El Patron Cocina & Bar

I go to El Patron four to five times a month. They have the absolute best margaritas in the entire metro. I highly recommend their enchiladas. The staff is very helpful and kind. The service is incredible. It is by far the premier Mexican restaurant in the Metro.

Listen, this place has the best Mexican food in KC… hands down. However, their drinks are inconsistent and their service just sucks… if you get seated upstairs you might as well go somewhere else. I always let the service slide because the food is just my favorite, but the last 3 trips have made me find a new place. We were seated upstairs in one of those awkward in-​between tables and it was so loud I couldn’t even hear my husband… that’s okay, I figured I would get used to it, however we were never greeted by a server after 10 minutes and finally we walked out. The second time we came back… we were whisked upstairs immediately and sat in the same table… we were greeted promptly, but it’s just an awkward set up because you feel like you’re eating with the table next to you. Third trip they were on a wait and I asked if we could wait, even if it was extra time, to sit downstairs, but when our table was ready we were taken upstairs and seated at the same type of table. This time I asked if we could go back on the wait for downstairs seating and the hostess just stared at me and walked away. We ended up leaving and going to another restaurant!

Great food! The Mole enchiladas were amazing. Tacos and chimichangas were good. The queso blanco cheese dip is great. Salsa pretty good. Atmosphere & décor is better downstairs, the upstairs lacks in décor. Note: The stairs are very steep. There is often a wait on weekend prime times but it goes quickly and is worth the wait!

One of my favorite restaurants in KC, very good food and usually very quick service.

Came here on a Monday night around 7 with a friend for Margarita Monday. Hostess was friendly and we got seated right away. Our Waiter was quick and came over with waters immediately, I ordered a queso and my friend and I ordered margaritas (she got regular on the rocks, I got a frozen strawberry). When we got our drinks, my margarita had practically no alcohol in it — I’m a light weight, and I drank the whole thing and didn’t even feel remotely buzzed — my friend was feeling pretty good however. They have great queso — there is peppers in it, which gives it a nice kick — however, when I got my food I was a little disappointed. I got the brisket tacos, and my friend got their fish tacos. Hers looked amazing and she said hers tasted great to match — however, my meal was subpar. The brisket wasn’t terrible, but definitely wasn’t that good, and the cheese seemed like something I would’ve gotten on my cafeteria taco salad in middle school — I guess I was just expecting nicer cheese and taco toppings to match the brisket. I will say they had good black beans, however.
Overall, they have a good staff and okay food, but I will not go out of my way to come back again.

We saw the reviews and thought it might be a good place to have dinner. The servers were really nice and food was some of the best Mexican food I’ve ever had.

Very busy for taco Tuesday and we were a group of 13. They worked to find us a spot upstairs but there was a child with us in a wheelchair. No biggie her mom carried her up and I carried the wheelchair but because of the «inconvenience» the manager comped the moms meal. Didn’t have to but great move. Overall service was a little slow but it was crazy busy. Orders were all correct and I had the deep fried tacos which I love. They are great here. $ 1.99 tacos is the Tuesday special, not for the deep fried but the regular tacos and they looked great.

The service was wonderful. I ordered the fajitas del mar, queso fundido, and a mango frozen margarita. The portion sizes were very large. I asked for the chorizo for the queso fundido on the side and it was no problem. Service was very quick and straight to the point. The waiter didnt talk our ear off or come to the table too often but was very attentive if we needed something.
I wasn’t too fond of the patio. It’s a bit of a concrete jungle and very hot on even moderately warm days. It would be great if they could add some fans or even just umbrellas.
Overall wonderful place to eat. Great food, great service.

Went here for lunch for the first time… usually I’m here in the evenings… totally different environment. a coworker raves about the fish tacos so I tried them and they were delicious! The waitress was bubbly and attentive. Only thing missing was the drinks!

