We visited El Santo yesterday evening and I was looking so forward to having my favourite Chile Relleno dish. I also raved about it to my friends who have never tried it before. Unfortunately, it was not the dish that I'm accustomed to having here. It was tasteless, difficult to cut into to share (usually slices easily, seemed over broiled), and the cheese layer was unusually thick which was quite overwhelming and unappealing. I'm not sure what has happened to this signature dish, but it's no longer a favourite and definitely not worth the $28 menu price anymore. Overall the rest of the meal was still good and the best churros you'll ever find. I just find it unfortunate when a restaurant has a signature dish and then clearly changes the recipe. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Still highly recommend this restaurant for a nice enjoyable evening with good food and friends but it's very loud and the crowd is quite young now compared to a couple years ago.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Churros with Dulce De Leche, Fish Tacos, Brussels Sprouts
Michael Hansen
Good place to eat real good place to relax and eat
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Renee Nixdorf
We had the best time last night at El Santo in New West. Our server, Arianna, only made our experience that much sweeter. The food is always great—we ate the 'All night HH—menu de la casa' with tequila pairings. But the amazing smile and enthusiasm that Arianna provided all night was infectious. Her presence only added to our dining experience, and we looked forward to her descriptions of each dish and tequila. Thank you, El Santo and Arianna, for making our celebration dinner the best of our year.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Tracy pratap
Had the tasting menu! It was amazing! The server was on point! She explained what each dish was and warned us of the very spicy sauce. Will definitely be back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Champagne Kingdom
We stopped by El Santo for happy hour and had a great experience! We sat at the bar and enjoyed a couple of drinks in the romantic atmosphere inside. A must-try is the El Trio de Salsas - it’s absolutely delicious! We highly recommend El Santo for a fun and romantic evening out.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Amanda Ballantyne
Had a wonderful experience here yesterday. We were headed to a show so needed an early dinner and decided to try out the happy hour at a favourite of ours, El Santo. We moved out of New West a year ago but try to get back to this gem when we can. We parked at the Columbia skytrain station and it’s just a 2 minute walk from there. From the minute we stepped through the doors we were greeted warmly and provided with friendly, knowledgeable service from the wonderful staff. We decided to do tapas style so we could sample more items and had the trio of salsas with their homemade tortilla chips, a trio of tacos, the best brussel sprouts ever and the cornbread with jalapeño jelly. Every bite was just perfection and we left stuffed! My only regret was that I was too full to get some of their churros for dessert…I dream about those things…sigh. Also, their margaritas are the best in the business. Seriously, you must try one. It was another great visit and there will be many more to come!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Stu “Stue83” E
We used to go to this place all the time and it's great. Traffic grid lock and lack of parking. New Westminster is absolute grid lock at all times of the day and there is never parking. In addition the city is putting in bike lanes everywhere and taking away more parking. If your going to go here for dinner I suggest you take public transportation or you will arrive and turn around due to traffic and parking as we did this evening. I feel for this business, they are in unfortunately an business unfriendly city.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
john wynn
Authentic Mexican food with a twist, Beautiful romantic setting atmosphere is outstanding most amazing food menu, tequila bar is top-notch. We love our Weekday date nights and weekend, brunch and family dinners. Parking is always easy around The restaurant. I highly recommend the La Falda de la Casa—a perfectly aged 18-day Black Barrel Wagyu flank served with silky pomme purée, morita chili chimichurri, and grilled broccolini. 😊😊
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Sylvain Marcotte
Excellent food. Highly recommend
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Catherine Idema
We had a group of 18, dinner was family style. The food and service were superb and the specialty cocktails were all outstanding.
This restaurant is excellent! Sophisticated vibes and an impressive menu. The chicken empanadas were perfect. Now, it is an upscale dining experience, so prices are higher and quantity is lower. If this is your style, then I totally recommend El Santo. But, my family and friends wouldn't enjoy this so much. I just went here solo to celebrate the day after my birthday, and I had no regrets.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Emily Walmsley
I came in with two friends this evening for the all night happy hour menu after a friend recommended this place to me. It took over an hour to get our drinks (one sangria and one michelada) and over 90 minutes for my friend to get her non-alcoholic juice. Many mistakes were made this evening, including providing the wrong drink at the beginning (mezcal margarita in place of the michelada), not providing Clamato for the michelada as originally requested and having to ask a couple more times, and putting in the wrong order of tacos (this was corrected before the food came out -- we had ordered pastor and were told our "fish tacos would be coming out in four minutes"). While I understand that it was a very busy Monday evening, the attention to detail was unfortunately not there. The waitress did apologize but when we asked about the status of our various food and drink items, she kept responding with "it's coming" with very long wait times. She did give us a free dessert and plate of sprouts that was accidentally prepared for another table, which was a lovely gesture. The pastor tacos and Basque style cheesecake were very good.
