El Cholo Pasadena
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street, Valet
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Good for: Dinner
- Music: Live
- Best Nights: Fri, Sat, Sun
- Happy Hour: Yes
- Alcohol: Full Bar
- Smoking: No
- Coat Check: No
15 reviews
Arcadia, CA
"5 stars! I'd agree with the more recent surveys. I went to Thai Orchid not expecting much but I was very very surprised. Their menu is…" read more »
36 Reviews for El Cholo Pasadena
Can't really account for prices as I was there for a paid party. The margaritas were pretty good and the food was not bad.
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Great margaritas that I think warrant 4 stars in of themselves.
Once you hit the menu, it's pretty standard Mexican fare with the prices as you'd expect for a chain. Each entree will run you at least 10 bucks. The opening chips seem store bought but are warmed. I wish all restaurants would warm the chips. Small things make the difference. And they do a good job of keeping it filled. The enchilada is very tasty, the rice has a nice flavor, and the beans are also well done. The Chile Colorado is like a pot roast in mole sauce but isn't quite as tender as I would have liked it. Tamales are top notch - especially the green tamale (seasonal). Good service. Drinks always filled. Desserts looked great (but we were stuffed). They do a nice happy hour during the week with a margarita sampler.
Valet parking only -- 4 bucks. Not the best way to end the meal but all in all, a nice place to spend an evening.
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"Guacatela de pollo!!!"
I've been here a few times, don't ask me why. Majority rules, I guess.
The food is typical "wannabe" Mexican even though this place prides itself as "authentic". Yeah, maybe it was authentic back in the day but not this day.
The food item that does take the cake for its sheer "overrated-ness" have to be the tamales. Whoever came up with the notion that this place serves the best tamales in town was high, and did not share.
Yuck.
Beware of the hilarious line that forms outside during the Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday season. That's when they serve their gross "dulce" tamales. Yeah, they're also equally gross.
Now, the worst offense is that being a "Mexican" food establishment, you would not know that walking up to the door. The sign/marquee says it's a "Spanish Cafe". WTF? A Spanish Cafe that serves Mexican food? Sorry, why didn't you guys just call it, "Dinner at the Inquisition"?
"Comida tipica Mejicana" sounds better.
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After hearing a lot about this restaurant, finally got a chance to try it out.
Food too salty, overpriced and nothing special on the menu. I've had better Mexican food in the Pasadena area. Choice of patio seating available. Overall nice restaurant atmosphere.
Courteous waiter service. Definitely need more training and common sense. We wanted to split a magarita and told the waiter when we ordered. What we get was an extra glass so I don't see what's the point of telling them if they don't split for us. When moving left over food on plates into boxes, the waiter just picked up a used fork from my friend's plate and scooped everything into the box. But sorry, I'm the one taking it home and I don't feel like sharing the saliva too.
Valet service not attentive but expect to be tipped although I parked the car myself (since no one was around when I arrived), and had to pull my car out too when I left.
Will definitely not go back and not recommending anyone.
We had lunch here yesterday with Mom and my sister. When my husband and I pulled in, we were shocked to see a Valet service at noontime so we asked where we could park on our own. He said the street(Fair Oaks) We lucked out and found one but there is very little street parking. Once we were all inside the reception area, we quickly were seated in a nice dark booth. Everywhere you looked there were pictures on the walls which depicted the downtown El Cholo Los Angeles. Beautiful plants and Mexican accessories everywhere. We quicked ordered the marguaritas which were FABULOUS...you just can't beat blended El Cholo Margaritas traditional style. The lunch specials were enticing but the floutas were like big sized taquitos and a little on the hard side which tasted better when you added on the made at the table guacamole. Service was good and they went a long way to give me a birthday flan with a candle on it. Very sweet. Our lunch for four was around $80. A little more pricey than Majares in Pasadena but well worth it.
You know what, It's OK.
