El Sombrero — Restaurant in Port Orchard

El Sombrero is a nice little find tucked away in the Mile Hill Plaza in Port Orchard.  Being from Arizona, I sometimes miss Mexican food and have a craving. Also being from Arizona, I was very spoiled by the quality, quantity, and variety available there.  So, after moving here and realizing there's maybe one or two places that even hold a torch (check my other reviews, you'll find them) I resigned myself to mediocre Mexican food.  I recently found that one of my usual Mexican lunch venues has been slowly going down in quality. I decided to try something new and stopped over at El Sombrero.

On a lunch break, I took the trip and easily found parking in the lot.  When I walked in, I was immediately greeted by a gentleman and ushered to a booth.  I was impressed with the inside of the restaurant. It looks very clean and tastefully done.  There are a full bar and rows of booths. I prefer booths over tables, so I appreciate that. After looking at the menu, I quickly realized that this is Mexican food for Americans.  There are some Mexican cuisines that evolved in America like the spicy New Mexican style or the oh so delicious Sonoran style Hot Dogs from Arizona. El Sombrero is more like the Mexican food that evolved in order to be acceptable for a wide range of people.  If done correctly though, it can still be very enjoyable. In my opinion, this is exactly what El Sombrero is. Well done, high-quality gringo food.

For a cuisine meant to be easy to make and generic enough for all, they do a really good job of coaxing flavors out of their dishes.  The chips and salsa are quite gratifying, with the salsa having just a bit too much onion, but a suitable amount of heat. I've ordered a few different things off the menu after visiting several times on lunch now.  They're consistent and everything is pretty scrumptious for Americanized Mexican food. The service is also capable, the two waiters (managers or owners maybe?) checked on me early and often and kept my water full. They also can bring a bean dip for your chips upon request.

El Sombrero is a super clean Mexican restaurant selling unadulterated Mexican American style food.  They'll have something for everyone in your family. This place reminds me of some of the places I was taken to as a child by my parents on family night.  Where my parents always told me not to eat too many chips because I won't be hungry for my meal. It's been enjoyable to relive some of those memories, feelings, sights, smells, and sounds.  And now I get a whole basket of chips...

Just left here. Really disappointed in the quality of the food for the price. $12.99 per burrito. My husband had the macho burrito and I had the Sombrero burrito. Both were bland and small for how much they cost. Salsa seemed to be just tomato juice with a few onions and too much salt in it and no spice. We asked for pico de gallo, which was more like a bowl of diced onions with a touch of tomato and we were charged $1.99 for it. The waiter made no indication that there was an upcharge for it. Save your money and go elsewhere. Port Orchard has much better Mexican food places that cost less and have much better...

My family and I went to go have dinner there the other night and the next morning we were throwing up due to food poisoning and we went to the emergency room and when I had called El Sombrero and told them that we had got food poisoning and I would like at least half of a refund back or all of it. He told me sorry I can’t give you a refund without a doctors note And saying that I didn’t come there when I had the transaction on my bank account I would highly recommend NOT...