El Tapatio

A very Americanized version of Mexican food. Most everything is covered in melted cheese and will be swimming in grease. Good fast service, but the waiters seemed to give my teen daughter too much (unwanted) stares and ogles. I cannot eat there without getting intestinal distress — I guess from all the grease or lard.

Excellent service. The mixed fajitas are incredibly good. Great chips and salsa. Great value for quality food.

Terrific Mexican food. Compares well with the best in OKC or Dallas. We stopped by on our way back from Dallas for a last «low cal» meal .
They featured three kinds of salsa. One mild, one chunky and one that is quite spicy! With the fresh chips they were all delicious and of course we overdid it.
We tried three entrees. The chili Colorado, the Guadalajara chicken and the the chicken/​beef fajitas. They were all as good as it gets.
Rice and beans. so so. The guacamole was super.
The frosted, salted mugs of Mexican beers were refreshing to say the least.
The wait staff was all over us with their kindness and concern for our comfort. They pulled up an extra table for us since our booth table was a little close.
We will be back!

This little place is one of my favorite restaurants in the whole world. The food is uniformly excellent, but what makes El Tapatio special to me is the habanero salsa. I like it hot, and this stuff is HOT. And they have plenty. I typically go through three bowls on my way through a #4, which is just the right amount of food, the perfect variety plate. If you like shrimp and spice, don’t miss the camarones del diablo. Hot. The queso is blanco and just excellent. And these guys have the best tortilla soup I’ve ever had, anywhere. We always get fast, friendly service. Finally, the prices are unbeatable. Really a superb little Mexican restaurant on every dimension.

My go-​to Mexican joint in Ardmore. Great service, good food at a good price. Their Chicken Soup is very good but my favorite dish is the Chili Colorado. Give it a try.

Meal was tasty, Margarita was strong, service was excellent. (Waiter Alex was very helpful) I was on a road trip with a 3 year old and we had to leave the table once, needed extra napkins, yada yada… bathrooms were clean, which is also very important.

We stopped here after looking at a review on Unilocal.I apparently did not look at enough reviews. One person said how good the white queso was and that was it in my opinion. I am a Mexican food lover being from Texas, but I don’t know where this «Mexican food» came from. I will judge a Mexican restaurant immediately by their salsa especially since that is the first thing you eat. Tasted just like Pace Picante Sauce. So I ordered the white queso… very good. Ordered chicken fajita quesadilla and beef/​chicken fajitas for the family… no seasonings at all. It tasted like they just threw some chicken on a grill with oil and put it in a tortilla. Beef had no flavor and was chewy. Also concerned about how dark the place is. I think they keep it dark to cover up the dirt. Blinds very dusty with stuff splattered on them and the walls. I looked over to see my son eating some refried beans on his hand. We hadn’t ordered any refried beans… they were on the side of the table. Then I looked around and saw salsa stuck to the sides of the table next to us too! Service was slow. Very bad experience overall. Will never return even for the excellent white queso.

The price is not bad, but after you eat there a few times you realize that everything tast the same. Im not joking, it all tast the same. I do not even call it mecican food. If you want mexican food in Ardmore go to Casa Romo, or if you do not mind the drive to Norman go to Teds Escondido Café.

One of my favorite places to eat in Ardmore. Many menu items to choose from, tons of food. Mango Margaritas… awesome! They don’t scrimp on the alcohol. White Cheddar Queso. One of the few Mexican restaurants that offer Fried Ice Cream, and Flan for dessert. The sopappias are generous and delicious. My favorite plate is the chicken chimichanga, but no matter what you choose, it will be good.

Outstanding service, great menu & food, place was a little dark but overall a very good dining experience.

The best Mexican I have had in Ardmore! Super fast service for a crowded Friday night, never felt rushed, food was piping hot, tortillas are the best. Definitely stop in on the way to and from big D. Will definitely return.

Excellent food and outstanding service. I had the enchiladas supremas. Wonderful. It is nice to be able to get 4 kinds of enchiladas on one plate!
Generous serving sizes too.

The food is bland but its cheap. Its been a while since I have been but their health inspection record appears to have greatly improved in the last few years.
Still I don’t see the point when there is a much better offering downtown.

There are two El Taps in Ardmore… and they both serve very good Mexican food! The margaritas are VERY GOOD! The staff can sometimes seem put off, but overall not bad.

