El Gringo

I have been here many times and just now creating a review.
Great little place.
Mexican food is great for Alabama.
Regular salsa is ok but always ask for the hot. We always mix the two as a science project. It’s well worth it.
Food is very good and the staff is very good.
I have taken groups there too and it is very good for that as well

I was in the area, and was missing Mexican food like I used to eat in L.A. I have passed on eating at this restaurant many times because of the name. I wondered how authentic the food would be with a name like El Gringo. I gave it a chance and got exactly what I had expected.
El Gringo has positives and negatives. Our friendly server greeted us at the door and led my husband and I to our table. This space can accommodate large groups easily.
There was only one other table besides us occupied during the lunch hour. No new customers came in.
The sound track was youthful and fun instead of mariachi music. There are large screen TV’s and the bar area is nice.
I had to send back my glass with food in it. Our waiter was very attentive and I never had to ask for refills.
The salsa tasted like stewed tomatoes straight out of a can. We asked for something else. We were brought homemade hot sauce which was okay. Mixed with the salsa, it was better.
El Gringo has a whole page of lunch specials reasonably priced. All with meat. I asked about vegetarian options. Too my surprise our server told me every lunch special could be made vegetarian at no extra charge.
The beans and rice were terrible and cold. My bean taco, warm. Better with the hot sauce. The veggie fajitas were burning hot temperature wise and were not what I ordered, but were delicious. The cook brought my plate out herself.
My husband got a stuffed burrito with hamburger and added jalapenos. I don’t think he would have liked it without the hot sauce or added peppers. With those modifications, he was happy with his selection.
This restaurant has potential but lives up to it’s name food wise.

Nothing about this food is restaurant quality. Chips and salsa look and taste like supermarket food. The quesadilla was not grilled and tasted like what I make in my microwave. The burrito was a room temperature supermarket tortilla with only room temperature steak inside. The rice tastes and looks like the instant Spanish rice I make at home. The chimichanga was the best part but they poured queso on top which took away all the crispiness. 2 stars cause the waitress was nice

This is one of my favorite restaurant to go to! There is a friendly staff that makes sure everything comes out right and quickly. If you want to go to get a quick bite to eat with amazing customer service and amazing food this is where I would recommend.

I love the Gringo’s Choice! The grilled chicken is the best and the rice is so fluffy. I love this place.

I want this place so badly to be good as I literally live 15 seconds from here. I love Mexican food and have frequented many of the Mexican restaurants in the area so I feel like I can compare El Gringo to other restaurants that are similar in the area.
I have been a number of times (probably 6 – 8 visits) and I have never once had a truly great experience. The first few times I went, I chalked it up to the fact that it had just opened and they were experiencing growing pains. Unfortunately, each time I have gone since then has left me wondering why I keep trying to make this place work for me. I want so badly to make it work and to have a local Mexican restaurant I can run down to at any point but I’m on my last straw and El Gringo probably won’t get any more opportunities from me to impress.
The good:
— Margaritas are great
— Drink specials during happy hour are pretty good
— Usually decently quiet in there as I’ve never seen it full
— Cheese dip is a good appetizer
— Salsa is better than average
The bad:
— Less than spectacular food. Quality is alright but the taste has been bland on a number of things I’ve tried. I’ve never once had a meal that I knew I had to come back and get.
— Way overpriced — I would consider ignoring the less than spectacular food if the prices were lower but I can’t pay such high Mexican food prices ($ 2-​$ 4 more per person than similar Mexican restaurants) if the quality and taste of the food isn’t exceptional
— I’ve seen some plates that are decently sized but the quesadillas and tacos I’ve gotten recently are pitiful sizes — especially considering the price
— I love guacamole but I feel like they have just thrown way too many tomatoes in there to get away with not having to use that much avocado
— This was an actual conversation I had with a waiter:
ME: (FYI…I rarely complain at restaurants) Excuse me but these chips are really stale. Is there any way to get new chips? (They were extremely stale)
WAITER: Sure. Let me me go get you some more chips. (Bring new chips)
ME: (Chips still stale) I’m sorry… these chips are still really stale.
WAITER: I’ll see what the problem is and get it worked out. (Few minutes later) The chips just came out so they’re really fresh and that’s probably why they’re stale.
ME: (dumbfounded look on my face) Ok. Thanks.
Once again, I want this place to work and have given it ample opportunities to be my go to place but it continues to fail to impress and justify the relatively higher cost. I want Bluff Park restaurants to succeed and I want to offer them my business but things have to change if I’ll consider going back. Maybe in a desperation move one day when I just need Mexican food but don’t want to drive but other than that, I think I’ve given them my last chance.

