El Rodeo

I loved it! Hands down. Best enchilada I’ve had in a long time. If you are vegetarian and are tired of eating bland and tasteless food, this is the place you should go to! My taste buds celebrated when I took the first bite! There is also a large variety you can choose from. I personally recommend the burrito, enchilada and quesadilla combo. Amazing food for very reasonable price! :D

This is by far the worst mexican place in the area. The service is terrible. Expect to wait long periods of time between refills on drinks and chips. I’ve been here several times but the only reason I ever came back was because it was within walking distance of my apartment. Every time I came here I hoped for a better experience than the last, but the dream was never realized. They must just hire mediocre staff. As for the food, it’s nothing to rave about. It’s wannabe Mexican food and is bland compared to the other authentic mexican restaurants around town. The prices are also high for what you get. Mexican food is generally cheap and large portioned. Not here. The most frustrating part happened the last time I came here. My girlfriend and I wanted a few margaritas before walking up to Mackey to watch a basketball game. My thought being that they may mess up their food but how can they mess up a drink? Wrong. We were astonished when the waiter came back with our drinks, only to find out that only one of the two drinks actually had alcohol in it. My drink was fairly strong and tasted good but my girlfriend’s had no booze in it. When we told the waiter about it he didn’t believe us and refused to make her another one. With service like this, there is no way that I would recommend going here. You are much better off going across town where there are several mexican restaurants that not only have far superior food but also much better service. Stay away.

Bar is fun to drink at for work/​meetings and such. Food is alright. Isn’t too expensive. Cool décor. Pretty much your standard Mexican restaurant. Similar to what I’ve had before. They have huge frozen red bull margaritas which is strange

If it weren’t for the ridiculously rude service, this resurant wouldn’t be bad. I’ve gone to this establishment about 10 times because their margaritas are pretty good, albeit overpriced. However, I’ve had to stop going on principle because the female bartender (who has always been rude, but I’ve let it go in the past) refused to serve my Chinese friend. She refused to serve him even though he had a valid Indiana driver’s license — what can only be concluded a racist act. You also have to watch your bill when you eat here because I have had extra items added to my bill, items that I did not order, on several occasions. Additionally, the toilets in the woman’s bathroom have been clogged with feces at least 50% of the time I have been there.

Hey! What would you recommend in this menu? I don’t know. Is this xyz burger good? I don’t know. Hey, can I get some water? Sure. After 15 minutes: Hey, can I get some water?
Worst service ever! I went there 2 – 3 times, and service was horrible every time. I wouldn’t go there again.

Free chips and salsa. You walk in and there’s a smell of… sewage? It gets stronger as walk out back. It’s a bit dingy and the food is ok– not terrible but not exactly great. The complimentary chips were fresh, and the salsa was fresh too-​from the can, and really watery. I’ve had better for the price.

Just missed the lunch cut-​off by 8 minutes (and was denied the lunch special) but was still pleased by the overall experience of the meal.
Warm salted tortilla chips with a side of spicy salsa served in a mini-​molcajete were a nice start.
I got combo #9: the three tacos w/​side of beans and rice were plenty and left me stuffed and satisfied.
Don’t let the unkept outside fool you. I regret having waited this long to try this place. It did not disappoint. Beer specials throughout the week/​weekend.

Great location. Salsa and chips are good, but… The service is bad. The portions have gotten smaller, and when I’ve been there, the manager is busy flirting with the staff and college women, not focusing on what is happening within the restaurant.
With the right manager and bar staff, this place could go from being average to awesome.

I like going to El Rodeo because of the fun atmosphere, the Dos Equis on draft and Don José is always friendly when we go. As far as the menu goes, I can only speak to the Carne Asada meal and the Carne Asada tacos both of which are excellent. It is also a good place to go with groups, since there is usually not a wait and they have lots of big tables.
For people saying it is not authentic, I do not understand, Don José is Mexican and makes a standard mexican fare. The tacos were served the traditional way. Just because it is full of college kids, doesn’t make the food less authentic.

Maybe I’m spoiled by living in Chicago with a plethora of authentic Mexican restaurant choices? Even so, El Rodeo has fallen off the bull. When we walked in, there was a an underlying foul sewer/​air freshener oder hanging out by the hostess/​cashier counter which only intensified when heading to the restroom. Back at the table, chips and salsa had arrived. The chips were fresh, the salsa was bland. The menu was long with numerous options but after seeing what I’d seen so far, I wanted to order something with the smallest chance if being screwed up. We ordered waters and a pitcher of margaritas… the margaritas showed up but but the water was MIA. The margaritas were bad enough that I took a couple of sips and ordered a Diet Coke. Also, they’re either serving the margaritas with lemons instead of limes… or those limes were in ridiculously bad shape. When it was time to order dinner, I ordered the steak burrito on our waitresses recommendation. The cheese sauce on the burrito was pretty good (there’s your 2^nd star) but that steakish meat was tough and sketchy. One of my friends ordered a ground beef tostada which showed up as a large mound of ground beef on a corn tostada. Evidently they were trying to deplete their stock of ground beef because this stuff was overused everywhere. Half way through the meal one of my friends ordered water for our table –AGAIN — and this time our waitress brought back one water for my friend only. After my friends made it through as much ground beef as they could stomach, we left… getting one last whiff of sewage/​air freshener on the way out… wishing we had just gone to Chipotle instead. I guess for the local college students, they do offer good beer specials… so there’s a feather in your cap?

