El Chorlito Mexican Restaurant

Just OK. Not terrible, but not great.
The margarita was claimed to be made with agave wine, rather than tequila. It turns out to be pretty weak.
The sauce on the enchilada was, um, different. A less charitable reviewer might have rate it more negatively, but I’ll just say it was not like what I’ve had before. Maybe it’s bold and innovative, but I’m a low life, so I’m not sophisticated enough to say for sure.
Anyway, nothing seemed awful, and I don’t seem to be suffering any ill effects from the experience, so I’ll rate it «Meh».

A lot of the negative reviews tell you more about the reviewers than the restaurant. I guess if you get off on being a jerk, Unilocal is one way to do it.
No, this isn’t a destination restaurant, it’s a place meant for travelers stopping in San Simeon who want something besides seafood eateries. We found our meals to be very good, and we’ve eaten lots of this style of California Mexican food having grown up in Southern California. Anyone expecting authentic regional Mexican cuisine in this ½ mile stretch of Highway 1 is delusional.
My fajitas were quite tasty, and +1 for the use of grass-​fed beef. My wife had the huevos rancheros and she enjoyed them as well. And if you’re so cheap you can’t afford to tip, like one reviewer mentioned, then maybe consider this dish as it was only $ 10.
We wouldn’t hesitate to eat here again if our travels again find us crashing for the night in Sam Simeon.

Extremely overpriced yucky food! I’m Mexican American so I know what good Mexican food is suppose to taste like, especially if I’m going to pay big bucks for it.
I ordered a plate of 1fish & 1shrimp taco, the fish taco was nasty, who uses diced cat fish in red sauce on a fish taco?! I’m expecting the battered fried fish with the cabbage and mayo sauce on top. The shrimp taco was ok but not what a shrimp taco is suppose to be. Price was $ 15.99!
The rice was nasty hard, like from 2 days ago.
My husband ordered the fried tilapia. We ate only the fish, had to add lemon & salt cause it was lacking flavor. He also left all his rice & beans. $ 15.99!
My husband ordered a small cup of soup, didn’t check the price cause we figure its around $ 2 for a tiny cup of soup… Wrong! $ 5.99!!! For a small cup of cheese and chili soup???
The waitress saw that we left most our food and asked us if we didn’t like it, so my husband told her the truth. She then went on saying how she wishes she can do something but didn’t have the power to remove items, or discount them from our check.
I did ask her about the soup price and she showed me the menu and it was correct, i said that was ridiculous.
Our total was $ 38 and my husband gave her $ 40 and said thank you… As we were walking out the waitress calls us back saying our total was $ 38 and we only gave her $ 40, she said that’s not even like 2% tip!
I was stunned by her demanding her tip. She can remove the nasty fish taco and tip herself…
Do not go there! It’s just conveniently the 1^st place south from the sea lions, we should have kept driving to Cambria.
Wrap up: high prices, low quality gross food.
My 1 was for the fried fish that we did eat.

Our experience was precipitated by my having found Castanza parking at the next door hotel and not wanting to lose it I persuaded my wife to partake of Mexican food. Our hostess/​waitress was very good an very attentive. The food however was just so so.

White-​washed so-​called mexican food. Rice was hard with no flavor and the beans came straight out of a can, this had to have been one of the worst mexican restaurants that I have ever been to. I hope the owner reads some of these reviews and pulls his head out and hires a real chef and cleans the tables.

Save your money and your stomach. Go somewhere else. Ive eaten here several times, expecting something good… It never happens. And if you happen to voice your dislike for El Chorlito food in a public forum, expect to be assaulted verbally from the owners daughter, Kendra Morales. Very unprofessional.Ive tasted better vomit.

Food-​1 star
Service-​4 stars
Atmosphere-​4 stars
When you go to a restaurant, most likely is for food. Our dashes were not professionally.
Soup, rice and beans were so salty weren’t edible. Fish was way over cooked that couldn’t take off it’s bone, the entire meat was crispy and dark. The next table dinner questioned why we just return it for refund? Well, we don’t think the cooker did it deliberately, we hope not.

How can you not give this place five stars I ask? Right off the highway near Hearst Castle in San Simeon with the sounds of the surf outside the back door — ah. Terrific and friendly service, clean restrooms (with water!) and delectable Mexican food. Chips and salsa were nice — the salsa was a bit spicy, just perfect with chunks of good veggies. Hubby had a burrito smothered in a rich sauce, and I had the fish (of the day) salad. That fish was char-​grilled to perfection with a zesty set of spices all over an extremely fresh and green salad. Beers were cold, iced teas too. And they had a decaffeinated iced tea which I truly appreciated. Bring your dog my friends, the patio is dog-​friendly. Love this spot and wouldn’t hesitate to hit it up again if I’m passing through. Thanks a bunch!

If there were no stars, this place would have none. This is a great candidate for Gordon Ramsay’s Restaurant Rescue show. My stomach is churning sick after a two day road trip waiting to eat a full meal and our lunch was a disgusting pile of terrible food that someone mislabeled «Mexican»
The defiant manager refused to acknowledge their mistakes and we left upset and feeling nauseous.
No.

