Food was average at best. Quality has definitely declined. Asked for onions on my enchiladas and they put 3 wilted pieces. Service was extremely slow and poor especially since it was not busy. Waitress acted like she was doing us a favor, totally disinterested. Had to ask multiple times for water refills etc. also the tortilla chips were old and on the stale side
Bobb
-bad service, cold appetizer delivered AFTER the meal was delivered -asked for THREE desserts and got two, then long after the two desserts were finished, the third dessert was finally delivered. - the credit card merchant fee being passed on to the customer, this should be a cost of doing business expense, just insulting. -server should not ASK if he/she can remove the cost of the cold item, they should STATE that they will remove that cost from the bill -Fireplace was not lit (we sat right next to it) -My food was so-so For as long as we have gone to El Pinto it has been more and more disappointing. For such a great ambience, the food should be a bit better, AND the service. The prices are ok for the market; although after looking at your per-person-cost for a group of 24 celebration that we wanted to have there - those prices are prohibitive. We will just go to Gardunos. Even though their prices are up there they simply charge for each meal ordered, thus a group of 24 is able to eat for almost $1,000 less than that same group at El Pinto - since El Pinto makes you choose a buffet set up, once the group size gets over a certain point. Thanks anyway.
DanielleG
My husband and I were disappointed with our experience. Pros: Waitress was nice Cons: *Front desk was filled with a bunch of kids that where very unwelcoming if I was a manger I wouldn't be very happy with my staff standing around talking. Plus they all look very unprofessional, you would expect some class when you come into a beautiful place like this. I think the people at Olive Garden are more professional. *It was a gloomy windy day and didn't think the staff would sit us outside without at least asking if that would be okay. (But we didn't say anything since we don't like to be rude or complain) *Steak dishes are WAY over priced! We ordered the ribeye and they had 0 flavor. My husband ordered the ribeye and enchilada plate and that was a rip off with one little rolled enchilada just didn't make sense for 50.00 a plate. I think Sadie's has better tasting food with better prices 26.99 for an 12 oz ribeye rather go there next time. And just to add it took FOREVER to get our food from the time the waitress took our order to the time we got our food it took about 45 mins (not exaggerating) glad we got an appetizer to hold us over (was probably the best thing we ate). * One last thing I had to ask the waitress to turn the lights on so I could see what I was eating, I have never had to ask that question at a restaurant. (I don't think that is the waitress job to be in control of lights they have enough to worry about). I think a lot of these issues falls on the hands of the manager and owners they need to manage the expo line better to get food out a little faster. They need to manage their front house staff to make sure they are more attentive, inviting and most importantly professional. Lastly can you mange the lights on your porch maybe put it on a timer so your staff doesn't have to worry about that and guest don't have to feel like a dog put out on the porch to eat in the dark.
FrankR
Excellent service and food. The area where we were seated allowed for our large party to talk and enjoy our time with family! We were celebrating the return of our grandson from a military deployment overseas. He was in town for a couple of days and this gave us the time to spend together and enjoy a great meal. Our server was on spot and she did a great job!
ChrisS
Used to love El Pinto...but now the front desk was upset we asked for outdoors...the outdoor area was filled for a private party (which is great but they could have told us). The area we sat in was not great and the food was not great either. The prices were way high for the food. Service, very slow. The server was very nice but again, had too much to cover so was fairly slow. Probably not bringing folks here again.
DDC4
Wonderful lunch! Service was incredible, friendly and attentive. Food was delicious! Homemade salsa is sooo good, we bought a jar to take home. The house made chips were warm and tasty. All of our lunch entrees were delicious. Big parking lot. Large restaurant. They do add a convenience fee automatically to the bill (for credit cards). Ours was $3 on a $60 bill. We would come here again and highly recommend this restaurant.
HeathBarr
The service was slow. We were seated after our reservation time. Once seated, it took 10 minutes before our server welcomed us. The food we ordered came out wrong. Our drink orders took so long we had to cancel. Couldn't find anyone to help us with our check. I had to walk all the way to the front of the restaurant (from the back patio) to tell the host we hadn't seen our server in over 15 minutes to ask her for our check. We will not be going back. Terrible service. High cost. Absolutely NOT worth it!
WhiteGentleBear
We always bring friends and family to El Pinto for special occasions. The food and are consistent and good. The only variable is the location of your table. This room just happened to be very sterile and painfully quiet. We had to whisper because you could hear other's conversations and didn't want to be rude. We saw speakers but no sound/music was coming out. To me personally, atmosphere is just as important...
