El Gallo Cocina Mexicana — Restaurant in Riverside

Perhaps my favorite Mexican restaurant I've been to in Dayton (and there are some good ones).

Food: I ordered most recently the Chilaquiles Con Huevo Y Bistek Asado (pictured below). It was awesome. Thinly sliced (flank?) Steak cooked well, with nice slightly crispy edges and a good sear. Eggs were sunny side up and tasty. The meat and eggs were served on top of a nice bed of tortilla chips with lots of cilantro, cotija cheese, and I believe lime juice. Rice and refried beans were served on the side and quite good. There are other variants of this, along with huevos rancheros on the menu. The visit prior to this one, I ordered a pambazo (amazing) and an al pastor sope (also amazing) along with some horchata. A note on the horchata: you get your money's worth ($5 for a huge mason jar of it, I think at least a quart?) for the horchata, and it's easily in the top 2 homemade quality horchatas I've had. Definitely worth it.

Pro tip: ask for their hot salsa to go with the chips & salsa. It's good. They normally bring out a roja and a Verde salsa, so the spicy one appears to be 'hidden' and complimentary (or priced such that I didn't notice any real increase in the bill).

Customer service: Very friendly and knowledgeable staff that is happy to offer recommendations for menu items and such. The food was prepared and at our table in a timely manner, and accurately. Seating is DIY, so choose your seat as you wish. No issues to be had.

Note: you pay at the front desk when done eating, and they seem to keep track of the items ordered on their end. So, you pay before you get your printed receipt, if that makes sense. Just a heads up, so you don't wait around thinking a bill will arrive.

A very nice restaurant with lots of menu options and doesn't skimp on the flavor.

10/10, ¡Mi restaurante...

Here's my breakdown: Barbarcoa taco- plenty of meat, cooked but extremely bland. Queso- ordered paid for it but didn't recieve it. Enchilada rojas- I specifically ask if it had avocados on it, she said no but it had avocados on it. Enchiladas with queso- I have no idea what we got. Also said no beans but got beans. Chicken burrito- very small for 9 bucks, about a third of Chipotle. Chicken was cut up extra small. Looked like kibble. Asked for no tomatoes But got tomatoes. Their food was fresh and looked very appealing.

Three meals and three strikes! I was literally the only person in the restaurant. The young lady seemed very uncertain when I asked to leave something off or add something else to the dish. I didctry and call to let them know how bad my order got messed up but the person who answered said she couldn't hear me after I told her my order...

I almost missed this place when driving by, and I’m glad I didn’t. It’s not easy to spot, with the clue being the banners promising tacos and other Mexican food on Airway and a sign in front of a door not as visible from the road telling you where to enter. You’ll want to slow down to make sure you get here though.

It was a good sign early on when the chips came with two salsas, both good. I think the green was tomatillo, but whatever it was I enjoyed it. The chicken I got with the mole was still on the bone, which is far better than the chicken breast you get most places, and was very tender while the mole had good flavor. It’s the kind of place that automatically gives you corn tortillas too, another sign of it being great. I’ll be back here when I can, hopefully with other...