Compadres Bar & Grill
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Garage, Valet
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: Yes
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Best Nights: Tue
- Happy Hour: Yes
- Alcohol: Full Bar
- Smoking: No
- Coat Check: No
19 Reviews for Compadres Bar & Grill
It may not be traditional but I love the ribs here. Margarita pitchers sure help to get the night started. Tequila!
there aren't many reasons that inspire me to come here, except....
Taco Tuesdays (see almost every other review)
&
as copied from their menu:
DOS RICARDOS - a Compadres riginal! Roasted chicken, Carne Asada, or our SIGNATURE Carnitas over black beans on a flour tortilla and topped with three eggs, Monterey Jack cheese and tomatillo sauce, then crisped under the broiler. Garnished with guacamole, sour cream, and salsa fresca
**I recommend not tailing anyone who's had this (leave at least a car length)**
I'm giving it 4 stars, but my last experience here with service was bad enough that the manager paid for our drinks AND took 25% off the bill. On the bright side the food was very good.
I've been here several times and always enjoy the food.
It's good for traditional and some texmex style dishes (tortilla soup is good and so are the baja quesadillas). Its a good place to go for drinks, sharing food and just having fun w/ friends. But the service is practically bipolar. Really bad or really good.
i *heart* taco tuesday! i always try to get here as early as possible so i can nab those cheap margaritas and a table before the place gets stuffed full of my fellow cheapasses who don't want to pay more than a dollar for a taco.
DOLLAR TACOS! sometimes the taco line is super long but don't worry, the guy serving the tacos is such eye candy, you're actually kind of sad when you've been handed your tacos and it's time to walk away. one of these days, i'm going to get drunk enough and plant one of my taco flavored kisses on his hot ass.
taco, taco flavored keeeeeeses!
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Okay, their ceviche was a lot closer to what I was looking for. It was far less fishy tasting, and it was better spiced.
The chips that came with the salsa were unreasonably hard, but the salsa was good. Service was okay. Margarita was kind of tasteless. I had trouble getting to it, but that's just because I never drive downtown. Free parking!
Two words earn those 4 precious stars:
TACO FREAKING TUESDAY
Ok, I lie, that was three words, but it gets my point across nicely. I have eaten here a few times before not on Taco Tuesday and it's been passable. Better than Chevy's (mainlanders know) but still not authentic enough to please my Mexican half. (In all fairness, I am only half though) I've had the enchiladas here and a ginormous burrito, yet I wasn't compelled to yelp about this place....until.....
TACO TUESDAY!
$1 tacos?? They must be insane. They lure me in with the cheap food and all then hook me with cheap drinks. They even have a fountain of tequila! I am in love. I asked the cute guy bartender for a margarita and he replied "I only have doubles right now for $5, is that alright sweetie?" I was flattered (I love it when cute guy bartenders flirt with me and call me sweetie) and pumped by a great deal. Was it alright? It was fan-freaking-tastic! (although later that night...or maybe the next day...I pondered the how he could "only have doubles" when in order to make a double there must first be a single...I hate it when hangovers make you think)
The crowd here is youngish, but so am I. I'd guess most are early to mid 20's give or take a few years on the higher end. Everyone is super friendly and nice and I've met cool people here.
Anyways, this place isn't bad as a restaurant, but after getting a taste of Taco Tuesday I probably won't want to go there otherwise. Oh yea and make sure you get there early to get a table or else you have to stand and eat your tacos and drink you margaritas and it's hard to look cool while doing that.
OH and one more thing, I think someone told me that Thursday are Quesadilla Thursdays...I haven't been, but was curious (and so blinded by my new found Taco Tuesday love that I forgot)...so someone check it out!
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Yes. Taco Tuesday. da gang been going for years. During mid day, mid week, get half off enchilada plates!
check it out:
http://www.youtube.com...
Yelp should get one youtube style section!
If you are wanting to go somewhere at around 4-6PM on a Tuesday night and don't know where go here. Taco Tuesdays!!!! You get to choose 5 tacos at a dollar each. They don't let you have more then that though, if you want more just head to the back of the line and get some more. They have a good happy hour too with Corona beer. They also once had this vodka fountain and if you were sly enough you could get some free alcohol off of that. You can also get margaritas and double margaritas as well. Just watch out it does get a little packed after 6 or so but definitely a good place to just relax and kick back after work.
OK, the food's pretty good. Guarantee you'll find better Mexican if you look hard enough. But, this place is like, 1 minute from the beach, and overlooks Ala Moana Park. Plus, specials out the wazoo...
1/2 price enchiladas from 11-4, every weekday.
$1-$3 margaritas ($10-$13 for a pitcher) from 3-6 and 9-12 on Mondays.
$1 tacos, $2.50 margaritas, and $3 Coronas from 4-7 on Tuesdays.
$1 quesadillas, $5 Steinlager pitchers, $2 draughts, and $3 bottles 4-7 on Thursdays.
A soggy, wet twenty dollar bill from your boardshorts will take care of all your drunky needs after a day at the beach.
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TACO TUESDAY!!!
Yummy. I have had a regular meal here once and thought it was just okay. It is hard to find really good Mexican food in Hawaii. When I do find it, you will know.
If you come here, come here on Tuesday. It is Taco Tuesday and it is the best deal in Honolulu. It runs from 4-6. They also have other deals on other days but this is the most poplular. Tacos are $1. Margaritas are $2.50. I think Coronas are $2.
