El Espolon

I have been here two times and this place is great for the price. Very generous with chips and salsa plus the specials are huge plates for a very low price. I ate here with my son. I had the chimichanga special which came with a chicken chimichanga, a side of rice and beans with guacomole, pico de gallo and sour cream on the side. My son ate his usual kid meal. chicken nuggets and fries, we both ended up taking half our plates home. Eating here cost the same as us both going to mcdonalds for lunch and obviously way better quality and quanity.

I’ve never eaten here, though I’ve tried twice. My family and I went there a few weeks ago to eat (during hours they were supposed to be open) and as we were walking to the door, we were informed that they were closing for the day. We went again on 10−18−15 while they were open. The place was not overly busy. We walked inside and the sign said «Please wait to be seated.». We stood there for FIVE minutes waiting to be seated before finally giving up and going to another restaurant. This shows just how great the service is. I’ll never go back.

Stopped on a Sunday afternoon and had the steak fajita special. It was very good, inexpensive, and actually my husband and I could’ve shared the whole order and had enough. He ordered a taco with beans and rice and it was very good as well.

Service was not good. Looked like they had one waiter for the whole restaurant and he was not a happy camper. The beef enchilada was bland. Rice and beans ok. Hot sauce was nothing to brag about. I ordered a side of guacamole but never got it.

Horribly slow service when it was it was not busy. Server got two of the six orders wrong. He never came back so we had to eat it as the rest of our party was about done with dinner. Three tables around us complained of the same issues. No refills even after asking the manager who stood by the front door doing nothing. Had to go to bar and get our own refills. Will never go back. Had to ask two times for bill so we could pay and leave. Other tables did the same and all commented they were not leaving a tip. We got better service and food down the street next day when we had Mexican again.

Delicious chips and salsa! Food and drinks were great and service was fantastic! Very full and would definitely go back!

Typical Mexican fare. We both had the chimichanga. Flavor was good, but wasn’t anything spectacular. The portion size of the chimichanga was small compared to other Mexican restaurants. Service was good right up until time to pay. Be sure to check your bill closely. Prices did not match what was on the menu and we were charged for items we didn’t get. When we asked about it, our server seemed to suddenly struggle with his English. Not a bad place place to eat, but pay attention when it’s time to fork over the cash.

I would have given this restaurant a much lower rating for service (it took 45 minutes for us to get food) but the food was very good and plentiful. We ordered the shrimp and chicken fajitas for 2 and it was delicious. I just wish the service was better.

Haven’t had this good of Mexican food in a while. Had the queso fundido and the Tacos al Pastor. Both sooooo delicious!

Well maybe because I am Mexican I am a little more skeptical of Mexican food, but this was by far the worst Mexican restaurant I’ve ever been to. I assume all of the good reviews are from the snowbirds that visit the lakes and don’t really know what Mexican food is. I realize it’s not going to as authentic as you would get in border towns or Mexico but dang… can they at least get the beans right!!! The Mexican owners/​cooks have grown complacent and know it is easy to please these non Hispanic customers. The Salsa tasted like it was straight out of a can and the steak tasted like it was fried or cooked in old grease. Bleh! Bad service too. The waitress we had only visited us to bring the menus and food and didn’t come back to check on us. We had to find our own silverware and didn’t get our drinks refilled. I’m all for supporting the locals but this food was definitely not worth the cost. Do not pass go and DO NOT collect fajitas!

The tacos were mildest for my picky daughter and the enchiladas were delicious and had plenty if flavor for my husband and I

Love love love this place! My husband and I come here every Friday! Best food, and great service. It tops every other Mexican joint at the lake. I love their huge parking lot and outside deck. The food is always top notch and the staff is very friendly! Love um!

Great service. Love the Camarones and huge margaritas. Great happy hour prices! Best Mexican food in Camdenton.

Very nice people, excellent food and great service. I’m from SoCal and it was nice to find a place in the Ozarks that has tasty Mexican food. Whoa, check out the happy hour lg draft beer!

I brought the family and my food was great! In fact, my wife did not care for her shrimp dish so we shared mine. Portions were good sized. The food for the kids was frozen and fried. It was disappointing. When they saw my wife’s plate, they were nice enough to discount that plate. I thought it was a little high in price. Nice place with nice people though.

Have to say after frequently eating here that things have changed. I always order the Camarones El Espolon, and the last 3 or 4 times it has not been good. This used to be so yummy, large fresh shrimp with perfectly sauted onions, peppers, and tomatoes with a warm white cheese sauce. Last night I had a hard time finding the shrimp, and the veggies were not cooked.
Literally the shrimps have shrunk in half, and the portions have also.
Husband would order the chicken chimichanga often and a variety of other menu items. Last night he couldn’t decide on what to get, I asked him why not get the chimichanga and he said they don’t put any chicken in it anymore. He ended up getting it and was very disappointed, no chicken!
There are other things that have changed but I would be on here a long time.
Needless to say, why change your food and portions once you get the patrons to keep returning, I don’t understand the lake here, once they get a good thing going they start cheapening the ingredients.
You probably have lost 2 of your best customers until you go back to the way it was in the beginning.

The service here is really nice. You get your food fast and refills constantly. The food is also quite delicious. The only complaint I have is their «to-​go» orders. If you order out from here, expect to wait a lot more than the 10 minutes they tell you. And check your food before you leave because over 3 times have I gotten home and they either got my order wrong or forgot tortillas. I ordered my food to go once, they told me 10 minutes. I got there 15 minutes later and waited over an hour and a half with two small children on my food. I literally watched a table come in, sit down, eat, pay and leave while I was still waiting on my small to go order.
UPDATE:
I’m downgrading this to a three star. I really love this place so I keep going back but it’s getting ridiculous. I ordered my food to-​go again. It’s harder for me to go in and eat because my two small children do not do well in public. They told me 15 minutes. I came after 20 minutes and still had to wait a good 5 – 10 minutes. They were not busy AT ALL I might add. I was so frustrated that I didn’t check my bag. Got home and the cheese dip I ordered was not in the bag and the food was not good. It was very flat, no flavor at all. They REALLY need to get it together with their to go orders.

Decent nachos. Nice staff. Price was a bit much for the portions.

It was soooo cold the day we went and we were afraid it would be freezing inside, but it wasn’t. Their salsa is good, but chips could be better. I didn’t order the chimichanga but someone in my party did and it didn’t look good, but she liked it. I had Pollo Bandido, it wasn’t anything terribly exciting, but it was really good. Service was good and we left without any complaints.

Ay! Ay! Ay!
We were drawn here by the sign that said «$ 4.99 espolon burrito Saturday!». We were seated promptly and the waiter seemed to be in a serious rush. I got a margarita and it was a fantastic explosive kick in the mouth! I was seriously feeling good and it tasted amazing. The waiter brought our food promptly and it was all very tasty!!!
I enjoyed the chicken espolon burrito… yummy in my tummy! And my momma loved her chicken quesadilla.
Like I said before, the waiter was very rushed, but it wasn’t bad, he was just being polite and was trying to get us what we wanted as fast as possible. I liked that he said «gracias amigos!» when he took our order. :)
Cheap, fast, STROOOONG, and delicious!