Taqueria El Tapatio — Restaurant in Santa Clarita

Summary: My order was missing parts, and although a portion of my food was really good I will not go back.

I do not respect businesses that are clearly understaffed and don't have a "we're hiring" sign. This place has always been busy when I drive past it. I decided to give it a try and the food was partially good (hence the two stars) but they have one lady in the front doing everything and people in the kitchen could be seen enjoying their time while working (which is great but like your physical impressions can wait till it's less busy), and this kind of a backup causes orders to get messed up. This is how the food went AND PLEASE NOTE I ATE EVERYTHING COLD BECAUSE I HAD TO GO BACK TO THE RESTAURANT TO PICK UP A MISSING PART OF MY ORDER) 5 Taco Plate Taco de Cabeza, Lite Salsa, Add Guacamole (REALLY DELICIOUS) Taco de Pescado, Lite Cilantro, Lite Onions, Lite Salsa, Add Pico, Add Sour Cream (THE FISH IS BREADCRUMBED PAN-SEARED TILAPIA. SOUR CREAM WAS NOT ADDED. TOMATOS OF THE PICO WERE CUT GINORMOUSLY) Taco de Asada, Lite Salsa, Add Guacamole (DISAPPOINTING AND UNDERWHELMING. LACKED FLAVOR) Taco de Lengua, Lite Salsa, Add Guacamole (REALLY GOOD) Taco de Camaron, Lite Cilantro, Lite Onions, Lite Salsa, Add Pico, Add Sour Cream (GRILLED SHRIMPS, I WAS EXPECTING FRIED, SOUR CREAM WAS NOT ADDED. TOMATOS OF THE PICO WERE CUT GINORMOUSLY) $17.15 Bean & Cheese Burrito As a- Wet Red $10.70 Extra Chips $1.03 Horchata Mediana $3.39 QuesaBirria Tacos Plate (THEY FORGOT THE CONSOME DIPPING BROTH AND WHEN I CALLED I WAS TOLD TO HOLD FOR 2 MINUTES AND THEN WAS HUNG UP ON AFTER 6. I CALLED BACK, SOMEONE ELSE ANSWERED AND SAID IT'S READY THEY'LL HAVE IT THERE WHEN I GO TO PICK IT UP. I WENT BACK AND THEY APOLOGIZED FOR HANGING UP ON ME AND SAID THEY HAD TO DO IT BECAUSE THEY HAD TOO MANY PEOPLE THERE. MY CONSOME WAS NOT READY WHEN I ARRIVED) $15.96 Side Guacamole 8 oz. $6.13

LASTLY, I ASKED FOR A SIDE OF SOURCREAM AND WAS CHARGED $0.96 FOR A TEENY TINY CONTAINER ONLY TO FIND OUT THE SOURCREAM I HAD ADDED TO MY PESCADO AND CAMERON TACOS, WERE NOT ADDED ON...

The first time and last time my family and I will order from this restaurant. My husband worked a 12+ hour day and was starving. He stopped by this restaurant and ordered a veggie burrito plate, side of rice and beans, and veggie fries without sour cream. When he got home no burrito and the fries were smothered in sour cream. We live in Castaic and he was too bummed and exhausted to take back his food and get a refund. Plus it was like 8:30 on a Friday and we had just got home from our son’s two hour soccer practice. He didn’t eat the food at all.

I called the owner “Jerry” to try and get a refund. At first he was very nice and apologized and supposedly remembered the order and even said that the back up cook messed up the order and that he would try and give a refund later on. Which would be good customer service. About 20 mins he called me and was very rude to me. He said that my husband didn’t order a burrito (he did) and that he will not give a refund since we did not bring the food all the way back to the restaurant and that we were probably eating the food just trying to get money back. This was extremely insulting and offending. I have worked in the food industry and I completely understand when an order gets made wrong, this is NOT the reason for this review. The reason for this review is the owner Jerry’s lack of customer service skills.

My family and I will never eat from here and I will let others know that this establishment does not value their customers. Thanks Jerry for accusing me of being a liar and a thief.

So...

EDIT: I gave this place another try and decided to visit in person. I'm not sure if it was the great service or the atmosphere but the food was great. I am a repeat customer now and regularly have lunch here. The shrimp cocktail and cabeza tacos are great. Their Jamaica water is also great. I've grown to love this place.

I'll start off with the good. The Burrito was a definitely a good size, and the salsa really compliments the food. The food was piping hot when I got it and everything tasted fresh. The proportions of meat, beans, and rice were good, but I wish they were more evenly distributed. The first half of my burrito was all beans and rice, the second was all meat. I got the Asada as an option and unfortunately, it had no flavor. The "asada" had both the taste and texture of unseasoned boiled meat. The description listed salsa but there was none I can detect in the burrito. That was an easy fix.

That being said, my wife liked the carnitas and nothing tasted off or rancid, so I will be giving this place...