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El Rayo Taqueria
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good for:
- Lunch
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
16 reviews for El Rayo Taqueria
I was first unsure about spending my hard earned money at this establishment. I had read the reviews on yelp and they overwhelmed me with harsh words of anger and over charging for tacos. I didn't know what to do... Finally I went on a whim encouraged by a co-worker with his probable explanation for the "pricey' reviews as "well, when your only comparison is a 59 cent taco from taco bell, maybe they don't understand how pricing works..."
This was one of the best burritos I have ever had. Ever. Who really cares if it's authentic or not. We're not in Mexico. The food is great and that's all you really need to know.
Give it a try. You will be happy you did.
They get 1 star for cute atmosphere and 1 star for friendly staff. Otherwise, the place is not very comfortable (cramped, crowded, you might have to share a table), and the food is BLAND and the portions are TINY.
They charge you for chips... and they don't come with salsa (you have to pay for that also, or eat your chips dry). My boyfriend got an $8 passionfruit lime margarita, and it tasted like water. His carnitas burrito tasted like indian food (?), which was not right. I had to dump salt on my chilaquiles to give them any flavor. My sangria was ok, but did not taste much different from normal red wine. I didn't see any fruit marinating in it, they added an orange slice right before they gave it to me.
There is a lot of buzz about this place, but it's all hype.
I went to El Rayo when they first opened and had a terrible experience. Got take out and the portions were tiny. The nachos were the most bland I had ever had and consisted of about 6 chipped and a little melted cheese in the takeout box. Hey, maybe they were just getting the kinks out as a new restaurant, right?
Months later I thought I would try it again. When we walked in, the menu had been removed from the wall, leading me to believe that it was no longer a place where you order at the front, pick your food up and sit wherever. However, no one greeted us (even thought we saw quite a few waitresses) there was no sign saying "seat yourself" and we stood around trying to figure out what to do, and finally just took a seat at a cramped table where my butt touched the butt of the dude behind me. After sitting for about 10 minutes we FINALLY had a woman come ask if we had ordered, where we said, no, we haven't even seen a menu or ordered drinks....I usually walk out of places if no one has acknowledged me in 10 minutes...
After finally getting service, here are the results:
Pros:
-rice and beans side order was very tasty (key point though is that it has to be ordered as a side)
-fish taco sauce and seasoning were great
-younger waitress worked her butt off and was great, while older waitress with short hair and glasses was unfriendly and chatted with some friends while we waited and waited to place our order.
Cons:
-bland guacamole and chips that are too dry to be eaten alone
-vegetable taco was TERRIBLE and I couldn't finish it because the spicing of it was too extreme my tongue started to feel like I was sucking on a sour patch kid. Also, it had pickled onions that were way too strong, grilled carrots, and then more grilled onions. Yuck.
-My boyfriend, from Southern AZ and v. familiar w/mexican food, thought his chorizo was really just ground beef and not authentic at all.
-no pepper at table, had to dump loads of salt for any flavor
-hot sauce at table was way too sweet.
I gave this place a second chance and it was worse than the first time.
Enjoyed our lunch here. Had the corn, which being from NJ, I was a bit skeptical about the quality of corn this time of year. It was a bit mature, but not overly so that it wasn't enjoyable. Love the chipotle mayo and cotija. Mmmm.....
Had a fish taco which was very fresh and tasty. Spiced perfectly for my taste.
My husband had a fish taco and a carne asada and loved both. He also loved the house made habanero sauce on the table. I am a wimp and didn't try it.
Also loved the outdoor seating and that they're dog friendly. Even brought over some water for my pooch.
Service was good too. Wish we had a good mexican place like this nearby.
Would definitely go back.
I don't see a problem with this place. The food is fresh and prepared before your eyes.
Skip the Margaritas 2 of those equalled the price of the rest of the meal.
