El Vaquero — Restaurant in Toledo

Here's my assessment. Take from it what you will. Drink order was brought out quickly, but wrong. no plates for the salsa and chips, which makes for a very messy snacking experience. I ordered a $15 triple combo, a beef quesadilla, a hard beef taco no lettuce (I'm allergic), and a soft beef taco no lettuce. What was brought out was a hard beef taco no lettuce (which wasn't bad, but wasn't worth anywhere near $5), a beef soft taco that was so piled with soggy lettuce that it was swimming in the lettuce juice. Idk what the third thing was, but it was openfaced, piled with tomatoes, and on a crunchy shell. So whatever tf it was, by definition, it was not a quesadilla. It's as if our server stopped listening halfway through my order. He got one item right, one item halfway right, and then tuned out and guessed on the third If you got a $5 tip tonight, then this message is for you. It's sad cuz they used to have really good food and service. I'm very picky about my mexican food, but they used to be really really good. The Mrs. thought that her enchilada supreme was ok and the kid loved her chicken strips and fries (but she loves everybody's chicken strips and fries). We won't...

So here's the thing, I am always skeptical of a restaurant that is being run out of an old Denny's. Fortunately El Vaquerio proved to be one of the few exceptions to the rule. For starters, the service was pretty good, now he didnt try and upsell or anything, but he was polite, attentive and attended to our needs appropriately. Next, The speed at which the food came to us was amazing! I ordered, had a few of the complementary chips and next thing I know, the food is being delivered! That was important because in this world where time is everything, they did not take extra from me. Which leads me to the next thing, presentation. I ordered the xangos cheesecake and it came out very well presented, like they actually took pride in their work. Finally the quality of the food, I ordered the Burro Grande with Steak and no rice or refried beans. That is exactly the way it came out the first time and it was easily the best burrito I have had in years. They did not skimp on the steak, like most places. It was filling but did not leave me feeling stuffed. I was thoroughly impressed and pleased with this restaurant and were it not so far away from home, I would...

Prior to choosing this restaurant to celebrate two special events for our family, we called the restaurant to ensure we didn't need or couldn't get a reservation. They advised no reservations could be taken and there should be no issue getting a party of six in at that time. Fast forward to that evening, we arrived just before 6 and checking in, we were provided a number with what we were told would be a 20 minute wait... An hour and 10 minutes later, we are finally Sat at one 'normal' table that has had a folding table pulled up to it to allow for additional seating. Clearly they were already at capacity and added more folding tables to fit more in. I'm sure this is a fire code violation. Service was alright. We had to ask a couple of times for random items(refills, silverware, chips...). I was never asked if I wanted a refill for myself. When we did mention to our server about our prior dissatisfaction she throws her manager under the bus. Unfortunately, this is the second year we have had a nearly identical experience when going for a birthday and we will not be returning. The food is very good, it's too bad the service can't match...