El Cortez Restaurant

The food was beyond our expectation we got a wet burrito wich was huge! And camarones a la diabla wich they were delicious! Customer service was ok i think they need to improve in that part and maybe have more waiters not just 2 specially on a weekend. I will definitely come back!

The food here is excellent. One of my favorite places for Mexican food. The two times I’ve been here were on Saturday evenings and it never seems to ever get crowded. That would usually make someone a little weary about the quality of food, but trust me, this place is great. And I love the music they play too :)

I have been going to El Cortez for 15+ years when it was Avilas. The food and prices had stayed the same until I went tonight and my bean and cheese burrito went from $ 3.50 to $ 6.00 and it was much smaller to boot. That increase is insane and very disappointing. Prices can go up gradually, but not almost doubling.

I never knew about this place until my boss took my co-​workers and I here for lunch. The food is very reasonably priced and you get a lot of it. The service is great. The food is authentic with homemade tortillas and homemade warm tortilla chips. My favorite thing to order is the Carnitas plate.

Still a regular that loves the food and bar!

Todo esta riqisimo pero no entiendo por que el sports bar esta avierto asta Las 7 pm si uno sale de travajar y qiere ir derecho a relajarse y tomar unas cervesas PEDRO the best el trago que le pidas telo prepara de lo mejor. solo espero que entiendan que sports bar tiene q estar avierto temprano

Hands down one of the best Mexican food restaurants I’ve ever been to. Everything that makes me love going to restaurants, with such friendly service. I will be back soon and often to have that quesadilla again.
Thank you!

Love this place… Old school traditional!
I will be back… Went into the new sports bar… it’s really nice with lots of T. Vs…
Food was awesome

A small group of us stopped here before a planned dessert trip to a spot down the street. On the outside it seems like a pretty typical sit-​down Mexican restaurant. The exterior is enormous, so we figured they do dancing in there as well (??). The place was pretty empty for a Saturday evening, so we were a little worried about the food. I ordered chicken taquitos, one friend got the El Cortez burrito, and the other friend got a combo plate with a chicken tamale and an enchilada. Before the meal got there we chowed down on chips and salsa. The salsa was a thick, deep red that had a rich chile flavor and a healthy kick (I asked for my own dish… yum!).
The meal was terrific. My taquitos came with the obligatory beans and rice, and both were fabulous. We were all members of the clean plate club! It was just one of those unexpectedly fabulous meals that you don’t realize what you are doing until the plate is clean. The beans were yummy, but the rice was just perfect. The taquitos were pretty good, but I only got two (sniff, sniff)… sorry, I’m just being greedy! The service was terrific. Everything was done when it was needed (clearing plates & glasses), our waitress didn’t hover, and was very gracious about requests.
I would definitely come back here again!

Love the authenticity of El Cortez! Comfortable seating, booths, tables and nice bar! Most bars have you staring at a wall! This layout allows you to socialize and people watch or watch the games on the tv’s. Traditional décor, reminds me of my family restaurant! Great lighting and atmosphere.
My test for any Mexican restaurant is the Chilaquiles! The Chilaquiles were delicious! Presentation was great and flavor was better than expected! Cheese enchilada verde was delicious too! Sunday brunch was busy, must be good too!
Love this place so much, I’m bringing my Dad next time!

This place has a breakfast Buffett. The food is delicious!!! Mexican homemade style food. The best part is the hand made tortillas!!! Yum

don’t use voucher it will not be honored!!! they will lie to you to get you in here!!! then turn you down! they really suck !!!
dont go dont use!!! will never come back thier integrity. well they dont have any. not are they honorable. ruined my mother day

We spent Mother’s Day here (12pm-​2pm), as we’ve done before in previous years. We purchased the $ 30 for $ 40 voucher via Unilocal since we came here and thought it was a good deal. The Unilocal vouchers are NOT good here. Please do not buy via Unilocal.Rene the manager on staff argued rudely to my mother on Mother’s Day about it only being valid during dinner – it’s not a coupon, it’s supposed to work like a gift card! My mother was upset on a day she should be honored. 1. Shame on the manager for arguing with customers, please show a better example and some courtesy.
2. If you’re not going to follow your own rules via Unilocal,do not advertise it. It’s false advertisement, and in no way does the vouchers on Unilocal say they have a «time frame use» besides the 1 year validity via Unilocal.
Please post a warning before purchase on Unilocal vouchers and that you do not accept them although you sell and advertise them. We hope to contact Unilocal to try and reverse the transaction, because we are definitely not coming back here for future events.

I’ve been here a few times now — sometimes I’d give it a 3 star and sometimes a 5 star — so on average I am giving it 4!
They always have a large enough selection, they always are priced good, they always have good food — but their service can be sporadic! Service isn’t just the friendliness of the staff — it also takes into account how long it takes to get a drink order and how long it takes to actually get your food — this is where it falters a lot!

