El Tapatio Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Bear

Parking was easy, in a strip mall, plenty of parking. We came in during dinner service, the place was busy, we sat at the bar. The bar was small with enough room for four. The place looked the part, and was aesthetically pleasing. The service was outstanding, we had multiple people helping us. Whenever we asked a question, or needed anything, we were taken care of quickly. These folks are like a well oiled machine, I was impressed.

I ordered a house Marg frozen, it was good, not tart, but lacked in the liquor department. Rob ordered one on the rocks with salt and felt the same way. They were cheap though on Sundays the special is $4, not bad at all. They had about 20 tequilas from what I could see. No Julio 1942, they had Corralejo for $8.50 a shot, and Julio Anejo for $9 a shot. Now that's more like it, good tequila and drink prices. We went with the Julio Anejo, good pour.

Guacamole was that nice light green color, creamy, with few tomatoes. Oh man...this has been our favorite to date. Besides El Maya, they do tableside Guac, you can't beat that ever. The salsa....tasted great, a little too pureed for my taste, but really solid. The chips were fried hard and good to go.

I ordered Molcajete Tapatio: Marinated strips of chicken, flank steak and chorizo (Mexican Sausage) cooked on the grill topped with mild red sause. Everything is serve in a lava rock bowl heated in the oven. Served with queso fresco (Mexican fresh cheese) avocado and onions. Rice, fried beans, Mexican salad, guacamole, sour cream and tortillas on the side. The chicken was tender and delicious. The flank steak was ok, a little on the chewy side, but serviceable. The Chorizo was off the charts amazing! Great texture, spicy flavor, and had grill marks through out. Did I mentioned how good this was? Beans had a nice creamy texture, and tasted how they should always taste. The rice was light, fluffy, and moist. Just how I like it.

Bob got the steak tacos, and man was that meat tender and delicious. He also got a tamale, I tried it & wasn't very impressed. It was...

Update: I went again today, and again, the food was delicious. However, at approximately 6:00, the mariachi band started and it was loud, again. Luckily, they started on the other side of the room, so we were still able to have a conversation. But a soon as they got closer, we had to wait 15 minutes before they moved on, and we could resume our conversation (for about 20 min before they were back again). Imagine enjoying a nice Friday dinner after a long work week, having drinks with friends. Then imagine someone standing 5 feet away from you, and singing as loud as they can, all the while another person ten feet away is playing a trumpet loudly in the middle of the dining room. Throw in a few other loud singers about 15 feet away, and there goes your lovely Friday evening dinner with friends. I believe the band only plays on Friday and Saturday nights, but I'm not sure. I definitely won't dine in the restaurant on Fridays and Saturdays anymore. I will get it to go and enjoy my dinner at home.

Original review: I plan on going back regularly because the food is so delicious! The only negative I have is that the mariachi band played so loudly near our table, my friends and I couldn't have a conversation. We were shouting at each other and we still couldn't hear what the other was saying. And the band didn't just play a song and move away to another part of the restaurant. They basically parked themselves near our table for about 20 minutes at least. So the next time I go I'm going to see what days the mariachi band is playing, and then avoid coming...

Literally leaving this one star review based on the food and drink I tasted. Please hear me out here, whoever runs this restaurant - your margaritas SUCK. I mean, I ordered a house margarita and all I got was something that tasted like flat Mountain Dew. Easily the worst margarita I’ve ever tasted, probably worst cocktail to be honest (very sincerely). I’ve had Mexican food all over America and this was a pretty bad meal also. I ordered enchiladas and even though they had 3 different sauces on them, you covered everything with so much cheese that you can’t taste any flavor. Just salty cheese everywhere. Your chicken was moist, so that was the positive. But honestly, for somebody who loves cocktails , I didn’t even finish the one I got cause the taste was so artificial and couldn’t taste any tequila (probably for good cause im sure you don’t use good tequila) and also why on earth was the margarita green??? Rice was dry and beans were bland. And the thing that topped it was that our bill was $50 for food that was so bad. I want to feel happy going out to eat by eating a tasty meal that would be difficult to achieve at home, but my weekly home cooked food is easily way better than any of the stuff that you serve. I’m sorry, I don’t like to leave bad reviews...