El Tapatio ~ Authentic Mexican Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Muskegon

Was hoping this was going to be our go-to Mexican place, especially with an “MLive Best Food 2018” poster in the window, and it’s close by where we live. But I think a lot has changed since 2018 because this was hands down the most awful dining experience I can recall. Here’s the rundown:

Chips & Salsa: The salsa was red, but it had no onions, peppers, cilantro, or anything that makes salsa, well, salsa. It could have been almost anything. It was edible but tasted like nothing. The chips? Before I could comment, I heard a little girl at another table say, “Don’t eat the chips, they are stale.” This youngster was spot-on. Stale chips go perfectly with the red, bland, salsa-mush.

Lime Margarita on the Rocks: Weird color (too green), but I could have lived with that if there was even a hint of alcohol in the drink. It was basically margarita mixer with no bite. I’ve had more intoxicating limeade.

El Tapatio Quesadilla: The predominant flavor was “Italian Seasonings.” NO kidding, that’s what the carnitas/meat seemed to be sprinkled with. The quesadilla was served warm, with cheese that didn’t melt but instead solidified into a chewy texture. Warm, Italian-seasoned gum is the best description of this dinner failure.

Rice & Beans: The rice was like the average dirty rice you get at so many other Mexican restaurants, but the beans were lukewarm at best, and the grated cheese on top had no chance of melting. It was a cold, cheesy blob.

Service: Our server was very busy, much busier than several of the others, so I hate to give her a bad review as she was really hustling. I just wish I had a water refill to wash down the Italian-seasoning-filled chewy thing that was served as my dinner.

We won’t go back there...

This was honestly the worst Mexican restaurant experience I have ever had. Our meal started with slow service, though I assumed that was due to them working through kinks as they had just opened the new location. I ordered a strawberry daiquiri and it clearly had no alcohol in it. I thought that it may have been a virgin and I just didn't know, but I was asked to show my id. I'm not sure if they forgot to put it in, or if they were being intentionally dishonest about it. I ordered chips and cheese for an appetizer. It came out at the same time as my food and was literally just chips on a plate, sprinkled with Kraft Mexican style shredded cheese and melted. Every other Mexican restaurant I have ever been to the chips and cheese is a bowl of queso. They really should warn people of what that is before they pay $3.99 for it. My neice and nephew got quesadillas from the kids menu and they must have grilled it cheese side down because the cheese was unrecognizable. I wish that any of this was exaggerated. I complained a bit about the chips and cheese (which took a lot because I have never complained at a restaurant before in my life) and nothing was done about it. This terrible meal ended with us waiting (as we had for everything so far) for at least 10 minutes for our bills to get picked up and brought back for us to sign. Seriously don't waste your time or money at this...

This was one of the most poor dining experiences I've had in a long time. Our waitress took our order, came back 10 minutes later to confirm my husband's part of the order because she wrote it down wrong, then 5 minutes later comes back to ask about another part of his order that they had already talked about. When we finally get our order, the queso was super runny, his enchiladas had raw onion in them and seemed undercooked (very mushy), and my pork tamales were horribly dry. I could only eat one, once I was pulling rock hard strips of pork out of my mouth I decided I couldn't eat anymore. Our waitress asked if I didn't like them, and I told her the truth. She goes on to tell me that they had a complaint about them earlier in the day, the exact same complaints I had, and that she should have warned me not to get them. She took the plates, we got our check, and the inedible tamales weren't even discounted. My husband basically paid for a $10 helping of rice and beans.

Would not recommend at all, and we definitely...