The margarita's are pretty legit, and the food is solid. But, what use to be a small family restaurant somewhere in Los Angeles has now turned into a chain, and I'm sure the quality of food was lost somewhere in translation. I would have tacked on another star here, if it not were for the prices of their dishes, Their food is priced higher than it needs to be, in my opinion. I can think of a couple other Mexican restaurants in the area, off the top of my head, where you can save some scratch, and who's dishes are just as good.
La Fiesta Grande
Carambas
El Tepeyac
DO:
Drink a margarita
DON'T:
Use valet (save $4-$5 and park on the street right in front)
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This location is better than the Los Angeles one. My bf and I had very attentive service this past weekend, which was really surprising. This location is very clean and very friendly. They also had mariachis playing live music! We parked on the street so we didn't have to pay valet, yes there is valet at LUNCH, crazy!
I had the green corn tamales, which is my favorite dish to get here. The blue agave margarita I had was stiff and great tasting.
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Quite frankly, the most expensive Mexican food I've ever had. It was decent, but not good. My ex raved about it, so we went and then I was like..eh. You'll be better off going to Dona Rosa on Arroyo Pkwy. and California. Same company, but cheaper and tastier food. Also, if that wasn't enough to keep you away...they only valet there and good luck with finding street parking on Fair Oaks.
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I ate here w/ a friend once in the restaurant area and the food was great for tourists. I only come back now with my friend in the bar area just for Happy Hour. The bartenders know how to make a mean strawberry margarita! The chips are a little lame too like Margarita Jones but at least they come warm. What's with the fiesta color chips in these Pasadena restaurants??? Anyway, the bar area is small and it's no fun to people watch. There isn't anything to look at! It's just good to catch up with a friend, enjoy each others company and drink killer margaritas.
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I like El Cholo Pasadena for the strong delicious margaritas and large portions. I always keep forgetting to go May-October when they have the good tamales though! I had the regular pork tamale last time which was just ok. My boyfriend had some excellent tacos though, and the beans, chips and salsa, and rice were all delicious. The peach margarita was superb, and that was one of the cheap options. I always leave stuffed and with lunch for the next day.
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El Cholo disappointed me, kinda. I was in the mood for a strong margarita. I was in the area with a friend on Sunday and we decided on that place. While the margaritas were very good and strong, the cup of Tortilla Soup I ordered was horrible. All I tasted was cumin. Way too much of it. The soup was like porridge and there were only about 2-3 small chunks of chicken in it. The flavor was horrible. My friend ordered an appetizer and it was just lukewarm, as if they had pre-fried all the items, and then plated it when we ordered it.
Blech.
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I absolutly HATE the valet parking there! It would take far less time and trouble to park my own car. Why is this pretentious nonsense nessesary? I parked on the street and walked. The food was good and the service slow. I won't be back unless the stupid parking situation is changed, anyone who is impressed with "high class" valet parking has serious issues. "Oh yes, we are far too important, high class people to lower ourselves and park our own car like like the common people do, why, soon we will be dressing ourselves too, like some common riff raff!" PLEEEEEEEEEEEAS!
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People keep saying this place has Mexican food - which I guess it ultimately was - but doesn't the place say "Spanish" in big letters right on the sign? Not that I've had any other experience with Spanish food, so what would I know?
I started off with the albondigas. the waiter actually came back and brought me an additional bowl of...uh....balls. I let my landlady have one and she said "hmm, they just taste like boiled balls." And yeah, they kind of did. So I ate every other part of the soup - great flavor. I had a great big coconut margarita - they were out of mango. I'm not big on tequila, but it was tasty.
As my main dish, I had some sort of beef tacos...I forget what kind, but they had cheese and bacon - so it doesn't get much better for me.
There was lots of food, prompt service. I was pleased.
start off with a cadillac margarita with some top shelf tequila-something anejo or blue agave... then get the fresh guacamol...the mexican lady rolls up to your table and makes it fresh in front of you.. service doesn't get better than that...they have some nice combos on the menu and nothing is over $20... yeah skip the valet and park on the street.. not really needed here, it's pretty casual...
