El Borracho Ballard

Delicious drinks! I had a coconut margarita. It was so tasty. I also sampled the cucumber margarita which was refreshing and perfect on a summer day.
The inside of the place is really cool with a mural on one wall and there is a patio to sit out on as well.
I will be back here to try some of their happy hour sometime.

You had me at ‘We make our Margaritas by the keg.” It’s been a while since I fell in love this fast. This place is open, airy, has a great vibe, and the staff are super friendly; that’s just for starters. I started with the ‘El Cheapo’ margarita for $ 4 and made it a double for $ 7; I was not disappointed. It was a nice drink that had a good spike but not too much.
The chips they bring you are unlike any other – they’re fresh, fried on-​site, have just the right level of salt and no grease. Our server said they were gluten free-​bonus! The salsa was perfect, but if you like to sample, they have an entire cooler with other fresh-​made salsas for you to try – help yourself.
The tacos are ala carte, which lowers the price and promotes sampling. I had two shrimp and one carnitas with a side of red rice and refried beans. The tortillas are fresh and fluffy; clearly made that day. The tacos were very tasty and not overloaded with cabbage as so many house made tacos are – just sayin’. Hubby’s pork burrito was huge and terrific.
The food was great, the service was fun and fast and the atmosphere was great. We’ll be back – sooner than later.

I was the friend that Lisa C ran into at El Boraccho and was there to witness the whole ridiculous episode. The waitstaff just refused to serve her. She was told she couldn’t be taken to a table until half of her party arrived but also could not sit in the bar area since she would eventually need to be moved to a regular table and it would be difficult for the servers to coordinate the switch. Lisa then said, «Well, we don’t need to move to a bigger table since there is plenty of space here at the bar. We will just stay here.» The server insisted that that wasn’t possible because the tables were too small. If a customer is willing to use the available space (there was plenty) and is willing to work with the fact that you don’t want to have to move them to another table, why would you still tell them no? They almost didn’t serve me and the person I was with because they assumed I was there as part of Lisa’s party when in fact I just ran into her. I suggested that she join our table until her party arrived and the waitress said no, because they can’t split checks and she wasn’t part of our party. I’ve never heard of restaurant that won’t let you sit in the bar area to have drinks while you wait for the rest of your party. Most places encourage this! Also, we are all intelligent adults with plenty of dining experience and can handle checks not being separated, especially when everything costs $ 1. It was ridiculous that the server spent so much time arguing and fighting about it. She claimed that the boss was in house and was making them enforce the rules. My friend Lisa was banished to the corner to wait for her party. I should also mention that Lisa was very nice, calm and collected during the entire interaction. The waitress came back to my table and I said it was ridiculous that they couldn’t accommodate her when she was willing to use the very empty bar space and that it was silly that now my friend was sitting in a corner without a drink when all she wanted was to enjoy happy hour. She got very defensive and testy and just said, «happy hour is until 7, no one is missing happy hour!» You missed the point, lady. I’m glad that Lisa didn’t put up with it and decided to walk out instead. I should have done the same!
If that is indeed your policy, you may want to reconsider. A person should not be kicked out of an open-​seating area, whether there is one in the party or 20. I was a server at one point and I know it’s just as easy to split checks in the bar area than in a regular table and every easy to close out a bar tab if a party has to move to a different table. If your excuse for letting big parties sit at the bar area is because the tables are small, then poor choice for placing small tables there and perhaps it’s time to invest in larger tables. There is more space up front than in the back area. Why not utlize it? Besides, nobody wants to sit at the tables in the back, which are right by the toilets and gets poor air circulation from the kitchen. I’ve been back there when something in the kitchen was burning and was choking from the smoke.
UPDATE: The owner contacted me and was very sincere in her apologies over what happened and is responding to the situation. She assured me that this is not their policy and that they do in fact welcome guests to sit in the bar to wait for their party. Sounds like this was a case of one server having one bad day too many and then going rogue. Glad to know this restaurant’s priority is still the customer!

I like the atmosphere in this place, the service is always pretty good, and it’s veggie friendly so you can bring your vegan friends.
The food is just ok. I find most things fall between bland and drowning in chili powder. They have the strangest sour cream (very runny).
But like I said, it’s kinda fun in there. Go when your expectations are low, and your friends are drunk.

