El Mariachi

When I moved out to the East Side, a couple of different people told me «You need to go to El Mariachi.»
It went into my mental rolodex, but I kept having other places to go, or other things I wanted to try.
Boy, that was dumb.
From out ward appearances, this place isn’t much — tucked next to a bodega (which they operate) and an auto shop, it’s a hole in the wall that looks a lot like a «Restaurant in a box» place.
Appearances are deceiving, though, especially if you come in on a weekend.
You can get all the «usual» things here — Chile rellenos, tacos, tamales, and they’re all good. But explore the menu and you start finding Ceviche, birria, menudo? Pozole? Many of them are only available on weekends, but it’s worth the wait! These are labor of love dishes, and from the flavor and quality, there’s a lot of love in there to enjoy.
So, seriously. You need to go to El Mariachi. Don’t wait.

Me gusta todo su menú
Limpieza y muy buen servicio.
I Love all food The aré in The Manu
Nice and cleand. Good services.

Absolutely terrible, Some bad salsa, greasy chips. Televisions loudly blaring some Mexican station playing who knows what, we expected music. The food was awful and tasteless except for the mole which was almost like Hershey’s chocolate syrup. I would never return and advise you not to go!

This place puts all the cookie cutter Mexican joints in this city to shame. I’ve gone here over five times in the past two months and it has always been great on each visit. They also prepare weekend only specials so we just had to go on a Saturday for the goat stew. So glad we did, my goodness it was truly amazing and definitely the most authentic Mexican fare I’ve experienced in Columbus. Extra stars for serving Bohemia beer!

So, a friend and I took a trip to El Mariachi after getting a fantastic $ 10 off coupon, and what we experienced was pretty great! The atmosphere was really authentic, and you could tell who the regulars were: all crowding around the bar, watching soccer and drinking beer. We looked a little out of place, but it was a fun environment!
Since I’m a vegetarian, I usually have to stick to chips, guacamole, beans, and rice. But I thought that El Mariachi had a great selection for non-​meat eaters! I had a delicious veggie torta, and my friend had a chicken plate. He said he’d had better at other places since the chicken wasn’t seasoned perfectly, but both our meals were fantastic at the price. The chips were also nice and thick, and the salsa options (one super spicy, one sweet) were pretty good. I did wish there was a nice mild version though!
All in all, this was a fun experience and I’d recommend it to people looking for some cheap, quality Mexican food.

I should have known by the prime Whitehall location and being rght across the street froom Mi Mexico that I went to last week it couldn’t be that great.
It’s in a whole little mexican area next to a mexican supermarket so I was hoping for authentic food.
Maybe that was my problem, that it was too authentic.
For starters very cheesy interior, clean but just very cheap and broke looking.
Speaking of cheap, the most expensive thing on the menu was $ 9 and that was fajitas, the rest of the meals wer e between $ 4 – 6! Crazy cheap, so I knew I could ordder one of everything like usual and be out of there with the than $ 20 spent and that for 3 people! We got the fajitas with steak, pretty bland, nothing special.
The chicken fajita salad also actually sizzled and the chicken was good but still in all lacked flavor even though it had so many componenets to it.
Then we got pretty adventurous since we didn’t understand most of the meats and got one of each, chorizo was pretty greasy, the other meats we couldn’t identify, when I asked the waiters what it was he said it was kinda like steak and the other a bit like chicken. Hmmm… ok well we had burrito, enchilada, tostada, and taco with strange meats that were kind of scary to eat and none tasted quite right.
The service was nice and fast and we walked out paying $ 16, still not enough to get me to go back here.

Authentic!!!
Great cheap tacos. You are always better off at a small taqueria like this around columbus than at any large mexican restaurant or chain where you only get comida gringo. I will be back whenever in the neighborhood for the taco lengua.

I’ve been back to El Mariachi three times now, and they have always been consistently good. My last trip back was with Melanie B., and you can see many of the details in her review. A couple of things to add:
I don’t think the tortillas were as much «soggy» as just soft. (Soggy to me seems «wet». these weren’t wet. just not the same as I’m used to. still awesome tacos though!) I got the carne asada and chorizo tacos, Mexican-​style with a side of pico de gallo. They were damn tasty.
The chile relleno is good (ish), but I prefer the ones I make at home. It seems like they were better previously, and I also definitely prefer them without sour cream. But, they are really good about taking orders the way that you want – ordering Mexican-​style tacos, for instance, instead of the American-​style that are listed on the menu – so I’m sure they would definitely do a chile relleno to my specs if I asked.
We also got a bowl of limes delivered for our beer without even having to ask. Love.
My gringa palate is pretty okay with the tamales – they aren’t as good as the ones I had in Mexico proper, for sure, but I’ve noticed a lot of American tamales have a weird, funky flavor (from the Americanized masa, I guess?) that these are delightfully lacking – the masa just tastes like corn. They are not quite as moist, but they are also not all dried out, either, as I have experienced in some places. Until I can get back to Mexico, El Mariachi will do; definitely the best tamales I’ve had thus far in Columbus.
(Also, regarding other reviews – I don’t normally like to comment on other reviews, but if you go to a Mexican joint and order burritos and American-​style tacos, don’t be shocked when it’s not as good as it could be. This isn’t the kind of food that Mexican people eat in Mexico, so it makes sense that it would be less good than traditional Mexican offerings.)