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So my cousins and I came here for dinner. I decided to check out the reviews prior to my visit, and I wasn't too impressed. Well, my own personal experience has led me to the same conclusion. The ambience was nice enough. Lots of photos on the wall, many of them black and white. The restaurant itself had a nice enough atmosphere, except for the fact that the place was decorated for Halloween. I found that a bit unnecessary. There were skeletons and dummies and fake spiderwebs all over the place.
I was told the margaritas were not to be missed. Trust me, they can be missed. I had a pomegranate margarita. It came in a martini glass and was full of small bits of ice. Halfway through, my drink was completely watered down!
As for the food--the guacamole was pretty good-made tableside. I had a crabmeat enchilada. The enchilada was ok, it came with sauted vegetables, red rice and black beans. Everything was ok except the black beans. Totally tasted like they were from a can. In fact, they absolutely tasted like the fucking can. They were barely warm, and totally flavorless--except, of course, for the taste of CAN!!
Yeah, don't bother--overpriced, over-ambienced... Just over it.
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Ate here twice, love the other location, but the Pasadena branch is horrible. Inedible enchiladas, tasted like a TV dinner, really bad.
Horrible, stay away.
I have to give them three stars for accommodating twelve of us last minute.
The mole was totally decent. The chile relleno though...not so good. The table salsa may have easily been bought at Costco...it tasted like pure chopped tomatoes with some onion in it.
Meh...Whatevs.
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Came here last night with friends to have a Christmas dinner.
Moment I drove up to the parking lot, it was crazy packed. But that's expected for a Friday night.
Getting inside was worse. I was surprised I even found friends at the bar so quickly.
Walking inside, I felt like I walked into one of those Spanish mansions. With words written in Spanish all over the walls, the dcor in so many colors, but mostly brown, the restaurant may be wild and loud, but the ambiance was warm and cozy. Looking around the restaurant, it's definitely not small. There's upstairs and downstairs. Bar may be somewhat small, but gee'z the eating area, they had a freaken Christmas tree as possibly the center piece of the restaurant.
Because one of my friends family member works as one of the chefs here, we were hooked all of us up with appetizer...I believe we got the fiesta platter.
That platter will filled with so much variety of Mexican yummy's: Chips, guacamole, mini quesadilla, mini burritos, and lots of oh-e-goo-e cheese.
Because of all the free appetizer we were getting, we all decided to just hang around the bar and get drunk.
I ended up ordering this cocktail that's somewhat like a regular margarita, but not as sour... just stronger. And wow, that was strong, and really really good. After that drink, I started drinking everyone else's drink. And all I can say is El Cholo has some crazy bartenders that know what their doing.
I decided to take a peek at the menu, and there really isn't a large selection, but everything you could ever want when it comes to Mexican food, this is the place to come to. To bad I didn't really try any of the main dishes to review them. But if there as good as the appetizers then, I'm in.
I really hate this place. Margaritas have a weird after taste. Salsa has the same weird after taste. Chips suck too. I've eaten at this place numerous times and I have never had anything that tastes good. Tamales have way too much masa that is soggy and heavy. Enchilada sauce is meh and they slather everything with way too much cheese. I would really love to boycott this restaurant but Iknow that I will be dragged there again because of some family function.
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I remember falling in love with chimichangas here....about 5 years ago.
everyone else has outdone them.
pretty sad.
Again, another chain restaurant. Again, pretty much what you'd expect. Only my personal experience was even more disappointing from the fact that I had just returned from an excruciating three day stint in Laughlin. Nothing but crappy "river" food topped off by a dinner of crappy "authentic" Mexican food that's overpriced. What the hell was I thinking?
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Tasted like Taco Bell. Could have been because we were there in a large group (for a wedding), but it surprisingly hit the spot. There was a wide assortment of margaritas and other fine beverages. The seating was a little cramped, but we fit everyone in. The best part of this dinner was that our group was so big, that the manager of the restaurant actually asked a family that was just getting their food if they wanted to move to make room. They agreed, but still. Who does that?
