Doroteo Cantina & Patio

Service was really great!!! We had a very sweet waitress and attentive person bussing the table.I really didn't like the aguachiles but kind of forced it hoping they'd grow on me. The shrimp didn't taste very fresh and weren't peeled well. The habanero sauce, however, was really good!! Delightfully spicy and well seasoned. Still would rate that dish about 3/10 at most only for the sauce. Very hard to get down for me, but my friends had better dishes.I tried my buddy's milanesa de res which was pretty good, if slightly over breaded. Pairs well with the potatoes. The rice served with this dish is perfect. We aren't always rice lovers but this serving was flawless - I could eat a bowl of it. Overall a 6.5/10 from me but my friend enjoyed!Our other friend had some tacos which were demolished so they must have been good. To me they didn't have a lot of filling but it was a reasonable amount.I also ordered the "salty dog" drink which I liked a lot, and it was on the weaker/less alcohol heavy side.They give you complimentary chips with little sauces that come with dipping spoons which I thought was a sweet touch. The music is a little loud on the patio but I've got old lady ears! It's a nicely decorated space and cozy.

Monday night prior to Christmas weekend, they are trying to run the place on two waiters. From our party of six, four got their food, after a while one other and after everyone had finished dinner they brought the dinner for the last one. Of course everything was coldish from sitting a while in the kitchen. Terrible service.

Sooo, I don't like to review a restaurant if I don't have anything nice to say because I want businesses to flourish & want to keep America working, but I don't want you to have a bad experience either. Anyway, the service was very good, friendly & attentive.We ordered the Pancho Villa nachos as an appetizer, and they were loaded & well served. My husband ordered the pork belly tacos, I think he wanted to cry; pobrecito. It wasn't pork belly. It was a piece of thick cut bacon that was extremely salty on a corn tortilla; pobrecito. I ordered the enchiladas suizas, the tomatillo sauce was tasty, but the whole dish was dry and barely any sauce on it, plus the beans were bland. The Chile relleno had good flavor. I think the most annoying thing about the experience was the music. The restaurant has tvs all around the bar with videos going on some & sports on another. At first, it was spanish music videos, and then all of a sudden, it seemed like a three year old got a hold of the remote (it was some waitress video surfing). She kept changing the music & videos from spanish to english & and vice-versa during mid-song. It was annoying because she even turned up the music while video surfing; it was crazy. You could say it was a bad experience & I won't be going back.

I really love this restaurant. To start off with, the staff is one of the friendliest and knowledgeable staff in the Mcallen area. The drink recommendations have been right on point and the same can be said about the food. The food offered is beyond the normal Mexican food you get at most restaurants in this area. I would recommend the sopes, the fideo seco and their tacos. One last thing I want to say is that I also love the decor, the Mexican Revolution photo art and the awesome mural in the outside area. All I can say is that you'll hopefully enjoy your visit to this restaurant as much as I do.

Great service , amazing food. Aguachilles were my favorite. Would recommend and definitely will be back.

Should I rate this 0 or 5. It deserves both. First it is right next door to another New Mexican restaurant so don't get them confused. Both have music on a patio. We were early enough not to have to listen to 2 competing bands. The patio is pleasant. The server was extremely nice if a little pushy on the dessert. The fajita plate was flavorful . In fact the beef was the best most tender meat I have ever had on a fajita plate HOWEVER and this is a big however. I have gone to hundreds of restaurants in Mexico and the USA but this is the first one that served fajitas without tortillas. We asked for some tortillas but our waiter never brought them. So beware. This is more a traditional restaurant, even the menu is only in Spanish. The sauces with the tortilla chips are not the Texmex kind with little pieces of onion tomato and cilantro but very spicy runny sauces. (3 of them 2 are spicy). The meal though was skimpy and I think this is the first time we've ever left a Mexican restaurant still hungry and without a to go box. It looked like there was 1/4 cup of beans and 1/4 c of rice on the plate. The margaritas were delicious and if decent size. But I doubt we'll be back since there are too many other choices in the area that serves tortillas.

The good: everything about this place equals a great time. The environment is nice and the staff is very helpful and welcoming. Both indoor and outdoor seating available. Now let's get to the good part the food! Everything has so much flavor and true authenticity. The appetizer of frijoles con veneno were refried beans with pork perfect with chips and spicy green salsa. They did offer chips and salsa prior to ordering appetizer. For our meals we had the enchiladas suizas (4) not spicy but definitely cheesy and yummy, enmoladas (4) which were a little on the sweeter side but delicious mole enchiladas. The sopecitos de chicharrón (4) were the perfect size. The milanesa was very thin and crispy but flavorful. The tacos a la plancha de lechon were the star of the night! Perfect toasted flour tortillas stuffed with cheese beans and the most scrumptious lechon. The bad: nothing was bad but I do regret not trying more drinks. The 3 pictured were simple but hit the spot.The ugly: the food was so good we were so stuffed that we missed out on there famous and delicious pan de elote! This is an absolutely perfect date night, birthday gathering or just Monday place to visit. A must try!

The Margaritas were delightful. Service was nice. Ambiance was kept cute, music at good volume.The food........ordered enchiladas suizas. The enchiladas were just ok. The beans were cold and old, they had white crust on them. The rice was lukewarm and pretty meh. Also, the side portions were tiny, like 3 tablespoons tiny. Smash burger was good! Fries were hot and super crispy! I read earlier reviews that mentioned they served chips with a salsa flight. We were not given chips. The salsa flight was served with the food. Overall, my dinner experience was unremarkable. I'll most likely not eat there again.

Here for work for a week and searched for a good place for dinner that I could have good low calorie entree . Ordered the grilled salmon and it was delicious!Also the flight of salsas they provide with the chips are fantastic! I recommend this restaurant.

Es un restaurante nuevo, el lugar es muyagradable, moderno y de buen gusto.El servicio fue muy bueno,tanto la mesera como el gerente fueron muyagradables y súper amables.La comida estuvo deliciosa, los sopecitoscon tuétano me encantaron, excelente sabory presentación, se me hicieron muynovedosos. La coliflor roca también muynovedosa y riquísima con una mayonesapicocita buenísima. La hamburguesa se lasrecomiendo mucho, con carne de muybuena calidad y el término perfecto ( yo lapedí medio) , venía acompañada de unaspapas deliciosas y un jalapeño toreadoLa música está padrisima, cuando yo fuieran vídeos de música en español, tienenmuchas pantallas y música en vivo los viernes , pero la música a muybuen volumen, ya que puedes platicarperfectamente.Los precios están súper bien y la calidadexcelente.Definitivamente pienso volver y se los recomiendo !