El Cholo — Restaurant in La Habra

The atmosphere and service is great, but the food was nothing worth coming back for. The enchiladas were okay, the chili relleno was all egg (barely any sauce, chili, or cheese, which I hated), the tamale was all masa no meat/sauce and super dry (I should have taken a photo as it only had a tiny strip of sauce in the middle (there wasn't even any pork in it), the albondigas (meat ball soup) were too salty, lacked in flavor and were too hard (I can usually cut them effortlessly with a fork, but not these strange rubber balls), the "taquitos" looked amazing, but were also disappointing, and even the quesadillas were bad as they were so salty I had to throw some beans and sour cream to balance them.

Seems like a lot of food, but it was a birthday dinner where almost everyone didn't finish their meals. I figured maybe I ordered the wrong food, so I tried some food from other people's plates. You know it's bad when even the kids don't finish their quesadillas.

I would say if you don't know anything about Mexican cuisine, or didn't grow up with Mexican friends or family that cooked amazing/traditional home cooked meals, then maybe you might like this place. I was fortunate to have a mom, grandmother's, tias, and cousins that cook great Mexican food, so maybe I am a tough critic.... but when my Cambodian coworker can make albondigas better than your restaurant, it leads me to believe that this isn't a great spot for Mexican food.

I gave it 3 stars as it has a very nice atmosphere, so if you're looking to have a few drinks with chips and salsa, then this is a decent place, but maybe stick to the appetizers if you...

Been to this location multiple times and I can tell you that the flavor doesn't disappoint. I do want to mention a couple of "issues" that I've had on separate occasions. It was my second time placing a pickup order over the phone when I specifically requested their "First Enchiladas" that were sold at their restaurant aka Sonora Style. It tasted similar but looked nothing like it did when dining in on top of that the portion was extremely small. I'd say about 30% of what it usually is. Second minor issue happened a few nights ago when dining in. I ordered a kids taco meal and requested that there be no meat or dairy just beans, rice, and avacado. Upon receiving the dish I immediately voiced to the server that I didn't know that there was going to be cheese on the beans (the kids menu doesn't list ingredients). So I asked the server if we could have beans without cheese. He returned with a large side of beans and charged me for it. Again, not a big issue but I've worked at multiple restaurants for years and we would've never did that, especially charge them for a large size. Easy swap, no charge. Still tipped him good but thought it was worth mentioning. Other than those two instances, all the staff is super welcoming and the food is AUTHENTIC! My favorite Mexican restaurant by far. Will continue...

Great mexican food. We had carne asada/beef tacos, chicken tortilla soup, cheese enchiladas, bean, rice, & horchata. The meat in the taco was very juicy. The soup was tasty, but it was mainly sliced green bell peppers, a little bit of chicken, good tortilla strips, & the 2nd time I went, I had to ask for avocados because they forgot. So make sure you ask for what your meal is missing. My son loved his cheese enchiladas, bean & rice. The horchata was great because some mexican restaurants do not offer this drink. The chips & salsa given before the meal is nice & warm even late at night. The waiter was quick so that was an added plus. I will definitely come back even though this is not my first. The plain chicken tortilla soup I got was a blow since it was really good the other times I ordered it. There's plenty of parking space, an outside patio which offers hot grilled food 4pm-8pm (M-F), a bar area inside, and the nice restaurant area inside. Overall I do recommend this place. My...