Taqueria El Patron — Restaurant in Augusta

The restaurant scored a 56 on their most recent health inspection. Dine at your own risk!

Taqueria El Patron, 3107 Washington Rd.: 56

Inspector's comments:

"Observed cook in kitchen handle cell phone and continue food prep without washing hands and putting on gloves. Wash hands after handling personal items and before any continued food preparation." "Observed employee improperly drinking during food prep. Observed cup with no lid being stored above steam table. Employee drinks should be covered with a lid and straw to prevent accidental spills or cross contamination." "Observed raw shrimp stored next to cooked hot dogs. Observed shrimp in its own liquids uncovered and able to spill from its own container to other open containers holding cooked hot dogs, raw chicken, and raw pork. Do not place raw foods next to cooked or other raw foods in a fashion where cross contamination is possible with no means of proper separation." "Observed excessive build up in ice machine. Clean ice machine ASAP." "Observed pork, sour cream, beef, and radishes without any labeling in RIC under prep top. Observed tamales with a use by date of 7/27/24, ribeyes with a use by date of 7/19/24, higado with a use by date of 4/12/24. Label all food in storage over 24 hours. Discard food appropriately and monitor use by dates closely." "Observed several soiled wiping cloths left on prep areas throughout kitchen. Store wiping cloths in sanitizer when not in use." "Observed scoops stored in seasonings. Repeat violation. Store scoops outside of food product itself." "Observed improper hand washing at sink labeled 'food wash only' and observed food debris in hand sink. Repeat violation. Use sinks only for their intended purpose." "Observed flies throughout kitchen, dining room, and restrooms. Repeat violation. Determine a method to deter flies from facility as...

TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE. We had a server who was very young and frazzled. She came to our table looking nervous, disinterested, and uncomfortable--with each item we ordered or each question--she RAN back to the kitchen to ask the question of someone. She was very disruptive to us and the guests around us. She had no business being a server and was just terrible. She asked the same questions of us over and over and after 15 minutes, we got pretty frustrated. She took 2 of 3 orders at our table and then ran off without speaking. She was over entering our order and I said, "Hello, we are not finished ordering." She came back to the table in a rush, but it was too late. This FIASCO made us uncomfortable not just with the service, but with the overall management. We had no confidence they could get the order (much less prepare the food) right. So, we left. I see some positive reviews, but this restaurant is a mess with old racks of stuff being sold and clearly NO IDEA how to train a server. Maybe the server was a family member, but 99.9% of restaurants would have a new server (who seemed 14) shadowed until they are ready. Very sad to see this poor service, given that the food may be OK. We will AVOID. (I hope the restaurant replies and explains what happened here. The restaurant business is challenging, but they need to do much better than this on things they can control.)

Also, despite having a bar-like feel, they do not have a liquor license and cannot sell beer, wine,...

On vacation in Augusta, Georgia was craving Mexican food. Out of all listed in the area this one had the best rating so I decided to try it out. It was quite different from what I'm used to in Texas. The waitress brought the chips and 3 sauces with 4 small bowls. A carafe with a red sauce like a salsa, a verde sauce and a chili sauce both in a squeeze bottles. The Verde was mild, the salsa was mild and the chili sauce tasted like it was made with Chili powder. Ordered a small queso, got a bowel of melted white cheese. It was tasty just not what I'm used to. Hmmm, interesting - moving on. I had the Taco plate, 2 crispy Tacos with rice and beans, refried. On my Tacos were lettuce and cheese, no tomato so I asked for a side order of Pico De Gallo. She brought it, it had no Jalapenos. Was tomato, cilantro and onions. The ground beef in my Tacos was quite tasty though, it had a char on it which gave it extra flavor. My friend with me had the fajitas, said they were good, he'd order them again. The tortillas were homemade and all and all a good meal for him.

Although it was different, something I'm not used to as I'm from Texas I would return, will bring my own...