Excellent food and service. My wife had the Posole and I had the Enchiladas Suizas with the potato and poblano pepper filling. As a side black beans and cilantro rice. All I can say it’s wow! Wonderful taste. Also great vegan and veggie selection.
We will be back and telling friends to come!

Amazing food! The atmosphere is very cute too. We got nachos and a burrito and it was so good The menu is interesting with beef cheeks, rabbit, cod, chicken, beef, beef tongue. Not to mention their guac!!!

Not the best taco’s in Seattle, but they are decent. The service was good, but food was just ok. Good gluten free options.

I listen to a lot of people I don’t trust, and I trust a lot of people I don’t listen to. So sometimes, I don’t trust myself when I listen to someone I trust. That person told me to go to El Borracho.
El Borracho is Spanish for «The Drunk.» And a wise man once said that the drunk person is the most trustworthy person in the room. I trusted El Borracho to shoot some hot damn Mexican flavor into my mouth. And damn did it deliver. Deze amigos know how to do happy hour. All you need for happy hour is cheap food + cheap alcohol.
$ 1 tacos. I didn’t think it was a thing. Wait, they’re actually $ 1.07. Well here comes the disenchantment. Nah, I’ll cut them some slack. Seven is a lucky number, right? Well, when there are six different varieties of $ 1(.07) tacos, There’s only one way to go.
GET ALL THE $ 1 TACOS.
Featured:
–Carnitas — Coca-​Cola braised shredded pork
–Pollo a la Tinga — Shredded chicken in adobo
–Al Pastor — Marinated grilled pork with pineapple
–Papas y Poblano — potato & poblano pepper with pico
–Cochinitas Pibil — Orange achiote pork with pickled red onion
–Chorizo con Papas — Mexican-​style sausage & potato
We’re talmbout the potpourri of Mexican food here. When you see six tacos laying supine on a plate waiting to be devoured, you don’t think about which taco is which. You just go HAM. All were damn good. Though, the Papas y Poblano (potatotaco) was definitely the most distinctive and my favorite. Never thought potatos in tacos was a thing, but it sent ultra light beams of flavor into mah mouf.
During happy hour, beers are $ 1 off, so I had the Grapefruit Hef. I’d come back just for that beer it was that damn good. We talmbout some citrusy morning sunshine twerking in beery goodness. The chips and guac were excellent. The chips were warm, the guac was fresh with a bit of pico sprinkled on top, and the salsa was medium.
This is the mother of all happy hours. El Borracho doesn’t go for greatness. It wants to know its daddy.
I might not be drunk, but you can trust me on that.
Strong 4 outta 5

If you survive past the bartender, the experience is fine. Bartender was super hard to deal with (even other patrons at the time warned me of her) so overall it may not be worth the hassle if you’re in a bad mood by the time you eat.
She couldn’t understand our order of a round of «house margaritas» while we waited an hour for a table, and made us reference the menu (which she didn’t give us until we waited a while). I was trying to do her a favor, we just wanted regular margaritas. How hard is that?
After I gave her our groups IDs in a stack, she left the bar to do a face to do a face-​to-​face evaluation of everyone’s identity, ARG!
After recovering from that drawn out TSA-​like experience, the food was great! kudos to the cooks, if you can make it that far, the burritos and chips were delicious! I wish I could focus more on that.
Loved the vegetarian options!

The food was under 2 stars for us, but the salsa bar, ambiance, and menu variety bumped it up a little. Still doesn’t make up for the food though… We both had burritos, my husband had a vegan burrito and I had a chicken. We were starving, so anything could have satiated our appetite, but we left feeling unsatisfied and unhappily full… despite not fully finishing. Salsa choices are always a bonus, but didn’t make up for the lack of flavor and substance in the burrito. However, we did appreciate the variety of choices for vegans, vegetarians, and carnivores alike.
Seems like a decent place for drinks or happy hour, but just not our taste for lunch.
Edited: We previously though egg white foam came on the tamarind soda. Apparently, it is not! Thanks for the clarification.

