El Patio Restaurant & Grill Mexican Puerto Rican and More — Restaurant in Hollister

This is about my fourth visit to this restaurant over probably an 2 year period and the third poor experience. I won’t be back. I ordered a chicken chimichanga which was to come with chicken, cheese & pico de gallo inside the flour tortilla. I asked them to omit the beans but I did take the rice. It was also supposed to have had guacamole & sour cream. I noticed immediately there was no Guac or SC but the waiter had left & I was on a schedule so decided to start eating anyway. When I cut into the chimichanga, it was half full of rice!!! The chicken, cheese & pico made up only about half of the entire roll. Again, the waiter was not available so I ate about half which also was extremely bland (very little queso on top as well). I came to the conclusion that they had basically “shorted” the most expensive of the ingredients but the price on the menu didn’t reflect a budget friendly price. I get it. Business is TOUGH these days. But the ones who will stay in business are the ones that prepare the food well & don’t scrimp. Finally, I caught the waiter’s eye & I asked to see the menu to be sure I was correct in what I expected. I was. He left & returning saying there was a mixup in the kitchen & they prepared it the way HE likes it. They DID reduce the check by about half. This is not my first poor experience, however. It was a convenient location for me but I know I can...

I guess I am in the minority ... but having previously enjoyed many good meals at El Patio, I don't think I will be returning after this recent change in ownership.

The remodel has, in my opinion, left the place looking very "industrial" or something ... the comforting atmosphere I experienced previously just isn't here any longer. The food now just isn't as tasty nor have the 'fresh' appearance of the food under previous management ... nor the taste. And the prices have increased significantly. Staff isn't as friendly either. This was substantiated by the fact I came in at 1230, and there were only four tables occupied, when formerly, the place would have been buzzing.

Seems the new owners purchased something that was doing a great business - for many reasons - and have now 'improved' it to the point where is just isn't that much fun to visit any more. Rather than making minor adjustments where needed and keeping all the things that made this a great place to eat, they just went in and changed everything for the sake of change ... everything that kept me going there on a fairly regular basis prior to the changeover. I have been in twice since the big makeover ... and will not be going back. In my opinion Hollister has lost what was a thriving, well functioning restaurant. ...

Hated the chips. After eating the ones on top, the rest were crumbs anyway. Got charged for a large beverage when I wasn't asked what size I wanted. (I only saw 1 price & didn't know there were differen't sizes.) When I asked the waitress a couple of different questions a couple of times, she gave irrelevent answers like she didn't understand English. So I asked if she understood English (because I wanted to get answers). All of a sudden she understood. She never smiled from the beginning. When I got my receipt I asked why I was charged a higher price on the beverage. She just took the receipt to the register (with my credit card) without saying anything (& was trying to do something on the register). I then saw the manager happen to come in the restaurant near the register. They started talking. Then the manager came to my table & stated "There is a problem?" I told her everything. She said she just took over the restaurant & is correcting things. She said they changed the charge to the lower priced drink charge. I told her I tried the restaurant a couple of years ago and didn't want to come back but because I was near Lowe's I stopped in and thought I would give it another chance. I eventually told her I won't be back this time. End of...