El Mariachi

I have always been a huge fan of this place, but my most recent experience crossed the line. I’ve had a few issues in the past with them forgetting certain things, and once or twice id have to go back and get the meal that I paid for that they forgot to put into the bag, but the other night when I went they completely forgot a meal, the guy argued with me saying I never ordered that, which I did. Why would I come to pick the food up and say I ordered something I didn’t? When I could just place another order if I decided I wanted something else? Either way I’m paying you and I’m a customer, so there is no need for a back n forth argument about what I ordered, get my food that I paid for! So I had to wait until they finished making the last meal they forgot, they brought it out to me and I left. I had the correct number of boxes for the 4 things I ordered, but when I got home one of the boxes had a completely different meal then what I ordered. I was so angry. And have made the decision to never go back there ever again. This place is awful and I can see why they are never busy. Pay more attention to your customers and be more friendly, you just lost a loyal customer! I’m going to try other Mexican restaurants in the area.

This place used to be great but has gone down hill. Got takeout last night and ordered 4 things. When I got there they said I ordered only three and I would have to wait another ten minutes. Then I get home to discover they didn’t gives what we ordered. Also we didn’t get any chips and salsa. Never going here again. What a disappointment.

Bland, bland, bland. My son’s nachos were soggy. My fish tacos were tasteless. Sign said free guacamole but we received none. Probably should have turned around when we went for a Saturday lunch at 1:30 and it was empty.

If I could give it less, I would. We found a roach in our salad and they proceeded us to charge us for dinner and not the salad– and this was only after they had to call the owner. They said this never happens and it must have come in with the cilantro– but did not apologize for the fact that there was a roach. Again, it should get negative stars.

No not good, why is this #1 in Flemington? I’ve had much better food nearby, but we tried this because Unilocal said it was #1. Wife had fajitas, menu says they come with guacamole, waiter said we are out of guacamole, would have to make some. OK so go make some, he wanted her to say «No that’s ok“she said «thanks yes need guacamole» he came back later with a tiny little bit of guacamole in bottom half of one of those little plastic cups like at McDonald’s for ketchup, enough guacamole for one spoonful maybe… my fish tacos, ugh horrible, we ordered flan, weirdest flan we ever saw, was puffy with air pockets, only ate half, when was the last time you left half the dessert? That says it all.

The food is so good, I only wish the atmosphere matched! The restaurant is about run down with old chairs, etc, but the service was quick and friendly. We loved our meals, chicken quesadilla and fajitas are delicious! We order takeout and it’s just as good.

Great enchiladas, quesadillas and bistec. Full of flavor and a kind staff. BYOB is always a bonus and some nice outdoor seating for Main Street people watching.

I had the chicken burrito. It was good, but not great. The burrito was really large, but the skin was too thin and not crispy. Service was good. Price was a little pricey. Complementary tortilla chips.

Went on a cold Saturday night and found them to have 5 tables with customers. The interior lighting is just not right and the dining area is kind of tacky. It was cool inside and had to keep my jacket on. I did not like the dining atmosphere.
The menus at our table were dirty and one stuck together when opening. I did peak into the rear window waking out the back parking lot and the kitchen looked organized and clean. They only had one server for the 5 tables so service was slow. She also did not understand English well which resulted in one order not the way I wanted it.
We have the chicken Burritos and wow were they stuffed big. Huge burritos. The problem was they were all stuffed with rice and not much chicken. The chicken was very good and flavorful when you found it hidden in the rice. It was basically a rice burrito. Surprisingly they do not have ground beef burritos. On the plus side was the salsa it was very good with a nice little kick.
They take credit cards but NOT my American Express… another negative.
In summary would I be coming back… probably not.

Come here many times. Food is good. We usually get tacos either vegetarian or meat Carne Asada or Grilled Chicken. We also like the encillada oaxaquenas or rancheras. Service is friendly. BYOBabd they accept credit cards. Nice in warm weather as you can sit outside.