I know it’s not truly authentic mexican food but thats harder to find than it sounds in the mid-​west. Either way, I am a fan of El Rodeo!
They have a great lunch fajita deal. $ 5.99 for a lunch (steak or chicken) fajita! El Rodeo has remained consistent on what their food taste like. Everything I have had there has been cooked correctly and evenly. The service is always great as well.
I also really enjoy their tacosl. And yes, they do start you w/​a complementary bowl of salsa and chips. They also have great margarita deals! …& they are good!
All around, when I’m craving mexican food in Lafayette, IN. I go to El Rodeo :)

Bleh, greasy and lacking fresh ingredients, there are many other superior alternatives to this place for good Mexican food in town. Although it is close to campus, go a little further afield for your Mexican fix.

El Rodeo has always been just alright in my opinion. Some of their entrees are pretty good specifically their fajitas and their chicken dishes. They have really big margaritas, but they are quite expensive. Dos equis on draft is a plus, and their salsa is pretty decent.
They cater towards college students, and therefore are not the classiest of places. The service is usually pretty decent, even for large groups and they do not have problems with separate checks for large groups.
All in all, El Rodeo is good but not great. If you are willing to drive, rather than walk, there are better places.

The giant margaritas are definitely the highlight of this restaurant! For one, they are huge, but because they are huge, be prepared to pay a hefty price. But it’s completely worth it. They have so many different flavors to chose from. I picked the raspberry one and it was delicious. It is a very neat atmosphere to be in. It’s not completely authentically Mexican, but it definitely appeals to a college area. They have a full bar area where you can go if you are just getting drinks, and they will bring you chips and salsa regardless. I have not eaten anything food-​wise besides their chips and salsa/​queso, but they were amazing, and priced right. I hear the combos are the way to go if you are getting dinner. This place is great for large groups and is very close to Purdue campus on the levee.

The margaritas here are amazing! I love those fishbowl margaritas after a long day at school! It’s a good hang out place, close enough to campus and stuff. I wouldn’t say the food is over priced, esp. if you go with the meal combos (which is very filling normally). Of course, it’s not very authentic, I’m super heartbroken when I find out they don’t have tortilla soup here, but I’ll take what I can get in this town. I guess.

Let’s start with the positive, just to be nice: frosty mugs of Dos Equis (for a buck & a half on Mondays/​Tuesdays!).
And the litany of the negative: dirty, slow, loud. It’s hard to find your entrée under the pile of lettuce & tomato (these were actually fresh), assuming they got your entrée right to begin with. I ordered a tamale/​chalupa/​relleno combo and the only part I could positively identify was the tamale. No chile relleno in sight. Waiter had disappeared so I took my lumps. A frozen dinner would be no worse, but would cost only half as much.
Yes, chips were fresh. Salsa also was fresh — from the bottle. And the beer was cold — the only saving grace for this place.

El Rodeo is really the only Mexican food in walking distance from campus, and it is just not good. The menu is standard fare and overpriced. While the immediate West Lafayette area sucks for Mexican food, there are much better options after a short hop across the river.
The only reasons to come here are to drink cheap margaritas and to be able to walk there and home (if you’re coming from campus).

Its a great place to get a margarita, which are probably the best ones around the campus area. The food is okay, but entrees can be a bit pricey $ 9+, and adding liquor to the bill can quickly make this a $ 20 meal for one person.
The chips and salsa are actually the standout food items in this eatery.

The first star that I’m giving it is for the atmosphere. It really does look nice. Lots of great tiles and a huge hand carved door at the entrance.
Then there’s the food. Second and final star is for the good chips and salsa. Well… My god it is mediocre to poor mexican food. I once ordered chile rellenos here and was served what looked to be some breading laying on top of oaxaca cheese and a 2inch long by quarter inch wide strip of pepper!?! Also, at least twice I have caught them overcharging me up to $ 10 on $ 15-​$ 20 meal.
If you are in the levee and want some drinks with some mexican food, it isn’t going to make you vomit and the chips and salsa are okay, but something we have in this town is a nice selection of good mexican restaurants. Seek the good one’s out! Look at some of my other reviews!

Best place to get a margarita. The service is usually really fast, almost too fast. The food is decent. The burrito loco is awesome. The guacamole can be hit or miss though… usually miss. My biggest problem with the place is the atmosphere. It is always cold in the winter and it just seems dirty. It would be in the owners best interest to do some renovations. There are better and more authentic Mexican places in the area.