El Vaquero Mexican Restaurant
| Address: | 3230 Olentangy River Rd, Columbus, OH 43202, USA |
| Phone: | +1 614-261-0900 |
| Site: | elvaquerodublin.com |
| Rating: | 3.9 |
| Working: | 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10:30PM 11AM–10:30PM 11AM–9:30PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 15
AK
Aki Mori
My friend and I really enjoyed ourselves the first visit, the food was delicious and not too expensive (we are obsessed with Mexican). Service was fast and impersonal but it was during a busy time so we didnt mind! When we went a second time, we ordered something different, hoping to get the same experience with our food. It was served to us horribly made and sloppy (she said they were the worst tacos she has ever had,I found random bits of hard taco in mine despite never ordering them, and there was cheese on my meal after telling the server I was lactose intolerant and asked for no cheese or dairy). I picked off the cheese, but regardless had a stomach ache the entire rest of the day and the morning after! Super disappointed!
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A Private User
Weve been going for 5 years, food is average (I grew up in San Diego, and its hardly "authentic" as advertised), service has always been average, but the service has REALLY disintegrated over the past 6 months. Yeah its always crowded, but they treat you like cattle coming back to the feeding trough. Herd you in, feed you salty ground beef and tortillas, get your money, herd you out. We had to ask for refills, ask for appetizer plates, reminder the server we had ordered a side of jalapenos, and the bill was on the table within a minute of our entrees arriving, rushing us right back out the door. No time for good service, no time for a enjoyable dining experience. We wont be going back for a while.
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A Private User
All I can really say about this place is you are paying for the environment more than the food. Almost everything on the menu is way overpriced (and not particularly good). If you want some more authenitc and fresh food, try Chile Verde or a host of others around Columbus. The fajita meat is rubbery and has no seasonings... the "specials" are mostly bland or oversalted. $14 for one of their "specials" which was about 3 oz of sorry-looking chicken in some bland sauce with tortillas, beans, and rice. Oh well, at least they have good queso... If you do go here, I would suggest just ordering cheap, fried things like chimichangas -- its hard to mess those up!
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A Private User
My friend and I went to El Vaquero on Olentangy Road, we ordered the wrong item on the menu. The waitress served us that item and it was horrible. When we mentioned we didnt like it the waitress took it and threw it away, and was ready to take our new order. But the angry manager came shouting (in broken English) that we should pay for the food we didnt eat and that they already threw away!! We paid and thanked the manager for his bad customer service. We will never visit again! If you are looking for a good customer service, I strongly recommend NOT to visit that place.
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A Private User
i dont even understand how all of these reviewers dont enjoy this place. ive been to four or five mexican places in cbus and el vaquero rocks all of them. i live right next to cuezelas on ohio state campus and instead of going there i drive a few minutes to get much better food/service. on a non-weekend/busy night, you get your food in literally 10 minutes -- its almost TOO fast! cliff notes: great food, fast service, other reviewers dont know what theyre talking about.
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Shelli McGhee
We had a party of nine. Four of us decided to split two pitchers of margaritas, they never even asked the other 5 what they wanted to drink. It took 20 minutes before they even came back to take our order. Food was dry and over cooked. Other customers were complaining about the lack of service as well. Maybe they were short-staffed today, but no one ever mentioned that. Customer service goes a long way and in this case it just missed the mark
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A Private User
Every time I order something it gets messed up. Or I get there and they tell me that the fax machine is broke and i have to wait for my food to be cooked. You would think that you would get some kind of discount for the inconvenience, nope. So this time I ordered on the phone they messed it up again. Im sorry but if your clientele speaks English, people taking orders need to understand English and if they dont get someone who does.
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A Private User
I ordered an enchilada and it was pretty awful. I dont know how you can mess that up but the cheese didnt taste good and the sides were pretty poor as well. My bfs fajita was o-k. We then had to go to the counter to pay and the line order was not apparent and there was only 1 cashier during dinner time so it took at least 10 minutes to leave AFTER the check came. For a much tastier meal and better atmosphere I recommend Mad Mex.
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MonikaYahYisrael
As so many others have stated the service was terrible! I treated one of my clients here for lunch and she wouldnt stop complaining of all the salt that was in the taco meat. She asked for a supervisor and he was rude and in so many words told us that we didnt have to come back. We left all the rest of our food, no refund and no apology. Ive also been to the one in Gahanna and service and food was much better!!
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A Private User
Caveat: I dont share the American affection for Mexican food - in general it is crude & disgusting. That said, El Vaqueros one of the better examples. The menu sprawls like a phone directory with the usual tedious blends of beans, meat and cheese. The Yucatan chicken is the dish I least feel like regurgitating later, although the speed its delivered suggests the chefs prepare it long in advance.
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A Private User
I see on here a lot of people talking down the "Authentic" part of this place, and then just complaining about the food. I worked with a man who came from Mexico and told me that this was very close to authentic, just a little more sauces over here than is really used. Other than that he said it was really close. So please, accept authentic from someone who can actually say so.
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A Private User
Absolutely the worst food Ive ever seen or tasted. We ate two bites of what was supposed to be chicken nachos. It was sort of cold, absolutely tasteless, absolutely the worst excuse for food to say nothing of passing itself off as mexican food. They should be embarassed to be passing themselves off as purveyors of food. The corn chips were good. How can one screw up nachos?
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Robert Rush
This location is the best. Other El Vaquero locations are good, but this location is better because they take care of you as if you were in their kitchen. From the portions, the service, the amount of alcohol they put in their beverages its just by far better than any other El Vaquero or for that matter any other Mexican restaurant in Columbus.
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Yo Craig
The service was like you were bothering them to be there. The fajitas came out uncooked, and even asked to be well done. Charged us for soda refills, a first for me. The steak wasnt fresh, tasted reheated. Then wondering why our Bill was 50. bucks for 2 people. If I could chose no star I would. Should of went to Sonic next door.
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Dave McGovern
Was staying at one of the nearby hotels so checked out El Vaquero because of its proximity. Service at the bar was excellent. Margaritas were fine, but mediocre. Seemed like decent food overall, but nothing particularly noteworthy other than the quesadilla was the largest I have ever seen.
