El Corral Mexican Restaurant

This obviously isn’t the place you’re going to go if you’re looking for a classy night on the town or are put off by eating beneath strange murals of a sperm graveyard in the nighttime, but it’s definitely the kind of place to visit if you’re looking for an awesome greasy hangover cure or want to support a great local business run by a friendly, hardworking family. The flavors here are quality and are much better than the dishes at Patron down in Clinton. Anything with pork here is really good, and you must get the Cheese Crispi. It’s addictive.

The Best Mexican food on Whidbey Island!
Very friendly family owned restaurant, I’ve been coming here for 18 years and I have never been disappointed. I’m also a big eater and have never left hungry or wanted for more:)

Food was pretty good. Different from the food I’ve had before, so the people may be from a different part of Mexico or Central America.

We are always greeted warmly when we come to El Corral. It’s family owned and they all work so hard to keep their business going. We spend our winters in the desert so we eat a lot of good Mexican food. We have eaten here several times — the latest being last night — the chips were nice and warm — the salsa was pretty spicy — just the way I like it. I had chicken enchiladas — the sauce was the best I’ve ever tasted and the chicken was very tender. My husband had the taco salad and ground beef chile rellenos — wow! Yummy! We will be back for sure — we never leave disappointed.

Ive lived on Whidbey since 1990 and have had dinner at El Corral to many time to count. Ive always found the food great. The décor needs upgrading. But in the past the food is equal to what you might find at Azteca. But recently they seem to have no control over the loud young adults and teen who come in for a meal. The rest of us 25 and over just want to come in and eat a good meal in moderate peace and quite. Its a family restaurant do we really need to yell to our friends sitting at the same table as us? Last time I had a hard time hearing my server. It seemed as though the server had a hard time hearing me…
The food quality usually is great. This time the food was too hot to enjoy in a reasonable period of time, I expect plates to be hot. But we all want to eat our food promptly. And recently the cheese the seem to be using is of a lesser quality than before. It has this weird «processed cheese food product» taste like velveeta… Not my favorite… I hope thing improve there or I will eat at the competition…

My wife and I have eaten here twice. Both times the food was great, but the second time the food prep was slow like 40 min. Usually with Mexican food you order and 10 min later the foods there. I won’t hold it against them as it was approaching closing. However, our next adventure will likely involve another Mexican restaurant.

Don’t eat there… ever. It used to be ok, but now is just a sad, dirty, empty place with awful food, I mean awful.

Sure, El Corral is not fancy in the slightest and it’s appearance inside and out will likely not impress but it’s one of those places that will surprise you. It’s a family owned restaurant and a very friendly environment-​the door is always open when you visit. They have a large selection of food on their menu and the fact that they offer thomas kemper crème soda is always a plus in my family. Rice and beans tend to be a large determining factor for me in deciding whether a mexican restaurant is good and I can say that they are very tasty. I love their chicken enchiladas and their burritos and tostadas are plentiful and fresh. Please don’t judge this restaurant by it’s appearance, it’s the food that really counts and I can say with confidence that the food is worth the visit. If not, just order to go!
One star taken off for it’s outdated interior, it just needs a little sprucing-​or a total make– over

I’ve been going here for years and, contrary to another reviewer, have seen no decline in quality. I like the food and the atmosphere is cheerful and informal. I don’t know, personally, how authentic the food is but a friend who moved here from New Mexico told me it was just as good as any she’d ever had there. I definitely recommend it!

It got a two rating only because the chips were good (otherwise 1 star just for feeding me). I read the other reviews and thought they were exaggerating. They were not. I don’t care about the ambience that’s what you get with a good Mexican restaurant.
To me this app is all about how the food is. The red sauce taste like cloves, chorizo was burnt and the kicker, ready… The chips they served us when we walked in the charges is $ 1.25 a basket! What!!! Never in my life have I seen this!
I really would rather give a business a glowing review. I believe in small business success but you have to try and put out a good product. I don’t believe they care about that here.

I got talked me into going here because a friend said the parking lot always seemed full and he thought it might be a good local dive. Turns out, they were parking to visit neighboring business. We went in and were initially the only customers (6:00 pm). The entry way was filled with 5 or 6 family members visiting with each other. The overall décor was cheesy, dominated by out-​dated beer banners and random hand-​painted bits including a mural that appeared to be a graveyard accented by sperm-​like balloons floating into the air. Oh, and there was a busted parrot on a hoop right above our table. The booths were covered in colors from the 80s and the springs had long since sprung; I felt like I was sitting in a vinyl hole. The place didn’t look particularly dirty, just out-​dated and dilapidated. This would have all been fine if the food was good.
The menu was typical for a mexican restaurant, however, don’t go there expecting to be able to order a margarita. Beer and wine only. My chardonnay was delivered in a single serving plastic bottle (Sutter Homes) with a frozen wine glass. The salsa was not great and the chips were dry and flavorless. They may have been whole grain, I’m not sure, but they seemed store bought.
I ordered a taco salad with beans (playing it safe at this point). My friend ordered a full meal. My taco salad was flavorless. There were very few beans and the lettuce was soggy. My friend’s description for his meal was, «I think my stomach is already getting upset.» When asked later for more specifics, he only replied, «I just didn’t care for it.» We won’t be going back.

Likely the best Mexican Food I’ve had anywhere in the US, including Southern California. This is much better than the other Mexican place on the south end of Whidbey. The food is very rich and flavorful, and the price is right for the quality.

Wow, I’m surprised to see two such negative reviews from locals. El Corral is not a place to go when you want ambiance but the food is decent and the staff is sometimes slow but friendly. This is a local, family owned business — its cheap and friendly. Order take-​away if you want faster service.

How I dream of having fresh, healthy Mexican food in a cheerful setting on south Whidbey. Try it for lunch. It’s too depressing for dinner.

I used to like El Corral occasionally. The food was not great, but passable for getting a Mexican food fix, which is not easy on Whidbey Island. However, I went there a few months ago and had one of the worst meals ever.
There were only a few tables with people, but the wait service still took forever. The meal was bad, greasy and overly salted. It was as if they whoever was in the kitchen just didn’t care about what they were putting out and the wait staff didn’t care about offering service.
David.