We split one order of chicken and steak fajitas. There was a great amount of tasty meat on the plate! We had plenty. The servers were very attentive. I had a small margarita that looked like a medium. It was not watered down for just the house Rita. The beans and rice were tasty but room temperature.
The décor was simple but bright. It looks like a fun after work stop. We will be back very soon.

Very good food. Great service and atmosphere. For the money you get a very good portion of food. The new location is closer and I enjoy the food and service. If you are close drop in, you will not be disappointed!

We had been going to the other restaurant location for a couple of years until this one opened. First of all, I am so glad of the location. Second, love the place. Yes, it is a large open space but who cares? The food is plentiful, very tasty and has a great presentation. The margaritas are AMAZING!!! Try the peach ;) The owner, yes he is white, is very friendly and goes above and beyond to make you feel welcome. Now if you are in the mood for a cheese dip with much more, try the gringo dip. You will never look at plain cheese dip the same again. Definitely worth your trip. As for the prices, way more food for your buck. Why anyone would think otherwise is completely beyond me.

Gringo (/​rŋo/​, Spanish: [iŋo]): is a term, mainly used in Spanish-​speaking countries to refer to an English-​speaking foreigner, especially an American person. The term is often disparaging.
In the case of the El Gringo restaurant, the disparagement is warranted. Our community pines longingly for another viable restaurant for a convenient meal. This attempt fails on all fronts.
We mistakenly tried to eat here at the end of their first week in business and ended up leaving unserved after 1.5 hours. However, we vowed to give it another shot if it survived until January.
Tonight was that shot. Upon entering, we were promptly seated (they put my 9 month pregnant wife in a booth :(, we moved ourselves to a table). Chips and salsa soon followed; however, the chips seem possibly stale or double-​fried (off) and the salsa seems akin to a modified marinara (weird). My wife ordered a cheese quesadilla ($ 7) and I ordered beef nachos ($ 8.50). The food arrived in a reasonable time; however, for the quality, it took twice as long as it should have.
Now, as for the actual food, lets begin with the positive:
1. It was edible in the way that all food prepared on a hot plate is.
Now, the negative:
1. Every item was devoid of any taste, no spicy Mexican here.
2. All items clearly came from a can or box with no effort made to brighten the taste.
3. It is INSANELY overpriced. This is located on the run down side of Shades Mtn. Plaza, not Mtn. Brook Village.
4. The atmosphere is just weird. I guess that should be expected from an Americanized Mexican restaurant or a Mexicanized American restaurant.
In closing, we won’t be back. Learn from the mistakes of others and save yourself.

Stopped in to sample some food at this new place in Bluff Park. I was really, really hoping for something decent. I was sorely disappointed! I ordered a chicken taco — what got was a bit of what tasted like canned chicken on a tasteless tortilla. I mean how hard is it to make a decent taco? Salsa was bland — even the «spicey» one that I asked for. Tasted canned. Los Hermanos taco truck and Mi Pueblo have nothing to worry about from this place.
Hoping for better — might give it one more try to see if I just hit it on an off night.

I waited a little while to write this review. The first time we went, they’d been open a few weeks and we had one of the worst service experiences ever. Because we love our neighborhood and want this to be our new «go-​to» neighborhood spot, I abstained from immediately writing a review. We gave it a few more weeks and returned. Now, I feel good about telling you guys about it.
The layout is a little bizarre, because it’s just a wide open square room. Other than being able to hear every table, there’s not really an issue with the layout. It’s just unusual. We had a young man as our waiter and he couldn’t have been better. Very prompt, polite, and accurate… all without being bothersome.
The pitcher of Margarita we split was plentiful and pretty dang good. None of the food was over the top, but it was above average. They make a «spicy» salsa that you can ask for. It’s not very spicy, but is full of flavor. The guac and queso were A-​Ok.
The fajitas were definitely above par and plentiful. Unfortunately, they only come with three tortillas. Trust me, it’ll take more than that to wrap up all the ingredients.
Keep getting better and I’ll see you soon, El Gringo.

Just ate there for the first time, (they opened two weeks ago) and everything was very good. I always judge Mexican restaurants by its chips and salsa, and it was «excellante».
My wife and I had the enchiladas, she had the Rojo and me the Verdez version, both very tasty. The sauces that top the enchiladas are homemade via the owner’s wife. She was born in Mexico so I guess that makes it authentic. My son who considers himself a cheese dip connisuer gave their cheese dip three thumbs up (he was dipping his quesadilla in the queso dip leftovers he liked it so much). We enjoyed it.