El Rodeo — Restaurant in Scarborough

I have been here a couple times now and also tried them on Doordash. The reality is, they are so-so. Not bad, but average enough that I'm not excited to go again. But, they are convenient for me with location and hours, so I will continue to go there until I find a better alternative or they win me over.

The bar drinks are perhaps their highlight. As for food, tonight I had carnitas that came with salad, beans, and rice. The salad was just lettuce and a spoonful of pico and a spoonful of sour cream. The carnitas were dried out. The beans and rice were tasty. For a starter they bring over chips and salsa, which is standard fare at Mexican restaurants. The salsa had too much cilantro and the cup it came in was too small. I had 10 chips and ran out of salsa.

The service was my biggest issue. Both times I visited, I had my food long before I had silverware. Most of the staff seemed like they didn't care if there were customers or not. Not rude, Just indifferent.

Also, the posted hours and actual hours never seem to match up. Twice I went to visit during their posted hours, and they were closed. Tonight I was going to get a second drink, but they were closing an hour early.

UPDATE: I have visited one more time since my initial review (three visits and one Doordash delivery in total). The host at the door is perhaps the worst choice in the entire staff. This person seemed like they wished they could be anyone but here. My server was awesome, but the host that begrudgingly led me to a table was one of the worst hosts I have experienced so far, this place or elsewhere. Another issue I have is the way they serve the chorizo dip - on a ridged hot pan. This causes the dip to harden quickly. It also makes it hard to get the dip on the chips due to the ridges. I added a pic. It was tasty, but twice I ordered it and both times I only ate half before it congealed into hard useless mess. I honestly am giving up on them after four tries and...

8:26pm Ordered 2 meals togo, the same meal; identical. For some reason the girl who took my order made a point to tell me that the kitchen closes soon. After she took my order.... Me : "You close at 9 Right? Her: "Yeah" Me: " Ok ?... Am i too late to order? Her: "No we just close really soon" Me : "O K.... Yeah 9 right? ill be there before you close"

The Good:

Carnitas were tasty and as expected from a flavor standpoint. Salsa: True to the El Rodeo tradition Rice: tasty, fluffy, not too oilly. Beans: properly Seasoned.

The Less than Good: Mismatched Meals. Literal Inconsistency demonstrated on a 2 meal Ticket. One Meal had 170 grams of carnitas meat in it and the other for some reason only had 85 grams of meat? why? Same meal prepared side by side, literally half the portion. We laughed when we unpacked it because it looked so obviously wrong. I got the scale to ensure it wasnt just visual; And i evened out the meals for fairness while i was at it.

The Beans. I strained the liquid from my side of black beans. there were maybe 2 tablespoons of black beans and paste. Ill include a pic of beans vs liquid. The other side of Black Beans was a typical ratio on beans to sauce and looked solid.

Chips, They fry them in house, should be easy to have a delicious chip. Unfortunately i got large bag of stale chips. mmmm yesterday chips. maybe Fry them in smaller batches or store them in a dehumidified location so people can experience the actual benefit of frying your own.

This was a Hastily prepared meal which is baffling because this meal requires no actual cooking on the cooks part, just portion to to-go containers. I honestly Feel like the cook made one meal and then went for the next one and was running out of stuff but just sent it anyways.

El Rodeo South Portland has always taken care of me and my Gringo-Mex needs more than adequately for years. First visit to Scarborough makes me want to stick with the SoPo location until they...

We live close-by & tried this restaurant for the first time Friday evening (Scarborough location). We sat at the bar & ordered drinks & dinner. The atmosphere is that of a cute Mexican Diner, welcoming & warm (love the warm lighting). A nice place for singles or families & not too loud. The food was very good, not the very best Mexican I’ve ever had but very good. The menu had a great selection & the prices were reasonable. We ordered a dish made for 1 & shared it. It was plenty for the 2 of us & we still brought a leftover serving home. The Margarita was delicious but so big I couldn’t finish it (a good problem to have) & the service was excellent. I can’t count how many times we were checked on to see if we needed anything (very unobtrusively). A huge portion of complimentary chips & salsa arrived immediately when we sat down. I like my salsa with a little more sweetness to it & I prefer white corn but that’s just my preference. It was still very good. The only complaint we have that will influence whether we make this an option in the future is the guy who was sitting at the end of the bar that night. He was so loud & vulgar, bragging about himself with expletives, including many f-bombs. This while a family with a young little girl sat within earshot. He was extremely obnoxious. We noticed the couple who sat next to us didn’t stay long. We even noticed one of the employees glancing his way throughout our dinner. If this guy’s a regular at El Rodeo, we won’t be. Other than that, it was a great experience & we’d love to go back. Plenty of free parking & a nice outside seating area for...