El Dorado Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Wilmington

Me and my 2 year old son ate here last night, after my gas stove went out unexpectedly. I love Mexican food and my son also does, so I thought it would be a good choice. His birthday was also on the 4th so I figured his favorite type of food (tacos, rice and fries) would make him a little happy even if he may not remember it. My server was excellent, he was very sweet and was very quick to refill drinks and very prompt on service. I ordered 3 carne asada tacos, some cheese dip, and a quesadilla kids meal for my son. When my child got a little fussy I didn't want to disturb guests so I immediately asked for a box and my check and began to head out. Around 12:50 this morning, disaster strikes. My son wakes up in pain, crying his eyes out, saying "mama help," and "belly hurt." Before I could even begin to assess the situation, he's vomiting everywhere. I draw him a bath and clean him up and pull the sheets from his bed only for it to happen a second, and then a third time. After I finally get him to go to sleep around 3AM, I also begin cyclically vomiting. The next morning, my son has very foul and putrid persistent diarrhea & vomiting, and continuously complains that "belly hurt"

I immediately return to the restaurant to let them know of a food borne illness and also to request a refund as I don't want to pay for food that made us very sick. I'm told "our boss left 10 minutes ago so you can come back later." I refuse, and they then tell me l have to "wait 20 minutes for a refund." Not only are food borne illnesses very serious especially for young children, but to arrive to the establishment and be told that I have to wait for hard earned money that I spent thinking that I would have a nice night is entirely unacceptable and also disrespectful to me as a patron. I strongly urge that if you bring young children here to pay attention to what you order and also keep your receipt! Currently I am sitting in my car with my sick young son waiting on this "boss" to refund me my money. The only reason this has any stars at all is my server was delightful.

This review has been cross posted to Yelp as well because I am so baffled and confused as to how the customer service can be so lacking to...

I have always loved this restaurant. My dad and I (who has passed) shared a love for this restaurant and a friend of mine(who has passed) shared a love for it. It took me years to come back because of the grief that had stricken me. After years of moving through that grief I've now been able to come back and share a love of it again with new people in my life and also gain a love for it again, myself. I now remember why I loved this place so much. Such great food. Beyond amazing service. Great pricing and a beautiful place to eat. We drove fifty miles to enjoy our meal and enjoy we did. We were all pleased and I got to both open a chapter and close an old one in doing so. My partner and I bought the fajitas ElDorado special with shrimp, chorizo, steak, and chicken. Such a huge amount given and could honestly feed three people easily. My daughter got the chimichanga platter and she absolutely enjoyed it. She has tried chimichangas at so many places and she's a bit picky on them because I make them at home and she's kinda spoiled in regards to that dish. When a restaurant can do that dish justice she's always excited. She loved that the dish came with the white cheese/queso on top of it too. All in all we were super happy with our trip here and I was amazed that the dishes purchased were just like I remember without anything changed. There was a reason this place was a fave then, and a reason this place is still a fave now. If you are questioning going I urge you to do it. You won't be...

Super loud restaurant, couldn’t hear the waiter due to the loud ambient noise of everyone talking. Could use some major sound suppression.

Wonderful staff, extremely polite, professional and helpful.

Very bright and warm colors which makes the restaurant very welcoming and nice.

Floors and tables thoroughly cleaned!

Huge dining area and even though the parking lot was full and many people were having dinner, there was no wait for a table.

Unfortunately not waiting for a table was countered by the wait between ordering and food reaching the table. Nearly an hour is way too long to wait for fajitas. Clearly they need a new ticket system / kitchen manager to better manage time by order or a larger kitchen to support their large seating area.

When I asked about the wait, I was just offered chips with salsa. Not the appropriate response for a guest waiting This long for their dinner.

Once the food arrived there was nothing exciting about it. The chicken and steak were tender and moist, the shrimp was over cooked but it was cleaned however there was no flavor, no pop, nothing to make you go “yum”. The only flavor in the entire meal was the Pico which was well seasoned and tasty but there was so little on the plate it couldn’t compete with the bland hot side of the fajitas.

Overall and extremely disappointed meal to what started as an amazing experience from when I walked in the door. Definitely don’t go here if you have a time limit for your meal, you will be waiting for a...