I note below some scathing reviews about the service of this place, and I must say, I beg to differ. We got our food (delicious and mildly-authentic, but that's beside the point...?) reasonably fast, no serious complaints, and the cocktails - while extremely limited - were very good. Beside all of that, and I don't mean to overlook the food or anything, but the waitresses there are honestly enough to make me forget I've been sitting for twenty minutes without so much as a bowl of chips. Eye-candy, anyone? Ugh.
The one star review is due mostly to our waiter, Justin.
Here are some of the ways he completely failed as a waiter:
* food came out at separate times
* 3 of us (out of a table of 8) gave up on ever getting our food. I went over to Justin to tell him to forget my order when I saw it sitting on a tray. He handed it to me to take back to the table myself.
* I also had to get napkins and silverware for the table
* We had to ask THREE times from two different people to get our water
* Justin brough me a little dessert pudding, which I though was perhaps a way of saying sorry for having ruined everything. Then he snatched it back out of my hands and gave it to the correct person, giving the excuse that we looked similar
* Justin was grabbing cash off the table before we had even finished
I also paid $3.25 for a piece of corn. WTF. It wasnt even good corn, it was all dried and small.
Maybe there were good parts of this restaurant but the service was so bad that I will surely never go back.
The place is definitely funky and cool, but the comments about bad service are absolutely true. The wife loved the place, but I am unlikely to return until I hear the service has improved.
I may seem prejudiced because I'm from Los Angeles, but I also believe an ethnic restaurant outside of its comfort zone doesn't get to make excuses in this day and age. Virtually anything can be gotten virtually anywhere, and we all know what good Mexican, good Italian, or good Indian should taste like, whether or not we're in Mexico, Italy or India. And, as an Angeleno, I also know perfectly well that a good Italian or Indian restaurant in LA is staffed and cheffed by Latinos anyhow!
Therefore, while there was much to enjoy about the ambiance of El Rayo, and a couple of decent things about our meal, I still think these folks need to work at it a bit. Just because there's a dearth of decent Mexican food in Maine doesn't mean that a Mexican restaurant shouldn't be good - that logic is flawed. The best Italian food I've ever had was in a tiny hamlet in Montana.
I had chips and salsa and a taco al carbon. El Reyo needs to start from scratch with their salsas and picos. Good salsa is so simple there's really no excuse for lousy salsa. Same goes for guacamole. The guac I saw going out the door was brownish and looked whipped. Chips were fine.
My taco was servicable, but I have a tip for the cook: when you make a little taco-truck-style taco, you have to use 2 corn tortillas, not one. One falls apart. Two overlapping holds the meat. My chicken was excellent and I ordered the taco without lettuce - lettuce is not necessary. Again, basic is best. My friend's carne asada was just steak - there was no spice to it. Tasty, but nothing to write home about.
The cucumber mint cooler I had was fantastic, and I liked their tequila and margi selection. My friend's sorrel drink (lemonade and hibiscus) was not bad, but a bit harsh on the hibiscus flavoring. Our table-mates were having the grilled corn and sang its praises, though.
Overall, I think these folks have created a perky place to eat, but they should ease up on the promotional belt buckles and focus on getting some genuine flavor in their offerings.
I like the new table service, much less confusing. The food is very tasty, but the portions are small for the price
El Rayo is proof that someone out there wants me to be happy.
I love fish tacos. Love them! I'll make them myself if need be, but if someone else does the work and serves me the tortilla-wrapped morsels of awesome on a brightly-colored plate, you can count me among the happiest of campers.
El Rayo has made me the happiest of campers. Their fish tacos are perfectly seasoned flakes of fish on a tender corn tortilla, accompanied by a not-modest hunk of avocado, plenty of cilantro (Oh yes, cilantro! Heaven's greenery.), shredded cabbage, and a creamy-spicy sauce that cleared my allergy-blocked sinuses and tied the whole thing together into so many bites of dance-inspiring joy. Did I mention I kind of like fish tacos?
