El Burro

We will NEVER go back here!
First for some reason my mother in law likes this place. I personally NEVER like the food it all taste ketchup based and the sauces are horrible. So we took my mother in law for her birthday even though we don’t like the food. All she wanted was a combo, she hates wasting food so tends to order only what she will finish. She was told that her combo can only be ordered for lunch not dinner. REALLY! So she ask to talk to the manager he also said she could not order that. She only wanted one flauta and one enchilada beans, and rice. WHY couldn’t you just make it? We had a party of 15, so we planned on spending a pretty penny. It was her birthday too. Anyways food is horrible. Service is horrible (no smiles, no refills, waitress was giving dirty looks as she walked by)

This is one of the last nice Mexican restaurants I know with delicious food. Too many fast food taqueria’s. The food is always hot, delicious and plenty of it. The best tamales and carnitas around from Los Angeles to San Francisco.

PORTIONS: MASSIVE.
MY ORDER: I ordered a 3 item combo: 1 Taco, 1 Tostada, 1 Enchilada with sides of refried beans and rice. Kids shared a 2 item combo: 2 Enchiladas.
SYNOPSIS: They have Shredded Beef as an option which is a huge plus for me because I’m not a fan of ground beef tacos. I ordered a shredded beef taco, chicken tostada, and chicken enchilada. The server or kitchen messed up my order and I ended up with chicken everything. I didn’t complain because the server only came to our table a total of 3 times and I didn’t see him pass by otherwise. I didn’t feel like complaining so I let it slide. I had to get my shredded beef fix from my son’s plate. :-/​The salad is super basic, iceberg lettuce, beets (yuck) and a watery vinaigrette. The food took a while to arrive, especially for a Mexican Restaurant which is notorious for microwaving or putting plates of food in an oven to warm it up. Hence, the «Watch out, the plate is very hot» comment the server always makes while using pot holders when they arrive at your table with the food. Overall, I was ok with the experience and so were my kids. I will likely come back when I’m super hungry.
PROS: Large portions, shredded beef options, yummy food, chips/​salsa were crispy and flavorful, had enough to bring home and save for tomorrow’s lunch at work.
CONS: Slower service (Mexican food usually comes out of the kitchens really fast), they got my order wrong, the salad was one of the worst I’ve ever had, they don’t have Splenda/​Equal — just real sugar and NutraSweet, parking at the Pruneyard is always a pain in the butt.

Wow, this place has gone WAY down hill! I was a regular customer of the Newark customer for years, I grew up in Fremont. I aas so upseg when Newark closed for good
But! Loving the food as I did in Newark I drove all the way to Campbell for ala carte shredded beef burrito and Carne Asada burrito with NO flipping refried beans! Just meat, cheese, sauce on top. Ok people how hard can that be?! The waiter said cheese was extra, sauce was extra, sour cream extra. So just paid $ 30 for 2 stinking burritos! I wait in my car, time is up so I go in to get it the Mgr is running out saying the waiter rung me up wrong. He charged me $ 0.38 cents for food and $ 29+ for the tip, wtf!?? So we do this again. I get home back to Livermore and cut into my shredded beef burrito, frigging beans inside with the meat when I specifically said NO BEANS! Remember he charged me extra for cheese inside and sauce for outside. There was no cheese inside at all. Only thing good was the Verde sauce on the outside, maybe 2 tablespoons of meat, same with the Carne Asada burrito, I threw them both out and won’t go back again! The place sucks!

Really good food and HUGE portions. I was shocked to be honest. I had a chimichunga and my wife had a vegitarian enchilada. Both were awesome! Shocked by the lower ratings it has because for the price you cant beat it… especially in the prune yard.

This place is up there with the worst meal I’ve ever had. Chips were hard and tasteless. Margaritas are expensive and absolutely awful. My enchilada suiza was just some rice, beans and a few enchiladas literally drowning in hot microwaved cheese. Oh, all of the dishes here come out of a microwave or oven — plates and food so hot you will absolutely burn your skin, or the tastebuds off your tongue (might actually help you enjoy this food) Wife and I both ended up sick after eating this.
There are so many great restaurants in Campbell and San Jose. Pick something else, unless you feel like being nauseous and sitting in the bathroom all night.