As I understand, they were short staffed with some people on vacation. However, due to the experience this evening, I will not be returning or recommending this restaurant to others.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 1
Lynxie Elmore
Our 4 course set menu meal took longer than expected and we were disappointed by the slow service and kitchen speed. It seemed to take 30+ min for each of our courses to come out after the previous plates were cleared, and they were small portions per course so it didn't make sense to me that they would take so long. My husband had finished his sangria and waited 30 min before a waitress came and he had to ask for another; by a different waitress. I saw the floor manager walking about talking jovially to other tables, he glanced at our table and silently came to refill our waters and didn't say a word- did not ask how our food was so far or if we were enjoying ourselves. We asked for the bill after our main course plates were cleared so we could pay and eat dessert and leave on time for our show.
Our waitress was sweet enough, though she seemed a bit stressed or distracted. She served us a side of chips and salsa as an apology for the courses taking so long and to her credit she made sure we got out on time as I mentioned we needed to leave by 9 pm.
The food was good, could use a touch more salt but the components were well thought out and plated nicely.
Sadly, it will be unlikely that we return, as the slow service, loud atmosphere and lackluster approach of the floor manager left us feeling underwhelmed overall.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 2
Aidan Lui
Definitely, we will go back next time when we are in New Westminster.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Clarissa Chang
I wish I were exaggerating, but this was truly the worst service I’ve ever experienced. Our reservation was at 7:45pm for a group of five—my partner, three friends, and myself. My partner and I ordered an appetizer, four tacos to share, and a drink each.
We arrived on time and were seated right away, but 20 minutes passed without our server greeting us or taking our order. We finally placed our order at 8:10. Our appetizer didn’t arrive until 45 minutes after we were seated, and during that time, we still hadn’t received our drinks.
When we asked about the drinks, the server told us the bartenders were too drunk from margaritas to keep up with orders. Honestly, what? After we followed up, our drinks came out almost immediately but were clearly rushed and poorly made. Would we have even gotten them if we hadn’t asked?
One of our entrées (two tacos) finally arrived an hour and a half after we were seated. When we asked about the other tacos, the server replied in a passive-aggressive tone, saying something like, ‘I’ll bring it when the kitchen puts it out.’ The attitude was unnecessary and caught us off guard.
By this point, we were late for a show, so we asked for the bill. The server brought it but didn’t return with the card machine. After waiting another 10 minutes, we finally got up and went to the POS system to pay, where another server had to help us.
As former restaurant workers, we understand how challenging the job can be. But there’s no excuse for service to be this bad. On top of everything, the food was overpriced and mediocre. I regret wasting my time and money here.
We visited El Santo yesterday evening and I was looking so forward to having my favourite Chile Relleno dish. I also raved about it to my friends who have never tried it before. Unfortunately, it was not the dish that I'm accustomed to having here. It was tasteless, difficult to cut into to share (usually slices easily, seemed over broiled), and the cheese layer was unusually thick which was quite overwhelming and unappealing. I'm not sure what has happened to this signature dish, but it's no longer a favourite and definitely not worth the $28 menu price anymore. Overall the rest of the meal was still good and the best churros you'll ever find. I just find it unfortunate when a restaurant has a signature dish and then clearly changes the recipe. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Still highly recommend this restaurant for a nice enjoyable evening with good food and friends but it's very loud and the crowd is quite young now compared to a couple years ago.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Churros with Dulce De Leche, Fish Tacos, Brussels Sprouts
Good place to eat real good place to relax and eat
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
We had the best time last night at El Santo in New West. Our server, Arianna, only made our experience that much sweeter. The food is always great—we ate the 'All night HH—menu de la casa' with tequila pairings. But the amazing smile and enthusiasm that Arianna provided all night was infectious. Her presence only added to our dining experience, and we looked forward to her descriptions of each dish and tequila. Thank you, El Santo and Arianna, for making our celebration dinner the best of our year.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Had the tasting menu! It was amazing! The server was on point! She explained what each dish was and warned us of the very spicy sauce. Will definitely be back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We stopped by El Santo for happy hour and had a great experience! We sat at the bar and enjoyed a couple of drinks in the romantic atmosphere inside. A must-try is the El Trio de Salsas - it’s absolutely delicious! We highly recommend El Santo for a fun and romantic evening out.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Had a wonderful experience here yesterday. We were headed to a show so needed an early dinner and decided to try out the happy hour at a favourite of ours, El Santo. We moved out of New West a year ago but try to get back to this gem when we can. We parked at the Columbia skytrain station and it’s just a 2 minute walk from there. From the minute we stepped through the doors we were greeted warmly and provided with friendly, knowledgeable service from the wonderful staff. We decided to do tapas style so we could sample more items and had the trio of salsas with their homemade tortilla chips, a trio of tacos, the best brussel sprouts ever and the cornbread with jalapeño jelly. Every bite was just perfection and we left stuffed! My only regret was that I was too full to get some of their churros for dessert…I dream about those things…sigh. Also, their margaritas are the best in the business. Seriously, you must try one. It was another great visit and there will be many more to come!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We used to go to this place all the time and it's great. Traffic grid lock and lack of parking. New Westminster is absolute grid lock at all times of the day and there is never parking. In addition the city is putting in bike lanes everywhere and taking away more parking. If your going to go here for dinner I suggest you take public transportation or you will arrive and turn around due to traffic and parking as we did this evening. I feel for this business, they are in unfortunately an business unfriendly city.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Authentic Mexican food with a twist, Beautiful romantic setting atmosphere is outstanding most amazing food menu, tequila bar is top-notch. We love our Weekday date nights and weekend, brunch and family dinners.
