Santiago's Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Aurora

🌯 A Breakfast Burrito Aficionado’s Warning: Stay Away from Santiago’s! 🌯

Drive-Through Drama: What’s So Hard About Salsa?

This morning at Santiago’s Mexican Restaurant, 10400 E 6th Ave, Aurora, CO, I was reminded why I never go there. I pulled into their drive-through ready to order a simple breakfast burrito with hot green chili and some salsa packets on the side. Sounds easy, right? Wrong.

The conversation went something like this: Me: “I’d like hot green chili and salsa on the side, please.” Her: “Light green chili?” Me: “No, HOT green chili.” Her: “Light green chili?” Me: “No. Hot. As in picante. As in spicy. ¡¿Qué tan difícil puede ser?! (How hard can this be?!)”

I repeated myself over and over, and she still didn’t get it. By the end, I was arguing over salsa packets like they were a rare commodity. I left the drive-through angry and empty-handed because I couldn’t take it anymore.

The Burrito Breakdown: A Mess in Every Sense

On the rare occasions I’ve eaten Santiago’s burritos, it’s been a disaster. Their tortillas? Tough, chewy, and clearly not homemade. “¿Hecho en casa? Más bien, hecho en una fábrica.” (Homemade? More like factory-made.) A good tortilla should pull apart with ease, like the heavenly tortillas at El Tamalero (14155 E Colfax Ave Suite A3, Aurora, CO).

Their filling? Bland, dry, and boring. The eggs taste like they were cooked last week, the potatoes are under-seasoned, and the cheese? You’d be lucky to find it. And don’t expect a glorious bacon flavor to save the day—it’s like an afterthought, just sad little bits here and there.

But here’s the kicker: their burritos aren’t even folded properly. The ends are left open, so the second you pick one up, the filling spills everywhere. If you’re trying to eat it while driving, good luck! You’ll end up with half of it on your lap and the other half smeared on your steering wheel.

Service: Santiago’s Has None

The service at this location has always been awful. Every visit is like pulling teeth. The staff seems annoyed that you dared to show up, and the simplest requests turn into an ordeal. This morning, I couldn’t even finish ordering because of the constant miscommunication. I felt like I was in an episode of “Quién Tiene la Culpa?” (Who’s to Blame?). Spoiler: it’s Santiago’s.

Compare that to El Tamalero, where you’re greeted with smiles, efficiency, and a deep understanding of how a burrito experience should be. The staff there treats you like family, not a burden.

El Tamalero: The New Gold Standard

Let me tell you about the burrito that saved my morning. After leaving Santiago’s in frustration, I went to El Tamalero at 14155 E Colfax Ave Suite A3, Aurora, CO, and it was like entering another world. Their tortillas are homemade, their fillings are fresh and flavorful, and their salsas? Perfection.

Their burritos are rolled with care, sealed on the ends, and packed with love. No spills, no mess, just pure bliss in every bite. It’s everything Santiago’s wishes it could be but never will.

Final Verdict: Never Again

Santiago’s, you’ve lost this burrito aficionado for good. Your service is atrocious, your food is bland, and your burritos are a logistical nightmare. You deserve zero stars.

To anyone reading this: skip Santiago’s and head to El Tamalero. As the saying goes, “Más vale tarde que nunca” (Better late than never). I’ve found my new favorite spot, and I’ll never look back.

🌟 Pro Tip: If you want real flavor, real service, and a real burrito experience, go to El...

When they first opened off of 6th and Peoria they soldld me on a burrito bowl that at the time have pork in it. When I went back to get it again and they didn't serve it to me the same way and so when I asked why wasn't the pork in it, and they said that they didn't serve it that way and that was for the green chili bowl . Every time they're after they charging extra for pork when getting the green chili bowl so I stopped ordering that. My job orders from them all the time and here lately all of the orders have been messed up the burritos are dry they're either too much egg or minus the egg when they're supposed to be egg. Today I went up there to order a breakfast burrito minus the egg and they told me that I could not order that through the drive-in my whole question is why do you have a drive-in if you can only start order certain things. As of today I will no longer do Santiago's my business for the simple fact that they are not customer friendly and they are not customer service oriented. I won't even buy their Chili off of grocery store shelves. To the owners of Santiago's both on Leetsdale and Havana and Peoria this is something that you definitely need to work on because I'm going to make sure I tell everybody not to mess with y'all. Customer service should be the number one reasons why people come back and enjoy your food but if people are constantly rude and you can only do certain things when going to the drive-in that's a problem. It should be customer first and if I can't order what I want to order through the driving, you should probably take the driving down . In addition to that, consistency on the items that you sell on your menu will be appreciated . The green chili bowl with something that I was not interested in until I was told it had pork in it. the only reason why I did like it was because of the pork that was in it . now that you don't serve the pork in it no more it's not it's just regular and there is no uniqueness to it. It sucks. I can go and get the green chili bowl the way that I like it at the restaurant off of Leetsdale but for the restaurant that's off of Havana and 6th I cannot get that same green chili bowl. As a food critic this is not acceptable it's very disappointing because Santiago's has very good food up until recently I have been extremely disappointed every time that I've gone up there. I don't even want to give him a rating but I thought that my public should know about how Santiago...

While their food is absolutely amazing their custom service is absolutely horrible. The two times I've gone here I've been ignored upon arrival. But at least with my first experience I was able to get my food I ordered after being ignored for 5-6 minutes for other customers who came in after me and didn't fit my color of skin. This time however I was balantly ignored by all the staff. Every single one of them looked me in the eye and said nothing. Not one said hello, how may I help you. Not one said anything. The phone rang and one of the ladies went right to answer it. Walking around the kitchen and lobby on the phone. She assisted another woman but never said one word to me. After waiting for 3 minutes I walked to the counter and said, "Hi, I ordered over the phone and wanted to know if my order was ready." Her response was to roll her eyes and say, "Well you have to pay first before your order can be made. What's your name?" When I made my order on the phone, whoever I spoke with DID NOT STATE THAT YOU HAVE TO PREPAY BEFORE YOUR FOOD IS MADE. The lady on the phone took my entire order and said it will be ready in 20 minutes. Had she said that I needed to pay first I would've paid for it over the phone. The point of calling in is to cut down the physical wait time in the restaurant. Unfortunately, I will never patronize this restaurant again, which sucks because they have authentic Mexican food and it's hard to find that in Colorado besides one other restaurant that I've never experienced such disrespect because I'm African American. If you all don't like cooking for all people then maybe you should reconsider being in the food industry because ALL PEOPLE, EAT ALL DIFFERENT TYPES OF FOOD. I hope other's will not tolerate being disrespected just because their shade of skin is different. My HARD earned money is no different than that of someone who doesn't carry African descent. Shout out to Taco Selene for never treating me or anyone who is different with disrespect. Everyone is always nice, helpful, and embracing once you walk in thier restaurant. Shame on every single one of you people that were balantly disrespectful for no...