El Patron Mexican Grill & Cantina

Excellent ambience and service. The house salsa was perfect with the warm tortilla chips. The pork in the chili verde was tender and delicious. Happy with our find.

Food is poor quality and small portions. Outdoor seating had minimal shade. I don’t plan on going back. Does have friendly staff though

The chipotle mole was quite good. The sauces are also spicy but not fire hot. Guatemalan flavors more so than tex-​mex brought a nice change of pace to the Mexican restaurant scene.

Great food fast service great price. I have nothing to complain about. My thoughts about the comment from the lady from Virginia’s comments, if you order chicken wings at a Mexican restaurant, don’t be shocked if they aren’t great. I wouldn’t order sushi from an Italian restaurant…

I am from Northern Virginia visiting families. I am not really sure what kind of Mexican food folks who live here are used to but this place is not worth coming back to. When we came the happy hour was still on (3 – 7). The deal 2 for 1. I ordered margarita on the rocks. Not only was it watery but the tequila used had a strong after taste. Then, I ordered chicken wings which, the waiter told me was «very good.» The chicken felt and tasted like it wasn’t fried and felt very fatty and disgusting. So, I ended up not eating it but they still charged us for it even though my father-​in-​law told them it was not good. All the sauces are also too spicy and tasted like they were from a can or a bottle instead of house made sauces. It took forever to get the dessert as well (which I decided to order trying to give them one last chance to prove me wrong). I don’t see this place lasting long unless folks like their food less than average.

Really great job on the food. Chips and salsa were not disappointing to start. Not like the place before with ketchup salsa. My Tacos al Pastor was really tasty with cilantro and pineapple. Reminded me of tacos I had in Puerto Villarta. Margarita hit the spot, but was a little light on the tequila for its size.

Been there a few times, great service each time. Great food, grilled quesadilla is awesome as is their chips, salsa & white sauce! Margaritas are always good too!

Stopped in for a weekday lunch and was impressed. The staff was very friendly and helpful and, most importantly, the food was great. The spinach enchiladas were delicious and the salsa Verde was the best I ever had. Also, the portions were quite generous. Looking forward to a return visit.

El Patron is the best restaurant in Winona. I have tried 75% of the entrees. I haven’t been disappointed yet. I would recommend the chimichanga lovers dinner or the Hawaiian fajitas. Service is great. The salsa is excellent and fresh. Ask for the «white sauce» when they bring you the chips. It reminds me of cool ranch doritos. Prices are average, with most of the menu under $ 10.

Not crazy about it. I think it’s Tequila’s back from the grave… although not frozen in the middle (I will give them that). It is still fairly new, however; I will give them some time to develop before I try it again.

From tucson, az born and raised so of course my opinion will be somewhat biased coming from a city that has without a doubt the best mexican food in the us… I have been to elpatron 5 times and everytime its been good. service is good. can always tell by chips and salsa if place will be decent and chips have always been fresh and the salsa isn’t bad at
if ur in winona I would recommend..

Very fast service and good food. Loved the Grilled Quesadilla. Wait staff friendly and efficient.

Stopped in for lunch on a weekday. Quick friendly service. Nothing super fancy, but good authentic food. Even a vegetarian section on the menu — I ordered the veggie fajitas, which is hard to mess-​up — I’ll give this dish an above average (B+).
Quick to refill salsa and the chips were warm, not cold out of a bag.

Order the chille verde!!!

It is your typical cheap, Mexican joint. A huge step up from the old Chula Vista that used to be there… Chili Verde and Los Sucios are delicious, and the only things I’ve had so far. Looking to go back again very soon!

Overall, the atmosphere, food, and menu were good but drinks were not my favorite. Read below for more details! I hope this helps in anyone’s decision but I always recommend trying the place out for yourself.
Atmosphere — Dim lighting. The décor (compared to what was there before) is more on the conservative side but it is still really pleasing and to me it felt calming. We also sat next to the fountain, which added to the effect. The building was very clean on the inside and felt open (didn’t feel cramped). Overall, I liked the atmosphere.
Salsa/​Chips — I love their chips! Very tasty. However, I am not a big fan of the salsa only because I don’t like cilantro and their salsa contains a decent amount. Other than the cilantro part the salsa tasted really good. They also have this white sauce that has a sweet peppery taste that is really good with the chips and even on the food.
Menu/​Food — I had a hard time choosing from the menu because everything sounded so delicious! There is a lot of variety but I ended up trying the «Wet Burrito» that has rice, lettuce, tomatoes, ground beef or chicken, and the white cheese spread over half of it and red sauce spread over the other half. I thought it was really good! I would definitely get it again. However, I think the other reviewer below is right about how they use bagged lettuce because my burrito definitely had pieces of shredded carrots and cabbage but I didn’t mind them. Just a heads up though to anyone who can’t stand those veggies or may be allergic.
Margaritas — Finally I get to the most important part! Sadly, I did not enjoy the margaritas that much and probably won’t get them again. My family tried the regular one (lime) and found it to be on the bland side. I tried the strawberry one and found one to be watered down/​sort of bland and the next to be very syrupy. Margaritas were inconsistent. We went on Thursday when they had the buy one get one.
Price — The food is a little spendy but not too bad. Plan on spending about $ 8-​$ 10 dollars for burritos. Didn’t really check out the prices on anything else. Margaritas are $ 5.00 (basic ones not sure about top shelf).