El Jalisco

I do not understand the high reviews. This food does not taste authentic to me at all. There was a miscommunication while ordering and received two wrong orders. Wouldn’t go back.

We were headed to another Mexican restaurant but the wait was to long. So we said will try this restaurant because it’s moving close to our house. So glad we did we both got different steak burritos Awesome! The steak was so tender and flavorful! This is our new favorite Mexican restaurant!

This is the best Mexican restaurant and I highly recommend the Shrimp Adobe!!! Excellent!!! Great beans also! And the staff was attentive and nice!

Mexican Antojitos my new fav!

Sigh. I love the food here. I love the salsa. But the management and their strange salsa naziism have me so perplexed. When I asked for a tall salsa, which I, the Duchess, always order, I was told I can’t have it. Not that I could pay more for it but that I can’t have it. I’ve never been told I can’t have something I ordered in a restaurant before. Then the waiter goes on to say that the manager doesn’t allow him to bring more salsa, but that he can take our cups back and refill them, from what I can infer, indiscretely for us. Why oh why. I used to love this place so much. Then as our food is served, the runner OFFERS us more salsa, which we happily, though trepedatiously, accept, only to never receive. I love the food. God must be telling me to get more serious on my diet. Only ordering «to go» from now on.

Friendly staff and great food!

Perfection! I want these carnitas three meals a day until I die. I’m not kidding even a little bit. Oh sweet baby Jesus!!!

Standard Tex-​Mex food, with this fairly large chain expanding from numerous locations in Tallahassee. Honestly it’s probably my least favorite of the Tex-​Mex joints, both when it comes to Tallahassee and Panama City. I continue to eat there for reasons that mystify even me.
So to get it out of the way — Peppers is the best around. Los Rancheros is a venerable back-​up. El Jalisco would probably be my third choice. Why the issue? El Jalisco just strikes me as lowest common denominator. Food is ok for Tex-​Mex, but isn’t as memorable as say Pepper’s in Panama City or (a favorite) San Miguel’s in Tallahassee. It’s the service that really bugs me. During my most recent visit to this location it took forever to get chips and salsa, so we couldn’t enjoy them before our food came out. Service was NOT friendly, rather snide, and in fact the server really only came out to bring the food and bring the bill. No check-​ups, no nothing. The server seemed miffed when I asked for more salsa when the bill was presented (would have asked earlier but no opportunity).
What they do get right is prices are very affordable. El Jalisco probably caters to the crowd looking for late hours and very cheap drink specials. El Jalisco really is the best choice if that’s your scene. Normally I just want the best tex-​mex I can get, and I’m learning to look elsewhere for that.
Bottom-​line: I just can’t shake the feeling that El Jalisco is phoning it in. Maybe the chain has gotten too big, but there’s simply nothing special about El Jalisco. I love tex-​mex food and I’ve already listed the places I would choose over this establishment. But all that said, there’s nothing inherently BAD about El Jalisco other than uneven service.

The food is good, the drink prices are great but what sets this restaurant apart are the two bartenders. If you’re smart, you’ll sit in the bar area because the bartenders are awesome. They are very friendly and make great drinks, great service. Gina and Angela are, I think, hidden gems of Panama City.

Standard Americanized Mexican food with a few interesting and creative methods for mixing up the same stuff. I chose the Burrito Verde with chicken and it was tasty, served with a pile of lettuce and chopped tomato garnish that was completely ignored. The verde salsa was spicy with flavor but not hot, which is fine by me.
Chips and salsa, of course. I thought the salsa was a bit «wet» but that’s just my preference. Other than that, it was a good flavor even if I prefer a thicker salsa.
$ 7 for a 20 ounce Pacifico draft. At the time, I thought that was a bit much but i now think that it’s a reasonable price for a large import beer.
My only complaint is that during the 90 minutes I was here enjoying my dinner, the entire crew came out four different times to sing their version of the birthday song, complete with tambourine. Annoying as hell.

I absolutely love this place!
The food is amazing, the drinks are great, and the service is exceptional.
While I was in training here, I probably hit up El Jalisco once a week, sometimes more. The Nachos el Jalisco are my absolute favorite and if you don’t eat steak, chicken, or shrimp, you can substitute one or two of them out as you please. The veggies are always cooked perfectly, and they definitely didn’t skimp on cheese.
Angela, the bartender, is the best. I always looked forward to seeing her and even adjusted my visits to coincide with her schedule. No one else seemed to get my drinks just right so seeing her behind the bar, I knew I was going to have the best. Skinny Margarita with a Tajin rim on the rocks is all you need to ask for, oh and don’t forget the all-​day-​every-​day 2-​for-​1!

My new favorite restaurant in town! The service was great, food authentic and amazing. Had the chori queso dip which was very tasty and then I had the mole which was delicious and the rice was on point. Hands down the best place for Mexican food in town. Only downside, they don’t serve horchata. But I would highly recommend this to anybody who likes Mexican food.

2 for 1 drink special… sold! I had the chimichanga platter and whoa, delicious! Chicken fajita quesadilla was also really good. We drove about 30 min to get here and it was worth it.

Great margaritas and steak tacos. My boyfriend and I come here for casual Mexican food, well American Mexican food haha. The service is good and the prices are just right!

Very good food, polite and good service. Building could use a facelift but overlook-​able for the food. The wife and I eat here at least once every week.

Great food and service. Clean. Definitely found a local spot. I had the 14 combo. The quesadilla and enchiladas were awesome. My dad had fajitas and said they were great.

El Jalisco serves my favorite Mexican food in the LH/​PC area… I took a while to sample other restaurants in the area that had better Unilocal reviews, and then came here on a whim. I was oleantly surprised, and haven’t gone anywhere else since.
I liked the chips, the sides were tasty (beans/​cheese/​rice), the portions were generous, and the food was well-​seasoned (neither a salt lick nor lacking flavor). Things like chopped tomatoes and guac were fresh.
Recommendation: try the fajita quesadillas… they’re really awesome. Two-​for-​one margaritas aren’t bad, either.

The food was amazing. I had the lunch special 10. Came out in a decent amount of time and the salsa was nice and hot too. Service here was superb!

This place is actually legit. Service may be a bit slow but it’s worth the wait! Great food, Great atmosphere, Great prices and friendly staff. My glass was never empty and the food was prepared to perfection.

Meh. had the lunch steak burrito. too salty. Hubby had the taco, burrito, enchilada combo; says it was good. My burrito had the rice & beans mixed it.
Went back on Friday and had the lunch special, mexican chicken, hubby had the fajitas. He liked it.