El Jalisco

If I could give this place a zero, I would. Watered down margarita’s, so we sent them back. I then asked for a «skinny margarita» thinking I would get something made from scratch rather then out of a machine and it tasted like there was dish soap in it, PLUS they charged us $ 13.00 for it!!! My order was completely messed up, had to send it back and it still wasn’t right. My husband ordered the soup and it wasn’t served as described. This is the 3^rd time we have tried this place and I will never waste my time or money again. DO NOT BOTHER!!!

Service was awful… Food was just ok. I had the Adobe chicken — it was ok, but would not recommend the place simply because of poor service. Had to ask for chips and salsa, a lime for my Corona, and a lot of other people were having similar problems — avoid this place and prevent yourself from having a bad dinner on vacation.

The waiters are very attentive and plenty of food. We went here for lunch and the meals were on the less expensive side but still good quantity and quality! And the margaritas are HUGE! Overall great time!

I’ll be upfront. The food was not completely the problem. It was a combination of lazy service and THE WORST margaritas we’ve every had and paid for.
We’re in Destin on vacation and it’s Monday afternoon in Destin Commons. We see that El Jalisco is having Margarita Monday where they have 2−4−1 specials all day! Yes please!
We are greeted and seated right away. Our waitress comes over to take our order and seemed to be super annoyed at having to be at work today. She seemed super annoyed that we had the nerve to come into the restaurant and have our order taken.
Great. I need a drink.
So I ask what kind of margaritas they have on this Margarita Monday. She says they only have the classic on the rocks. I was like, what? The host/​manager then walks by her and in passing says something to her that I could not make out. All of a sudden she says, oh we also have frozen ones in strawberry, mango, and blue. BLUE! What flavor is blue? Whatever, I ordered mango and my husband bit the bullet and ordered a strawberry (because they’re two-​for-​one). He’s more of a beer fellow but he did me a solid.
THE WORST MARGARITAS EVER! They were all ice. No flavor and a splash of tequila. I’d have been angry if I’d paid $ 8 a pop versus $ 8 for both.
The food was fine. The chips and salsa were decent. My husband ordered fajitas and I ordered chicken enchiladas. You can’t really mess that up.
I hope you all have a better experience and/​or a different waitress!

When you hear people complain that there are no real Mexican restaurants in this area, this place comes to mind. It isn’t that great of a place but it also isn’t the worst eatery I have ever visited either.
The pros: It is located in the lovely Destin Commons full of shops and what not. They have out door seating and the inside of the place is clean and decorated nicely. It is also not too far from a near by parking lot so you don’t have to do tons of walking to get to the place. I am not much of a drinker but when the waiter came up to me it seemed that they did have many drink specials. The overall service was above average.
The cons: I give them credit for the fact that the food that they do serve you is fresh. The lettuce is crisp and clean and green, the problem however is that they just don’t know what to with it. I had the Guacamole Dip which was ok and I also had the Veggie King Quesadilla. The Quesadilla was just drenched with onions. I don’t know if the Chef read the recipe wrong or what but it was just too much. They need a serious Chef Ramsey moment where someone comes in and goes through their menu items one by one and actually tastes them. There is no reason in hell for all of that onion. If it were not for the onions I don’t think the dish would have had any taste at all.
I thought the price was reasonable for what I ordered. Overall it’s a place with mediocre unauthentic Mexican food that is lucky enough to be in the heart of a major Destin Tourist attraction, other than that it doesn’t have much going for it.

The chips and salsa were great, also loved their guacamole. Fairly inexpensive food. I don’t think my meal was actually what I ordered, but it was okay. We had the big margaritas, they didn’t taste like they had much alcohol at all… Inexpensive though! Overall it wasn’t the best food, but it wasn’t expensive and accommodated for our large party.

I have been here two times now and the food has been pretty decent. The service has been horrible. Both times we were left to wait a while before our server even saw us. Be prepared to wait a while if you go here. Salsa and queso are good and they have 2 for 1 drinks.

My group came here for dinner while on vacation and the general consensus was terrific food but really really long wait times to get any service (despite not having that many people at the restaurant). The food came out at a decent time, but we were left drooling over our queso appetizer for a long time while waiting for chips to be brought over. Refills on drinks took so long we were hoping the ice would melt faster so we could get some water.
I will give them props for the food though; I loved my choice of pollo a la crème! My friends got two for one margaritas… and they were huge so definitely worth it! The prices were higher than what I am normally used to for Mexican food though.