Thank you, El Rayo, for bringing awesome fish tacos to Portland. I look forward to enjoying many more, perhaps accompanied by a margarita (or two!) on a warm evening ... Yum!
Finally! Anyone that lives in Portland knows there isn't much for a Mexican selection. I always see places like this on TV and yearned to one day go to one. Well that day came today.
I went to El Rayo with my sister today for lunch and for a Monday the line was out the door. After waiting in line we finally ordered. I had the fish tacos and a lime rickey. My sister had the pollo burrito, lemonade, and we split some potato fritters. The food came out pretty quick. The fritters were nice and hot and a good way to start off the meal. My fish tacos were great. The fish was nice and tender and all around the taco was fresh tasting. My sister loved her burrito and brought her back to days of Granny's. The drinks were also good (especially since they came with a lounging mermaid hanging in it).
Overall, I would certainly go to El Rayo again. The food is very good and the atmosphere was great. I think it may be the best option for good, fresh Mexican in Portland right now. It was a bit on the pricey side ($25) for two for lunch. If it wasn't for that, they would have gotten 5 stars.
oh portland, how i roam your streets, thinking to myself, if only i could have a fish taco snack on my travels, all would be well.
when my boy and i heard rumors of a taqueria opening in portland, we were first in line...literally. we showed up 3 days before they opened to grill the owners on the deets. el rayo was the ray of hope in my quest for a fish taco outside of my kitchen. however, when we showed up on opening day to get lunch, i found that just like half the ethnic restaurants in portland, el rayo was shirking on quality while charging twice the price. for $4 a taco, you can't get a decent sized lunch for under 10 bucks, which sorta defeats the purpose of tacos for lunch. i had the fish which was ok, but basically anything covered in creamy spicy sauce will taste ok. my boyfriend had the meat, which was barely seasoned, one of the blandest tacos i've ever tasted. el rayo you broke my heart and my wallet. i'll be holding out for the real deal, til' then, my kitchen's tacos are bomb.
Having lived in Portland for three years now, I've come to discover that there are three types of a food that Mainers can't seem to get a handle on--subs/hoagies (those abominations that Mainers call "the Italian" bear about as much resemblance to an authentic sub as Chef Boyardee does to Italian cuisine), hot dogs (don't get me started on those ghastly New England-style hot dogs and buns) and Mexican/Latin fare. With regard to the latter, its a sad state of affairs when your best bet for a decent burrito is to drive 50 miles south and pick one up at the Chipotle in Newington, NH. (Its pretty bad when a fast food chain serves up a better burrito than anything found in a city renowned for its restaurants.)
That said, I was excited to hear about the opening of El Rayo Taqueria, even after encountering a number of so-so reviews/comments on local blogs (the sole exception being "Type A Diversions" which gave this joint a stellar review and, a week later, declared El Rayo's burritos to be the best in Maine).
Stopped in to pick-up some take-out to share with a friend on a Saturday morning, about two weeks after El Rayo had opened. As others have mentioned, the building (both the interior and exterior) is beautifully designed/painted/decorated. When I arrived at around 11:30am, about half of the outdoor picnic tables were occupied, and just two customers stood at the counter (a welcome relief since I'd heard tales of lines stretching out the door).
However, it was just my luck that those two customers (likely tourists) at the counter stood there for nearly five minutes, their mouths agape as they reviewed the menu above them and proceeded to ask questions about EVERY. SINGLE. ITEM. on the menu. Once they finally settled on what they'd be eating, they then had to inquire about what seemed like half of the drinks on the menu (and even asked for samples!). At last, they settled on a pomegranate refresco, which they then asked to be split between them. Sure enough, by the time this ordeal was over with, the enough people (most of them rolling their eyes in unison at the clueless tourists) were standing behind me in line that it stretched out the door.
