This is the WORST restaurant I have ever eaten at! I tried this place on several occasions-family dinners, quick place to stop etc. NEVER again! The food looks like someone threw up on my plate, and the wait staff are the most rude, racist people I've ever seen. I happen to be somewhat fluent in Spanish and as I drank a corona-Rita, I couldn't help but over hear the wait staff making "gringo" this and "gringo" that comments. On top of all of this, my boy friend had his credit card number stolen by the waitress, and charges to his account at a Longmont Walmart were later discovered. I would rather eat grass than go here
(1)
Chantal M.
The best thing here is the salsa; I would drink that stuff with my straw if it weren't considered weird and gross to do so. Other than the salsa, however, the food is decent. Nothing to jump up down about, that's for sure. The staff is always friendly though, so that's good.
(3)
Jen L.
I have been to 3 Locations and this one twice. Im going to start by saying the food is fine. Not great, and no wow factor, but doesn't taste horrible either. The service at best is minimal. Today was way below minimal, I glad my waitress even came to my table. I was through reading the 5 pages menu before someone took my drink order. My food came out somewhat fast after I ordered, how ever my waitress didn't bother to check on me until I finished my meal. It took her another 10 minutes to bring the check. She never did come back to my table, I paid up front, and I was nice enough to tip her a dollar. Won't be here for a while.
(2)
Ken L.
Good traditional Mexican food. Good green Chili. Lettuce taste dirty. Guacamole made my tongue tingle.
(3)
Nicole L.
Good service, good green chili. The chimichanga was not crispy at all because of all the green chili but still really good
(4)
Georgia T.
I was here last night and could not decide on here or Hacienda. Since I haven't tried this place I thought to give it a shot. We got seated right away and not very long was asked if we wanted a drink. We ordered margaritas of course. I had the Tapatio Margarita which states it uses fresh limes and 3 other liquors. This has got to be the worst margarita I have had. It didn't taste like it had fresh limes in it at all. There was another strange taste that I have never tasted in a margarita and soon found out after we saw them making another one - they use some kind of carbonated drink in it - tasted to me like soda water or club soda. Which that being said, yes their margaritas are big but not so big on taste. As for our service goes, it could have been better. After ordering out drinks and trying to figure out what to eat I noticed a lot of waiters just standing around and a gentlemen who I think was the manager standing with them and bullshitting. Ok, I work in the restaurant industry and do not think this is very professional. If your not giving your tables great customer service which we didn't get, ie, table touches, table maintenance, talking up a table - "hi how are you, what brings you in", then you shouldn't be standing around. Very unprofessional. The food was good - very large portions for the price. I had shrimp in a garlic butter sauce. Everything tasted great - no problems in the kitchen what so ever! The only problem I had with my dish was that there was way to much butter and left with a heartburn. I hate it when I go to restaurant and order seafood/fish and it is overcooked. My shrimp was perfectly cooked! Will I come back again? Maybe very undecided especially when you here the manager/wait staff talking about customers in Spanish in a not so great way. Next time keep it to yourself wait staff - you never know who is listening!!!!!
(2)
Krista E.
We were a little reluctant to go here after reading the reviews but it was right by our hotel so we gave it a shot. We had great service and the food was good - standard Mexican fare. The salsa was really good and the Cadillac margaritas were great!
(4)
Suman K.
The food is always great!!the service is always horrid! I have been here 10 times. Every time they messed up the order, were so slow and not respectful. The food is awesome. The service makes you regret coming here.
(1)
Scott S.
The parking lot is packed every time we drive by, so with friends in town last night, we decided to give El Tapatio a shot. It was packed. Packed. It looks like an old TGI Friday's inside, but I suppose this could just be a coincidence. The food is nothing spectacular. It's decent Mexican food that's served quickly. The server was friendly, but it appeared that some of their staff (waiters) were confused about whose order (other tables) went to which table. They got it sorted out, but it was obvious there was confusion. I was disappointed with my margarita. Went with something blue that was frozen. The size was great, b ut it was a lot of ice, no flavor, and tasted nothing like something blue should taste.
(3)
Lawrence H.
This place ripped me off twice. Jesus the waiter changed tip amount on us recently. As the saying goes rip me off once, shame on you. Rip me off twice shame on me. I will follow up with management and the police. Food is a step up from Casa Bonita and restaurant is consistently dirty. I have a choice and will not patronize El Tapitio again, any of there locations.
(1)
Carla T.
This review is purely based on their take out service: -HORRIBLE. I ordered something to pick up, I could tell that the person taking my order was somewhat confused, possibly because my reception was bad since I was on the road so I confirmed my order in Spanish. He said it was no problem and it would be ready in 20minutes. 20-25minutes later, I get to the restaurant and let the hostess know I'm picking up an order. She has no idea what I'm talking about, she goes in the back to check if anyone knows anything about my order...nothing. Needless to say, I lost my appetite which I guess was a good thing since I had no food to consume.
(1)
Renee M.
Let me start off by saying the food was good but our waiter pissed me off enough to warrant a 2 star rating. My mother-in-law called days ahead of our lunch and put in reservations for 29 people and asked specifically if we could do separate checks because there were 8 families. They assured her that would be fine. Fast forward to Sunday afternoon- as soon as the hostess started seating us the waiter was frowning and mumbling under his breath. Then he asked if we needed separate checks. That's when it all went downhill. He had a terrible attitude and said that would be a problem. My aunt asked why and he said "just because it's gonna be too hard". So I said "We asked beforehand and they said it was fine". He said "it's gonna be a problem" so I told him his tip was going to be a problem and he said "that's ok with me". I wanted to leave but didn't want to ruin my daughter's celebration lunch so we stayed. He complained to a manager who came over to speak with us then she told him to do separate checks. He didn't like that. He frowned the whole lunch and was short with our guests. I made it clear how I felt verbally and in his tip or lack there of. The food we ate was very good but I will not go to that location again.
(2)
Don F.
I've eaten there three times the fish is great. This is a very unusual Mexican restaurant
(5)
Farah B.
We come back for the food. You can always tell when the restaurant is under new management because the service gets better For a little while before slipping back into the pits of hell. Did ownership change? Now when you go in you sit in a "Mexican" restaurant, surrounded by hipsters and listening to Johnny cash #wtf #weird
(3)
Fred T.
Had the chicken Chimichanga it sucked very doughy had to send it back ordered a Chile relleno better My complaint is that I had to ask the waiter to take the Chimichanga off the ticket I understand the waiter has nothing to do with the food ...Buy he should have taken it off and not have to ask him to do so before he brought the check .. Maybe he was hoping I would catch it This might be my last time here...
(2)
Don B.
This review is pretty simple. While it's my independent opinion, it ends up being largely a composite of many of the previous reviews. The food is pretty good - definitely better than two stars. We've eaten at this location a few times and at three other El Tapatio locations several times as well. Obviously, if we didn't like the food, we wouldn't keep going back. Through the years we've had most of the combinations, fajitas, breakfast burritos and many of the specialties, and they've all been good. The salsa is particularly good - fresh and spicy. But at least at the South Wadsworth location, the good news ends there. We went last night with a party of 9 - because of the size of our party I made a reservation in advance. When we got there they told us they don't take reservations on Sundays. Then they found the piece of scratch paper they had written my reservation on when they accepted it. But they obviously hadn't set up our reservation since they hadn't kept track of it and couldn't even find it, so having made a reservation did us no good. The service, once we were seated, was polite and friendly enough but slow. And take note, fellow Yelpers, even though they have a "check-in offer" of 10% off your bill, they told me they had never seen that before, didn't know what it was, and didn't honor it. Still, the story gets worse - the restaurant was dirty. The carpet was pretty filthy - scraps of food all over. Tables hadn't been bussed or cleaned and along with the chairs were misaligned and pretty much in random disarray. And the menus were simply gross - dirty, sticky - c'mon, they're laminated - squirt them with a disinfectant spray and wipe them off - is that really too much to ask? Tell me that this doesn't add up to a problem with management. I'll be generous and call it inattentive rather than simply bad management, but at the end of the day, they end up pretty much at the same spot - a restaurant with the potential to be reasonably good, but that apparently doesn't care enough to pay the relatively small price to provide a good customer experience from the time you walk in the door until you walk out. I don't know who the owners are, but I do know that this is a serious tactical error - metro Denver is definitely not lacking in good Mexican restaurants with ownership and management who obviously do care.
(2)
Benny R.
The food here is pretty good across the board. Especially their machaca for breakfast and their barbacoa tacos for lunch/dinner. But their service is terrible. Very unresponsive. Takes forever to get refills on your drinks and you have to wave them down for everything that you may need. Hope they get it fixed, or I won't come back.
(3)
Renae R.
3 1/2 stars. Chips crisp, ingredients fresh. But due to seeing bugs at both locations wont return for a while. Management please schedule pest control...
(3)
Heidi F.
I'll be honest I was a little hesitant to try after reading recent reviews but we really wanted Mexican and decided to give it a go. That turned out to be one great decision...from our waiter (Micheal) who had just the right mix of attention to leaving us be; to the food which is about as Mexican as it gets (and by the way...VERY GOOD!). Don't pass this up if you're looking for a relaxing very casual dinner that will leave you excited to look up recipes!
(5)
Monica M.
Terrible service. The manager is a complete jerk and treats customers like they are disposable. Do not go here! Plenty of restaurants who treat their customers with respect.
(1)
Don F.
I've eaten there three times the fish is great. This is a very unusual Mexican restaurant
(5)
Rich M.
I'm not sure what's up with all the bad reviews for this location. Menu selection was great. Food was great. I had mixed fajitas and they cook the shrimp in the shell so it doesn't dry out or overcooked. Juicy as can be. Salsa was great. They were packed and service was on point. I watched one bartender handle 15 people at the bar and knock all the drinks for the entire place. At least 150 people. I'll be back when I'm in town. Good job guys keep it up.
(5)
L T.
First time in here it was all good until I opened the menu at the bar it was a nice little surprise (un cucaracha) YUCK! Appetite has left the building. Too bad I seen if after I got my margarita or I wouldn't have drank that.
(1)
Karen F.
Poor management and Poor quality and taste in food. I had taken my daughter out for dinner. She ordered a taco salad with no sour cream. They served and it had the sour cream. I let the waiter know and he had taken back. He was back in less than five minutes. My daughter started to eat then let me know that there was still sour cream. They literally spooned out the sour cream. Since my daughter didn't like it and they poorly wiped out the sour cream I did not feel I should pay for it. So I told the waiter who then got the manager. He loudly came over to my table and asked "what is the problem"? Seemed very unprofessional to me and not very customer service oriented. He then tried to argue with me about her just being a kid and it doesn't matter. I never received an apology and got the negative head shake as he was processing the void for her meal. I will never go here again and don't recommend this place at all! Wish their was an option to no stars or negative stars since that seems to be their attitudes.
(1)
Jessica R.
I would go here again. Great Mexican American food. The service was quick and the waiters were attentive. The food was good. Nothing tasted bland. He made my drink exactly how I wanted nothing left out. The salsa had flavor and fajitas were bomb
(5)
Darrell R.
Great American-Mexican food place. Huge margaritas! Excellent service. Nachos prepared in a different manner than the standard heap was a pleasant surprise. El Tapitio Special with a cheese quesadilla - thought it would not be filling, boy was I wrong. To top it off, pretty decent prices in today's market.
(5)
Aryanne A.
Honestly, this is my least favorite restaraunt. First time I came here, my whole family got WICKED food poisoning. Not a great start! I've tagged along in groups of friends here numerous times, and it's disappointing every time. Whether I order a burrito, a tamale plate, or anything else, it is all tasteless! Last Time finally did it for me. Me and 4 other people came. There were probably about 4 other families in the restaraunt. I decided to try the fajita bowl with a Shirley temple. And a Mexican hamburger to go for a family member. They start you with chips and salsa. Chips- stale tasting like always. Salsa- about 90% tomato, like always. It literally took 40 minutes for all our food to get to us. By then we had finished our drinks. They dropped the food off and didn't even offer refills and they didn't stop by ONCE after they dropped the food off. The meat was really tender and the guac was good, but seriously. The fajita bowl is pretty much like black beans and rice with some meat sprinkled on top. Not to mention, the onion was sososo over powering! And I love onions! But it was WAY too much. Finally we finished. On the verge of dehydration we waited for the Mexican hamburger or even a human to come assist us so we could pay and get on our way but, nope. Waited for 20 more minutes without a soul in sight. Finally a member of our group decided to walk around and flag someone down. They came to us and the chick was extremely awkward. Made me feel kinda nervous just looking into her beady eyes. Anywho, she informed us that they hadn't even made the Mexican hamburger yet ARE YOU SERIOUS GUYS. What the hell have you been doing?! So we waited, it came, we paid ($80) we didn't even order anything fancy! And we left. El tapatio is always disappointing no matter which location you go to. It always tastes the same and the service is ALWAYS poor. It's not an isolated incident. It's always been like this! Save your self the trip and go somewhere else. Or drive the extra 5 minutes to Hacienda.
(1)
Amy E.
This place is great with there food and portions... The service real nice and are attentive... they just need to clean the dust off of the blinds d's and vents... The floors need to be replaced. The carpet is from when it was the bennigains..... gross!!!
(4)
Paul O.
Cane in for a late dinner. Got seated quickly and got my drink. The complimentary chips and salsa was nice to have. The salsa had good flavor with a little kick but the chips had a strange taste. I can't really describe it....they just tasted "off". I ordered one of the combo platters. The amount of food was good but the taste and quality was tragic. The food was drowning in cheese and that totally ruined it. There is a saying in the restaurant biz... When your food tastes like crap, add cheese. I ate only about 1/4 of what was on the plate and ended up spending the next several hours in the bathroom with the squirts. The server didn't even inquire as to how I liked the food or if it was ok. Don't waste your time or money here.
(1)
Michelle H.
Horrible service, or lack there of! My family of four went in for dinner, there were very few customers in the restaurant, we were completely ignored by the entire staff. The bartender looked up at us & didn't even acknowledge us. Another employee shot a look at us from across the room & also ignored us. We ended up walking out to never return again!
(1)
Valee S.
We go here pretty often and never have to wait too long for seating or ordering. Food is decent,always hot, portions are generous. My favorite are the "camarones rancheros". A decent dinner for two (with drinks) it's about 40 bucks. And,hey if you crave for hamburgers try McDonalds !!!
(4)
Michelle P.
El Tapatio is not bad. I would not say it is great or outstanding, but I also wouldn't say it sucks. Good meeting spot, and I have never had to wait. The salsa is absolutely delicious, if you like cilantro. It is obviously very freshly made, and simply has that balanced, crisp, properly textured consistency. It is a standout. Chips are fresh, but could use a little salt. The queso fundido is a great appetizer. (Remember, I like cheese and grease). Service is good, usually. The place is clean - if not a little dark/grim. It doesn't get too loud, and they seat people strategically so the restaurant seems fuller than it is. Good selection of beers, marg's and full bar. Price is not too expensive. I will be back, if nothing else, for happy hour! While not a real "chain" - clearly a restaurants in a "chain-like-series."
(3)
Clayton H.
I have to give a single star here; for the two things a restaurant offers (service and food), they under delivered on both. The food was, well, no better than frozen discount meals. In fact, I am quite certain the burger patty for my Mexican hamburger was a reheated, overheated burger. The guacamole must have been from a package and been sitting out since the morning, colored to the point we refused a burrito plate with the quac on top. To add, the service was poor. 20 minutes to order; different servers; another 20+ minutes for kids meals; orders wrong; and finally had to debate having the burrito not eaten removed from the bill. Not worth a second attempt for us.
(1)
Andy P.
Decided to try this Mexican restaurant one more time after our horrible experience previously. Food was ok, but nothing special. We ordered 2 combination plates, a margarita and a beer. The server was uninterested in providing service. Most likely won't be attempting to dine here again. At least we didn't find a hair net in the chips and salsa like before. Better Mexican food is available in Denver.
(1)
Laura D.
This place sure draws a crowd, but I have no idea why. Margs are good, salsa is well flavored, but the rest is crap. Powdered beans, uncle ben's minute rice and processed cheese food were clearly used to create the plate I had. The burrito my date had tasted suspeciously like dog food. Staff was friendly and service was quick. Still would never return.
(1)
Nicole S.
Fun and festive atmosphere, fast and friendly service, and hot and spicy food--what's not to love? The chips and salsa were a fantastic way to start off the meal. My cheese enchilada and chile relleno were swimming in sauce, but the meal was still mighty tasty. I would definitely come back again.
(4)
Oz R.
usually a great spot and good service but today they dropped the ball waited around for our drinks when others around us who arrived AFTER us received their drinks. Food was good.
(3)
Noah C.
Very slow service. My companion was done eating before I got my full order. It was cold at that point as well.
(1)
Rob R.
Worst Mexican food ever all locations 50 /50 chance you will get sick ! Can't understand how these restaurants stay in business
(1)
Jonathan O.
