El Tapatio

We come to El Tapatio often. It's always good and consistent. The waiters and waitresses are attentive and knowledgeable about the food. It's a real restaurant versus most Mexican food places with really nice decor. We'll keep coming back.

Last night, since we were in Auburn, we decided to go out to eat. We picked El Tapatio because their plates are always so delicious! We've never had a bad experience here. They've been super busy and tonight, they were busy! The parking lot has lots of space since it is part of many other businesses and it gets packed. As we walked in to a line at the door, we were actually all seated as we showed up. We sat at a booth in the bar area. It is gorgeous in here with bright colors gorgeous arch ways, nfl teams on the back of tall chairs at bar and tables around the bar. There were birthdays being celebrated and families have a delicious time. We were given chips & salsa and refried beans with cheese to dip... so good!! The beans came hot!!! We both ordered a Double Cadfilac Margarita. Although, I think they forgot the 2nd shot, so we told our server and he had someone bring it to us right away. Those are pricey drinks at $15 a piece for a double. After we got the 2nd shot in there, they were great. We also had waters and the issue with those is that the cups tasted like there was still soap that didn't get rinsed out all the way. Thankfully, I let a server know and he told his manage that made a visit to our table. I really appreciated touching base with him just to let him know. For food, (which came out fast!) we ordered the Enchiladas Mazatlan and Enchilada Suzia. The Mazatlan should have been garnished with Cotija, but I was absolutely fine with the gorgeous avocado on it. The green pesto sauce in my Enchiladas was so delicious and complimented the shrimp with cheese and pepper & onion mix perfectly. My other half said his was super delicious (his choice of meat was chicken). While we ate and after we finished, we didn't see our server for a while. When we pulled all our plates towards the end of the table with our empty margarita, that's when we were noticed and brought a box. Dinner was super delicious! The layout is awesome, and the vibe was fantastic. Everyone around us was happy... delicious food makes people happy.

I used to enjoy this place! But unfortunately with each visit I am left disappointed more than the last. Most of the time I come here for my dad's birthday as he enjoys it because you can't really go wrong with the carne asada plate. Each time we have came in you can tell the manager or owner not sure who he is, but he is trying his best to give a hand and make sure everything is going well. Most visits there a lot of different servers checking it on us, it is really nice but when we ask for something they don't come back for about 10 minutes if they do even come back. It never fails that one person's food in my party is forgotten. We are always waiting on someone's plate of food, or just the rest of the meal- whether it is something as small as sour cream, or side of beans or tortillas that comes with your meal. For example- the California enchiladas comes with two over medium eggs on top, but they came out over hard, requested to have new eggs, come out, but they came out about 15 minutes after the initial plate came out. Same with requesting the side of tortillas and rice and beans, everything tends to come out way too late. The sour cream was requested, but didn't come out until the food was boxed. They do seem to be on top of drink refills. We typically anticipate the service to be this way but our last visit is going to be our last. The quality of food went down quite immensely, the enchiladas tasted like canned sauce as well as the salsa. I was excited to see they added a cilantro rice onto their menu, but the flavor was invisible. As we are a larger party, we are always sat at the end of the restaurant, which is okay but it's always freezing. If someone were to ask me if I would recommend El Tapatio, it would be the Citrus Heights location.

You might be surprised that the Auburn area, both the old town and the commercial strip along the Grass Valley highway, have some quaint indie restaurants and some of the chains that offer up nice sized platters. That means really should you consider going further than the In N Out at the freeway exit to CA 49. I used to remember these further out areas for the La Bou with the additional outdoor seating that sat in the large shopping center featuring a Bel Air supermarket. I sure wish the La Bou was still around for some tea, a pastry, and sunshine on a beautiful day in the foothills.The name El Tapatio grabbed me. First, it's a Mexican mini chain in the Portland, Oregon area that serves up good food. Then, "tapatio" reminds me of "tecolote." Someone I knew would sing the praises of this hole in the wall "El Tecolote" in a once more rural town in SoCal and, by the time I got around to going there, it was no longer in existence. A "tecolote" is an owl while someone at the restaurant told me that a "tapatio" is a folkloric dance in Mexico. Another definition I found is 'a person hailing from Guadalajara.'Good luck finding a Mexican restaurant that skimps on food. That this is rare is a good thing! I had a two-item combination platter - a burrito and an enchilada, both filled with chicken - that came with a cilantro rice and pinto beans. They also put a dollop of Mexican corn cake on top. The corn cake was so tasty that I wish there was more of it.They blended up some regular and diet Pepsi for me and refilled it. I also put away two baskets of chips, and the nice thing is that they present them with a red salsa and a frijoles dip. This worked well because I had skipped lunch owing to a big breakfast.Again, these big Mexican restaurants know the game and the competition, leading them to price their food in the same ball park, so that worked out. The service was very effective.I was thinking 4 stars, but, for how bountiful the food was, El Tapatio realistically fetches 5 stars. Not only that, the employees were very friendly and quick on their feet. The restaurant was fairly full at dinner time, with others sitting in the large bar and others coming in to pick up food. Then, even though it leans very gaudy, they really went all out to deck out the interior, with button back chairs befitting a Cutlass Supreme of yesteryear and ornate bathroom sinks that had me return to the bathroom just to take a photo of them. It makes for a good chuckle.In closing, because this place will fill you up (in a good way), you may want to pace your visits. I would. However, Auburn's El Tapatio earns its 5 stars on all dimensions.

I stopped in here on a Thursday afternoon for a beverage and chips and salsa. Very much like the Citrus Heights location. Food is excellent and the people are friendly.

First time to this El Tapatio, and it was great. We usually visit the one in Citrus Heights. Same style building and interior. And definitely the same awesome service and good food. It's standard 'Mexican' faire so you know what to expect. Our host and server was Rudy. He was friendly and attentive throughout the meal. The place is loud and bustling, and the servers and 'other' help are in constant motion. Nothing to complain about for our visit here.

American Style Mexican food. HUGE menu with LOTS to choose from!! They have a big Buffet on Sundays! Only $26.99 and Includes bottomless Mimosa's!!

Came in with a group of 13 people and the service was amazing! They were able to accommodate a large party with no issues and we got our food nice and fast. Their free bean and salsa dip was delicious and flavorful. I even asked for some more Togo since I ate a basket by myself. The chicken and steak fajitas was moist, big, and amazing. Their portion sizes can feed easily 2-3 people and they reheat well too! I love how they have different deals as well and even an AYCE option. Highly recommend if I'm in the area again.

I was here this last weekend for the very first time and was not disappointed! I ordered the 3 queso birria plate. It was very delicious.!I will definitely stop by again when I'm back in town .

Quality food, fairly nice atmosphere. The staff are attentive and the food is very good while being reasonably priced. Will definitely be eating here on a frequent basis.