el Camino — Restaurant in Denver

Great happy hour food and drink. Never had anything but stellar service. Mark and Drew are fantastic bartenders. I recommend the jalapeno marg, and my wife liked the strawberry one.

Adding to review as we just went yesterday. We have checked out brunch, dinner, HH here. We always have a great experience. The trio is ALWAYS the best path no matter what meal you are eating. Salsa, guac, and queso are all solid. I had the breakfast burrito without beans, and it was very good. If you go to brunch, do the progressive mimosa plan. They raise the price by a buck each hour, so there is motivation to get up early on the weekend. Our server was Paige, and not only was she extremely friendly and efficient, but you could sense the team vibe when other co-workers brought us something or checked on us. During the summer, there is a farmer's market outside on 32nd, so that is now double motivation to go. Even if I thought the food wasn't mind-explode good, I would give this a place a 5 for service and atmosphere. Highly recommend and see you there.

So, I have already reviewed this place, but need to add to that review. I went for lunch yesterday. They have had a lunch special ($12) for tacos or quesadillas for a minute, but recently added a game changer in my opinion. They now have a third option (also $12). It is a lunch sandwich/wrap, and it is fantastic. The wrap is tasty with several protein options. It comes with fries and this ridiculously good garlic crema to dip them in. Throw in their standard four homemade hot sauces, great service by all employees, and solid selection of beers and cocktails, and they get five stars from me again. They do a built-in gratuity, but it is 20%...so therefore fair (I HATE the ones that are above that and assume people want to tip higher than that-give people the option). Pic of the sandwich is below. Definitely recommend and see you there.

November 2023 The reason I space out my reviews is because I wait until I am behind and than just jam out like 15 reviews in a row with pics. We went to this place again today, but for brunch, and it had been a minute for brunch for us. Again, I was satisfied with everything that occurred and want to make sure you know about this. Our server was Emma. If you are lucky enough to get her tending for you, your day is already good. I go to places where the product elevates the game, but it is nice to have the bartender elevate your experience. Second, set your alarm. Where ELSE will you get $2 or $3 mimosas before noon? They do a progressive time clock mimosa clock and it is awesome, and you feel the energy after 11 ($2 before 11, $3 after). Food. I got you. The Camino Hash is amazing (and Emma said it was her favorite and you should always trust the person who has to eat there every day), and I added cheese to make it more unhealthy, but you be you. My wife got the cauliflower thing. She was happy with it, although am not any cauliflower expert. We got chips and salsa before, and it is legit. Salty, but not too salty. Hope that makes sense. We successfully fought off the queso itch, but feel free to succumb. We have had it for lunch before, and it is LEGIT...and not non-fat probably. There is NOT a wrong choice. Their hot sauce, as I have mentioned, is four house-made hot sauces, and I tell you to stick to the middle two. Spacious bar for lots of seating, and two perfectly spaced out TV's for sports (as long as it is on main TV). I definitely recommend and see you there. Final thing. Emma, THANK you. You made my day after my car got totaled on my...

(party of 2) Food was solid, had Brisket, Al Pastor, and Carne Asada tacos, Coin and Hibiscus margarits, and a three dip appetizer (guacamole, salsa, and queso)...flavors on the tacos were really good, and the wait staff was attentive.

Two stars off because, as I've been seeing more and more lately, especially in Denver, a compulsory 20% gratuity was added to our bill, and as a kicker, we were not notified of that "community charge" until our meal was over, and the bill was being presented to us. This charge, our staffer informed us was split between the wait staff and the back of the house.

To the owners/operators/decision makers of this establishment: this practice is scummy beyond words. Nothing says "I'm a greedy piece of trash" like, not only not paying your staff a livable wage, but then passing the buck onto your patrons to make up the difference for them, AND THEN TO TOP IT OFF, to have your staff bear the brunt of having to deliver that news to customers and deal with the fall out of YOUR MANAGERIAL DECISIONS...it's enough to make you write a mildly snarky Google review or something.

Another issue is the fact that, typically, back of the house (cooks, washers, etc.) are paid a traditional wage, as opposed to wait staff who are legally allowed to be paid well under minimum wage because they can collect tips... making a 20% tip compulsory would be fine if it meant making it a standard rate for the wait staff, but if you're dividing that number up, now your wait staff are likely making less, because not many are going to tip above 20%, nor should it be expected.

Be a trend setter, pay your staff a respectable wage, and dispense with the underhanded practices. Make it a point of pride that your establishment is moving against the grain in this matter, and BARE MINIMUM, if you plan on keeping the compulsory gratuity, that information should be provided before anything is ordered, and not snuck in at the end of the meal when there's no option for the customer.

Get your house in order or take a hike. I can get tacos, literally anywhere, and it will likely not be here again for a good while, despite the food being genuinely good. It's not about the money, I tip 20% religiously, I worked in food service for many years, and understand the slimy ways wait staff are compensated in the states; this is just another exercise by sheisty owners to save themselves money. Can't let proprietors play the game like this, and the ones that do deserve to sink.

TLDR (you should though): delicious tacos, good mags (homemade "tajin" for the rim is a real nice touch), cool atmosphere, kind wait staff... compulsory 20% gratuity on your bill, probably won't be told about it until the end of the meal (no signage or mention until meal is over), owners/managers won't pay their wait staff so they pass the cost onto you. If you're ok with business owners not paying their employees well enough, and leaving that honorable service to you, you may find...

Lets start by pointing out bad reviews are slowly being deleted off this site. My wife's review from this last weekend has been removed.

El Camino has adopted a policy where they will not let you in if you are not fully vaccinated. They are also very rude about administering this policy. The host a gentleman that I do not remember there name was rude and loud about the incident. Exclaiming to the restaurant that without it he would have to ask my daughter, wife and myself to leave the premises. It was almost like a show being put on for the vaccinated individuals inside the restaurant. The one positive about this policy was that the restaurant was about 1/2 full at the time of this incident so if you have a vaccine card you can find a table fairly easily. I do not think anyone should have to be ridiculed like this when trying to support a business and for that reason we will never be returning to this establishment again no matter what policy they are forced into adopting because of lost revenue.

On a quality stand point I did eat at this establishment before they adopted the mandate policy. Food was good, place was always full, and seating tended to be pretty close together as it was packed most of the time. Prices were a little more than you would expect to pay but this place is located in the highlands and there is a premium to attend certain places in this area. Overall they used to be pretty good maybe a 3 or 4 star establishment, but this has obviously changed. Just as they choose not to have people in that aren't vaccinated I will choose to never go here again and make sure I let all of my family, friends, acquaintances and anyone who will listen to not support them as well.

To owner please dont delete as people have a right to know what there in for before attending your facility and being flagrantly...