El Patron

Good food, good service, nice atmosphere. One of my favorite Mexican restaurants in the city.

El Patron has its moments but it is a great place
If you have a large group service is fast and friendly. Even on a busy night
Lunch time especially on weekends is consistently good
My fav dish is Pollo Fundito
Salsa is tasty but not too spicy for young children
You have to ask for the Fire hot stuff
Beer on draft nice and cold

My food yesterday was hot, fast, and exceptional! The building does need some work, but the food doesn’t.
I ordered special lunch #1, a tamale, and my friend had taco salad. The chile rellano was done a little different. It was more like a pile of beef with a little bit of pepper, and cheddar cheese. It was not the white cheese in a pepper, breaded, and fried. It was different and delicious. It is good to eat with the chips.
The crunchy taco had shredded chicken instead of beef. I wasn’t expecting chicken, didn’t ask for it, and didn’t read the menu well enough to notice if it was supposed to be chicken, but I didn’t mind because it was also delicious.
The beans were super hot and had a little melted cheese. I like to eat them with chips.
The tamale was great. It was covered with chili which is a little different.
The guacamole was perfect. Not too overpowering, not over processed, and not to cold. I also eat them with chips.
All of my food (except for the plate with taco, guacamole, and lettuce) was piping hot just like it should be. The plate was also hot. I appreciate that.
The chips were average, I’d say, nothing special. They were warm though and served with refrigerated salsa. I just hate salsa at 35 degrees! 50 to 60 degrees is fine to store salsa a couple of days. If it is made daily, why do people think they have to be stored cold? You can leave tomatoes out for a couple weeks right? Am I missing something people?
My friend’s taco salad looked really good too. It was in an edible bowl. He said it was really good.
They also had a fair price for 24 ounce draft beer.
This was an old seafood restaurant. It really is a neat building but needs repairs and updating. On the plus side, its big, has a vaulted ceiling and an upstairs, and a bar. On the downside, it just doesn’t fit well with the Mexican theme, it is old and dated, and just worn out. There is a train track all the way around that I remember from my childhood, but it wasn’t running. Maybe it needs repair too. I did enjoy sitting by stage road and watching the traffic.
My lunch was fast, hot, and affordable, though it was a little different. The food was so good, I won’t let the building’s condition distract me. I’ve eaten in shacks more run down than this. The food has to be worth it to bring me back, and you’ll see me again, I promise.

Worst «Mexican» restaurant in the Memphis area! Had the chicken, it was dry. Beans were from a can and tortillas were cold. My Margarita had no alcohol in it.

Everything was horrible. food, décor & service! I have never been to a Mexican restaurant and my fajitas come out cold. There wasn’t even a sizzle. Never again.

This is a typical Mexican restaurant, with decent food and prices. It’s family oriented, and the Margaritas are good.

Ok? I went back since I was going to Gelsons, mistake again. I wish it made some impact on «the owner» her feedback tells you all you need to know. The lack of acknowledgement regarding the price and quality issues is just amazing. They have all they need to be a great restaurant, fix the problems or the customers will.

Food was awful. Came to table barely warm. Not much better than El Porton. Will not be back. Waiter was good.

The good was horrible! Our server was great. I would not go back. The prices are ok. I eat out often and love sweet tea… even that was horrible

Quick seating. Slow inattentive service. Fair food. Quacamole just mashed avocado. Ambiance absent.

Food is ok, but nothing to write home about… Meats tasted a little under-​seasoned and overcooked. Place is starting to get dingy and needs a good steam clean from stem to stern in my book. The menus are just ridiculous with the tall/​thin layout and difficult to read.

Great food and good portions. The Nachos El Patron are my personal favorite. Highly recommended.

This is possibly the worst Mexican food I’ve ever had. Ordered an enchilada and taco combo with rice and beans. The enchilada tasted like a corn tortilla rolled up and microwaved with cheese inside. The sauce on it was definitely from a can. Taco shell wasn’t even homemade. The beans were so disgusting I couldn’t even stomach them. My husband had the carnitas and they seemed to have been in the warmer for about 3 days! So dry. The flour tortillas were also clearly store bought. Also, there was maybe two or three tables of people in the whole place and they put us upstairs all alone. Pretty sure it’s because we have a toddler. What a disappointment! Will NEVER go back there.

