Disappointed. Lukewarm, salty, fat laden meals. Both the beef and pork dishes had excessive fat among the portions.The ice machine noise is continuous and so incredibly loud that it drowns out the music. I'll need to forget this visit in order to return for another meal.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 3
Michael Wilson
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
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 2
Michael W.
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 pa
Joe Gibson
It was okay, nothing really great or negative to say. The food was okay but I probably wouldn't go out of my way to eat there again.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 4
Lydia Gamboa
No from the town I found it online but I am Mexican and this was horrible FOOD, not the best service and my opinion is that its all imitation not authentic at all.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 1
Sharaz K.
I've tried this restaurant in the past and it was okay. I ordered a chicken grande burrito for myself with black beans, no sour cream, and guacamole on the side. As I ordered the cheese quesadilla for my wife. The burrito was terrible. Why? Because the put the guacamole and sour cream in the burrito after I told them not to. I was starving so I decided to scrape out as much of the sour cream and guacamole as I could but even after that, it didn't taste great. My wife said the cheese quesadilla at Taco Bell was better than el jardin and she said it was because Taco Bell puts some sort of sauce in it, el jardin just put cheese in between a tortilla. Terrible service, restaurant looks decent inside but I wouldn't eat here again. They can't follow simple directions and the food didn't taste good this time
Mia M.
I came here several years ago and remembered that I enjoyed it, but maybe I didn't know any better. Decided to visit again today for New Year's Day. I remember I liked the atmosphere, the seating and service. I must admit, today I did not enjoy the food at all. The nachos were soggy with too much cheese. The shredded chicken seemed a bit stale. Like others have mentioned, the salsa they offer with the chips looks and tastes nothing short of canned salsa or ones that come in a jar versus homemade salsa. We ordered the steak fajitas. Very disappointing. Aside from being extremely greasy, they sliced the steak extremely thin that it was almost burnt and crispy. Not thick juicy slices. The beans and rice were bland and did not taste fresh. I would hate to think they just reheat them from the day before and offer them to customers. The service was good, from both the waiter and hostess and prices were OK , but I'm sorry to say I will most likely not be coming back.
Mike Mouser
This place is a great place to enjoy your food.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Thunder co. BMX
Overall was a great
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Chips and Salsa
Stephanie P
Hadn't been in years as it across town. I did some volunteer work at a food bank and decided to stop in. I really wanted soup, an appetizer and a cocktail. Americo, made the best tequila drink, I had 3 lol. ( they were short) in my opinion tortilla soup needed more meat and veggies, carnitas taquitos were amazing. I'll be going back in Dec and having the fish Tacos!
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.
Daniel Long
Very nice staff. Chicken fajita soup was just what I needed on a cold day.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Raul F.
I don't believe this is a Mexican own restaurant. It didn't meet my authentic Mexican restaurant criteria which is: 1) there was no salsa bar 2) there weren't any Hispanic or Latinos eating there 3) they didn't offer foods Latinos are likely to order like menudo, pozole or tripas Their salsa tasted like it was right out of the jar or tub. Probably purchased at Smart and Final. Gave me acid reflux. Not a place I'd take my Mexican relatives ever.
Monique Haley
The food was absolutely delicious The service was excellent that atmosphere was inviting .
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Shrimp Fajitas, Chips and Salsa, Burrito
Abraham P.
I like to bring my dates here. Get to know each other, enjoy some margaritas and if we click we go to Bob's get drunk and go home to enjoy some premarital you know what. Servers know what's up so they act as they don't know me. Oh yeah I recommend echiladas a la parrilla, my favorite dish! 5 stars
Disappointed. Lukewarm, salty, fat laden meals. Both the beef and pork dishes had excessive fat among the portions.The ice machine noise is continuous and so incredibly loud that it drowns out the music. I'll need to forget this visit in order to return for another meal.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 3
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
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 2
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 pa
It was okay, nothing really great or negative to say. The food was okay but I probably wouldn't go out of my way to eat there again.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 4
No from the town I found it online but I am Mexican and this was horrible FOOD, not the best service and my opinion is that its all imitation not authentic at all.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 1
I've tried this restaurant in the past and it was okay. I ordered a chicken grande burrito for myself with black beans, no sour cream, and guacamole on the side. As I ordered the cheese quesadilla for my wife. The burrito was terrible. Why? Because the put the guacamole and sour cream in the burrito after I told them not to. I was starving so I decided to scrape out as much of the sour cream and guacamole as I could but even after that, it didn't taste great. My wife said the cheese quesadilla at Taco Bell was better than el jardin and she said it was because Taco Bell puts some sort of sauce in it, el jardin just put cheese in between a tortilla. Terrible service, restaurant looks decent inside but I wouldn't eat here again. They can't follow simple directions and the food didn't taste good this time
I came here several years ago and remembered that I enjoyed it, but maybe I didn't know any better. Decided to visit again today for New Year's Day. I remember I liked the atmosphere, the seating and service. I must admit, today I did not enjoy the food at all. The nachos were soggy with too much cheese. The shredded chicken seemed a bit stale. Like others have mentioned, the salsa they offer with the chips looks and tastes nothing short of canned salsa or ones that come in a jar versus homemade salsa. We ordered the steak fajitas. Very disappointing. Aside from being extremely greasy, they sliced the steak extremely thin that it was almost burnt and crispy. Not thick juicy slices. The beans and rice were bland and did not taste fresh. I would hate to think they just reheat them from the day before and offer them to customers. The service was good, from both the waiter and hostess and prices were OK , but I'm sorry to say I will most likely not be coming back.
This place is a great place to enjoy your food.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Overall was a great
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Chips and Salsa
Hadn't been in years as it across town. I did some volunteer work at a food bank and decided to stop in. I really wanted soup, an appetizer and a cocktail. Americo, made the best tequila drink, I had 3 lol. ( they were short) in my opinion tortilla soup needed more meat and veggies, carnitas taquitos were amazing. I'll be going back in Dec and having the fish Tacos!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
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.
Very nice staff. Chicken fajita soup was just what I needed on a cold day.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
I don't believe this is a Mexican own restaurant. It didn't meet my authentic Mexican restaurant criteria which is: 1) there was no salsa bar 2) there weren't any Hispanic or Latinos eating there 3) they didn't offer foods Latinos are likely to order like menudo, pozole or tripas Their salsa tasted like it was right out of the jar or tub. Probably purchased at Smart and Final. Gave me acid reflux. Not a place I'd take my Mexican relatives ever.
The food was absolutely delicious The service was excellent that atmosphere was inviting .
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Shrimp Fajitas, Chips and Salsa, Burrito
I like to bring my dates here. Get to know each other, enjoy some margaritas and if we click we go to Bob's get drunk and go home to enjoy some premarital you know what. Servers know what's up so they act as they don't know me. Oh yeah I recommend echiladas a la parrilla, my favorite dish! 5 stars