I have to up my review to four stars on the basis of the salsa bar. Yes, the food we ate was a 3.5, but the salsas really upped the ante.
Craving some midday sustenance and a little margarita refresher, we came to El Borracho. Service is fast, friendly and spicy, like the salsa. I had some veggie tacos, my date had a burrito and we gulped down the double margaritas, a fine bargain with bottom shelf tequila.
Chips and an array of salsa finished the job, and we were set for the rest of the day.
A nice neighborhood Mexi-​joint, with no attitude whatsoever.

My boyfriend summed it up well when he tasted a bite of my vegan, «mission-​style» burrito and said it tasted «like disappointment.»
We drove all the way out to Ballard from North Beacon Hill to try El Borracho on the recommendation of a friend. I wish we’d eaten just about anywhere else. I’ve had a lot of shitty Mexican food in my lifetime but nothing compares to this crap. Usually, bad Mexican food is still tasty– it’s fatty, carby, beany deliciousness after all. El Borracho can’t even get that right.
Now, I’ve lived in San Francisco and love an authentic, SF vegan burrito. My lazy, vegan ex-​boyfriend gained 30 pounds or so eating real, mission vegan burritos. If El Borracho was his only source for vegan burritos, he’d probably still be skinny.
The El Borracho soyrizo vegan burrito, however, was devoid of flavor. The rice was hard and undercooked. It was served up like a lump of burrito, not even cut in half. It was soggy on the bottom and hard on top, like it had just been pulled out of a warmer.
As for the drinks, my boyfriend said his old fashioned was not done correctly. Instead of using orange zest, they just tossed a hunk of orange in the glass. He said he wasn’t sure if they even used a sugar cube and overall the whole thing just tasted like a single shot of watered down whiskey.
Bonus: we were carded twice while we were sitting there, and we don’t even look particularly young or baby-​faced.
Our waitress (didn’t get her name, but she was wearing an obscene amount of purple eyeshadow) was super rude, cutting me off before I could finish a sentence and generally seemed like she had better things to be doing (like standing outside talking to some guy like she was when we left). I’ve ALWAYS tipped waitstaff– this is the very first time when I wish we’d left less than the usual.
I’ll be taking our quest for good Mexican food elsewhere…

Came here late night at the end of a birthday celebration because I really really wanted some tacos. I got the al pastor, and the rest of the group got some chips and guac. The taco was alright. I’ve had better, but it was able to quell my craving for a bit. The chips and guac were pretty standard as well.
The tamarindo was really. Who would’ve thought that cinnamon and tamarind go together? Definitely one of the better drinks I’ve had when I’ve dared to venture beyond a mojito.
The great thing here was the service. Everyone was super friendly and quick. At one point I desperately needed to use the restroom, and one of the guys went and cleaned out the men’s room so I wouldn’t have to wait in line for the ladies’ room. Avoided a disaster there!

Way to go, El Borracho! They were able to accommodate a large group (10 of us, maybe?) super-​quickly for dinner. Our waitress, Amanda, was absolutely awesome. user attentive, friendly, and knowledgeable.
She brought us chips and lots of delicious guac and salsa– girl, you know the way to my heart.
Atmosphere is laid back and loud. Casual, cool, fun.
I tried two tacos– the papas y poblanos rajas (Yukon gold potato with roasted poblano pepper, onion & cheese) and the tacos de hongos (rispy rice flour-​battered cremini mushrooms/​white taco sauce/​shredded lettuce/​pico de gallo). Both were very unique and totally delicious. Everything came out quickly and I enjoyed the «El Cheapo» margarita (a double, of course!). It was cheapo, but tasted yummo.
Get this– on top of all that, our server split our checks individually without us even asking. Amazing. Will definitely be back.

Came here for a big group of people for a birthday dinner because we couldn’t find a table at the restaurant next door. What a fortunate coincidence, because El Borracho was amazing! They got us a big table in the back immediately, and our waitress was very attentive, friendly, and helpful. They have a margarita called «el cheapo» which yes, is cheap, and good. They have a very extensive taco menu, which featured everything from lengue, to cod, to braised pork, to lamb. They cost about $ 4 per taco and the portions were huge. The chips/​salsa/​guac was excellent too and I could have eaten that all night. I have to say, this is some of the best Mexican fare I’ve had in Seattle. The waitress was even kind enough to split a 11-​way check! 5 stars.

