El Patron Bar

 

13

56

Ale O.

Sacramento, CA

i went for the first time last night, cinco de mayo. the place seemed okay. i liked the outdoor area and the bar was clean and full. their chips and nachos weren't bad either -- unlike most nachos their chips didnt get all soggy when they piled on the toppings - i respect that.

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7

36

Darla M.

Roseville, CA

Seemed promising walking in but turned out to be just average.   Parking is scarce so we had to park on the street in a rather seedy part of town.  The sangria was served in a large fishbowl-glass but was weak and way too sweet.  The chicken mole enchiladas were good.  We were seated at one of the elongated tables on the side of the restaurant.  It did fit our large party, but it made conversation difficult (picture "The Last Supper"-type seating).   Service was ok but the mariachi band made it difficult for our waitress to hear our order - it also made it hard to have any sort of conversation.  Don't get me wrong, the band was great, just REALLY loud.

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1

35

Plavec M.

Sacramento, CA

2 prior visits had been promising.  On this night, however, the place was packed, no doubt in part for the Thurs nite mariachi band (who are GREAT).  Our food was, simply put, lackluster, and service was less than optimal.  For instance, a nice tequila I ordered was served in a shot glass with salt on the rim and a wedge of lemon (what is this...Hooters?)  A vegetarian dish had bagged baby carrots and broccoli florets in it alongside (yummy) nopales and grilled onions.  Truly disgusting.  To their credit, the manager was responsive and made things (somewhat more) right.  This place has a well-meaning menu and its heart is in the right place.  It just needs to keep quality and consistency foremost to continue to get my patronage.

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2

31

SFChick Y.

Sacramento, CA

Parking is kind of tough as the lot is pretty small and oddly configured, but there is some street parking.

I just loved the ambiance.  This restaurant used to be some diner/Denny's type place whose name I've forgotten, but longtime Sacramentans might know.  They mixed the kitchy with Mexican and it turned out well.  Good lighting if you are looking for a place to look your best on a date. The Spanish/Mexican music wasn't too loud, but added to the whole experience.  There were three or four elongated booths in the front of the restaurant, which would be good for large-ish parties (say 8 or so).  We saw a few large parties show up while we were there.  The whole place was fun and kinda hip, but not in an obnoxious way.

We sat at a table in the front windows near the bar. The bar was packed with people and the LCDs/plasmas were flashing some basketball game.  The servers were very friendly and gave us plenty of time to chat and peruse our menus.

We ordered a drink called "What about Jack".  It's pretty much a margarita with Jack Daniels.  Since I'm not a fan of tequila, this was right up my alley.  It's served on the rocks and one is all you need, or at least all I needed.

The menu was a bit of a random mix, but I like that.  There were the items you'd expect at a Mexican restaurant like burritos (served wet or dry), tacos, and fajitas, but there were also burgers and seafood.

To start, we had some sort of salad with kiwis that was really good.  One of my party had the shrimp dish and really enjoyed it.  The other person had a taco and enchilada combo and said it was fair. I was being adventurous and had something called a mixto.  It wasn't what I thought it would be, but that might be due to the Jack margarita.  It was served in one of those big lava rock bowls with legs used for smashing avocado into guacamole.  There was a green sauce at the bottom and a bunch of random veggies and I think fried pork skins mixed in with the steak.  The dish came with tortillas and was kind of like fajitas with a sauce.

The big sign on the street has a website address on it for the restaurant.  I can't seem to Google it, but I'm sure someone else can find it. I believe the place also has take out as I saw a few people with mulitple bags leaving the restaurant.  

Overall, this is definitely a place I will frequent.

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0

8

Rosie L.

Sacramento, CA

Went there for lunch recently in addition to an after-work gathering for drinks/appetizers. I echo the previous comments made about the service. While the manager assisted us on our drinks/appetizer visit while seated in the bar area, when seated at a table, the service is spotty, at best.
However, both the drinks and the food are very good. The salsas are very tasty (for anyone who can stand heat-ask for the green, jalapeno salsa as they don't bring that one out automatically), especially the jicama, pineapple, cilantro and lime juice salsa. The margaritas are good (on one occassion a classic margarita on the rocks was ordered, on another, the "La Chula", which is a pomengrante margarita) and the beer selection extensive with both good domestics on tap in addition to at least 1/2 dozen of Mexican brews. The food on both occassions was very tasty. A steak torta ordered at lunchtime that was huge and could easily serve two people and the chicken soft tacos that came with rice and beans. The one disappointment was that black beans aren't offered in lieu of refried beans. I mean, don't almost all Mexican restaurants do that now unless it's a total hole in the wall????
I love the new design of the place and the lighting and decor are a huge step up from the old Mexico 70 (after it moved from it's Elvas location).
Given that it's close to both work and home, I'll definitely return.

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