El Rey Azteca

Very authentic tasting food. My go to taco joint, friendly staff, chef comes out to see the customers

First time and not my last! Cant wait to see their new location. The food was absolutely phenomenal! I would recommend the Mayan burrito. Their guacamole dip was delicious and so was everything else. The service was awesome. Everything made you feel welcome and the employees were on point with service and enthusiasm. If you’ve never been, I suggest you go now. You wont regret it!

La comida es rico. Es la mejor llugar para este tipo de comida aqui.
The food is delicious. It’s the best place for this type of food around here.

There have been a couple of times that I’ve pulled up to a restaurant and made a u-​turn. But this time, I continued onwards and trusted the Unilocal.I’d suggest that you do as well. This small restaurant has a few of the usual nachos/​burritos/​chimichanga items on them menu, but there are also quite a few of the more authentic and tasty items buried on there, too.
The salsa was exceptional, but I thought that the chips were just too thick and the ones I was served were not warm. I got past that though.
I chose the Pork in Adobo sauce for my main and wow. Tender bits of pork in a very rich and very tasty sauce. Tender, but still needing a knife to cut some of the larger pieces. Very good and somehow I managed not to end up wearing any of it.
Not much choice in beverages — no beer license apparently — but they did have a good selection of Mexican sodas and my grapefruit flavored one was excellent.
I’d return. I hope that they get a beer license in their new location!

OMG my favorite place for Mexican food love the food, service, family atmosphere and the prices are fair. They encourage you to taste the specials with generous samples. Fresh orange juice, cool drinks hibiscus my favorite. The made at the table guacamole is to die for. They are friendly and accommodating. They make you feel like you are dining with family. Amazing place can’t wait for them to move to their new bigger location with a bar.

This was an incredible find. Can’t wait to visit the new larger spot when they move to Kidder Street in January 2016.

We had to try this place given 1) the 4+ star rating on Unilocal and 2) the phenomenal 25 for 50 deal through Unilocal.And it was wholly amazing! Service was incredible: we received samples of the mole sauce, pork in adobo, and three drinks (one of which was horchata) AND had free chips and salsa. The tableside guacamole was very fresh and tasty too.
The pork in adobo sauce was extremely delicious as well. Very tender and a large portion. Plus the entrée came with 4 wraps, refried beans, and rice. DELICIOUS! If ever in the area, most definitely try this place out!

El Rey Azteca is one of those restaurants that I would have no problem recommending to friends. The service is excellent and the food is very fresh, not to mentioned prepared well. I tend to always go for the carne asada tacos when I eat here because of the delicious seasonings they use on the steak. That paired with fresh guacamole makes for a really nice taco. I’d recommend you give this place a try. It’s one of the better restaurants around the Wilkes-​Barre area for sure.

Slight decline in service and quality of food over that past 2 years of frequenting this place, However Burritos are still yummy & authentic! Looking forward to their new location.

We’ve been fans of the other Mexican food place nearby, but with the exception of not having a bar, the food here is a step above, and the tableside guacamole was an unexpected treat! Very impressed.

I am shocked that El Rey Azteca has been open for 4 years and I just finally discovered it! Through word of mouth I kept hearing about this authentic Mexican spot in Wilkes Barre, and of course I figured it was a new restaurant that had just opened.
Little did I know I had been missing out the last 4 years on the most delicious Mexican food sitting right in my backyard.
El Rey Azteca trumps any local Mexican food chain — and in my opinion — any Mexican spot in the Back Mountain/​Wilkes Barre area. When our party arrived we were greeted by the most polite staff and were immediately offered samples of the daily carnitas, chocolate-​chili mole sauce, homemade-​infused berry tea, sweet-​cinnamony horchata, and of course, complimentary chips and salsa.
As we milled over the menu and dipped into the salsa and samples, the guacamole cart rolled over and our adorable little sous chef began making table-​side guacamole. Not only did we order a large vat of guac, but then we all ended up ordering the exact same burrito that every server we asked had recommended — the Mayan Burrito.
When those 3 burritos were served I literally put my arm out next to it to size it up. That thing looked like a small newborn who had been rolled up in a tortilla wrap and decorated for Cinco De Mayo. Humongous. And delicious. And everything I have ever wanted in my belly. The only thing I didn’t absolutely love was the lettuce inside the burrito, and I think it’s because it was a little soggy and didn’t mesh with the rest of the flavors.
El Rey is comparable to my favorite Mexican hole-​in-​the-​wall spot in Philadelphia and 100% is a local pillar in NEPA that needs to be recognized and appreciated and frequented at least once a week. I cannot rave enough about the service, food, plate presentation, and overall enjoyable atmosphere.
2 thumbs up and 5-​stars. Definitely cannot wait to come back!

