El Tapatio — Restaurant in Merrimack

I've been here twice. The first time I came here with my wife, little brother, and sister- in-law. We all ordered a steak dish. I ordered the T Bone Steak med rare. It came out more like medium. It was still juicy and satisfying, but I would've enjoy it even more if it was cooked to order. I did have to salt it a little and they didn't have A1 sauce. I put a little hot sauce on it for an extra kick. It did pair well with a Modelo - cleaner finish than a Corona.

The second time my wife and I came. We ordered margaritas. My wife enjoys El Jimador tequila, which they didn't have. It was a bit disappointing, but they made hers well. She couldn't stop raving about it! Good job to the bartender! My wife is very particular about her margs and y'all came correct! Thank you!

I'm slightly allergic to tequila. It gives me heartburn. Our server, Israel, suggested Malibu, Captain Morgan, or Vodka. I had originally opted for the Malibu. Israel did something that was above and beyond and worth noting. He came back to us and told me that Malibu has a coconut flavoring that wouldn't quite taste like a margarita. He said that Tito's would be a close substitute to tequila. He wasn't wrong. My marg was great! I enjoyed it a lot. We both ordered sugar rims. My wife got it but I didn't. I didn't make a fuss though. Israel definitely deserves a shout out for that kind of customer service. You da man! That kind of attention to customers is rare to find and I'm a Culinary Director for an elevated dining restaurant in the heart of Cambridge. I'd hire talent like Israel in a heartbeat. Kudos to you! El Tapatio is lucky to have you.

We ordered the Texas fajitas (chicken, beef, and shrimp). Very flavorful. You won't be disappointed. The guacamole came in a small dish and I didn't think it was worth $7. I know avocados are expensive, but I was hoping that small dish would be 2x bigger. I won't be ordering that again.

We were however disappointed when we ordered the a la carte beef and chicken soft flour tacos. We ordered 3 each. The beef tacos were ground beef. They weren't so bad but we wouldn't order them again. The chicken tacos were the worst. We didn't enjoy them at all. We ate 1 of each and packed the rest home. Our siblings didn't enjoy them either. A big let down. So...don't order those. Not worth it at all. We should've ordered the street tacos. We would've paid a little more for better quality food and that's what we're going to do next time.

Overall, a big thumbs up on the mains entrees, the drinks, and the service! We...

Service wasn't good. The server was going to other tables and never helping us. we had to grab his attention several times. The food was really good, one of my favorite Mexican restaurants. A big issue that makes me want to choose another Mexican place over others is that they give you 1 free salsa and chips when others will give you as much as you want free. They give you a super tiny amount of salsa in shallow small container for a larger basket of chips to share between all at the table, and if you want more salsa, you have to pay $1.50 for it! To me that is ridiculous to charge for salsa and then not even give a appropriate amount to go with the chips to share between others also some meals are dry and may need some salsa and to have to pay for this just seems to me a way to make us pay more but to me that just makes me want to choose someplace else that offers as much as you want or need. If you're going to charge extra, at least give a decent amount. Going out to eat is getting to be not worth it because of the high prices, and it's not that great of service at times and skimping out on portions or charging for these little extra things. I also want to add that my friend who took me out to eat here was actually for my birthday and she didnt give the best tip because waiter wasn't attentive just 15% but the waiter added extra tip to give himself a better tip after we left when he put in the charge! It is just very terrible to tip yourself better because you didn't like what you got as a tip, and I think it's illegal as well. Need to add that came back here in April with same friend and we both paid seperate this time and both of us were charged additional tip money that we didn't agree to so beware of being charged more on your card then you originally gave! I would recommend cash only to prevent this...

Everytime I have come here I have had an absolutely horrible experience. We usually sit at the bar. Maybe that's where things start to go wrong. I have visited this place multiple times hoping the next time would be different only to have an even worse experience. We have had to wait for drinks for 10 minutes at the bar, our food order won't be taken for another 25 minutes. Tonight when we came for Ala carte tacos (3) as sold on the menu, weren't available, only single orders at $2.75 each taco. This wasn't represented on their menu. Our server had to let us know about the menu change which made us change our minds on our order. She gave us a few more minutes to decide on another menu choice. So we decided to order the "New" Papusas that were on the appetizer menu, only to find out from our server those aren't being sold anymore either. We decided to leave after that. We spent a good 35 minutes just waiting to get some food in only to find out what we wanted on the menus weren't available. It was an entire waste of our time.

Buy a beer if you do decide to visit El Tapatio and drink because those are hard to mess up. The drinks aren't worth the money and taste is less than good. Service takes forever. Good luck if you do decide to visit this spot.

If you want amazing service, the best Margarita you'll ever drink, and good Mexican food, visit Mi Jaliscos in Milford and sit at the bar. You won't be...