El Aguila — Restaurant in Gulfport

Found this place while staying a week in Gulfport visiting my daughter and son-in-law who are new to the area and we went twice because this place is EXCELLENT! I come from a area with about 15 Mexican restaurants(not counting Taco Bells) in a 20 minute drive and NOTHING has compared to our experience here. Was a little hesitant to start with because we didn’t see any cars out front(parking is outback also) and the area is a little dark but once you park and walk up you’ll see the nice little outdoor seating area and then once you are inside it was VERY nicely decorated and clean, nicer than we’ve experienced in our Mexican restaurants back home. The staff was top notch and very attentive and super friendly. They are part of the whole experience of this restaurant with answering all questions, making suggestions and carrying on a conversation. The drinks(margaritas) are EXCELLENT and a nice selection. They even brought us samples of other flavors like the healthy one with cucumber and a avocado one as well, you couldn’t go wrong with either. Then there was the food OMG the BEST we have had in any state we’ve been too. The selections were amazing and we all tried different things and some of us even tried things we hadn’t or normally wouldn’t like chorizo and tamales. Everything and I seriously mean everything from the nacho chips and salsa, stuffed avocado, carne asada, fajitas, quesadillas, tacos, tamales, queso, etc..everything we had was top notch! You can’t go wrong with any of the meats you pick as a filling either, chicken, steak, brisket, pulled pork, fish, it was all so perfectly flavored and prepared. The refried beans and rice was even better than all other places. The 2nd night we did dessert and the flan was great but the chocolate flan was superb, you need to leave room to try it seriously. This is not like Taco Bell, it is not fast, cheap, a chain, it doesn’t have a drive-through and it’s not “American” Mexican food prepared from a can, bag or box served without (sometimes) a personality. So to make this a fair review I will leave my only 2 suggestions 1st a baby changing station in the restroom and a more well lit parking lot. But seriously this is a top notch Mexican food dining experience that I hate we won’t get to have on a regular basis. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Just want to add the $20-30 per person I selected for price is based on meal, margaritas, dessert and adding queso for the chips and salsa so you can definitely eat...

Been trying to find a flavorful Mexican restaurant in Gulfport for several months. Finally found it in El Aguila!!! This cozy little bar and restaurant offers take out and eat in, but be warned there are only 8-9 tables in the dining area. But if you have to wait...it is well worth it!!! Seating was quick on the Wednesday night that we visited. Due to short staff, the bartender took on duties as our waitress. We ordered drinks and were provided the standard chips and Pico de Gallo opener. As part of the service, each of us was given a separate bowl of Pico de Gallo. FYI, the beer menu contains multiple cerveza de Mexico including one of my favorites - Dos Equis Amber. We ordered the Queso Fundido as an appetizer. The app came out hot and gooey, and although filled with Chorizo bits was mild and flavorful.. The menu was diverse, but familiar. The standard entrees included Taco, Burritos, Enchiladas and Fajitas. We opted to try a couple of the house specialties. My adult children opted for the Stuffed Avacado, one with Beef and one with chicken. My wife chose the Mixed grill over chorizo mashed potatoes. I chose a Chili Relleno with crawfish. Each meal came with your choice of tortillas - wheat or corn. We were delighted with each of the meals!!!

The only slight disappointment was dessert. There was no Flan available, so each couple split a Fried Ice Cream. The ice cream lacked the expected crusty, crunchy coconut topping, and instead was covered with sweetened corn flakes. The ready of the toppings were flavorful, but we were disappointed.

I think we will be making El Aguila our new favorite Mexican restaurant, and suggest you...

This was a HIGHLY recommended restaurant by many of our more "high end" friends with money (not us). We were pretty excited though. Parking was weird - had to park in a grassy lawn. The bartender said the wait would be about 15 minutes. We ended up waiting an hour with 3 restless kids. When we were finally sat, the chef/owner(?) came by and took our initial order for drinks, specialty salsa, guac, etc. All we received was chips. The drinks took 15 minutes, the salsa never came, and 2 guacs were delivered to another table that were sat long after us. Another server came over and asked for our order. I also mentioned the other table already got guac (not actually table side), and we still hadn't gotten salsa or drinks. He came back 15 minutes later with drinks - no guac. At this point I'm ready to leave. Long story short, the food (when we finally got it) was not great. No better than your hole in the wall spots. Barely covered half the plate. Server seemed ready to leave. Managers went to the rich person table asking how everything was but I noticed that's the only one they stopped at. I suppose if it looks like you have money, you're treated well. Those people did know the manager and seemed to frequent the place, but we still felt ignored. As of right now we won't be going back. Aztecas is better in every way imaginable. Hopefully this place can improve and maybe we'll give it another shot...