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I came here for a Christmas lunch with work people so we had a table upstairs reserved especially for us.
My experience here was nothing to write home about. The waiter got our orders wrong and we ended up waiting for one person to wait for their meal to arrive. I had a combo, which included a tamale, enchilada and a taco. All were good, but I've had better.
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Been here twice, once with a friend, then for my bday. With the friend I ordered a dish that contained tamales, chiles rellenos, rice, beans, and I think enchiladas, all half submerged in a pool of some tomato type goop and all overpowered by oregano.
If you've read my Amigo's restaurant blurb, you'll know how much I hate cheap beans. By cheap I mean tasteless, bland, and pale, you know, cheap. Well, this restaurant has cheap beans. They're half-assed and taste like iron, rusted iron. The rest of the plate tasted like an oregano plant marinated in tomato sauce.
The service was tolerable, we were assigned a semi-rock/punker woman who carded (I was underage) so I wasn't able to drink, well, not in her presence.
I was recently 22 on my second visit, and there were around 15-20 people in our party. My good friend bought me several shots of Patron, and one shot of Don Julio 1942. It was heaven. One of the only redeeming qualities of this joint. I had some quesadillas that were dry and kind of bland, and my taste buds are hyper sensitive when I've had a few drinks, but I had no foodgasms here. Shame.
The service the second time around was great. They accomodated us and our large party succesfully. The guac girl asked how spicey we wanted our guac to which I replied, "que queme al salir," and, while blushing and smiling embarassingly, she added copious amounts of habaneros. By the tenth chip my face was ablaze, my tongue a nuclear wasteland. "Shot, please!"
Oh, and since it was my birthday, they presented me with a small flan dessert with a candle. The candle was lit and it was pretty and made me feel nice. The caramel was melted properly, and the consistency was great. But after who knows how many shots, I could have been dipping the spoon in water.
Would I come here again? No. Well, yes if it was free.
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This place falls into the category of overspiced, cheesy, greasy mexican restaurants. They even have a costumed mariachi band that seranades the customers. Like I said, cheesy. They get an extra star since they have options for tequila and margaritas.
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We have not been there for some time, but we loved it there every time we went to have a cadillac or some great food! Just this past Thursday, to my surprise the quality has changed soooo much I could not belief it! Food was dull no taste, the salsa tasted like tomato juice, the cadillac tasted like sour lemonade with lots of salt!
I had the steak fajitas and the meat was burned and the veggies just dull no taste! This was my favorite dish at El Cholo's, the meat used to be tender and medium well done with wonderful flavors coming up the sizzling plate!
Ohhhh, about that manager (new)...... he looks down to you as if you are a criminal, lousy attitude!
Sorry, that was the last time for us at El Cholo's !
Note to self: if you see red and green dyed tortilla chips in the basket on your table at a "Mexican" restaurant, run.
Less phony ethnic baloney and more sabor por favor.
Foolish me. I still thought, wow, fresh handmade GREEN CORN TAMALES from grandma's original recipe. How interesting is that!? Uh....well, NOT. The green corn masa was overwhelmingly sweet, soggy, and not warm enough to melt the cheese inside.
My husband's dinner platter was better. He got some enchilada combo that was decent though not memorable.
If you can't find street parking get ready to fork over some dinero for the valets.
I'm glad we went to satisfy our curiosity but unfortunately that's about all that was satisfied.
If you're ever in Pasadena jonzing for Mexican food, you're better off trying El Cholo's sister restaurant, Dona Rosa in Pasadena (www.dona-rosa.com). The food tasted better, was slightly cheaper, parking was easier (and FREE!), and the menu was way more authentic. There you'll find stuff like puerco pibil, a nice assortment of pan dulce, and yummy champurrado rather than be faced with a basket full of tri-coloured chips with a side of bland runny salsa.
