El Tapatio Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Sacramento

Now with a 3rd California location - all in the greater Sacramento area - this chain of experiential-forward Mexican restaurants has replaced a long vacant location of an On the Border restaurant. The namesake of the admired sauce brand (but no fear, both Tapatio and Cholula are available at the table) - opened with great fanfare on October 13th. Free coffee, balloons, balloon art man, tortilla lady.

Large murals of Latinx icons adorn the walls including Selena and Frieda Kahlo. A festive tree greets you as you enter. Personalized booths and chairs - even the plates remind where you are - El Tapatio.

The grand opening was well staffed and the manager came and checked on every table.

The expansive menu seems to have something for everyone - including a generous vegetarian section.

Later in November will see the start of their weekly Sunday brunch - featuring bottomless mimosas, breakfast tacos, and other scrumptious el desayuno items.

Monday night football was playing in the expansive bar while a mariachi duet serenaded the patrons with a rising rendition of My Way in Spanish - alongside traditional selections. Several spirited patrons joined in wholeheartedly - contributing significantly to the feeling of celebration and camaraderie.

A birthday was being celebrated - despite being opening night the staff was ready with a large sparkler, Mexican sombrero’s and several staff members clapping and crooning a very happy birthday!

My dining partner and I enjoyed a mojada vegetarian burrito and the mole enchiladas. Each plate is a generous portion - almost two meals in one. My favorite, a scoop of sweet corn mash appeared on my plate.

The horchata was excellent and they have N/A beer options.

It is always a momentous occasion when Natomas gets a new dining location - especially one as monumental as this. Come here for a birthday, work lunch, or to catch a game - and you won’t be disappointed. While its not necessarily fine dining - it is more than a fine time. El...

Take this with a grain of salt because I'm going to give them another try but as of right now if this becomes their standard then this was a waste of a new spot in town. We walked in (my wife, son and myself) and got seated right away. From that moment it took over 10 min for a server to come see us, mind you the restaurant wasn't even half full. We placed our order and at any mexican spot that I go to I try something pretty basic to see if they get it right. I always go for a 2 item combo, 1 crunchy beef taco and 1 crunchy chicken taco with a side of flour tortillas. Also if you have picky eaters for kids they have 2 options, a plain cheese pizza or for an up charge they have chicken tenders and fries. Food came out in a timely fashion but when it arrived no tortillas. I asked the next person that checked on us and waited for a few min and still no Tortillas. It took what I assume was the manager a 3rd time asking to get them. The tacos, well the beef one was served on what looked like one of those store bought hard shells and the beef mix was so greasy it had gone completely soggy, after 2 bites I put it down and moved on. The chicken taco was good, had a different shell but still was a grease bomb. The beans and rice are what you would expect. The highlight was the chips, salsa and bean dip however they never offered a refill of the salsa and give you about as much to go through a quarter of the chips. The price is also a little more than a place like chevys and with the food not being up to par it might be a tough time getting people back with Medicare food and service. I do want to give them another shot so I will order something new and update this if its any different the...

I have been to the Citrus Heights location, and they did not miss a beat here in Natomas. I have been here 3 times in the last two weeks and the food has been fantastic. The atmosphere is great and it would seem they are set up for another succesfful location. The reason for the 4-star service rating is during my second visit, for lunch, my friend was served the wrong burrito, and the server didn't seem to understand the issue. The third time, for dinner, I order a spicy mango mezcalita, but was served a regular mezcalita but decided to just roll with it (the drink was tasty). I tried ordering the spicy mango again, and was again served the wrong cocktail. This time I said something, the server apologized, walked away for only a few minutes, and returned with a drink. It appeared they added mango syrup, or puree, I stead of remaking my drink. It was not good. I also requested their green salsa (my personal favorite) three times but we never received it. Also, we had to ask four times for my wife to get her tortillas for her fajitas. The food it amazing. I have had the Chicken Mole and it is amazing, the Fluatas (also great), and quesabirria tacos which were good but not my favorite. My wife said the enchiladas are delicious as well as the fajitas. My son loved the ceviche and my daughter enjoyed her tamales. I will continue to come to this restaurant and hope that the...