It was too cold for a taco truck this evening, and in need of both tacos and adult beverages, Susan R. and I headed over to Whitehall to El Mariachi instead of braving the elements. Once someone (Susie!) says the word taco (yeah yeah), I pretty much can’t be stopped from needing authentic Mexican food STAT. And El Mariachi does a pretty good job.
I love hole in the wall ethnic eateries, and El Mariachi is no exception. There was no one in here tonight except some dudes at the bar, so we took the opportunity to sit in the VERY MIDDLE of the restaurant. ;) I don’t know if we just came at a strange time (Monday night, 830pm?), or what, but I hope this lil joint does good business, because their food and service is certainly worth it. And of course, the hole in the wall vibe means that it’s all about the food and service, no pretension or b.s.
Our server (the bartender) immediately brought us chips and two different salsas. I liked the cilantro one best, but both were very good. The chips were okay — I thought they could have used a bit of salt (but then again, what CAN’T?!), and could have been a bit thinner, but that’s pretty nit-​picky of me about free chips, so I’ll just stfu.
We ordered a bunch of stuff… I got a chorizo torta and two tamales, and Susie got two pork (I think?) tacos, a tamale, and a chile rellano. The thing I really like about this place is that unless you’re ordering a plate or combo, it’s pretty much like being in a table-​service taco truck, with items a la carte. An excellent option for a 30-​degree March night.
The torta was fantastic — made on the proper Mexican bread, unlike that stupid bread you get at Junior’s in the white middle class neighborhood (stuff white people like: Americanized Mexican Food, blech). I could seriously eat tortas all day and night, and this one was one of the better ones I’ve had in Cbus. I thought the tamales were just okay — a bit dry — but then when you have someone’s Mexican momma sending you homemade ones, you get a bit spoiled. I also tried Susie’s taco (yeah yeah) and was pretty impressed. The tortillas were a bit soggy for my liking, and I do think La Michoacana does a better job, but that was just based on this one experience. The filling was delicious, especially since she ordered them Mexican style (with cilantro and onion instead of lettuce and tomato — lame-​o Americanization!). I didn’t try the chile rellano, but Susie said it was delish. I do wonder about the sour cream all over it, though. Hmm. I’d definitely try it and ask for it sans dairy.
We both had two beers (Tecate for me, Pacifico for S.) and hung out chatting forever. Our server was really nice and didn’t try to push us out, even though it was a slow night. He interjected perfectly and was attentive without hovering. Perfect.
I’d recommend El Mariachi as your winter Mexican food destination. I’m still a big fan of La Michoacana and the taco trucks clustered on West Broad and Georgesville Road, but this lil joint is certainly right up there.

My boyfriend and I happened across this restaurant as we were driving through the Whitehall area today. At first glance, this restaurant looks like a «hole-​in-​the-​wall» strip mall restaurant. But the inside was surprisingly roomie and colorful. The place had a rather sizeable bar and plenty of seating. We were promptly greeted by our server and offered homemade tortilla chips with two very interesting dips. One was a salsa, with a very strong cilantro and lime flavor intially, but with a very bland finish. The second was a spicier red sauce, which was also a little lacking full flavor. However, the two mixed together weren’t bad.
The menu is fairly extensive, with over 100 items from which to choose. My boyfriend chose the Burrito Mariachi with shredded chicken, and I chose a combination platter, which consisted of refried beans, mexican rice, one soft taco, one enchilada, and one tamale. I also added a chile relleno from the a la carte menu. All-​in-​all, the flavors were «okay.» Nothing wow’ed me, but nothing was bad either. His burrito and my taco were basically the same ingredients and flavors. The tamale needed salt. The enchilada was identical to the burrito and taco, sans the lettuce and tomato. The chile relleno was decent, but again, seemed like it needed SOMETHING to make the flavor really pop.
The prices were totally reasonable, with the most expensive thing on the menu being just slightly over $ 10. The place was clean, including the restroom. Overall, I gave this 2 of 5 stars, because it wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad either. I have definitely had better, and I most definitely wouldn’t make a trip across town just to eat here again.