El Jinete — Restaurant in Fairfax

The atmosphere was nice. I was invited there by some ladies from my church. We were a table of 7. I had to grab my own high chair for my toddler. There weren't enough chips or salsa to go around for everyone, but it wasn't all that great anyway. The chips are way too thick for chips and the salsa was too watery. Secondly, we ordered our drinks to start, and I had ordered my toddler's drink and food at the same time. Unfortunately, the restaurant doesn't have small cups for children. He was served a large disposable foam cup with a straw. Then, he got his food almost the same time we got ours even though I ordered his way ahead of time before we even got to put our orders in about 20 minutes after I had put his in. I ordered my toddler a cheese pizza, and the waiter told me it comes with pepperoni on top. (So this tells me that they DON'T make the pizza themselves, it comes frozen and they just "bake" it.) I was upset, but got it anyway because that is what my child would eat out of the entire menu (or the small three or four options they had for kids.) The pizza comes with fries. There was more fries than pizza, it was a small deep dish pizza, those single serve deep pizzas you find in Krogers). My toddler LOVES pizza, and he did NOT eat the pizza, he ate the pepperoni but not the rest of the pizza. He ate most of the fries, with ketchup. When a child loves something and they don't eat it, it's because it sucks! So that's that. As for me, I ordered a 'Make Your Own Burrito,' I made myself a chicken burrito and topped it with the 'queso blanco' versus the original red sauce offered, and it comes with rice and refried beans. It was good but I had better elsewhere, on Kemper Road. My church sisters ordered a spicy burrito, 2 taco salads, a torta, and a chicken fajita. They screwed up both taco salads, the spicy burrito is just smothered in a chipotle red sauce but bland she said, the torta was huge and came with fries, and lastly the chicken fajita was okay but presentation lacked a lot. In the end, when we asked for checks it took another 30 minutes. The checks had to be fixed about three to four times until it was close to right. I can see why people who aren't Latinos would say the food there is great and blah blah blah, as for Latinos that go there, there's not too many options to choice from for a dish that taste like "home." I'm Salvadorian from the state of Maryland where there are many Salvadorian and Mexican and Tex Mex restaurants to go to versus Cincinnati, Ohio. So yeah, that's all I...

I'm writing this review from the table if that's any indication of how badly I felt the need to write this review. I've been searching for a good Mexican place here in the 6 months since I moved here and I REALLY wanted to like this place. We ate here on a Thurs night at 6:30 and it was crowded. The staff is friendly, the atmosphere isn't bad except for in the back room where you're sitting under irritating fluorescent lighting. My table had quesadillas, tacos, chile relleno & stuffed poblano peppers and quatro esquinas and magaritas. Here's the short of it... One of us got a margarita that had lipstick on the rim of the glass. They comped the drink and were apologetic but it just wasn't a good way to start off the meal. The ground beef in the tacos and burritos was massively under seasoned and bland. The beans that come with the rice taste like they come from a can and were VERY soupy and truly gross. The rice was also very under seasoned and very dry. If I were you I'd ask for a different side. The chiles were deep fried and should have been advertised as such. They looked like they were good stuffed chiles until they were breaded and deep fried. Grease poured out when I cut into them and had ruined any kind of flavor they once had. The shredded beef chimichanga was totally passable and wasn't bad. Once again under seasoned for my tastes but if someone was looking for a mild dish. That would be my recommendation. The fresh chips and salsa were the saving grace of this place. I would love to take some home for parties and the margaritas were made well, aside from the lipstick on one of our glasses. I heard other people in the restaurant complaining about the food but some seemed to really enjoy it. Most happened to be eating fajitas. So maybe that's something they may have a knack for making. Not sure if I'm ever going to come back, but it surely won't be for anything I...

I arrived at about 3PM, was seated promptly with a menu and was asked for my drink order (unsweetened tea). Within two minutes tops, the tea was in front of me, along with a basket of nacho chips and a bottle of salsa. I ordered a Hot & Spicy Burrito and a side of guacamole.

The guacamole came quickly... and the avocado had a brown tinge to it. I had seen that brown tinge before, when I had made my own and it formed a stale, brown layer on top after being exposed to air for too long. I had made the newbie mistake of mixing it in with the green guacamole underneath it instead of spooning off the brown stuff and throwing it away. Doing so dulls the color and destroys the fresh taste... and that is what I saw and tasted in the guacamole that I was served.

The Spicy Burrito arrived shortly thereafter. I told the server about the guac, and he took it away, saying that it would not be listed on my bill - fair enough... but they should have known better than to serve it in the first place. The burrito was swimming in a lake of "salsa ranchera" that had surprisingly little flavor - the beef tips scattered around it actually were tastier than the sauce. Inside was shredded chicken, ground beef, and rice... and these had almost no flavor, either. There was not enough cheese to lend flavor to the whole burrito, and for the first time in years, I did not eat the whole thing, opting to finish the chips and salsa instead.

I don't know - perhaps this was a bad day... perhaps I arrived too late, and the guacamole had been left out and uncovered for the past few hours - either way, I was disappointed. I've eaten here a few times, and I can't remember how I reacted to my lunches then... but sadly, I will remember this... and I will remember that there are many other Mexican restaurants within a short...