El Rey Azteca — Restaurant in Nashville-Davidson

I originally stopped at this exit because I saw a sign for Jack-in-the-Box, but, after seeing that it was another 2-3 miles down the road, I decided to throw caution to the wind and check out this little place. It definitely falls under the category of a "hole in the wall" restaurant, but don't let the appearance fool you. My visit has only served to strengthen my belief that local businesses with an unassuming appearance are often hidden gems.

I ordered queso fundido immediately, since queso and chorizo are obvious standards at Mexican restaurants. The queso was a fantastic melty consistency, not at all runny. The chorizo was moderately spicy and full of flavor.

For my meal, I went the a la carte route and ordered a tamale, a shredded chicken quesadilla, and a side of chiles toreados.

The tamale came covered in red sauce and ground beef with a splash of queso for contrast. The sauce paired very well with the tamale, and the tamale itself had a fantastic texture. The corn flavor was there, despite being in and around a very seasoned beef.

The chicken quesadilla was more chicken and less quesadilla, but that was actually to it's benefit after I started eating the chiles. The chicken was seasoned well and was not dry, though the cheese had settled into the bend of the tortilla.

The chiles, oh man the chiles. First of all, if you don't know what chiles toreados are, they're grilled whole peppers. Since they're cooked right on the grill, the outer skin of the pepper crisps up and separates from the rest of the pepper. El Rey's chiles were a prime example, and they were VERY spicy. Tender, spicy, well seasoned; highly recommended, but keep in mind that more sensitive palates might not be able to handle these.

Overall, fantastic food. Service was average, everyone was polite, and the food came out very quickly. I highly recommend stopping in for lunch. I'm definjtely adding El Rey's to my list of places to eat...

This is my last visit to this place. TERRIBLE TERRIBLE customer service AGAIN!!! My first visit was really bad. This was worse as there were 4 of us. The person seating guests didn’t greet us. Our server was rude and had no communication skills at all. He never came back to check on our table. I had wanted another margarita, but, he didn’t return to our table. We had to flag him down to get our check. No courtesy “thank you”. Nothing. Luckily, the bus boy got us some boxes for our food. His initials were BG on the ticket. Much better to go to another Mexican restaurant where the staff are glad to have customers presence.

This was my first visit. It was a mistake to come here today. My first time here. The 12 oz frozen margarita was not good. It was so bad I couldn’t drink it. I ordered chicken fajitas and asked for borracho beans instead of refried beans. He brings me a bowl of borracho beans and the refried beans. I repeated my order and he says we don’t do substitutions. Ok. I didn’t know that. I was charged $14.99 for my lunch fajitas. I was also charged $7.95 for beans. My bill with the bad margarita and tax was $28.94. My server was weird. He kept stopping at my table and would just look at me. I finally asked if he needed something from me, I thought he might be trying to cash out but nope. He runs my card. Brings me the paperwork but no pen. The guy at the cash register didn’t speak to me at all. I asked if he was the owner. He said “no”. Nothing more. My server followed me outside and asked if he could get my car door. I told him to just stay away from...

It’s actually really good. Only issue is that it seems sketchy af. A little dirty and the random security guard wandering around actually makes me feel more uneasy than if he wasn’t there. Haha. He literally just wanders through the tables looking over everyone’s shoulders. I’m sure he’s a fine person but there’s something about it that made me a little uneasy. That being said I will be back. 🤷🏽‍♂️. What’s a little uneasy feeling about a man I don’t know with a gun in a police uniform wandering around while I eat. Haha. That is a semi serious statement. I think maybe it just makes me think what the heck has gone on here that he needs to be such a present force during my meal. I don’t know. At any rate I enjoy the food and...