El Vaquero Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Upper Arlington

Middle-class milquetoast white bread white people. That's just describing the food here as well as the crowd. I don't know what it is about middle-class white people but they seem to think this kind of stuff is Mexican mainly because it's made with tortillas and served by nothing but Mexican folks speaking Spanish to one another. People this is not Mexican food. This is Corporate America's idea of something approaching the Border where they want to build a big wall for some reason. Before you even sit down there's a basket of typical chips and something that is supposed to be salsa in a little bowl. This is not salsa. This is Pace not even picante' sauce. New York City? More like Plainsville Indiana. No spice, no flavor, nada. There's a couple bottles of your typical hot sauce so if you dump some of the habanero in there it might be okay plus a little pepper. The menu is typical corporate fare. No special on a Friday so I got what is supposed to be a three course meal for 12 or 13 bucks. Since they had already dumped lettuce and tomato on most of their dishes I opted for the soup instead of the salad to begin. The soup once again is your fake corporate idea of something Mexican which they like to call tortilla soup. The one Saving Grace is it was loaded with chicken probably left over from the last few days. Plain Jane ordinary but filling. Don't order the burritos whatever they are. It's supposed to be carnitas but turned out to be that pork in BBQ sauce you can buy at the grocery store in little plastic tubs. Overly sweet not really barbecue sauce and pork that doesn't taste roasted fried grilled or anything more like boiled to tastelessness. Kind of plain served way too fast as I was only halfway done with my soup when the guy dumped the small enchilada like burritos on my table. Again one Saving Grace probably what was a whole avocado sliced up on top. They don't have that great lime Juice drink that you can find in California and elsewhere these Mexican guys didn't even know what it was so I got the lemonade with extra lime slices that turned out to be completely without lime juice inside of them. Sliced limes behind the bar for garnish without a drop of lime juice within. Driest lime slices I've seen in a long time. Once again I was only about halfway done with these Plain Jane tub-o barbecued pork things when he plopped a plate of dessert whatever they were supposed to be. Not the nice fluffy pastry like ones you're supposed to get with honey and cinnamon drizzled on them this was more like yet another flour tortilla dropped in hot oil. This meal is sitting in my gut like a sun-dried brick baking under the Guadalajara desert sunshine. I failed to take a photo of it so I'm including a picture of more fake Mexican music in my car which is actually just more pop music masquerading as Hispanic. Here's to imperialistic Woodrow Wilson's guns! Send Lawyers,...

My family and I celebrated a wonderful "birthday dinner" on 11-11-2023 at El Vaquero Mexican Restaurant at 2195 Riverside Dr. in Upper Arlington.

Over the years, I have eaten many times at the El Vaquero at 3230 Olentangy River Rd. but had never before eaten [as far as I can recall] at the El Vaquero at 2195 Riverside Dr.

I had always assumed that the El Vaquero at 2195 Riverside Dr. is across the street from Upper Arlington but learned, several days after we had eaten there, while carefully checking the Upper Arlington map, that that restaurant is actually in Upper Arlington even though they are on the west side of Riverside Dr.

We had arrived for our "birthday meal" during the late afternoon after we had briefly visited several places just north of there [Frank's Marathon and two locations within Griggs Reservoir Park] immediately before sunset so that I would be able to take some photographs of those places while the sun had still been shining.

The restaurant had been nearly empty when we had arrived but quickly became crowded as people started to arrive for "happy hour" specials and/or for late-afternoon meals.

My food choice that afternoon had been #40: "Chicken Burrito and Chicken Enchilada" [one burrito and one enchilada topped with lettuce, sour cream, and tomato].

If you are looking for delicious Mexican food served in an energetic environment, I recommend El Vaquero [at any of their...

When dining in I can give this restaurant 4 stars, when taking out I give this restaurant 1 star. It's the second time I've ordered take out from this restaurant and unfortunately I am left disappointed again. My first takeout order was supposed to be a chicken enchilada and chicken soft taco. The taco was delicious, all the sides correct and delicious, but the "enchilada" was literally just a tortilla rolled up and covered in sauce with absolutely no filling whatsoever. I figured someone must have had a long day and made a mistake - the taco filled me up so I wasn't upset. Tonight I ordered 2 chicken soft tacos with a side of refried beans, guacamole salad and chips with queso. When I got to the restaurant my food had been sitting in a heater, which is great, except that included my guacamole salad. So, it's now been an HR since I picked up my order (for the first time) and my guacamole salad is still hot after sitting in the freezer for 45mins. I don't think it's safe to eat - warm guac and lettuce = food poisoning. I also did not receive my side of beans OR the queso. I did have to go back to the restaurant and pick up the sides they...