Tacos Y Huaraches El Gordo #2 — Restaurant in Mesa

I promise this is a glowing review. This place was great.

El Gordo is the best shitty Mexican food I've ever had in my life. I'll explain.

"Shitty" does not denote the overall quality of the food, so shitty Mexican food is not shitty, per se. Mexican food comes in two tiers: shitty and fancy. Filibertos is mid tier shitty Mexican food. La Hacienda at the Princess resort in Scottsdale is mid tier fancy Mexican food. El Gordo is far and away the best shitty Mexican food I've ever had. I just relocated to this neighborhood and saw that El Gordo was bicycling distance from my house. I popped in about an hour before close, and the cashier (a young man named Beto) helped steer me through the menu. He was very knowledgeable about the menu items and super personable. I ordered the quesabirria and an enchilada style tamale, then when I sat down I noticed they have fresh watermelon juice so I had to indulge. An interesting thing happened: Beto had me go to the fountain soda machine in the front and get my own ice. I thought that was really cool, because I've had both too much and too little ice dining out before, so I felt like having the customer get their own ice was a nice touch. The food itself was very enticing. The quesabirria had a crisp golden fried tortilla folded over birria, cheese, cilantro, and onions, with plenty of lime wedges and a delicious smelling kind of broth. The tamale also presented well, although next time I will ask for extra sour cream and guacamole. The flavor of everything was phenomenal. It was all very well seasoned and I could tell the recipes were passionately crafted. Beto was mopping the floor at this point, and we chopped it up about food and Phoenix and stuff - very inviting.

El Gordo is amazing, I will be dining here at least a few times a week while I'm living in this area, and then making the drive often when I move...

Having lived in houses behind this location for 25+ years, I have seen this location change businesses probably about 7-8 times over the years. I saw El Gordo purchased the property and was fixing it up nice and got excited. We LOVE El Gordo from the gas station over off of Broadway and the L202. Was super happy to have one right next to us now, and decided to stop in and try the street taco deal yesterday. Street tacos are as authentic and amazing as at their original Location.. This Mexican Food spot is a WINNER guys, please support local businesses - I want this El Gordo's to be in business a long time right next to my house! 4 Carne asada tacos for $7? That would have been $12 at Filibertos and the food would have been nowhere...

Went in because someone at a Filibertos said this was comparable and in this instance it was 1000% times better than the Filibertos I was at located on Higley and Brown 0/10 I do not recommend.

The food here at El Gordo was steaming hot and absolutely delicious. The price was good the portion was big and the staff was amazing 15/10 I highly recommend this place if your in the area....