Parking is always easy around The restaurant.
I highly recommend the La Falda de la Casa—a perfectly aged 18-day Black Barrel Wagyu flank served with silky pomme purée, morita chili chimichurri, and grilled broccolini. 😊😊
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Excellent food. Highly recommend
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We had a group of 18, dinner was family style. The food and service were superb and the specialty cocktails were all outstanding.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
This restaurant is excellent! Sophisticated vibes and an impressive menu. The chicken empanadas were perfect. Now, it is an upscale dining experience, so prices are higher and quantity is lower. If this is your style, then I totally recommend El Santo. But, my family and friends wouldn't enjoy this so much. I just went here solo to celebrate the day after my birthday, and I had no regrets.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
I came in with two friends this evening for the all night happy hour menu after a friend recommended this place to me. It took over an hour to get our drinks (one sangria and one michelada) and over 90 minutes for my friend to get her non-alcoholic juice. Many mistakes were made this evening, including providing the wrong drink at the beginning (mezcal margarita in place of the michelada), not providing Clamato for the michelada as originally requested and having to ask a couple more times, and putting in the wrong order of tacos (this was corrected before the food came out -- we had ordered pastor and were told our "fish tacos would be coming out in four minutes"). While I understand that it was a very busy Monday evening, the attention to detail was unfortunately not there. The waitress did apologize but when we asked about the status of our various food and drink items, she kept responding with "it's coming" with very long wait times. She did give us a free dessert and plate of sprouts that was accidentally prepared for another table, which was a lovely gesture. The pastor tacos and Basque style cheesecake were very good.
As I understand, they were short staffed with some people on vacation. However, due to the experience this evening, I will not be returning or recommending this restaurant to others.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 1
Our 4 course set menu meal took longer than expected and we were disappointed by the slow service and kitchen speed. It seemed to take 30+ min for each of our courses to come out after the previous plates were cleared, and they were small portions per course so it didn't make sense to me that they would take so long. My husband had finished his sangria and waited 30 min before a waitress came and he had to ask for another; by a different waitress. I saw the floor manager walking about talking jovially to other tables, he glanced at our table and silently came to refill our waters and didn't say a word- did not ask how our food was so far or if we were enjoying ourselves. We asked for the bill after our main course plates were cleared so we could pay and eat dessert and leave on time for our show.
Our waitress was sweet enough, though she seemed a bit stressed or distracted. She served us a side of chips and salsa as an apology for the courses taking so long and to her credit she made sure we got out on time as I mentioned we needed to leave by 9 pm.
The food was good, could use a touch more salt but the components were well thought out and plated nicely.
Sadly, it will be unlikely that we return, as the slow service, loud atmosphere and lackluster approach of the floor manager left us feeling underwhelmed overall.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 2
Definitely, we will go back next time when we are in New Westminster.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I wish I were exaggerating, but this was truly the worst service I’ve ever experienced. Our reservation was at 7:45pm for a group of five—my partner, three friends, and myself. My partner and I ordered an appetizer, four tacos to share, and a drink each.
We arrived on time and were seated right away, but 20 minutes passed without our server greeting us or taking our order. We finally placed our order at 8:10. Our appetizer didn’t arrive until 45 minutes after we were seated, and during that time, we still hadn’t received our drinks.
When we asked about the drinks, the server told us the bartenders were too drunk from margaritas to keep up with orders. Honestly, what? After we followed up, our drinks came out almost immediately but were clearly rushed and poorly made. Would we have even gotten them if we hadn’t asked?
One of our entrées (two tacos) finally arrived an hour and a half after we were seated. When we asked about the other tacos, the server replied in a passive-aggressive tone, saying something like, ‘I’ll bring it when the kitchen puts it out.’ The attitude was unnecessary and caught us off guard.
By this point, we were late for a show, so we asked for the bill. The server brought it but didn’t return with the card machine. After waiting another 10 minutes, we finally got up and went to the POS system to pay, where another server had to help us.
As former restaurant workers, we understand how challenging the job can be. But there’s no excuse for service to be this bad. On top of everything, the food was overpriced and mediocre. I regret wasting my time and money here.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 1
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