BigRed
We had an early birthday celebration at El Pinto. Our servers, Anthony and Micah went above and beyond to make everything perfect =o). They were outstanding! The food was 5-stars (always). Gigi, El Pinto's dynamic female chef, was incredibly kind and generous with her birthday dessert and flowers :-).
Chuck
Ordered cheese enchiladas with red chili - got chicken enchiladas with green chili. Waiter reordered but replacement was cheese enchiladas with green chili: still not correct, but ok. On check we were charged for two enchilada orders. Had to take extra time to correct check.
We love El Pinto but sadly the last few visits have not been up to par. There were just two of us and we felt like unwelcome guests, not given prompt attention upon arrival, stuck at a high traffic table (my husband described it as a freeway). On top of that there were tiny ants on our table and although we mentioned it to our server, nothing was done. I even retrieved a bottle of honey from a nearby table when we discovered the ants were crawling around the lid and nozzle of our honey dispenser. Again, our server was told but nothing was done. We'll try again, we always do. *sigh*
CenobiaA
We enjoyed your place the first time very much; this time it was disappointing. The tables are so low; my husband and son had issues with that. The chairs appeared old, dirty and they need replacement Our waiter was given tables all over the place, therefore we had finished our appetizers before he took our order. He did as good a job as possible considering the load he was handling. The food was very good ?. We were there from 1:00-3:30 pm. It was very cold in the room?. Our children give us gift certificates to your place frequently; hope it will be better next time Hope to go back for the food???
DANAT
Wife had red chili ribs and they were pretty hot for her taste but very good. I had beef burrito with very tasty green chili. Would recommend both. We were first seated in patio but asked to move to bar for more ambience. Waiter was very friendly and helped with move. Made for a much better experience.
JeffreyS
We were given a table in the worst room. It was cold both atmospherically and in its ambiance. The table wobbled and was old and awful looking. The manager put shims under it but it was really crumby looking and an inch too high. There were two long tables of approx 20 children under 10 years old who were really noisy—not their fault, they were kids with little supervision. A waiter spilled a huge carafe of water and ice and I couldn't sit in the chair I wanted. I asked to be moved to a different location and was told I'd have to wait for an hour or more even though we had a reservation and had arrived on time. Dinner there is not cheap. We did have a good waiter, but that was not enough to make a decent evening of it.
BigRed
Fabian was fabulous as our server! He was very attentive and kind. The food was incredibly delicious and prepared by El Pinto's talented female chef: Gigi. The Salsa Twins always deliver a five star experience to their customers. :-)
Food was average at best. Quality has definitely declined. Asked for onions on my enchiladas and they put 3 wilted pieces. Service was extremely slow and poor especially since it was not busy. Waitress acted like she was doing us a favor, totally disinterested. Had to ask multiple times for water refills etc. also the tortilla chips were old and on the stale side
-bad service, cold appetizer delivered AFTER the meal was delivered -asked for THREE desserts and got two, then long after the two desserts were finished, the third dessert was finally delivered. - the credit card merchant fee being passed on to the customer, this should be a cost of doing business expense, just insulting. -server should not ASK if he/she can remove the cost of the cold item, they should STATE that they will remove that cost from the bill -Fireplace was not lit (we sat right next to it) -My food was so-so For as long as we have gone to El Pinto it has been more and more disappointing. For such a great ambience, the food should be a bit better, AND the service. The prices are ok for the market; although after looking at your per-person-cost for a group of 24 celebration that we wanted to have there - those prices are prohibitive. We will just go to Gardunos. Even though their prices are up there they simply charge for each meal ordered, thus a group of 24 is able to eat for almost $1,000 less than that same group at El Pinto - since El Pinto makes you choose a buffet set up, once the group size gets over a certain point. Thanks anyway.
My husband and I were disappointed with our experience. Pros: Waitress was nice Cons: *Front desk was filled with a bunch of kids that where very unwelcoming if I was a manger I wouldn't be very happy with my staff standing around talking. Plus they all look very unprofessional, you would expect some class when you come into a beautiful place like this. I think the people at Olive Garden are more professional. *It was a gloomy windy day and didn't think the staff would sit us outside without at least asking if that would be okay. (But we didn't say anything since we don't like to be rude or complain) *Steak dishes are WAY over priced! We ordered the ribeye and they had 0 flavor. My husband ordered the ribeye and enchilada plate and that was a rip off with one little rolled enchilada just didn't make sense for 50.00 a plate. I think Sadie's has better tasting food with better prices 26.99 for an 12 oz ribeye rather go there next time. And just to add it took FOREVER to get our food from the time the waitress took our order to the time we got our food it took about 45 mins (not exaggerating) glad we got an appetizer to hold us over (was probably the best thing we ate). * One last thing I had to ask the waitress to turn the lights on so I could see what I was eating, I have never had to ask that question at a restaurant. (I don't think that is the waitress job to be in control of lights they have enough to worry about). I think a lot of these issues falls on the hands of the manager and owners they need to manage the expo line better to get food out a little faster. They need to manage their front house staff to make sure they are more attentive, inviting and most importantly professional. Lastly can you mange the lights on your porch maybe put it on a timer so your staff doesn't have to worry about that and guest don't have to feel like a dog put out on the porch to eat in the dark.
