El Castillo Market & Restaurant — Restaurant in Jacksonville

Well let me update my review after my terrible experience. I used to have a 5 star review. This has been my favorite restaurant for years. I tell everyone about this place. All my friends and family that come into town, coworkers, neighbors etc. BUT today was bad. We seated ourselves and a little bit later the menu was brought to us and we ordered queso while we were waiting to order. The lady came back to take our order and brought our drink. Probably 30 to 45 minutes later my daughter's taco came out. I asked for some salsa and chips and again my queso...the man said okay. Like 15 min later he brings out my food and walks away before I can finish my sentence asking for my salsa, dip, and more drink. He and another waittress kept coming out of the kitchen with mouthfuls of food and he was drinking beer. The other waitress behind the cash register had a mean look on her face and was glaring at people. They never once asked if we needed anything, never brought my salsa or dip, and the tables around us were being given way more attention and getting their cheese dip and the one waittress was sitting down sharing their food, talking to everyone, and asking if their food was good. So I ate my food without salsa and queso and without drink. When we finished- the other tables had come in, had drinks, ate food, and were checked out and we still hadn't gotten our requested items and were twiddling our thumbs just staring at each other waiting for the bill. Oh and chunks of my ground beef were raw in the middle. So finally I went up to the waitresses and waiter (who was sitting at bar drinking beer and eating a pile of meat on a napkin he brought from the kitchen- not exactly sanitary to walk in and out of the kitchen eating-YUCK!) and asked for my ticket. I will never come back here. This is so disappointing because it's the only place we really like to eat. We drive far just to come eat here and before they expanded the place the service was great and the people were so nice and welcoming. I do feel that we were receiving bad service due to my pale skin or because of my daughter's dark skin. We were treated differently than every other table there. 😞 You should really get rid of the man, the black girl who did nothing but eat the hr and half we were there, and the two girls behind the bar who just stood there the whole time. Bad experiences travel fast and you will lose customers if you keep them...

I don’t write reviews, this is my first time. El Castillo is one of the saddest restaurants I have ever visited, as soon as we stepped into the restaurant we saw dirty tables no hostess so we walked in went to the first table it was dirty went to the second table it was also dirty went to the third table and there was rice all over the table so we went to the fourth table and that wasn’t as dirty it wasn’t clean do, all of this while the waiters are all behind the counter talking or on the phone, ten minutes past and one of the girls came to ask if we wanted something to drink, with out any facial expressions she asked if we were ready to order, we did, the 3 of us ordered tamales pork chicken and sweet tamales they where not fresh but reheated, hard and had a bad taste well we ate what was edible and put aside most of the food, then we where ready to leave and waited about 20 minutes in hopes of getting the girl to come over and ask if where done, it didn’t happen so we stood up and wen to the the register, the same girl ( no facial expressions) asked if we where paying all together and my daughter said yes while she was paying I turned back and I saw this girl sweeping the floor and all the sudden she sweps the top of the table!!! With that broom 🤢 El Castillo is a restaurant the we are not going back...

HIGHLY RECOMMEND: PLEASE READ.

I do not give fast food a higher ranking than 3 stars on average. That being said, I give El Castillo a very high three stars for two reasons.

Their tacos range from $2+ to just under $4 and their lengua tacos are great.

The affordability is great value to the Jacksonville community. Good food for a fair price.

Back in Chicago, I was taught at an early age that a place that can season and cook the lengua well is a very good sign.

(Speaking of Chicago, El Castillo market and restaurant is the first place I have found, since moving to the Jacksonville area, that is comparable in price to similar types of places in Chicago. I was very shocked to find out that the cost of living in Jacksonville is more than Chicago)

They did get my order wrong, gave me the burrito California instead of the plain burrito.

The bathrooms are maintained. It is in-between the average gas station bathroom and the bathrooms and any Buc-ee's bathroom.

A clean bathroom is generally an indication of a clean back room and a clean kitchen.

I absolutely will go back and recommend El Castillo market and restaurant to anyone that loves Mexican food at a good...