El Vaquero Mexican Restaurant

Reviews

• VV

  Veronica Vaughn

  Dec 26, 2025
  2.0
  So I live just down the street and when we saw a Mexican restaurant was opening we were excited to try it out. Well my husband and I finally tried it tonight and wow were we disappointed! When we got there i thought it was odd that we were the only customers on a Friday night! We are sat quickly and given waters, chips and salsa. Waitress was nice but didn't seem to know the menu very well. The food selection is different than other Mexican restaurants I've been to so I found myself having a hard time picking what to order. I ended up getting chicken enchiladas. Sadly the rice and refried beans were the best thing I had. The enchiladas were not good, they had "mole sauce " on them which was this thick brown sauce that was kinda sweet but just really not good and the chicken inside lacked flavor and the tortillas were soggy. All in all food just wasn't good and very over priced for what you get. We will not be back.
• CS

  Catherine Sheehan

  Dec 14, 2025
  1.0
  2 kids were running around the rest in there socks my beans an rice were cold very overpriced will not go back
• LL

  L.C

  Dec 13, 2025
  5.0
  El Vaquero never disappoints! The food was absolutely delicious—fresh, flavorful, and perfectly seasoned. Fernando was the bartender and he was amazing—friendly, attentive, and clearly knows his craft. The drinks were delicious and strong, made perfectly every time. Raul also provided excellent service, making sure everything ran smoothly and that we were well taken care of.Between the great food, strong drinks, and outstanding service from Fernando and Raul, this was an excellent dining experience. Highly recommend and will definitely be back!
• MB

  Mason Bizjak

  Dec 7, 2025
  1.0
  Got pickup and order was already wrong so had to go back to get the correct order. The steak taste like tar and fajitas are small portions.
• SS

  Steven Springsteel

  Nov 21, 2025
  1.0
  With visiting two El Vaqueros in Columbus, we were excited to have one around the corner from home. Sadly, the one in Fairview Park DOES NOT reflect the quality and service we had in Columbus. The first red flag was subtle. We were about to be seated, but I had to point out there was a family right before us, and to seat them instead. I figured, hey, it's a busy Friday night, and sometimes you lose track. When seated, our server was polite, and took our order. But when the food arrived, it soon came time to saddle out. We were surprised at the soup for two reasons: one, it had extra ingredients not at all in the same soup we ordered in Columbus. Two, the chicken wasn't shredded, but large, tough chunks of chicken breast. We let our waiter know, who quickly went to find a manager. When explaining the situation, the manager was defensive insisting it's how the soup was supposed to be, despite explaining the same soup at two other locations was NOT like this. The extra ingredients are not even described in the menu item. Even if russet potatoes are supposedly in the soup, they shouldn't be entire halves that are too big for the spoon to scoop, let alone eat. We opted for some tacos instead, but he offered to bring out a soup the way we described along with the newly requested tacos. But at this point, we were losing our appetite. We reluctantly took up his offer. The second attempt soup had even larger, tough chunks of chicken (photo). The tacos were smashed and combined in a single foil, and didn't look appetizing at all. The side of avocado that was ordered was also already turning brown. But even with how it was served, it looked like it was thrown and smashed on the plate. It was also irritating to realize he was peering over my wife's shoulder because she checked on her phone if the extra ingredients were described in the soup on the menu online (they're not). I simply asked for the bill after. A saving grace is he didn't charge for the tacos. The initial server was polite and kept our drinks full, so I still tipped him a typical 20%. It's not his fault the food, kitchen, and management are awful.

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