El Mariachi

Good place for a solid meal. Any option is going to be delicious. The atmosphere is a bit dry since they have expanded to accommodate the amounts of people who want to eat there.
It is BYOB, which is fine. There is a gas station within 30ft that sells beer.
Service is good, and the staff is really friendly.

My boyfriend got the 3 choice combo grilled steak burrito, pork enchilada, shredded steak soft taco. And I got the grilled chicken quesadilla. I love the quesadilla it was awesome, honestly wasn’t a big fan of Spanish rice.
Boyfriend loved loved loved all his food, he literally ate it all. He said he missed authentic Mexican food.
The waitress was amazing even though we ordered take out she was the one to take our order since there was no host to seat or take orders. Honestly it made me feel a little weird cause normally you tip a waitress but we got take out and it left me feeling strangely guilty. To tip or not to tip… never had that situation before. Anyways all in all great place we will be back for sure.

My husband and I were looking for a place for lunch one day during the week when we were both off from work. We had time to kill in Kaneohe but since not from around there, wasn’t sure where to go. We were craving Mexican and found El Mariachi on Unilocal.
We beat the lunch rush so it wasn’t too busy and we were seated right away, but it quickly filled up. The service was great! Our server was friendly and attentive, even if she was the only one up front taking care of phone and take out orders, and all the tables. The food came out quick, hot, fresh, and delicious! My husband especially loves the salsa, which everyone gets a complimentary 1^st order of chips and salsa.
Food and service was great and prices very reasonable! We enjoyed it so much, we went back a few weeks later when we found ourselves back on the Windward side. And it also got us to try the El Mariachi in Kapolei since that’s closer to home. It was just as good!

First time coming here. Fast and friendly service.
Matthew was so helpful in making recommendations. We ordered the Dos tacos, shrimp ceviche, and chile relleno. Food was yummy. The only bad thing was parking. Definitely will come back here again!

Took FOREVER. I got seated and then was left alone for 43 mins before I was even considered to get my order taken (I timed them)-.- even then I had to stop someone to get attention-​.- never again
Then when they did take my order the young lady with blonde hair gave me an attitude.

We got seated here immediately but waited for nearly an hour half. It was during the dinner rush hour so it was an exception. The food was really good. I had the taco salad and they give more ground beef than most Mexican eateries on this Island.
Highly recommended. I’ll know next time to come in before the rush hour or after… especially when the plaza area has limited parking space.

Been coming here for years. Food is always great. They are busy during so be prepared to have to wait for the food. Service is fine, so tip well.

The last time I tried to eat here was on a Friday night after a movie at Windward Mall. I had never seen a parking lot/​restaurant so packed before. I really wanted to eat there but the parking situation was bananas.
Today we came after hiking around 2:00, this place was a ghost town. We had the whole restaurant to ourselves and we were HANGRY (so hungry you’re angry).
We ordered the chicken nachos to share and cheese enchiladas for my niece (she just got braces and needed something soft to eat).
The complimentary chips and salsa came out and the salsa was pretty gross. No flavor, not impressed.
Our food came out super quickly and we devoured it. The shredded chicken was delicious! I don’t have anything bad to say about the nachos, enchiladas or rice and beans. We finished everything, no leftovers!
My niece ordered the horchata, she said it’s the best that she’s had on the island.
The table behind us ordered wet burrito plates that looked absolutely delicious. I’m definitely ordering that next time and requesting it spicy.

Best authentic Mexican food I have found so far. Love this place! I do wish they had alcohol/​margaritas, but other than that they’re perfect.

Good food… fast and friendly service… will be coming back regularly for sure. I had the steak chimichanga and wife had the carne asada burrito. Tough to please a couple of SoCals with Mexican food here in Hawaii but this place did it. $ 38 with tip to include some pretty good iced tea and complimentary chips and salsa.

I’m not a big Mexican food fan so I don’t eat much at Mexican restaurants but El Mariachi was great. The food was fresh and very tasty. I like my food a little spicy and this fit the bill perfectly. Service was fast and friendly.

The service was ok. Their salsa isnt that good. We didnt get refills on our chips. The lady had a slight attitude. Really expensive for an «authentic mexican restaurant» you ARE NOT aloud to order tacos on the side. They make you buy a meal. Disapointing because me and my wife wanted to share the rice and beans but they made us get 2 meals instead
I would not go back here

We were all craving Mexican food and wanted to try El Mariachi after hearing some good things.
We started by sharing a nachos with carne asada. There was as much steak as chips on the plate. The portion was perfect for the four of us and had a generous serving of sour cream and guacamole. I liked that while there was cheese across the dish you didn’t have to pry apart every chip to get a bite.
For our entrees I got the three choice combination with an enchilada, pork tamale, and shredded beef burrito. I was happy with all of my choices and would recommend any of them on their own or as a combo.
My wife and son both ordered crab chimichanga plates. Both of them really enjoyed it and said they would order it again.
My mom had a burrito & quesadilla combo.
All of the plates come with Mexican rice and choice of refried or black beans.
Unfortunately we were so hungry we forgot to take pictures of our plates before digging in.
I’d definitely recommend El Mariachi to anyone in the area that has a craving for some good Mexican food.

