El Gordo Montréal — Restaurant in Montreal

I got one of the beef tortas and some plantain empanadas. Both were very good. I also tasted their calamari which was battered and fried perfectly - I am not keen on fish but it was palatable even to me. My girlfriend said the calamari was quite good and she actually eats seafood, so I assume it's decent at least. I enjoyed their chipotle mayo that came with the calamari quite a bit, I dipped my empanadas in it.

My girlfriend also had some chicken tortillas that came with beans and rice - should be noted that you can ask for flour tortilla if that is your thing. It was also quite good.

They have a selection of three salsas of varying spiciness. I liked the spiciest one the most of the three of them. It, however, was not too spicy but just spicy enough to make my nose run.

Our waitress was not particularly attentive to the store despite there being very few customers. I normally expect a waitress to constantly be looking out for things to do but ours was sitting down watching videos/chatting/eating cake most of the time I was there and not paying attention to empty glasses or asking if we enjoyed the food at all. I had to hail her to ask her to refill our glasses of water - not a big deal but not something you should have to do in my opinion - especially when it is over 30 degrees celcius in a virtually dead resto. She was still smiley and polite and I tipped her well as a result but she definitely could have done a better job. Good service is important to me. Her service was almost good and could easily be great with a few pointers.

A few tips for the waitress: About 3 minutes after serving your customer; ask them to if everything is good or if they want anything else. Pay attention to the water levels in the glasses of your customers - people appreciate always having a topped up glass of water, especially on a hot day or with spicy food. If you're going to sit down and talk to friends/coworkers/whatever: make sure you aren't compromising on being attentive to the restaurant while doing so.

A con: this place is a bit pricey. My bill was about $70 for two - tip included. The calamari is expectedly expensive however. The food is definitely high quality though.

All things considered I would definitely return to and would...

Where should we start... It's a great idea, but poorly executed.

Went there on a Thursday, party of 3, prior on the 'terrasse'. Had a beer and shared 2 margarita pitchers which serves about 6 small glasses. Drinks were good but it's hard to mess up.

We first ordered an appetizer of calamari. They were overcooked... Like waayyy overcooked. The batter was dark and the calamaris were dry and didn't have it's traditional slight chewiness or life to it. I could have appreciated if it the cooking was intentional but it wasn't. Just very deep deep deep fried calamaris. The batter would've been great if not for the overcooking. It made some elements of the batter taste harsh and bitter. Rough start.

After the calamaris we ordered 3 different tacos. EVERYTHING was cold. Everything. The portions were so tiny, that it was kinda funny. You literally get a tiny (smaller than a regular sized women's palm) piece of taco and that's it. They had no character, no flavor, no life (And remember, cold). Underwhelming at best. Not learning our lesson, we were still hungry so we ordered another plate and it took 30 minutes to get another plate of slightly warmer chicken tacos. The chicken was overcooked (but not hot), underseasoned, the garnish didn't make sense as non-sweet corn didn't pair at all with the chicken thighs tacos. Disappointment.

Then we get the bill....horror. 48$/pitcher of margarita. Now I wonder if it's made with Don Julio tequila because that is pricey for a damned margarita. Yikes.

It's only advantage is it's a well located restaurant, 'terrasse' is nice and the drinks are decent. Avoid food (even if hungry, go somewhere else). Also, prepare your wallet for expensive drinking.

Staff was polite but not too attached our involved (in contrast to other restaurants). It was a busy-ish night so not sure if the waitress was too busy.

If the staff reads this, you're menu needs a overhaul. Tex-Mex food is hot, bold, flavourful, generous and loud. Not cold, frail tiny pieces of taco that begs to be thrown away. You have the potential, live up to it. 'Icehouse' (St-Laurent) is doing great and have comparable menus.

I hope this will change things and this is by no means ill-intentioned, I'm just very disappointed with my first...

We decided to go to this place due to a late night stroll on Notre-Damme looking for food. Passing up Le Gros luxe for a new experience . This place seems to be part of the pizza restaurant next door. In terms of ambience and presentation I would rate this place fairly well. I consider it somewhere between a cocktail bar and restaurant. We were very excited looking at the menu, however saw that things were not going to be cheep. Service was decent and prompt. My main complaint about this restaurant and reason for 2 stars is the portion size vs price. We ordered 2 taco dishes and skipped entree thinking that we wanted a light eat and not be too bloated for later on. Ordering Portabello and shrimp tacos, and two cocktails . The drinks came within 5 minutes and were excellent, and the taco plates arrived shortly afterwards. I was instantly shocked at the size of the portion...3 tiny little tacos for $14 per plate.. literally I can eat one of those in 1 bite. My girlfriend who usually loves fine dining with smaller portions was also shocked at the size . We finished our plates in like 1 minute and because of my hunger levels immediately ordered another taco plate of fish and some nachos / guacomole. The food came out also fast. Unfortuantely in terms of service, the hot sauce was only delivered to our table at the moment we finished our first plates of tacos .. Me I love hotsauce and was dissapointed that they delivered this late.

Talking about taste, I would say that the food is average but definitely not bad. what made us re-order was the ridiculously small portions.

By the time I was half full we had already got through 3 toca plates, and a nachos place. Our bill with tip came to almost 100$ which I consider on the expensive side for casual eating. I would advise people going here that its good service, ok taste, but over priced and measly...