El Azteca

SO GOOD! Quick service, kind wait staff, free warm chips and salsa, kickass margaritas, and stellar food.
I always get the chicken enchiladas and a bunch of queso. The queso is so good that I have to refrain from drinking it straight from the bowl. The chicken in the enchiladas is always fresh and juicy. Wow, I am making myself drool.
It’s a fun place for birthdays! You get a free tequila shot and to wear a sombrero. What more could you want in a birthday?

We have been there several times. Usually great service and atmosphere. Tonight not so much but typically a great place, might have had an off night.

One of our favorite Mexican places to eat at. We go mostly to the one in north Ames. It is a family favorite and go for a lot of special occasions. The food is always great. The place is always busy. My son loves going for his birthday the most!

It’s not the worst, but it’s not the best. But it’s like every other Mexican restaurant: fast, courteous and at a great price. I keep returning because it’s a nice relaxed place to have lunch with friends.

This is my favorite Mexican restaurant in Ankeny & should be yours. Why? They have great friendly staff & wonderful customer service. They have a decent menu but not 8,000 pages long. Everything from their burritos, tacos, fajitas, enchiladas to their free chips & salsa, dips, margaritas, and imported beers are delicious. The service is speedy even when busy. They have decent specials & even something for your birthday. Their prices are also good in the first place.

El Azteca rocks. Food consistent. Margaritas are not weak. Love chile verde. Spicey. Always busy but man they are efficient. Never had more than 45 minute wait at busiest time on weekend. Usually 15– 20 minutes. Best part is the staff. Waiters, hosts, and bartenders are alway friendly and just engaged in what they are doing. Just watch out. They move fast with huge plates of food! Never seen a spill though! Perfecto!

Place was packed, especially for a Tuesday night. There wasn’t an empty table in the place. Salsa was pretty spicy for an appetizer with the on par chips. Food was pretty good. Drinks were strong.

I love El Azteca. Love. I’ve only been to the Stange location, but I’ve never had a less than stellar meal and the service is always friendly.
Every visit to El Azteca begins with complementary chips and salsa. The chips are always fresh and hot and the salsa is a nice consistency with good flavor. The salsa is just slightly spicy but you can add hot sauce to make it hotter if you so choose.
My favorite entrees are the Chori-​Pollo (chorizo and chicken covered in cheese) and the Pollo al Chipotle (chicken breast covered in a chipotle cream sauce). Both dishes come with hot tortillas so you can make little burritos with your dish. Yum!

Me and my girlfriend were looking for a good mexican restaurant and we found El Azteca! And I can say that the food was VERY good. Chips and Salsa were served right away and they have my favorite Mexican pop; Jarritos. The only reason I’m not giving this 5 stars is the waiter seemed like he was a little grumpy, and it took a long time to get a refill on drinks.
Still gr8 though! ⁸⁄₈

Best Mexican food in Ames hands down. The Waiting staff is consistently friendly and fast. Food portions are great and meals always come to your table hot. Free warm tortilla chips and salsa for your table, and they’re good enough you could almost eat just them for your meal.

Margarita was awesome. Food was super average

I’m sucking down a great strawberry margarita. Maybe two. Loving the super nachos at reasonable prices. What’s not to like?

Nice place, food ok for Mexican, margaritas not the best. Nice atmosphere and nice area.

I’ve always been a fan of El Azteca. The service is extremely great no matter if its busy. You can look at your empty glass of water then look away for 10 seconds and it seems to always be refilled. Same goes for the chips and salsa. My go to at any Mexican restaurant are fajitas. Their chile rellenos are also great though!

The service is always so bad. They are just rushing and don’t bother to stay one second longer for your service. Slow service also. If you don’t want to die hungry, then don’t come here, though I love the large quantity of Mexican food.

I’m a huge fan of El Azteca. Any time family comes to town, I always suggest it.
Their salsa is super fresh and they don’t stop bringing it as you run out. Their drinks are very strong, though a tad bit overpriced (I’d rather have a regular strength drink at a regular price).
After visiting other mexican restaurants in some of my friends’ hometowns, I originally thought their restaurants were bad but eventually came to realize that El Azteca is just really good!
They may not be the MOST authentic mexican place but they are pretty delightful. The meat is well seasoned and just spicy enough to please everyone. I tend to add a little hot sauce or salsa to up the spicy though. I appreciate that their beans and rice taste fresh and not like they make one big batch for a week on end.
The only points deducted is how quick everything comes. I barely have time to start my drink before my food is already at the table. This is great for a meal in a rush, but overall I prefer to be in a restaurant for 45 minutes to an hour to find it truly enjoyable.

The margs here are great. It’s usually busy, so make sure you get there early. The ONLY bummer about the place is that the chips they serve aren’t salted. I highly recommend trying their queso!

Nice run of the mill Mexican food, and for Ames, it’s quite good. The service is always great, and I don’t think it’s possible for food to come out quicker. Parking is limited, and if you hit it during a dinner or lunch rush, it’s not unusual to have a 10 minute wait. Shrimp tacos are excellent, but then again, the carnitas is my personal go to menu item.

El Azteca is a fantastic Mexican restaurant in Somerset. Lunch prices are extremely affordable and of very high quality. The quesadilla and enchilada that I had were both very good, and didn’t skimp on quantity despite being a lunch special.
Service is incredibly friendly and quick, notably so. The servers are all excited to get your food, drinks, and are especially excited if you have a birthday. El Azteca doesn’t skimp on alcohol when you order a drink, a nice change from a lot of other similar venues. All around the dining areas are TVs with sports on, and there are a number that focus exclusively on futbol and other more Hispanic sports.
The reasonable prices, high quality of good, and great atmosphere all make El Azteca a great place to go for lunch, dinner, or drinks.

We typically go to the Dayton Avenue location as it’s closer to our house, but last time we decided to venture out and visit the Somerset location for a change. The restaurant is nice. The food is the same as the other location, which is to say that it’s delicious! I even ordered something different. I have a tendency to always order enchiladas, but I got the arroz con pollo this time and it was terrific. Definitely something I’ll order again.
For some reason, the margaritas are better at the Somerset location, so they’ve got that going for them.