Given it’s in Wilkes Barre and its limited set of options, I think El Rey is a five star standout. Service was surprisingly warm and friendly throughout our meal and across all the staff. The food portion sizes were large and the flavors shocked my taste buds.
Some recommendations: it took awhile for our food to come out so faster service would be appreciated; the chips were hard and seemed stale — it’d be nice if they were crisper; cut the buns to match the portion size of the tostada (the buns were large but my chicken fillet was smaller so there was a lot of empty bread).

Service — The service was spectacular. Quick and friendly.
Food — Large portions, very delicious! The free samples were great!
Price — Very reasonable!
Guacamole was great, so was the cantaloupe water, and all of the entrees were incredible. Definitely coming back, and would highly recommend to friends.

Authentic Mexican food is what you will find here. It is well priced for what you get. The fajitas were delicious as well as the homemade guacamole. This place has a local family feel and great service.

Fantastic food and service! The place is nothing to look at and could do with better cleaning, but the family run establishment has a certain warmth that you rarely see/​feel. They take the time to explain what a dish will entail and even let you sample a dish or gravy to see if something will be up your alley.
The table side guacamole was simple but a big hit. Since I saw what went into it and in what proportion, I simply don’t get why mine doesn’t turn out as tasty! The pork and shrimp dishes my colleagues and I ordered were all great. The meat was tender and well seasoned while the shrimp was cooked in a spicy sauce — «el Diablo». The complimentary house made tortilla chips were served with a tangy sauce. Yum!
The Mexican sodas were nice too — we tried mandarin, tutti fruti and grapefruit. And the last turned out to be the best. Unfortunately no one had room for dessert — else I surely would have tried the cheesecake burrito!
Loved the hospitality and the food!

Delicious!!! This was our first visit to El Rey and when we told the waitress that she brought out a few samples to help us decide what to order for dinner. Everything she brought out was awesome! The pork dish I ordered was fall-​off-​the-​bone good and my husbands burrito was excellent! Definitely get the guacamole! It’s outstanding!
We finished with the homemade churros that came with vanilla ice cream. Delicious!

It’s a small, unassuming place on the «other» side of Wilkes-​Barre, away from the shopping areas but I see why it has such a strong following. It was fantastic!
Stopped in for a late lunch. Was welcomed with a complimentary tasting of their house made Aqua Frescas and horchata. I thought that was nice touch, but then also was offered their Mole on chicken and adobo pork. The mole was complex. The peppers and raisin were equally predominate with a slight sweetness followed by an underlying bitterness, but in a good way. I couldn’t stop going back. The adobo pork was well seasoned and ridiculously tender. And this is all before I even ordered.
The staff was very knowledgeable and accommodating. I ordered the taco platter, 2 al pastor and 2 carnitas., and a horchata. I chose cilantro and onion (rather than the lettuce and pico) so I could taste the meat. Both were great, but the carnitas were sublime. They were accompanied by a trio of salsas. While all were good, my favorite was the salsa verde. It had a bright finish that cut through the meat. Every table around me had the table side guacamole and couldn’t stop raving.
Hands down the best Mexican I’ve had in Central/​Northeast PA. If coming in from the south, get off the highway one exit early. You won’t regret it.

This place is by far the best Mexican restaurant in the Wilkes barre area. I have had Mexican from places all over the country and this has still got to be my favorite. The food is always cooked to perfection, the staff is friendly and provide speedy service.
The only down side is the size of the place, it is very small and seating is limited. Besides that this place is spot on and won’t disappoint.

Been here many of times and still amazing, authentic Mexican food. Amazing service and staff. And great prices! What else do you need?
They clearly check on you and make sure you understand all specials and food on the menu ! Kudos!

I HATE to have to buck the five star trend here for a few reasons… 1. The service was perfection. They gave us free samples of certain dishes and inquired about my friends job as a chef while talking shop and serving us super fresh guacamole. They even presented my friend with a free flan for her birthday; it was incredibly sweet (the gesture, not the flan) 2. So many people have spoken about their experiences here as incredible and I was definitely expecting it to be amazing food-​wise. I’m writing this review with some hesitation and some hope because I do think they are capable of more than these three stars — but I do need to point out a few things that made the experience a little less than what I expected.
We shared tacos, sampling one beef, one chorizo, one spicy carnitas and one regular pork. They were fresh corn tacos and were served with a platter of delicious sauces, but ALL of the meat in the tacos was dry. Even with a slick puddle of add hot sauce coating them, the savory juice-​splosion one expects upon taco-​chomping was nonexistent.
However, the chicken in Adobo was so much the opposite experience. It was amazing and moist and flavorful.
So, my thoughts are to maybe not get the tacos but instead choose something more «low and slow» and grab a glass of horchata while you wait.
I’ll be back to give this place another go.