El Mariachi 2

11/2024 I cannot believe that I had not written a review on this place yet. This is one of our favorite Mexican go-to restaurants that we've eaten at for years for either dining in or take-out. It is a locally owned, hole in the wall restaurant tucked away in the heart of Aiea in the Aiea Commercial Center, just across the street from Times/Aiea shopping center. They have a few locations on Oahu. We first ate at the Kaneohe location & loved it. We found out about this location afterwards, even better, since we live in the area. This is truly a hidden gem. We've tried so many things on their menu. You can't go wrong with any of the choices. It was hard to find good Mexican food nearby after living in Southern California for a long time. Not only is their food good, but their customer service is outstanding & consistent every time we come. Friendly and courteous staff, well-trained. If you dine-in, go early because they do get busy. We try to get there about 5'ish. By the time we leave, tables are nearly full & it's not just the weekends or holidays, but every day! I like to call in the order & pick it up or you can order off of several food delivery apps. I don't know which ones still do this restaurant. Call in orders usually take about 15-20 minutes. Have not had a wrong order yet for pick-up, nothing missing, well-packaged/bagged. They also do a good share of pick-up orders. The parking lot is good size since they share it with the other businesses there. Food - ONO! And they do not skimp on the quantity. Flavors are right on, not spicy, but always hot & cooked to order. The tortilla chips are warmed up served with salsa sauce. When dining in, the first round is complimentary, if you want more, is when they charge you. There are probably about 8 - 10 tables, clean place, & colorfully decorated & festive.Hubby's favorite is the Carne Tampiquena. So much food, took him a couple of days to finish. My favorite is the steak taco salad in the shell or the steak fajitas taco salad in the shell. This nite, I got the seafood burrito - it was huge! They don't skimp on the protein by filling it with rice & beans. They include it, but the protein outweighs it. This had big pieces of shrimp, fish, & crab. It tasted like real crab so wasn't sure if it was imitation, but overall - ONO You can't go wrong here & I highly recommend you give them a try for delicious Mexican food . You won't be disappointed.

Okay... so I've been coming here for the past 5 years; on and off. Since today, 3/4/2025 the food, and service has gone downhill!! I'm never coming back here again Food - I was served a main entree; that I actually order all the time, Carne Asada/well done. So.. my plate came out with less than a scoop of Mexican rice. They have me another plate; but it was probably spit in after they all went behind the counter to talk about my question of, is that all the rice?Service - the Server handed me my plate from across the table... who does that?? Ambiance - are these people new??

I came in around 11:30am on a Friday and was greeted promptly by a friendly lady. She said I could choose any seat since it was just me and another table. Water, chips and salsa came out really fast and since I knew what I wanted, I gave her my order right away. It took maybe 15 minutes to get my food which was not bad. I had ordered the chicken enchiladas and carne asada tacos w rice and beans. The beans were REALLY AMAZING. The rice was a little dry but flavor was good. The meat in the taco was seasoned really well. Like that meat in a mexi bowl would be so fire. The prices were good. It wasn't expensive.Wish they had some sort of soups during lunch time or a lunch combo plate would be niceI'd come again over lunch since the place was not so busy. Parking can be a hassle though.

Finally getting around to writing a review for this place even though we've been coming regularly for a couple of years now. We LOVE the ground beef nachos and it's our go-to item when we're craving Mexican food. We usually each order an entree for ourselves and end up taking leftovers home for another meal. The chips and salsa are great too. And the staff is very friendly and work really hard!

Came here for the Menudo which they only have on Sundays. Hot, tripe packed, perfectly seasoned. I think it's the best on the island. I always get with flour tortillas . Also got a side cheese enchilada at a steal for $4.50. The service here is super friendly and fast and the staff give off friendly family vibes. Definitely recommend when you're in Aiea! Cheers

pretty decent Mexican food in Aiea. coming from San Diego I had low expectations but they weren't too bad! it's a good spot for when you're craving mexican. the combination plate is such a good deal. big portions, and you can choose different meats and preparations to add some variety. I do wish the plate came with sour cream/guac/cheese without having to pay to add it, but even without it's good. it's byob. it can get pretty crowded on weekend nights, particularly Sundays when they have menudo.

Located in the Aiea commercial center across of the Aiea Shopping center.As you take a left turn down from Aiea road they have a parking lot on the left side the right side is other business and you will have to cross over the street to get to the restaurant.The chips and salsa was good they seem to bake the chips, because it wasn't oily and the salsa was homemade on the little more spicy side then their sister restaurant in Kaneohe.My wife ordered the Adobada quesadilla which she had to send back because it was too salty for her.I had the combination plate beef burrito and the crispy beef taco and refried beans and rice.It was also on the salty side, but I like my food salty.The waitress was only 1 month on the job and was pretty lost, when my wife explained that her quesadillas was too salty and she couldn't eat it, if she could get a cheese quesadillas to replace her original order? Which she said I need to check back with the kitchen?So we asked for another basket of chips and salsa which the other El Mariachi the original always as us do we want more chips and salsa and never charge us for the chip and salsa.The Cheese quesadillas were okay.Parking is located in front and side of the building.Before giving her the money she asked do I need the change back?What ever happened to the old time waitress?And after paying the bill she didn't even give a receipt of our meal?Is it because we paid cash?She said they have 3 locations and this one is run by the sister in Kaneohe restaurant, the food is not the same and haven't been to the 3rd, but will keep my business to the original restaurant.

lots of free parking outside.promptly greeted by a fine friendly local woman and seated. cozy place with the Mexican vibes.got water and ordered our horchata to go with our obligatory crispy chips n fresh salsa cuz we gotta have da good stuff when get mexican grinds...I ordered the shredded beef Chimichanga. wow this thing is massive and only cheap. crispy outside tortilla with flavorful moist juicy beef n cheese inside. guacamole, sour cream, n salsa. delicious. I couldn't finish. da roomate got da campeon Burrito. dat thing was massive too and buggah was quiet while she was pounding that. da mini is adventurous and ordered the Chile relleno with shredded beef. she said was mui delicioso. liked how soft the Chile was. Andele andele mami, E.I, E.I (uh-oh)el mariachi poppin' tonight.

I have tried the other El Mariachi in the past and enjoyed it. Location seems a bit hidden in the Aiea area. Was a bit disappointed with the food here. Not as good as I remembered it.Did a phone order for take out. I believe the servers are new, unsure of the menu options and availability. When I picked up my order, good thing I checked because they forgot my rice and beans. Portions and pricing is okay. - Steak tacos and Barbacoa tacos - similar seasoning, a bland taste. Meat was a bit dry. - Carnitas burrito - smaller size burrito. Flavor was okay.

So disappointed with the guacamole grande. Not worth the 10.95 charge. The menu says hand made daily but it tasted straight out of a Costco bag. Nah be it was the texture.... Smooth like a dip or it had been puréed. Not my kind of guac. For that price I expected something grande as the name implies. Maybe table side guac like I've had on the mainland. When I couldn't handle the texture, I asked for some chopped onions and tomatoes and cilantro. The server told me the kitchen was closed. So I asked for more salsa to chunk up the texture a bit. Great! Except she charged me a 1.50 for more salsa to make up for the ungrande guac. So this here was 12.50 ungrande guac...