The salsa was sweet & spicy at the same time and the burrito was pan fried which I reallllyyy liked. Shai was our waitress. She was super quick and nice. We liked her, she most definitely deserves a raise!
Van Le
Friendly staff sat us real quick and helped me out when I accidentally spilled salsa. Decent Tex-Mex food, I will say that my dish came out lukewarm and the rice was undercooked for my preference. Still, not bad overall.
896dwightd
We have had Mexican food all around the us and the world and this was as bad as we have ever had. The waitress was very nice. we barely recognized are beans ,they were really over cooked and dry. We ordered the steak fajitas and it was very greasy we only had 6 small strips of meat,the tortillas were wrapped in foil and had been baked in the oven way to long. they would not even roll out. we would not recommend this restaurant. The night before we ate at Crescent City grilled owned buy the same Oner and the hole meal was fabulous.
Adam Zachary Rawls
ONLY review for the Tiki Takeover: A must do! such a good menu and drink menu and the patio is the perfect tiki atmosphere! Absolutely! This is what this space was destined to be.
Carley Wigley
I love to support local but this is the second time I’ve come to El Rayo. The first time the food was good, maybe not worth the price but it was good- just like any other Mexican restaurant. This morning I ordered off of the brunch menu. The Cafe el Rayo was a coffee drink that basically tasted like black coffee and milk but it was $8- super disappointed. Several items were missing off of my meal, it was luke warm when it came out. The chips that came out were cold and stale, mind you this is 11 o’clock in the morning. Our server was nice enough to discount the food. The kitchen is just so inconsistent and the food isn’t worth the hype or price. ??
Lee Lastovica
Pretty average Tex Mex spot. Not bad for MS. The salsa is very tame with minimal flavor. I ordered the bean and cheese nachos. Ordered a full order, but was brought the 1/2 order. Wasn’t expecting the red jalapeños (normally nachos come with pickled green jalapeño) but they were good. I also ordered the beef enchiladas with no rice and charro beans/ black beans. No complaints on these items as well.My service today was very slow and disjointed. I truly hope my server was new and still learning the job. Again, I didn’t get the full order of nachos and they were brought out with the meal as opposed to coming as an appetizer. In addition it took a long time for the meal to arrive at the table. After finally receiving the check my severs passed by my table 3 times without picking up the check. After taking my payment the bill came back with no pen to sign. (The first check came out with a pen????) I was very tempted to simply leave without tipping since at this point my meal was over an hour long and I had to return to work. I did flag down my server and ask for the pen to pay my bill. Definitely needs to work on getting a flow of service steps and etiquete.
Gene G
Avoid this place. First and last time ordering from here. Ordered takeout - the slow roasted pork enchilada with rice and refried beans. took a couple of bites of the enchilada - pork was cooked perfectly. However, it went downhill from here. The enchilada sauce tasted like tomato paste disguised with chili powder and the whole thing was overly salty. Rice was good with the roasted corn in it but it turned out to be the only redeeming feature of the meal. The refried beans had the consistency and appearance of thickened chocolate Malto-O-Meal hot cereal (the original type). Not much flavor at all and the top had a few small sprinkled dots of what I think was cheese. The chips were very thin - break so easily when dipped in the watery-tomato colored concoction that was supposed to salsa. It was very thin consistency, almost no flavor at all. Had to add some Pace salsa to it to get any flavor and texture at all. Then I get hit with a non-optional 10% takeout gratuity. Insult to injury. I don't ever order again from restaurants that sneak that in at the end. I should not be penalized for not coming in and sitting down. To be fair, the young lady taking my order was very pleasant and cheerful. Avoid this place. First and last time ordering from here. Ordered takeout - the slow roasted pork enchilada with rice and refried beans. took a couple of bites of the enchilada - pork was cooked perfectly. However, it went downhill from here. The enchilada sauce tasted like tomato paste disguised with chili powder and the whole thing was overly salty. Rice was good with the roasted corn in it but it turned out to be the only redeeming feature of the meal. The refried beans had the consistency and appearance of thickened chocolate Malto-O-Meal hot cereal (the original type). Not much flavor at all and the top had a few small sprinkled dots of what I think was cheese. The chips were very thin - break so easily when dipped in the watery-tomato colored concoction that was supposed to salsa. It was very thin consistency, almost no flavor at all. Had to add some Pace salsa to it to get any flavor and texture at all. Then I get hit with a non-optional 10% takeout gratuity. Insult to injury. I don't ever order again from restaurants that sneak that in at the end. I should not be penalized for not coming in and sitting down. To be fair, the young lady taking my order was very pleasant and cheerful.