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Come on people! The guacamole is not that good: no garlic and no cumin.
If you want some good guacamole get:
2 Haas avos. mash them up with:
one clove garlic
juice of one lime
1 -2 jalapenos
some course salt and pepper
a tiny bit of onion
a diced ripe tomato
fresh cilantro
and a teaspoon of cumin (that's a secret)
The margaritas are very strong and that's probably what explains why people love El Cholo.
Twice my wife drank a margarita and then lost her wallet at El Cholo.
I don't really know why I keep coming back to El Cholo cause:
1. It's really cold in there
2. The green corn tamales are really wet. Traditional tamales are not all soupy and wet and mushy.
3. It's kind of pricey for street food
4. Parking sucks
Must be the margaritas.
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While not exactly the most original or novel place to review, this family-owned chain of restaurants ranks as my favorite place for Mexican food. My kids love it, too -- which makes it easy for the whole family to go out. Blue Corn Chicken Enchiladas are my personal favorite. The only bad thing to say about El Cholo is that the service is consistently slow. Our family has learned to accept it -- the price of great comfort food. Order another margarita and you'll not mind as much.
The lovely servers in their traditional flare make their guacamole fresh in front of you at the table. You can smell the individiual ingredients as they are combined together to make it exactly the way you like it. I can't tell you how great of an exeperience it is. I've never had guacamole that tasted like this before. The food is like every other El Cholo - good mexican food at a decent price, but seriously the guacamole here is what sets it apart from the rest. Be sure to couple it with one of their signature magaritas!
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It's okay. I've had better.
Against my better judgment, I met up with some friends at El Cholo a few hours ago. It's been a while since my last visit, and I was in denial about exactly how terrible the food was. But now, with my memory refreshed, I can say that even my margarita was pretty regrettable. The drink itself was super-salty, which didn't make sense because I sucked it up through a straw and didn't touch the salt on the rim. Surprisingly, the cheese enchilada and chile relleno combo was . . . okay . . . so if I were grading each item on a curve, this would be the dumb-ass student who got an A because everybody else happened to fail. The chips were inconsistent, both chewy and crunchy, and the salsa tasted like watery black pepper. I'm giving it three stars only because the service was fine and I do appreciate the ambiance, with wrought iron and all that jazz. Will I come back again? Gods, I hope not. Why, when I can go to Margarita's on Rosemead Blvd. in Pasadena or Los Gringos Locos on Foothill Blvd. in La Canada instead?
Well my Yelping friends, this is definitely a first for me. I am changing a rating from 4 stars to 1 star and rewriting a review to reflect recent experiences as well as feedback I've received from others. Before you write off this posting as some angry guy blowing off steam after one bad experience I'd like to stress that the pivotal event I'm about to describe took place a few months back. Only after hearing the same story from a handful of others did I choose to rewrite this review. This rewrite isn't nearly as terse as my original posting was, but I wanted it to be useful... apologies! Let's get started...
I made reservations to dine at El Cholo on a Friday evening. It seems to be generally understood that at popular restaurants like El Cholo reservations are generally worthless on busy weekend nights. But hey - if nothing else, showing up with a reservation usually means being seated at least as quickly as another party arriving at the same time without a reservation, right? After arriving and announcing our name and reservation, the host (a flamboyant and rude young man) said in an exasperated tone (without eye contact) that he saw our reservation and that it would be a few minutes. It was Friday night and the feeling was right... no biggie! Some twerpy queen is short with customers. Whatever, its Friday! We grab a few drinks from the bar and wait to be seated.
