Gringos Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Rexburg

Gringos absolutely lives up to every imaginable, embodiment, and soul of the word Gringo. From the very bubbly waiters to the food. There are some great things and some it so great things I have observed over a number of visits.

Short version: If your looking for authentic this is not it, if your looking for safe white bread version of Mexican this is your place! It could not have been done better if it was made by your Midwest aunt Sally in the best of moods.

Long version: The decorative environment is magical and is one of the most pleasing things about this restaurant. Best decorated in Rexburg. The wait staff have always been very decent.

If you’re looking for the most unauthentic, plain Jane, white bread, American made by aunt Susan version of “Mexican” because you don’t enjoy or cannot handle the authentic spice and flavor experience of the Mexican cuisine this place is perfect for you.

Upon walking in instead of being greeted by a warm spicy aroma at the time of this review (was last winter2023, I’m just getting around to posting) the place smells like old fryer greese that came from an unclean mop having spread more filth around than it has cleaned. Just a musty smell that was unappetizing. I recommend a serious floor cleaning. (Maybe had already happened by now.)

But the smell unfortunately started off an unappetizing experience.

Medium and mild salsas were made from chunky, watery canned diced tomatoes. With sadness as flavor. Unappetizingly and unapologetically so. Medium has a lot more flavor than mild and almost zero spice. Please do yourself a favor and avoid the mild and medium unless that’s exactly what you’re looking for. They both really are more of a play on what salsa should be.

However their hot salsas green and red were much better!

The most authentic thing here from what I can tell, although the spice level is more similar to a medium then a hot. If you can’t handle spice avoid it but they are the most flavorful of the four options.

Men’s bathroom door handle falling off only had one screw, I’d get that fixed before someone gets stuck in the bathroom. (Maybe it has been addressed already)

We have tried 6-8 dishes over the course of a couple times with less than stellar results.

The beef taste a little unseasoned and a cheap cut although it is surprisingly tender.

Sweet pork is very sweet and has some taste of some kind of soda like Dr Pepper or Coke.

I have sampled all their meats besides the seafood. If you looking for bland, mushy or very tender depending on your definition of tender, I’d go beef or chicken. If you have a sweet tooth go for the sweet pork which has the most flavor out of all their meats.

One of the worst salad I’ve ever had in a restaurant, and weird options for dressings for a Mexican restaurant.

They can as sometimes happens in the fast pace restaurant business forget things, like sour cream on burritos and such.

I cannot in good faith recommend this place especially for the price. Smaller portion sizes than average with bigger price tags. Unless it’s exactly what you’re looking for, and I get some people are looking for this particular type of take on Mexican food and that’s ok. Just not for me.

As my friend Spencer said Gringos is...

Edit 5/24/25: Much thanks to the owner for their response! We enjoy the food at Gringos and I'm hoping that this particular visit was not representative of what most people's experiences are. That said, today the owner's parents looked me up on Facebook and sent me an upset message about my review. I'm not aware that I know them, though it's possible. Very odd of them to do.

Pros: We ordered the Chili Colorado and one of the tamales (I forget which), and the food was fine. Salsa and my burrito taste differently than they have in the past, but that makes sense if they are working on enhancing recipes. Our server was attentive, polite, and checked on us often. We were a bit early for dinner and didn't experience any notable wait time for service or food. And, the fried ice cream was delicious, though on the pricier end for dessert. We didn't use it, but I liked the option to scan the qr code on the receipt to pay.

Cons: The atmosphere was rough all around. Both side of our booth seat were incredibly damaged worn out. We scooted farther into the booth so we weren't sitting on the damaged areas, but then our server couldn't slide my incredibly hot plate far enough in for me to reach it. I know maintenance things take time, but the restaurant wasn't very crowded when we got there. Ideally I'd have preferred to be seated elsewhere than with the damage. My food was also served on a chipped/broken plate, which, combined with the booth, makes me think that there are some quality things that aren't being taken care of.

There wasn't any music playing when we were there, salsa was served in tiny plastic trays instead of the molcajete salsa bowls, and there was a ton of red, white, and blue decor awkwardly placed around, including on a Christmas tree. If I am gracious in my interpretation, it's just that we're close to Memorial Day and they're trying to be patriotic. But it also was low-key 'Murica vibes, which was off-putting when combined with the lack...

I travel all the time all over the U.S. and I have always like to support local restaurants. I have to say that I haven't been to impressed with the over all food in Rexburg but what do you expect from a small town that isn't very diverse. I decided to look at different restaurants since I was just killing time. So some one suggested I try Gringo's. Which the name alone made me think that it was going to be American mexicanized food but I'll always try anything once. The environment is nice and has a good presentation. When I came in it was moderately busy which seemed like it had potential. My waitress Cindie was very friendly and was very helpful in helping me pick something from the menu. I got the Con Crema with chicken. The main dish was good not any thing over the top. It had a creamy sauce that had a unique flavor but it reminded me of something but couldn't really figure it out. I would order it again next time I'm in town. But however the beans where very bland and you could tell they where possibly out of a can. The rice was the same thing I felt that they tried to use some kind of chile colorado base but just had no flavor to it. Felt like the beans and rice where lacking basic seasoning. And in my opinion that's the basic food that should be on point to compliment the rest of the dish. If they could figure out how to make that better I think they would do a lot better! But all in all the service defiantly out shines the food by far but I would come again just don't know if I would order anything else in fear that it will be like the lack luster...