El Salto Mexican Cuisine — Restaurant in South Carolina

Five stars for this place feels unjustifiable… can we make it 10? Everything was right about this place, the service, food, and atmosphere literally made me feel at home. Mi amigos (I feel like I can’t call them just guys anymore) were super friendly and we had a blast with talking (I hope me talking about HRD didn't ruin anything - I caught myself lol). The price was very good, especially with the food we got. The thing Dad got was so huge, my eyes almost popped out of my head and my jaw almost hit the floor (you definitely meant it when you said grande)! I’m definitely ordering that next time. My order was good too, the steak was amazing and the hot sauce that came in the bowl that Mom ordered from them... that hot sauce was peak! It made me wonder if you could start bottling that stuff and selling it, that was one of the absolute best hotsauces I’ve ever tasted. We stayed three hours and some of the servers even came outside when we were leaving to engage in conversation with us and give us all handshakes and hugs for a farewell. Next level stuff here! 5 minutes down the road, and we’re already talking about going again 😆. I have admired all the Mexican restaurants I have went to so far, but this one is quite special. Gracias for this experience, keep shining mi amigos!

P.S: I hope I didn’t make someone feel some sort of way when I thumbed up at the blinds being closed - I think I may’ve come across as wanting the blinds closed but asking nobody, but I meant to show my approval for the exceptional service here and the things they do for their guests without them asking. I’ll remember next time to be more complimentary with words rather than my thumbs next time lol 😅. The amigo responded professionally and nicely to my thumbs up with affirming words and some pats on the back, even though I could tell he probably felt some kind of way about that, again showing the true hearts of these people. They care a lot about how things are done here and wanted me to feel comfortable with asking them to do stuff, and tried their best not to show offense. Also, sorry if this review is so long, but I couldn't miss out on any of these details… to those reading this, this place is definitely recommended, perhaps even more… (writes commandment on the wall)… thou shalt go to El Salto...

El Salto has been on our "Want to Go" list for too long! We live near a strip of ethnic restaurants and have taken chances in many places. We are very glad we came here!

The menu has your normal fare for Mexican cuisine, but enough variety that you may need a moment to decide. I love that part, and I loved that I could explain a substitution needed. I can't eat beef, so I asked for the Lunch Enchiladas Supremas (usually one chicken, one beef, one cheese) with two cheese and a chicken. My husband had the Lunch Speedy Gonzales. Both dishes were very good, not swimming in liquid like other places we've been. Everything tasted fresh and well thought out. We were even impressed with the chips and salsa, considering many restaurants have an extremely mild and watered-down salsa, but not here. It had a good level of spice, considering my tolerance is non-existent. It was an overall pleasant adventure of tastes.

Our waiter was also at the front host station, sat us, and took our orders. It wasn't busy, but I was observing how quickly he responded to people and tables. He was incredible! He was even kind enough to teach me "eres grandioso," which I then complimented to him. (I asked for the best translation for "you're awesome.") Regardless, he could not have been more amazing and friendly. I never caught his name, but he was well deserving of much more than we could give as a tip. You couldn't be disappointed with him if you tried.

The atmosphere is also normal for a place like this, but I will compliment it, too. The music was at a perfect volume, the higher and midrange of the music didn't pierce my eardrums like a lot of other places have done and still do. My only gripe is that a fellow patron was way too loud, to the point that everyone knew her business. Inside voices are important... Anyway, I included a short video and pictures of the inside.

Overall, we were very impressed with the price. We spent about $23 for two entrees, which were portioned and made well for the price. We will definitely be...

San Diegan/Tijuanero, so I am biased to every single place that’s not from my area. Don’t get me started with Tex mex. That ain’t real food (I’m a get some haters, and it’s ok) It’s not just like home but it is still pretty good. My taste buds might have diminished coming from Germany (Mexican food sucks there), Loved: Cóctel de camarón (exactly how I like it, no need to add anything else). Shrimp quesadilla (tasted great, my son loved it minus the veggies, but for an adult it was great). Chicken tostada (great), where was the tostada? It was a little soft for my taste, but everything above the tostada was great. Chips ( they were great, I hate chips but I ate these because they were nice and warm. I didn’t try the salsa but I did dip them in the shrimp cocktail (greatness).

Improvements: Horchata was ok, I drank it all because I was thirsty but didn’t order for a second time. Chicken enchilada, dint remember if it was great but I did inhale it ( I was starving), I will go with good enough. Tamales are also ok, nothing special but they are edible.

Biggest disappointment is the burrito, unless it was a carne asada burrito with nothing but meat inside, and queso over the top. (I think they gave me the wrong one as I think about it more). I was expecting a big burrito but I was just a regular one ;) (Need bigger tortillas, add the toppings inside ie; meat, pico de gallo, some French fries would be great too.

A little thing about me is I don’t consider ground beef Mexican food, ground beef is a taco bell thing. So I won’t even bother trying.

I kind of wished I took pictures but I was just inpatient and ate it all lol. But here is a picture...