El Gabacho Tex Mex Grill

Second time eating here. First time was a bust. This second visit is because the family chose this place - their first time. So I told myself maybe my first visit was an off day. Salsa is always where I start when deciding the good, the bad and possibly the ugly of a Tex Mex eatery. My daughter's base is the flour tortillas and my son in law is all about the margarita. Salsa was basically a cup of tomato sauce without much else going on. The only spice I could taste was salt - as though it was added as an afterthought. We ordered a cup of queso. Again, SALTY. If you could get past the salt issue I would say it is better than the cup of warm cheese you get at Taco Bueno or Taco Bell. On my first visit I gave it a 1/5. On this visit I would bump it to a 1.5/5 - at most. Ignoring the salt issue, it did have a wee bit of flavor this time. I stuck with the same dish I had the first time, going for the apples to apples comparison. Yep, same criticisms hold true. It tasted as though they microwaved a TV Dinner and transferred it to a dinner plate. I could have saved money and just purchased an El Charito frozen dinner from WalMart. At least then the experience would have been better because I would have spent $4.00 instead of $17.00. My daughter was not impressed with the tortillas. I can back her up on this - it was like chewing rubber. Son in law said that the margarita was pleasant enough. The service was lackluster. But considering the state of the food why would I expect otherwise. This was our first outing on our quest to find a favorite TexMex joint in Arlington. It was a forgettable start. I figure that the bar is set low enough now that we can only go up from here. I am being generous with a 2 star rating. Going with that because at least the place appeared to be clean. The decor is pleasant and warm. Too bad the food did not follow suit.

We went for lunch on a Friday. It was as busy, but not real crowded. Fun ambiance, a little loud with music and talking, but not bad. The warm salsa and fresh chips were really good as was the queso. The cheese enchiladas were especially flavorful. Carlos "Charlie" anticipated all of our needs before we could ask. The iced tea was fresh with lots of ice. A very enjoyable meal!

We went in for a light lunch of tortilla soup and a side of tortillas. The food was all cold. They were not busy but the service was horrible. The chips were stale, probably left from the previous day. The bill was $24!! but my wife was in a hurry and didn't question it! We are long time customers, but we're done with them now.

They have a potential gold mine here, just a shame the service and food is severely lacking in quality.

You should ask for Kim and request a Hondo margarita. Yesterday, I had a lunch break with a friend and we decided to grab some drinks and relax for the afternoon. We chose this place and it turned out to be a great choice. It was easy to find, but parking was limited on busy nights. Fortunately, there is additional parking across the street at the Kroger parking lot. I ordered the chicken fajitas and while they were good, they were not exceptional. The chips and salsa were alright, but the real winner was the Hondo Margarita - definitely a must-try! Overall, I would definitely recommend this place.

Great place to stop in for lunch and a margarita!! The atmosphere is good and the people are always very friendly! The food was delicious although I was a little disappointed with the portion size of the steak fajitas.. I was only able to make two small tacos out of the lunch portion . I ended up finishing all the sides and chips to fill my self up completely but I def like the food and service and I used to live a few minutes away but now I'm in a different city so I make special trips to eat here !

Great margaritas and atmosphere. The food is also pretty good. We live no where near this restaurant but will make it a regular stop.

Used to give this place 4-5 stars. Hadn''t been for a while. Came here last week and it has really gone down hill. Food was sub-par, drinks were weak and the service was abysmal. When we asked for the manager he didn't seem to care. So we won't care to go back. Plenty of other good Mexican restaurants in the area. Such a shame. It used to be a great place.

The food!!! OMGOSH!! Delicious! Everything. Love it. Atmosphere is calm, beautiful, inside has a lot to look at! There is a patio! Sports bar.

The service my family received at El Gabacho restaurant was horrible. After waiting for a host to see about a table (and being ignored by many employees), we were finally told that we had an approximate five minute wait. Then the host proceeded to give the table cleared for us to another party (of our same size) that came in AFTER us. When we asked the server what happened, he claimed to have not seen us, and we were told it would be a much longer wait for a table. So we left. We will not be going to this restaurant again and will not recommend it to friends.