El Tapatio Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Flagstaff

I was very hesitant to eat Mexican food in Flagstaff. From my experience in this great state, the further north you go from Central Phoenix, the worse the Mexican food gets. Following the recommendation of my boss, I gave it a whirl. I have to say, this is extremely legitimate Mexican food. The refried beans were some of the best I’ve ever eaten. The little bowl of cabbage that everyone gets at the table was surprisingly delicious. I have no idea what it was. I ordered the camarones verdes. Again, one of the best shrimp plates I’ve ever eaten. The tomatillo sauce poured over everything was perfect. My friend got the tacos and said they were amazing, specifically the shredded beef and the way it was seasoned. I will definitely stop here every time I drive through Flagstaff.

UPDATE: it’s been almost a year, and my how things changed at this restaurant. They sat us down and gave us chips and hot sauce, and then did not come back for 30 minutes. There were a lot of customers, but that is no excuse. We were so thirsty from eating chips and salsa, so we stopped a bus boy and asked him for water. It was 15 minutes before a waitress not assigned to our station asked if we had placed our order yet. When he told her what was going on, she spoke to another guy who came by and took our order. We had to pull him aside about 10 minutes later, and ask if we were ever going to get our drinks. The food took a while, but it was pretty good. While I do love the food at this place, I never want to wait an hour for food while getting crappy service. We won’t be back.

UPDATE 10/24: I ate there last night and had the amazing Camarones Verdes. The service was great. I ate there again today for lunch and the service was fantastic and my food was amazing. So I am adjusting my stars...

Wow! What an amazing find. We are new to Arizona from NYC, and although we lived in metro Phoenix, this is the second time we visited Flagstaff, we simply love it's charm and as a way to beat the heat, plus the local running and hiking offerings. Anyway, during our recent weekend in Flagstaff, we were in search of Mexican food, my fiance's favorite and also a fulfilling birthday meal. We passed several on Route 66, close to our hotel, after a couple of quick google searches we decided to try El Tapatio because it seemed to have the best reviews. We are so happy we did! This place is FIVE STARS PLUS, from the atmosphere, to the food and the service. Service was great from the moment we walked in, the hostess, server assistant was so nice and friendly, we didn't catch his name. The BEST was our server Brenda, she was so nice, attentive, pleasant and apologized when our appetizer took slightly longer than expected. We were in no rush though, as we had ample chips and salsa at the table, which was as fresh as can be. Everything we had the entire meal was delicious and fresh. The appetizer combo had a little bit of everything and wow was so huge, we had to box some up or else we would have no room for our entrees. We decided on the fajita for two with the trio of meats- chicken, steak, and shrimp. AMAZING, the best fajita I've ever had, everything - the meats and veggies were so wonderfully seasoned. I am still dreaming about this dish! It was so much food we had to take some with us. Needless to say, those leftovers were such a treat later that night. This will definitely be our new spot every time we visit flagstaff. Thank you El Tapatio for being so amazing, don't ever change. We...

A great place for phenomenal Mexican Cuisine. I ordered the El Tapatio Chimichangas. It consists of three Chimichangas with varying sauces, refried beans, salad, and rice.

The Chimichangas for this plate were about 4-5 inches long and stuffed with various fillings. My favorites were the Mole and creamy sauce Chimichangas. I wasn't crazy about the green sauce Chimichanga but I also wasn't in the mood for pork. It was still very good.

The refried beans were amazing, I thought the rice was ok. I also ordered horchata which was amazing, for those that never have had it before it kind of tastes like cinnamon toast crunch cereal, but milder and now refreshing.

The highlight is probably the endless chips. The chips are salted to perfection, far too many places oversalt their chips, they also provide a delicious. I wouldn't call it spicy but those with low tolerance may notice a small bite to it.

My wife ordered the shrimp fajitas, she was very happy with the quality of the food. It came with refried beans, rice, salad and of course tortillas.

I'm not familiar with Arizona restaurant pricing as I'm from the NY area. For our standards this was low price at good portions, for excellent quality. Our server was Brenda who was quick, attentive...