El Tapatio

This is a hard review for me to write. I am lumping dozens and dozens of experiences together to come to that 3 star rating. El Tapatio used to be great. Hands down the best Mexican in Columbus. This was years ago when they were in the basement of a building on the square down town. Growing up it was a special treat to go here. Then in college I ate here at least once a week. The food was fantastic and the owner and staff were great people. They got to know me by name I loved it so much. Back then it was a lock for 5 stars. But I am very old that this was back before even yelp existed. We were back in Columbus recently and I insisted we go back to El Taps (what we called it). It is in a new building about a block from the old restaurant location. Sadly it was miles away in quality. The place was almost empty and it still took forever to order and then forever again to get our food. Then when it came... it was not good. I was heartbroken. I'm not sure what happened or if it was an off day but it was bad. By itself it would be a one star but I am holding on to 100 great meals from years past and going to settle on giving it a 3. Here is hoping you have a better time than our last visit. Assuming they have the same owner that they used to, they were good people and deserve all the success they can get.

When with a small group in the evening. We were quickly seated and received our chips and drinks just as fast. Excellent service and great recommendations. The food was excellent and when I am back in town again, I plan to visit to continue through their vast menu.

This is a great little restaurant in the downtown. The staff is always smiling with excellent service. The food is reliably good. Personal favorite dishes here are their Caldo de Res, Arrechera, and Huevos con Machaca. Things during the pandemic got a little grim here, but I am happy to share El Tapatio is getting back to normal again. Always a great choice, for a casual evening out.

Great food. Must try if your in the town for more than a few hours. Great friendly staff that will remember your favorite dish if you vist often

I give this a one star, because I believe this is the place (although it is hard to tell since there is no outside photo of the place on Yelp) that I went to a year ago or more with a friend of mine, and I was served some chicken... it might've been a burrito, but I don't remember. It was the WORST "chicken" I ever ate in my life. It tasted like the scent of cow shit. I still don't know why, so if anyone knows why that may have been the case please do tell, because I'm genuinely curious. I'm not a chef.

I really enjoy the food here. Good authentic Mexican cuisine. The fajitas are awesome.

My family ate there on 8/5/19 and when we arrived there were 2 different groups of people already eating. We ordered and almost an hour later we received our food. This was after asking if it was coming. 2 of the meals were of good quality. 2 of the meals were not. The cheesy burrito with ground beef was basically a sloppy joe in a tortilla with cheese sauce on top. The worst was the seafood burrito. The tortilla was filled with lettuce and rice and if there was any seafood in it, it was microscopic. Very disappointing. We had eaten there a few years ago and were looking forward to eating there again because the previous experience had been good. They have a couple of things on the dessert menu that we were excited to have again but based on how long it took to get our meal we didn't bother to order dessert and probably will never go back.

Ordered "fresh oysters" had to leave before I got sick. Yes actually went home to vomit after just one. Let the waitress know that the oysters were bad. She said that they just thawed and no one has ever complained before. Half assed service when the restuarant was basically empty.

Very slow service today. Food was alright but nothing to write home about. Rice doesn't have much flavor. Beans very tasteless. 9 grilled shrimp were grilled perfectly but again not enough flavor at all. Spiceless Mexican is pointless. I'm from Phoenix and we have great Mexican food.

The food was pretty good (7.5/10). A little stingy on the salsa but salsa wasn't great either. Place seemed kind of overpriced. $43 for 3 people (no drinks. Charged extra for sides). Food seemed to take longer than average. We called in and food took an additional 10 minutes to be ready. Just an average place. Nothing special. Overall experience: 70/100