As we're sitting waiting for our table with other couples we watch a studly man walk in with two attractive blonde ladies - one on each arm. Nice! I guess being a playboy has it's other perks, because he was seated immediately despite lacking a reservation. HUH??!? The couple sitting next to us turned to us and asked if we also "just saw that". Whatever... this is LA afterall! I suggest to my friend and the couple sitting next to us that we give the host the benefit of the doubt. A minute or so passes... some more people enter the restaurant and are told it will be several minutes until a table is available. Then even more people enter and are told it will be a wait. Okay cool; the stress of the work week made our imaginations and sensitivity soar. Or not, as in walks a very attractive and fashionable couple. In one of the most brazen displays I have ever seen, the couple *explains they forgot to make a reservation*, asks how long the wait will be, and are seated *IMMEDIATELY*.
Geez, that's pretty lame. At this point there is absolutely no question of what's going on. I mean, up until this point we had never heard of a Mexican restaurant with a customer screening and priority seating policy. Always the optimists, We decide to make the best of things and get some more drinks from the bar - afterall, their margaritas are outstandng. Who knows? Maybe it is just one flamboyant and rude host who is playing bouncer for the restaurant. Why let one little twerp ruin our evening? More time passes and a friendly server noticed how long we had been waiting, approached and welcomed us, and seated us in his section. THAT was an unforgettable act of customer service. It "made" our evening AND washed away the bad taste of not being "worthy". Or so I thought...
The meal was delicious and satisfying. The service from our server was exceptional. The meal winds down and I debate whether or not to say anything to the manager about the host. I mean, other people had observed it and I really wanted to know if it was house policy. But on the other hand, I really like El Cholo and wanted to avoid making a scene. I decide in the interest of future dining I should say something; I politely ask for the manager, telling our server how much we appreciated his outstanding service. The manager arrives and I begin by shaking his hand and telling him how much I enjoy his restaurant. I gently explain that we and another couple observed the host playing bouncer, giving arbitrary seating priority to whomever he saw fit. Before he could respond I also explained that this would in no way stop me from going to his restaurant and that out of several visits this was the first time anything like this had ever happened. What happened next ensured I would never visit El Cholo again. The manager, instead of saying something to the effect of "we'll look into it blah blah blah", openly and defensively contradicts me. Despite my cheerful demeanor and kind words, this man bluntly stated that there is "no such thing". Realizing that he either didn't care or wouldn't cop to it, I praised our server again and left, admittedly frustrated and telling myself I would never go back.
So why did I leave my glowing review of El Cholo up for months and decided only now to change it? Well, this week at work I overheard two coworkers talking about El Cholo. Before I could even join in, one remarked that he saw people being seated without reservations before people with reservations. Need I say more?
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The "flagship" of Blair Salisbury's and Associates HMS Group. individually themed restaurants. Hhhhmmm is he trying to be another Patina Group kind of thing?????
I'll keep this short since I don't want to give ANYMORE print to them than they deserve.
Probably the worst service you'll encounter from indifferent staff (that don't seem to know which one of them is supposed to do what...)
Definitely the RUDEST "Managers" I've ever had to deal with.
I was at the restaurant one night when they had to bring me my food THREE TIMES! before they got the order right. (I know that a Green Corn Tamale and Crispy Chicken Taco is a REAL DIFFICULT DISH TO GET RIGHT....after all El Cholo makes Chinese food right?
So having said all of that, I just wanted everyone to know that my family has frequented the original location for about 36 years. (in other words I can probably recite the menu!)
Will somebody clue these people that they have to train staff???
That they have to have managers (REMEMBER ME Ricardo Diaz???)that don't feel it is beneath them to run food to a guest (ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY'VE GOTTEN THE ORDER WRONG TWO TIMES!!!!! AND THAT THE LEAST HE COULD'VE DONE WAS TO COMP THE MEAL??? OR MAYBE ONE MARAGARITA?????
needless to say I'LL WILL NEVER STEP FOOT IN ANY OF THOSE RESTAURANTS AGAIN!
When you want great Mexican Food there are many other GREAT places that seemed to have figured it out- people want great food, good drinks, prompt service AND NO ATTITUDE FROM "MANAGERS".
Lucca Lovato
Los Angeles, CA
food was ok, I like the margarita's , they got my date now G/F traaashed.
overpriced tourist food.
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