El Patron Mexican Grill & Cantina

Good size menu. Good prices for lunch and entrees. Cheese sauce is pretty freaking good.

Good «southern» Tex-​Mex. I had Carne Poblano which is a small portion of steak with cheese, and a stuffed pepper with a lot of shrimp, cheese, and crab meat. It was very good. On the side their «street corn» (Elotè) was GREAT, as well as the guac. Give it a try if you’re passing through.

Outside of the rather LARGE margaritas you can order here… I don’t know why there are so many who love this restaurant when there are far better Mexican restaurants in the area (Casa Grande, Los Arcos).
In terms of food quality, you either have «meh» or «ok, I guess». I just never cared for anything that I’ve eaten in this place. One particular dish I like locally at another Mexican restaurant is the chicken soup. I ordered here at El Patron ONCE, and couldn’t even finish it then. It wasn’t that it was nasty, disgusting… but it was such a drastic change in flavors and ingredients and was just so overall bland that I didn’t care for it at all.
El Patron has a nice staff, has a pleasant enough décor, but between «meh» quality food — at higher than necessary prices, I might add — I prefer to go elsewhere.
Menu prices, options, and food quality is much better over at Casa Grande.

Beautiful restraunt with great food and amazing service. Staff genuinely are having a great time yet are prompt with service. No bickering between servers or managers like we see at most restraunts. Thoroughly impressed. I lived in Mexico for a while and this experience reminded me of that more than any other restraunt I’ve been to here in the U.S. A+

If your looking for Tex-​Mex styled «American Mexican» food it was really good. Service was great when we went and the décor is really nice.
Price would make us go back. You get PLENTY of food for your $.

Not too far off Interstate 85, at exit 76… Must redeem El Patron on Unilocal.all old outdated reviews have left this restaurant with only 3 stars… tried it because it’s listed as 2^nd best restaurant on Trip Advisor in Salisbury, NC… large selection of food choices on the menu including shot menus as well :)…live place with nice staff. Carla was a great waitress and correct about the size of a small margarita that’s actually pretty large to start… the Patron Margarita is an excellent choice… they give you Salsa AND Pico de gallo (good flavor) with chips… I ordered the new enchilada seafood comes with shrimp and crab meat as well as two sides items priced at $ 9…Spouse had the camarones al mojo de ajo with 2 sides priced at $ 12…good atmosphere with that Mexican flare we all love! Locals should start giving reviews to help boost this well deserved restaurant its props to help visitors :) EXCELLENT FOOD!

One of my fav «Mexican» restaurants in Salisbury. Only spot that actually brings you pico de gallo and salsa for the chips. Staff are friendly and meals are always delicious. If you order a liquor drink you probably should come prepared not to drive home otherwise you may get a DUI.

Enjoyed my visit. The staff was really nice and the food above average. Will be going back.

I ordered the Tilapia Veracruz. It was spicy with no flavor. The tilapia was soggy and the scallops were rubbery. Also, the waitress was clueless in regards to what was on the menu. Save your money go somewhere else.

Family owned — I’d like to say that I rate everyone on the same scale with the same criteria — but I really don’t. A family owned business will always rate slightly higher then a chain — but I rate all chains the same and all family owned business the same. This might be why my ratings are slightly higher then others when it comes to a family owned business. Having said all that — this 4 star rating is solid.
There was plenty of parking — or at least I was able to find a parking space even though there were a lot of business sharing the same parking lot — it was free! The server was extremely friendly and provided table side fresh preparation of Guacamole and I might add that was delicious and that’s coming from a person who generally will not eat the stuff — I wanted more.
The selection was large enough that even a person who isn’t real big on Mexican certainly found some fantastic to eat — I had two tacos — one chicken and one ground beef — both had great flavor and I could find nothing wrong — very fresh ingredients help!
Pricing was in par — certainly within our company guidelines and could fit into anyone’s budget. The service was great, speed was awesome and we were in and out for a working lunch time.
The place was clean — decorated as expected and though it was crowded — it wasn’t really noisy!

YUM! Wasn’t expecting it to be THIS good, but man oh man! I really really really enjoyed myself here! The salsa was good and tasty! We got the special but I cannot remember what it was called. it consisted of cheese enchiladas (or you can have beef, chicken, etc.). The highlight here were the pickled onions. I do not have words for how incredibly delicious these things are. They really make the dish by cutting through the richness of the cheese/​sauce/​etc. I will definitely go back and visit the next time I’m in town!

Cheese dip is okay but not to die for, not as thick as I like it, like they try to stretch it… Refried beans are great and so fresh. My waitress is amazing.
but prefer the Los arcos mexican restaurant on Klumac rd, salisbury

We have a few Mexican restaurants in Salisbury, but this one is my top pick now. It’s got that American slant. But, they have fresh food like the pica de gallo and salsa that comes out when you walk in. We added on the queso which seemed a little pricey, until we saw the bowl. It’s about triple the size of the other local places.
Compared to this area, El Patron is a little higher on the prices for Mexican, but the food is better and portions are bigger. My college son had to get a take out box, and that does not happen often. When I say a little higher though, this meal was just $ 33 for three people for dinner, so I’m not talking breaking the bank at all.
Unilocal has been hiding my review and others on this restaurant. Shame on them for only showing the reviews with lower ratings. This really is the best Mexican restaurant in our town.

