El Rodeo

This has been one of the worst restaurant experiences I’ve had in a long time. I should have known by the random tarps and furniture scattered on the patio outside, but I figured that was just because of the snow.
Inside, my son immediately declared «it smells yucky in here» and it did. He was saying it smelled like vomit, but I knew what it was. I tried to diffuse the situation as more people crammed into the foyer as we waited for a hostess to appear, but my wife said it smelled like vomit too. I knew the scent. It was familiar since I worked at a restaurant when I was younger. It was the smell of a greasy carpet may used to prevent slipping in a kitchen. So why did it smell like this on the foyer? Because the mat laid crumpled on a bench where I could have sat to wait. But instead we all stood around waiting for some staff member to notice I was there.
But we should have turned around a filed out the door. The high chair they brought for my daughter was so wobbly I thought it would break. I tried to tighten it with my pocket knife. The belt didn’t fit nor latch.
And then we waited. I’m not sure if you’ve ever waited at a restaurant with a 5 and 2 year old, but it’s never fun. Finally a women plopped nachos and salsa on the table. Great! Lunch was moving along. But it would take even longer for our order to be taken.
Between the chips and salsa arriving and the order being taken, I took my son to go to the bathroom and wash our hands. Then we face our order.
At this point I wanted a drink, so I asked for a Jack and Coke. The waitress said «Coke». My wife corrected her «He wants Jack and Coke». The waitress then stared at us and said «I don’t think we have that». What restaurant with a bar wouldn’t have Jack Daniels? Fine, I’ll get a Coke and experience this with zero inhibitions.
When the food did come out, it was cold. I’ve never been to a Mexican restaurant where the warning «the plate’s hot» was not given. But at this restaurant, the plates were cold along with the food. When the waitress came by to ask how everything was, we told her this… and there it was again, a blank stare. Then she walked away. No resolution to the matter. Not that we would have sent it back at this point since we were sure it would result in microwaved saliva.
Had to ask twice for a spoon for my son to eat his rice. Received and charged for two orders of kids meals when only was requested. Grizzle and odd crunchy stuff in my food like dirt. No glass on unsealed tabletops. Very dirty Coke glass that I decided to ask to be replaced just so they wouldn’t get away with that sort of oversight. Bucket of dirty water used to clean tables stashed next to silverware.
The waitress came back a last time to ask how we were doing. Not that she really cared since after she asked, she has already started to walk away. We asked for boxes but another wait staff member had to ask and bring them. Evidently we were asking for too much… Like a Department of Health inspection. Had to walk up to the front to pay with two kids. Joy.
Finally we got to leave. But my son wanted a gumball out of the machine. After rummaging in our van for a quarter, I decided to get some change from the register instead. The nice lady that came just gave me a quarter instead of exchanging my money. Good idea at that point.
So as I watched my son’s orange gumball roll down the spiral slide over broken pieces of some other kid’s gumballs littering the track, I was happy to leave. Never again.

I have tried the tacos de carnitas ala carte, the carnitas platter, and the steak fajitas. I loved it all. My favorite is the tacos de carnitas. The pork is very tender and flavorful. I also love the free warm tortilla chips and salsa. A few critiques would be the slow service, and most of the time my side orders have to be asked for twice. Reason I keep coming back: chips n salsa and the carnitas are delicious!

I had the Speedy Gonzales and it was not very good. This reminded me of Mexican food that you’d get at a school lunch. Not a lot of flavor it was stone cold and made me feel pretty sick a few hours later I hope this was an anomaly but I can’t imagine ordering from here again.

Food is good… nothing to go crazy about. The server we had was not friendly at all. She wasn’t rude she was just ‘to the point’…didn’t smile or anything. Prices were reasonable.

I’ve been here before and wasn’t thrilled by it but decided to give it another go. Glad I did. Although the sangria lacked any real resemblance of what it should taste like… the food was pretty good. We both had the combo consisting of the ground beef burrito, cheese enchilada and beef taco. All were pretty good. This is a good lunch place and great prices. Not a nice night out place but we will go back if we just want some quick food at a cheap price.

This place is way overpriced, crappy service and small portions for the price! We waited ten min. And had to yell at the seater to sit us while she was flirting with two guys! We then asked for happy hour or specials and said there was none, only later to find out there were some. I ordered a grande margarita on the rocks, came in a small glass with no salt! I was not paying ten dollars for that! Then we ordered the nacho supreme and it came in a small plate with beans slopped on one side, one tomato and was very pitiful looking! I was very upset. There are rarely any good Mexican restaurants in pa and the one we find was overpriced and underwhelming. We asked for the mngr„ the one flirting with men when we came in, she refused to speak with us, she had a waitress speak to us. Very sad. Will not be going back!!!