Good food, good price, great staff. This place stays pretty busy but it has never affected service, or the quality of food. The salsa is very good and actually has some kick. .
(5)
Tony C.
I'm not the biggest fan of Mexican food, but I stopped here alone because It was an easy walk from the Hampton next door. I was pleasantly surprised by the friendly service, diverse menu and surprisingly good wine options (considering where I was). I ordered the Molcajetes and it was great. I ordered the steak version and the steak was a little tough, but the overall flavor and presentation was terrific. My only regret is that I should have asked for a spoon because the broth that is created by all of the mixture of ingredients was the best part. And it is a huge dish - really designed to share. I'll go back just for this dish but probably explore the chicken or shrimp options as well. This is casual dining in a sports bar atmosphere so go in with reasonable expectations.
(4)
Corinne C.
I would give it 3 1/2 stars. I enjoy their chips and salsa and they make delicious Cadillac margaritas! I haven't had a huge variety of their food, but everything I have had is good, not outstanding, but consistently good. The posole on Sunday is one of my favorites. If you ever order take-out, then make sure your order is right and complete. I've had mine messed up a couple if times. Overall though I enjoy and do plan to return.
(4)
Bill A.
Landed here because it was closest restaurant to a business meeting. What a pleasant surprise! Servers happy and friendly - good menu recommendations for our group. Huge portions. Great value. Definitely coming back when able.
(4)
Amy L.
Absolutely the worst service I have ever received. 99% of the time I go there, the order is wrong or the waiter forgets we are there and we have to track him down not only to order but to correct our incorrect. I have sent multiple complaints via email and have never heard back. I will never return to ANY location as I've had the same experience with 2 of their other locations.
(1)
Sara B.
The food is excellent here and the margaritas are delish! Huge portions and good prices. Great service too! My only complaint are there are so many tables in the dining room it's hard to walk through if they sit you way in the back.
(4)
Meghan B.
I love this place! I come here often for drinks and dinner and have never once been disappointed. I love the salsa!!! I came here tonight for dinner and had excellent service from Elizabeth :) will definitely come back a thousand times more!!!
(5)
Juan Antonio P.
Yum yum love it so good so good :) I like the food the taste the smell everything its good like really good so go an enjoy the food
(3)
Farah B.
We come back for the food. You can always tell when the restaurant is under new management because the service gets better For a little while before slipping back into the pits of hell. Did ownership change? Now when you go in you sit in a "Mexican" restaurant, surrounded by hipsters and listening to Johnny cash #wtf #weird
(3)
Fred T.
Had the chicken Chimichanga it sucked very doughy had to send it back ordered a Chile relleno better My complaint is that I had to ask the waiter to take the Chimichanga off the ticket I understand the waiter has nothing to do with the food ...Buy he should have taken it off and not have to ask him to do so before he brought the check .. Maybe he was hoping I would catch it This might be my last time here...
(2)
Rich M.
I'm not sure what's up with all the bad reviews for this location. Menu selection was great. Food was great. I had mixed fajitas and they cook the shrimp in the shell so it doesn't dry out or overcooked. Juicy as can be. Salsa was great. They were packed and service was on point. I watched one bartender handle 15 people at the bar and knock all the drinks for the entire place. At least 150 people. I'll be back when I'm in town. Good job guys keep it up.
(5)
L T.
First time in here it was all good until I opened the menu at the bar it was a nice little surprise (un cucaracha) YUCK! Appetite has left the building. Too bad I seen if after I got my margarita or I wouldn't have drank that.
(1)
Don B.
This review is pretty simple. While it's my independent opinion, it ends up being largely a composite of many of the previous reviews. The food is pretty good - definitely better than two stars. We've eaten at this location a few times and at three other El Tapatio locations several times as well. Obviously, if we didn't like the food, we wouldn't keep going back. Through the years we've had most of the combinations, fajitas, breakfast burritos and many of the specialties, and they've all been good. The salsa is particularly good - fresh and spicy. But at least at the South Wadsworth location, the good news ends there. We went last night with a party of 9 - because of the size of our party I made a reservation in advance. When we got there they told us they don't take reservations on Sundays. Then they found the piece of scratch paper they had written my reservation on when they accepted it. But they obviously hadn't set up our reservation since they hadn't kept track of it and couldn't even find it, so having made a reservation did us no good. The service, once we were seated, was polite and friendly enough but slow. And take note, fellow Yelpers, even though they have a "check-in offer" of 10% off your bill, they told me they had never seen that before, didn't know what it was, and didn't honor it. Still, the story gets worse - the restaurant was dirty. The carpet was pretty filthy - scraps of food all over. Tables hadn't been bussed or cleaned and along with the chairs were misaligned and pretty much in random disarray. And the menus were simply gross - dirty, sticky - c'mon, they're laminated - squirt them with a disinfectant spray and wipe them off - is that really too much to ask? Tell me that this doesn't add up to a problem with management. I'll be generous and call it inattentive rather than simply bad management, but at the end of the day, they end up pretty much at the same spot - a restaurant with the potential to be reasonably good, but that apparently doesn't care enough to pay the relatively small price to provide a good customer experience from the time you walk in the door until you walk out. I don't know who the owners are, but I do know that this is a serious tactical error - metro Denver is definitely not lacking in good Mexican restaurants with ownership and management who obviously do care.
(2)
Benny R.
The food here is pretty good across the board. Especially their machaca for breakfast and their barbacoa tacos for lunch/dinner. But their service is terrible. Very unresponsive. Takes forever to get refills on your drinks and you have to wave them down for everything that you may need. Hope they get it fixed, or I won't come back.
(3)
Renae R.
3 1/2 stars. Chips crisp, ingredients fresh. But due to seeing bugs at both locations wont return for a while. Management please schedule pest control...
(3)
Heidi F.
I'll be honest I was a little hesitant to try after reading recent reviews but we really wanted Mexican and decided to give it a go. That turned out to be one great decision...from our waiter (Micheal) who had just the right mix of attention to leaving us be; to the food which is about as Mexican as it gets (and by the way...VERY GOOD!). Don't pass this up if you're looking for a relaxing very casual dinner that will leave you excited to look up recipes!
(5)
Monica M.
Terrible service. The manager is a complete jerk and treats customers like they are disposable. Do not go here! Plenty of restaurants who treat their customers with respect.
(1)
Karen F.
Poor management and Poor quality and taste in food. I had taken my daughter out for dinner. She ordered a taco salad with no sour cream. They served and it had the sour cream. I let the waiter know and he had taken back. He was back in less than five minutes. My daughter started to eat then let me know that there was still sour cream. They literally spooned out the sour cream. Since my daughter didn't like it and they poorly wiped out the sour cream I did not feel I should pay for it. So I told the waiter who then got the manager. He loudly came over to my table and asked "what is the problem"? Seemed very unprofessional to me and not very customer service oriented. He then tried to argue with me about her just being a kid and it doesn't matter. I never received an apology and got the negative head shake as he was processing the void for her meal. I will never go here again and don't recommend this place at all! Wish their was an option to no stars or negative stars since that seems to be their attitudes.
(1)
Jessica R.
I would go here again. Great Mexican American food. The service was quick and the waiters were attentive. The food was good. Nothing tasted bland. He made my drink exactly how I wanted nothing left out. The salsa had flavor and fajitas were bomb
(5)
Darrell R.
Great American-Mexican food place. Huge margaritas! Excellent service. Nachos prepared in a different manner than the standard heap was a pleasant surprise. El Tapitio Special with a cheese quesadilla - thought it would not be filling, boy was I wrong. To top it off, pretty decent prices in today's market.
(5)
Alex F.
Great place. All ways have been very friendly nice staff. The food is good as well. Cheap drinks They seem busy every time I go there, I think that's a good sign. As far as Mexican food restraunt s in Denver this is good.
(5)
Nichole M.
Oh, how I love their green chili and salsa. I have regular cravings for their food. A staple during my pregnancy.
(4)
Paul J.
My wife and I love this place. Excellent food! Definitely hits the spot everytime. However the service here isn't great.
(4)
Kevin H.
Food was ok, the service was horrible! Went there with my family tonight and our server was terrible! He kept sending over a 16 year old girl to help us and she spoke no English, he was lazy and incompetent and never was around even though they were slow tonight! I don't know why I gave this place a second chance when I keep getting horrible service. We will definitely not be back and working across the street at a near by hotel I will not recommend this place to anyone! Save your money and go elsewhere, you'll thank me later
(2)
Tryna R.
We must have come on the wrong night. It took a long time to get seated with only one party of 2 in front of us. Our table was crusted with spots of dried food. We had to wait 10 minutes before we got menus. We had our drinks before we got our menus. Lol! After we ordered the service was better if not a little evasive. We mentioned the 10% off when you check into yelp and our server refused to honor it. He actually mumbled something and walked away. That was the last time we saw him. Note to self- don't mention yelp deal- the server will diss you. 0 stars for service. 2 1/2 stars for food only. The food was good, spicy and with huge portions. We each took part of our dinner home for lunch the next day. The service is always hit or miss here, but the food is good and the location is close.
(2)
Aryanne A.
Honestly, this is my least favorite restaraunt. First time I came here, my whole family got WICKED food poisoning. Not a great start! I've tagged along in groups of friends here numerous times, and it's disappointing every time. Whether I order a burrito, a tamale plate, or anything else, it is all tasteless! Last Time finally did it for me. Me and 4 other people came. There were probably about 4 other families in the restaraunt. I decided to try the fajita bowl with a Shirley temple. And a Mexican hamburger to go for a family member. They start you with chips and salsa. Chips- stale tasting like always. Salsa- about 90% tomato, like always. It literally took 40 minutes for all our food to get to us. By then we had finished our drinks. They dropped the food off and didn't even offer refills and they didn't stop by ONCE after they dropped the food off. The meat was really tender and the guac was good, but seriously. The fajita bowl is pretty much like black beans and rice with some meat sprinkled on top. Not to mention, the onion was sososo over powering! And I love onions! But it was WAY too much. Finally we finished. On the verge of dehydration we waited for the Mexican hamburger or even a human to come assist us so we could pay and get on our way but, nope. Waited for 20 more minutes without a soul in sight. Finally a member of our group decided to walk around and flag someone down. They came to us and the chick was extremely awkward. Made me feel kinda nervous just looking into her beady eyes. Anywho, she informed us that they hadn't even made the Mexican hamburger yet ARE YOU SERIOUS GUYS. What the hell have you been doing?! So we waited, it came, we paid ($80) we didn't even order anything fancy! And we left. El tapatio is always disappointing no matter which location you go to. It always tastes the same and the service is ALWAYS poor. It's not an isolated incident. It's always been like this! Save your self the trip and go somewhere else. Or drive the extra 5 minutes to Hacienda.
(1)
Amy E.
This place is great with there food and portions... The service real nice and are attentive... they just need to clean the dust off of the blinds d's and vents... The floors need to be replaced. The carpet is from when it was the bennigains..... gross!!!
(4)
Rosanna D.
Not as good as it use to be
(2)
Robert L.
Ceviche was amazing! The best I have ever had. Chips and hot salsa were great. Service was not bad.
(5)
Heather K.
The food was amazing. I usually eat the same thing every time I go to a Mexican restaurant but this time I asked the server was I should get. She gave me 3 different options. I forget the actual name but it was fajitas on top of a cheese quesadilla. I ate the whole thing it was so yummy. I also order a house margarita she asked me what size I wanted I same medium thinking it wouldn't be to big. But I was wrong it was huge and delicious.
(4)
Valee S.
We go here pretty often and never have to wait too long for seating or ordering. Food is decent,always hot, portions are generous. My favorite are the "camarones rancheros". A decent dinner for two (with drinks) it's about 40 bucks. And,hey if you crave for hamburgers try McDonalds !!!
(4)
Paul O.
Cane in for a late dinner. Got seated quickly and got my drink. The complimentary chips and salsa was nice to have. The salsa had good flavor with a little kick but the chips had a strange taste. I can't really describe it....they just tasted "off". I ordered one of the combo platters. The amount of food was good but the taste and quality was tragic. The food was drowning in cheese and that totally ruined it. There is a saying in the restaurant biz... When your food tastes like crap, add cheese. I ate only about 1/4 of what was on the plate and ended up spending the next several hours in the bathroom with the squirts. The server didn't even inquire as to how I liked the food or if it was ok. Don't waste your time or money here.
(1)
Michelle H.
Horrible service, or lack there of! My family of four went in for dinner, there were very few customers in the restaurant, we were completely ignored by the entire staff. The bartender looked up at us & didn't even acknowledge us. Another employee shot a look at us from across the room & also ignored us. We ended up walking out to never return again!
(1)
Michelle P.
El Tapatio is not bad. I would not say it is great or outstanding, but I also wouldn't say it sucks. Good meeting spot, and I have never had to wait. The salsa is absolutely delicious, if you like cilantro. It is obviously very freshly made, and simply has that balanced, crisp, properly textured consistency. It is a standout. Chips are fresh, but could use a little salt. The queso fundido is a great appetizer. (Remember, I like cheese and grease). Service is good, usually. The place is clean - if not a little dark/grim. It doesn't get too loud, and they seat people strategically so the restaurant seems fuller than it is. Good selection of beers, marg's and full bar. Price is not too expensive. I will be back, if nothing else, for happy hour! While not a real "chain" - clearly a restaurants in a "chain-like-series."
(3)
Clayton H.
I have to give a single star here; for the two things a restaurant offers (service and food), they under delivered on both. The food was, well, no better than frozen discount meals. In fact, I am quite certain the burger patty for my Mexican hamburger was a reheated, overheated burger. The guacamole must have been from a package and been sitting out since the morning, colored to the point we refused a burrito plate with the quac on top. To add, the service was poor. 20 minutes to order; different servers; another 20+ minutes for kids meals; orders wrong; and finally had to debate having the burrito not eaten removed from the bill. Not worth a second attempt for us.
(1)
Laura D.
This place sure draws a crowd, but I have no idea why. Margs are good, salsa is well flavored, but the rest is crap. Powdered beans, uncle ben's minute rice and processed cheese food were clearly used to create the plate I had. The burrito my date had tasted suspeciously like dog food. Staff was friendly and service was quick. Still would never return.
(1)
Nicole S.
Fun and festive atmosphere, fast and friendly service, and hot and spicy food--what's not to love? The chips and salsa were a fantastic way to start off the meal. My cheese enchilada and chile relleno were swimming in sauce, but the meal was still mighty tasty. I would definitely come back again.
(4)
Oz R.
usually a great spot and good service but today they dropped the ball waited around for our drinks when others around us who arrived AFTER us received their drinks. Food was good.
(3)
Noah C.
Very slow service. My companion was done eating before I got my full order. It was cold at that point as well.
(1)
Rob R.
Worst Mexican food ever all locations 50 /50 chance you will get sick ! Can't understand how these restaurants stay in business
(1)
Jonathan O.
Good food, good price, great staff. This place stays pretty busy but it has never affected service, or the quality of food. The salsa is very good and actually has some kick. .
(5)
Tony C.
I'm not the biggest fan of Mexican food, but I stopped here alone because It was an easy walk from the Hampton next door. I was pleasantly surprised by the friendly service, diverse menu and surprisingly good wine options (considering where I was). I ordered the Molcajetes and it was great. I ordered the steak version and the steak was a little tough, but the overall flavor and presentation was terrific. My only regret is that I should have asked for a spoon because the broth that is created by all of the mixture of ingredients was the best part. And it is a huge dish - really designed to share. I'll go back just for this dish but probably explore the chicken or shrimp options as well. This is casual dining in a sports bar atmosphere so go in with reasonable expectations.
(4)
Corinne C.
I would give it 3 1/2 stars. I enjoy their chips and salsa and they make delicious Cadillac margaritas! I haven't had a huge variety of their food, but everything I have had is good, not outstanding, but consistently good. The posole on Sunday is one of my favorites. If you ever order take-out, then make sure your order is right and complete. I've had mine messed up a couple if times. Overall though I enjoy and do plan to return.
(4)
Bill A.
Landed here because it was closest restaurant to a business meeting. What a pleasant surprise! Servers happy and friendly - good menu recommendations for our group. Huge portions. Great value. Definitely coming back when able.
(4)
Amy L.
Absolutely the worst service I have ever received. 99% of the time I go there, the order is wrong or the waiter forgets we are there and we have to track him down not only to order but to correct our incorrect. I have sent multiple complaints via email and have never heard back. I will never return to ANY location as I've had the same experience with 2 of their other locations.
(1)
Sara B.
The food is excellent here and the margaritas are delish! Huge portions and good prices. Great service too! My only complaint are there are so many tables in the dining room it's hard to walk through if they sit you way in the back.
(4)
Meghan B.
I love this place! I come here often for drinks and dinner and have never once been disappointed. I love the salsa!!! I came here tonight for dinner and had excellent service from Elizabeth :) will definitely come back a thousand times more!!!
(5)
Juan Antonio P.
Yum yum love it so good so good :) I like the food the taste the smell everything its good like really good so go an enjoy the food
(3)
Andy P.
