El Cholo — Restaurant in Santa Monica

Our family planned a joint birthday dinner here a few weekends ago. From the moment we were seated at our table, the server John L was very rude and condescending. When taking our drink order, we asked questions regarding their alcoholic drinks. He seems beyond irritated and lacked patience. He wrote down 2 drinks and walked away when the others stated they were still reviewing the options. A friendly, “no problem take your time” would have sufficed. Later when one of our family members brought to his attention that there were sharp objects in her drink, he reached over the table and put his finger out and replied “that’s just rock sugar you’re fine”. Throughout our visit, there were extended moments of time where we would not see him despite needing assistance. Finally when the bill came, he simply dropped off a single tab for a table of 8. He did not go out of his way to ask how we would like the tab split and instead walked away only to return when he would be needing the payment. The food was mediocre. The rice and beans lacked flavor and the rice was very dry. I had the enchiladas which also lacked flavor and had large dry chicken chunks inside. We had to ask for water and salsa refills. For the amount of money spent here, this visit will certainly...

THIS PLACE IS RACIST TO LATINX PEOPLE. DO NOT EAT HERE... I go in the restaurant and ask the MANGER if we can be seated for 15. SHE THEN GOES ON TO SAY SHS CANNOT ACCOMADTE US BC OUR PARTY IS TOO LARGE. Mind you now the rest of my party goes in to ask the MANAGER for a seat for the same amount of people and she got seated. My friend who asked for the same request was white. SO HOW IS IT THAT THERE WAS NO SPACE FOR ME BUT YOU HAVE SPACE FOR MY WHITE FRIEND??? Mind you on top of the fact that I have a degree for a top 10 university and work at a prestigious law firm, because of the color of my skin color i was denied a spot to be seated, I WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND THIS PLACE TO ANYONE... & on top of the fact that we waited over an hour for food, it was TRASH. The manager is TRASH, the host are TRASH, and if you condone this type of behavior then you belong in a RACIST PLACE such as this. I promise you this place doesn’t deserve YOUR MONEY if you want real Authentic Mexican food go to SALSA AND BEER IN NORTH HOLLYWOOD. I know good Mexican restaurant when i see one. & this place is not the one. I hope you never have to experience this type of racism in our 21st century country...

This is the worst mexican food I've ever had. The service was okay. I went with my family for the first time after seeing a good review, so I decided to give this place a try.

Our waiter was nice. However, the service was slow, and she never came to refill our water and didn't even ask for a drink order.

The food frankly is the main reason for the low rating, THE FOOD WAS HORRENDOUS. The clientele was not mexican, which might explain why it has high reviews, maybe?? I really don't think you need to be mexican to be able to tell the mexican themed food was bad. I had a combo plate beef taco and Chile relleno. The beef taco was edible, so that's a plus, I guess. THE CHILE RELLENO WAS NASTYYYY, the cheese is no cheese I've ever had for a chile relleno it tasted like American cheese, had a somewhat plastic taste. But I felt the worst for my sister, who ordered a soup that tasted like actual booty. The worst part of this whole experience, we were all so hungry, and this just ruined our day even further. I really don't understand how you can mess up mexican food in LA??? I really didn't know that...