El Vaquero

I was pretty underwhelmed by El Vaquero. The margaritas are popular here. I thought mine tasted watered down and there was not that much alcohol. The chips and salsa were pretty good, though. The vegetable fajitas had excellent taste, but I had problems with it. It only came with three small tortillas, not enough. They tried to charge me for asking for more. It also seemed overpriced for a bunch of toppings and vegetables. Would return to order beer and cocktails.

I was a little worried given the mixed reviews. I also heard from people that the service wasn’t great. But we had a very good experience.
Our waiter was very friendly. He checked in at good times and refilled things often. We didn’t feel pressure to leave when we finished.
The food was very good. I had a burrito that was well prepared. The refried beans were excellent. The side of guac was also very good. Their happy hour deals were great and run pretty late.
I’d go back and hope for a similar experience.

Great food great service… SPECTACULAR bathrooms, dison air blade hand dryers and nice counters… Had the best time there

I stopped here for lunch and was pleasantly surprised. The salsa has a great taste, and isn’t too spicy or mild. The cheese dip is a little thicker than I’m used to, but very tasty. The server was easily understood, and extremely helpful. I was told the chicken is better than the beef — I was not disappointed. I ordered the lunch chimichanga. Prices are very reasonable.

Not a bad place. Food is very good and its real close to my hotel. Happy hour specials are well priced. Great little hole in the wall. The staff is very friendly and attentive. I will be definitely coming back tomorrow for dinner. Update to my review. Place is awesome and the service is great. This time I got the soft chicken tacos and everything was amazing. Definitely check this place out if your in the area.

The manager literally asked us to leave after we paid our tabs. We were not drunk. The service was bad. The restaurant was not crowded. Worst tex Mex service ever. They probably make bank too because it’s such a good location.

This location needs some serious attention, 3230 Olentangy River Rd. The booth we sat in was filthy. Food and drink stains on the walls, dirty floor and all I could smell after being seated was the moldy rotten smelling rag they wiped the table with, so disgusting. I didn’t say anything to my friend so as not to embarrass him but I knew he was thinking the same thing.
The service was pretty poor and the music was way too loud.
The food was just as horrible as the atmosphere. My dish was so salty I could barely choke any of it down, which I believe was a good thing. This was the poorest quality food I’ve seen in a while. The chicken was over cooked and was dry, tasteless and super salty. I ordered a Mojito and it had absolutely no rum in it.
How does this place stay open? We couldn’t leave fast enough. Do yourself a favor and eat someplace else.
Did I mention that this place is incredibly dirty? It’s frightening how unsanitary this place appeared. Time for a health inspection would be my suggestion.

Probably the worst Mexican food I have ever had. Would not consider this Tex next at all. Food was taste less, and bartender could not even describe what the nacho plate was.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, their tacos, burritos, chimichangas and all that are pretty good but…
I’m hooked on their Queso Fundido. Trust me. It’s a taste of cheese heaven that you can get in either Camerones/​shrimp or Chorizo/​Mexican sausage style. The Camerones version with it’s creamy, cheesy, gooey, rolling over your tongue milky goodness. grilled shrimp, grilled onion, sauteed mushrooms, poblano peppers and the requisite chips on the side is wonderful and satisfying. It’s just made to tantalize your taste buds.
The Chorizo version is a more simple grilled Mexican pork sausage and thick white cheese mixed and melted together, then baked until it’s golden brown on top. If you love the idea of a thick, greasy, gooey, no crust, no sauce, spicy sausage pizza, you’ll love this one.
Now you’ve got to have something to wash all that cheese down, around and through so don’t forget to get one of their excellent margaritas or one of the many Mexican beers they offer. With some very good and attentive service, you can’t go wrong with this long running Mexican restaurant.
It’s a pretty solid 4 stars.

This review is for a check-​in on Friday, July 10, 2015, around 6 p.m.
Do you dream of eating serviceable Mexican food parked next to the speakers in a loud, crappy nightclub? Do you think of Taylor Swift and 2 Chainz at full-​volume as being the perfect musical accompaniment to a meal? If so, then I have a spot for you… this El Vaquero location. However, as someone that likes to be able to have a conversation at dinner without having to shout to be heard and doesn’t enjoy having the manager dismiss my feedback with nothing more than a simple, «I’m sorry,» I’m giving this location 1-​star. (If you look at my other reviews, you’ll see that I don’t grant such low ratings frequently.) I don’t go into any El Vaquero looking for fine dining, but I’m sure not expecting a strip club experience sans strippers…
I’ll try to keep this brief, as I could rant about how unpleasant this experience was to the point of exhaustion. I was seated in an area near a large table of people, and I instantly wondered why it sounded more like a club than a restaurant. I quickly came to realize that some genius had decided to put a Touchtunes jukebox in a restaurant, a jukebox that teenage boys in the large party were taking advantage of. Now, I’m not hating on their musical tastes, but it was the volume of the music that disturbed me. When the typical background music that plays in a typical El Vaquero is playing, it’s acceptable. However, when this jukebox was playing, the speaker volume was pretty much maxed out. My friend and I honestly had to practically shout to talk. Simply unacceptable, and the genius who thought that it would be a good idea to have a blaring jukebox in a restaurant should be fired.
So, I asked to be moved, and our server — who was great and seemed mortified by the music — apologetically indicated that there were no seats available in the other wing of the restaurant. I powered through my meal, determined to get out of there as soon as possible.
When it came time for the checks, the server indicated that the cashier was also the manager, and that I should really let her know how I felt about my experience. I did so, as politely yet firmly as possible, and at first, she tried to shift the blame by indicating that I should have asked to be moved (which I did). After that, it was a matter of her handing me my receipt while saying, «I’m sorry,» about as dismissively as possible. I walked away with the impression that this particular manager was lacking in hospitality service skills.
So, that’s about it. The food was decent, the server was great, but between the loud music and the attitude of management towards customer concerns, this place delivered the worst dining experience I’ve had in a couple years. It takes a truly bad experience to cause me to post a negative review, because — as my other reviews show — even when my experience is somewhat disappointing, I still look for the positive and am generous — perhaps too generous at times — with my ratings. Consider yourself forewarned about Club El Vaquero.
However, if you aren’t put out by bad management and the potential to be all about the bass during your meal, the food is a solid 3-​stars (and once again, our server was great). All said, I’d go elsewhere.