Decided to try this Mexican restaurant one more time after our horrible experience previously. Food was ok, but nothing special. We ordered 2 combination plates, a margarita and a beer. The server was uninterested in providing service. Most likely won't be attempting to dine here again. At least we didn't find a hair net in the chips and salsa like before. Better Mexican food is available in Denver.
(1)
Jessica M.
Pretty darn good food and enormous margaritas for those who enjoy tequila, cold Corona lights in a bottle for those of us who do not. The service is definitely spotty and slow-ish. But the wait staff has always made it their priority to make sure that what we order is enjoyed. If we didn't like it, if it wasn't spicy enough, they change it.
(3)
Sara S.
We went to El Tapatio on Friday and I ordered one of the chile relleno combos. I had a chile relleno, cheese enchilada, and avocado tostada. Everything on the plate was lukewarm/bordering on cold, and the chile relleno wasn't even cooked all the way through. My boyfriend had the Carne Asada with flour tortillas. I think they may have made everything on my plate beforehand and cooked his steak while my plate sat in the back getting cold. I really enjoy the West Alameda location, and the Golden location, but I will not be returning to this location.
(1)
Steve V.
Came here for lunch on a weekday and it was not too full. The prices are reasonable and the food is average at best. I was teetering between a 2 star and 3 star rating but went with a 2 simply because they charge $1.75 for each addition basket of chips and salsa after your first one. I have never seen a Mexican Restuarant do this. I had the Enchiladas Suizas with shredded beef and it was okay. The sauce was runny but the meat had a nice kick. The service was fast and friendly and our large group was out of there in a decent amount of time. Good for the quick business lunch.
(2)
Sherry K.
I have been eating here since it opened. This used to be my favorite place to eat Mexican. I absolutely love the salsa and the margaritas. Food has gone downhill to me but I believe that's because of the service. Went last night with a friend. It was not very busy. Service was slow to order. My margarita came out before his iced tea and my food came out about 15 minutes before his. By the time he got his food, mine was cold. He ordered fajitas and they didn't even bring a plate for him to make them on. That was the final straw. By that time, neither one of us was hungry. We didn't eat our food and walked out after talking to the manager. He did comp our meal but that's wasn't the point. The service here has gone downhill over the past few months. Some friends and I went for brunch a few months ago and again, they were not busy. Maybe 5 or 6 tables and about lots of waiters and waitresses with nothing to do but stand around and talk. Took at least 20 minutes to get drinks, chips and salsa and place our order. Then our food took forever and when they finally brought it out, they brought one plate, waited 10-15 minutes, brought out the next plate, and waited another 10-15 minutes and brought out the last plate. We asked to speak to manager and was told she was busy doing paperwork and couldn't come out to speak with us. After about 20 minutes she came out but didn't seem too worried that our service was horrible. I don't want comp food when I go out to eat. I want good service and good food.
(1)
Danielle S.
Why such a low score, people! This place isn't a gem, but it did pleasantly surprise me. Maybe I have a low bar for Mexican food. That might be true. But, I enjoyed myself. It looks like this place was an old Applebee's or something that was abandoned, and that a Mexican restaurant plopped in and took over and didn't change any decor. Whatevs. That's fine. The bar is central, and the margaritas are not only good, but they're HUGE. I'm glad I ordered the small. And I think I might have ordered another one. Yum. The food was fresh, good, and I'd eat it again in a heartbeat. The server was in a rush, but it was busy, and it wasn't really that disruptive. Plus, he got our food to us quickly so I can't complain!
(4)
Alicia J.
Ugh, what a completely mediocre experience. This appears to be an old Bennigan's, and there's still plenty of weird art and mismatched decor in the place to confuse anyone taking a good look around. Nothing quite matches. And, the waiters wear these ridiculous tuxedos that don't match anything else in the place...it's all just a big mess. The food was just as bad. I had one of the combos - chicharrones burrito, some weird Mexican pizza like thing, and a chicken taco. The chicharrones burrito was actually a nasty, bland, runny bean burrito with some stale, nearly cement-solid chicharrones thrown on top, smothered in a weak green chile. The chicken in my chicken taco barely tasted marinated, and, in fact, kinda tasted wrong or off. I didn't eat all of that, just in case. My boyfriend had a similar experience with a similar combo. The best thing about the place are the chips and salsa. Those weren't too bad at all. Nice and spicy. But, everything else we had was just...bland and way, way overpriced. As we drove off, I realized we could have saved almost all of our money and just gone to Taco Bell. We would have been better off.
(1)
Rory R.
I thought El Tapatio must be something of a hidden gem, considering its parking lot always seems full, regardless of the time of day. But the experience there proved very disappointing. My tamales were full of a grey-ish, unknown meat with an alternating chewy and brick-like texture. The accompanying beans and rice - sloppy and uninviting to the eye - reminded me of the gruel served in high school. Finally, a dust bunny hung above our table for the entire meal, only connected to the ceiling by some fine sinew, threatening to nosedive onto my plate at any time. The saving grace here is a delicious, spicy salsa served with the obligatory chips. However, I won't be going back here. Think of a restaurant prior to the intervention of the Restaurant Impossible guy - bad food, bad decor, disappointing experience. Boo.
(2)
Eliseo R.
We onlyh went there because the tripe tacos we were craving so much, we explained the server exactly how i wanted my order, and we got completely the opposite, I said fry the tripe just a little bit! we like it soft! and the tripe in our tacos was so hard and fried it was hard to eat, she did not review the food before the busser brought it to the table, and the busser just disappeared as soon as the food touched the table without giving me time to say anything about the food, the server came back later on and I told her about our food; her answer: --I guess the cook doesn't know what he's doing !!!!---- Really?????????
(1)
Stephanie V.
Honestly, I thought this place was a very nice Mexican restaurant. Keep in mind the fact that I am from Connecticut, and as such my standards for this type of restaurant might not be as high as any locals reading this review. So with that in mind, onwards. The restaurant was rather eclectically furnished with decorations - and it doesn't really have a ' mexican/spanish restaurant' feel to it, which i didn't mind so much, since the place still felt 'friendly' and was kept nice and clean. The waitress was very friendly and brought our orders out quickly, she also checked in often and made sure that our (my brother and I) drinks were never empty. As for the food: it was honestly quite good. I had tacos a la Americana , and i really liked it , the steak was diced nicely, and the cheese was good quality. The guacamole could have been a bit more substantial , but it wasn't too bad either. The salsa is full of flavor - if a bit smoother in consistency than I'm used to. Now , we had dessert here too( to go actually, since I'm eating it while writing this review) , and I have to say something so you will understand why I rated this place so highly. I HATE CHURROS. Hate them, with all my being. I had them twice before and both times at two different locations, and they were awful. I decided to get them here to see if it was just a fluke those other times. The desserts here are wonderful , I love these churros. The pastry is crisp and tasty, whatever is in the center ( sort of tastes like apple custard?) is delicious, and the honey they came with is a very good quality.
(4)
Marissa T.
Used to really like this place but the food seems to getting worse. I ordered the Chorizo, Egg and Potato Burrito which is smothered in Green Chile. Their Green Chile is very spicy but the burrito was only Chorizo. There were absolutely no potatoes and the eggs were so scarce. While it is only $5.95 for this giant burrito eating only Chorizo is overwhelming. My husband always gets the Carnitas Chimichanga which is very good and also smothered in Green Chile. I will order this. This is one of the only decent Mexican food places around us since I personally do not like 3 Margaritas. Also, the margaritas here are kind of expensive. The medium is $14.95 and does not even have enough alcohol to get a buzz off of. The inside is nice and the patio is pretty but the service can be very slow. I will not be going be for a while and trying some new local restaurants instead.
(2)
Ryan T.
The most god awful food I have ever been served. DO NOT EAT HERE!
(1)
Stephan G.
There is MUCH better Mexican nearby. Even Del Taco is better. LOL.
(1)
Jeremy C.
It has been over a year since I first reviewed El Tapatio. This restaurant took over what was Bennigans on South Wadsworth Boulevard and has been doing what appears to be a good business. I prefer this location because of the amount of tables. I have a location very close to where I live but I make the drive to this location because the one by the house only has booths and large tables for massive parties. On to the food part of the review, the quality of food here is very consistent. I love the salsa that is provided when you arrive. It has just the right amount of bite and spice while still remaining very tasty. Just the right amount of hot however the chips while still good do not compare to my all-time favorite which I can no longer get due to the restaurant closing. I have tried a few different dishes at El Tapatio the shredded beef tacos are very good and have a wonderful flavor. I have also had the beef enchilada plate which also has a wonderful flavor however their sauce on the enchiladas is very mild. I prefer it to be mild but overall it doesn't add a lot to the dish. The rice and beans that are served with the dishes are decent but nothing to really write home about. I am ok with that because they are what they are just sides and they are typical of most Mexican restaurants located in Colorado. I still really enjoy El Tapatio and recommend it to anyone looking to try out a Mexican restaurant if you have one near your work place they make a great lunch time stop because they are very, very fast. In fact they are so fast I often wonder how they prepare food, do they have it waiting in the back? I don't know but I do know they are super quick and it is very consistent.
(4)
Paul A.
When it opened this place was great, good service and authentic Mexican. Now poor service and pretty standard Tex Mex. Good drinks though, which you will need.
(2)
Steve T.
We always enjoy ourselves here. The food is good, service is friendly and attentive and the Corona Familiar (caguama) in the bucket are one of the best non-happy hour bargains around.
(4)
Bill G.
Come here fairly often. The staff is always friendly and the service is good. Good green chile, great fish tacos, wife loves the shrimp quesadilla. Recently tried and loved the El Tapatio Special which is a cheese quesadilla covered with fajitas.
(4)
Emily S.
For Mexican food, in my opinion, you can tell by the salsa and the Spanish rice if the rest of the meal is going to be decent or not. This usually is a good indicator pretty accurate up to my standards. Now, knowing how I judge my Mexican food, I though this place was alright. The salsa at the beginning was pretty good, spicy, yet still had a a good taste to it. I had a mixed plate, which consisted of a smothered bean burrito, a chicken taco with beans and rice. The rice was decent, lacking a bit in taste and originality, but decent. As for the rest of the meal... well, I don't know... very dry, tasteless, and boring. I wasn't too happy with it. But, at the same time, it was good. (I'm really on the fence here, but don't know if I wanna try it out again) We sat outside, along with one other table. The service was real slow and we had like 4 different people waiting on us the entire time... weird. The whole experience was just OK. The food is edible, but tasteless, all of our four servers were real friendly, and the prices are reasonable. ...but I've still had better!
(2)
Brandon Y.
I was actually pretty surprised with this place. It was crazy busy and loud, which I didn't like too much. However, our service was very good and friendly. The chips and salsa weren't anything special, but our entrese were excellent.
(3)
Corrina y.
I really like this place, their tacos al carbon are the bomb, however; sometimes there is too much fat, but not always. Green chili is okay, salsa is okay. The place really gets packed, but is large inside and have never had to wait to be seated.
(5)
manuel m.
It's a hit and miss with this place. sometimes they're great but about 65% of the time the service is lack luster and the food isn't consistent. the food is good for the most part. they do have good red beer ( michiladas ) mmm maybe we'll go there for one tonite !!! i can't live without this place !!! jk. 3 stars still.
(3)
Rachel D.
Service much better last night than other time I've been there.
(4)
Shmuel C.
El Tapatio took over what used to be a Bennigan's building and it shows. The furniture, brass railing, and bar look exactly like it did before it changed hands (and cuisines.) The menu is very extensive and while the food is moderately priced, the service needs a lot of work. For example, the waitress knew we were waiting on one additional member of our party, yet asked us twice if we were ready to order; additionally, she could not understand the question "do your refried beans contain lard?" We had to rephrase the question twice and once she finally understood the question, she did not know the answer and did not offer to find out. Another example of where the restaurant needs to improve is improvisation. My party is unique from most patrons in that we do not mix meat and dairy in the same meal. My husband ordered the grilled chicken salad, but the only dressings the waitress offered were dairy-based. Neither Italian nor vinaigrette in any form were not available; additionally, and oil & vinegar dressing was not an option, even when asked; we were lead to believe that there was no oil or any vinegar (red or white) in the kitchen (hence their poor rating on improvisation.) As a consolation prize, pico de guillo was requested in lieu of dressing and when it came out, it was delivered in a hot bowl that too hot to be handled with bare hands. To give credit where credit is due, our drink glasses were never empty and the food was brought out pretty quickly. However, several members of the staff checked in on us often. After we had finished our meal, the "checking in" continued and when they asked if they could take our glasses, we got the impression that they wanted us to leave. There was no one waiting and there were several empty tables, so I felt like their actions were a bit on the rude side. If you want a quick meal, plan to leave promptly after you've paid your check, don't feel like spending a lot of money, and don't have any questions about the menu or how your food is made up, then this is the place to go.
(1)
Mandy D.
This is the WORST restaurant I have ever eaten at! I tried this place on several occasions-family dinners, quick place to stop etc. NEVER again! The food looks like someone threw up on my plate, and the wait staff are the most rude, racist people I've ever seen. I happen to be somewhat fluent in Spanish and as I drank a corona-Rita, I couldn't help but over hear the wait staff making "gringo" this and "gringo" that comments. On top of all of this, my boy friend had his credit card number stolen by the waitress, and charges to his account at a Longmont Walmart were later discovered. I would rather eat grass than go here
(1)
Chantal M.
The best thing here is the salsa; I would drink that stuff with my straw if it weren't considered weird and gross to do so. Other than the salsa, however, the food is decent. Nothing to jump up down about, that's for sure. The staff is always friendly though, so that's good.
(3)
Ken L.
Good traditional Mexican food. Good green Chili. Lettuce taste dirty. Guacamole made my tongue tingle.
(3)
Nicole L.
Good service, good green chili. The chimichanga was not crispy at all because of all the green chili but still really good
(4)
Georgia T.
I was here last night and could not decide on here or Hacienda. Since I haven't tried this place I thought to give it a shot. We got seated right away and not very long was asked if we wanted a drink. We ordered margaritas of course. I had the Tapatio Margarita which states it uses fresh limes and 3 other liquors. This has got to be the worst margarita I have had. It didn't taste like it had fresh limes in it at all. There was another strange taste that I have never tasted in a margarita and soon found out after we saw them making another one - they use some kind of carbonated drink in it - tasted to me like soda water or club soda. Which that being said, yes their margaritas are big but not so big on taste. As for our service goes, it could have been better. After ordering out drinks and trying to figure out what to eat I noticed a lot of waiters just standing around and a gentlemen who I think was the manager standing with them and bullshitting. Ok, I work in the restaurant industry and do not think this is very professional. If your not giving your tables great customer service which we didn't get, ie, table touches, table maintenance, talking up a table - "hi how are you, what brings you in", then you shouldn't be standing around. Very unprofessional. The food was good - very large portions for the price. I had shrimp in a garlic butter sauce. Everything tasted great - no problems in the kitchen what so ever! The only problem I had with my dish was that there was way to much butter and left with a heartburn. I hate it when I go to restaurant and order seafood/fish and it is overcooked. My shrimp was perfectly cooked! Will I come back again? Maybe very undecided especially when you here the manager/wait staff talking about customers in Spanish in a not so great way. Next time keep it to yourself wait staff - you never know who is listening!!!!!
(2)
Krista E.
We were a little reluctant to go here after reading the reviews but it was right by our hotel so we gave it a shot. We had great service and the food was good - standard Mexican fare. The salsa was really good and the Cadillac margaritas were great!
(4)
Suman K.
The food is always great!!the service is always horrid! I have been here 10 times. Every time they messed up the order, were so slow and not respectful. The food is awesome. The service makes you regret coming here.
(1)
Scott S.
The parking lot is packed every time we drive by, so with friends in town last night, we decided to give El Tapatio a shot. It was packed. Packed. It looks like an old TGI Friday's inside, but I suppose this could just be a coincidence. The food is nothing spectacular. It's decent Mexican food that's served quickly. The server was friendly, but it appeared that some of their staff (waiters) were confused about whose order (other tables) went to which table. They got it sorted out, but it was obvious there was confusion. I was disappointed with my margarita. Went with something blue that was frozen. The size was great, b ut it was a lot of ice, no flavor, and tasted nothing like something blue should taste.
(3)
Jen L.
I have been to 3 Locations and this one twice. Im going to start by saying the food is fine. Not great, and no wow factor, but doesn't taste horrible either. The service at best is minimal. Today was way below minimal, I glad my waitress even came to my table. I was through reading the 5 pages menu before someone took my drink order. My food came out somewhat fast after I ordered, how ever my waitress didn't bother to check on me until I finished my meal. It took her another 10 minutes to bring the check. She never did come back to my table, I paid up front, and I was nice enough to tip her a dollar. Won't be here for a while.
(2)
Lawrence H.