Good service, waiter was nice. That’s the best I can say about this place. Meat for the fajitas was over cooked and under spiced. The tortillas got hard very quickly (they don’t have the containers to put them in, just rolled them up and dropped them in a basket). Cheese quesadillas were greasy and hard. We won’t be going back.

great food, big portions, byob. not that cheap but not too expensive either. i had some kind of steak and it was awesome.

Been there a couple of times. I like their aqua drinks. The appetisers are the best though except for the band. They were wonderful. I will keep going.

This place has the best tamales I have ever had — no joke. They were shockingly delicious. I expected the normal sort of bland and corny tamale steamed in a corn husk… Instead I was served a flavorful, moist chicken tamale cooked in a banana leaf (apparently this is the Oaxacan way of doing it?) with a really yummy earthy chile sauce on the chicken. Lemon wedges on the side. I couldn’t believe how delicious they made a plain old tamale! I’m excited to go back just to order them again…
Also had the tacos al pastor (chile-​marinated pork and pineapple) on a separate visit. These were very good too, but not as earth-​shattering as the tamales. They make their guac at the table, which I always think is kind of lame… However, El Mariachi does it the traditional way in a big molcajete, which is actually pretty cool. It was tasty both times we went.
As for service — the first time we went (shortly after opening) the service was terrible. Our waiter was very nice, but clearly overworked. The poor guy was literally jogging between tables and the kitchen, so you can’t say he wasn’t trying his best… But there was only so much he could do. We were there for hours.
Went again a few weeks later and things were MUCH improved. Good quick service.
Will definitely be back!

Went here because we love supporting new local restaurants. It was a quiet lunch day and we were seated right away inside (outside was closed due to possible rain). I love authentic Mexican food and thought the menu gave enough variety for everyone. We started out with Jarritos Soda and was immediately brought out complementary house chips and salsa. The chips were a little hard, but the salsa was so fresh and had a kick to it. We both enjoyed our meals and was pleasantly surprised on the portion size. We said we wanted to go back for dinner and the BYOT. The service was pretty good and he made excellent recommendations. Décor is interesting, if not on the sterotypical tacky side, but I’m sure with time that will get better.
For under 35 dollars with tip we had a very varied and delicious lunch that boasted three entrees and sodas.

Its actually hard for me to only rate this three stars because I genuinely want to see this place succeed, but let me my rating into context. First time we «went there» was on a Friday night. As I have mentioned in other reviews, my wife and I are late eaters so got there at 9:15pm and figured we were safe since there were some patrons out on the patio. But when we got to the door, we found out that they closed at 9:00pm. This is everything that is wrong with downtown Flemington — restaurants cannot close before 10:00pm on a Friday night!
That aside, we still did want to try this place, so we decided to head over around 7:30pm on a Saturday night. It was the day of a car show so we expected it to be a little busy — wasn’t really the case. The patio was full, however, they only had about six tables set up out there with a lot of open space. I thought there was a lot of unused space. We asked to sit outside and they set up another table for us, which we appreciated.
Restaurant advertises «BYOT» (Tequila) which I thought was cute, so we did just that. Upon ordering Margarita’s, we were told they didn’t have anything to mix our Tequila with, but they had just run out to get some mix when they saw us open our bottle. Certainly I appreciated this and sure enough they did return within 20 minutes with the mix, however, I’m not sure how they wouldn’t have that on hand on a Saturday night at a Mexican BYOT?!
We ‘ordered’ the Guacamole, where we were informed that they had run out. Again, big disappointment at a MEXICAN restaurant on a Saturday night at 7:30pm. Not sure how this is possible — all those ingredients to make should be standard.
It took us four «asks» from different people to get napkins and silverware, which was frustrating, especially since our apps had already been delivered. Our waiter, Hector (I think that’s what his name was), appeared to be new and it sounded like he was part of the family that owned the restaurant. Let me say that he was very courteous and attentive and did not rush us at all. So a definite plus in our experience from the wait staff perspective.
Food was exceptional. We actually both got the burrito’s which were huge in portion side and delicious! Our Flautitas apps were also out of this world. No negatives at all from the food perspective. They also provide free chips and salsa when you get there which the salsa was delicious with a little ‘kick’ to it. Great job here!
I would definitely recommend this place and we will certainly try it again. I’m hoping much of the ‘cons’ were due to the newness of this place and they hopefully will get the kinks out. I really do want this place to succeed as I think this would be a great addition to the overall success of Downtown Flemington.