We took a leap of faith on this place for Taco Tuesday.
We started with queso dip which was delicious and had a decent kick to it. However, at $ 6 for a tiny cup of it, it felt extremely overpriced for a place of this level.
I had two chicken tacos and a pork taco, which was covered in cilantro that wasn’t mentioned on the menu. Since I have an aversion to cilantro, I was stuck trying to pick all of the green off my taco, and finally gave up and left the taco sitting on my plate. The chicken tacos were extremely bland, but were decent after I poured some of the hot salsa from the table on them. At $ 1.99 a piece, they were good sized, so portions were really generous. I ordered a side of rice which was good, and a skinny margarita, for $ 8.
I may give this place a second chance at some point, but I definitely wouldn’t be quick to rush back. There are far more authentic Mexican food options on SW Blvd. that I would rather try out first.

Took a shot to try a new place. The wife and I were in the area, so we stopped in to El Patron. Didn’t get much chance to checkout what it looked like downstairs as we were immediately whisked upstairs. We took a seat by the window and took in the décor.
Unlike many Mexican restaurants, this place doesn’t have that Mexican restaurant vibe. Very hipster in the reused space and leather seating, but with top 40 pop music blaring from the speakers. It’s a little jarring. We were served a bowl of chips and mild and hot salsas while we looked over the menu. Smaller than some menus I’ve seen with a whole page just for seafood dishes. We ordered the cheese dip as well as our entrees. The cheese dip was pretty good. Nice flavor with a zip of spice.
The entrees arrive in a decent time. I got cheese enchiladas, hold the onions. My wife got a chicken chimichanga. Standard orders for a new place. Our thoughts were that it was pretty average. Nothing necessarily wrong with the meal other than everything could use a bit of salt, but nothing that stood out as spectacular or even different. The wait service was a bit slow, but that may be due to the fact that we were upstairs. We didn’t get our drinks refilled even once, but we did get more chips when we were running low without asking for it, which was nice.
Not bad, just average.

Honestly don’t get how they are still in business. Fantastic food, yes. Service is some of the worst I’ve ever received. Every time I go, not just this experience. Service is slow, servers are rude, orders are almost always messed up.
Made a call for takeout tonight, got hung up on-​twice. No clue why you would answer the phone only to hang up before taking my order.
Finally talk to a girl, only to be told I can’t place an order for just tacos, chips and salsa. Even though it was over a $ 10 order. Wtf? I told her I’ve done it multiple times and she said she wouldn’t take the order-I’d have to come in, order, and wait. The whole point of takeout is I don’t have to wait.
This place is such a joke

This place gets my vote for best Mexican in KC!
This is as authentic as you will find when it comes to a full service Mexican restaurant in Kansas City. We dine here at least twice a month, and there’s typically eight of us.
We enjoy their fundido, pitchers of margaritas (very good) and the usual fare of tacos, tamales, rellenos and enchiladas.
I love both their mole chicken enchiladas and the salsa verde chicken enchiladas. The chicken flautas are also very good. I’m typically not a crispy flour taco fan, but theirs are the right balance of meat to shell to cheese ratio, and freshly prepared.
They don’t serve chicken tenders or burgers so it forces our four year old to try new things, which I love!
The service is always friendly and the owner is there most of the time.
I’ve never had anything here I didn’t like. The only downside is how busy it gets sometimes. The wait can be long but it’s always well worth it!

Chicken tacos were good. Sat upstairs. Loud from the kitchen. Sounded like they were throwing dishes around. They kept opening the back door to the patio so it was a constant cold draft. It’s 25 degrees outside. Would return for the food if I was able to sit somewhere else. Would drink margarita’s across the street.

Eat here!!! This is one of the local Mexican restaurants that I recommend you take family and friends that are visiting from out of town. I eat at many Mexican restaurants and most make a couple things that just tickle your taste buds. At El Patron everything I eat there I crave again. I am always torn about what to get because I want it all. I frequently eat the marinated skirt steak or the chimichangas. They have a really good happy hour that consists of half price appetizers and drink specials. I go frequently on Mondays because they have $ 3.95 Mojito’s and margaritas all day. They have a drink called the black margarita which is a house margarita topped off with 100 proof unfiltered black tequila. When you stir it up it turns the drink black. One of these and you can take a nice nap. It looks small from the outside but there is a large upstairs and even a back upstairs patio if you like sitting outside.

Great food, one of my favorite Mexican meals around. Eclectic menu with lots of great options. Strong margaritas. Tell Arturo hi!