Obviously, I don't hold the employees of El Rayo responsible for the actions of discourteous patrons. But as these two women were holding everyone else up, it really should have dawned on one of the eight staff members present to come up to the counter and start taking orders. This did eventually happen, but not until the line was out the door and potential customers were walking out.
Once my order was placed, things moved along a little faster. Still, it was a bit slow compared to the speed at which taquerias operate.
As for the food, we tried the bistec burrito, carnitas burrito and the smoky potato fritters. The fritters were rather bland and unremarkable, but made slightly better by the chipotle sauce that came with them.
"Bland and unremarkable" would also describe the burritos. The bistec burrito--which is topped with Monterrey jack cheese, beans, crema fresca, rice, charred onions & peppers and a 'ranchero' sauce--managed to have heat without having any actual flavor. The steak was too tough and--if there was any cheese, sauce or crema fresca on the burrito--it certainly wasn't evident. The burrito was loaded with peppers and onions, but they were soggy... making us feel as though were were eating a day old cheesesteak sandwich.
The carnitas burrito was just slightly better. The meat was much more tender than the beef had been, and it had a little more flavor. But once again, the burrito seemed to be completely devoid of any hint of cheese or crema fresca. The carnitas burrito is supposed to be topped with caramelized onions, but I'd swear that they probably used the exact same onions that were found on the bistec burrito (which, the menu claims, features charred onions).
All-in-all, El Rayo was a pretty disappointing experience, and one which we're unlikely to repeat anytime soon. The only reason I would go back would be to sample the fish tacos.
As Portland is in dire need of good Mexican fare, I truly hope that maybe I just caught these guys on a day when they were off their game. And since they have only been open for two weeks, there's always the possibility that things will improve with time. That said, they have a lot of work to do. Those who don't know any better may find this place to be the best thing since sliced cheese, but those of us who've sampled the culinary delights of Mexico, Central America, the U.S West Coast (and even the Pacific Northwest) know that there far better options out there... just not in Maine.
Similar to the first two reviews, I too feel that El Rayo fills a much needed gap in Portland. The atmosphere is very cool too...the vibrant colors immediately made me a little happier. Being Memorial Day weekend (their first weekend open) we expected it to be a little crazed. The line was about 10 people deep, but we had no problem scoring a two-top table a minute after arriving and the line moved pretty quickly. We waited a longgg time for our food to be served (like over a half hour). Now, this is to be expected in a new place that is packed full, but then my burrito was incorrect. The peppers and onions were missing, and I noticed this because my boyfriend and I had ordered the same thing and they looked very different. No biggie, they had a new one for me in less than 10 minutes. The staff was very friendly and the burrito was the best I've ever had in Portland. I also had a margarita, which was very fresh and dressed up with a swordfish stirrer, very cute! They definitely pay attention to the details here, which I greatly appreciate. We will become regulars in no time, this I am sure of!
As the first reviewer stated the fish tacos are wonderful and I would not argue with that point. Portland was in dire need of a taqueria and this place fills the gap and it does it with style. The interior is warm and colorful with a southwestern vibe. The giant jars of dried chiles on the counter are a nice touch. El Rayo bears a strong resemblance to another taqueria, Por Que No?, in Portland Oregon. So much of a resemblance I wonder if the owners visited there. They also have large glass jars of Hibiscus tea on the counters. I had the Tacos Al Pastor, and although i liked the pineapple salsa, I thought the pork was under seasoned. This may be them keeping it authentic though since I have found this to be the case at many taquerias throughout the west. Now for my major gripe; the prices. As anyone that loves taquerias will tell you, $4 per taco is outrageous. Anywhere between $1-$3 is the norm and it allows for an inexpensive meal and to try 3 different tacos for under $10. The tacos are very small and it takes about 3 to make a meal. $12 for a meal at a taqueria not including beverage is a lot. If they knocked the price down to $3/taco I would be completely sold on this place. As they are the only game in town and the food is mostly delicious I will continue to go here regularly and I really hope they do well.