This is not supposed to be a 5 star restaurant as in «one of the top restaurants of the U.S. Who goes to a Mexican restaurant for that? It is by far the best Mexican food that Destin, Miramar Beach, or Niceville have to offer. Before it opened, I was begging my relatives in Houston to move here and open one of their Mexican restaurants here. I actually brought them here when they visited on Summer Break. They agreed that we missed our opportunity. I love the super burrito and tacos. The refried beans could be offered in black too, but I am reaching. This is Tex-​Mex, not Cali-​Mex, pure traditional Mexican, or neuvo «put it in a tortilla and call it Mexican’

This place reminds me of Casa Bonita… bleck. Nothing on the menu is a Jalisco food. No tortas, no birria de chiva, no seafood. Taco Bell is sadly better.

Best Mexican on the Emerald Coast. So happy we gave it a shot despite the reviews. Can’t wait to come back. Good service and fret fresh food. Had the steak burrito was delicious.

By far, the worst meal and service during our vacation to Destin Fl June 2015. Truly a 0 rating if possible. Based on my experience at this location, I would never return nor dine at any of the other locations. Would you like to avoid disappointment and save money? Choose to dine anywhere but here! I wrote the corporate office an email of complaint and never received a reply.

I have been eating at El Jalisco in Tallahassee for it seems like forever, this is no where near the same quality or value that you get at there Tally locations. Which is sad as it was a main stay in my weekly diet and was happy to see it in destin…

We had a pretty poor experience here for lunch.
Food:
The chips and salsa were good but everything else was pretty bland. We had tacos and enchiladas and they just don’t put a lot of effort into the food.
Service:
The hostess sat us at a dirty table and it took us a while to track someone down to clean it. But the waiter was polite and prompt.
Atmosphere:
Dark and cheap.
Destin is certainly not known for Mexican food, but we will continue to hope that something better comes along.

DO NOT PURCHASE THE Unilocal DEAL. EL JALISCO WILL NOT HONOR IT and instead you will get an angry manager who is only rude to customers. Do not return. Overpriced Mexican restaurant with no service skills.

We had a party of 22 for a family reunion. In a little over an hour we had drinks, ordered, ate and were ready for our check. Our two servers — I didn’t get their names but it was a guy and a girl did an amazing job and were super friendly. Overall great experience.

It has been a long time since I have had a taste of real Mexican food and it will probably be a long time before I ever do, at this rate. So, the radio ad claims they have authentic Mexican dishes, however, when I was served my tacos — they were in a store-​bought, stale shell. Number one turn-​off, as far as this reviewer is concerned. I’ve posted pictures.
The night began with happy hour margaritas for the man in my life; great size and a big thumbs-​up from him. After looking over the menu I settled on tacos because there is nothing that tells you more about a Mexican restaurant than a basic taco. My boyfriend ordered a taco salad. Imagine my utter disappointment when his taco salad arrived in a crispy, deep-​fried flour tortilla shell and my $ 10 tacos came in a stale, from-​a-​box shell. Mind you, the chicken inside was very juicy and tender, the flavor was still missing. All-​in-​all, this place is undistinguished amongst the other middling Mexican places. $ 60.00 for two taco dishes and three margaritas — at least we had a good time just enjoying our date.
I tried to order dessert because I have been craving and was curious about their deep-​fried ice cream. They were out. So were we.
I don’t think I’ll go back.

Pleasant atmosphere, but nothing to recommend this establishment.
While the menu is extensive, the food is humdrum. It is typical of any generic Mexican restaurant.
Items ordered:
Chori-​qeuso appetizer. This was tasty and had just enough bite to it.
Burrito Supreme. Nothing remarkable.
Combination platter with tamale, Chile relleno, and enchilada. Serviceable.
We came on a Sunday evening and had no trouble finding space… there were only two other parties here.
Despite the sparse dining room, service and the kitchen were both kind of slow.

Excellent food and service! I ordered the Adobe Chicken. Everything was delicious and warm and full of flavor.

I came here while wife was shopping to watch the game and was very impressed very nice place and delirious salsa. The beer selection was up to my standards as well.
Nice!!!