El Tapatio Restaurant — Restaurant in Imperial Beach

I have to say, food is the best, if you really want to eat in a place where they have similar traditional Mexican food, this is the place which makes unfortunately dissapointing the experience. I have already like 2 years going and before they had great customer service. The waitress used to be friendly and makes you feel welcome to the restaurant. On the last year, I see different people working there,and service just have change. I was still going because the food is good. But today was just my last day unfortunately. It was a busy weekend as expected, so I don't understand why they only had 2 waitress, not their fault at all, but I ordered from the beginning what I wanted because I always eat the same. Is usually my routine for the weekends to have breakfast before Going to my business. They only bring my drink and I was still waiting for my food after 1 hour for 2 shrimp tacos that I ordered. It never came, the 2 young waitress they don't know how to work under pressure and there's was nobody in charge. I told the waitress nicely, to have my receipt because I was going late, and very disappointed that I had to wait more than an hour for 2 tacos he offered to me an apology and to not pay my drink, ( I paid my drink, because I did wanted to say something about this and I'm not expecting to make a drama just to get something for free, it is insulting for me, just to try to avoid a bad review ).

The people came just for a special day celebration but now you just loose a recurrent client.

I highly recommend to the onwer(s) to work on your customer service with the waitress better training and having someone in charge in case of busy weekends.( please, choose smile and friendly people, even a bad face can ruin the experience) Food still...

El Tapatío is a Mexican restaurant located conveniently near the beach and right next to a busy main street. It’s a great spot if you're looking to grab a bite after some time by the ocean, though my experience was a bit mixed.

I started with a green juice, which was fresh and flavorful, it took a little while to arrive, but the quality made it worth the wait. For my main dish, I had the chipotle cream chilaquiles with arrachera. Unfortunately, something was off with the chilaquiles they had an unpleasant smell, almost like feet or a dirty rag, and the taste was similarly unappealing. I couldn’t finish them, but the arrachera, which I paid extra for, was okay.

My husband, on the other hand, really enjoyed his chile relleno burrito. It was large and filled with rice, which he liked, and it was overall satisfying. The salad he ordered was simple but generously portioned.

A heads-up: there's a 3.5% fee if you pay with a credit card, so be prepared for that.

Overall, El Tapatío offers a decent dining experience in a convenient location. While my meal had its issues, there were some highlights, especially the fresh juice and the burrito my husband enjoyed. With a few improvements, it could easily be a go-to spot...

1st...the place is in an awesome location...i ate there with my lady just after the sun was setting. ..we ate outside in the patio. ..2nd...they did not have a permit to serve alcohol while in the patio...wished they informed their customers before sitting them...3rd...the server was unprofessional. ..we had to waive her to our table. ..she did not ask us about drinks. ..she did not bring us napkins or silverware. ..4th...i had a California burrito. ..the burrito was horrible. ..it had something which they said was sour cream...which I would say was not. ..the salsa tasted like tomatoe sauce. ..the guacamole did not have any flavor...the beans were worse than coming from a can...i would have preferred the can...the rice was just as horrible. ...i would never come back to this place any time soon. ..personally my question to the owners...DO YOU EVEN TASTE THE FOOD YOU SERVE TO YOUR CUSTOMERS AND IS THIS WHAT YOU CONSIDER THE BEST FOOD YOU CAN SERVE???!!!! THIS PLACE HAS GREAT POTENTIAL TO BE A DESTINATION. ..IT JUST NEEDS THE LOVE OF A CARING OWNER AND SOMEONE WHO CARES ABOUT WHAT...