The Patron Kitchen — Restaurant in Rio Dell

OK, so I'm giving these folks 5 stars because they are among the very few restaurants in the area, and don't get me wrong - the people running this place are GREAT, and the food is both tasty and safe... They might only get a 3.5-to-4 star rating if in a more heavily populated area with a higher percentage of the population being familiar to the authentic cuisine. Just saying.

(If you are from a southern city with lots of great, authentic Mexican options, just get a burger & fries, or go elsewhere and take your chances.)

The burgers are good, the tacos are good - but due to being located in Rio Dell, expectations need to be set realistically. The locals here are seemingly more interested in a very Americanized version of Mexican cuisine - and The Patron most certainly delivers on this premise.

Their Mexican dishes are extremely Americanized. If you are looking for truly authentic Mexican food, drive another hour or so north to the Speedy Taco truck in McKinleyville, which is probably the only truly authentic Mexican food within 100+ miles of this very remote North Coast location. (I left a Google Maps review for them too, take a look if this is what you seek.)

But if you need a good meal and you find yourself here, I can offer some advice.

Either order a burger with fries (above average fries here, btw - and the portion is huge) - or try their tacos or fajitas - or even their appetizer menu, which also tend to be offered in very large portions for appetizers.

Note the prices, their burgers & some other menu items are a bit overpriced, but considering other local options, they are reasonable.

They use an avocado-based green salsa on their street tacos which is VERY mild - if you don't like spicy food, you'll probably LOVE their tacos. As someone who lived in San Diego and spent a pretty good amount of time in TJ, I can say this: tasty, but very mild and NOT anything like the street food in Mexico.

Their Mexican food is FAR better than any I've tried in Humboldt County, outside of the aforementioned Speedy Taco Truck in McKinleyville, CA, and a couple restaurants in Eureka (La Pechanga & Oaxaca Grill) & Arcata (Carmelita's) which compare in flavor but are far more expensive. DON'T make the mistake of believing that you can get better Mexican food in Fortuna - strange but true - Fortuna has both a large Mexican population, and probably more Mexican restaurants per square mile than any other Humboldt town - but you can't get a decent, or even EDIBLE taco TO SAVE YOUR LIFE.

(If you don't believe me, check out my review (along with photo) of La Costa in Fortuna. ...

Excellent family own business, food is so delicious and I like that they have something for everyone in the family. My kid loves the chicken strips and chicken nuggets with fries. My favorite dish there are the nachos and the western burger. You can also have a beer with your meal sense the bar its right next door and they can order it for you through the window. Or you can also be at the bar with your friends and order food. The best of all its that it stays open till 8pm so for us people who live in Rio Dell/Scotia this is perfect because we don't have to drive to Fortuna to get a meal if its...

This place needs a make-over, but the food is great! My husband and I ordered a lot of food and we finished it all. We stuck with the mexican food part of the menu, but I do want to come back and try their Special Patron burger. We tried the Chorizo torta and all the produce was fresh, gave it a nice crunch, chorizo seasoned well. Quesabirrias were packed with meat and came with a salsa and the consome. Loved the broth flavor. Street tacos were also packed with meat and garnishes were fresh. Hard taco was good but I prefer a crispier shell. Yes I will...