El Maguey Mexican Bar and Grill — Restaurant in Front Royal

A nice, authentic Mexican restaurant with good, filling food. I've been here many times and everything tastes great, especially the Texas Fries and Patricio burrito for big appetites. $2 margarita night on Thursdays is a big hit with friends, and my wife and daughter like all the seafood and veggie options. Some of the staff is Hispanic but all speak very good English (and Spanish), and everyone is extremely friendly and helpful. The bar is compact but well-stocked, and the decor is upbeat and thematic without being "Spanish overload".

On the down side, prices are a little too high on some items, and tables aren't attached to the wall so it's easy to accidentally have it pushed toward you or away from you at inopportune moments. If you have a party larger than four or five, the only options for seating are a few long table areas in the back, which makes it hard for everyone to talk and also too easy to accidentally bump the person behind you when you get up out of your chair (and to overhear their conversations, and vice versa). Finally, though this is more a casualty of necessity, the storefront isn't anything special, wedged in between a phone store and a coin laundry.

So a few small complaints, but overall well worth your time on a visit to...

I’ve ordered twice from here. The first time I placed my order online and it stated my food would be ready within 30 minutes...45 minutes later when I received the food and got home I thought, wow, it was worth the wait. So I tried them again. I placed an order at 5:48, it said my order would be ready in 30 minutes. By my calculations that would be 6:18, right? So I arrived about 5 minutes early and the host said they were still preparing my food. Around 6:38 I approached the host again and told him if my order wasn’t ready then I wanted to cancel. He asked my name again and said he’d go check...STILL not ready. For me, if you can’t honor the time you stated when I placed my order, then change the time to allow yourself a reasonable time frame to tell your guests. You want to take the money immediately upon me arriving but my food isn’t even ready when you state it! I won’t be back, this time my meal tasted rushed, like they threw it together in the 30 additional minutes I waited just to get me out of the lobby! That’s not customer service and that’s not what brings people back. So 2 stars and I graded...

Walking inside, honestly, looked questionable on the outside. Not festive, welcoming, or decorated at all but we were hungry and gave this location a shot. Once you walk inside its a totally different look. Absolutely gorgeous large paintings on the walls, relaxed atmosphere, and high backed booth chairs so your meal is private.

The service was fantastic. Our server, we were told was Abby, was very personable and seemed authentic having good conversation even after the meal. Prices were good on the food and the food itself came out great.

Personally i had the seafood chimichanga, the chorizo quesadilla, spinach quesadilla, and the chocolate chimichanga for dessert. I would highly recommend the seafood chimichanga as its the first seafood variety Ive bought that had flavor and depth to its taste. I judge my Mexican restaurants off the chimi’s and this one is an easy 5star, will eat again. My family member also loved the patricio burrito due to its rather large portion size and the fantastic flavor(recommended by our server)

Definitely would recommend to anyone in the area looking for a good...