I’ve been going here for what, almost 30+ years? They run it as an old restaurant, so be prepared.
Positives:
–Large portions
–Old school Mexican Restaurant atmosphere, a little darker, bright carvings, old craggy wood tables, tiled floor, think updated 70s Spanish style goth interior, which is a throwback to the original design of the Pruneyard. Loved the big leather and wicker chairs, felt like you were sitting on a whole cow mixed with the chair from that 70s 7-​Up commercial.
–Chile rellenos, fajitas, chips n salsa, and the beans are the best. Dad always loved the chile verde. Their rice is ok, but for whatever reason, leftover rice microwaved is magical, seriously weird, but it is.
–Shredded chicken or beef, soo good! Otherwise, if you ask for beef, you’ll get ground seasoned chuck.
–Large interior, multi-​leveled. They have a huge upstairs they open on busy days or to accommodate large parties. Nice outdoor patio, perfect in the afternoon with a margarita.
–Service is normally stellar and quick. They’ll keep the chips and water coming. Had a few bad ones, like this Russian? lady recently. Some of the waiters have been there for 20+ years, yeow!
Negatives:
–Had the salsa vary from mild to holy crap hot. I’ll take it either way
–The recipes are a bit white-​washed old school 60s-​70s style. Turkey luncheon meat on a tostada, no sure why. Some authentic dishes.
–Tacos suck. They switched to premade ortega style shells, really? They were once soo good!
–Margaritas are tasty, sometimes watery, hit and miss with them
–The bar is super cramped, feels like 5 stools in a tiny hallway.
–The prices have been steadily climbing, once was a deal, now it’s same as everywhere with the prices. Food portions are soo huge, you must like leftovers, so it kind of evens out.
–They are definitely weird about big parties, they can accommodate big parties with notice, but don’t go in and ask for a table of ten, when there are only 2 of you, you’ll get some talk-​back.
Anyways, if you want old school Mexican (with more American leanings), ridiculously large portions, some tasty dishes in an old school environment, El Burro is your place!

This place is consistent it’s ridiculous. I’ve been going here for YEARS with my family: same menu, same seasoning, same EVERYTHING. And it’s awesome.
Is it completely authentic mexican food? Maybe not. But it’s still delicious and you get SO MUCH on your plate! Get ready to eat Mexican food for a couple days!
Sangria was okay, but honestly, more grape juice than wine. Id go with something else, maybe a margarita.
Everything’s pretty solid. I love the combos named after the Columbus ships. Really cool décor.

Sometimes I’m surprised at the low ratings restaurants receive. This would be one of those cases. Sure the tables are falling apart in some cases, but that gives it more authenticity. Like you’re in an old Mexican restaurant in the 19^th century.
First, the food. It’s great, and there is a lot of it. I mean A LOT. The portions would make El Chapo feel proud. You won’t leave this place feeling hungry, unless you weight 500 lbs, then this might just seem like a snack. Price is also fair for what you get.
Service was really great. The dude was filling our drinks and giving us more chips as if his life depended on it. Great service. Overall, I enjoyed the place, it was a little dark inside, but overall I enjoyed it. Thumbs up.

Awesome location and great Atmosphere! But what I don’t get is why they don’t work on their food quality. this restaurant can have so much potential being in one of the coolest spots in the area. So honestly the 3 starts are all for the location and the look of the restaurant.
Let’s start with the salad, wet lettuce with a caned beat on it. I would say it’s better not to offer the salad with the meal if you can’t give a decent salad. The tortillas smelled and tasted like soap and I think the reason might of been that they wrap them in the cloth napkin and maybe the napkins smell like what they were washed with? not sure but could not take a second bite of it. Also everything smell and taste like lard, it would be great if they can cook little healthier and use better quality of food. Too bad, would of loved to go back but there are many other Mexican restaurants around that can offer better quality and tasting food.

