Address: | 2938 Guadalupe St, Austin, TX 78705, USA |
Phone: | +1 512-476-5955 |
Site: | elpatioaustin.com |
Rating: | 3.8 |
Working: | Closed 11AM–8:45PM 11AM–8:45PM 11AM–8:45PM 11AM–8:45PM 11AM–8:45PM Closed |
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A Private User
Have been eating here since I was a little girl when my wretched family moved over 1100 miles away and deprived me of a basic right: good Tex-Mex food. When I return "home" this is the #1 restaurant to visit. (For the longest I didnt even know its real name...I just knew it as "Pauls"). During a visit I want to eat here every day, but other family members take really good Tex-Mex for granted and go for the upscale pretension of some of the chain restaurants. No pretension here, only the best Tex-Mex in Austin (i.e. the world). While everything on the menu is great, its the enchiladas I dream of from afar. Bennie once gave me the recipe for the salsa so I could at least have that small comfort until the next visit. Dont tell, but Ive been known to sneak away from the family and eat here on my own.
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A Private User
Is it possible that maybe this was a good place to eat up until recently? I went there on a Saturday afternoon sometime in November, and it was possibly the most horrible "Mexican" or Tex-mex Ive ever had. Enchiladas were downright gross with whatever sauce they slathered them in, the beef tamale was worse than some disappointing frozen ones Ive had from the grocery store.... cant remember the beans and rice, unremarkable. Ill never eat there again. HUGE disappointment considering the look of the place gave off a humble vibe, which I thought would promise some decent Mexican food. This was gross even for TexMex, Ill take a huge corporate chain any day over that crap. Sucks when youre totally starving too.
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A Private User
Good simple food. The cheese enchiladas are a must try here! You can tell the sauces are made from scratch; they have both chile con carne and a vegetarian verde sauce. I’m strongly against the use of a microwave in any way in a restaurant (see my review for Taqueria Chapala). And from what I can tell, El Patio doesn’t have one. The plates come out super hot and the cheese is brown and crusted on the sides showing it clearly went in some sort of oven. Everything here is always very fresh including the tortillas, veggies and avocado. At the end of your meal they offer candy or sherbet, both are homemade and delicious. I don’t care what other people say, this place IS good!
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Janet Larsen
While some may say "El Patio? Yuck!", I enjoy stoping back into time at this local joint. It is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, and I think some of the customers have been coming the entire time. Gone are the saltine crackers on the tables, though you can still get butter for your tortilla if youd like. There is a small charge for the sherbet after your meal (it used to be gratis as part of the combo plates). Try the guacamole. I always get a tostada with that on, and am happy. Another plus: if you have out of town guests who really can not handle anything spicy, this is a good place to take them.
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Jennifer McKenna
Always wonderful. Have been going here for 20 years with my family! Love getting to grow up and be served / see many of the same faces. They are great about keeping your drinks, salsa and chips refilled. I like the chalupa a lot. I recommend the home-made shells (fried tortilla chips). The bathrooms are tiny - probably because its been in the same location for so long and now theres no room to expand them. If youre looking for more Mexican style Tex-Mex, this isnt your place but for Tex-tex-mex & a fun feel - my family always has a good time and I hope yours will too if you choose it!
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Caleb Friden
Right off the bat things were a bit off here. When we arrived none of the staff seemed to know where we could put our name in to get a table. After some shuffling about, one of the staff was able to get us a table fairly quickly though. I heard the enchiladas were really good, so I ordered a plate that came with a taco and an enchilada. The food was a major disappointment. The taco was just okay but the enchiladas were a bit hard to eat. The cheese was cheap, plasticy, and was used way too much. The sauce was very mediocre as were the the rice/beans.
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Adam Tentis
I have never had bad mexican until this place. The menu is very poor and food is absolutely awful. I was extremely specific about every ingredient I wanted on my tacos but the waiter still brought me exactly what was on the menu as if I just pointed to the item and not specified anything. The waiter finally brought me the correct order but all I received was tacos that were wet and cold pile of slop. My girlfriends was pretty much the same. Even the salsa was bad and left out on every table even though they had not been sat yet. Gross
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Dennis Goehring
We used El Patio restaurants catering services for our staff Christmas Party last Friday. Only a handful of people on our team had ever been to El Patio, but they had nothing but wonderful things to say about their food. However, the individuals who had never been to El Patio were blown away! Everyone loved the food, it was a wonderful selection of enchiladas, chips (they have the best chips!) fresh guacamole, hot sauce and the best queso!!! We love El Patio and will definitely use them again next year! #ElPatioAustin
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Shannon Williams
El Patio feels like old Austin in every way. As the city has changed El Patio remains as a reminder of true southern hospitality. Recently made a visit with my sister, brother in law, and my two very young nephews. The staff was so sweet and gracious. The boys are sweet but just a bit vocal... while we were a bit loud there were no rude glances and everyone had a great lunch. :) The food is true tex mex. If you want some authentic tex mex come here. Hope this place is here for another 50 years!
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Michael Cantu
If youre looking for something unoriginal and tasteless, then this is the place to eat. I had their #1 meal. The queso comes splattered on a fried corn tortilla, and the plain avocado smothered in green lettuce. I ordered the soft taco, and the ground beef was soil in water. Their beans ,Im almost sure, were canned. Their rice plain and dry. Again, the enchiladas came with plain avocado and chicken that was salty. If youre hungry and just need to fill the gut, this is the place.
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Chris Bucheit
The food is pretty good and you can tell that its authentic. When people visit me from out of state and they tell me that they want authentic Mexican and dont want the tourist Mexican food places or Tex-Mex, I tell them to go to El Patio. Its not the best Mexican food Ive ever had, but then again Im from Northern USA and not hispanic, but Ive had a Mexican friend tell me that its some of the best that hes had. So like I said, if you want authentic, this is my recommendation.
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Nicolai McCrary
After living just a block away from El Patio for over 4 years, I finally gave it a try this weekend. Unfortunately, I left very disappointed. The service and interior were great, very homey feeling and excellent staff. I ordered the el patio special, and all 3 items tasted and looked exactly the same (chalupa, crunchy taco, chile con queso). I almost wondered if they had messed up my order, but my friend who had ordered the same thing received the same combination.