El Banquete Mexican Grille — Restaurant in Claremore

Today I had to run to Claremore over lunch, so I took advantage of the opportunity to try El Banquete. TLDR: Great food, nice interior, decent prices. I hit the door right at 11:45 and was promptly seated, swapping a menu, chips and salsa for a drink order and a small queso. The menu is reasonably large, but not overly so. Plenty of options to choose from for almost anyone. I'd already seen they had Chile Verde on the menu, so I zeroed in on that like a fat dog on a chicken leg. Almost immediately, the queso hit the table. The salsa was out of this world good. I seriously almost ordered a pint to go, it was so good. Not hot at all, but rich with tomato flavors and subtle heat and spices. The queso was thin, and stayed workable throughout the meal, which is a huge plus for me. Flavorwise, it was slightly rich, very Monetery Jack flavored with noticeable hints of jalapeno. Great queso. My entree hit the table quickly, while I was still face deep in queso and chips. Beatifully plated, I hoped the taste lived up to the appearance.... and it did. While it was all good, surprisingly the rice turned out to be the unexpected star. It takes effort to make a simple rice dish standout like this. Light and fluffy, the flavor was borderline intense, for rice. It had a hearty undertone that I couldn't place, but I loved it. A lot. Nothing but rice... no corn, no peas, no nonsense, no kidding. The Chile Verde was outstanding. Probably one of the top three I've had in the area. Not sure if they slow cooked the pork with the sauce like is proper, but if I can't tell, then I'm not gonna care. The meat was properly shredded, tender and moist, and full of both meaty and saucy flavor. The beans were also really well done. Well colored (not gray), and with some noticable flavoring in the chile powder spectrum, I dipped chips into them until they were gone. Overall, nothing about my experience was less than great. My server was amenable enough, but didn't really engage in any interaction. No issues there, just a difference in styles, that didn't detract at all. With the queso and an iced tea, the bill was just over $22, and for what I got, I came away...

First... We had a large party(10) they couldn't accommodate, so we had to sit separately for a family dinner. Second.... We placed an order for drinks and received 2 baskets of chips and 2 salsa (for 10 people). Then we sat there....and sat there... And sat there. Only after speaking to the manager regarding 4-5 waiters standing around and no one refilling our chips/salsa, drinks or for that matter taking our freaking order, did someone finally come over. Third....the food was just awful. No other words to describe it. Cold and awful. And they got our orders so wrong!!! The kids hated their tacos so much, we had feed them at another establishment after leaving. And finally.... My beautiful 12 year old daughter was so uncomfortable with all the stares from not only male patrons but male staff that she hid out in the bathroom most of the evening. I took it upon myself to address the situation and all that I received from the manager was, "I am truly sorry, but it wasn't my fault." I do not understand how this place is still in business other than it's cheap and maybe that's what this town likes. But, I'm willing to pay extra to get respect, Hot food, and at least good service. We will be going to El Maguey from this point on. El Maguey's food is beyond better than the trash we had last night, the service is respectful and prompt and attentive. And don't even get me started on the margaritas. They were neon green at El banquete. What is that?!!! To sum it up, please do not entertain this joke of a restaurant and let's move them out of our town!! For the people visiting from out of town, please do not eat here and judge this cute town based on that nasty!!! Go somewhere else....please! 1 star ONLY because I couldn't give...

That sauce would be good on a tennis shoe! I am not too sure that wasn’t what it was on!

I decided to try Steak Ranchero with a chili toreado. It was described as having a chili morita sauce. I had to do a quick internet search to find out what that was. After reading about it before the waitress got to our table; based on the description, I assumed it was a screaming hot sauce. She said “no, it was mild and flavorful.” Ok I will give it a try.” The other meal was the chicken spinach enchiladas. It too had its signature sauce: roasted poblano and spinach cream sauce. The Chicken Enchiladas were delicious. The sauce made the meal!

Now the Steak Ranchero was a little more challenging. It seem to take while to get the food. I think the steak ranchero is not a meal that is ordered here that often and that the sauce was made fresh! The sauce was overwhelmingly good. I just really don’t know how to explain the taste other than mild and it did not taste like chili powder. It complemented the steak perfectly. I could have eaten a bowl of it. The steak was a different story. I believe it had recently escaped from a shoe factory. One of the toughest I have ever had. The meat that I was able to saw off, tasted good though.

The chips and salsa were good and they do have some very good, very hot salsa available.

I had bad luck on the steak (sometimes that happens), but the sauces and everything else was so good, I gave it a very good overall. If you try it, be sure to order a chili toreado to go...