El Mariachi Mexican Grill — Restaurant in Los Angeles

EL MARIACHI MEXICAN GRILL is expansive. This sports centric eatery has enough big-screen televisions to emulate a Best Buy. ¹

The restaurant's decor is homage to old Mexico, complete with riding saddles resting on the crossbeams in the main dining area. Corn chips, bean-cheese dip and vegan salsa are provided at each table. The menu is populated with familiar Mexican dishes. ²

Our server, Orquidea, who has been with the restaurant for years, described the ingredients of the many dishes on the menu. (For example, the black beans are vegan, containing no animal products, however the rice is prepared with chicken broth.) She pointed out that Chef Roberto and his staff will do everything possible to match special dietary requirements.

I ordered an off-menu, vegan burrito. It arrived in a few minutes. The approximately footlong burrito was, give or take, three inches in diameter. In other words, it was huge. The oversized tortilla encased gently stir-fried vegetables with black beans. It arrived toasted and lightly sauced. It was "muy bueno."

The recently remodeled restaurant lives up to its name, by providing live Mariach music on the weekends.²

El Mariachi offers lots of special offers. Here are a few:

On Sunday's all you can drink Mimosas.

Half off on Mondays on everything but alcohol.

Everyday, Mexican meals are cooked to order on a BeniPaisa; a Benihana style grill.

The restaurant and bathrooms are ADA compatible. At lunch and dinner low-cost valet parking is required. (There is little nearby street parking.) Online or telephone orders are accepted for pickup or delivery by DoorDash.

¹ The eatery opened in 2010. It's owned by Armando and Fernando Lopez, a father and son team.

² "Mariachi" is thought to have derived from the French "mariage" (marriage). The joyful sound first became popular entertainment in the...

I had past by this restaurant a few times in prior weeks and there was a sign which said happy hour specials and NFL because they show the games there. I went online to checkout the website. There is a flyer on the website page that shows daily specials. Monday said 2 for 1 specials on drinks. So I arrange to meet there with my two cousins and a friend of ours. One cousin even had driven from IE area. We specifically picked this restaurant because of the specials that were advertised. Once we get there, the waitress gives us a happy hour menu. I show her the ad from website that said 2 for 1. She said she knew nothing of that special and went to ask the manager. She then comes back and says no they don't do that special. It is either happy hour menu or half off regular menu but no happy hour drinks. So I am like that doesn't make sense. Then she tells us that if we're all on the same bill, that we all have to have the same choice. So one person couldn't pick happy hour while another picked half off regular menu. My cousin asked to speak to the manager and after going back and forth for about five minutes, he then says he will honor the 2 for 1 but there would be no option for half off regular menu. So we then decided to do separate bills completely because one in our party doesn't drink. Mind you, in the regular menu there was another ad that said Margarita Mondays.When I asked what special was that, he said oh the Margaritas are $7/$8. I then said well happy hour menu says they are $5. So basically, we won't be back to this restaurant. I didn't like the false advertising to draw a customer in and then they change up on what they offered in...

The food is just okay, others would say its great but we grew up eating authentic Mexican food. We had a large group, over 25, a remembrance dinner for our mothers birthday. NOTE **The svc was not good. While I understand some places are short staffed, my husband waited an additional 1/2 hour for his food, we told them a few times what he ordered, but they didn't check with the chef to realize the dish was never made. Two nephews ordered the shrimp fajitas, 1 never got his rice and beans that included guacamole. When my niece asked for it, the response was, "you should have told us" ?? That's what was being asked for, and still they never brought it out. Many of us were not satisfied with the quality of the food and alcohol, weak. The live music is very good my mom really enjoyed it when she was with us, that was years ago.😢 The Saturday impersonator of Juan Gabriel is hysterical, but you must understand Spanish to grasp the jokes and comedy. They had several technical difficulties, the guy has a worse voice than me, but as lip singer, he's good. Mariachi is really good. The show is free, reservations are recommended to insure you get seated in that room.. it's my personal opinion the cocktail prices are up there in price, most are over $15, one cocktail is over $40. Beers are more affordable for the beer drinkers. Was there with family, it was a great time, but my husband and I and more of us, WILL NOT GO BACK AGAIN. Valet parking now is $10, or search for street parking, which I think is what they do when they go...