El Jardin

The staff is friendly and the food was delicious! We were seated quickly and the waiter was quick to take our order. I ordered the lobster enchilada with beans and rice. It was really good! The dessert was not the greatest. We had the churro with ice cream on top. The churro was old, microwaved or both. I did not bring it up to the waiter.

We always go with a big family. Mason and staff are always welcoming and the service and food are great. We love it here Rhonda and family

Ordered a burrito and it was mainly cold cheese, beans, sour cream and only a couple pieces of meat. Extremely overpriced too. The taco stand on Bradshaw and Calvine is a much better option if you want some authentic food for half the price.

This was our first time here. We were in Elk Grove for an event. The place was clean. The service was ok. We were greeted right away and tended to. One strange thing was once we were done eating our waiter did not take our plates. Just left them on our table and went to get the check. When he brought back the check he still did not clear our plates. Overall the food was bland. The chips were stale. The salsa was ice cold. Like it just came out of the refrigerator. I ordered the shrimp enchiladas. My husband ordered the grande burrito. While the shrimp enchiladas were good, the black beans were bland and but very flavorful. The rice was also bland and very starchy. The carnitas in the burrito was also very bland. They did was the least flavorful that I have ever had for Mexican.

I ordered takeout from here once and don't plan to return. The food was bland; the chicken burrito I ordered was 90% refried beans.

The service is always friendly but the kitchen is very inconsistent. One night you order fajitas and get a generous portion of meat and the next you get barely any meat. It feels like that kitchen either cooks or uses what they have already cooked. I ordered another dish there and the first time I ordered it, it was delicious but have ordered it three times since and it was never as good. I have given up on getting a consistent meal there. Despite it being very close, we are now driving further away to get a consistent order.

Our family has had a love affair with El Jardin in Turlock and Oakdale for years, and upon hearing one was in Elk Grove on a recent Sunday afternoon we went in expecting our typical wonderful experience. Boy were we sadly disappointed. Starting with the drinks and chips things served off a cliff.. the margaritas were watered down and the corn chips had burn spots and were a dark toasty brown and tasted of scorched oil... We mentioned this to our waiter (and per him, the manager, Mason ..if I recall correctly) To remedy this at our expense we ordered flour chips.. thinking they would be fresh and made in clean oil...wrong again.. they were cold, oily, sat under a heat lamp and though lighter.. tasted like burned oil. We ordered the Chile Rellenos combo and a La Computers taco salad with carnitas... During our wait we overheard tables around us asking for managers and mentioning similar complaints which brought responses like "that's your opinion" and "I'm sorry you didn't like it as much as everyone else does" which screams arrogance not customer service... And is such an inappropriate response to bad food from your kitchen.Our food arrived and from delivery it was underwhelming... We actually thought it was the children's order from the table next to us and said as much.. asking twice are you sure this is the adult portions and ours? Yes, we're assured it's our and the portions reflect "economic challenges"... The Chille Rellenos is 4 inches long and 2 inches wide.. it looks like a large jalapeno.. call it a jumbo popper not a Chille Relleno.. my salad looks like it's literally half the normal size and half filled. THE PHOTOS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES. I literally had to hunt to find the tablespoon of meat in the bottom of the salad as shown in photo.. and then there was the quality issue... I took three bites of the salad and had to stop..the lettuce was wet and dripping water and the grease of the tablespoon of meat smelled like sour dish towel.. and worse yet the two weren't mixing well on the plate or in my stomach. I sat waiting for the manager/waiter to return.. upon his return I asked him to look at the salad and smell it.. I pointed out that there was no filling.. and even less meat.. and that it smelled like dish rag. After he visibly recoiled he set it back down and asked if I was done with it.. I said it's literally INEDIBLE... and he took the plate away. So we sat for around 15 minutes.. I'm thinking they are remaking the salad.. he comes back with the check.. and takes my mom's half eaten plate. I asked how much longer on the salad.. and he straight faced looks at me and says "what salad?" ..I asked how much longer on the remade salad and he says nothing is being remade. I then open the bill and the salad is on there... At this point this is becoming outrageous.. I said either bring a remade salad or take it off.. he responded with.. I kid you not.."you ate some of the salad and then said you were done sir... You got your salad.. I'm sorry if you didn't like it as much as others do but you had a salad brought to you and when I asked if you were going to eat anymore you said no"... $60 dollars and a terrible experience later...I called back once that week to speak to a manager or owner..left my number.. no response. I called again last week.. no response.. so we arrived here.. pictures THAT SCREAM dirty.. gross.. grease and water salad with no meat.. and no remedy or effort to make it right..I want it to be clear.. the food and service we get WEEKLY at El Jardin in Turlock and Oakdale is both excellent and delicious and the portions are the same as they've been for years.. a few dollars more BUT THE SAME. So this review is solely about the Elk Grove location which honestly is tarnishing the name and reputation of El Jardin..I DO NOT recommend this location and it's food is terrible and borders on fraud if not theft.. inedible food for a high price..is expensive starvation .. the worst part is even when given an opportunity to fix it and make this right.. they didn't..

We had stopped eating here about two years ago due to lackluster food, so thought we would give it another chance to see if things improved. Unfortunately it did not. The location is in a good spot and shares the parking lot with Bel Air, so there is plenty of spaces to park even if you do have to walk a bit. It also has Steve's pizza and a stone cold there which helps to bring in other traffic. The restaurant itself is nice and has a good little bar area set up. Service was prompt and friendly so that was not an issue. It took about 15 minutes or so for our Togo order to come up so that was fairly quick. We were there on a Monday night, so may have had the uninspired cook for our chorizo burrito and chimichangas. The chorizo burrito seemed like a breakfast burrito and simply lacked any flavor, which was surprising with the chorizo. The chimichangas also were simply blah and nothing to remember. The green salsa was the better of the two but a little too salty for my taste and the red sauce was a little too Haley on the chili for my liking. There are a lot of good Mexican places to eat at nowadays but sadly this is not one of them in my book.

My wife and I absolutely love this place. We come here a couple times a month. They are a family run restaurant and have always treated us very well. My favorite dish is chicken fajitas. The chicken is cooked perfectly and the give you a ton of vegetables. The rice and beans have never disappointed. They arrive on the traditional steaming hot cast iron plate. We also really enjoy the bar offerings. My go to margarita is the jalapeño margarita. It is insanely good. I have a love for spicy food and this does the job. Please stop by and give a small local spot a chance.

My family and I have been going to El Jardin for nearly 15 years. At one point we had weekly dinners in excess of 20 people. The staff has always been helpful, over accommodating and great at what they do. They feel more like family than anything else. Oh and the food is fantastic!! Highly recommended frequenting their restaurant.