El Tarasco — Restaurant in Cape Coral

How Ironic is this. Several years ago my wife and I went to El Tarasco for dinner. There was a dish on the menu that I had never had but wasn’t sure if I would like the sauce that it came with. So I asked the waitress if I could get a small sample of the sauce. Meaning something like a small tablespoon full. The waitress told me she can get me a sample but would have to charge me. I looked at her and said isn’t better that we try the sauce so I don’t order something I’m not going to like. She still said she would charge me. So my wife and I walked out. Moving forward about six years. Our friends who live in Cape Coral call and said let’s get together for dinner. Since we live in North Port I told him to pick the restaurant. He says let’s meet at the Mexican place. We haven’t tried it yet so we don’t know is if it’s good. I said ok. So my wife and I drive to Cape Coral and as we got closer to the location I said I believe this is the area where we walked of the Restaurant. When we pulled into the parking lot and realized it was the same place I refused to eat there. So I called my friend who was still on his way. I told him the story and we ended up at ODA Pizza. So now not letting me just taste the sauce not only cost them the two dinners the day we walked out but has not cost them four more dinner and my friend who could have been a potential...

The restaurant is quite nice. We grabbed a booth in the bar area. It was not properly cleaned, just saying there is no reason to have pieces of the previous diner's food on the seats and table..it wasnt that busy yet. I ordered my standard 3 taco dinner..i always have this first in new places. To my surprise, this $14.99 dinner didnt come with the very usual sides of beans and rice. Nope just the 3 tacos of which only 1 was filled with an appropriate ration of carnitas, bit too much lettuce and cheese.. It was very tasty however, but some rice and beans would have been not only normal but welcomed. My friend had a beautiful burrito that she said was delicious, however, her rice side was too salty. Margaritas were fine, they use a premix with a bit of tequila...tasted good but couldnt find the tequila. Is this place worth another try, sure, I think so...but i agree with other reviews, it's a bit pricy for the lack of sides that are normal anywhere else. Try them for yourselves, we got there just after 5 and it wasnt crowded, it was hopping...

We love supporting local businesses. We go there a lot, and unfortunately, the service and food there is mediocre at best. I am Mexican, so I know and understand authentic food and true hospitality. The last straw was today, Cinco de Mayo. I took the staff for my Company out for margaritas to celebrate, and we were served margaritas in a plastic solo cup. The chips were stale and the salsa tasted awful. We ordered nachos and they were terrible...dry, and the chicken was tough and chewy. The waitress took forever to even get to our table, and never even checked on us. All the waitresses and waiters congregated at the front and were more concerned about chatting than seating guests when they walked in or checking on their tables. It was just the icing on the cake. I hate writing bad reviews, but this was a huge disappointment and I'll never be back. When we told the waitress about the nachos, she took them away and went up to the front where the other waitresses were and started talking about us. She didn't know I could understand spanish....