Happy hour crush!!!
I was already a fan of their pike market location. This one is much bigger! So I gave it a shot. And off we go to El Cheapo, Carne, Pollo, Pescado and then some! They also have much longer happy hours here as well as late night!
$ 1 tacos. Yes, one dollar tacos!!! Ok fine. You can be a big spender and go for the $ 2 Pescado or that steak. But seriously! $ 1 tacos!!!
I had the pescado first. It was good. But I loved their Carne much better. Steak cubes with jalapenos. Yummm. And their happy hour drinks? $ 4 for margarita. And you know what’s even better? The staffs! Everyone is so friendly and fun. How you doing darling! Oh I’m mighty good now :)
I love their homemade habaneros sauce too. Super hot and super tasty. I didn’t have the burrito but the gentleman next to me had and it looks as big as a new born baby :O I know what to get next time if I’m really hungry. But for now, I shall be back for all those margaritas, tacos and chit chatting with their cool staffs! Summer time, you can sit outside and watch the Ballard scene. Hot summer days + margaritas + all the spicy food?!
Love love love!

What a fun spot. Just went here for the first time and smiled from start to finish, and sheesh I think our party was there for about 3 hours. The staff was great, the food and drinks were tasty, the décor was cool, the ambience was fun and festive.
To top it all off, «el Borracho» means «the drunk,» and guess what I am right now? If you guessed «drunk,» then you, my friend, are exactly right.
We started with some fine margaritas (the pineapple jalapeño) and the very good table salsa with chips and a nice, mild, smooth guacamole. Once we were seated at a couple of tables for dinner, most of our group ordered from the quite diverse selection of tacos, while I went with soyrizo enchiladas. I got them Christmas style, and the suiza sauce was the star… really flavorful. The green rice and black beans were a bit bland but I jazzed them up with some chipotle salsa from the little salsa bar and all was good. All washed down with Negro Modello on tap.
And to reiterate, the servers were terrific, and as it was one of my friend’s birthday, they brought out plates and forks for the cake that we brought in and were super super cool about it.
I’d definitely come back and get Borrachoed again. And eat more of that table salsa and explore the veggie menu a bit more. Yay!

2.5 stars. Meh. Pretty sup-​par Mexican joint. The margaritas are a watered down joke. Do they even use fresh lime juice. The food is nothing to write home about. The sugar skull, tons-​o-​crosses décor is cute, but ruined by a weird mis-​placed TV playing sports. The vibe is lacking, the waitress & hostess on staff were pretty in impressed about being at work. Overall, quite a bummer. We had such high hopes.
Sorry, don’t recommend.

Came here on a Thursday evening around 9 and got a table. Server offered chips and salsa and guac and any drinks– we said yes to chips and no to drinks and she wandered off. She forgot about the chips entirely and it wasn’t until after we got our food and reminded her about the chips that they came out.
Tacos were pretty good. Rice and beans not the greatest– rice was kind of dry. I’d say things are decently priced, but service was really bad. Our waitress forgot about us, forgot about refilling our water after we asked, stopped at numerous tables before bringing our check after we already asked. Didn’t say a word to us when she finally dropped off our check. I couldn’t tell if she was having a really bad night or was pissed at us for something, but service was awful. We spent most of our time here waiting for service throughout the meal. The food wasn’t good enough to make up for it, and we won’t be returning here.

At 11:30 PM it’s not easy to find a place that’s still serving food and that is good. We sat ourselves and it took a few minutes to get service but that was okay because our server was really nice and she took time to talk to people at her tables and make sure they were happy.
They have happy hour everyday from 11PM-​1AM so we got chicken tacos for $ 1 and fish tacos for $ 2. Chips and salsa were .97 cents. The salsa was really good and flavorful. I loved the chicken tacos and these are some of the best I’ve had in Seattle. My husband got the fish tacos which I didn’t think had much taste but he really liked them. I also ordered a hibiscus margarita. It was awful. I’m sure some people would really like it because it was very strong. I prefer my drinks to before flavorful and less alcohol only taste. The server took it off the bill which I appreciated.
Great place to grab some food late at night.