El Potrillo Mexican Grill — Restaurant in Virginia Beach

El Potrillo Mexican Grill is located on Lynnhaven Pkwy. near the intersection with Holland Rd. The place is not hard to see from the roadway. My visit here was on January 1, 2025.

I've passed by this place several times over the past few years. I think one of the reasons I hadn't been here yet was because every time I would go by, the parking lot never looked too busy. What brought me in to try the place was twofold. I always plan to visit a place that is new to me every year on January 1st. I also had a coupon for there on the back of a receipt from Kroger Marketplace. From the outside, it doesn't stand out from other places in that area.

Once coming inside, the place looks bigger than it does from the outside. There were some others in there, but it took them a few minutes to even seat us. Once we were seated, we were able to take a look at the menus and also get some drinks. Chips, Salsa and White Sauce were also brought to the table. After having some time to look over the menu, we decided to first get an appetizer, which was the El Potrillo Dip. Once that came out, we were ready to order the entrees. I decided to go with the Fajita Burrito with Chicken, but not having the tortilla. My mom got the Fajita Burrito with steak.

After ordering, we had time to indulge in the El Potrillo Dip. The dip was really good and was a great combination of flavors. We both liked it. About 15-20 minutes or so after ordering, the entrees came to the table. The food looked really good too. After getting into the entrees, it was very filling, even for me without having the tortilla. The taste of the food was really good too.

Service was okay overall. It seemed like others were more priority, especially those at the bar. Also, at times it did feel out of place for me because everyone else there, including patrons, were all having conversations in Spanish.

Overall, this wasn't a bad first experience for me. The awkward feeling didn't help either when it comes to my experience. The fact that the food was really good though would have me come back and try them again in the future. I've even got another coupon on the back of my latest Kroger...

By several other reviews, it is apparent this place is extremely racist among several groups. I was picking up a to go order when the shortest waiter( didn’t catch his name) approached me. I told him I had a to go order and he hurriedly exclaimed, ITS NOT READY YET. I simply asked when would my order possibly be done and he then shrugged with no answer, with him also walking away. He even spoke to another waiter in his native language and glared over at me( this implies he was talking about me. Another other patrons whom also had a pickup order came in and was met and sent off in a pleasant manner from the same waiter. This will be my very last time coming to this unwelcoming place, and I have also informed my colleagues of my experience, to which they told their friends/family and will no longer bring their business to this place. Repulsive behavior such as this will lead to this place...

If i could do less then one star i would. Went here for dinner with a small group of friends. A friend had got a beef quesadilla, The meat in the quesadilla was not cooked all the way and the manager came up to our table and tried to argue with my friend about how the meat just looked like that because it had seasoning on. The person that came to our table was extremely rude and had an attitude immediately when he walked up to the table. At our table was extremely upset and just wanted him to apologise and remove it from the friend's bill. But for some reason all he wanted to do was argue with us about how the meat was cooked all the way and it's all the same meat and the meat is always cooked here. This actuality all we wanted was an apology for the uncooked food and it to be removed from the bill. Aredas satisfied would...