The tacos come with either ground beef, shredded chicken or beans. They are hard-shell tacos. they put a generous portion of lettuce, cheese and salsa. you can add your own extra hot sauce from their famous "wall of fire" display.
Once again, TACO TUESDAY!!!
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Not a good value if you're dropping by without a coupon or not eating one of the promotions.
You'll average about $40 for a lunch for two. Pretty pricey for Mexican food.
Having said that you do get all the chips and salsa you want. Soft drinks are refillable but a bit pricey to start with.
Service can be spotty, especially when they're busy. The disappointing thing is that sometimes the food I got was cold. Go figure. I've had lunches that easily took me over an hour so be prepared if you're expecting a quick lunch.
The salad that comes with your meal usually pretty good with the salsa/dressing pretty tasty.
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I'll be honest, I used to strongly dislike this place & vowed to never dine there again...
Well I lied... I just had dinner there tonight & quite liked what I had.
I had the Carolita (carnitas) Enchilada & some Macho Nachos.
The portions were HUGE & service was great!
What can I say I've had a change of heart.
HAPPY FAT TUESDAY!!! It was nuts here tonight, early in the evening. Everyone was wearing beads, Coronas in hand. I had a margarita: rocks & salt.
Yes, I had A margarita, singular. It came in a plastic 12 oz. cup and was $5. It seemed a little steep to be on special for that price (they are normally $6.50), but I gotta tell you that I have a fairly high tolerance for alcohol (I guess everything's relative though...) and this margarita put me into a nice little state of buzz. Two margaritas and I would've been drunk. Three might've been a disaster. I saw some other girls in the restroom who looked like they should not have another drink... Speaking of the bathrooms, I was annoyed that were no paper towels in either of the dispensers. And there was not even an annoying hand-dryer-blower-thingie to attempt to dry the hands with.
WHY I LIKE TO EAT HERE: An unlimited amount of FREE fresh tortilla chips and salsa (Add more salt to your baskets for more satisfying flavor). Once they didn't have any chips and I basically freaked out. How could they not have chips at a Mexican restaurant?! My fiance/boyfriend at the time kept saying, "I'm SO sorry. That really sucks. I can't believe it either. I'm SOOOO sorry!" (He understands that I'm a foodie/fattie. That's why I love him.) I like Compadres' salsa because the oregano flavor really comes out. Yep, oregano is a mexican thing too; it's not just italian. I also think it's cool that Compadres serves their salad dressing in a Patron tequila bottle. ANOTHER cool thing is their Wall of Flame: small wall of hot sauces from all over the world that one can contribute to and/or use on their meal.
For dinner I usually order an appetizer for my meal because the portions at this place are outrageously big, but we had a coupon this evening, so we decided to get two "big" items to maximize our discount (do we get pake points?):
1) We ordered the rib-eye steak rare because I felt strongly that otherwise it would be overcooked to medium-well at best (all western- American type places seem to have different standards regarding meat cooking gradations.) Sure enough, the 1/2 inch thick steak came out medium-rare instead of rare, just like I like it. I didn't like that the steak was a little tough and sinewy. Cheap cut of meat for about $23.
2) "Best Damn Enchiladas, Period" was our other choice. I have to disagree with the name of the entree, though. They were pretty good enchiladas with nice tender cubes of chicken and sauteed mushrooms and bell peppers, but I was left with a craving for better sauce and some cheese. A nice fresh tomatillo enhanced green sauce or a more zesty red sauce possibly might have made these enchiladas the best damn ever. Except of course that I am partial to cheese enchiladas, so maybe not. In any case, they were good, but who does the chef at Compadres think he is to make such claims of glory?! $16.
The fried ice cream tonight was different from previous times we've ordered it. Previously it was actually a battered and fried chunk of ice cream with caramel topping. This evening I couldn't see why it was called fried ice cream; I was very disappointed. However, it still tasted good, and it came out really quickly after we ordered it.
As most everyone else discussed: $1 tacos every Tuesday from 5-7 p.m. are a bargain for freshly fried taco shells with your choice of chicken, beef, or veggie filling. Coronas are $3 & the "regular" margaritas (they have several different types) are $5.
Outside the sign said there was a nachos special every Thursday, but I was buzzed when I read it and all the info didn't sink in enough for me to report it here. (Pretty damned strong margarita...) Sorry. Maybe you should call ahead if it's really important for you to know what the Tues/Thurs specials are.
The service here is often slow (once a waitress forgot to put in my friends' table's orders in!), though the waiters and waitresses are very friendly, so maybe that makes up for it a little.
Good Mexican food although you may find better in California. Portions are fairly big. Lava Flows are great here. Must also try their Margaritas. If it's your birthday they bring out a huge sombrero (?) for you to wear, a piece of cake, sing, and take your picture. Depending on where you're sitting, you can get a good view of the sunset.
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TACO TUESDAYS are great but other than that. It has gone downhill. I once enjoyed going there for a decent meal. The flavor has changed from 2 years ago. The margaritas and lava flows are AWESOME though! Sitting outside while the sun sets is beautiful!
If you want to eat decent mexican food...I would go elsewhere.
I think it is a fun place to hang with friends to drink pitchers of margaritas!!!
Good place, descent selection of drinks, descent food....
Good service & food! I enjoyed a margarita and a chicken chimichanga.
Everytime I visit, I come to Taco Tuesdays. Not bad for $1 taco and cheap corona's or margaritas. The tacos are ok- either chicken or beef. I get both. I get about 3 and I'm full along with a few margarita's on the rocks. I suggest come early to get a table and to avoid the long lines- yes the lines get long.
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