El Rey Tacos & Beer — Restaurant in Tallahassee

My husband and I have been visiting Central Mexico for the past 15 years, living there half the year for the past three years. So we love and eat A LOT of Mexican food! El Rey, located next door to Red Eye Coffee, is the first time we have found delicious, authentic Mexican that isn’t Tex-Mex. The carnitas torta was large yet not heavy. The bread was thick, yet fluffy and light, with a crispy crust. They bring it in from a Mexican baker in Cairo, GA! The torta (Mexican sandwich, only $13) was flavorful and loaded with fresh ingredients. We’re big lovers of lengua (cow tongue) and we were excited to try the El Rey street-style soft taco. ($4 ea) So moist, tender and flavorful. The lengua is diced into small pieces so even a reluctant diner won’t be intimidated to try this tasty morsel. And the nopales (cactus) tacos are definitely authentic. A crazy surprise- the French fries! Firm, crispy, not the least bit greasy with a perfect fluffy, tasty center. The young owners, Adriana and Mauricio moved to Tallahassee a year or so ago and are committed to delivering an authentic taste of Mexico to Midtown. Gil and I are thrilled to have them in our ‘hood! We’ll be gathering up our neighbors for an evening at El Rey. We encourage you to...

This place is an absolute joke. El Rey Tacos & Beer served some of the worst food I’ve ever had the misfortune of eating. The chips were bland, stale, and tasted like cardboard. The “guacamole” was literally just plain smashed avocado — no seasoning, no lime, no effort. Calling it guacamole is an actual scam.

The tacos? Pathetic. The shrimp and chicken were completely unseasoned — no spice, no flavor, nothing. Like eating rubber wrapped in a tortilla. The queso was gritty, weirdly salty, and honestly inedible.

But the worst part? The burrito. It was a disaster. Plain white rice with no seasoning or cilantro, no cheese, and chewy, flavorless steak that felt like eating rubber bands. The lettuce was wilted and tasted off, like it had been sitting in a fridge too long.

And all of this garbage cost FORTY DOLLARS. Yes, forty dollars for food that was barely edible. I cannot believe I paid that much for what felt like punishment.

Save your money, your taste buds, and your dignity. This place is an embarrassment. DO NOT...

I was excited to try this place based on the good reviews I’d seen. The cashier/server was super sweet and helpful, but the food took a while to come out (not awesome when you have kids with you), and it wasn’t really hot when it got there. The kids quesadilla was very underwhelming and the fries were not appealing. The torta had good flavor, but didn’t have a lot of meat on it, so overall it was pretty disappointing just because of the rave reviews. It wasn’t really busy for a Saturday night, so not sure if it was a fluke. May try again with my husband another time to see if it was a one-off. I want to stick to local restaurants when we do eat out, which we’ve been trying to cut back on due to costs constantly going up. Hopefully it was just...