Vaquero Y Mar — Restaurant in Ventura

Delicious, well priced Mexican good. Don’t let this former Chinese restaurant location fool you and remember the adage you can’t judge a book only by its cover. The inside decor could use a little sprucing up, as it still has remnants of an older restaurant. Old time leather booths, dark interior and indoor stage reminds me of a cocktail lounge. If atmosphere was updated I would have given it 5 starts. Food, service, value definitely 5 star.

There were many things I liked. The service was attentive and friendly. Has the vibe of a small family run business. The guy at the door (host) seated us, served as our waiter and was seen behind the bar so he was wearing many hats. There was also a woman ( maybe owner?) and I hit who was helping out, very friendly and efficient.

The food overall was very good! 4.5 stars

The meal started out with not 1, but 2 baskets of homemade tortilla chips and salsa for 4 people. The salsa was tasty but not overly salty or spicy satisfying a wide range of palates in our group.

I ordered the Chile Relleno, rice, beans and a Taco Vaquero (I was hungry). Chile Relleno is probably one of my go to to measure a Mexican restaurant. This is probably one of the best Chile Rellenos I have had. The Chile Relleno had a large chile, with a good ratio of egg batter to the chile. It was NOT oil and had the right amount of red sauce too. Accompanying dishes were rice and refried beans- Yum. The Taco V was large and tasty. I appreciated the whole pinto beans that were inside of the taco, making it a more healthy choice. BTW- in case you were wondering I polished off almost everything, (and I’m little less than 5 feet tall- “fun-size”) but left some refried beans and rice behind to save room for dessert.

My husband ordered Camarones Al Gusto- Al mojo style. He thought the shrimp was well prepared, moist, de-tailed, de-shelled shrimp that was flavored with finely minced garlic that wasn’t overpowering which made for a most enjoyable meal. He commented on how well flavored the rice was and appreciated the hot homemade tortillas that came with his meal.

My sister-in-law had the burrito carnitas with the addition of cheese. The burrito was a good portion of tender carnitas and she managed to conquer eating half of it saving the rest for delicious leftovers for a later date.

My brother-in-law had the carne asada. Homemade hot corn tortillas with tasty, but somewhat disappointingly dry slices of beef, served with well liked rice and beans. It was good but he will opt to try something else the next time he goes there since the beef was dry.

Other accompaniments included regular margaritas, and jalapeño margaritas on the rocks which were refreshing and went down easy. We ended the meal by sharing one good sized flan. The flan was coated in cinnamon and was a more dense custard than I’m use to then a classic flan, but the almost pumpkin like flavors made it a winner in my mind.

I definitely would recommend for the food, and...

We came from out of town n thought it was ok to eat here. First impression was pretty bad, tables n benches were falling apart(that should have been a red flag). I order a blended margarita, but he said the blender broke because someone dropped it so I got it on the rocks, we asked for more red salsa and he said they run out because they didn’t have enough. Then I ordered beef taquitos and he said they did not have that, like he didn’t understand and he brought me two chicken flautas that were small like a child’s plate and charged us a dollar more then what the price on menu was, it was such a bad experience, I have never had service like that in my life n would never recommend this place to anyone!! You would think that this person had just opened up but really I think they’ve been open for a long time because everything was coming apart. There was also a broken window in front of the business and we didn’t see that till after we...

Came here with a friend and his daughter. When I arrived my friend said some guy who worked there (bartender) told him they closed and open at 5pm, it was only 3pm. I said that's not what their website says, happy hour starts at 3pm. I then told my friend let's go back in and sure as I thought they were open. I ordered a cocktail (Grey goose and tonic) the drink was all tonic water. I don't mind a weak drink but I watched the drink be made and the bartender who said they were closed only poured a drop in the glass and I'm not exaggerating. For lunch I order an asada burrito and as you can see in the pick there was like 4 little pieces of asada in the whole burrito. Food quality was horrible as well 2 bites and instant heat burn. I'll never eat hear again. In all everything sucked. Well I can't see how to attach a pic so sorry mo evident but believe me, ...