Definitely do not come on a Saturday evening, it was super packed.
When my friends and I were seated, we have never felt so many eyes on us. We were a bunch of, shall I say colored people, with one Asian walking into a Mexican joint full of white folks. I never felt so uneasy. It’s like we didn’t belong there.. But once we ignored it, we enjoyed ourselves.
I love Mexican food and get tacos often at a small local spot on the east side. With that being said, I think this place was overpriced for okay food. It was like American Mexican, not like chipotle American Mexican but definitely something you can whip up at home… Even if you didn’t know how to cook Mexican food. There was no flavor. Refried beans with cheese, Mexican rice and meat wrapped in a tortilla… For 13 – 15 $??? Overpriced.
The portion is decent for one person and can get you full but it’s really the refried beans that get you full. It’s the sauce that they top it with that makes the meal look big because without it, it looked small. (I order it without the sauce)
The food was plain to my boyfriend and I .But he likes plain food so it was okay to him. If we had to choose we definitely would not chose to come here again.
The service was not top notch, I assume it was because they were packed but I still expect a waiter or waitress who is friendly. Ours didn’t smile once like she didn’t want to serve us. It’s like she was having a bad day, but she still got everything we asked.
If you’re looking for a delicious Mexican joint, look else where!
Nothing is below 10 $ (even the salad was 10 $).

The crab enchiladas with the tomato based sauce is my favorite item here… but I love the Pruneyard, atmosphere and the tacos and traditional burritos (beef) are really great as well!
It can be crowded on weekends and on warm summer nights outside but it’s thee Campbell staple for Mexican food, portion size and vacation feel when your drink comes with an umbrella in it! Who invented that? Anyway, always have loved this place and come once or twice a year for decades. Even the chips and salsa are great and fresh… love it! The kind of place you would miss if you are a foodie like my family is and you moved away!

You walk into another world when you walk into El Burro. Dark and hidden, but not in a bad way. Food was great, staff was attentive. They were always filling up our waters and re filling our chips and salsa. Speaking of the chips and salsa, they were so tasty. I ordered the enchilada with shredded beef, it was very flavorful. My friend got a simple salad, lettuce, avocado and tomatoes, with the oil and vinegar dressing. She didn’t love the dressing, it was too vinegary for her, so she added the salsa to it instead and loved it. Overall, a nice place to go when you’re craving some good Mexican food.

Worst service ever. Food was okay, my bf thought it was gross, though. Wouldn’t have complained if our waiter wasn’t the WORST.
When you sit down they do not give you a drink menu. I thought it was weird cuz I saw Unilocalers talking about the margaritas. I asked if they had margaritas and he brought 2 out for us. They were pretty tiny for being the large size. Then we realized we never saw the price of the drinks, so when I was done with my first drink I asked for the drink menu. The drink menu did not have prices!!! So weird. So my bf finally just asked how much it was. Waiter said about $ 9. Decided I didn’t want another expensive drink unless it had a lot of alcohol in it. I asked how much a long island was. And he said about $ 6.50. So I figured I’d be getting more alcohol for my money. Then once I’m almost finished drinking it, the waiter came out to inform me that actually my drink was $ 9.50 and asked if it was okay…

It had been a couple of years since I visited el Burro because I had moved out of the area for a while. I stopped by for lunch, and sat outside to enjoy the beautiful weather.
I ordered a strawberry lemonade, and it took about 20 min to arrive after I had ordered. I then found a very large bug floating in my drink — gross!
Next I ordered the enchiladas which comes with rice and beans, it was a good portion size and tasted fine… Until later that evening.
I got hit with food poisoning… It was awful. I’m 5 months pregnant and now food poisoning… I’ll spare you the details, but suffice it to say the experience was enough to ensure that I won’t be making a trip back.

I’ve been coming here for over 20 years. The food and service used to be great, but now it’s just not good at all. Aside from the fact that the food is just okay, the service was just horrible.
We had a reservation for 9 people on a Saturday evening. Once everyone arrived we checked in at the hostess station. A few minutes later they sent us upstairs to be seated.
Issue #1 — The lady working at the upstairs hostess was irritated that there 9 of us and asked if there were always 9 on the reservation, which yes there always was. We waited while they corrected the place settings at our table, then we were seated.
Issue #2 — Our waiter was a jerk. He came over and took our drink order: 4 margaritas on the rocks, 1 margarita blended, two kids drinks, a soda, and waters all around. He came back with 4 blended margaritas and 1 on the rocks. We politely corrected our order with him and eventually received our drinks.
Issue #3 — After waiting forever, the waiter finally comes back to take our food order (mind you we had 3 young kids with us, ages 4 – 8, so long waits for food aren’t a good idea). My aunt ordered a quesadilla and asked if it came with sour cream or guacamole. I’m not kidding, he rudely snapped, «Well what do you want?». Then he came around to my end of the table and I asked about a burrito for my daughter, the menu wasn’t clear what was in it so I asked about it. I told him she just wanted beans and cheese in it. He looked at me like I was an idiot and said, «Yea, whatever».
Issue #4 — After dinner dragging on and on since the service was so SLOW, we had finally paid the bill and were collecting our things to leave. My daughter was playing a game on my phone (which she more than deserved after a long day of dance competition and then sitting through that lousy dinner), and my aunt said something to her. Because she had the phone she missed what my aunt said, so she asked auntie to repeat it. A waiter standing near the table said, «Why don’t you take that phone away from her so that she can pay attention?» My husband told him to mind his own business and we left.
I will never, ever, ever set foot in that restaurant again. I’ve never had such awful service. At no point were our kids loud or crying or annoying. At no point were we rude or obnoxious, so to be treated like we were somehow inconveniencing the staff is just beyond comprehension.

