El Puerto

Some of my fondest college memories involve dinners at the local Mexican restaurant, so I was excited to try El Puerto. A group of ladies and I chose to dine there on a Thursday when margaritas are on special for $ 3.99. I started off with one of those, and it was your run of the mill, margarita mix from a bottle. It was super sweet, and not my favorite.
While we were waiting for everyone to show us, I practically inhaled a basket of chips and salsa by myself. I normally judge a Mexican place by the salsa, and it was definitely decent. I ordered a deluxe taco salad with chicken. It came out in a cute little fried tortilla shell. I recently started eating meat again, and I think I would have preferred the salad with just beans because they chicken really wasn’t that good. It came with a nice helping of tasty guacamole, which was great.
I don’t know that I’d go back to El Puerto, but maybe I should give it another try because I could have just ordered wrong.

Good food amid crummy ambience. The best Mexican food in Charlottesville, easily — that’s not a high bar, but still, this place is legit. The seafood is surprisingly good here, and eating here multiple times is unlikely to cause chronic health problems in the way that greasier joints might.

I’m here probably once a month. I really like Mexican food, and my boyfriend really enjoys value, so this is a common date spot for us. The food is hot and delicious (try the enchiladas verdes– they’re particularly good), the staff is friendly, and the price can’t really be beat.
I’ve also used this place for catering, and they did a wonderful job with that as well. They even included chips and salsa.

Ditto the «super cheap Mexican food.»
Going in, the main thought in my head was, «hopefully I won’t regret eating here rather than spending $ 7.50 at Chipotle down the street.» They are certainly different animals, but I won’t hesitate giving this place a second try. I ordered the $ 7.75 «lunch special» chicken and steak fajitas, and as the server was carrying the plate to my table, my immediate reaction was «holy crap.» It dwarfed my expectations. It must have easily been 1.5 times the amount of food you’d get from Chipotle. I can only wonder if the other large plates and nearby tables were some of the plethora of $ 5.99 lunch specials.
A couple of caveats:
* Their salsa was crap. Basically just tomato sauce, which little hint of other flavor. That said, the chips were hot.
* The servers mean well but are certainly not professionals. I was never asked about a drink, never brought water, and had to ask for it. Ditto a second napkin.

I wish I could give it two and a half, for the non-​food elements.
PRICE: 3.5. The food is cheap. The drinks are more expensive, but they weren’t as bad as I expected. The margaritas aren’t syrupy like most margaritas this far north can be.
SERVICE: 3.5 for the service, we went in with a huge party and they were really nice about it. Got a few things messed up, but honestly, it was really loud. I wouldn’t expect anything different. They forgot two orders, but again, it was a huge party. I think we ended up with a free sprite on accident. Someone got a free tequila shot. It was all very weird. I’m not sure if they did that on purpose, but whatever. It all worked out.
FOOD: 1.5 for the food. (Which, to be far, is probably a Charlottesville 3.) I mean, everyone else in my party seemed pretty all right with it, but as someone who has lived much of her life in Texas… I was really just confused by what was happening on my plate.
Starting with the chips and salsa? The chips were sort of like, fried pita chip consistency, which confused me. I assume they were corn chips, but they were sort of orange? It was like they baked thick tortillas and then fried that. I’m really not sure I understand what was happening with those chips. They didn’t look like the tortilla chips I’ve experienced elsewhere. the salsa was like… pace. It was ketchup red. Maybe they fried flour tortillas instead of corn tortillas? God, that would make sense. I really… I don’t know.
The tortillas were better than I expected, and the margarita was actually pretty okay, for a place this far north of the border. I imagine that helped with my food experience.
Finally, for my entrée, I ordered the Pollo Loco, which was grilled chicken with ranchero sauce on top of it. My chicken breast was so thin I thought it was a tilapia filet at first, but it was cooked reasonably well. Like they smashed a chicken on a skillet until it reached a sort of pancake like shape. The ranchero sauce was very spicy, but did not have much flavor. I was… I don’t know. I’ve had Pollo Loco at other places, and this was not consistent with my other experiences with the dish, but it wasn’t… it wasn’t BAD. It was just, like, okay. This is a very hot chicken dish that doesn’t have much else going on. It wasn’t disgusting, or anything. If you go and you’re nervous about what to get but can tolerate spicy foods, this is an acceptable dish. It just really isn’t something I’d ever go out of my way to eat again. I ended up eating a real dinner at home a few hours later. What can you do?
TL;DR: Good for large parties. Decent drinks. (I’d be willing to go back just to have a margarita.) If you’re from anywhere north of the Mason Dixon line, your experience will probably be… fine. But if you’re from Texas, Mexico, California, or really anywhere on the border… don’t go unless you sort of have to.

Against a wall I’d say that this is the best shitty Mexican restaurant in Cville. Regardless of how «authentic» the burrito-​chalupa-​beef taco combo platters are, I can say with impunity that it’s a more «authentic» Mexican restaurant experience than Guadalajara or (uggh) Baja Bean.
And by that I mean the interior is shabby and fluorescent — filled with tacky banners and all kinds of Jarritos bottles — but it’s all part of the charm, plus the booths are comfy and there’s some nice piped-​in mariachi music (you don’t notice it at first but once you do it becomes hilarious rather than annoying). Also I’m a big fan of getting surly, lightning-​fast table service then paying at the register: you can be in and out fast but they don’t breathe down your neck.
Oh yeah, the food. As far as cheap Mexican goes, it’s pretty great. I ordered a burrito with two chile rellenos. It came covered in red sauce which worried me, but it had a surprising depth of flavor (and was oozing with queso blanco). My friend got the whole fried tilapia (there’s a picture of it in the menu) and despite enjoying my meal, I was envious. The bits I tried were perfectly seasoned and moist, and he was working on that plate for around 40 minutes. We left satisfied, albeit fearing our next bowel movement.

Super cheap Mexican food.
I went here a couple times for lunch and I thought that the food here was definitely edible – I don’t really understand what others are griping about. It’s not the best Mexican food ever, but for the big portions– it’s worth it for a poor college student.
They also offer margaritas if you want to get the party started!
Pic:
Food: 3
Value: 4
Service: 3
Overall: 3

I had last semester’s post-​finals lunch here so this place will forever hold a dear place in my heart. Also if you manage to guzzle their XXL margarita which comes with an extra shot of some foul liquid (tequila perhaps), you get … something. Maybe an XXL t-​shirt or the honor of puking in their parking lot. I mostly get their chicken fajitas and find myself eating around the pieces of chicken — some gristle and tough to chew. Sauce with the complimentary chips could use some extra spice.

Best Mexican Food in C’Ville. Awesome menu and the friendliest staff around. Cannot go wrong with El Puerto!