I know it seems silly to go back and forth on my review of this place but I have been coming here every couple of months for several years and the inconsistencies dictate it.
El Patron is still my favorite Mexican restaurant and the burrito de la casa is simply invincible as far as I’m concerned. On the food front this place is as 5 stars as it gets! The mixed drinks are great too and there are some great happy hour deals available.
What drags this place down a star is the service, which ranges from plenty good to spotty at best — yesterday’s experience was definitely not good. We had a server who has been there for a long time now and I don’t remember her being this bad. She was plenty busy but the interactions were rushed and fewer and further between. She split our check without asking even though we are obviously together, plus getting it then paying it took an eternity. Very sloppy service from a server who I know isn’t incompetent!
So then… the great food will continue to draw me back but the visits may end up being like those interactions yesterday… fewer and further between!

You will never have better fajitas than the El Patron fajitas platter. My favorite.

This place sucks for many reasons. We arrived and had to wait to walk upstairs to this horrible looking place and was seated. We had no chips and salsa for a life time. Finally a waitress came and got our drink order. Still no chips. When we asked for them, a bus boy brought our little bowl of chips served in a dog bowl, you know the metal kind with 2 small bowls of salsa. We had a party of 5 and the chips lasted about a minute. We asked for more and several minutes later we got more. Drinks came one at a I won’t even tell you what we got when we asked for water. Then after waiting forever they took our orde. Ever long after the manager came and told us the «computer ate our order and its lost». Wtf. We opted to leave. Never again.

So sad this place isn’t closer! The food is off the charts and worth the slight wait on weekends! Thanks for a great date night!

Always consistent! Good margs, great food, and always good service! One of our favorite places!

El Patron is my go-​to place whenever I’m in KC and wanting good authentic mexican food.

Kimmie is amazing. Guac is five star all the way. Fajitas are dope my boo is hot And art was more than hospitable.

Waited for a bit but well worth it. Food was great. Definitely try the mole. It may be the best I’ve had in KC.

I can’t believe I haven’t written a review for this place until now. This is easily my favorite Mexican restaurant in town. Never have I had a meal here that was anything short of excellent.
The food is less Americanized than most, which I find to be refreshing. Located on Southwest Blvd, this gem is often overlooked for Mexican restaurants like Manny’s. However, I can tell you that El Patron beats Manny’s every single day of the week.
If you haven’t already, get to El Patron now. You won’t regret it.

One of the best on the Boulevard.
Have come here numerous times over the past couple years, but strangely never finished the first review.
Tasty food. Al pastor chimichanga for lunch was quite good. Solid guacamole.
Gets busy, but that’s because it’s good. Slightly pricier than some options, but it’s generally worth the wait and the expense.
Great for groups, great for dates, great for just about any reason.

You know… I see all these great reviews and it just wasn’t that great. We were there for the infamous taco Tuesday and although were 1.99 they did live up to the hype. I had the pork and chicken and shared the burrito de la casa, which was also a favorite amongst some Unilocalers. In my opinion the burrito was wayyyyy too cheesy. The cheese sat on the burrito and was almost glue like. Personally I’d go to a hole on the wall Mexican that have real street tacos that cost a whole lot less.

El Patron has a great patio, and typically, this patio is a contributing factor to my decision to head to El Patron.
El Patron had pretty decent food, and their margaritas are good. I prefer the lime margaritas, their flavored margaritas, such as the cucumber margarita or the habanero margarita are not very palatable in my opinion. The sopapillas are delicious and I have always had friendly service. If you were looking for a nice patio in the area, I would definitely recommend El Patron.

Apparently this is a KC staple, and I now know why. Fantastic food! Laid back authentic home cooked Mexican. I had the Chicken fajitas and they were absolutely perfect. Chicken was cooked alongside caramelized onions and green peppers. The guacamole was thick and handmade (always a good sign). Big portions. Service was fast and friendly. Glad we stopped in here.

$ 3.99 Mojitos or Margaritas during happy hour and all day Monday. Their mojitos are amazing, it had the perfect amount of liquor that made my crappy day into a good day.
The salsa made the enchiladas taste better. I am obsessed with their guacomole but wanted to order something else from their menu for a change.
My friend ordered the ceviche, it was pretty good for a hot day.