CES122
Robert St. John restaurant. Next to Ed’s on Hardy Street. Easy to locate but parking is in the back of the building. Reasonable prices. Order Black Beans or Charro Beans. Rice is very good. Salsa and Chips are ok. Order 11$ trio appetizer cheese dips.
Brittany Spiers
Went for the first time last night on our early valentines dinner. It was awesome! My husband had skirt steak tacos and we shared the cantina skillet. Both were amazing! For the appetizer we had the queso mex with beef. Yummy!
Jessica Herrera Owens
The Herrera Owens family officially, absolutely loves this restaurant and this service it provides! MsJerika our waitress was lovely and wonderful way to start off the new year of 2023 and the Mexican candy Margarita was my favorite
Terrific Tex Mex! Best we have found in the Alabama/Mississippi area. Not the traditional variety one may be used to in Texas but their take on it was more than welcoming. For starters, the Queso Trio set the tone and got our family fired up. Each one pleasing one or more of us but I think the winner was the smoked gouda. Some of us played it safe with the chicken fajitas and were pleasantly surprised with a foamy butter to dip each bite in to. The one we all left talking about though was the cantina skillet that my wife ordered. Wow! Flavors galore and the avocado was the piece that tied it all together. Outdoor seating area was phenomenal and the wait staff were both knowledgeable and friendly. Keep serving up the great food and good times!
Alex Nguyen
What a great spot for drinks and Tex Mexican food. Large restaurant with great service. They don’t have a huge menu but it’s definitely easy to read. They told me they plan on putting horchata on the menu after I tried to ask for it. Anyways the service was great, there’s free bottomless mimosa if you order a brunch item. The ambiance was great, cool decor and nice and outdoor seating. The food was okay, the brunch items were good, didn’t like the chicken taco as much. Complimentary Chips and salsa were good.
Terry H
So much potential, but so disappointing. The outdoor tiki patio bar area was beautiful and a unique atmosphere. We ordered margaritas and a twenty something young man brought us a glass not even filled to the top. We assumed they would be “house” drinks so we ordered an extra shot on the side. We got a half shot of tequila which was barely a splash each to share. The cheese trio app was good, but lukewarm. We had to ask for napkins and remind the twenty something to bring our extra half shots on the second round. We finally bypassed him and asked the young lady for our third drink, which was at least filled to the top. She also knew how to pour a full shot. To summarize - 6 house Rita’s, 4 half shots, 1 full shot and 4 tacos set us back $120 before tip. If the drinks and shots would have been as expected, no complaints. We drink more than we eat. But to spend that amount on koolaid and cold cheese is a waste. This place needs experienced bartenders instead of a group of young kids who don’t know what they’re doing. Guess my recommendation sums up to don’t bother trying El Rayo if you like a good margarita and queso.
Sarah Elizabeth
We are new to the area for school and decided to try El Rayo. It was…somethingMy fiancé ordered a beef chimichanga and I got chicken fajitas. The food was very flavorless and did not give off “Tex-Mex” at all. The rice tasted like the boxed El Paso brand. The refried beans tasted like they came straight from the can and were watered down. My fajitas had no seasoning and the chicken was very dry. It was all cooked in a mess of butter. The salsa tasted like spaghetti sauce and honestly the only thing good was the water. I’m sure the hostess over heard my comment of me saying this is “whitest Mexican restaurant ever” lol as we kept getting stares from her and the manager and the not so subtle whispers. I can honestly say we won’t be coming back. Our server was wonderful and you can tell he was trying to take care of all his tables but the food and the price for the food…not worth it. $45 could have been spent elsewhere but we gave it a shot.
Jeffrey StMary
Mixed drinks were sort of expensive. They don't offer pitcher Margaritas, which would have been nice. Atmosphere was nice but crowded. At the time they weren't seating anyone outside. Bartender was nice but slammed. Salsa had a bit of unique flavor. Parking was full. Only went for drink and didn't eat.