Here for lunch today with some colleagues. This is a traditional Mexican restaurant in the Pruneyard shopping center. Lots of other choices nearby, but a decent choice if you are looking for Mexican food. Service was excellent and very attentive; they switched out the ships and salsa numerous times for us without being asked and kept water and drink refills coming similarly.
Food was prepared well, albeit a little messy, but overall excellent. Location is convenient with plenty of parking in a large shared lot and bathrooms were relatively clean which is usually an indicator for the kitchen as well. All in our group were very pleased. Thank you El Burro for a nice lunch. Curious name for a resturant; would like to know the backstory on the name if you all care to comment below.

Since the Fremont restaurant has closed, this is the only location left. I’ve been coming here for awhile and always enjoy my visits. I’ve always had really good service and the staff has always been friendly. I’ve been here with just my wife and I and with much larger parties.
The salsa is consistently good and you can ask for an endless supply of chips. Service is always quick and your food comes-​out really fast.
You have a large selection of items to choose from. If you want something on the smaller fare, order the Los Poquitos or order a la crate. But, as other Unilocalers have stated, portions are quite large.
Some of my faves are the Enchilada Montadas, Chile Colorado and their Burritos are always solid.

I’ve been to El Burro many times over the years and I always leave super full.
The food is your typical Mexican cuisine, nothing out of the ordinary like tripas or lengua. The food is not superb but its just fine for a meal with the family. The place is very large and can service your party, but be sure to make reservations.
They have just average chips (they are like the store bought kind), not sure if they are made in house or not, the salsa isn’t bad a little too much tomato but overall its a nice precursor to our main meal. One thing is that they will keep bringing you chips if you ask basically until you burst so know your limits!
I have had many different dishes here including the enchiladas plate, the crispy tacos plate, chile relleno’s and steak a la mexicana. Again no dish blows you away but they are flavorful enough for typical Mexican fare. What is impressive is that the portion sizes are huge and the wait staff is always pretty attentive to anything else you need (refills on drinks, napkins, and anything else). You will leave ultra full if you should finish any full plate.
The pricing is a little steep for the type of food it is but again the quantity is so insane that this makes it worth it. This place is similar to Mexico Lindo and other family oriented Mexican restaurants.

This place is weird. I read a few negative reviews and figured it was worth the shot. Sat down with my GF and her mom and brother, asked for a drink menu, was told there was not one. (really?) Her mom said «I was just here maybe 2 weeks ago and I know for a fact you have a drink menu.» The guy gave us a dirty look and after 10 mins brought a drink menu. (so he lied to us from the start?!)
Anyway, here is what we ordered:
Shrimp and chicken fajitas for her Bro.
Chili relleno and beef enchilada For her Mama.
Chili relleno For my lady.
Two Carne Asada Tacos for myself.
For the ladies, their food was not good. It was mushy and not very well prepped. The beef enchilada for her mom was gross. Solid black meat that was giving the visual of «Ive been sitting here for 3 days» and it truly looked disgusting.
The fajitas and my 2 tacos were great. Very flavorful and fresh… but sadly couldnt say the same for the gals.
Service: 1 Star.
Food: 1 star.
Overall, ²⁄₅. Would come back but not by choice.

The food was just TERRIBLE and service was not great either. As a Mexican I feel ashamed of this sorry oily, gross excuse being called Mexican food.

El barfo! Enchiladas sucias! Hella gross! Go to tlaquepaque!