El Charrito

Absolutely terrible. Two for two. Service is always awful. No one looks happy to be here. The salsa is bland, basically watered down tomato sauce with large chunks of onion and tomato. I ordered the Chile Verde, which was, surprise, bland. The pork was dry, and the sauce was abysmal. I don’t why I thought I should try this place again. San Blas is far better.

Was here recently after a couple years. And they have nearly doubled in size. Expanded the restaurant and it looks great. Still the same owners, and the food was top notch. I would recomend it to most people.

I test Mexican restaurants by the quality of their Chile rellenos. These failed. The Chile was stuffed with a block of cold cheese and mine wasn’t the only one. I won’t be going back.

This place has great food! My favorite is the salsa and chip! Staff is friendly and really attentive! I highly recommend for a fast yummy meal!

The Carne Asada dinner plate is really good, but some of the other dishes I’ve tried were disappointing. Overall I’d rate the food on par with other gringo-​influenced Mexican restaurants around (4-​star quality and flavor).
Unfortunately the service is not what I consider to be at a 4-​star level — more like 2-​stars. I understand that it’s a family-​run business, and they put a lot of hours in; but if it gets to the point where it’s obvious you don’t like your job, maybe it’s time to either hire some help or take a vacation.
I keep going back and forth between this and the other sit-​down, gringo-​ized, Mexican place in town, and after several visits to El Charrito, I find myself wanting to go to the other restaurant. El Charrito has the best Carne Asada around, no question about that, but right now that’s the only advantage I can give them.

Food is good. I usually get the carne asada or the shrimp and mushrooms appetizer. Chip are fresh and tasty. Salsa is better than average and the bean dipvis good as well. Prices are fairly standard and the staff does a good job. It is my go to mexican in Molalla.

Excellent Mexican food, and I Love Mexican, but the staff isn’t the greatest… But that happens with family restaurants…

Fast friendly service. Food was very good and the service was great. Would definitely recommend. Hubby had steak fajitas and I had chicken fajitas. Next time we go I will try a margarita. :)

I go here often for the enchiladas. Great chips and salsa with every order. The best Mexican food in Molalla. Intimate setting with traditional food. The service can be a little weird, there’s a guy that stands and just watches the floor. It feels like he’s watching your every move — just ignore him.

I’ve been going here for at least 15 yrs and love it. I grew up doing here with my mom and brother when dad was out of town. The chimicungas and salad and chips are great. I love their beans and rice. Everything has great flavor and spice and all for a great price.

We give this restaurant a five rating both for the food and for the margaritas. We have been customers since the opening week and have found this family-​run establishment to be excellent. They are always customer friendly, the restaurant is clean, and we have never had any complaints. We have been fortunate to have Mexican food all over the U.S., the World, including Mexico and can say without a doubt this is authentic Mexican food and some of the best we have ever had. Thank you to El Charito.

Another great find for great Mexican food at a reasonable price. Everything from the Chili Relleno combo lunch to the chips and salsa were one of the best finds in this area yet, although a little far from home. Just happened to be in the area at lunch time but will return here when passing through.

Really good Mexican from a really nice family. The family runs and owns it. the margaritas are amazing and the chips and salsa are waaaayyyy better than San blas. Always super nice when we come in. They have lots of items on their menu and just overall a really good Mexican joint with real Mexican food. Only gripe are the bathrooms they are really old they aren’t dirty they just aren’t nice.

This is a great place to go. the people here are nice and friendly. The prices are decent. They have been in Molalla for awhile, which is unusual for any business in molalla! So must mean something good for them!

Really great Mexican food. Honestly takes me back to Mexico. True Mexican food. I have it a 4 because the parking sucks, but everything else was pretty good.

I have been here a few times for drinks with friends. Drinks are good but food is awful! Service is not good at all, there’s one lady in particular that has been rude and snobby every time I have come in. Very small feeling. I figured I’d give it one more try with my husband and when we got there there was one table open and I approached the waitress and told her how many were in my party. She made it seem like she wanted us to follow her to be seated in the back area but I guess she was just looking to see if there was an open table. Then she came back to me and asked again how many. I retold her and she looked around some more before telling me it would be a few minutes even though there was an empty table. There’s no waiting area and anywhere u stand u feel like u are rubbing elbows with somebody. I suggest San blas to any one eating good service, decent food and a warmer atmosphere.

Great food, the service is outstanding, I like the late hours. Good cheap lunch specials.

Best Mexican food in Molalla, OR for sure. I love the waiter there, and he’d always take good care of my family and I when we’d go here once a week or so. Also, fantastic, POWERFUL drinks. I’d recommend one called The Electric Watermelon on their menu. It makes my knees weak.
So, I was saddened when my family and I moved to Silverton about 15 miles away. No more El Charrito, I told myself in a cloud of depression. So we went out here to a place called El Toro downtown. A few minutes inside I see a familiar face. Wait, it can’t be the waiter from El Charrito, can it? No, but looks similar. Then I notice the menu and food is the same. So I ask the guy, and find out that YESSSS, it’s his brother, and El Toro is El Charrito’s sister restaurant!!! Same food, same hospitality via the same wonderful Mexican family.
Case in point: Eat at El Charrito… or El Toro when in Silverton.

One might think finding good Mexican food in a small town like Molalla would be like finding silver in a gold mine. But it can happen here.
I’ve been here twice now and have enjoyed each visit. Chimichanga… great! Nachos… very good! Pitcher of ritas… yes please!
My last visit was this past Monday. It was slow. The servers seemed like they would fall asleep at any time. Then, in the back dining room, a clamor of noise and 4 workers started singing happy birthday. But it was nearly in slow motion. Did we interrupt siesta? Were we in some new dimention? It was hilarious! Sweet, but hilarious! We wished it were our birthday so we could hear them do it again!
Love the little plate of beans with chips! Great salsa. Nice atmosphere. Keep it up, guys!

As a San Francisco native who by freak accident ended up living in Molalla, I had much trouble satisfying my food needs. Pretty much all restaurants in Molalla are sketchy and poor quality, except for El Charrito. Growing up in the bay area I was spoiled with Mexican Food. Although El Charrito may be as authentic as Chevy’s Tex Mex, I never leave disappointed and am always overly full. I take all of my family and friends that visit me here, and all of the out-​of-​towners love it.
El Charrito gives you huge tasty portions for reasonable prices. Being a vegetarian, I also always find that I can tweak the menu to my needs as they are fairly flexible. You get an endless bucket of their restaurant made chips (which are so addicting, fresh, and NEVER stale) and salsa and bean dip to accompany. Although I assume that the beans do have lard in them, it is added for flavor and they are SO GOOD!
Our favorites include the fajita burrito (chicken or vegetarian), the quesadillas, vegetarian burrito, enchiladas, fajita salad, and margaritas which are oftly strong.
As for the decorations, they are only intended to make the place feel more like a fiesta. Also, the service is fantastic. This is part of the reason why el charrito has 5 stars. I have never had an order «messed up». They are always watching your table to see if you need more beans, chips or water (I don’t think this should be used against them). I have NEVER had to ask for anything, they are always so observant. They are on top of EVERYTHING! They are friendly and know us by face. I always feel good supporting this restaurant AND eating their food.
Overall, lots of food for the price and very tasty. Good customer service and the ONLY restaurant in town that I trust and frequent. Check it out!