The salsa was sweet & spicy at the same time and the burrito was pan fried which I reallllyyy liked. Shai was our waitress. She was super quick and nice. We liked her, she most definitely deserves a raise!
Friendly staff sat us real quick and helped me out when I accidentally spilled salsa. Decent Tex-Mex food, I will say that my dish came out lukewarm and the rice was undercooked for my preference. Still, not bad overall.
We have had Mexican food all around the us and the world and this was as bad as we have ever had. The waitress was very nice. we barely recognized are beans ,they were really over cooked and dry. We ordered the steak fajitas and it was very greasy we only had 6 small strips of meat,the tortillas were wrapped in foil and had been baked in the oven way to long. they would not even roll out. we would not recommend this restaurant. The night before we ate at Crescent City grilled owned buy the same Oner and the hole meal was fabulous.
ONLY review for the Tiki Takeover: A must do! such a good menu and drink menu and the patio is the perfect tiki atmosphere! Absolutely! This is what this space was destined to be.
I love to support local but this is the second time I’ve come to El Rayo. The first time the food was good, maybe not worth the price but it was good- just like any other Mexican restaurant. This morning I ordered off of the brunch menu. The Cafe el Rayo was a coffee drink that basically tasted like black coffee and milk but it was $8- super disappointed. Several items were missing off of my meal, it was luke warm when it came out. The chips that came out were cold and stale, mind you this is 11 o’clock in the morning. Our server was nice enough to discount the food. The kitchen is just so inconsistent and the food isn’t worth the hype or price. ??
Pretty average Tex Mex spot. Not bad for MS. The salsa is very tame with minimal flavor. I ordered the bean and cheese nachos. Ordered a full order, but was brought the 1/2 order. Wasn’t expecting the red jalapeños (normally nachos come with pickled green jalapeño) but they were good. I also ordered the beef enchiladas with no rice and charro beans/ black beans. No complaints on these items as well.My service today was very slow and disjointed. I truly hope my server was new and still learning the job. Again, I didn’t get the full order of nachos and they were brought out with the meal as opposed to coming as an appetizer. In addition it took a long time for the meal to arrive at the table. After finally receiving the check my severs passed by my table 3 times without picking up the check. After taking my payment the bill came back with no pen to sign. (The first check came out with a pen????) I was very tempted to simply leave without tipping since at this point my meal was over an hour long and I had to return to work. I did flag down my server and ask for the pen to pay my bill. Definitely needs to work on getting a flow of service steps and etiquete.
Avoid this place. First and last time ordering from here. Ordered takeout - the slow roasted pork enchilada with rice and refried beans. took a couple of bites of the enchilada - pork was cooked perfectly. However, it went downhill from here. The enchilada sauce tasted like tomato paste disguised with chili powder and the whole thing was overly salty. Rice was good with the roasted corn in it but it turned out to be the only redeeming feature of the meal. The refried beans had the consistency and appearance of thickened chocolate Malto-O-Meal hot cereal (the original type). Not much flavor at all and the top had a few small sprinkled dots of what I think was cheese. The chips were very thin - break so easily when dipped in the watery-tomato colored concoction that was supposed to salsa. It was very thin consistency, almost no flavor at all. Had to add some Pace salsa to it to get any flavor and texture at all. Then I get hit with a non-optional 10% takeout gratuity. Insult to injury. I don't ever order again from restaurants that sneak that in at the end. I should not be penalized for not coming in and sitting down. To be fair, the young lady taking my order was very pleasant and cheerful. Avoid this place. First and last time ordering from here. Ordered takeout - the slow roasted pork enchilada with rice and refried beans. took a couple of bites of the enchilada - pork was cooked perfectly. However, it went downhill from here. The enchilada sauce tasted like tomato paste disguised with chili powder and the whole thing was overly salty. Rice was good with the roasted corn in it but it turned out to be the only redeeming feature of the meal. The refried beans had the consistency and appearance of thickened chocolate Malto-O-Meal hot cereal (the original type). Not much flavor at all and the top had a few small sprinkled dots of what I think was cheese. The chips were very thin - break so easily when dipped in the watery-tomato colored concoction that was supposed to salsa. It was very thin consistency, almost no flavor at all. Had to add some Pace salsa to it to get any flavor and texture at all. Then I get hit with a non-optional 10% takeout gratuity. Insult to injury. I don't ever order again from restaurants that sneak that in at the end. I should not be penalized for not coming in and sitting down. To be fair, the young lady taking my order was very pleasant and cheerful.