This is my second time going to El Patron. This time I wasn’t feeling as hungry, but my boyfriend really wanted something to eat. So El Patron it was, since they didn’t disappoint the first time.
We were greeted and seated upon arrival, our waiter was quick and attentive. Every meal comes with chips, salsa, and their own pico de gallo which is very good!
My boyfriend ordered the ‘Burrito Carolina’ with steak. It’s a delicious combination green peppers, steak, fresh tortilla, and sauces. The steak is REAL and tender and juicy. Another good choice!
Since my appetite wasn’t as big as usual, I got two chicken tacos, which are actually on the «side order» part of the menu. But I was impressed, moist flaky chicken, with tomatoes, cheese, and real lettuce. When I say real I mean «not that white shredded crap» real green pieces of lettuce.
The tacos were excellent and our food was served in under 10minutes.
I will continue to come to El Patron, they’ve proved to be worthy twice in a row, can they stand up for a 3^rd round?

Don’t go. Upon arrival, the table beside us received burned food which they sent back, then left. 1) Our food was not tasty or fresh. 2) Service was nonexistent. 3) The manager, George Moreles (as seen in the Salisbury Post interview) was rude and dishonest. First he brought us the wrong check. He found ours, made no apology, and acted angry at us. Then he took our cash payment and claimed we did not pay. He kept our $ 8.77 change and
certificate. It costed us dearly for food that was not good. Needless to say, we definitely won’t be back!

Just because you have soccer and Telemundo on your wide screen TVs that does not make you a Mexican Restaurant. Give me a break… So I go early the only others in the place are the 2 guys trying to get in the pants of some drunk b… Does anyone get it? Your a Mexican? Restaurant and what are they known for? Step one Chips and Salsa that is a major requirement unless of course the cost of one persons meal is more than I pay for my car payment Step two can I have just a little service? Please I mean hell every newspaper and mail box in this area has half off coupons for this place.
Does it take that to bring people in? Or can it be you know a little thing called THE FOOD? Maybe just ask if I would like a refill on my drinks? Or are you to busy with that drunk b… at the bar? Making sure she is good and drunk? I bet the 2 guys bought every drink!
Ok the mystery meat in the tacos did want me to ask… Did it come from a animal that has a curly tail? Or a tail that you use in soup or cook for a few hours to have that yummy bone marrow? I mean it was better than Taco Bell …
If you want authentic Mexican in The Salisbury area La Alcancia a Grocery/​Restaurant if you want Amer/​Mex go to Casa Grande .Or you can take that half off coupon from the Newspaper and go to El Patron. Lots of TV, s…

I like this place. No it’s no completely authentic mexican, but it’s not all boring Americanized TexMex either. I have been twice and the service was great both times. I had tacos, that were the closest thing to real street food in Mexico since I left Texas. I think if you go here and order Nacho’s you will probably be disappointed, but if you get out of your comfort zone and order something you have never heard of, you’ll be glad you did. I rarely rate a restaurant on décor. What the room looks like is inconsequential to me as long as it’s clean and this place is. If the owners saved a buck on used booths and tables then they can pass that savings on to me. Prices here are great and I will certainly go back again.

At first glance it’s an unassuming little joint tucked into a small strip mall near the local Wal-​Mart. Upon entering I was a bit bumfuzzled by the looks of the place. It looked as if the owners went to an auction and bought whatever used seating units or restaurant equipment they could afford, sometimes a mismatch of this sort can be cool but in this instance I felt as though I was in some creepy neighbors basement who wanted to «cool» up the joint for the local kids.
The menu consisted of super Americanized «Mexican» food that were reasonably priced, or so I thought upon first ordering. I got the Fajita wraps, the steak not the chicken, and my girlfriend got the taco salad.
The service was pretty ok despite the language barrier and our food was brought to us in a somewhat timely manner.
Ok, it was the moment of truth! we both had our food, we were starving from a long day of being awesome, each in our own respect. I dug into my wrap like a sparkly vampire into an under aged emo girl. I was hoping for beefy bliss!!! Instead I was greeted by a meat that tasted as if it had been cooked in Ghandi’s kitchen after he had collected hundreds of pounds of tax free salt from the ocean. It was horrible! I almost it was difficult to stifle my gags and not cough up on the slightly asian looking fellow off to our right. My girlfriends salt was similarly prepared in a bath of salt and meat tenderizer.
Overall I would say that this restaurant fell extremely short on my expectations… I had one of those single tears drip down my cheek moments. To sum it up, I would not recommend this place to anybody I know, unless of course I happened to owe money to a giant slug who had some sort of human conscienceness and I wanted him to eat there and shrive up thus wiping out my debt to him.

Lovin me some El Patron. I have been a faithful Casa Grande follower but this place was an awesome find. I had chicken fajitas with rice and beans for 6.99 which equaled lunch and dinner for me. It was clean and the staff was friendly. They have a full bar, though I didn’t partake (it was lunch). Not that it wasn’t one of those days I would have loved to «SAMPLE» a Margarita or twelve. I would say it is a definite must if you are in the area. It’s off Innis Street in downtown Salisbury tucked away in a strip mall. Not much from the outside but a delight on the inside.