Not a bad overall experience. Food was very good and you get nice portions for the money. Disappointed in the décor. It could use some updating

A long time customer from Harrisburg, York and now Lancaster. Service in Lancaster is poor to say the least. Staff needs to quit talking and playing around. Service should be the number 1 priority. IT IS NOT Food used to be excellent and that is no longer the case. This establishment need a good cleaning of facility and staff. why not get a good plan of action and enforce it.

Got seated right away, wasn’t too busy. It was a Saturday night. Sat at our table for a good 20 minutes before anyone even came to us for chips/​drinks. All the waitresses would just look at us and walk past. Finally flagged down one and she asked us for our food choices and drinks. Got the chicken quesadilla with rice. Food was okay. Nothing special, but decent to eat.
This place could be great! Just needs a little work.

Finished at the mall, we were starving (myself, husband and 2 teens) and were in the mood for Mexican. El Rodeo was convenient and around the corner. Mistake! Food was edible but definitely didn’t excite the taste buds at all… good enough since we were starving. Service was terrible! We could never find our waitress! I’m not a complainer but… had to ask for silverware, beg for a second drink, margaritas bad, only 1 beer option on tap, waited 15 minutes for her to even show up to the table the first time and then who knows where she ended up after she gave our bill. My husband ended up going up front to pay at the carry out counter. We remembered that we said last time we went (probably 9 months ago) that we would never go back. Well, for sure… there has to be better Mexican options than this. The service is not worth the meal.

The restaurant is Meximerican… (Mexican + American)
The prices are low. Nice sized portions. Cheap booze. Ok service. DELICIOUS food.
I love the Verde carnitas burrito.

Very quiet on the Sunday we were there and had to ask for most thing normal done automatically (drink refills, more chips) at least once and in on case 4 times. Food was just ok. Not good. The only thing that stood out was the cheese dip and the amazingly cold beer. Would have gotten another beer had we we’ve seen our server.
If you don’t have another option to go you will be fine but if you have time to find another option in the area try them first.

Not bad but not great either. Was in town for the night for business and craving some Mexican. Got the steak fajitas, a ground beef relleno, and a chicken enchilada. The enchilada was the highlight. Got the food to go and they knew I was in a hotel bc we were talking at the register. Got back to the room and no utensils or napkins. Shake the head?
El Rodeo — aye no!

Lots of authentic Mexican food. Prepared well and served quickly by the wait staff. Very reasonable prices. You can feed your family affordably here and get great Mexican food. Be sure and try the Guac which is made table side. Very good and fresh. Great Margaritas as well. Mariachi bands scheduled monthly.

Go for chips and salsa and maybe drinks then leave.
Went last Friday for a date night and we were not impressed. My date had been once before and was giving it another chance. The wait staff was attentive, but when my date left the table for a moment to get something out of the car for me, the waitress came over to take the order. She gave me a really odd look when I said I wanted to wait until he came back to take our order.
The salsa was great, but that about it. We found the rest of our food to be tasteless and bland. We both ordered of the a la carte menu so we could try different things. I have a chicken enchilada, chicken taquito and Mexican rice. We have no intentions of going back anytime soon…

Trios tacos are terrific
Everything else is meh
Water is less than meh
Service is subpar

Is it legal to serve food this bad? My tacos were so waterlogged they would have dissolved if left for a few more minutes. At least my rude waitress didn’t bother asking me if I wanted a box, I wouldn’t have been able to contain my laughter.

«Amazing food. Horrible service.»
Came here on a Wednesday night, half an hour before closing, we walked in and asked if they were still serving (as no on acknowledged us when we first walked in) and the hostess finally looked up and happily said yes. We were seated towards to kitchen, given good complimemtary salsa and chips and food came out fairly promptly. The waitress forgot to give us an extra set of utensils, we tried to get their attention for 15+ minutes so my boyfriend had to borrow my fork lol
A+ for food
C for service
Random side note: has anyone noticed the funky smell outside the restaurant? Is that the factories/​car dealership?

This is a great place to get Penn Mex. If you were a fan of Chi Chi’s, then you’ll enjoy this place. Not for those looking for true Mexican cuisine but great for the Taco Bell crowd with good prices, food and portions.
May not be using fresh veggies in the salsa but guarantee that there is no catchup involved. We will continue to visit and enjoy this place.
For you Mexican/​Spanish cuisine snobs, stay away so the wait is shorter for the rest of us.

It has a charmingly tacky aesthetic appeal; it won’t have you convinced that you’re in Zorro era Spanish/​Mexican territory, but the effort is appreciated.
The pork carnitas were juicy and tender, makes me wish I made that my order instead of stealing a bite off of other people’s plates. I was in a taco mood, and sadly my taco craving was not satisfied; a tiny taco in a soggy «hard shell» could not meet the challenge.
Basically, avoid the tacos. The «sizzling platters» (i.e. any fajita dish) are probably your best bet if you want this place to give an adequate gastronomical experience (or if you just like to hear that sizzling hiss).