El Charro

El Charo is our favorite Mexican restaurant in the Central Valley. From the salsa, chips, cabbage salad to the main dishes. You will not be disappointed. It’s authentic Mexican food. My dad always said you can tell if a Mexican restaurant is good from it’s chips/​salsa and they are the best at El Charo. They will keep refilling your basket too. Our favorite appetizer are the flautas. If you want a quiet dinner this is not the place. It can get a little noisy-​bad acoustics, but we’re there for the food. Portions are generous size too.

My family enjoyed this place until a couple of years ago. The service is the worst and the owner doesn’t seem to care. I have been getting food to go until recently. The last time I called, after letting them know that I wanted to place an order to go, the waitress was very rude. She said, «you’ll have to wait» and she sat the phone down on the counter. She didn’t ask me to hold for a moment she just said, you’ll have to wait. I finally placed my order when someone else picked up the phone about 5 minutes later. I was told the food would be ready in 15 minutes. I got to the restaurant 10 minutes later and stood at the counter for 20 minutes before even being acknowledged. At times there were as many as 7 people behind the counter and not one paid any attention to the fact that I was there. The tables and floor are usually dirty whether they are busy or not. The servers are more interested in each other than the customers. The owner is unfriendly. He never greets you or smiles. Such a waste.

Food is pretty good and service is ok. Went there today and the waitress was nice. Usually I get this one guy (may be the boss) and he’s so rude.

My new favorite restaurant in Turlock!
My wife came Thursday evening with some friends. She was impressed with their Thursday night $ 1.00 margarita special and their salsa & chips. So impressed that she convinced me to drive from Los Banos to try it out. I’m glad I did.

I was having a hard time deciding and asked our server what her favorite was. With much enthusiasm she recommended the TEQUILA LIME CHICKEN. That isn’t what I would normally order, but she really seemed to like it herself. I also added on the green salad for something like a buck fifty more. The salad was very good and big enough that my wife and I shared it as an appetizer along with the complimentary chips and salsa.
Our server was very friendly and attentive and my food came at the right time. It did take a few minutes for my wife’s torta to come out. Not too long, but long enough for my wife to have time to try my chicken and offer to trade me for her sandwich.
Her chicken torta came soon enough. It was very tasty too. It was also a very healthy portion and she was only able to finish half of it. The beans and rice were also delicious.
I’ll have to say, that is probably the best chicken I’ve ever had at a restaurant.
–The service was good.
–Drinks were tasty and reasonably priced.
–Food was awesome!
I’ll be back soon. It was worth the drive.

They should fix what time they close on here and maybe I wouldn’t have wasted a 20 min drive

I can’t believe the service we received tonight while dining here. Worst WAITRESS EVER. Wish I caught her name…
Honestly, she was a snobby B WORD. The guys working tonight were friendly. I am baffled by our server. She only (barely) spoke when she took our order and when I spoke to her. When she brought out our food, she LITERALLY slammed our plates down in front of us without saying a word! We were in disbelief!
I asked for an extra plate for my baby and she never brought it. I asked her for green sauce that was missing from my chimichanga, and she set it down next to my arm when I was looking the other way! Seriously, without saying anything to me! It even splashed on my cell phone!
I wish I would have complained about her, but i don’t think anyone would have cared. It looks like bad service is common. The food was good. But you need both to keep people coming back. Never again!

The food here is good; my problem is with the service.
Food: 4 stars; favorites are the tequila lime chicken and the tortilla soup
Service: –1; the waitresses are rude and unprofessional. Super slow! Almost took an hour for my food to arrive and the waitress screwed up the order. She never offered to replace or fix the order. Never brought the tortillas; I had to flag down a bus boy to ask him to bring them.
If your aren’t ordering alcohol; don’t expect the waitresses to pay much attention to you

Amazing food! Eaten Mexican food all my life and never had anything as delicious as the combination molcajete. Highly recommend.

Best Mexican in the Valley!!! My whole family is obsessed with this restaurant! Margaritas on Thursday are $ 1! DEFINITELY get the mocajete!!! YUM! Love this place!

The food is very good here.
The service is also very good.
It’s an older place so maybe the ambience is more of the «hole in the wall» variety but that’s really kind of it’s charm.
Great carnitas, burritos, chimichangas and molcajete.
They do great shrimp cocktails and even a fried bacon wrapped shrimp (don’t recall the name). They make great margaritas — get La Perfecta, it’s made with agave nectar.
Also on tap beers are really good — usually have XX Amber or Modelo (Negra or Especial) which are my favorites.
Not sure what to get? Get the Nachos Supreme with Carnitas and any Mexican Beer on Tap. Muy Bueno.

I visited the place last Sunday after church. The food was great. I felt like I was eating at home. Unfortunately the servers weren’t too attentive. The 2 young ladies working that day were too busy staying by the register gossiping and I could hear them talking about the owner and a manager. (Very unprofessional.) I finished my soda half way through my meal and it never got refilled even though I was sitting close enough to hear the waitresses talking. My tortillas were gone after making myself a couple of tacos and I remained without tortillas for the rest of my meal. I felt neglected as a customer. While I was there, the place was relatively slow so I can only imagine the torment other customers face during peak hours.
I suggest the owner reevaluates his management team’s efficiency and the productivity of his waitresses. Other than that, the food was amazing. I take my hat off to the chefs and food preps. Can’t say the same about the front-​end employees. If the food is amazing but the service is lacking, I won’t go back. Good luck Charro.

Amazing food, friendly staff, cold beer. The prices are fair and I go weekly. Hands down best Mexican in Turlock

Dirty smelled like old oil, server rolled her eyes when I asked to sit at clean table. Has went down hill bad so sad I loved this place.

My family and I like to do our catering from here the flour chicken tacos are my favorite.

When you walk in it smells like sewage. The staff is not knowledgeable and the bathrooms are gross. Margaritas are a pre-​made mix and food is not even as good as taco-​bell. Salsa tasted like Pace out of a jar with a dash of cilantro.

This is one of those great Mexican restaurants that I grew up with in my home town that are harder and harder to come by.

The real crab enchiladas are my favorite item on the menu:)
I have tried almost everything here: the best.
The marinated, slow-​cooked pork is beyond words.

This place blows! The food was yuck and the service was okay, only because my other guest knew the girl working. The margarita was not good. I’ve had better at the bees and that’s saying a lot.
I think I’ll stick to La Morenitas in Ceres where the food, chips, salsa, and service are great!
I won’t be going back to el charro.

This place blows. It used to be good. Poor service and the special was horrible. Too bad…

Great tostadas and authentic food service is good and the bar is stocked with the usual items.