This place ripped me off twice. Jesus the waiter changed tip amount on us recently. As the saying goes rip me off once, shame on you. Rip me off twice shame on me. I will follow up with management and the police. Food is a step up from Casa Bonita and restaurant is consistently dirty. I have a choice and will not patronize El Tapitio again, any of there locations.
(1)
Carla T.
This review is purely based on their take out service: -HORRIBLE. I ordered something to pick up, I could tell that the person taking my order was somewhat confused, possibly because my reception was bad since I was on the road so I confirmed my order in Spanish. He said it was no problem and it would be ready in 20minutes. 20-25minutes later, I get to the restaurant and let the hostess know I'm picking up an order. She has no idea what I'm talking about, she goes in the back to check if anyone knows anything about my order...nothing. Needless to say, I lost my appetite which I guess was a good thing since I had no food to consume.
(1)
Bill G.
Come here fairly often. The staff is always friendly and the service is good. Good green chile, great fish tacos, wife loves the shrimp quesadilla. Recently tried and loved the El Tapatio Special which is a cheese quesadilla covered with fajitas.
(4)
Renee M.
Let me start off by saying the food was good but our waiter pissed me off enough to warrant a 2 star rating. My mother-in-law called days ahead of our lunch and put in reservations for 29 people and asked specifically if we could do separate checks because there were 8 families. They assured her that would be fine. Fast forward to Sunday afternoon- as soon as the hostess started seating us the waiter was frowning and mumbling under his breath. Then he asked if we needed separate checks. That's when it all went downhill. He had a terrible attitude and said that would be a problem. My aunt asked why and he said "just because it's gonna be too hard". So I said "We asked beforehand and they said it was fine". He said "it's gonna be a problem" so I told him his tip was going to be a problem and he said "that's ok with me". I wanted to leave but didn't want to ruin my daughter's celebration lunch so we stayed. He complained to a manager who came over to speak with us then she told him to do separate checks. He didn't like that. He frowned the whole lunch and was short with our guests. I made it clear how I felt verbally and in his tip or lack there of. The food we ate was very good but I will not go to that location again.
(2)
Sherry K.
I have been eating here since it opened. This used to be my favorite place to eat Mexican. I absolutely love the salsa and the margaritas. Food has gone downhill to me but I believe that's because of the service. Went last night with a friend. It was not very busy. Service was slow to order. My margarita came out before his iced tea and my food came out about 15 minutes before his. By the time he got his food, mine was cold. He ordered fajitas and they didn't even bring a plate for him to make them on. That was the final straw. By that time, neither one of us was hungry. We didn't eat our food and walked out after talking to the manager. He did comp our meal but that's wasn't the point. The service here has gone downhill over the past few months. Some friends and I went for brunch a few months ago and again, they were not busy. Maybe 5 or 6 tables and about lots of waiters and waitresses with nothing to do but stand around and talk. Took at least 20 minutes to get drinks, chips and salsa and place our order. Then our food took forever and when they finally brought it out, they brought one plate, waited 10-15 minutes, brought out the next plate, and waited another 10-15 minutes and brought out the last plate. We asked to speak to manager and was told she was busy doing paperwork and couldn't come out to speak with us. After about 20 minutes she came out but didn't seem too worried that our service was horrible. I don't want comp food when I go out to eat. I want good service and good food.
(1)
Danielle S.
Why such a low score, people! This place isn't a gem, but it did pleasantly surprise me. Maybe I have a low bar for Mexican food. That might be true. But, I enjoyed myself. It looks like this place was an old Applebee's or something that was abandoned, and that a Mexican restaurant plopped in and took over and didn't change any decor. Whatevs. That's fine. The bar is central, and the margaritas are not only good, but they're HUGE. I'm glad I ordered the small. And I think I might have ordered another one. Yum. The food was fresh, good, and I'd eat it again in a heartbeat. The server was in a rush, but it was busy, and it wasn't really that disruptive. Plus, he got our food to us quickly so I can't complain!
(4)
Alicia J.
Ugh, what a completely mediocre experience. This appears to be an old Bennigan's, and there's still plenty of weird art and mismatched decor in the place to confuse anyone taking a good look around. Nothing quite matches. And, the waiters wear these ridiculous tuxedos that don't match anything else in the place...it's all just a big mess. The food was just as bad. I had one of the combos - chicharrones burrito, some weird Mexican pizza like thing, and a chicken taco. The chicharrones burrito was actually a nasty, bland, runny bean burrito with some stale, nearly cement-solid chicharrones thrown on top, smothered in a weak green chile. The chicken in my chicken taco barely tasted marinated, and, in fact, kinda tasted wrong or off. I didn't eat all of that, just in case. My boyfriend had a similar experience with a similar combo. The best thing about the place are the chips and salsa. Those weren't too bad at all. Nice and spicy. But, everything else we had was just...bland and way, way overpriced. As we drove off, I realized we could have saved almost all of our money and just gone to Taco Bell. We would have been better off.
(1)
Steve V.
Came here for lunch on a weekday and it was not too full. The prices are reasonable and the food is average at best. I was teetering between a 2 star and 3 star rating but went with a 2 simply because they charge $1.75 for each addition basket of chips and salsa after your first one. I have never seen a Mexican Restuarant do this. I had the Enchiladas Suizas with shredded beef and it was okay. The sauce was runny but the meat had a nice kick. The service was fast and friendly and our large group was out of there in a decent amount of time. Good for the quick business lunch.
(2)
Jessica M.
Pretty darn good food and enormous margaritas for those who enjoy tequila, cold Corona lights in a bottle for those of us who do not. The service is definitely spotty and slow-ish. But the wait staff has always made it their priority to make sure that what we order is enjoyed. If we didn't like it, if it wasn't spicy enough, they change it.
(3)
Sara S.
We went to El Tapatio on Friday and I ordered one of the chile relleno combos. I had a chile relleno, cheese enchilada, and avocado tostada. Everything on the plate was lukewarm/bordering on cold, and the chile relleno wasn't even cooked all the way through. My boyfriend had the Carne Asada with flour tortillas. I think they may have made everything on my plate beforehand and cooked his steak while my plate sat in the back getting cold. I really enjoy the West Alameda location, and the Golden location, but I will not be returning to this location.
(1)
Rosanna D.
Not as good as it use to be
(2)
Robert L.
Ceviche was amazing! The best I have ever had. Chips and hot salsa were great. Service was not bad.
(5)
Rory R.
I thought El Tapatio must be something of a hidden gem, considering its parking lot always seems full, regardless of the time of day. But the experience there proved very disappointing. My tamales were full of a grey-ish, unknown meat with an alternating chewy and brick-like texture. The accompanying beans and rice - sloppy and uninviting to the eye - reminded me of the gruel served in high school. Finally, a dust bunny hung above our table for the entire meal, only connected to the ceiling by some fine sinew, threatening to nosedive onto my plate at any time. The saving grace here is a delicious, spicy salsa served with the obligatory chips. However, I won't be going back here. Think of a restaurant prior to the intervention of the Restaurant Impossible guy - bad food, bad decor, disappointing experience. Boo.
(2)
Eliseo R.
We onlyh went there because the tripe tacos we were craving so much, we explained the server exactly how i wanted my order, and we got completely the opposite, I said fry the tripe just a little bit! we like it soft! and the tripe in our tacos was so hard and fried it was hard to eat, she did not review the food before the busser brought it to the table, and the busser just disappeared as soon as the food touched the table without giving me time to say anything about the food, the server came back later on and I told her about our food; her answer: --I guess the cook doesn't know what he's doing !!!!---- Really?????????
(1)
Stephanie V.
Honestly, I thought this place was a very nice Mexican restaurant. Keep in mind the fact that I am from Connecticut, and as such my standards for this type of restaurant might not be as high as any locals reading this review. So with that in mind, onwards. The restaurant was rather eclectically furnished with decorations - and it doesn't really have a ' mexican/spanish restaurant' feel to it, which i didn't mind so much, since the place still felt 'friendly' and was kept nice and clean. The waitress was very friendly and brought our orders out quickly, she also checked in often and made sure that our (my brother and I) drinks were never empty. As for the food: it was honestly quite good. I had tacos a la Americana , and i really liked it , the steak was diced nicely, and the cheese was good quality. The guacamole could have been a bit more substantial , but it wasn't too bad either. The salsa is full of flavor - if a bit smoother in consistency than I'm used to. Now , we had dessert here too( to go actually, since I'm eating it while writing this review) , and I have to say something so you will understand why I rated this place so highly. I HATE CHURROS. Hate them, with all my being. I had them twice before and both times at two different locations, and they were awful. I decided to get them here to see if it was just a fluke those other times. The desserts here are wonderful , I love these churros. The pastry is crisp and tasty, whatever is in the center ( sort of tastes like apple custard?) is delicious, and the honey they came with is a very good quality.
(4)
Marissa T.
Used to really like this place but the food seems to getting worse. I ordered the Chorizo, Egg and Potato Burrito which is smothered in Green Chile. Their Green Chile is very spicy but the burrito was only Chorizo. There were absolutely no potatoes and the eggs were so scarce. While it is only $5.95 for this giant burrito eating only Chorizo is overwhelming. My husband always gets the Carnitas Chimichanga which is very good and also smothered in Green Chile. I will order this. This is one of the only decent Mexican food places around us since I personally do not like 3 Margaritas. Also, the margaritas here are kind of expensive. The medium is $14.95 and does not even have enough alcohol to get a buzz off of. The inside is nice and the patio is pretty but the service can be very slow. I will not be going be for a while and trying some new local restaurants instead.
(2)
Ryan T.
The most god awful food I have ever been served. DO NOT EAT HERE!
(1)
Stephan G.
There is MUCH better Mexican nearby. Even Del Taco is better. LOL.
(1)
Jeremy C.
It has been over a year since I first reviewed El Tapatio. This restaurant took over what was Bennigans on South Wadsworth Boulevard and has been doing what appears to be a good business. I prefer this location because of the amount of tables. I have a location very close to where I live but I make the drive to this location because the one by the house only has booths and large tables for massive parties. On to the food part of the review, the quality of food here is very consistent. I love the salsa that is provided when you arrive. It has just the right amount of bite and spice while still remaining very tasty. Just the right amount of hot however the chips while still good do not compare to my all-time favorite which I can no longer get due to the restaurant closing. I have tried a few different dishes at El Tapatio the shredded beef tacos are very good and have a wonderful flavor. I have also had the beef enchilada plate which also has a wonderful flavor however their sauce on the enchiladas is very mild. I prefer it to be mild but overall it doesn't add a lot to the dish. The rice and beans that are served with the dishes are decent but nothing to really write home about. I am ok with that because they are what they are just sides and they are typical of most Mexican restaurants located in Colorado. I still really enjoy El Tapatio and recommend it to anyone looking to try out a Mexican restaurant if you have one near your work place they make a great lunch time stop because they are very, very fast. In fact they are so fast I often wonder how they prepare food, do they have it waiting in the back? I don't know but I do know they are super quick and it is very consistent.
(4)
Paul A.
When it opened this place was great, good service and authentic Mexican. Now poor service and pretty standard Tex Mex. Good drinks though, which you will need.
(2)
Steve T.
We always enjoy ourselves here. The food is good, service is friendly and attentive and the Corona Familiar (caguama) in the bucket are one of the best non-happy hour bargains around.
(4)
Emily S.
For Mexican food, in my opinion, you can tell by the salsa and the Spanish rice if the rest of the meal is going to be decent or not. This usually is a good indicator pretty accurate up to my standards. Now, knowing how I judge my Mexican food, I though this place was alright. The salsa at the beginning was pretty good, spicy, yet still had a a good taste to it. I had a mixed plate, which consisted of a smothered bean burrito, a chicken taco with beans and rice. The rice was decent, lacking a bit in taste and originality, but decent. As for the rest of the meal... well, I don't know... very dry, tasteless, and boring. I wasn't too happy with it. But, at the same time, it was good. (I'm really on the fence here, but don't know if I wanna try it out again) We sat outside, along with one other table. The service was real slow and we had like 4 different people waiting on us the entire time... weird. The whole experience was just OK. The food is edible, but tasteless, all of our four servers were real friendly, and the prices are reasonable. ...but I've still had better!
(2)
Brandon Y.
I was actually pretty surprised with this place. It was crazy busy and loud, which I didn't like too much. However, our service was very good and friendly. The chips and salsa weren't anything special, but our entrese were excellent.
(3)
Corrina y.
I really like this place, their tacos al carbon are the bomb, however; sometimes there is too much fat, but not always. Green chili is okay, salsa is okay. The place really gets packed, but is large inside and have never had to wait to be seated.
(5)
manuel m.
It's a hit and miss with this place. sometimes they're great but about 65% of the time the service is lack luster and the food isn't consistent. the food is good for the most part. they do have good red beer ( michiladas ) mmm maybe we'll go there for one tonite !!! i can't live without this place !!! jk. 3 stars still.
(3)
Rachel D.
Service much better last night than other time I've been there.
(4)
Shmuel C.
El Tapatio took over what used to be a Bennigan's building and it shows. The furniture, brass railing, and bar look exactly like it did before it changed hands (and cuisines.) The menu is very extensive and while the food is moderately priced, the service needs a lot of work. For example, the waitress knew we were waiting on one additional member of our party, yet asked us twice if we were ready to order; additionally, she could not understand the question "do your refried beans contain lard?" We had to rephrase the question twice and once she finally understood the question, she did not know the answer and did not offer to find out. Another example of where the restaurant needs to improve is improvisation. My party is unique from most patrons in that we do not mix meat and dairy in the same meal. My husband ordered the grilled chicken salad, but the only dressings the waitress offered were dairy-based. Neither Italian nor vinaigrette in any form were not available; additionally, and oil & vinegar dressing was not an option, even when asked; we were lead to believe that there was no oil or any vinegar (red or white) in the kitchen (hence their poor rating on improvisation.) As a consolation prize, pico de guillo was requested in lieu of dressing and when it came out, it was delivered in a hot bowl that too hot to be handled with bare hands. To give credit where credit is due, our drink glasses were never empty and the food was brought out pretty quickly. However, several members of the staff checked in on us often. After we had finished our meal, the "checking in" continued and when they asked if they could take our glasses, we got the impression that they wanted us to leave. There was no one waiting and there were several empty tables, so I felt like their actions were a bit on the rude side. If you want a quick meal, plan to leave promptly after you've paid your check, don't feel like spending a lot of money, and don't have any questions about the menu or how your food is made up, then this is the place to go.
(1)
Alex F.
Great place. All ways have been very friendly nice staff. The food is good as well. Cheap drinks They seem busy every time I go there, I think that's a good sign. As far as Mexican food restraunt s in Denver this is good.
(5)
Nichole M.
Oh, how I love their green chili and salsa. I have regular cravings for their food. A staple during my pregnancy.
(4)
Paul J.
My wife and I love this place. Excellent food! Definitely hits the spot everytime. However the service here isn't great.
(4)
Kevin H.
Food was ok, the service was horrible! Went there with my family tonight and our server was terrible! He kept sending over a 16 year old girl to help us and she spoke no English, he was lazy and incompetent and never was around even though they were slow tonight! I don't know why I gave this place a second chance when I keep getting horrible service. We will definitely not be back and working across the street at a near by hotel I will not recommend this place to anyone! Save your money and go elsewhere, you'll thank me later
(2)
Tryna R.
We must have come on the wrong night. It took a long time to get seated with only one party of 2 in front of us. Our table was crusted with spots of dried food. We had to wait 10 minutes before we got menus. We had our drinks before we got our menus. Lol! After we ordered the service was better if not a little evasive. We mentioned the 10% off when you check into yelp and our server refused to honor it. He actually mumbled something and walked away. That was the last time we saw him. Note to self- don't mention yelp deal- the server will diss you. 0 stars for service. 2 1/2 stars for food only. The food was good, spicy and with huge portions. We each took part of our dinner home for lunch the next day. The service is always hit or miss here, but the food is good and the location is close.
(2)
Heather K.
The food was amazing. I usually eat the same thing every time I go to a Mexican restaurant but this time I asked the server was I should get. She gave me 3 different options. I forget the actual name but it was fajitas on top of a cheese quesadilla. I ate the whole thing it was so yummy. I also order a house margarita she asked me what size I wanted I same medium thinking it wouldn't be to big. But I was wrong it was huge and delicious.
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Lunch Parking : Private Lot Bike Parking : Yes Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Casual Noise Level : Average Good For Dancing : No Alcohol : Full Bar Happy Hour : Yes Best Nights : Fri Coat Check : No Smoking : Yes Outdoor Seating : Yes Wi-Fi : No Has TV : Yes Waiter Service : Yes Caters : Yes
If you enjoy Taco Tuesday, then you have officially fallen in love with the Mexican Food. The main grain of Mexican cuisine is maize. Also known as corn, maize is grown for the past 9000 years after the crop was discovered by the people in Mayan civilization. Mexican empire flourished when they started growing beans, tomatoes, chili pepper, sweet potato and cactus. Till this date these ingredients are used in cooking authentic Mexican dishes and drinks.
