Taqueria El Huarache — Restaurant in Washington

2/26/22 - Being in the mood for Mexican food, hubby and I decided to try Taqueria El Huarache in Silverdale. We were the first ones there like we usually are for many restaurants. Elvia greeted us promptly with a friendly smile included; I requested a table, and then she took us to be seated in the bar area, which wasn't a problem. We asked for water, and she quickly brought us water along with chips and salsa! The first thing I noticed about the restaurant, aside from the friendly greeting, was it appeared to be a little bit outdated. The seating was a little rough around the edges, the flooring looked antiquated, and a lot was happening with decor and other items hanging off the walls and the entrance door. I appreciated the colorfulness of the decor as it felt authentic; the other things were a bit of a deterrent from the fun Hispanic items that adorned the restaurant. As I was sitting there and looking around as much as possible, it seemed relatively clean and had no weird, awkward smells; and all of the servers looked clean! I am sorry I am unable to voice my opinion on the restrooms.

*Before talking about the food, I have to talk about our charming server Elvia; she was fantastic, funny, accommodating, and friendly to a boot; for that said, everyone we came across was friendly, but she made you feel welcomed!

On to the food! So El Huaraches' menu is enormous, I lost count at fifty items, and I feel there were probably 20+ items still on the menu that I did not count. We decided because of the sheer number of choices; we would stick with the lunch specials; there were thirty-ish choices to choose from as well! I have always said more isn't necessarily better, and one must wonder, is the taste and quality being sacrificed for quantity?! And if their other meals are as good as ours was today, I'll be eating those words, lol.

I chose lunch special #1, which had one tamale with beef, beans, and rice. Hubby chose lunch special #9, the burrito; and the meat he chose was carne asada; his meal came with beans and rice. I was happily surprised to have a homemade tamale with homemade beans and rice. The beans and rice were good, but that tamale was great; maybe it's because I usually skip ordering tamales; after all, past ones haven't been that impressive, so I typically go with what I know, but this one was impressive, and I'm happy I chose it! Hubby's burrito with the carne asada meat, hands down, was divine; I can't say I have ever had carne asada that good ever, and he was extremely happy with his choice! One other very notable item was their salsa; We loved the chunkiness to it, loads of flavor, and a little tiny bite but nothing that would make you rush for a drink, just the perfect amount to enhance it.

We will definitely be returning!!

You can find Taqueria El Huaraches at: 9448 Silverdale Way NW, Silverdale, Washington. They are adjacent to what I would consider a small strip mall; however, they sit alone and are not connected to other buildings. Taqueria El Huaraches shares a considerable parking lot with Joy Teryaki, Top Nails, Liv Refreshed, and other small businesses. Across Silverdale Way, you find Grocery Outlet and Greens On Your Way. If you are craving Mexican food, now's the time to grace Taqueria El Huarache with your presence; I doubt you'll be disappointed!

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My wife and I have eaten here several times, tried many menu items and overall the food is ok, not great. We only come here because she likes the chile rellenos. I don't normally leave reviews but yesterdays lunch experience at Taqueria El Huarache left a lot to be desired. My wife ordered Daniel's Favorite and I ordered Asada y Camarones. Her meal of course had a chile relleno, and both meals had sauteed prawns in garlic butter sauce and carne asada. While they weren't real busy, we did have to wait a while for our food. At one point the waitress told us our food would be out shortly. Shortly after receiving our food a gentleman stopped by our table and asked how everything was, he appeared to be the cook, my wife just said fine as we hadn't taken a bite yet. So the first thing I tried was the carne asada, the meat was mushy and lacked flavor, like it was sitting in some liquid for to long, warmed up in a frying pan and plated. There was no char-broil, I didn't eat anymore. I asked my wife how her's was and she said the same thing and didn't eat anymore. We ended up taking the carne asada home and gave it to our dogs. Next I tried the prawns in garlic butter sauce, the prawns just didn't taste right, I couldn't put my finger on it, but my wife said they tasted funky and thats the best description I could come up with. We didn't eat them. We ended up eating the refried beans, some rice and flour tortillas and the chile relleno. At the end of the meal, the waitress asked how everything was and I wasn't going to say anything, but the meal was so bad I couldn't help myself. I told her honestly, the carne asada wasn't cooked right and I don't even know what to say about the prawns in garlic butter, but they weren't good. She offered to comp my meal, but I told her it wasn't necessary as I ate part of the meal. She went to get our ticket and moments later the person I assumed to be the cook appeared obiviously offended and said, "I came to your table earlier and asked how the food was and you said it was fine. If you had a problem with the food you should have said something then". This is why I never send food back to the kitchen and I normally don't comment. We liked the waitress but this was a bad dining experience overall. I don't know, I just expect the food to be cooked right and at least taste decent for $44.90 before tax and tip. I had wanted to go to Jack-In-Box, we both wished we had, the food tastes better there. Don't believe the reviews, this is a 3...

Been there twice. Had 2 very weird experiences. 1st time: I was there alone. The waiter sat down with me, at the booth, and tried to convince me to order an alcoholic drink. I declined. He told me to come back and he'd 'take care' of me when I was ready to drink.

2nd time: I brought a friend. He kept trying to get us to drink. We buckled. The same waiter as before, said it was on the house. 2 Mexican beers mixed with some clamato stuff. My friend found a hair in her food. The waiter told me he was going to bring me their best dish and not to worry about paying for it, because he would take care of it. It was over $20. Two guys we knew from mountain bike races walked in and sat down with us (I was done eating at the time). I told my friends how awesome of service we got and how I was going to leave a big tip for our waiter. I asked for my bill and it went south from there. He charged me for all of the 'extra' stuff I was never going to order in the first place and didn't finish. He walked by our table and looked at the 2 guys who were about to order. I said something like "oh I'm sorry, I just wasnt sure, I thought you mentioned you'd be giving me a discount for the things you wanted me to try." No joke, the waiter (owner's son) looks at the two guys and then us and says, "Haha yeah, that's was before they showed up. It's called a mail-in-rebate now". There was no mail-in-rebate. My bill was for $35 for just me. My friend and I just moved to the area, and was very sad about this experience. It was only our...