El Portal Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Nebraska City

Edited 10/12/2021 Well, some friends of ours convinced us to go back and eat in. What a difference! The food was not only hotter (to be expected not being carry-out), but it was MUCH more flavorful than last time. I can highly recommend the Poco Loco, it was exactly as advertised. And the fish tacos were spicy, but not too much so for a heat wimp to enjoy.

We did still avoid the mango margarita, but the lime one was still quite nice.

Original Review 8/29/2021 We ordered the enchiladas Verdes and a fajita taco salad to go. We were told it would be 15 minutes, and we got there just about them. The order was waiting for us when we got there.

The taco salad was warm and tasty, but just wrapped in foil, not in any kind of container. The bottom of which was too greasy to set on anything other than a hard, easy to clean surface. There wasn't much lettuce for it being a salad, but there was more than enough food.

The enchiladas were NOT warm, the tortillas were rubbery, and the was nothing in them but the shredded chicken. No noticable sauce or spices. The small amount of Verde sauce was between one of the enchiladas and the bland rice. The black beans were cooked, but apparently without any spices either.

The salsa that came with the free chips was very watery. The chips were room temperature but edible.

Finally, the mango margarita was VERY sweet, and tasted artificial, while the line one was quite adequate.

All in all, we don't plan to go back next time we...

I honestly don't know how this restaurant is so highly rated. My family and I ordered take out one evening, we were told to arrive for pickup in fifteen minutes, which we did. We arrived home with our meals after driving only a couple of blocks to do so. In the short time it took to pick up our order, and return home our food was extremely cold, the fries were all soggy, and our steak was under cooked. We immediately called, and spoke to the manager Luis, he was extremely rude, and acted as if we were trying to rip him off for simply notifying him of the that we were not satisfied with the quality of our meals. He then asked us to return the food, we arrived back at the restaurant with the food in hand. We were met in the parking lot by Luis who immediately took the food, and tossed the money for the refund at us. He then proceeded to curse at myself, and my mother along with also telling us both that we were no longer allowed in his restaurant, and if we wanted Mexican food to go to Taco John's! Which I replied that if had done so chances are that our experience would have been a hundred times better. I in all my years have never been treated with such disrespect by a manager simply because he was butt hurt by a complaint. My family and I will never return to do business with this El Portal location ever again. I really hope that whomever owns this location sees this review, and terminates Luis's employment, and also knows that there manager has cost...

My wife and I were in Nebraska City for our honeymoon and decided to stop by El Portal for some food, and we very much enjoyed our experience. My wife is a vegetarian and they had plenty of items for her to choose from and I got a seafood quesadilla. The prices were really good! You can easily find a meal for less than $10. The salsa is amazing and I requested to purchase some but our server (I cannot remember his name) gave us a nice to-go container for the salsa FOR FREE! Even after I insisted I’d pay for it. Our server was incredibly professional, well groomed and even cracked a few unexpected and well timed jokes to make the experience even better. The hospitality was incredible and everyone seemed to be happy to work there.

If anyone is in Nebraska city and is looking for a perfectly affordable and delicious culinary experience, I highly recommend El Portal. We will...