El Jimador Mexican Restaurant
| Address: | 3200 Penn Terrace #101, Columbia, MO 65202, USA |
| Phone: | +1 573-474-7300 |
| Site: | eljimadorcolumbia.com |
| Rating: | 3.8 |
| Working: | 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10:30PM 11AM–10:30PM 11AM–9PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 7
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JoeyBloey Zellerundo
3 stars overall, but 5 stars for food quality and taste. Ive eaten here probably over 30 times, maybe closer to 50, so many I cant keep track. I love the food here, and have actually burned myself out a little bit by going too much! I usually get lunch specials, or sometimes a la carte nachos or tacos. Everything Ive had is good and the prices seem reasonable. The ground beef is the finely ground style, and I like the shredded beef and steak too. Both the soft and crunchy tacos are great. You get a little more filling in the soft tacos, but the hard tacos are homemade shells and are really tasty. I really like the rice here. I dont know what to call the flavor, but it is very mild with a yellow tint to it. I could eat this rice all day. The beans are also what I would call the typical smooth style and very tasty. Each order comes with complementary chips and salsa. The chips are the thick style and the salsa is kind of a plain, tomatoey type salsa. Im not a big fan of it, but I do eat it. They also have a hot salsa that you ask for instead, but be warned, it is hot! I like to take a little bit of it and mix it with my rice sometimes. So, I really like the place and will continue eating there, but it does have some issues. Probably the biggest issue Ive seen, and many times, is they have trouble monitoring when people come in the front door and when people are standing in line at the counter. Many times I have had to wait around too long for someone to come around. I have also watched many others experience the same issue, including watching lines of people standing at the register, all looking around, wondering if someone is coming and getting irritated That is something they definitely need to work on. If you get carryout orders, always check your bag for the silverware, as sometimes they leave it out. If youre taking it home, its probably not a big deal, but if youre eating on the road, then youre stuck using the chips as dipping tools. Earlier on, many months ago when I first started eating there, I had some portion issues where I sometimes got very skimpy portions, and also some issues with the water tasting bad, but I havent had those issues in a long time. So, I give it 3 stars because the food quality is good and tasty and the prices are decent, but they also have some issues. Hopefully they will improve over time.
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Christie Ramsey
As a San Diego native, I am always in search of good Mexican food. I did not find it here. I like to test the waters with chile rellenos. They should be made with fresh poblanos, lightly battered and NOT greasy. Unfortunately, Jimador failed all three of these. The chiles were not fresh, the batter was soggy and smothered in a generic red sauce. My husband had the Camarones Jimador, which he liked. It was sauteed veggies and shrimp in a white sauce. This actually was quite tasty. As noted by another reviewer, the salsa was quite bland. I remedied this by adding some habanero sauce to give it some life. After our food was delivered, our waiter disappeared. nearly 25 minutes later, after the restaurant had closed, I had to ask the host, who was counting the cash drawer, for a check and box. Since we were the last people in the place, I wont fault them for this. All in all, I would consider coming back and giving them a second chance by ordering something else. If your expectations are not too high, your could consider giving this place a shot.
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Jason K
Walk in the door and wait 5 minutes to be seated at a near empty place. Server was pleasant, maybe a bit too friendly to the lone girl at the bar. Chips are bland. Salsa is watery canned tomatos without flavor. My Food came in exactly 4 minutes- How can you cook and plate and bring out "fresh" enchiladas in 4 minutes. You cant. No wonder why it was flavorless and tepid and the salad was slimy. Rice was bland. "Guacamole" was just kinda dumped there. The best tasting food item was the slice of tomato. Drink Refills? Please hes too busy with the girl at the bar. Payment time- wait another 5 minutes for someone to show up so you can pay for the nasty meal you just ate. Seriously customers go somewhere else. Not recommended. QT across the street sells prepackaged foods that probably would be better.
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Chris Wettengel
I am saddened by what used to be a half way decent Mexican restaurant. The last 3 times I have been have been absolutely pathetic. Had been a regular for the past 3 years-ish. How ever I will never waste my money there again. I suggest that you dont either. Chili Reno had No cheese inside of it, Rice was over cooked and chewy, Taco shell was stale witch they tried to cover up by deep frying it in what had to be week old oil. My wife was told she could no longer order the same thing that she had been ordering for the past 3 years even though it is still on the menu. Was only able to choke down about a 4th of our food before we gave up and complained witch was met with broken English hostility. Was told that we should have said something with in the first 2 bites by the wait staff.
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Lisa Meihls
VEGETARIAN DISHES ARE NOT VEGETARIAN!!! I asked the waiter if the vegetarian dishes had lard in them and they said yes! Apparently the beans are cooked in lard but they are advertising them as vegetarian. Of the four people in my party, only half got the correct food. Since the vegetarian dishes werent actually vegetarian, one member of the party was stuck getting a salad. What they are selling as a side salad is really just a tiny amount of iceberg lettuce with a sliced onion on top. Wait time was long, considering it was lunch on a Saturday and the place was empty. Food was incorrect or missing items when it finally did arrive. Glasses were dirty. Overall, a horrible experience.
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Matthew R
Food came out too quickly to be fresh (it was NOT fresh) and two of the three meals ordered were cold. Service was exceedingly poor - they failed to give us enough menus and silverware (after being asked twice). The chili relleno I got was burnt to a crisp and overly covered in red sauce in an attempt to mask the mistake. I couldnt even cut into it due to how burnt it was and yet it was cold. Ive eaten there several times before and never had a problem, but after this experience on 08Nov2016 Ill never eat there again. We went around 5:00pm and our best guess was the food was leftovers from lunch.
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Stephen Dorman
Service is not very good or quick. Food was average for Mexican. The best part of the visit was my drink which was also average "but hey it was a Strawberry Margarita" the place was far from bust or packed and still the service was slow from the time we sat down and our order was taken to the time we were ready to leave. Except when it was time to present the ticket and pay. They were quick to take the money.
