good. None of us has ever had it before so we can't compare it to others. The rolls before dinner were heated and tasty, although I have never been served rolls at a Peruvian restaurant before. The plantains were great, but it's hard to mess those up. My friend loved the arroz con pollo (when I told her I was going to write a less than flattering review on yelp she insisted that I put in how much she loved the chicken and especially the cilantro rice).. The restaurant was clean (more on that below) and comfortable and tastefully decorated.We chose Don Pedro's over another place we like for 2 reasons - it was promoted by a new app called Scan In, Dine Out - so there should have been some sort of promo when we got there. But the server knew nothing about it. And they have pollo a la brasa on the menu online, but when we asked for it we were told we have to order it 2 days in advance. Nothing about that on the website. Since I could not get my roasted chicken and fries, I asked if I could substitute fries for the rice in the arroz con pollo. It was not allowed. I also asked what pieces of chicken came with the order and I was told 2 breasts, so I ordered it anyway.Our appetizers were decent. The papa rellena was really big, and was on the happy hour menu for $1 off, but it had a very strong citrus flavor to it. Other than that it was cooked well and nicely seasoned. We also had an order of fried plantains. For $6 there were 5 or 6 chunks of plantain - they were perfect but there were too few of them. The food came out quickly, and was hot, but I got 2 chicken thighs instead of breasts - which was a big disappointment to me. I pointed it out to the server, who promptly went into the kitchen, seeming as if he was going to do something, but then came back with the bill and that was that. I thought it was interesting that our sever didn't seem to know a lot about what was happening in the restaurant, but also didn't ask anyone else to help him with the questions. He was very nice and seemed to be trying to do a good job. Meanwhile, there was a young woman with a clipboard watching another young woman wash the tables when other people left. It seemed like if she was a manger she may have been able to help with some of these questions or problems. Finally, when the bill came, the happy hour price for the papa rellena was not right. It was only a dollar, so I didn't comment on it, but it was one more thing that just didn't go right.

I caught the Don Pedro's food truck at the Sahuarita Pecan Festival for the first time, and it was a treat! it's it's not everyday you stumble upon good Peruvian food, and just that fact made the experience even more special. So the news of them being at the Friday farmer's market at UMC was just wonderful. The maracuja(passion fruit) juice is so good as well as the aji de gallina and the seafood paella. I wish they still had a restaurant, however it is nice and fun to catch them mobile as well. The main drawback is that their prices are kinda steep for a food truck/food stall ($8 for 1 cup size of paella, $10 and up for the other dishes, and $3 for the drink). Mos def tho if you're craving Peruvian and they're nearby it's worth it.