El Patron

A coworker and I stumbled on to this place. This is some of the best Mexican food I’ve ever had. It’s so fresh and authentic, other neighboring establishments should take a lesson. The shrimp fajitas were the most surprising. They were as fresh as can be expected, with excellent flavor. I recommend this 10 times over. I hope they thrive.

Not only is the authentic Mexican food delicious but NOW you can have a BEER/​WINE with your meal. They finally received their license to serve BEER/​WINE last week and the wait is over. A great Meal/​Dining experience just got better. I highly recommend this restaurant !

One of my favorite places to eat in town! The food is soooo good and very authentic. They serve food comparable to the food I ate in Mexico actually. If you’re not from town, the location may seem a little off putting, but I can assure you that it is very safe. I often feel like they don’t charge enough for the food! Delicious!

What a real treat !!! A true diamond in the rough. Came to this establishment bases solely on the Unilocal reviews and so glad I did. Service was warm & friendly, we started with the «Patron Hot Shrimp» absolutely outrageous!!! Not really spicy but more of a delicious creamy garlic lemon white wine sauce with green chilies mixed in. Served with toasted bread to mop up that sauce. Pleasantly surprised. Wifey had the vegetarian burrito which was dynamite. I had the «Steak al Patron» served with fried cheese, avocado, grilled cactus and rice & beans. Also came with a house salad. Fresh ingredients, authentic cuisine, and priced right !!! Can’t say enough good things. Treat yourself …

Was visiting town and came out as a sugges on Unilocal,great fajitas. No beer as of now but clean place, friendly waitress and real Mexican food. Will visit again. Prices were reasonable…

El Patron is our favorite of the many Mexican places in downtown Poughkeepsie. It’s a friendly, family owned place with a menu that is a great mix of familiar tex-​mex items and more authentic Mexican and Oaxacan dishes and plates. There are plenty of good vegetarian options, the portions are large, and the prices are reasonable ($ 9 – 11 for the plates, less for a few tacos, more for some elaborate dishes). Service has always been good the five or so times I’ve been there. I’ve also used them for catering. I’m not a hot chocolate drinker but they have authentic mexican hot chocolate, made from a slab imported from Mexico.
I’m only giving it four stars because the atmosphere is just so-​so, but the food is great.
This is the kind of place we want to support in our downtown. The parking lot is a nice amenity too.

I was visiting from Brooklyn and had an absolutely amazing meal at El Patron. Its a new restaurant in Poughkeepsie but it is truly unique, excellent and very well-​priced Mexican food that I will make a permanent stop whenever I travel North in the Hudson Valley. I love this place and am so happy I found it! Better than any Mexican food I’ve eaten in NYC.
My friends tell me this restaurant specializes in Oxacan Mexican cuisine. I don’t know that I’ve ever been to a restaurant specializing in this region, but it was certainly a little different than your everyday Mexican fair and it made me very interested in learning more. Mexican food is my favorite cuisine, but I don’t usually get much variety in a menu. Here they had many dishes I’d never encountered before that used cactus leaves (turned out to be delicious!), fried oxacan cheese, and grilled jalapenos in interesting ways. Even the small salad that came with my meal was a fresh spin — they gave me fresh lime and oil instead of «oil & vinegar» and it was absolutely delicious.
I ordered the signature «El Patron» steak dish and it was a gigantic amount of food and extremely elaborate. There are other pictures of it already on Unilocal so I won’t bother to add my own bad photographs but suffice to say it is a large, sizzling array of delectable items that are new and interesting. The piece of steak itself was extremely large and very high quality, prepared exactly how I’d requested it.
They make their own chips here and their own salsas, which is a must. The service is extremely attentive and kind. I believe the owner’s wife was the commendable cook and she came out herself to serve them with a very proud smile (as she should).
One of my dining companions had a dish with the name «cien porciento» meaning 100% — it was basically 100% of the items you could order on the menu for $ 12.95! It had beans, cheese, grilled vegetables, steak, avocado, etc. It was gigantic and a really wonderful preparation of each item. Another in our group was vegetarian and had a great vegetarian dish with the fresh oxacan cheese.
I washed it all down with a yummy jicama juice that was just slightly sweet, which I prefer over super sugary drinks.
To be able to spend less than $ 20 per person on a dinner and have so much food you take a bag home is not that common any more. I wish this restaurant the best of luck and I will be a regular customer if I can.

Great atmosphere, delicious food, and incredibly friendly staff. The portions are very generous. The vegetarian burrito was filled with delicious vegetables, cheese, beans, and rice. Get the nachos too!

I came here with my mom for lunch when we both had the day off. We just spotted the place as we were driving in Poughkeepsie and decided to check it out. They have a parking lot so we didn’t need to worry about finding a spot!
El Patron doesn’t have a bar but they have a variety of other drinks. My mom and I both tried the Mexican coffee and LOVED it! It’s made with cinnamon and nutmeg in it and has a really great flavor to it.
They bring out chips and 3 different salsas to start you out. We also ordered some guacamole because we both love it so much. For my meal I got a vegetarian burrito and my mom got the chicken enchiladas. The food was all very affordable and delicious. Service was good. The food came out quick, but there was hardly anyone else there since we came for a weekday lunch.