El Tapatio Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in New Braunfels

Unclean, disorganized, inconsistent food quality, strange service, and more money than I think it was worth.

I judged my experience first by the broken sign for the restaurant and the gratuitous amount of fliers for Mexican bands covering the door of the establishment. As we walked in the door, we were blocked by one of the servers wheeling an overflowing garbage can out the front door. She looked a bit guilty, like she had just been caught milking a cow in the bathroom, and just kind of waited there like we were supposed to move out of her way. Once we were seated, a different server came to hand us our menus and get our drinks. I was asking some questions about their drink selection and she never really answered my question, just nodded her head and mumbled something about a Mexican Coke. I rephrased the question hoping she could understand me better, but instead she looked back at the other servers for help and they completely saw her and ignored her, then she gave me a look like I had just given birth to a baby dinosaur and asked her to take care of it. I gave up and she came back with the right stuff! She asked if we were ready to order and I asked for more time, so she gave us about 30 seconds and asked again. She decided to wait over by the counter and stare at us until we were ready.

After we placed our orders and were waiting for the food, I took in the atmosphere. It reminded me of my Grandmothers house before it caught fire and vagrants looted the rubble for valuables. I could hear Mexican music blasting from the kitchen, but no music for the eating area, just dim lights and painted concrete floors. Every once in a while yelling erupted from the back. There were a few grey plastic tubs behind the counter that were stacked up with dirty dishes and discarded blobs of food.

The food finally arrived and reviews were mixed. My wife ordered the fajita plate and said that they put so much lime on it, that the meat tasted like lime rinds. My enchiladas were good and the kids didn't complain.

As we were finishing up our meal, I noticed that the servers were joking around and a couple of them got mops and a broom to spot clean the floor. When someone needed something, they would lean the broom or mop against the wall or counter, wipe their hands on their aprons, and help the customer without washing their hands. The other servers were talking or flirting with the kitchen staff so I guess they were too busy to help. To me, if your waitstaff is sloppy and unprofessional, the kitchen is probably the same way.

So the cost of this visit --2 plates and 2 kids plates-- about $60. Would I come back? No. Not until management gets these problems addressed. It has potential, but there is a lot of room for...

My family and I came here with high hopes from reviews, we left disappointed the menu is all together nice but it isn't catered to Mexicans more texicans, the food was severely disappointing i honestly didn't bother eating just from what I seen a lady complained about her food 4 time's from when we sat down and they messed it up each time my family ordered and ate their food,everyone is disappointed, my sister enchiladas, the chicken was cold the tortilla wasn't even heated up and its like they just dipped it in heated up salsa and wrapped it the beans reheated, my brother in law got a pastor burrito no flavor whats so ever not even a real burrito no lemon, radish, cilantro, rice, beans or even salsa and my 3 nephew's my sister's kids didn't even like the food which says alot they didn't even touch the cheese enchiladas nor the beans an surprisingly the rice was all left untouched they didn't even eat the burger and the waitress we had a younger slender girl was rude to us until we spoke to her in spanish I understand not understanding a language but don't treat customers rudely just because you have to work as she obviously just got there in a mood not even in uniform nor was her hair done over disappointed and wouldn't go back nor recommend to any real Mexicans atleast in California a gas station restaurant has more class then any Texan mexican knock-offs overall if your a Texan you'll love it but if your from California or just a real Mexican...

While placing my order I was speaking in Spanish and English. As my order was completed, I was getting ready to drive up with my window down. The restaurant employee from the drive-through window made a derogatory comment in Spanish from her headset that I heard clearly from the speaker. She stated "Pinche Vieja" as I was proceeding to drive up to pay for my order. Instead I went back to the speaker and I asked her, "Did you just call me Pinche Vieja"? No response. I went into the restaurant and asked to speak with management and a young man with blonde hair replied he won't be here until tomorrow and he asked me if there was something wrong. I stated I want to cancel my order in regards to what I was called by the employee. I was very disappointed in the employee's behavior. I have been a regular and courteous customer for some time and never been treated like this before. This derogatory and abusive comment was uncalled for and as I was respectfully ordering food. To make matters worse, my witness to this derogatory comment was my daughter sitting next to me in the car. I've called this business a couple times attempting to speak with managers and they said he's not here. After the third attempt they said he went to Mexico. After a few minutes the owner called me and I told him what happened but he basically didn't care. They lost...