We weren’t really sure why our regular Taco Tuesday stops were packed full of people, but as we headed back down the Boulevard, we decided to stop in El Patron, after having a great meal there a year or so back.
We waited for about 10 minutes for our buzzer to go off and then made our way upstairs to what must have been an old living space at one time, but now painted and accented with interesting artwork. Within minutes, crispy chips and a great mix of hot and mild salsa were in front of us, and the lady was sipping on a very strong house-​made skinny margarita. A short time later, our deep-​fried potato tacos, rice and beans were brought out, and we dug in. We really appreciated the attention from our server as well as the rest of the staff, who kept our waters, chips, and salsas full throughout the meal.
One thing we enjoy about El Patron is that it’s a great mix of classy atmosphere while also retaining the vibe of a local secret. We’ll definitely be back and won’t wait until our other options fall through next time — thanks again El Patron!

Margaritas were dirt cheap during happy hour ($ 3.99). Food was your standard texmex — a-​ok. Service is spotty — they’ll bring half your table a refill on salsa and you have to flag them down before they’ll bring you another for the other half (when both ends of our table were empty…).
The online reservation doesn’t work either. I never got a confirmation and I asked the hostess upon arrival, why have this as an option if they don’t even use it? The hostess looked at me like I was speaking Korean…

Last stop on our 2^nd Taco Crawl this year. The patio seating was nice and we enjoyed our time. The salsa was average. The drinks sounded amazing until they arrived but something was missing. We tried several house special libations including banana mojito, cucumber margarita, and some spicy specialty drink. No one was really wowed. We ordered deserts including sopapias, fried ice cream, and flan. The fried ice cream (corn flake crusted hand dipped vanilla) was the highlight of the visit. Seriously folks, corn flakes. Maybe we’ll try again… maybe.

Still a favorite along the Boulevard.
Today we tried desserts as a final stop on the taco crawl and it was a fantastic ending.
El Patron has some of the best margaritas. Today I tried a habernero and mango margarita. It was good, but I would probably get a regular one next time as they are better in my opinion. Trying some of the other crawlers drinks, Jessy’s margarita (a margarita with a splash of sangria) and the pomegranate mojito are also winners.
The desserts here are awesome too. Fried ice cream, flan, and sopadillas were all tried and all amazing. This is a great place to stop for a late night dessert or a great meal, but save room for dessert!

My absolute favorite Mexican spot in KC! I have always had amazing service when I eat here, and always get the best food and drinks! It’s the most fun to eat downstairs or at the bar, eating upstairs is the same great food and great service but you miss out on all of the hustle and bustle of the bar and all of the excitement from people watching.
I usually get the fish tacos (very good!) but this time I tried the fried Chili Rellano… IT IS AMAZING!!! I am craving it like crazy and it’s only been 4 days! Get the hot salsa for sure, it’s not super hot– it’s just super good! I don’t particularly like their chorizo Fundito… but I do love Fundito. Get their top shelf margarita it’s the best in KC for sure!

El Patron has been on our list of places to try for quite literally years, and we finally made it in last night. The restaurant was pretty busy, even before 6pm, and we were seated upstairs in the «bar» area, which seemed to lack the charm of the downstairs area. No biggie, though — we had chips and salsa on our table immediately (hot and regular salsa), and those were kept refilled, along with our waters, the whole time we were there without us even having to ask, which was appreciated.
We both ordered margaritas, which were tasty and strong. My husband opted to have the Bistec Ranchero, and I had the Camarones a la Mantequilla (interestingly enough, what I ordered is what is pictured in the article on the Top Ten Mexican Restaurants in Kansas City article that came out today, and might I just say that the meal I had last night was certainly nowhere near as pretty as the one in the photo, but regardless of plating (or lack thereof) it still tasted decent). Both portions were quite large, and neither of us finished the rice/​beans that came with our meals, as we had more than enough without the sides.
Service was fast, and the food was tasty (we both enjoyed the roasted jalapeños that were in my husband’s meal), but nothing was mind-​blowing or something that I would rave about. I did like the hot salsa and the fresh corn tortillas, but I have also had much nicer Mexican food elsewhere.
All in all, just like my 3 stars indicates, I thought El Patron was A-​OK. I would go back, and sample something else on the menu, but I wouldn’t be in a huge rush to do so.