El Patron Authentic Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Bartlett

Meet Lunch Menu Item #8, Burrito and Tamale with rice.

If you are in the neighborhood and want a fast good quality lunch at a reasonable price, try El Patron. Sure there are plenty of other choices. El Patron stands out. It isn't a strip mall place..... there is plenty of character in this old building. Sit back and watch the crowd or look out the window. There is a comfortable unrushed atmoshere. Gotta thank the young lady that helped me. She anwered a couple of questions about th emenu, I ordered and was rewarded with an awesome #8 lunch. What coiuld I have gotten for under 10 bucks that was a worth my time to write a review of .... the burrito was a basic good size ground beef creation. I could see them serving the same burrito as part of their evening menu. The tamale was was recently made and nicely warm. My fork easily cut into it, so I know that it hasn't been sitting aroind for a few days. This alone is worth a 5 star review. I've been to a couple of other establishments where the tamales were, should ai say that I almost needed a knife to cut. The young lady gave me a choice of ground beef and sauce on the tamale or leaving it off. By all means get the ground beef and sauce. Gotta mention the house salsa - firm, a touch of heat, bits of cilantro, and a well done. Only down side to the visit was that there were no towels in the mens rooms. Check out a few of the other reviews. I've been here a few times and have enjoyed the service and the meals and...

The restaurant is train-themed which is really cool as there’s an active train that passes by during the day. Our waiter was very sweet and attentive, and service was quick. Unfortunately, the food was a huge letdown.

The chips were cold, and though our meals came out fast, the food itself was barely warm. The taco and tostada shells were soggy and stale, and while the beef enchilada was passable, the sauce tasted old. The chile relleno was the most disappointing. Instead of the classic fried pepper stuffed with meat and cheese, they served ground beef mixed in cheese sauce smothered in a mountain of melted cheese (which had firmed up and was not melty when it got to us)... no chile in sight. When I asked about it, the waiter explained their “chile relleno” didn’t actually include a pepper, and offered to bring us a poblano (which is apparently their real chile relleno) instead. While he kindly brought it out free of charge, it still wasn’t good, overloaded with cheese and bland sauce.

The refined beans was the best tasting dish of the night :)

Overall, despite the fun atmosphere and good service, this was easily one of the worst Mexican meals I’ve...

CONSUMER ALERT - I ate lunch at El Patron (5811 Stage Rd, Bartlett, TN) on 12/9 and paid my bill with my credit card. $8.43 for the meal appeared as a charge on my bank statement along with another charge for my 50% $4.00 tip. Both of those debits were legit. But wait, that's not all. Today I noticed El Patron had ran my card again for an unauthorized charge for $12.43 in addition to another unauthorized charge from El Patron for $57.39. The lady at my bank told me they had received multiple fraud reports recently from other account holders about unauthorized charges from cards used at El Patron. Great food, Above and beyond friendly service. Very friendly, honest and accommodating management and my favorite authentic Mexican restaurant in Bartlett hands down. I hope they can identify and eliminate or retrain the rogue employee who is leaving a bad taste in their...