My family and I visited Hearst Castle on 4^th of July, the night before we stayed at Sands by the Sea and this was the only place open to grab a bite to eat. So we strolled over around 9pm and had to wait a few mins in the almost empty restaurant to be seated. Once seated though, the staff was freindly and tentative to our needs. You have to ask for water from the server due to the drought situation in San Simeon (drought everywhere).The prices for the place was a little steep. $ 11 bucks for a burrito i mean come on, I can get a GREAT burrito anywhere else for $ 6 bucks. I got the Shrimp Ceviche ($ 13) and it was okay, not a of flavor but. I did feel that i got a lot of shrimp tho which was a plus! My parents order the seafood platter to share ($ 40), had lots of veggies (peppers, onions, zucchini) and also came with a side of rice and a side of beans too share. My Brother got the enchilada and chille relleno plate ($ 17) and he seemed to have enjoyed that as well. The minus 1 star is just for their prices but other then that i’d probably come back again if i was back in San Simeon with no where else to go.

Food Sucked! Seriously GO somewhere else. I know there’s no cell service which is problem the only reason why this place is still open. $ 18 for carnitas serious!

Interesting Mexicano spot. Not really traditional flavor you would expect at a destination, Restraunt the food is C– but can expect much when out in the middle of the 1 Frwy. if just need a beer and food regardless of quality it’s eatable but don’t let names full you platters are small carnitas is dry, chips and dip is good.

One star says it all. Much of the food was inedible. Service from all but who seemed to be the owner was terrible. It was as if we were an inconvenience to them. We saw the Unilocal reviews and yet went here anyway out of sheer laziness. Learn from our mistake and walk a bit further to get some edible food!

There are not too many good Mexican restaurants on the Central Coast, but, my wife and I were fortunate enough to find El Chorlito in San Simeon. We love the «wine» margaritas to start with. Good food, not greasy, nice ocean view with a lovely patio and very good service.

I’m giving it a 5 star simply because so many of these reviews are so bitchy! I’m native from Los Angeles and grew up going to these kinds of tex mex places so I feel like I have some street cred right?! I had a two taco platter, one ground beef & one carnitas. Loved the taco shell and the tacos were pretty tasty. Chips & salsa were good. They could learn from Gardens of Taxco how to make a better wine margarita though. Service was slow considering how little people there were. Here’s my deal though, for a town with few options this place is on par with several mexican places in L.A. That’s not saying a whole lot, but I found a lot of the reviews unfair. People called it pricey, but to an angeleno it’s fairly priced. If you’re in this town and hungry for mexican then don’t hesitate to go here. The staff although a bit slow were very nice. I ordered a blended margarita, but got on the rocks. I didn’t bother changing it though. I almost didn’t go because of the reviews, but was glad I did.

we were referred by staff at pelican cove inn.
my chicken enchilada mole was outstanding. the accompanying beans and cheese were great.
my exellent wife’s vegetarian fajitas were fantastic. she mentioned that there appeared to be no grease or residue.
staff treated us very well. they gave us a corner table with an ocean view.
water is a special order item in drought stricken cambria.
i am not a fan of the rice. the flavor was okay, but the texture felt odd.
i felt that the prices were on the high side, but my excellent wife reminded me that we were in san simeon, near hearst castle, in the heart of tourist territory.

Our family came to this restaurant because we thought it was the simple option before our tour to the Hearst Castle. It was 5 mins away, however, I wish we would have saved our $ 50 dollars worth of bland food and just ate something healthy at the tourist center, which I’m sure offered much more. The chips were ok, the food uneventful… Shirley temple was flat and even my son asked, «where is the cherry»!? Never got a chance to ask for a replacement because no one came to ask us how things were or to refill our drinks. It is overpriced and as a another reviewer mentioned, staff was a bit bizarre, they seemed totally unhappy and miserable to be at work. Maybe it was the holiday busy weekend wearing on them who knows. The outside seating is ok, one group sat themselves outside an then wanted to sit themselves inside because they were not under shade. It has a slight ocean view and it is the only Mexican food place in the area, save your money or find yourself creating a Unilocal account just to warn people about this place!

The food was okay, nothing spectacular. Probably the best Mexican food option you’ll have in a fifty mile radius. The shredded beef in the tacos were delicious, everything else was so-​so. The salsa that came with the complimentary chips tasted like Pace Picante out of a jar. The service
was also mediocre. Overall an okay experience.

Worst margarita ever! Service is not very good. Lamb shank is 4 stars. Mole sauce 1 star. Salsa is 3 stars. Cilantro sauce is wonderful.

I can’t say disgusting, but not fantastic either maybe I would have been less impressed had I not had 3 hours of driving and hiking before I got here.
Food was bland, had a taco with shredded beef, an enchilada and chili rellano. Salsa, though free, seemed nothing more than «pace» with cilantro added to make it seem fresh.
Come to think about it I think three stars may be generous. But I liked the resturaunt itself. And the location. Though think it would be a better location for Indian or Thai food.