Great use of spices, fresh chili pepper dishes like fajitas, tortilla chips, corn chips, salsa, chimichangas, burritos, nachos and quesadillas are invented in America. But when you are looking for authentic Mexican food then you must find a restaurant in the city that serves Rajas con Queso, Garbanzo in a Guajillo Chile Sauce, Pork Filled Chiles Rellenos, Chiles en Nogada, Molcajete Salsa, Pico de Gallo and Frijoles de la Olla. An eye-opening fact – Mexican don't like their food hot. They use fresh chili and other spices to create a flavor that lingers in your mouth.
Mexican food is great for those who are Gluten Intolerant as they use Corn instead of wheat in most of their dishes. Also, you can easily find many beans based Mexican dishes. Another dish which didn't get similar glory as tacos or nachos is the Mexican hot chocolate. If you love something hot on a chilly day, then go for Mexican Hot Chocolate. On merry days, you can enjoy the authentic Mexican Drinks like Tequila, Mezcal, Tecuí, Sotol, Bacanora, Charanda, Posh O Pox, Puebla and Pulque. Mexican Cuisine is for people who enjoy strong drinks and hearty meals.
Mandy D.
This is the WORST restaurant I have ever eaten at! I tried this place on several occasions-family dinners, quick place to stop etc. NEVER again! The food looks like someone threw up on my plate, and the wait staff are the most rude, racist people I've ever seen. I happen to be somewhat fluent in Spanish and as I drank a corona-Rita, I couldn't help but over hear the wait staff making "gringo" this and "gringo" that comments. On top of all of this, my boy friend had his credit card number stolen by the waitress, and charges to his account at a Longmont Walmart were later discovered. I would rather eat grass than go here
(1)Chantal M.
The best thing here is the salsa; I would drink that stuff with my straw if it weren't considered weird and gross to do so. Other than the salsa, however, the food is decent. Nothing to jump up down about, that's for sure. The staff is always friendly though, so that's good.
(3)Jen L.
I have been to 3 Locations and this one twice. Im going to start by saying the food is fine. Not great, and no wow factor, but doesn't taste horrible either. The service at best is minimal. Today was way below minimal, I glad my waitress even came to my table. I was through reading the 5 pages menu before someone took my drink order. My food came out somewhat fast after I ordered, how ever my waitress didn't bother to check on me until I finished my meal. It took her another 10 minutes to bring the check. She never did come back to my table, I paid up front, and I was nice enough to tip her a dollar. Won't be here for a while.
(2)Ken L.
Good traditional Mexican food. Good green Chili. Lettuce taste dirty. Guacamole made my tongue tingle.
(3)Nicole L.
Good service, good green chili. The chimichanga was not crispy at all because of all the green chili but still really good
(4)Georgia T.
I was here last night and could not decide on here or Hacienda. Since I haven't tried this place I thought to give it a shot. We got seated right away and not very long was asked if we wanted a drink. We ordered margaritas of course. I had the Tapatio Margarita which states it uses fresh limes and 3 other liquors. This has got to be the worst margarita I have had. It didn't taste like it had fresh limes in it at all. There was another strange taste that I have never tasted in a margarita and soon found out after we saw them making another one - they use some kind of carbonated drink in it - tasted to me like soda water or club soda. Which that being said, yes their margaritas are big but not so big on taste. As for our service goes, it could have been better. After ordering out drinks and trying to figure out what to eat I noticed a lot of waiters just standing around and a gentlemen who I think was the manager standing with them and bullshitting. Ok, I work in the restaurant industry and do not think this is very professional. If your not giving your tables great customer service which we didn't get, ie, table touches, table maintenance, talking up a table - "hi how are you, what brings you in", then you shouldn't be standing around. Very unprofessional. The food was good - very large portions for the price. I had shrimp in a garlic butter sauce. Everything tasted great - no problems in the kitchen what so ever! The only problem I had with my dish was that there was way to much butter and left with a heartburn. I hate it when I go to restaurant and order seafood/fish and it is overcooked. My shrimp was perfectly cooked! Will I come back again? Maybe very undecided especially when you here the manager/wait staff talking about customers in Spanish in a not so great way. Next time keep it to yourself wait staff - you never know who is listening!!!!!
(2)Krista E.
We were a little reluctant to go here after reading the reviews but it was right by our hotel so we gave it a shot. We had great service and the food was good - standard Mexican fare. The salsa was really good and the Cadillac margaritas were great!
(4)Suman K.
The food is always great!!the service is always horrid! I have been here 10 times. Every time they messed up the order, were so slow and not respectful. The food is awesome. The service makes you regret coming here.
(1)Scott S.
The parking lot is packed every time we drive by, so with friends in town last night, we decided to give El Tapatio a shot. It was packed. Packed. It looks like an old TGI Friday's inside, but I suppose this could just be a coincidence. The food is nothing spectacular. It's decent Mexican food that's served quickly. The server was friendly, but it appeared that some of their staff (waiters) were confused about whose order (other tables) went to which table. They got it sorted out, but it was obvious there was confusion. I was disappointed with my margarita. Went with something blue that was frozen. The size was great, b ut it was a lot of ice, no flavor, and tasted nothing like something blue should taste.
(3)Lawrence H.
This place ripped me off twice. Jesus the waiter changed tip amount on us recently. As the saying goes rip me off once, shame on you. Rip me off twice shame on me. I will follow up with management and the police. Food is a step up from Casa Bonita and restaurant is consistently dirty. I have a choice and will not patronize El Tapitio again, any of there locations.
(1)Carla T.
This review is purely based on their take out service: -HORRIBLE. I ordered something to pick up, I could tell that the person taking my order was somewhat confused, possibly because my reception was bad since I was on the road so I confirmed my order in Spanish. He said it was no problem and it would be ready in 20minutes. 20-25minutes later, I get to the restaurant and let the hostess know I'm picking up an order. She has no idea what I'm talking about, she goes in the back to check if anyone knows anything about my order...nothing. Needless to say, I lost my appetite which I guess was a good thing since I had no food to consume.
(1)Renee M.
Let me start off by saying the food was good but our waiter pissed me off enough to warrant a 2 star rating. My mother-in-law called days ahead of our lunch and put in reservations for 29 people and asked specifically if we could do separate checks because there were 8 families. They assured her that would be fine. Fast forward to Sunday afternoon- as soon as the hostess started seating us the waiter was frowning and mumbling under his breath. Then he asked if we needed separate checks. That's when it all went downhill. He had a terrible attitude and said that would be a problem. My aunt asked why and he said "just because it's gonna be too hard". So I said "We asked beforehand and they said it was fine". He said "it's gonna be a problem" so I told him his tip was going to be a problem and he said "that's ok with me". I wanted to leave but didn't want to ruin my daughter's celebration lunch so we stayed. He complained to a manager who came over to speak with us then she told him to do separate checks. He didn't like that. He frowned the whole lunch and was short with our guests. I made it clear how I felt verbally and in his tip or lack there of. The food we ate was very good but I will not go to that location again.
(2)Don F.
I've eaten there three times the fish is great. This is a very unusual Mexican restaurant
(5)Farah B.
We come back for the food. You can always tell when the restaurant is under new management because the service gets better For a little while before slipping back into the pits of hell. Did ownership change? Now when you go in you sit in a "Mexican" restaurant, surrounded by hipsters and listening to Johnny cash #wtf #weird
(3)Fred T.
Had the chicken Chimichanga it sucked very doughy had to send it back ordered a Chile relleno better My complaint is that I had to ask the waiter to take the Chimichanga off the ticket I understand the waiter has nothing to do with the food ...Buy he should have taken it off and not have to ask him to do so before he brought the check .. Maybe he was hoping I would catch it This might be my last time here...
(2)Don B.
This review is pretty simple. While it's my independent opinion, it ends up being largely a composite of many of the previous reviews. The food is pretty good - definitely better than two stars. We've eaten at this location a few times and at three other El Tapatio locations several times as well. Obviously, if we didn't like the food, we wouldn't keep going back. Through the years we've had most of the combinations, fajitas, breakfast burritos and many of the specialties, and they've all been good. The salsa is particularly good - fresh and spicy. But at least at the South Wadsworth location, the good news ends there. We went last night with a party of 9 - because of the size of our party I made a reservation in advance. When we got there they told us they don't take reservations on Sundays. Then they found the piece of scratch paper they had written my reservation on when they accepted it. But they obviously hadn't set up our reservation since they hadn't kept track of it and couldn't even find it, so having made a reservation did us no good. The service, once we were seated, was polite and friendly enough but slow. And take note, fellow Yelpers, even though they have a "check-in offer" of 10% off your bill, they told me they had never seen that before, didn't know what it was, and didn't honor it. Still, the story gets worse - the restaurant was dirty. The carpet was pretty filthy - scraps of food all over. Tables hadn't been bussed or cleaned and along with the chairs were misaligned and pretty much in random disarray. And the menus were simply gross - dirty, sticky - c'mon, they're laminated - squirt them with a disinfectant spray and wipe them off - is that really too much to ask? Tell me that this doesn't add up to a problem with management. I'll be generous and call it inattentive rather than simply bad management, but at the end of the day, they end up pretty much at the same spot - a restaurant with the potential to be reasonably good, but that apparently doesn't care enough to pay the relatively small price to provide a good customer experience from the time you walk in the door until you walk out. I don't know who the owners are, but I do know that this is a serious tactical error - metro Denver is definitely not lacking in good Mexican restaurants with ownership and management who obviously do care.
(2)Benny R.
The food here is pretty good across the board. Especially their machaca for breakfast and their barbacoa tacos for lunch/dinner. But their service is terrible. Very unresponsive. Takes forever to get refills on your drinks and you have to wave them down for everything that you may need. Hope they get it fixed, or I won't come back.
(3)Renae R.
3 1/2 stars. Chips crisp, ingredients fresh. But due to seeing bugs at both locations wont return for a while. Management please schedule pest control...
(3)Heidi F.
I'll be honest I was a little hesitant to try after reading recent reviews but we really wanted Mexican and decided to give it a go. That turned out to be one great decision...from our waiter (Micheal) who had just the right mix of attention to leaving us be; to the food which is about as Mexican as it gets (and by the way...VERY GOOD!). Don't pass this up if you're looking for a relaxing very casual dinner that will leave you excited to look up recipes!
(5)Monica M.
Terrible service. The manager is a complete jerk and treats customers like they are disposable. Do not go here! Plenty of restaurants who treat their customers with respect.
(1)Don F.
I've eaten there three times the fish is great. This is a very unusual Mexican restaurant
(5)Rich M.
I'm not sure what's up with all the bad reviews for this location. Menu selection was great. Food was great. I had mixed fajitas and they cook the shrimp in the shell so it doesn't dry out or overcooked. Juicy as can be. Salsa was great. They were packed and service was on point. I watched one bartender handle 15 people at the bar and knock all the drinks for the entire place. At least 150 people. I'll be back when I'm in town. Good job guys keep it up.
(5)L T.
First time in here it was all good until I opened the menu at the bar it was a nice little surprise (un cucaracha) YUCK! Appetite has left the building. Too bad I seen if after I got my margarita or I wouldn't have drank that.
(1)Karen F.
Poor management and Poor quality and taste in food. I had taken my daughter out for dinner. She ordered a taco salad with no sour cream. They served and it had the sour cream. I let the waiter know and he had taken back. He was back in less than five minutes. My daughter started to eat then let me know that there was still sour cream. They literally spooned out the sour cream. Since my daughter didn't like it and they poorly wiped out the sour cream I did not feel I should pay for it. So I told the waiter who then got the manager. He loudly came over to my table and asked "what is the problem"? Seemed very unprofessional to me and not very customer service oriented. He then tried to argue with me about her just being a kid and it doesn't matter. I never received an apology and got the negative head shake as he was processing the void for her meal. I will never go here again and don't recommend this place at all! Wish their was an option to no stars or negative stars since that seems to be their attitudes.
(1)Jessica R.
I would go here again. Great Mexican American food. The service was quick and the waiters were attentive. The food was good. Nothing tasted bland. He made my drink exactly how I wanted nothing left out. The salsa had flavor and fajitas were bomb
(5)Darrell R.
Great American-Mexican food place. Huge margaritas! Excellent service. Nachos prepared in a different manner than the standard heap was a pleasant surprise. El Tapitio Special with a cheese quesadilla - thought it would not be filling, boy was I wrong. To top it off, pretty decent prices in today's market.
(5)Aryanne A.
Honestly, this is my least favorite restaraunt. First time I came here, my whole family got WICKED food poisoning. Not a great start! I've tagged along in groups of friends here numerous times, and it's disappointing every time. Whether I order a burrito, a tamale plate, or anything else, it is all tasteless! Last Time finally did it for me. Me and 4 other people came. There were probably about 4 other families in the restaraunt. I decided to try the fajita bowl with a Shirley temple. And a Mexican hamburger to go for a family member. They start you with chips and salsa. Chips- stale tasting like always. Salsa- about 90% tomato, like always. It literally took 40 minutes for all our food to get to us. By then we had finished our drinks. They dropped the food off and didn't even offer refills and they didn't stop by ONCE after they dropped the food off. The meat was really tender and the guac was good, but seriously. The fajita bowl is pretty much like black beans and rice with some meat sprinkled on top. Not to mention, the onion was sososo over powering! And I love onions! But it was WAY too much. Finally we finished. On the verge of dehydration we waited for the Mexican hamburger or even a human to come assist us so we could pay and get on our way but, nope. Waited for 20 more minutes without a soul in sight. Finally a member of our group decided to walk around and flag someone down. They came to us and the chick was extremely awkward. Made me feel kinda nervous just looking into her beady eyes. Anywho, she informed us that they hadn't even made the Mexican hamburger yet ARE YOU SERIOUS GUYS. What the hell have you been doing?! So we waited, it came, we paid ($80) we didn't even order anything fancy! And we left. El tapatio is always disappointing no matter which location you go to. It always tastes the same and the service is ALWAYS poor. It's not an isolated incident. It's always been like this! Save your self the trip and go somewhere else. Or drive the extra 5 minutes to Hacienda.
(1)Amy E.
This place is great with there food and portions... The service real nice and are attentive... they just need to clean the dust off of the blinds d's and vents... The floors need to be replaced. The carpet is from when it was the bennigains..... gross!!!
(4)Paul O.
Cane in for a late dinner. Got seated quickly and got my drink. The complimentary chips and salsa was nice to have. The salsa had good flavor with a little kick but the chips had a strange taste. I can't really describe it....they just tasted "off". I ordered one of the combo platters. The amount of food was good but the taste and quality was tragic. The food was drowning in cheese and that totally ruined it. There is a saying in the restaurant biz... When your food tastes like crap, add cheese. I ate only about 1/4 of what was on the plate and ended up spending the next several hours in the bathroom with the squirts. The server didn't even inquire as to how I liked the food or if it was ok. Don't waste your time or money here.
(1)Michelle H.
Horrible service, or lack there of! My family of four went in for dinner, there were very few customers in the restaurant, we were completely ignored by the entire staff. The bartender looked up at us & didn't even acknowledge us. Another employee shot a look at us from across the room & also ignored us. We ended up walking out to never return again!
(1)Valee S.
We go here pretty often and never have to wait too long for seating or ordering. Food is decent,always hot, portions are generous. My favorite are the "camarones rancheros". A decent dinner for two (with drinks) it's about 40 bucks. And,hey if you crave for hamburgers try McDonalds !!!
(4)Michelle P.
El Tapatio is not bad. I would not say it is great or outstanding, but I also wouldn't say it sucks. Good meeting spot, and I have never had to wait. The salsa is absolutely delicious, if you like cilantro. It is obviously very freshly made, and simply has that balanced, crisp, properly textured consistency. It is a standout. Chips are fresh, but could use a little salt. The queso fundido is a great appetizer. (Remember, I like cheese and grease). Service is good, usually. The place is clean - if not a little dark/grim. It doesn't get too loud, and they seat people strategically so the restaurant seems fuller than it is. Good selection of beers, marg's and full bar. Price is not too expensive. I will be back, if nothing else, for happy hour! While not a real "chain" - clearly a restaurants in a "chain-like-series."
(3)Clayton H.
I have to give a single star here; for the two things a restaurant offers (service and food), they under delivered on both. The food was, well, no better than frozen discount meals. In fact, I am quite certain the burger patty for my Mexican hamburger was a reheated, overheated burger. The guacamole must have been from a package and been sitting out since the morning, colored to the point we refused a burrito plate with the quac on top. To add, the service was poor. 20 minutes to order; different servers; another 20+ minutes for kids meals; orders wrong; and finally had to debate having the burrito not eaten removed from the bill. Not worth a second attempt for us.
(1)Andy P.
Decided to try this Mexican restaurant one more time after our horrible experience previously. Food was ok, but nothing special. We ordered 2 combination plates, a margarita and a beer. The server was uninterested in providing service. Most likely won't be attempting to dine here again. At least we didn't find a hair net in the chips and salsa like before. Better Mexican food is available in Denver.
