El Mezcal Mexican restaurant bar and grill — Restaurant in Madison

This location seems to have replaced the Gaudalajara restaurant. There’s a fairly large and new sign on top of the restaurant. It’s located at a strip mall near Walmart. I was greeted fairly quickly when I entered and guided to a seat with a menu and silverware. A few minutes later, the server (was bilingual) came out and asked for what I wanted. I received my salsa and chips at this time. The salsa was pretty watery and lacked spice or much flavor. It was nothing special, and chips seemed like they were made a long time ago.

Looking at the menu, it seemed like a typical Mexican restaurant though I was a little disappointed that the street tacos didn’t have many options. I was a little inclined to think after looking at the menu that it was more Tex Mex. They did seem to have a nice deal for aguas frescas with two glasses for under $3. That’s pretty unheard of here in HSV. I ended up ordering 3 pastor tacos.

I received food fairly quickly. The street tacos have a large amount of cilantro and raw onions, but not as much meat as I had hoped for. The red sauce served on the side wasn't very spicy and had more of a smokiness. Not sure I had the experience I wanted. I had to wait a bit after finishing my food to get my check or even see the waiter. If I come back, I’ll try the...

The food was delicious and the portions were very generous. They had the best shrimp and carne asada soft tacos I've had since I moved to Bama. The rice and refried beans were better than the ones served by the previous owner. The margaritas were decent (and huge!). Ask for top shelf tequila if you are picky. My little one was sad because we recently lost our doggie so they made a special fruity drink for him. We thought that was very kind and sweet and my little one had a huge smile (priceless!). The prices have gone up a bit but that's OK with me since I'm getting great food and service. The prices from the previous restaurant (Guadalajara) were so low that I often wondered if the quality of ingredients was low as well. Although the new owners are still working on getting the restaurant completely remodeled, we received great service. If you disliked the previous run-down booths, you'll be happy to see the new ones. They look great. Overall, we had a great experience and...

First time walking in I thought I was in prison everybody had their hands crossed no smile on her face barely got any service The second time it's the same thing but they had less on the bar that was last time and when you asked for more burritos for example it was 1:30 the bar closes at 2:00 and he said no but they bring out big pants with three or four burritos in there why?????? Then I go to pay and he's charging me a lot more than last time but she shouldn't even charge me for the whole bar because he barely had anything on there but besides that he charged me for two sweet teas and I got water and my husband got a refill on his sweet tea and because he had the two different glasses he wants to call charge somebody don't go there!!!!!!! I'm telling you don't go there old food greasy food not enough...