Bland rice, bland beans, no flavor at all, ordered 2 steak tacos with the combo
Nice surprise to get chips and salsa with my meal that I order to go for free however the salsa came out of a can so that’s an automatic fail to me the tacos were hard shell tacos not even Mexican style more like a fancy Taco Bell version and they weren’t even that good this is not authentic Mexican only thing Mexican about it is they have Mexicans working there
Won’t come back here for the food ever

Fair. Went because I had a coupon. Lunch fajitas were awful! Never had fajitas that weren’t served from a hot skillet. other lunch special was delicious. And possible language barrier! Ordered avocado slices 3 times (waiter said ok) but never got them. Would return… with a coupon!

The restaurant has a cool, festive vibe. Food was good, not great. Tacos-​schmacos! The queso was a bit thin and watery, but was twerkable. Fajitas were the best I’ve had in a while. Portions were befitting a man of beefy stature such as my self. I hear the margaritas were stellar or (ahem) muy bueno! Bartender was mad cool too, BTWl!

Great ‘ritas, queso, and place (actual edifice is pretty cool). Not expensive, but also not the fastest service ever. Love it and frequent it anyway, so obviously not bad! One pretty bad incident: bit into a chicken bone in a burrito and broke a tooth in half…

The food was great and the service was fantastic! Service was soo good you’ll forget about the trains that roll by at the light. Large portions and perfectly seasoned. My first time eating Fajita Quesadilla’s, very full filling, make sure to get it with the veggies (bell peppers and onions). The waiters would not leave me alone!

This was the first restaurant I ate at when I moved to Memphis. I’d visited Memphis before and dined downtown, but this was my first «living here» experience. I had been unpacking all day and just happened upon this place when I went out in search of a margarita. I’ve been back several times and enjoyed it every time.
Food: I’ve had several people in Memphis tell me this place has the best Mexican food in town. Perhaps it was a small coincidence that they told me that as they were sitting there eating with me. Truth be told, I do think this place stands out as far as the quality of their food. Mexican is one of those food types that’s easy to do alright, but it’s hard to really do something special. I think the quality of their cooking combined with the wide range of options on their menu really puts this place a few notches above almost every Mexican restaurant I’ve ever been to. I highly recommend the Pollo Loco Tapatio, but I have yet to be displeased with anything I’ve had.
Drink: I’ll be honest here: when I go for Mexican I drink two things: Margaritas and Patron. Doing otherwise just seems incredibly rude and inappropriate. That being said, I really like the house margaritas at this place. They’re just really good for the money. Often house margaritas are too sweet or too weak on the liquor content, but they really know how to do them right here. And Patron… It’s hard to mess up Patron.
Atmosphere: the atmosphere on this one is what brought me to the restaurant. When driving by, the building is right next to the railroad tracks and looks a lot like an old train station. I’m not sure if it ever was an actual train station or not, but they incorporate a lot of the old train station feel into their motif. Unlike most Mexican restaurants, this place doesn’t have the walls covered in paintings of cactuses and gigantic sombreros. In fact, they keep true to the «trainy» feel by having a little miniature train that runs around the top of the downstairs dining area and many other railroad touches like a foot rail at the bar made out of old railroad tracks. They also have a nice little outdoor patio for when the weather is nice.
Service: I don’t know that the service is that memorable, but I’ve never gone away thinking, «That was bad.» Like many Mexican restaurants, there’s a lot of Spanish spoken all around you, and a few people are a bit difficult to understand when they speak English, but the servers and bartenders are really quick to get whatever you need and are pretty polite.
Bottom line: I think people are right. This is one of the best Mexican restaurants in town. It’s not just any one thing. It’s the whole experience combined. I suggest you visit and visit often.

Really good Mezzican restaurant. Went with PD and the Boy and his wife and we enjoyed it. Food was good plates were huge. Selection of beer was small but OK. Pretty extensive menu with quite a bit of seafood. I found the prices a smidge high. Service was quick and friendly.