Shrug. It’s pretty hard to find good Mexican food on this island! I had the cheese flautas; unlike other flautas I’ve had (light and crispy), El Mariachi’s flautas are more like deep fried dough with filling inside. It’s also not served with any sauce (weird) so it’s pretty dry. There’s a heap of rice and a tiny salad on the side.
My husband had the carnitas with salsa verde which he thought was just ok. I bumped up a star because the service was wonderful.

So much selections frm carnitas to carne asada. The food was awesome! Customer service is very attentative. Will recommend to friends and relatives. Definitley will come back here again soon.

BEST Mexican restaurant on the Island! Hands down, being from California its been torture finding Authentic Mexican food but this place has got it down. 20ish minute wait on a Friday night was worth it. Promt service, busy atmosphere, fresh food and I’m so glad I live close by. Ill be a regular here.

Great customer service as soon as you enter. Small dining area initially but much larger room off to the side. Food to go took about 15 minutes which wasn’t bad but will order ahead next time. I hate to wait for take out so my fault when I don’t order ahead. Ordered enough for 2 meals again because I hate to wait. Kill 2 birds with 1 trip. Got taco salad with ground beef that I ate that night. Taco was fresh and crispy. Delicious complement to the actual salad which you can order on a plate without the taco bowl. Seems kind of sacrilegious to get a taco salad without the taco but I guess some people do eat healthy. Other meal I got was combo meal with a crunchy taco, quesadilla and burrito. I asked what filling for the burrito and the waiter suggested steak. Great choice!!! Steak was nicely seasoned and soft. Had burrito for lunch.
Definitely great Mexican place with excellent customer service. What more can you ask for? Okay maybe a siesta after all that great food.

I love this little whole in the wall restaurant! Their food is fast, delicious and you definitely need to get their guacamole! You get a lot of food for the price and I always leave full and happy. I normally just order the appetizer quesadillas with shredded chicken and just half of that is enough for me!
The servers are super nice, attentive, and they keep the waters refilled without you having to ask. We asked for some extra salsa and guacamole to go with the other quesadilla that I didn’t finish and the server gave us way more than expected! Noms for later!
It’s such a casual, laid back atmosphere :) Definitely will be back for lunch or dinner soon!

This place is the closest of all the El Mariachi chains on the island so I might come here more than the others. The space is bigger, but everyone always seems crammed into the front.
These are my major gripes about this particular El Mariachi:
1. The most used appliance in the kitchen is a microwave to heat up the food. I get it, speedy… turn over… blah blah, but eff that. Do not use a microwave to heat up my beans, my meat, my anything.
2. The cooks here don’t understand what Mexican food is supposed to taste like. Most of the time the food is either bland, or has cinnamon flavor. Not sure what is up with that, but stop.
3. On more than one occasion I’ve had a waitress complain to me about her tips for the evening. While I might be friendly and can understand working your booty off and feeling underpaid, I don’t want to hear about it has I’m signing my credit card receipt. If we were pals and grabbing a drink together after your shift, then I’d be more receptive to your gripes.
That being said, I still don’t hate this place. I’d prefer Maria Bonita over this particular El Mariachi. Whoever is running the El Mariachi in Kapolei needs to come over here and shape things up.

Hola El Mariachi! Gracias for your great service and good food. My coworkers and I visited El Mariachi on a Wednesday at lunch time to send off one of our colleagues who is getting out the Marine Corps. This place looks very… how do you say… Mexican. The walls are painted bright colors, they have an open kitchen so you can watch the chef at work, and the music is blaring and muy ranchero. It reminds me of Mexican restaurants in LA.
We had a nice time at the restaurant. I am not actually big on Mexican food, but I do miss the street tacos and Baja-​style food I used to eat when I lived in San Diego. The complimentary salsa is pretty good. They also have a nice variety of food on their menu. I ordered the beef chimichanga. I have never had one before, and I found it to be good, but pretty heavy. Don’t order this if you want something healthy… hahaha. It came with some guac, sour cream, rice and refried beans. I hate sour cream and I don’t really like refried beans, but I ate the guac and rice with my chimichanga. I think I would try the enchiladas if I came back here. They looked pretty dope.
We had really good service. The lady who served us was so nice and attentive. She did a great job of keeping track of everyone and made some great suggestions. I had actually never had horchata before and she made the recommendation. After trying my colleague’s horchata, I was hooked. I noticed the other reviews say El Mariachi serves really good horchata… so I might be spoiled now. Other Mexican establishments be warned: El Mariachi is my standard for horchata… so I might be mean if your horchata is not up to par. Step yo’ game up homes!
My only gripe is the policy of not separating checks. We were in a group of ten people and the restaurant was not busy. I understand if they are slammed and it would take an eternity, but it didn’t seem like it would be too much of an issue. As a result, a bunch of us had to walk to find an ATM to pull out some pesos to pay for our meals. They suggested we go across the street to the professional building to find an ATM… no ATM. The nearest ATM is at the bank across Kamehameha… just go there, if they won’t split the check.