(1)Laura D.
This place sure draws a crowd, but I have no idea why. Margs are good, salsa is well flavored, but the rest is crap. Powdered beans, uncle ben's minute rice and processed cheese food were clearly used to create the plate I had. The burrito my date had tasted suspeciously like dog food. Staff was friendly and service was quick. Still would never return.
(1)Nicole S.
Fun and festive atmosphere, fast and friendly service, and hot and spicy food--what's not to love? The chips and salsa were a fantastic way to start off the meal. My cheese enchilada and chile relleno were swimming in sauce, but the meal was still mighty tasty. I would definitely come back again.
(4)Oz R.
usually a great spot and good service but today they dropped the ball waited around for our drinks when others around us who arrived AFTER us received their drinks. Food was good.
(3)Noah C.
Very slow service. My companion was done eating before I got my full order. It was cold at that point as well.
(1)Rob R.
Worst Mexican food ever all locations 50 /50 chance you will get sick ! Can't understand how these restaurants stay in business
(1)Jonathan O.
Good food, good price, great staff. This place stays pretty busy but it has never affected service, or the quality of food. The salsa is very good and actually has some kick. .
(5)Tony C.
I'm not the biggest fan of Mexican food, but I stopped here alone because It was an easy walk from the Hampton next door. I was pleasantly surprised by the friendly service, diverse menu and surprisingly good wine options (considering where I was). I ordered the Molcajetes and it was great. I ordered the steak version and the steak was a little tough, but the overall flavor and presentation was terrific. My only regret is that I should have asked for a spoon because the broth that is created by all of the mixture of ingredients was the best part. And it is a huge dish - really designed to share. I'll go back just for this dish but probably explore the chicken or shrimp options as well. This is casual dining in a sports bar atmosphere so go in with reasonable expectations.
(4)Corinne C.
I would give it 3 1/2 stars. I enjoy their chips and salsa and they make delicious Cadillac margaritas! I haven't had a huge variety of their food, but everything I have had is good, not outstanding, but consistently good. The posole on Sunday is one of my favorites. If you ever order take-out, then make sure your order is right and complete. I've had mine messed up a couple if times. Overall though I enjoy and do plan to return.
(4)Bill A.
Landed here because it was closest restaurant to a business meeting. What a pleasant surprise! Servers happy and friendly - good menu recommendations for our group. Huge portions. Great value. Definitely coming back when able.
(4)Amy L.
Absolutely the worst service I have ever received. 99% of the time I go there, the order is wrong or the waiter forgets we are there and we have to track him down not only to order but to correct our incorrect. I have sent multiple complaints via email and have never heard back. I will never return to ANY location as I've had the same experience with 2 of their other locations.
(1)Sara B.
The food is excellent here and the margaritas are delish! Huge portions and good prices. Great service too! My only complaint are there are so many tables in the dining room it's hard to walk through if they sit you way in the back.
(4)Meghan B.
I love this place! I come here often for drinks and dinner and have never once been disappointed. I love the salsa!!! I came here tonight for dinner and had excellent service from Elizabeth :) will definitely come back a thousand times more!!!
(5)Juan Antonio P.
Yum yum love it so good so good :) I like the food the taste the smell everything its good like really good so go an enjoy the food
(3)Farah B.
We come back for the food. You can always tell when the restaurant is under new management because the service gets better For a little while before slipping back into the pits of hell. Did ownership change? Now when you go in you sit in a "Mexican" restaurant, surrounded by hipsters and listening to Johnny cash #wtf #weird
(3)Fred T.
Had the chicken Chimichanga it sucked very doughy had to send it back ordered a Chile relleno better My complaint is that I had to ask the waiter to take the Chimichanga off the ticket I understand the waiter has nothing to do with the food ...Buy he should have taken it off and not have to ask him to do so before he brought the check .. Maybe he was hoping I would catch it This might be my last time here...
(2)Rich M.
I'm not sure what's up with all the bad reviews for this location. Menu selection was great. Food was great. I had mixed fajitas and they cook the shrimp in the shell so it doesn't dry out or overcooked. Juicy as can be. Salsa was great. They were packed and service was on point. I watched one bartender handle 15 people at the bar and knock all the drinks for the entire place. At least 150 people. I'll be back when I'm in town. Good job guys keep it up.
(5)L T.
First time in here it was all good until I opened the menu at the bar it was a nice little surprise (un cucaracha) YUCK! Appetite has left the building. Too bad I seen if after I got my margarita or I wouldn't have drank that.
(1)Don B.
This review is pretty simple. While it's my independent opinion, it ends up being largely a composite of many of the previous reviews. The food is pretty good - definitely better than two stars. We've eaten at this location a few times and at three other El Tapatio locations several times as well. Obviously, if we didn't like the food, we wouldn't keep going back. Through the years we've had most of the combinations, fajitas, breakfast burritos and many of the specialties, and they've all been good. The salsa is particularly good - fresh and spicy. But at least at the South Wadsworth location, the good news ends there. We went last night with a party of 9 - because of the size of our party I made a reservation in advance. When we got there they told us they don't take reservations on Sundays. Then they found the piece of scratch paper they had written my reservation on when they accepted it. But they obviously hadn't set up our reservation since they hadn't kept track of it and couldn't even find it, so having made a reservation did us no good. The service, once we were seated, was polite and friendly enough but slow. And take note, fellow Yelpers, even though they have a "check-in offer" of 10% off your bill, they told me they had never seen that before, didn't know what it was, and didn't honor it. Still, the story gets worse - the restaurant was dirty. The carpet was pretty filthy - scraps of food all over. Tables hadn't been bussed or cleaned and along with the chairs were misaligned and pretty much in random disarray. And the menus were simply gross - dirty, sticky - c'mon, they're laminated - squirt them with a disinfectant spray and wipe them off - is that really too much to ask? Tell me that this doesn't add up to a problem with management. I'll be generous and call it inattentive rather than simply bad management, but at the end of the day, they end up pretty much at the same spot - a restaurant with the potential to be reasonably good, but that apparently doesn't care enough to pay the relatively small price to provide a good customer experience from the time you walk in the door until you walk out. I don't know who the owners are, but I do know that this is a serious tactical error - metro Denver is definitely not lacking in good Mexican restaurants with ownership and management who obviously do care.
(2)Benny R.
The food here is pretty good across the board. Especially their machaca for breakfast and their barbacoa tacos for lunch/dinner. But their service is terrible. Very unresponsive. Takes forever to get refills on your drinks and you have to wave them down for everything that you may need. Hope they get it fixed, or I won't come back.
(3)Renae R.
3 1/2 stars. Chips crisp, ingredients fresh. But due to seeing bugs at both locations wont return for a while. Management please schedule pest control...
(3)Heidi F.
I'll be honest I was a little hesitant to try after reading recent reviews but we really wanted Mexican and decided to give it a go. That turned out to be one great decision...from our waiter (Micheal) who had just the right mix of attention to leaving us be; to the food which is about as Mexican as it gets (and by the way...VERY GOOD!). Don't pass this up if you're looking for a relaxing very casual dinner that will leave you excited to look up recipes!
(5)Monica M.
Terrible service. The manager is a complete jerk and treats customers like they are disposable. Do not go here! Plenty of restaurants who treat their customers with respect.
(1)Karen F.
Poor management and Poor quality and taste in food. I had taken my daughter out for dinner. She ordered a taco salad with no sour cream. They served and it had the sour cream. I let the waiter know and he had taken back. He was back in less than five minutes. My daughter started to eat then let me know that there was still sour cream. They literally spooned out the sour cream. Since my daughter didn't like it and they poorly wiped out the sour cream I did not feel I should pay for it. So I told the waiter who then got the manager. He loudly came over to my table and asked "what is the problem"? Seemed very unprofessional to me and not very customer service oriented. He then tried to argue with me about her just being a kid and it doesn't matter. I never received an apology and got the negative head shake as he was processing the void for her meal. I will never go here again and don't recommend this place at all! Wish their was an option to no stars or negative stars since that seems to be their attitudes.
(1)Jessica R.
I would go here again. Great Mexican American food. The service was quick and the waiters were attentive. The food was good. Nothing tasted bland. He made my drink exactly how I wanted nothing left out. The salsa had flavor and fajitas were bomb
(5)Darrell R.
Great American-Mexican food place. Huge margaritas! Excellent service. Nachos prepared in a different manner than the standard heap was a pleasant surprise. El Tapitio Special with a cheese quesadilla - thought it would not be filling, boy was I wrong. To top it off, pretty decent prices in today's market.
(5)Alex F.
Great place. All ways have been very friendly nice staff. The food is good as well. Cheap drinks They seem busy every time I go there, I think that's a good sign. As far as Mexican food restraunt s in Denver this is good.
(5)Nichole M.
Oh, how I love their green chili and salsa. I have regular cravings for their food. A staple during my pregnancy.
(4)Paul J.
My wife and I love this place. Excellent food! Definitely hits the spot everytime. However the service here isn't great.
(4)Kevin H.
Food was ok, the service was horrible! Went there with my family tonight and our server was terrible! He kept sending over a 16 year old girl to help us and she spoke no English, he was lazy and incompetent and never was around even though they were slow tonight! I don't know why I gave this place a second chance when I keep getting horrible service. We will definitely not be back and working across the street at a near by hotel I will not recommend this place to anyone! Save your money and go elsewhere, you'll thank me later
(2)Tryna R.
We must have come on the wrong night. It took a long time to get seated with only one party of 2 in front of us. Our table was crusted with spots of dried food. We had to wait 10 minutes before we got menus. We had our drinks before we got our menus. Lol! After we ordered the service was better if not a little evasive. We mentioned the 10% off when you check into yelp and our server refused to honor it. He actually mumbled something and walked away. That was the last time we saw him. Note to self- don't mention yelp deal- the server will diss you. 0 stars for service. 2 1/2 stars for food only. The food was good, spicy and with huge portions. We each took part of our dinner home for lunch the next day. The service is always hit or miss here, but the food is good and the location is close.
(2)Aryanne A.
Honestly, this is my least favorite restaraunt. First time I came here, my whole family got WICKED food poisoning. Not a great start! I've tagged along in groups of friends here numerous times, and it's disappointing every time. Whether I order a burrito, a tamale plate, or anything else, it is all tasteless! Last Time finally did it for me. Me and 4 other people came. There were probably about 4 other families in the restaraunt. I decided to try the fajita bowl with a Shirley temple. And a Mexican hamburger to go for a family member. They start you with chips and salsa. Chips- stale tasting like always. Salsa- about 90% tomato, like always. It literally took 40 minutes for all our food to get to us. By then we had finished our drinks. They dropped the food off and didn't even offer refills and they didn't stop by ONCE after they dropped the food off. The meat was really tender and the guac was good, but seriously. The fajita bowl is pretty much like black beans and rice with some meat sprinkled on top. Not to mention, the onion was sososo over powering! And I love onions! But it was WAY too much. Finally we finished. On the verge of dehydration we waited for the Mexican hamburger or even a human to come assist us so we could pay and get on our way but, nope. Waited for 20 more minutes without a soul in sight. Finally a member of our group decided to walk around and flag someone down. They came to us and the chick was extremely awkward. Made me feel kinda nervous just looking into her beady eyes. Anywho, she informed us that they hadn't even made the Mexican hamburger yet ARE YOU SERIOUS GUYS. What the hell have you been doing?! So we waited, it came, we paid ($80) we didn't even order anything fancy! And we left. El tapatio is always disappointing no matter which location you go to. It always tastes the same and the service is ALWAYS poor. It's not an isolated incident. It's always been like this! Save your self the trip and go somewhere else. Or drive the extra 5 minutes to Hacienda.
(1)Amy E.
This place is great with there food and portions... The service real nice and are attentive... they just need to clean the dust off of the blinds d's and vents... The floors need to be replaced. The carpet is from when it was the bennigains..... gross!!!
(4)Rosanna D.
Not as good as it use to be
(2)Robert L.
Ceviche was amazing! The best I have ever had. Chips and hot salsa were great. Service was not bad.
(5)Heather K.
The food was amazing. I usually eat the same thing every time I go to a Mexican restaurant but this time I asked the server was I should get. She gave me 3 different options. I forget the actual name but it was fajitas on top of a cheese quesadilla. I ate the whole thing it was so yummy. I also order a house margarita she asked me what size I wanted I same medium thinking it wouldn't be to big. But I was wrong it was huge and delicious.
(4)Valee S.
We go here pretty often and never have to wait too long for seating or ordering. Food is decent,always hot, portions are generous. My favorite are the "camarones rancheros". A decent dinner for two (with drinks) it's about 40 bucks. And,hey if you crave for hamburgers try McDonalds !!!
(4)Paul O.
Cane in for a late dinner. Got seated quickly and got my drink. The complimentary chips and salsa was nice to have. The salsa had good flavor with a little kick but the chips had a strange taste. I can't really describe it....they just tasted "off". I ordered one of the combo platters. The amount of food was good but the taste and quality was tragic. The food was drowning in cheese and that totally ruined it. There is a saying in the restaurant biz... When your food tastes like crap, add cheese. I ate only about 1/4 of what was on the plate and ended up spending the next several hours in the bathroom with the squirts. The server didn't even inquire as to how I liked the food or if it was ok. Don't waste your time or money here.
(1)Michelle H.
Horrible service, or lack there of! My family of four went in for dinner, there were very few customers in the restaurant, we were completely ignored by the entire staff. The bartender looked up at us & didn't even acknowledge us. Another employee shot a look at us from across the room & also ignored us. We ended up walking out to never return again!
(1)Michelle P.
El Tapatio is not bad. I would not say it is great or outstanding, but I also wouldn't say it sucks. Good meeting spot, and I have never had to wait. The salsa is absolutely delicious, if you like cilantro. It is obviously very freshly made, and simply has that balanced, crisp, properly textured consistency. It is a standout. Chips are fresh, but could use a little salt. The queso fundido is a great appetizer. (Remember, I like cheese and grease). Service is good, usually. The place is clean - if not a little dark/grim. It doesn't get too loud, and they seat people strategically so the restaurant seems fuller than it is. Good selection of beers, marg's and full bar. Price is not too expensive. I will be back, if nothing else, for happy hour! While not a real "chain" - clearly a restaurants in a "chain-like-series."
(3)Clayton H.
I have to give a single star here; for the two things a restaurant offers (service and food), they under delivered on both. The food was, well, no better than frozen discount meals. In fact, I am quite certain the burger patty for my Mexican hamburger was a reheated, overheated burger. The guacamole must have been from a package and been sitting out since the morning, colored to the point we refused a burrito plate with the quac on top. To add, the service was poor. 20 minutes to order; different servers; another 20+ minutes for kids meals; orders wrong; and finally had to debate having the burrito not eaten removed from the bill. Not worth a second attempt for us.
(1)Laura D.
This place sure draws a crowd, but I have no idea why. Margs are good, salsa is well flavored, but the rest is crap. Powdered beans, uncle ben's minute rice and processed cheese food were clearly used to create the plate I had. The burrito my date had tasted suspeciously like dog food. Staff was friendly and service was quick. Still would never return.
(1)Nicole S.
Fun and festive atmosphere, fast and friendly service, and hot and spicy food--what's not to love? The chips and salsa were a fantastic way to start off the meal. My cheese enchilada and chile relleno were swimming in sauce, but the meal was still mighty tasty. I would definitely come back again.
(4)Oz R.
usually a great spot and good service but today they dropped the ball waited around for our drinks when others around us who arrived AFTER us received their drinks. Food was good.
(3)Noah C.
Very slow service. My companion was done eating before I got my full order. It was cold at that point as well.
(1)Rob R.
Worst Mexican food ever all locations 50 /50 chance you will get sick ! Can't understand how these restaurants stay in business
(1)Jonathan O.
Good food, good price, great staff. This place stays pretty busy but it has never affected service, or the quality of food. The salsa is very good and actually has some kick. .
(5)Tony C.
I'm not the biggest fan of Mexican food, but I stopped here alone because It was an easy walk from the Hampton next door. I was pleasantly surprised by the friendly service, diverse menu and surprisingly good wine options (considering where I was). I ordered the Molcajetes and it was great. I ordered the steak version and the steak was a little tough, but the overall flavor and presentation was terrific. My only regret is that I should have asked for a spoon because the broth that is created by all of the mixture of ingredients was the best part. And it is a huge dish - really designed to share. I'll go back just for this dish but probably explore the chicken or shrimp options as well. This is casual dining in a sports bar atmosphere so go in with reasonable expectations.
(4)Corinne C.
I would give it 3 1/2 stars. I enjoy their chips and salsa and they make delicious Cadillac margaritas! I haven't had a huge variety of their food, but everything I have had is good, not outstanding, but consistently good. The posole on Sunday is one of my favorites. If you ever order take-out, then make sure your order is right and complete. I've had mine messed up a couple if times. Overall though I enjoy and do plan to return.
(4)Bill A.