What a pleasant surprise found in Ardmore, OK. Wife and I just moved to the area for my job and we were dying for some decent Mexican food.
After trying a few of the other places in the area we had decided that the ones we tried were trying to compete with Taco Bell instead of proving their own worth.
This place offers a nice relaxing atmosphere and they had a few televisions scattered around the small place but each one had something different on so it made for interesting viewing.
The building itself is a little deceiving because it used to be an Arby’s or Chinese fast food place but that being said, the chips and salsa were fresh, the guacamole was a nice vibrant avocado green instead of the brownish color we kept running into. We both ordered the spicy chicken chimichanga and although we are used to a larger tortilla filled with meat, we were both surprised at the flavor that was delivered. The rice and beans that accompanied the meal were on par for what you would expect, both hot and cooked properly.

I’m from Texas (where Mexican food is pretty consistently good) and maybe my standards are just really high, but this food was mediocre at best. We were traveling on 35 South and I turned to Unilocal for advice on lunch. When we first saw it, we almost kept driving upon seeing that it is housed in an old fast food restaurant. But we decided to go in only based on all of the positive Unilocal reviews.
The staff was very friendly. The restrooms were clean.
But the food… Not great. The tostada chips were very thick and not crisp… They almost tasted stale although I’m sure they weren’t. The guacamole had no taste whatsoever. It’s like someone just ground up a bunch of avocados but forgot the lime juice and the onions, etc. My fiancée ordered beef and chicken combination fajitas — he said the chicken were decent but the beef was very chewy. I had the shrimp quesadilla and it was alright but there was no shredded cheese in there (just a little bit of white queso sprinkled in) to hold it all together so I couldn’t even pick them up. All this for $ 26. :-/​
Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this one and wouldn’t go again.

The best Mexican food I have eaten in a long time, the staff was great, can’t say anything bad about the place, if you are near go, you won’t regret it… The tamarind and horchata water wow!!!, we ate the carne asada tacos yummy!!. Even the nachos and salsa they serve for free were delicious. The Mexican avocado without the jalapenos was outstanding. Did not had space for dessert so you now how satisfied I was and I’m a big guy. Go and enjoy.
Thanks
Jc

Ordered takeout, and didn’t mind waiting as they cooked the entrées from fresh ingredients. We both had shrimp dishes, and both enjoyed the flavors. They provided little sides of iceberg lettuce and tomatoes, flour tortillas, chips, and salsa. They use quality to-​go containers to keep the food good and hot. Nice place; it is a real restaurant created from an old fast food place. Pleasantly surprised.

I’ve been traveling away from home (SoCal) and this was a pleasant surprise! I grew up ON the California Mexico border so finding comfort food on the road is tough! The carne asada tacos were pretty close to legit tacos! I’ll be back for sure! If they don’t bring out the «salsa verde» with your chips, request it. (Rubbing my belly)

YUMO!
That’s what I been missing out on!
Right off of I-​35 the smallest of the El Tapatio’s locations packs a mean punch! I can’t believe I waited so long to try this location!
From the outside it doesn’t look like much but inside it’s all brand new! Styled in the usual over the top fun multi colored Mexican motif, super cute with a tiny three barstool bar, well appointed tables & comfy cozy booths. Def the best décor of all the locations. I especially liked the pink ceiling in the ladies room :)
The menu is the same El Taps menu as the other four locations but, WOW dare I say the food is even better at this location!
Hubby & I dropped in for lunch as its now the closest location for us traveling back & forth to OKC and What a pleasant surprise! It’s as good if not freaking better than my fave location in Texas! :))
The place was completely packed & festive with a line out the door! Being just two, we were immediately seated in a cozy booth by a chick with a Santa hat on that quickly brought us fresh hot chips, salsa & super creamy piping hot delicioso white queso! YUMO :)‘
We ordered the usual margaritas & shots & the freaking margarita was spot on El Taps traditional Limey Yummliciousness! Just like I like’em!
Woo «HOP» hoo! :)‘
The other (original) location I used to frequent in Ardmore (across town) messed up their margaritas putting orange juice in them YUCkO! And now that location is a NO GO! If you find yourself in Ardmore this is def the location to stop at ;)
Anyhoo, the chicken & rice soup hubby ordered had giant chunks of a whole fresh avocado, chunks of white meat chicken AND shredded chicken fresh veggies & the broth?!
Ohmygawd the chicken broth was seasoned so perfectly we ordered one to go! :)‘
The little inner Mexican has never been so happy :)
Yea, gives mmm, mmmm, good a new meaning! yummy for your tummy indeed ;)
I ordered the shrimp ranchero extra spicy & it did not disappoint! It was also killer! Spicy, like break out in a sweat spicy mmmm, mmmm, YUMO!
The guac was super fresh, the tortillas were in house hand made, the service was excellent & the vibe was holiday cool :))
For a tiny place, there was a nice cheerful buzz going on in there. Everyone was having a jolly good time.
El Tapatio y’all freakin rock the Mexican food :)‘
We left in a complete festive food coma!
Can’t wait to do it again! lol
Olé!