Robert St. John restaurant. Next to Ed’s on Hardy Street. Easy to locate but parking is in the back of the building. Reasonable prices. Order Black Beans or Charro Beans. Rice is very good. Salsa and Chips are ok. Order 11$ trio appetizer cheese dips.
Went for the first time last night on our early valentines dinner. It was awesome! My husband had skirt steak tacos and we shared the cantina skillet. Both were amazing! For the appetizer we had the queso mex with beef. Yummy!
The Herrera Owens family officially, absolutely loves this restaurant and this service it provides! MsJerika our waitress was lovely and wonderful way to start off the new year of 2023 and the Mexican candy Margarita was my favorite
Restaurantji Recommends
Terrific Tex Mex! Best we have found in the Alabama/Mississippi area. Not the traditional variety one may be used to in Texas but their take on it was more than welcoming. For starters, the Queso Trio set the tone and got our family fired up. Each one pleasing one or more of us but I think the winner was the smoked gouda. Some of us played it safe with the chicken fajitas and were pleasantly surprised with a foamy butter to dip each bite in to. The one we all left talking about though was the cantina skillet that my wife ordered. Wow! Flavors galore and the avocado was the piece that tied it all together. Outdoor seating area was phenomenal and the wait staff were both knowledgeable and friendly. Keep serving up the great food and good times!
What a great spot for drinks and Tex Mexican food. Large restaurant with great service. They don’t have a huge menu but it’s definitely easy to read. They told me they plan on putting horchata on the menu after I tried to ask for it. Anyways the service was great, there’s free bottomless mimosa if you order a brunch item. The ambiance was great, cool decor and nice and outdoor seating. The food was okay, the brunch items were good, didn’t like the chicken taco as much. Complimentary Chips and salsa were good.
So much potential, but so disappointing. The outdoor tiki patio bar area was beautiful and a unique atmosphere. We ordered margaritas and a twenty something young man brought us a glass not even filled to the top. We assumed they would be “house” drinks so we ordered an extra shot on the side. We got a half shot of tequila which was barely a splash each to share. The cheese trio app was good, but lukewarm. We had to ask for napkins and remind the twenty something to bring our extra half shots on the second round. We finally bypassed him and asked the young lady for our third drink, which was at least filled to the top. She also knew how to pour a full shot. To summarize - 6 house Rita’s, 4 half shots, 1 full shot and 4 tacos set us back $120 before tip. If the drinks and shots would have been as expected, no complaints. We drink more than we eat. But to spend that amount on koolaid and cold cheese is a waste. This place needs experienced bartenders instead of a group of young kids who don’t know what they’re doing. Guess my recommendation sums up to don’t bother trying El Rayo if you like a good margarita and queso.
We are new to the area for school and decided to try El Rayo. It was…somethingMy fiancé ordered a beef chimichanga and I got chicken fajitas. The food was very flavorless and did not give off “Tex-Mex” at all. The rice tasted like the boxed El Paso brand. The refried beans tasted like they came straight from the can and were watered down. My fajitas had no seasoning and the chicken was very dry. It was all cooked in a mess of butter. The salsa tasted like spaghetti sauce and honestly the only thing good was the water. I’m sure the hostess over heard my comment of me saying this is “whitest Mexican restaurant ever” lol as we kept getting stares from her and the manager and the not so subtle whispers. I can honestly say we won’t be coming back. Our server was wonderful and you can tell he was trying to take care of all his tables but the food and the price for the food…not worth it. $45 could have been spent elsewhere but we gave it a shot.
Mixed drinks were sort of expensive. They don't offer pitcher Margaritas, which would have been nice. Atmosphere was nice but crowded. At the time they weren't seating anyone outside. Bartender was nice but slammed. Salsa had a bit of unique flavor. Parking was full. Only went for drink and didn't eat.
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