El Pueblito Restaurant — Restaurant in Port Orchard

Two months ago I awarded El Pueblito five stars. Based on my past two consecutive visits and the dishes I was served, that's no longer the case. I don't know what happened but, for me, the quality of the food has plummeted. It's now as inconsistent as the other brick-and-mortar Mexican restaurants in town we've tried.

About three weeks ago my wife and I were taken to dinner there. The first basket of tortilla chips were cold, like they had been sitting somewhere for hours. The next basket validated that opinion because the chips arrived hot.

I ordered the Enchiladas de Mole with shredded beef. What I was served was THE worst dish I have ever had in any restaurant. The mole was a small, thin pool of tasteless liquid upon which two overcooked beef enchiladas were placed. The rice and beans were unseasoned and bland. It was like either this dish wasn't ordered very often so the kitchen didn't know how to prepare it properly, or the kitchen just didn't care. I was astounded because this was such a switch from the high quality food I'd been used to being served here. I emailed a complaint about the meal to the owner but that transaction will remain private. But I must share the blame for suffering through this dish. I should have asked for our server or the manager to come to our table and sent the dish back, ordering something else in its place. I just have never sent a dish back to the kitchen in all the years I've been eating in restaurants, so at the time that option didn't occur to me. That lapse is entirely on me.

This past week I tried another dish I had never ordered from there before: Tacos Al Carbon with steak. Al Carbon typically means the meat was grilled over charcoal but I could discern no charcoal flavor at all from the finely chopped beef (think of how small the beef pieces are in ground beef. These were slightly larger)--or much in the way of flavor even when forking up a clump of meat. Looking at the meat itself, it looked like it had been cooked to well done on a flat top either before or after it was chopped. In addition, the tomato-based sauce that covered the soft corn tortilla shells was just ordinary and not needed at all. When I ordered the tacos, I was expecting far larger slices of steak like you get in fajitas or street tacos. My wife had this same steak in her Tacos Al Vapor and said she liked the taste. At least this time the beans had been seasoned but the rice was still bland.

There are issues inside the restaurant which I've overlooked because the food made up for it. But when you walk through it, you see all the cracked and torn banquette seat covers badly in need of repair. There are other things i could mention (but choose not to since they are management choices) that when grouped together with the booths and the food compel me to reduce my rating to two stars. I award two stars instead of one only because my wife and our son think the food is OK but no more than that. My palate differs from theirs. Our son complained about the rice being bland this past week. Will we go back? Right now my wife and i really don't know. But what we WOULD like to know is what changed during the past two months?

Just to end on a positive note, the service is still very good. Cory remains a very friendly and attentive server and bus boy (we've recently seen him in doing one or the other on our past two visits). Jose, one of the owners who also serves as a server when necessary,...

I wasn't too sure what to expect when I decided to come here with my lady one day before going shopping nearby. We were craving Mexican food and I found this place here on Yelp. After looking at some of the reviews and the menu, we thought it was worth a try.

This place is tucked away in a small strip mall that we've been to several times, and I was wondering how I'd never seen it before. They have the unfortunate spot that all but hides their marquee out front unless you're standing directly in front of the entrance. The entrance is also a little odd. When we entered, we were greeted and seated quickly. There were only a couple other patrons in the place. We were greeted by a nice waiter who brought our complimentary chips and salsa, which also came with bean dip and a spicy cabbage type dip. All were very good, much better than anything we've had so far in WA. The spice level was nice.

We ordered the queso dip as well, but it came out pretty watery. The waiter said it needed time to cool off and set up, but it never did really get any thicker and it didn't have much of a flavor to it. This was about the only thing we didn't really enjoy here. We shared the mango margarita with the tajin chili powder sprinkled on it, blended. It was very good and strong. A little expensive, but not bad for it's size and the price is even better during happy hour.

We both enjoyed our entrees and had tons of leftovers because the portions are very big. We went a second time to try other things on the menu. I strongly recommend the carne asada plate, especially if you're a carne asada connoisseur. They even ask you how you would like it cooked, which is something I've never experienced. It comes out cooked perfectly to order and is super juicy and has tons of that amazing char flavor that is to be expected with carne asada.

The prices are VERY fair as well. The only things that seemed a bit over priced are the drinks, but the food is priced consistently with it's quality and the large amount you get. Everyone who works there is super friendly and helpful. The decor is pretty cheesy, but it's clean and well lit. If you're in the mood for something sweet at the end, try the sopapillas (pronounced soap-a-pee-yuhs), you won't regret it! This is now on our very small rotation of go-to Mexican places...

I am not sure what has happened to this restaurant, as it used to be decent, but tonight El Pueblito served us the worst Mexican food we’ve ever had.

The guacamole tasted solely of onion (as it was literally 70% onion pieces). The rice was flavorless. The beans looked and tasted like they’d been under a heat lamp for the entire day. The tortillas were store bought and falling apart. The fajitas were greasy and too sweet in flavor (yes, you read that right… SWEET). And the churros tasted like they were made by someone who’d never made - or even eaten - a churro. The only saving grace was the side of chips and salsa.

Bottom line: If you are craving Mexican food, GO SOMEWHERE - ANYWHERE - ELSE. This is just not good food.

Previous Review: We've had somewhat mixed experiences with this restaurant. The food a bit hit or miss.

Our last meal consisted of pollo a la partilla, rice and beans, chips, guacamole, salsa, and sopapillas. The pollo dish was quite different from our expectations, no veggies and a very salty sauce. Though the chicken was well cooked, the sauce made it difficult to enjoy fully. Worse, the rice and beans both looked and tasted like they'd been sitting under a heat lamp all day. Both very dry. Thankfully, the guacamole and salsa were delicious, especially when accompanied by the chips. And we did mostly enjoy the sopapillas, though they could have been improved with more cinnamon. Overall, the meal was pretty mediocre this time around, with some definite highs and lows.

Pro-Tip: It seems this restaurant no longer includes chips and salsa gratis for delivery orders, so if that's important to you, you might want to consider...