Excellent service and food. The area where we were seated allowed for our large party to talk and enjoy our time with family! We were celebrating the return of our grandson from a military deployment overseas. He was in town for a couple of days and this gave us the time to spend together and enjoy a great meal. Our server was on spot and she did a great job!
Used to love El Pinto...but now the front desk was upset we asked for outdoors...the outdoor area was filled for a private party (which is great but they could have told us). The area we sat in was not great and the food was not great either. The prices were way high for the food. Service, very slow. The server was very nice but again, had too much to cover so was fairly slow. Probably not bringing folks here again.
Wonderful lunch! Service was incredible, friendly and attentive. Food was delicious! Homemade salsa is sooo good, we bought a jar to take home. The house made chips were warm and tasty. All of our lunch entrees were delicious. Big parking lot. Large restaurant. They do add a convenience fee automatically to the bill (for credit cards). Ours was $3 on a $60 bill. We would come here again and highly recommend this restaurant.
The service was slow. We were seated after our reservation time. Once seated, it took 10 minutes before our server welcomed us. The food we ordered came out wrong. Our drink orders took so long we had to cancel. Couldn't find anyone to help us with our check. I had to walk all the way to the front of the restaurant (from the back patio) to tell the host we hadn't seen our server in over 15 minutes to ask her for our check. We will not be going back. Terrible service. High cost. Absolutely NOT worth it!
We always bring friends and family to El Pinto for special occasions. The food and are consistent and good. The only variable is the location of your table. This room just happened to be very sterile and painfully quiet. We had to whisper because you could hear other's conversations and didn't want to be rude. We saw speakers but no sound/music was coming out. To me personally, atmosphere is just as important...
We had an early birthday celebration at El Pinto. Our servers, Anthony and Micah went above and beyond to make everything perfect =o). They were outstanding! The food was 5-stars (always). Gigi, El Pinto's dynamic female chef, was incredibly kind and generous with her birthday dessert and flowers :-).
Ordered cheese enchiladas with red chili - got chicken enchiladas with green chili. Waiter reordered but replacement was cheese enchiladas with green chili: still not correct, but ok. On check we were charged for two enchilada orders. Had to take extra time to correct check.
Restaurantji Recommends
We love El Pinto but sadly the last few visits have not been up to par. There were just two of us and we felt like unwelcome guests, not given prompt attention upon arrival, stuck at a high traffic table (my husband described it as a freeway). On top of that there were tiny ants on our table and although we mentioned it to our server, nothing was done. I even retrieved a bottle of honey from a nearby table when we discovered the ants were crawling around the lid and nozzle of our honey dispenser. Again, our server was told but nothing was done. We'll try again, we always do. *sigh*
We enjoyed your place the first time very much; this time it was disappointing. The tables are so low; my husband and son had issues with that. The chairs appeared old, dirty and they need replacement Our waiter was given tables all over the place, therefore we had finished our appetizers before he took our order. He did as good a job as possible considering the load he was handling. The food was very good ?. We were there from 1:00-3:30 pm. It was very cold in the room?. Our children give us gift certificates to your place frequently; hope it will be better next time Hope to go back for the food???
Wife had red chili ribs and they were pretty hot for her taste but very good. I had beef burrito with very tasty green chili. Would recommend both. We were first seated in patio but asked to move to bar for more ambience. Waiter was very friendly and helped with move. Made for a much better experience.
We were given a table in the worst room. It was cold both atmospherically and in its ambiance. The table wobbled and was old and awful looking. The manager put shims under it but it was really crumby looking and an inch too high. There were two long tables of approx 20 children under 10 years old who were really noisy—not their fault, they were kids with little supervision. A waiter spilled a huge carafe of water and ice and I couldn't sit in the chair I wanted. I asked to be moved to a different location and was told I'd have to wait for an hour or more even though we had a reservation and had arrived on time. Dinner there is not cheap. We did have a good waiter, but that was not enough to make a decent evening of it.
Fabian was fabulous as our server! He was very attentive and kind. The food was incredibly delicious and prepared by El Pinto's talented female chef: Gigi. The Salsa Twins always deliver a five star experience to their customers. :-)