El Patron

This place has fast become my favorite Mexican eatery! You will ask for seconds on the mushroom salsa… the taste explodes in your mouth. I asked them if they bottled it! The servings are huge, easily allowing me to take plenty home for another serving, so that makes the reasonable prices there even more affordable. Make sure to try their bacon wrapped shrimp!

A modest little restaurant with amazing food! Do not miss the camarones alacran! Chips are fresh and three different salsa that are really good. Serving sizes are VERY generous. Each entrée could easily feed two.

I came here a few weeks ago for a late lunch with some coworkers. Other than a couple who appeared to be friends with the staff, there wasn’t anyone else in the restaurant. That may or may not say anything useful, though, since we’re talking 2:30 pm on a weekday.
All of the food we ate was very good. Homemade tortilla chips (YUM) and a variety of spicy salsas (YUM!) came for the whole table. I wasn’t hungry enough for a full meal, so I just had one carne asada taco and a michelada on top of the complementary chips and salsas. The taco was really flavorful and loaded with veggies, just the way I like them; my one complaint is that the meat, though well-​seasoned, was a little grisly. Everything else was perfect!
The service was very polite, but a little on the slow side. It took a long time for us to cash out because we had to line up at the register in the back of the restaurant, then repeat everything we’d ordered so they could draw up the tickets one at a time. It was bizarre; I’ve never seen a restaurant do their ticketing that way and didn’t much care for the low efficiency of it.
Overall I did like the food and would come back for more, but I would be more likely to order it to go than to eat at the restaurant.

Watch your bill carefully !
They overcharged me three times now
Their toppings for burritos burned to charcoal as well.
Try the taco truck across Peoria

We came in on a coupon from a fund raiser booklet we bought. Apparently all the el patrons have gone out of business and this place is now called durango. The guy barely wanted to accept the coupon, but eventualy did. The food was pretty bad. Everything was reheated in a microwave. Prices are ridiculous for such low quality at $ 10-​$ 15/​plate. My husbands flauta was dripping hot oil all over like someone was pouring oil all over his plate. I Will never come back.

First of all horrible customer service! The manager or owner was so rude when I informed him I had been over charged he did not want to fix my bill until I caculated it and proved it to him. The restaurant is dirty the food is just okay. Above all is how you treat you customer

We were in the area for a few days and went there for dinner one night, and loved it so much we went back again a few nights later. As soon as we got there a very nice waiter gave us three different kind of salsas: a super spicy red salsa, a medium spicy green salsa, and a mild mushroom salsa. All three were fantastic! We had one vegetarian with us, and that was not an issue in the slightest.
Over the course of the two nights, we had various burritos, enchiladas, tamales, quesadillas, and chile reillenos. All of the combo plates were great, and the chile reillenos were especially tasty. The salad we had was iceberg-​based, and didn’t live up to the rest of the meal, but it did. We had the flan and the churos for dessert, and both topped off the meal very well.
Overall, the service was friendly, the food was great, and we can’t recommend this place more.

I don’t understand how this place is getting good reviews. When my boyfriend and I arrived there on a Tuesday night, there was only one other customer with two beer bottles in front of him as he stared at the TV broadcasting in Spanish. He didn’t seem to order any food before leaving. That left the waitress and her friend, maybe her husband, with only my boyfriend and I as patrons, but she didn’t make any real effort to serve us. The whole time we were there, we felt like we were an inconvenience.
My boyfriend ordered pork tacos which came with rice and beans. The pork was ok, but the rice seemed to be off. I’m not sure if some spice went was added when it shouldn’t have been, but it didn’t taste right. I ordered the chicken salad. While there was a lot of chicken on it, the lettuce was covered in grease from the sauteed chicken and onions. I couldn’t bear to put dressing on it and didn’t finish it. We both felt sick from all of the fat later in the evening.
Toward the end of our meal, another couple who were friends or relatives of the waitress joined them. That actually even sent the service further south. While the waitress and the man in the restaurant to start were laughing with the other couple, not once did they ever smile at my boyfriend and me. All the interaction with us was very cold and curt. It was odd and off-​putting.
We’ll never go back even though we live in the area.

El Patron is back! I ordered a delicious burrito to go and it was excellent. The food is authentic (as indicated by the actual Mexican people that eat there). There were some previous issues, but I went back and found out that the good food is back. Sure it costs a bit more than it did a couple of years ago. For good quality, authentic food I don’t mind paying a little more. Check this place out… you won’t be sorry.

Good news! Went back for lunch today and it was great once again!
One thing that puts this above many others: We were one of two groups with more than 10 people, all arriving within just a few minutes of each other and we were still in and out of there within an hour. No delay whatsoever!
Today I had the Carnitas Tacos and they were about some of the best carnitas I’ve had. Still loving the hot green salsa as well.
If you’ve been here before and didn’t enjoy… I urge you to give it another try!

I visited El Patron last Saturday for the second time and it was as good as the first. The first time I had a week day lunch special of chili rellanos; they were softly fried and very tasty. Lunch specials are under $ 6.00 and a very good deal. On Saturday, three of us split the ceviche pescado and then each had a meal!!! Note: This is way too much food for three people! We should have stopped after the huge platter of ceviche arrived accompanied with another plate of fried tostada shells. The ceviche platter was lined with cucumber and lime and the flavor was wonderful. It was a meal in itself ;definitely for two. My dining partners had fish tacos for their meal and cleaned their plates but suffered while doing it; I had carne asada tacos and took home dinner. I love El Patron as it is bright, clean, and run by friendly people.
This El Patron was on Taco Tour Two which I missed. I still need to do Rancho Libero and then I can comment on my favorite from tour two. So far IMO, El Patron is beating Tacos Junior from tour one by a very small petite nose. As I said in my Taco Tour One review, I prefer the dry carne asada with flavorful meat. El Patron’s was right on the money. However, I was not thrilled by the two small chunks of bone but know that stuff happens. All in all a great taco asada.

I’ve never had a bad meal here and I eat here at least 2 – 3 times a month. My favorite mexican meal is chille rellanos (sp?). I usually get the combo that includes those and a cheese enchilada. I’ve gone with others who have gotten the tacos, tortilla soup and other dishes that were always declared to be fabulous! I’m also usually the only gringo in there, but that just means it’s good and authentic.