This place rocks! Having moved here from Texas I totally miss good Mexican food. I’ve finally found it here. Highly recommended. Just bring your own margarita fixings because this town is bizarro about its liquor licenses.

I came here with a pretty large group on Sunday night. This is a pretty new restaurant in Flemington and is in a location that’s had a decent amount of turnover with past restaurants. It occupies the same spot Max’s did (the original one from back in the day).
We had a reservation although we definitely did not need one. The outdoor patio was pretty packed but there were plenty of open tables inside. The décor is very strange — tons of paper type products hanging on the wall and ceilings (when you see it, you’ll know exactly what I am talking about). Also, hardly any of the chairs in the dining room matched which I found strange. Oh well.
Service was decent throughout the course of the meal. Inattentive at times but certainly not bad, overall. The com’d chips and salsa served pre-​meal were very good. The salsa was nice and spicy and had tons of chopped up veggies. It was much spicier than your average salsa. Being a fan of spicy food, I happened to really enjoy this.
We ordered a variety of apps, as well. Here is the breakdown:
Tableside Guac — near excellent. It was made right in front of you so you know all the ingredients were incredibly fresh. I loved that they put some extra tomatoes into it. This app was an easy ⁵⁄₅.
Nachos with Beef — yes, we ordered way too many chip based apps pre-​meal. Nachos were just OK — if anything, they were slightly below average. They were a huge portion but I’m not even sure they had any beef which was disappointing. I’d give them a 2.5÷5.
Shrimp with Garlic Sauce — it was also served with some sort of mayo based dip, I think. I think the entire app was only 6 shrimp. There were 8 of us, so someone had to be the odd man out. They didn’t look very good so I passed and I was told that they weren’t anything special. I’d go no more than a ²⁄₅ on this app.
***I never do the itemized app ratings but I felt like it. If you’re still reading, congrats.***
For my meal, I ordered the burrito. The burrito was ENORMOUS. I’m someone who can eat a ton and even I was impressed by the size of the burrito. I did not eat the entire thing which is a big time rarity. The burrito was only stuffed with steak, rice and beans which made it a little on the bland side. I did slap some salsa, lettuce, sour cream and tomatoes on that bad boy, though. All of those ingredients flavored it up pretty well. I thought it was decent. At $ 12, it was an absolute bargain considering how big it was.
The general consensus was that everybody seemed to enjoy their meals. Everybody ordered something different so we had a nice variety at the table. My wife ordered the shrimp tacos and she enjoyed them. They were a nice size, as well.
We did order 2 pieces of tres leches for dessert. Tres leches is one of my all time favorite desserts and this version was slightly above average. It wasn’t as moist as I prefer and it came with some fruit in the middle which I’m not the biggest fan of but it was good.
Despite the odd décor, we all seemed to enjoy ourselves. There were certain menu items that were excellent and others that I just found to be average. I’m sure this place will do well in the current Main Street location and I’m certain that I will be back. If anything changes drastically with my next dining experience, I will be sure to update my review. As an FYI, there’s a decent sized parking lot behind the restaurant so you don’t have to worry about street parking. Prices are pretty reasonable and it’s also a BYOB which is a major plus for some.

Went today for lunch. Was put off a little at first by dimly lit room and décor, but oh was the food amazing! They make the guacamole right in front of you, the salsa is fresh with a nice kick. I ordered the grilled steak tacos and they were so fresh and full of flavor. It’s BYO, and cash only (assuming their credit card machines aren’t up yet)

Fresh, fresh, fresh but slow slow slow. Wait staff seemed a little disorganized and out of sorts. Water had a funny taste but it is a BYOB. The check came out and was $ 15 cheaper. It seems as thought math was not their strength. Left the right amount plus a 20% tip because overall they were very nice and the food was very good. Fresh guacamole is a must. 4 ½ stars for the food and friendliness and 3 stars for everything else. Décor was a very weak area and needs a lot if work.