Landed here because it was closest restaurant to a business meeting. What a pleasant surprise! Servers happy and friendly - good menu recommendations for our group. Huge portions. Great value. Definitely coming back when able.
(4)Amy L.
Absolutely the worst service I have ever received. 99% of the time I go there, the order is wrong or the waiter forgets we are there and we have to track him down not only to order but to correct our incorrect. I have sent multiple complaints via email and have never heard back. I will never return to ANY location as I've had the same experience with 2 of their other locations.
(1)Sara B.
The food is excellent here and the margaritas are delish! Huge portions and good prices. Great service too! My only complaint are there are so many tables in the dining room it's hard to walk through if they sit you way in the back.
(4)Meghan B.
I love this place! I come here often for drinks and dinner and have never once been disappointed. I love the salsa!!! I came here tonight for dinner and had excellent service from Elizabeth :) will definitely come back a thousand times more!!!
(5)Juan Antonio P.
Yum yum love it so good so good :) I like the food the taste the smell everything its good like really good so go an enjoy the food
(3)Andy P.
Decided to try this Mexican restaurant one more time after our horrible experience previously. Food was ok, but nothing special. We ordered 2 combination plates, a margarita and a beer. The server was uninterested in providing service. Most likely won't be attempting to dine here again. At least we didn't find a hair net in the chips and salsa like before. Better Mexican food is available in Denver.
(1)Jessica M.
Pretty darn good food and enormous margaritas for those who enjoy tequila, cold Corona lights in a bottle for those of us who do not. The service is definitely spotty and slow-ish. But the wait staff has always made it their priority to make sure that what we order is enjoyed. If we didn't like it, if it wasn't spicy enough, they change it.
(3)Sara S.
We went to El Tapatio on Friday and I ordered one of the chile relleno combos. I had a chile relleno, cheese enchilada, and avocado tostada. Everything on the plate was lukewarm/bordering on cold, and the chile relleno wasn't even cooked all the way through. My boyfriend had the Carne Asada with flour tortillas. I think they may have made everything on my plate beforehand and cooked his steak while my plate sat in the back getting cold. I really enjoy the West Alameda location, and the Golden location, but I will not be returning to this location.
(1)Steve V.
Came here for lunch on a weekday and it was not too full. The prices are reasonable and the food is average at best. I was teetering between a 2 star and 3 star rating but went with a 2 simply because they charge $1.75 for each addition basket of chips and salsa after your first one. I have never seen a Mexican Restuarant do this. I had the Enchiladas Suizas with shredded beef and it was okay. The sauce was runny but the meat had a nice kick. The service was fast and friendly and our large group was out of there in a decent amount of time. Good for the quick business lunch.
(2)Sherry K.
I have been eating here since it opened. This used to be my favorite place to eat Mexican. I absolutely love the salsa and the margaritas. Food has gone downhill to me but I believe that's because of the service. Went last night with a friend. It was not very busy. Service was slow to order. My margarita came out before his iced tea and my food came out about 15 minutes before his. By the time he got his food, mine was cold. He ordered fajitas and they didn't even bring a plate for him to make them on. That was the final straw. By that time, neither one of us was hungry. We didn't eat our food and walked out after talking to the manager. He did comp our meal but that's wasn't the point. The service here has gone downhill over the past few months. Some friends and I went for brunch a few months ago and again, they were not busy. Maybe 5 or 6 tables and about lots of waiters and waitresses with nothing to do but stand around and talk. Took at least 20 minutes to get drinks, chips and salsa and place our order. Then our food took forever and when they finally brought it out, they brought one plate, waited 10-15 minutes, brought out the next plate, and waited another 10-15 minutes and brought out the last plate. We asked to speak to manager and was told she was busy doing paperwork and couldn't come out to speak with us. After about 20 minutes she came out but didn't seem too worried that our service was horrible. I don't want comp food when I go out to eat. I want good service and good food.
(1)Danielle S.
Why such a low score, people! This place isn't a gem, but it did pleasantly surprise me. Maybe I have a low bar for Mexican food. That might be true. But, I enjoyed myself. It looks like this place was an old Applebee's or something that was abandoned, and that a Mexican restaurant plopped in and took over and didn't change any decor. Whatevs. That's fine. The bar is central, and the margaritas are not only good, but they're HUGE. I'm glad I ordered the small. And I think I might have ordered another one. Yum. The food was fresh, good, and I'd eat it again in a heartbeat. The server was in a rush, but it was busy, and it wasn't really that disruptive. Plus, he got our food to us quickly so I can't complain!
(4)Alicia J.
Ugh, what a completely mediocre experience. This appears to be an old Bennigan's, and there's still plenty of weird art and mismatched decor in the place to confuse anyone taking a good look around. Nothing quite matches. And, the waiters wear these ridiculous tuxedos that don't match anything else in the place...it's all just a big mess. The food was just as bad. I had one of the combos - chicharrones burrito, some weird Mexican pizza like thing, and a chicken taco. The chicharrones burrito was actually a nasty, bland, runny bean burrito with some stale, nearly cement-solid chicharrones thrown on top, smothered in a weak green chile. The chicken in my chicken taco barely tasted marinated, and, in fact, kinda tasted wrong or off. I didn't eat all of that, just in case. My boyfriend had a similar experience with a similar combo. The best thing about the place are the chips and salsa. Those weren't too bad at all. Nice and spicy. But, everything else we had was just...bland and way, way overpriced. As we drove off, I realized we could have saved almost all of our money and just gone to Taco Bell. We would have been better off.
(1)Rory R.
I thought El Tapatio must be something of a hidden gem, considering its parking lot always seems full, regardless of the time of day. But the experience there proved very disappointing. My tamales were full of a grey-ish, unknown meat with an alternating chewy and brick-like texture. The accompanying beans and rice - sloppy and uninviting to the eye - reminded me of the gruel served in high school. Finally, a dust bunny hung above our table for the entire meal, only connected to the ceiling by some fine sinew, threatening to nosedive onto my plate at any time. The saving grace here is a delicious, spicy salsa served with the obligatory chips. However, I won't be going back here. Think of a restaurant prior to the intervention of the Restaurant Impossible guy - bad food, bad decor, disappointing experience. Boo.
(2)Eliseo R.
We onlyh went there because the tripe tacos we were craving so much, we explained the server exactly how i wanted my order, and we got completely the opposite, I said fry the tripe just a little bit! we like it soft! and the tripe in our tacos was so hard and fried it was hard to eat, she did not review the food before the busser brought it to the table, and the busser just disappeared as soon as the food touched the table without giving me time to say anything about the food, the server came back later on and I told her about our food; her answer: --I guess the cook doesn't know what he's doing !!!!---- Really?????????
(1)Stephanie V.
Honestly, I thought this place was a very nice Mexican restaurant. Keep in mind the fact that I am from Connecticut, and as such my standards for this type of restaurant might not be as high as any locals reading this review. So with that in mind, onwards. The restaurant was rather eclectically furnished with decorations - and it doesn't really have a ' mexican/spanish restaurant' feel to it, which i didn't mind so much, since the place still felt 'friendly' and was kept nice and clean. The waitress was very friendly and brought our orders out quickly, she also checked in often and made sure that our (my brother and I) drinks were never empty. As for the food: it was honestly quite good. I had tacos a la Americana , and i really liked it , the steak was diced nicely, and the cheese was good quality. The guacamole could have been a bit more substantial , but it wasn't too bad either. The salsa is full of flavor - if a bit smoother in consistency than I'm used to. Now , we had dessert here too( to go actually, since I'm eating it while writing this review) , and I have to say something so you will understand why I rated this place so highly. I HATE CHURROS. Hate them, with all my being. I had them twice before and both times at two different locations, and they were awful. I decided to get them here to see if it was just a fluke those other times. The desserts here are wonderful , I love these churros. The pastry is crisp and tasty, whatever is in the center ( sort of tastes like apple custard?) is delicious, and the honey they came with is a very good quality.
(4)Marissa T.
Used to really like this place but the food seems to getting worse. I ordered the Chorizo, Egg and Potato Burrito which is smothered in Green Chile. Their Green Chile is very spicy but the burrito was only Chorizo. There were absolutely no potatoes and the eggs were so scarce. While it is only $5.95 for this giant burrito eating only Chorizo is overwhelming. My husband always gets the Carnitas Chimichanga which is very good and also smothered in Green Chile. I will order this. This is one of the only decent Mexican food places around us since I personally do not like 3 Margaritas. Also, the margaritas here are kind of expensive. The medium is $14.95 and does not even have enough alcohol to get a buzz off of. The inside is nice and the patio is pretty but the service can be very slow. I will not be going be for a while and trying some new local restaurants instead.
(2)Ryan T.
The most god awful food I have ever been served. DO NOT EAT HERE!
(1)Stephan G.
There is MUCH better Mexican nearby. Even Del Taco is better. LOL.
(1)Jeremy C.
It has been over a year since I first reviewed El Tapatio. This restaurant took over what was Bennigans on South Wadsworth Boulevard and has been doing what appears to be a good business. I prefer this location because of the amount of tables. I have a location very close to where I live but I make the drive to this location because the one by the house only has booths and large tables for massive parties. On to the food part of the review, the quality of food here is very consistent. I love the salsa that is provided when you arrive. It has just the right amount of bite and spice while still remaining very tasty. Just the right amount of hot however the chips while still good do not compare to my all-time favorite which I can no longer get due to the restaurant closing. I have tried a few different dishes at El Tapatio the shredded beef tacos are very good and have a wonderful flavor. I have also had the beef enchilada plate which also has a wonderful flavor however their sauce on the enchiladas is very mild. I prefer it to be mild but overall it doesn't add a lot to the dish. The rice and beans that are served with the dishes are decent but nothing to really write home about. I am ok with that because they are what they are just sides and they are typical of most Mexican restaurants located in Colorado. I still really enjoy El Tapatio and recommend it to anyone looking to try out a Mexican restaurant if you have one near your work place they make a great lunch time stop because they are very, very fast. In fact they are so fast I often wonder how they prepare food, do they have it waiting in the back? I don't know but I do know they are super quick and it is very consistent.
(4)Paul A.
When it opened this place was great, good service and authentic Mexican. Now poor service and pretty standard Tex Mex. Good drinks though, which you will need.
(2)Steve T.
We always enjoy ourselves here. The food is good, service is friendly and attentive and the Corona Familiar (caguama) in the bucket are one of the best non-happy hour bargains around.
(4)Bill G.
Come here fairly often. The staff is always friendly and the service is good. Good green chile, great fish tacos, wife loves the shrimp quesadilla. Recently tried and loved the El Tapatio Special which is a cheese quesadilla covered with fajitas.
(4)Emily S.
For Mexican food, in my opinion, you can tell by the salsa and the Spanish rice if the rest of the meal is going to be decent or not. This usually is a good indicator pretty accurate up to my standards. Now, knowing how I judge my Mexican food, I though this place was alright. The salsa at the beginning was pretty good, spicy, yet still had a a good taste to it. I had a mixed plate, which consisted of a smothered bean burrito, a chicken taco with beans and rice. The rice was decent, lacking a bit in taste and originality, but decent. As for the rest of the meal... well, I don't know... very dry, tasteless, and boring. I wasn't too happy with it. But, at the same time, it was good. (I'm really on the fence here, but don't know if I wanna try it out again) We sat outside, along with one other table. The service was real slow and we had like 4 different people waiting on us the entire time... weird. The whole experience was just OK. The food is edible, but tasteless, all of our four servers were real friendly, and the prices are reasonable. ...but I've still had better!
(2)Brandon Y.
I was actually pretty surprised with this place. It was crazy busy and loud, which I didn't like too much. However, our service was very good and friendly. The chips and salsa weren't anything special, but our entrese were excellent.
(3)Corrina y.
I really like this place, their tacos al carbon are the bomb, however; sometimes there is too much fat, but not always. Green chili is okay, salsa is okay. The place really gets packed, but is large inside and have never had to wait to be seated.
(5)manuel m.
It's a hit and miss with this place. sometimes they're great but about 65% of the time the service is lack luster and the food isn't consistent. the food is good for the most part. they do have good red beer ( michiladas ) mmm maybe we'll go there for one tonite !!! i can't live without this place !!! jk. 3 stars still.
(3)Rachel D.
Service much better last night than other time I've been there.
(4)Shmuel C.
El Tapatio took over what used to be a Bennigan's building and it shows. The furniture, brass railing, and bar look exactly like it did before it changed hands (and cuisines.) The menu is very extensive and while the food is moderately priced, the service needs a lot of work. For example, the waitress knew we were waiting on one additional member of our party, yet asked us twice if we were ready to order; additionally, she could not understand the question "do your refried beans contain lard?" We had to rephrase the question twice and once she finally understood the question, she did not know the answer and did not offer to find out. Another example of where the restaurant needs to improve is improvisation. My party is unique from most patrons in that we do not mix meat and dairy in the same meal. My husband ordered the grilled chicken salad, but the only dressings the waitress offered were dairy-based. Neither Italian nor vinaigrette in any form were not available; additionally, and oil & vinegar dressing was not an option, even when asked; we were lead to believe that there was no oil or any vinegar (red or white) in the kitchen (hence their poor rating on improvisation.) As a consolation prize, pico de guillo was requested in lieu of dressing and when it came out, it was delivered in a hot bowl that too hot to be handled with bare hands. To give credit where credit is due, our drink glasses were never empty and the food was brought out pretty quickly. However, several members of the staff checked in on us often. After we had finished our meal, the "checking in" continued and when they asked if they could take our glasses, we got the impression that they wanted us to leave. There was no one waiting and there were several empty tables, so I felt like their actions were a bit on the rude side. If you want a quick meal, plan to leave promptly after you've paid your check, don't feel like spending a lot of money, and don't have any questions about the menu or how your food is made up, then this is the place to go.
(1)Mandy D.
This is the WORST restaurant I have ever eaten at! I tried this place on several occasions-family dinners, quick place to stop etc. NEVER again! The food looks like someone threw up on my plate, and the wait staff are the most rude, racist people I've ever seen. I happen to be somewhat fluent in Spanish and as I drank a corona-Rita, I couldn't help but over hear the wait staff making "gringo" this and "gringo" that comments. On top of all of this, my boy friend had his credit card number stolen by the waitress, and charges to his account at a Longmont Walmart were later discovered. I would rather eat grass than go here
(1)Chantal M.
The best thing here is the salsa; I would drink that stuff with my straw if it weren't considered weird and gross to do so. Other than the salsa, however, the food is decent. Nothing to jump up down about, that's for sure. The staff is always friendly though, so that's good.
(3)Ken L.
Good traditional Mexican food. Good green Chili. Lettuce taste dirty. Guacamole made my tongue tingle.
(3)Nicole L.
Good service, good green chili. The chimichanga was not crispy at all because of all the green chili but still really good
(4)Georgia T.
I was here last night and could not decide on here or Hacienda. Since I haven't tried this place I thought to give it a shot. We got seated right away and not very long was asked if we wanted a drink. We ordered margaritas of course. I had the Tapatio Margarita which states it uses fresh limes and 3 other liquors. This has got to be the worst margarita I have had. It didn't taste like it had fresh limes in it at all. There was another strange taste that I have never tasted in a margarita and soon found out after we saw them making another one - they use some kind of carbonated drink in it - tasted to me like soda water or club soda. Which that being said, yes their margaritas are big but not so big on taste. As for our service goes, it could have been better. After ordering out drinks and trying to figure out what to eat I noticed a lot of waiters just standing around and a gentlemen who I think was the manager standing with them and bullshitting. Ok, I work in the restaurant industry and do not think this is very professional. If your not giving your tables great customer service which we didn't get, ie, table touches, table maintenance, talking up a table - "hi how are you, what brings you in", then you shouldn't be standing around. Very unprofessional. The food was good - very large portions for the price. I had shrimp in a garlic butter sauce. Everything tasted great - no problems in the kitchen what so ever! The only problem I had with my dish was that there was way to much butter and left with a heartburn. I hate it when I go to restaurant and order seafood/fish and it is overcooked. My shrimp was perfectly cooked! Will I come back again? Maybe very undecided especially when you here the manager/wait staff talking about customers in Spanish in a not so great way. Next time keep it to yourself wait staff - you never know who is listening!!!!!
(2)Krista E.
We were a little reluctant to go here after reading the reviews but it was right by our hotel so we gave it a shot. We had great service and the food was good - standard Mexican fare. The salsa was really good and the Cadillac margaritas were great!
(4)Suman K.
The food is always great!!the service is always horrid! I have been here 10 times. Every time they messed up the order, were so slow and not respectful. The food is awesome. The service makes you regret coming here.
(1)Scott S.
The parking lot is packed every time we drive by, so with friends in town last night, we decided to give El Tapatio a shot. It was packed. Packed. It looks like an old TGI Friday's inside, but I suppose this could just be a coincidence. The food is nothing spectacular. It's decent Mexican food that's served quickly. The server was friendly, but it appeared that some of their staff (waiters) were confused about whose order (other tables) went to which table. They got it sorted out, but it was obvious there was confusion. I was disappointed with my margarita. Went with something blue that was frozen. The size was great, b ut it was a lot of ice, no flavor, and tasted nothing like something blue should taste.
