El Tapatio

We were in the area after visiting Burgess Falls & were starving from the hike. We were trying to decide between this place & Cinco Amigos down the street. This place looked a little better on the outside & there were more cars in the parking lot.
We walked in & the female host seated us. She wasn’t very friendly but it didn’t bother me. Our server was very friendly and attentive. We looked over the menu & decided on the shrimp chimichanga for $ 8.99 & Phillip picked the fajita that comes with chicken, steak & shrimp for $ 12.99. We also ordered a hot tamale ($ 2.99) to split because the menu states they are «homemade» or I guess «restaurant made» in this case.
The chips & salsa were good. I liked the chips because they were the thicker kind of tortilla chip. The salsa had a great, fresh flavor with a heat at the end. I would like it a little chunkier & thicker, it was runny.
It didn’t take but 10ish minutes for our food to arrive. The shrimp chimichanga comes with Pico de gallo, sour cream & guacamole on top. It’s served along side rice & beans. The rice had a garlic powder taste which I’m not sure about. The beans were the usual Mexican restaurant beans. The guacamole had really no flavor. I put some salt on it but it wasn’t the best I’ve had before. Onto the shrimp chimichanga. It was loaded with shrimp which I enjoyed, the flavor of the cooked veggies inside was just okay. I would like a more grilled taste from the contents of the chimichanga.
The hot tamale was pretty good. I liked the sauce on it & the size was great for the $ 2.99 price. I’d actually would’ve liked to just eat two of those for lunch. I tried some of the steak, chicken and shrimp in the fajita. The steak was very dry, as was the chicken. For $ 12.99 it was really disappointing.
If you pay with a card they’ll bring over one of the Squared iPads & swipe it in front of you. You’ll then pick between 15% 20% 25% gratuity. It’s a little awkward picking that as the server stands over watching.
Overall I enjoyed the tamales & the salsa & chips. The main entrees were a bit lacking, especially the fajitas in my opinion.

I feel like I just ate the disappointing school lunch cheese sandwich of Mexican food. My tacos were soggy and bland, the enchiladas were a boring shredded chicken wrap and the burrito was an uncooked tortilla filled with unseasoned beef and covered in plain tomato sauce. Not even salt and hot sauce could redeem this disaster.

The wait staff was nice and the food came out quickly. The prices were excellent. However, the beans and rice were bland and the beans were a purée vs having any thickness to it. The enchilada just didn’t have a lot of flavor. The highlight of the meal was the queso sauce for chips.

The best Mexican restaurant I’ve ever been to. I love their cheese burrito, beef burrito, and burrito tapatio. Wonderful cheese dip and salsa. My husband enjoys their chili Colorado. They have great margaritas. Great atmosphere. Been here many times.

Got stuck in Cookeville, bike trouble. I needed a good margarita and some Mexican cuisine, and the motel clerk recommended «El Tap.» He showed me a picture of a scrumptious-​looking CA-​style taco on their promo, deep-​fried and loaded. But when I got there, they said they used a Taco Bell type of shell with ground beef! So I took a chance on beef enchiladas. Turns out they don’t know how to make enchiladas! They weren’t swimming in ANYTHING, let alone enchilada sauce. They took strip beef, wrapped it in a corn tortilla, and set it, bare, on the plate. AND, there was no detectible tequila in the margarita. The beans and rice were about what you probably would get in your school cafeteria. The place was busy, though. The Spanish-​speaking crew looked very pleased. Apparently, making low quality Mex in TN is one of the best scams going — people are so easy to please. If they only knew what GOOD Mexican tastes like… Good people of Cookeville, I invite you to descend en masse on Nolensville Rd in Nashville! :-)

For some reason I like this location better then the one on Jackson, two miles away. The servers are really nice, and they always get your food out quickly, even when their packed.
My favorite thing on the menu is the fajita nachos, I could eat them everyday. The taste will make you say Olé!