Bad Customer service. Una de las meseras tirando las servilletas, retirando los platos sin preguntar, y cuando trajo la caja para llevar she drop it on top of the plate we were taking Home

They don’t honor the Unilocal voucher it was a waste of extra money they don’t offer the 10% discount with the check ins. No fine print or anything saying anything with rules or conditions. I dislike dishonest people. Whatever.

Menudo is excellent! Saturday buffet for $ 8.99 p/​p is a good deal! Corn tortillas are hand made (hechos a manos, hombre).

We ordered chips, salsa, and guacemole, two tacos and a chile verde combo plate through
. The tacos were supposed be without chesse. Total price for the food around 32 $.
Then they add 6 $ delivery fee, 4 $ conv. fee, 15% gratuity and sales tax. Basically 50% of the price of the food. I expected it to be good food and delivered swiftly.
The food came and after opening it (delivery left, my mistake not to check everything, while he was there), the tacos has chees on it, there was no chile verde anywhere.
I called the restaurant, the manager said he would send the deliveryman back. I called again after 5 minutes, because his box was empty, so I wondered what he was supposed to do. The manager said he would be there in 5 – 10 minutes. After 45 minutes, nothing, so I called again. After a 20 minute back and forth, they basically said that the burrito had the chile verde IN the bean burrito… I am still looking for the chile verde.
Friendly girl on the phone, even the delivery man was nice, but everything else was horrible. The worst 50 $ I ever spent on mexican food…

Pretty satisfied! I used to come here once on a while when it was el ranchito. And this place took its place. Although, I liked el ranchito. I AM NOT disappointed w/​el Cortez. Fast service! Friendly staff. Very attentive waiters. Yummy food! Good combination plates!
I ordered the carne asada taco made w/​a fresh handmade tortilla, cheese enchilada and whole pinto beans!!! Yummy!!! My friend had the burrito and loved it!

We found out New Mexican ace in Long Beach!!!
Not greasy, not salty, not «White Washed» so that means totally authentic. The best part was the price. Not over priced and the staff friendly and professional.

Mexican food is a family favorite and will make writing this review a pleasurable experience.
My daughter and I have great memories of the former restaurant Avila’s El Ranchito since El Cortez took over the transition was difficult because we constantly compared the two we no longer do that.
The restaurant has been updated and the menu is different but the food is still great with the Unilocal check in you get 10% off.
It’s pretty cozy in here and the servers are helpful without being pushy they brought us a plate of fresh tortilla chips and salsa mild and spicy and we add guacamole it’s chunky and buttery with diced tomatoes we added a dash of salt and it was good to go.
I ordered a strawberry piña colada with whipped cream it was smooth and fruity topped with whipped cream it’s so good.
My daughter had a skinny girl margarita on the rocks her glass rimmed with salt she loved it because it’s not too sweet. It’s sweetened with agave nectar.
Her boyfriend had a blended strawberry margarita he said that it wasn’t blended properly and had chunks of ice in it but it tasted great.
My daughter and I order cammarones el diablo a plate each with flour tortillas.
The grilled shrimp are tender and spicy well seasoned in a garlic and buttery rich red sauce we dip the edges of our tortillas into that sauce and we are in heaven it’s so good it comes with a side of spanish rice and creamy refried beans and cheese this is one of our favorite meals on the menu we order this almost every time and we owned those spicy shrimp.
We order a cheese enchilada to share the enchilada sauce is different it has more of a tomato base and we loved its unique taste.
Her boyfriend had the steak burrito with rice and cheese he said that it was delicious and tender very well seasoned and that he would definitely order this again.
We have eaten at this location over 16 years and with El Cortez almost 3 the food is pretty consistent which is always a plus.
The menu is extensive there are so many interesting things and the desserts look absolutely delicious. They have a full bar as well I think the drinks are expensive my daughters thinks they are reasonable but I must point this out she makes the big bucks I do not. Lol.
We had a delicious meal.
tip:
Try the whole fried fish with garlic butter squeeze some lemon juice on it and a dash of salt it’s really delicious but you have to work for this tasty meal it has bones so be careful.

We used to frequent «Avila’s El Ranchito», now El Cortez Restaurant. (work lunch groutp)
They did some renovations, took out some booths, closed out one side of restaurant (for Sunday brunch only?) & added a lunch special.
It works for me. The service was excellent.
The food came out fast and was delicious.
We stopped going to Avila’s because on our last visit there, the service was terrible and the food I got was inedible. To our surprise driving by, the restaurant was under new management and a new name. so we decided to give it another try and it’s 100% better.
I hope they keep it up and prosper.
We will be back.