Why do they allow smoking on the patio?
Voluminous menu, straight TexMex style. You choose if you like that.
I can say the happy hour Margarita is awesome.
Servers are attentive.

Typical Mexi-​american. Margaritas didn’t even have a hint of booze in em so we ordered extra shots. Kinda bummed about that but the nachos and salsa were good. Bartenders were chatty and the people sitting at the bar were fun too.

I’m torn in the number of stars to give this. In my head, it is 5 stars, but in reality, it is prob 3 – 3.5 stars. The service is sometimes great and sometimes horrible. The food is sometimes great and sometimes wrong and not great. But, I keep coming back and convincing all of my loved ones to go with me because I absolutely love Mexican food!
I guess you could say this is your typical Mexican restaurant with the typical menu. They have a huge selection of food and appetizers. The portions are generally sufficient to fill you up, especially since you can eat as much chips and salsa as you want prior to dinner.
Again, I love the food, even when it’s not on point, I love the food. I totally overlook bad service and food almost anytime it happens because I just truly love this place. That’s why I’d give it 5 stars honestly. This particular location also has a great patio to enjoy the nice weather.

Great for quick, sit down and eat Mexican food. My go-​to is the chips and queso with a taco salad or the fajita quesadilla! Margaritas are also always a plus

Pretty boring place. Same old rice and beans and greasy Mexican (if you call it that)
Definitely would not waste my time going back. They try but really, considering the great reviews, it is nothing more than rice and beans however you want them. Yuck

As others have mentioned, El Vaquero is a pretty standard chain Mexican restaurant. There are really no surprises here. They have an all-​encompassing menu, free chips and salsa and a variety of drink specials with a happy hour that runs between 4 and 8 pm.
The friendly service, drink specials and the fact that my buddy lives next door are reasons that bring me back to El Vaquero. They also have plenty of seating, so it’s a good place to bring a large group of coworkers for food or for post-​work drinks. The friendly staff does a great job at making you feel at home.

They have mashed potatoes in the chili rellleno. Did you hear me? MASHED POTATOES!!!
Ok, now that I’ve gotten that out of the way… This is your typical chain mexican joint (besides the mashed taters, as previously mentioned). They’ve got queso dip, unlimited chips and salsa, pitchers of margaritas, and all the standard mexican fare.
I’ve got nothing to complain about. Service is fine, drinks are priced pretty fairly, and the food is greasy, cheesy, and gooey. This place is A-​OK!

El Vaquero is my go-​to place for tex-​mex food in Columbus. Their menu is huge with many options, portions are large, and very reasonably priced. When you sit down, they hand you a menu and then immediately come by with a huge bowl of fresh salsa and tortilla chips. I always have to exercise self-​control to avoid filling myself up on those chips before my main dish comes out. The dishes are pretty standard tex-​mex, lots os rice, beans, guac, tomatoes, cheese, various meats, etc. The service is pretty decent as well, our waiters were nice and tried to help us navigate through the extensive menu. I went during a week day evening and it wasn’t busy at all.

I was a little skeptical of El Vaquero after hearing some of the very mixed reviews about it.
Went during the World Cup for lunch. The place was busy!
I got the avocadilla. It was a quesadilla with avocado, zucchini, and red peppers. I opted for no peppers. It was good!
Service was good. The food was good. It was about $ 10 for my meal, which I think is a little overpriced for what I got. Otherwise, overall, no big complaints. I would return!

It’s true that The Cowboy doesn’t rustle up the most authentic Mexican grub – there’s plenty of that in town – but it suits me just fine. See, most of the dishes offered by our friends to the south are not my go too meal. I am not a fan of Mexican food, for the most part. Sure you can have your tacos, your burritos, your guacamole; I will enjoy my Italian, German, Greek, oriental fare. But there is one ironic catch: the chicken fajita is in my top five favorite dishes over all the food in the world.
My opinion, Al Vaquero serves up one of the best chicken fajita in town– in the American interpretation of Mexican that is.
Coming out steaming on a plate, the chicken strips excites the stomach. Next to it fresh peppers, beans, rice, onion shrooms – the usual – allowing you (I know this is done everywhere) to pick the make-​up of your meal; rolling the chosen ingredients in the hot tortilla shell is a ritual of excited anticipation.
Add to it a cold bottle of Dos Equis and you really have a satisfying meal. Or choose Corona, and really put the IN in inauthentic.
The décor is stereotypical southwestern with its adobe like stucco and brink arches, but it is beautiful all the same. The place has a great atmosphere. It works as a place old friends can gather before hitting the town, an intimate date spot, or a casual dinner place to take work friends and clients when deciding to move up a step from Panera/​Chipotle level.
The service here is great, fast. The food comes in large sizes so you may leave with a doggie bag instead of hunger. Although I will never try anything else, various dinner mates say that their other servings are good.
I have been going to this El Vaquero since I lived off Olentangy as a college student. It has never lost its mojo in the years since I first found my love for chicken fajitas.