Pig Latin — Restaurant in Elk Grove

I'm rating this place 5 stars not because they're perfect, but because I like what they're doing and I really want them to keep at it until they hit a high level of polish. Foodie friends, this place is for you.

Let's set some expectations though, shall we? This is not a standard Taqueria. It's really a sort of broad spectrum Latin tapas place with a killer bar that happens to have tacos as well. It would be completely at home in midtown (and the price point reflects that). Pretty much everything is scratch made in house and it shows.

They just opened, so they're still dealing with all the little bumps and humps that come with a new restaurant still trying to find its feet (service kinda slow, wait staff still learning the menu, kitchen still learning what they need to fire when). But if they stick with it, we're gonna have a great hangout/nice date night place in our neighborhood.

We had notes on all of the dishes and cocktails, but they were all good. Can't wait to see how the chef here iterates on his ideas. Definitely get the tostones if you like plantains. Queso was tasty and extra thick, but they need to about double the number of chips they give you with it. I'll be headed back to try some of the other dishes I didn't get to try this time. Some really interesting, complex, inventive cocktails.

The patio is huge and gorgeous, and the decor indoors is cool and very modern. The music is loud enough to render your conversations pretty private to your table and it has a sort of club vibe.

If the chef or owner or social media person happens to read this, I highly recommend you expand your dessert options. Something like an upscale churro and or spiced chocolate option would go great with the cocktail I had (Tonka).

Anyway, good luck Pig Latin. Don't let the local chuds without anything resembling a palette get you down. Your people will find you if...

Dining at Pig Latin was not just a disappointment—it was an insult to both my wallet and my patience. The entire experience felt like a careless afterthought, from the woefully inattentive service to the utterly uninspired food.

The service was downright abysmal. Our server seemed to have mistaken his job for a social hour, spending more time schmoozing with select patrons and chatting up his buddies than bothering to acknowledge our table. He appeared a grand total of twice: once to take our order and once to collect payment. In between, we were left to fend for ourselves, desperately flagging down multiple staff members just to get basic necessities like water. And when it came to getting a copy of our receipt? It took four requests and three different employees to accomplish that Herculean task.

The food, frankly, was an insult to both culinary standards and common sense. The menu descriptions promised excitement, but what arrived at the table was bland, unimaginative, and lacking even a shred of care or quality. Every bite was a disappointment, like the food had been slapped together without a second thought. And yet, they have the audacity to charge a premium for this mediocrity. $15+ for two limp, flavorless street tacos is nothing short of a rip-off. The food wasn't just bad—it was offensive, especially at these prices.

Adding to the outrage, they tacked on an automatic gratuity for a party of five. For what? The privilege of being ignored all night? The gall to demand a tip after such an abysmal performance is infuriating.

Pig Latin is the epitome of style over substance: all hype, no heart. They’ve clearly prioritized aesthetics and atmosphere over what actually matters—quality food and decent service. This wasn’t just a bad meal; it was a masterclass in how to alienate customers. Avoid this place like the plague. Save your money, your sanity, and...

Meet my wife for lunch, 1 other table and 2 tables outside had customers, but it was to busy for 1 waitress, so bartender was our waitor... He was more worried about stocking bar that was completely empty and polishing bar ware than serving us... ordered standard $5 (free at everywhere else) chips and salsa ( with tejein dusting) plain chips no dusting of anything, not even salt, and when my wife ask for salt it took 9min to find it, mind you only 8 other customers in the building... then came the Jalapeño Frits, spicy hot but nothing special, they deep fry a plain Jalapeño and charge $3 for it. Corn Ribs, it's a corn cob split a few times then deep fried dusted with seasoning but there was zero cheese like the menu said, Still the best thing we had, We then both ordered Tacos Short Rib for her and Crispy Pork Belly for me, hers were taste but I will say Chile's are a flavor just OMG HOT is not a flavor, I want to taste the meat still and the fire of the Chile not jist have my mouth burnt, On to the CRISPY Pork Belly Tacos, NO WAY they set my plate down and immediately I said that's not Crispy, you could see the chunks of fat wiggle as the sat the plate. To which the bartender/ waiter said "No, no there not but normally they are" he then stared at them for a full minute and simply walked away, 5 min later, Not CRISPY Pork Belly Tacos still untouched another employee walks up and goes " So I guess your Pork Belly isn't Crispy you want something different or what???" No I'm Good, at this point I did not get to eat with my wife as she already had hers and I was not waiting for them to cook me anything it took 5 minutes to even acknowledge i was not happy with what theu sat in front of me... Wasted $45 Might be a good place for just a drink, but as a...