Restaurante El Corazon — Restaurant in Portland

The food is delicious but the communication for the catering division of the company is sub par. My fiance and I got engaged in August and took engagement photos in downtown Portland. We were fortunate enough to meet the owner, Joseph while taking photos. He staged some of our engagement photos outside of the restaurant and excitedly offered to be apart of our wedding by offering his catering services.

My fiance and I tried for over a month to get in touch with them (phone and email) and got no reply. I finally got in touch with the wife because I called her on Tuesday becuase I knew an owner would be in for 'taco Tuesday'. On the phone she said she would setup a phone call for the four of us to discuss details. She never got back to us therefore the phone call never happened.

Three months had passed and I finally heard back from Joseph via email. He sent me over a quote and proposal and gave directions on how to move forward working together. I was so shocked to receive the email back because they went MIA. I replied to the email with a few questions in regards to their catering services so I sent a professional email back with those questions. The next day I get an email back saying Joseph is no longer wanting to work with us at our wedding.

The state of disappointment and confusion my fiance and I are in is very upsetting. The confusion comes from the fact that Joseph was so excited to work with us and even staged some of our engagement photos in from of the restaurant and even offered to be apart of the wedding by offering catering services. He said they would do it, then said he wouldn't. This is no way to operate a business.

We would have loved the opportunity to actually get on the phone with the owners and discuss options rather than just communicating back and fourth via email. It just seemed liked it was never an option.

Overall, my fiance and I are very disappointed in the lack of communication and the wishy-washy business decisions of the operations of El Corazon. I hope that in the future that other potential catering clients don't end up in this kind of...

We were craving Mexican on a Friday and decided to finally try out El Corazon after a friend recommended it. I am so glad we did! It honestly exceeded our expectations and we cannot wait to go back soon.

Pro-trip: COME HUNGRY!

As soon as you walk inside El Corazon, you can tell it's an authentic Mexican spot, which is so refreshing to find here in Maine. The menu is not your typical Mexican-American menu -- they really go all out by not only having your Mexican staples (tacos, burritos, etc) but also some very unique dishes that I wasn't expecting to find in Portland. I was also impressed with their cocktail menu. It was very nice to see most cocktails priced between $8-$11; you don't often see any anymore in a city's downtown area. 5 stars for keeping it affordable, El Corazon!

After stuffing our faces with the free chips & salsa, we were ready to order. I went for the Birria de Chivito and it was delicious. This dish from Jalisco, Mexico consisted of young tender goat slow cooked for 7 hours (!!!) in a mild red Chile sauce with Mexican spices. Everything about this dish was perfect. It was so full of flavor and aromas that transcended what my palate was expecting. It came with a side of rice, beans, and tortillas aka way too much food, so I had leftovers which made for a nice dinner the next day. I also tried the pork pozole, which was a steal for under $6. So filling! The tortillas were phenomenal and they give you so many of them. The queso fundido was also a hit — it was one of the best ones I’ve ever had.

My partner had the Sundevil Carne Asada plate and he said he liked it, but I found the meat to be a bit bland and chewy. I am glad I ordered the goat and not the steak, honestly.

All in all, great food in a very casual setting which we actually enjoyed. Service was definitely all over the place, but you can tell they are severely understaffed at the moment, so kindness is key. Our waiter was also the bartender for the night, and in total there were only two people serving the...

Haven't exactly sampled the entire menu but having prepared traditional mex for several years of my life, I cant in my right mind give more than a couple of stars. I came with high expectations and left quite let down. The taquitos made me want to cry sad tears. The chimis are basically a tortilla doubled up on itself fifteen times with a very light filling. The burrito menu needs work. I advocate what you're doing but come on, at least be better than El Rayo.

Edit: I'm curious how you're perplexed by my selection (and not simply upset about a quick, honest review), having prepared Mexican food yourself for years? (Questionably) But to humor you, I had eaten at Tenóch the day before. Phenomenal. Maybe I figured I'd give your place a shot and order a snack. Something hand held, maybe not a $13 burrito. Maybe just, you know... a couple half empty, totally over cooked taquitos and something that looked like it was a chimichanga before it was chopped into however many peices that ended up being. Some dry Pico and a little Crema.

A half eaten, luke warm pu-pu platter from Langs Express would have been more visially appealing, nevermind appetizing.

Even though I'm so close that I can literally see you, I still wont be back. You sure are right about that. You're the underdog for all the wrong reasons, and I would have given you another chance but that brings me to my next point.

One star now, for being the snobby business owner that eloquently talks down on anybody who dares speak bad of his establishment.

Don't take it too personally, you're not the first restaurant to fail in that location and you won't be the last.

Good luck this winter, you'll need it.

Start by getting right on top of that chat with your "kitchen"

PS

El Rayo does a $5 Burrito day every week all fall, winter and spring. Right down the street. That place grew so...