(3)Jen L.
I have been to 3 Locations and this one twice. Im going to start by saying the food is fine. Not great, and no wow factor, but doesn't taste horrible either. The service at best is minimal. Today was way below minimal, I glad my waitress even came to my table. I was through reading the 5 pages menu before someone took my drink order. My food came out somewhat fast after I ordered, how ever my waitress didn't bother to check on me until I finished my meal. It took her another 10 minutes to bring the check. She never did come back to my table, I paid up front, and I was nice enough to tip her a dollar. Won't be here for a while.
(2)Lawrence H.
This place ripped me off twice. Jesus the waiter changed tip amount on us recently. As the saying goes rip me off once, shame on you. Rip me off twice shame on me. I will follow up with management and the police. Food is a step up from Casa Bonita and restaurant is consistently dirty. I have a choice and will not patronize El Tapitio again, any of there locations.
(1)Carla T.
This review is purely based on their take out service: -HORRIBLE. I ordered something to pick up, I could tell that the person taking my order was somewhat confused, possibly because my reception was bad since I was on the road so I confirmed my order in Spanish. He said it was no problem and it would be ready in 20minutes. 20-25minutes later, I get to the restaurant and let the hostess know I'm picking up an order. She has no idea what I'm talking about, she goes in the back to check if anyone knows anything about my order...nothing. Needless to say, I lost my appetite which I guess was a good thing since I had no food to consume.
(1)Bill G.
Come here fairly often. The staff is always friendly and the service is good. Good green chile, great fish tacos, wife loves the shrimp quesadilla. Recently tried and loved the El Tapatio Special which is a cheese quesadilla covered with fajitas.
(4)Renee M.
Let me start off by saying the food was good but our waiter pissed me off enough to warrant a 2 star rating. My mother-in-law called days ahead of our lunch and put in reservations for 29 people and asked specifically if we could do separate checks because there were 8 families. They assured her that would be fine. Fast forward to Sunday afternoon- as soon as the hostess started seating us the waiter was frowning and mumbling under his breath. Then he asked if we needed separate checks. That's when it all went downhill. He had a terrible attitude and said that would be a problem. My aunt asked why and he said "just because it's gonna be too hard". So I said "We asked beforehand and they said it was fine". He said "it's gonna be a problem" so I told him his tip was going to be a problem and he said "that's ok with me". I wanted to leave but didn't want to ruin my daughter's celebration lunch so we stayed. He complained to a manager who came over to speak with us then she told him to do separate checks. He didn't like that. He frowned the whole lunch and was short with our guests. I made it clear how I felt verbally and in his tip or lack there of. The food we ate was very good but I will not go to that location again.
(2)Sherry K.
I have been eating here since it opened. This used to be my favorite place to eat Mexican. I absolutely love the salsa and the margaritas. Food has gone downhill to me but I believe that's because of the service. Went last night with a friend. It was not very busy. Service was slow to order. My margarita came out before his iced tea and my food came out about 15 minutes before his. By the time he got his food, mine was cold. He ordered fajitas and they didn't even bring a plate for him to make them on. That was the final straw. By that time, neither one of us was hungry. We didn't eat our food and walked out after talking to the manager. He did comp our meal but that's wasn't the point. The service here has gone downhill over the past few months. Some friends and I went for brunch a few months ago and again, they were not busy. Maybe 5 or 6 tables and about lots of waiters and waitresses with nothing to do but stand around and talk. Took at least 20 minutes to get drinks, chips and salsa and place our order. Then our food took forever and when they finally brought it out, they brought one plate, waited 10-15 minutes, brought out the next plate, and waited another 10-15 minutes and brought out the last plate. We asked to speak to manager and was told she was busy doing paperwork and couldn't come out to speak with us. After about 20 minutes she came out but didn't seem too worried that our service was horrible. I don't want comp food when I go out to eat. I want good service and good food.
(1)Danielle S.
Why such a low score, people! This place isn't a gem, but it did pleasantly surprise me. Maybe I have a low bar for Mexican food. That might be true. But, I enjoyed myself. It looks like this place was an old Applebee's or something that was abandoned, and that a Mexican restaurant plopped in and took over and didn't change any decor. Whatevs. That's fine. The bar is central, and the margaritas are not only good, but they're HUGE. I'm glad I ordered the small. And I think I might have ordered another one. Yum. The food was fresh, good, and I'd eat it again in a heartbeat. The server was in a rush, but it was busy, and it wasn't really that disruptive. Plus, he got our food to us quickly so I can't complain!
(4)Alicia J.
Ugh, what a completely mediocre experience. This appears to be an old Bennigan's, and there's still plenty of weird art and mismatched decor in the place to confuse anyone taking a good look around. Nothing quite matches. And, the waiters wear these ridiculous tuxedos that don't match anything else in the place...it's all just a big mess. The food was just as bad. I had one of the combos - chicharrones burrito, some weird Mexican pizza like thing, and a chicken taco. The chicharrones burrito was actually a nasty, bland, runny bean burrito with some stale, nearly cement-solid chicharrones thrown on top, smothered in a weak green chile. The chicken in my chicken taco barely tasted marinated, and, in fact, kinda tasted wrong or off. I didn't eat all of that, just in case. My boyfriend had a similar experience with a similar combo. The best thing about the place are the chips and salsa. Those weren't too bad at all. Nice and spicy. But, everything else we had was just...bland and way, way overpriced. As we drove off, I realized we could have saved almost all of our money and just gone to Taco Bell. We would have been better off.
(1)Steve V.
Came here for lunch on a weekday and it was not too full. The prices are reasonable and the food is average at best. I was teetering between a 2 star and 3 star rating but went with a 2 simply because they charge $1.75 for each addition basket of chips and salsa after your first one. I have never seen a Mexican Restuarant do this. I had the Enchiladas Suizas with shredded beef and it was okay. The sauce was runny but the meat had a nice kick. The service was fast and friendly and our large group was out of there in a decent amount of time. Good for the quick business lunch.
(2)Jessica M.
Pretty darn good food and enormous margaritas for those who enjoy tequila, cold Corona lights in a bottle for those of us who do not. The service is definitely spotty and slow-ish. But the wait staff has always made it their priority to make sure that what we order is enjoyed. If we didn't like it, if it wasn't spicy enough, they change it.
(3)Sara S.
We went to El Tapatio on Friday and I ordered one of the chile relleno combos. I had a chile relleno, cheese enchilada, and avocado tostada. Everything on the plate was lukewarm/bordering on cold, and the chile relleno wasn't even cooked all the way through. My boyfriend had the Carne Asada with flour tortillas. I think they may have made everything on my plate beforehand and cooked his steak while my plate sat in the back getting cold. I really enjoy the West Alameda location, and the Golden location, but I will not be returning to this location.
(1)Rosanna D.
Not as good as it use to be
(2)Robert L.
Ceviche was amazing! The best I have ever had. Chips and hot salsa were great. Service was not bad.
(5)Rory R.
I thought El Tapatio must be something of a hidden gem, considering its parking lot always seems full, regardless of the time of day. But the experience there proved very disappointing. My tamales were full of a grey-ish, unknown meat with an alternating chewy and brick-like texture. The accompanying beans and rice - sloppy and uninviting to the eye - reminded me of the gruel served in high school. Finally, a dust bunny hung above our table for the entire meal, only connected to the ceiling by some fine sinew, threatening to nosedive onto my plate at any time. The saving grace here is a delicious, spicy salsa served with the obligatory chips. However, I won't be going back here. Think of a restaurant prior to the intervention of the Restaurant Impossible guy - bad food, bad decor, disappointing experience. Boo.
(2)Eliseo R.
We onlyh went there because the tripe tacos we were craving so much, we explained the server exactly how i wanted my order, and we got completely the opposite, I said fry the tripe just a little bit! we like it soft! and the tripe in our tacos was so hard and fried it was hard to eat, she did not review the food before the busser brought it to the table, and the busser just disappeared as soon as the food touched the table without giving me time to say anything about the food, the server came back later on and I told her about our food; her answer: --I guess the cook doesn't know what he's doing !!!!---- Really?????????
(1)Stephanie V.
Honestly, I thought this place was a very nice Mexican restaurant. Keep in mind the fact that I am from Connecticut, and as such my standards for this type of restaurant might not be as high as any locals reading this review. So with that in mind, onwards. The restaurant was rather eclectically furnished with decorations - and it doesn't really have a ' mexican/spanish restaurant' feel to it, which i didn't mind so much, since the place still felt 'friendly' and was kept nice and clean. The waitress was very friendly and brought our orders out quickly, she also checked in often and made sure that our (my brother and I) drinks were never empty. As for the food: it was honestly quite good. I had tacos a la Americana , and i really liked it , the steak was diced nicely, and the cheese was good quality. The guacamole could have been a bit more substantial , but it wasn't too bad either. The salsa is full of flavor - if a bit smoother in consistency than I'm used to. Now , we had dessert here too( to go actually, since I'm eating it while writing this review) , and I have to say something so you will understand why I rated this place so highly. I HATE CHURROS. Hate them, with all my being. I had them twice before and both times at two different locations, and they were awful. I decided to get them here to see if it was just a fluke those other times. The desserts here are wonderful , I love these churros. The pastry is crisp and tasty, whatever is in the center ( sort of tastes like apple custard?) is delicious, and the honey they came with is a very good quality.
(4)Marissa T.
Used to really like this place but the food seems to getting worse. I ordered the Chorizo, Egg and Potato Burrito which is smothered in Green Chile. Their Green Chile is very spicy but the burrito was only Chorizo. There were absolutely no potatoes and the eggs were so scarce. While it is only $5.95 for this giant burrito eating only Chorizo is overwhelming. My husband always gets the Carnitas Chimichanga which is very good and also smothered in Green Chile. I will order this. This is one of the only decent Mexican food places around us since I personally do not like 3 Margaritas. Also, the margaritas here are kind of expensive. The medium is $14.95 and does not even have enough alcohol to get a buzz off of. The inside is nice and the patio is pretty but the service can be very slow. I will not be going be for a while and trying some new local restaurants instead.
(2)Ryan T.
The most god awful food I have ever been served. DO NOT EAT HERE!
(1)Stephan G.
There is MUCH better Mexican nearby. Even Del Taco is better. LOL.
(1)Jeremy C.
It has been over a year since I first reviewed El Tapatio. This restaurant took over what was Bennigans on South Wadsworth Boulevard and has been doing what appears to be a good business. I prefer this location because of the amount of tables. I have a location very close to where I live but I make the drive to this location because the one by the house only has booths and large tables for massive parties. On to the food part of the review, the quality of food here is very consistent. I love the salsa that is provided when you arrive. It has just the right amount of bite and spice while still remaining very tasty. Just the right amount of hot however the chips while still good do not compare to my all-time favorite which I can no longer get due to the restaurant closing. I have tried a few different dishes at El Tapatio the shredded beef tacos are very good and have a wonderful flavor. I have also had the beef enchilada plate which also has a wonderful flavor however their sauce on the enchiladas is very mild. I prefer it to be mild but overall it doesn't add a lot to the dish. The rice and beans that are served with the dishes are decent but nothing to really write home about. I am ok with that because they are what they are just sides and they are typical of most Mexican restaurants located in Colorado. I still really enjoy El Tapatio and recommend it to anyone looking to try out a Mexican restaurant if you have one near your work place they make a great lunch time stop because they are very, very fast. In fact they are so fast I often wonder how they prepare food, do they have it waiting in the back? I don't know but I do know they are super quick and it is very consistent.
(4)Paul A.
When it opened this place was great, good service and authentic Mexican. Now poor service and pretty standard Tex Mex. Good drinks though, which you will need.
(2)Steve T.
We always enjoy ourselves here. The food is good, service is friendly and attentive and the Corona Familiar (caguama) in the bucket are one of the best non-happy hour bargains around.
(4)Emily S.
For Mexican food, in my opinion, you can tell by the salsa and the Spanish rice if the rest of the meal is going to be decent or not. This usually is a good indicator pretty accurate up to my standards. Now, knowing how I judge my Mexican food, I though this place was alright. The salsa at the beginning was pretty good, spicy, yet still had a a good taste to it. I had a mixed plate, which consisted of a smothered bean burrito, a chicken taco with beans and rice. The rice was decent, lacking a bit in taste and originality, but decent. As for the rest of the meal... well, I don't know... very dry, tasteless, and boring. I wasn't too happy with it. But, at the same time, it was good. (I'm really on the fence here, but don't know if I wanna try it out again) We sat outside, along with one other table. The service was real slow and we had like 4 different people waiting on us the entire time... weird. The whole experience was just OK. The food is edible, but tasteless, all of our four servers were real friendly, and the prices are reasonable. ...but I've still had better!
(2)Brandon Y.
I was actually pretty surprised with this place. It was crazy busy and loud, which I didn't like too much. However, our service was very good and friendly. The chips and salsa weren't anything special, but our entrese were excellent.
(3)Corrina y.
I really like this place, their tacos al carbon are the bomb, however; sometimes there is too much fat, but not always. Green chili is okay, salsa is okay. The place really gets packed, but is large inside and have never had to wait to be seated.
(5)manuel m.
It's a hit and miss with this place. sometimes they're great but about 65% of the time the service is lack luster and the food isn't consistent. the food is good for the most part. they do have good red beer ( michiladas ) mmm maybe we'll go there for one tonite !!! i can't live without this place !!! jk. 3 stars still.
(3)Rachel D.
Service much better last night than other time I've been there.
(4)Shmuel C.
El Tapatio took over what used to be a Bennigan's building and it shows. The furniture, brass railing, and bar look exactly like it did before it changed hands (and cuisines.) The menu is very extensive and while the food is moderately priced, the service needs a lot of work. For example, the waitress knew we were waiting on one additional member of our party, yet asked us twice if we were ready to order; additionally, she could not understand the question "do your refried beans contain lard?" We had to rephrase the question twice and once she finally understood the question, she did not know the answer and did not offer to find out. Another example of where the restaurant needs to improve is improvisation. My party is unique from most patrons in that we do not mix meat and dairy in the same meal. My husband ordered the grilled chicken salad, but the only dressings the waitress offered were dairy-based. Neither Italian nor vinaigrette in any form were not available; additionally, and oil & vinegar dressing was not an option, even when asked; we were lead to believe that there was no oil or any vinegar (red or white) in the kitchen (hence their poor rating on improvisation.) As a consolation prize, pico de guillo was requested in lieu of dressing and when it came out, it was delivered in a hot bowl that too hot to be handled with bare hands. To give credit where credit is due, our drink glasses were never empty and the food was brought out pretty quickly. However, several members of the staff checked in on us often. After we had finished our meal, the "checking in" continued and when they asked if they could take our glasses, we got the impression that they wanted us to leave. There was no one waiting and there were several empty tables, so I felt like their actions were a bit on the rude side. If you want a quick meal, plan to leave promptly after you've paid your check, don't feel like spending a lot of money, and don't have any questions about the menu or how your food is made up, then this is the place to go.
(1)Alex F.
Great place. All ways have been very friendly nice staff. The food is good as well. Cheap drinks They seem busy every time I go there, I think that's a good sign. As far as Mexican food restraunt s in Denver this is good.
(5)Nichole M.
Oh, how I love their green chili and salsa. I have regular cravings for their food. A staple during my pregnancy.
(4)Paul J.
My wife and I love this place. Excellent food! Definitely hits the spot everytime. However the service here isn't great.
(4)Kevin H.
Food was ok, the service was horrible! Went there with my family tonight and our server was terrible! He kept sending over a 16 year old girl to help us and she spoke no English, he was lazy and incompetent and never was around even though they were slow tonight! I don't know why I gave this place a second chance when I keep getting horrible service. We will definitely not be back and working across the street at a near by hotel I will not recommend this place to anyone! Save your money and go elsewhere, you'll thank me later
(2)Tryna R.
We must have come on the wrong night. It took a long time to get seated with only one party of 2 in front of us. Our table was crusted with spots of dried food. We had to wait 10 minutes before we got menus. We had our drinks before we got our menus. Lol! After we ordered the service was better if not a little evasive. We mentioned the 10% off when you check into yelp and our server refused to honor it. He actually mumbled something and walked away. That was the last time we saw him. Note to self- don't mention yelp deal- the server will diss you. 0 stars for service. 2 1/2 stars for food only. The food was good, spicy and with huge portions. We each took part of our dinner home for lunch the next day. The service is always hit or miss here, but the food is good and the location is close.
(2)Heather K.
The food was amazing. I usually eat the same thing every time I go to a Mexican restaurant but this time I asked the server was I should get. She gave me 3 different options. I forget the actual name but it was fajitas on top of a cheese quesadilla. I ate the whole thing it was so yummy. I also order a house margarita she asked me what size I wanted I same medium thinking it wouldn't be to big. But I was wrong it was huge and delicious.
(4)