El Tapatio

Reviews

• Barbara J.

  star star star star star 10 June 2026

  Beyond amazing authentic Mexican food. Quaint restaurant with a great welcoming service! Get the al pastor burrito and prepare for a flavorful meal and to go into a food coma.

• Jeff K.

  star star star_border star_border star_border 6 June 2026

  I'm not sure how most of the reviews of this place are saying how great the flavor of the food is.  Maybe I caught them on an off day but I've read some reviews that seem to have had similar experiences like I did.  
  
  First off I called ahead and ordered 3 marinated pork tacos, 3 chicken tacos, 2 elotes, and 1 churro.  The lady taking my order said it will be 25min (pretty standard), so when I get there they said that they ran out of fresh corn for the elotes and it will be another 25-30min before it's finished.  I told them it wasn't an issue and to just take it off of my order.  No biggie, things happen but it would have been nice for a callback.  
  
  They charge $8.75 for 3 tacos which is very expensive.  I've been to other places that charge only $2 per taco and are lightyears ahead in flavor.  They also up-charge for extra red or green sauce.  Again, I've been to places that have a small sauce bar off to the side and it is complimentary.  The sauces were lackluster and watery with no real flavor.  
  
  The flavor of the tacos were very bland.  We didn't taste any seasoning at all, not even salt.  My girlfriend got the chicken tacos and the meat was rubbery and tasted like it was boiled.  I got the marinated pork tacos and that too was lacking in flavor.  It didn't taste like it was marinated in anything at all.  Both of the meats were a bit dry as well.
  
  The churro was good though...
  
  Overall I don't think I will be giving this restaurant another shot.   It's a shame because I would have liked to be able to support this small business, give a recommendation, and have a go-to taco spot.

• K B.

  star star star star_border star_border 24 May 2026

  I'm going to have to try again and dine-in. Take out is just okay.
  Got the mole chicken platter yesterday. My boyfriend got something else and he picked it up. I really liked the mole but felt the meal was very much overpriced for what I got. Very little rice and beans with some chicken (with very yummy mole sauce!). Good food, just overpriced for the volume.
  Loved the mole sauce and was drooling over the tacos pictures people posted, so today I went back for chicken tacos. Just in the mood for good Mexican! I went in for takeout. The tacos are supposed to come with cilantro and onions and if you want lettuce and tomato it's an extra $.50. No bigs, except that I got the lettuce/tomato added but then didn't get any cilantro (or onions). I was counting on the abundance of cilantro as seen in the pictures people posted. That flavor is critical to me and was obviously missing. The chicken pieces were a little rubbery and didn't really have much flavor at all, which I likely wouldn't have even noticed if I'd had that cilantro...I'm not that picky.
  I also got a side of rice and beans tonight. It was a decent portion for $4.50. I'd probably expect to only pay $3.00-50 for something like that, but again, no bigs.
  Somehow, I was charged about $1 more than I calculated it would be from their menu prices + 6% sales tax. Not sure how that happened.
  I'm not giving up on this place just yet because the other reviews are great and all the pictures are from people who dined-in and have all these little garnishes on their plates as well and lime slices to add flavor...which I did not get any of that for take-out. (That's kind of annoying.) I'll be back because I love that it's a small locally owned place and others have had great experiences, but will dine-in and see if my experience is better.

• James S.

  star star star star_border star_border 24 May 2026

  Have fallen out of love with El Tapatio after two bad experiences. Prior to that I was all about this place and I'll talk about that too.
  
  My first one was over a year ago when I ordered takeout too close to closing apparently and when I arrived to get my food the microwave was getting way too much use for my liking. Couldn't look at my food the same after that knowing some part of my enchiladas or steak meal was prepared in there. Then today I finally decided to get over it and had my wife order again. We had just spend 4 hours in the car returning from the beach so she called and ordered 9 tacos for takeout. I dropped her off at home and drove 10 minutes to get our food. After parallel parking I walk in to see a hand written sign that said "Only Cash." I was immediately confused and asked when they stopped accepting credit card and she said they ran out of receipt paper. I would have loved to have been given that information on the phone when we ordered, but now I had to drive five minutes back the way I came from to go to my bank. When I get back I hand the cashier my money (two 20s) to pay for my food, which was $27.83. She's ringing me up and then just leaves for a minute or two. Apparently they decided to go cash only and didn't actually have any cash in the drawer. Then she returns and hands me $12. I stand there for a second waiting and she closes the register. Apparently she thinks that keeping my change goes without explanation. I know it's $0.17, but if you're going to round, it should not go in the restaurant's favor. Give me two dimes or one quarter if you don't want to count change. You don't get to decide to be cash only and not hold up your end of the bargain. After that point I couldn't really enjoy my food reflecting on these last two experiences. Just not how things should be done.
  
  As I said, I used to love it here. I went a bunch when they first opened. I brought friends here and recommended people try it. The same friendly woman was running the place on all these early visits, but sadly she was not there on my two bad experiences. The tacos are good, but I do question some of the freshness now. I hate styrofoam takeout boxes when you're getting hot food because it ends up melting into the box and the food tastes like styrofoam.
  
  I always hoped for a place like El Limon to come to the neighborhood, so maybe my expectations were too high, but this place has let me down. I hate writing this review because I know they're a small family joint, but I really think they can improve how things are done. Better customer service when the owners aren't around (an assumption that the one woman who I've met is an owner), new takeout containers that don't melt, strategies to only serve fresh food and keep food from the microwave, more inviting storefront and indoor seating (the space is a challenge, but it can be done better than this), and let customers mix and match meats in their taco orders. May be a slight pain for you, but it allows them to try more which gives them a chance to find something to keep coming back for.
  
  I'm happy to see their great reviews and wish continued success, but I'm frustrated with the results I've gotten and probably won't be back any time soon unfortunately.

• Shelley F.

  star star star_border star_border star_border 22 May 2026

  El Tapatio makes a good attempt at authenticity but it doesn't take long after being handed a sticky cilantro-covered salt shaker to see right through that. From the dirty interior to the poor quality meats , there are few redeeming qualities to talk about. They serve free chips with retried beans, which are tasty, and their guac is fresh albeit flavorless. Our entrees (tacos and milenese) were tough, chewy, and again, flavorless. After leaving most of our food on the plates, the server didn't offer to take anything off the bill or even comment on our obvious dissatisfaction. We left with a whopping bill of $35. Won't be back and neither should you!