El Porton

How ghetto is this? My waiter gave me a broken knife and forgets my husbands second order of tortillas hmmmm.

When I go to a Mexican restaurant anywhere in the country, I always order the same thing, chile verde. I’m almost always disappointed. So I was pleasantly surprised when I came to central Washington and found the best chile verde that I’ve had in many, many years. The ambience is open and a tad dated, but the service was more than adequate and the food phenomenal. I only wish I live closer.

I had my baby shower here and it was the worst experience I have ever had. There were only 12 of us and the waitress couldn’t seem to handle all of us which I completely understand since she was waiting on other tables too. But if she is waiting a table of 12 people maybe that should be her only table or they have another waitress help her. Our waitress was nothing but rude when none of us were being rude to her and she took forever when it came to asking for anything. It took 20 minutes for her to get our checks, all separately I might add. And to make matters worse our food was over cooked and lacking flavor. I won’t be returning.

I’ve been going to El Porton for years. It’s great authentic Mexican food. I love the new location, especially the light fixture up front– gorgeous!

Why does anyone go here? Big portions? I was here a couple of years ago, and it wasn’t good, but thought I’d try again. The food has absolutely no flavor. You could serve it in an old folks home as a bland diet. I honestly think they season the food with nothing. Even the salsa is lackluster. Service is also bad and not too friendly. Never again.

The entry way is every bit the light hearted and festive personality this place presents. Color and unique art sprawl into a boisterous hive of clamoring customers. Conversation stops only when savory bites are being appreciated. Wait staff speak in both English and Spanish and if you want to set your Rosetta Stone progress, the will happily oblige.
Sizzling Fajitas and mounds of nachos parade through the room. Mexican locals are enjoying more specific menu items like Carne Asada and Mar Y Tierra.
The ruckus of chattering patrons makes it difficult to converse across the table. But despite that, I highly recommend this restaurant for a true Mexican dining experience.
Bright, cheerful, lively, delicious.

The food here is good but the service is absolutely terrible. It is just a bunch of high school kids talking to each other in a corner. The waitress forgot to take our order for 30 minutes & no one seemed to care. Would rather eat elsewhere.

I’ve been going to el porton since I was a little kid. I’ve always enjoyed the friendly authentic atmosphere and the amazing food. The portions are very generous and smothered in cheese. I love the enchiladas as well as the burritos. Free chips and salsa while you wait. The only downside is they can be a little slow sometimes.

The new location is beautiful but unfortunately the food is still below average. I ordered the enchilada/​chile relleno/​taco combo with shredded beef. The shredded beef tasted like pure cloves and was so soaking in grease. It was incredibly disgusting. My husband ordered the carnitas and the pork was dry and flavorless. Nothing order is homemade or authentic. There are way better Mexican restaurants in Yakima. This place is way overhyped.

This is a review of the new location on Tieton Drive. The restaurant is nice with some beautiful décor. I came here for Sunday lunch with my dad. We were seated but it took so long for a server to greet us that we almost moved to the bar. Finally someone greeted us and she said they were short staffed, so that’s understandable.
The food was pretty good. However our serve me never came by to refill our waters and our salsa and chip bowl was left empty. I asked for a side of sliced avocados and they came out very sad looking.
The worst part of all? The couple sitting next to us pulled their phone out and started playing their own music very loud. Granted the restaurant wasn’t playing its own music, but I’m shocked they’d let their patrons play loud music on their phone and subject other guests to it.

Unfortunately in the move to their new building they left behind the good service and attitudes that we so enjoyed and had come to expect when eating at el porton. I had the fish tacos and they were very bland without any kick to them at all. Thank goodness for limes and salsa.

Solid place. Good portions. Price is so-​so, but place is good. Nothing stands out, but its quality food.
Give this place a shot if you close to this location.
con Parvis de pollo

This is the type of Mexican that caters to the gringo palate… aesthetically it is an improvement over their last location. Pretty lively atmosphere, and there was no wait. There were fresh chips and salsa as we sat and the salsa was decent and seemed house made. They did have a non spicy kids salsa which was a plus as we were with three six year olds. The kids made their choices from the kid’s menu and we asked the server to expedite their order, at the same time we ordered the jalapeño poppers which came with the kid’s order… they seemed to like their food, but the poppers were horrible. Seriously you can get better at Jack-​in the box or Arby’s. I had the Tierra y Mar… which features Carne Asada and Shrimp, with mushrooms, rice beans and guac, everything was bland and nearly flavorless… with too much cheese, my skirt steak if that’s what it was was paper thin… my lady ordered Camarones Tocino and that too was bland and covered in a white cheese that also ruined any presentation that they were attempting. Bottom line if you want to pay $ 17 a plate for inauthentic Mexican food done wrong… come here. I would rather go to the taco truck by the car wash near Davis high school and get a four dollar burrito that kicks ass. I will give two stars because the service was fine. I doubt, I would be back, unless it was someone’s birthday.

Excellent restaurant, food was outstanding, great service as well. Definitely making this my choice of restaurant for Mexican food. KEEP IT UP EL PORTON STAFF!

El porton is fairly good for the price. It’s fairly greasy though. I wish it was as authentic as I expected but it is still a good place to eat. They usually have fast service and are good about keeping your drink full. I’m really not a fan of the new building. We had to circle the parking lot twice to even find a spot and they were busy and cramped once we got inside.

Stopped in for a drink. Got their strawberry margarita a beer and a shot. All together was 15 $. Very reasonable. I didn’t eat but I was on the phone for about 30 minutes of my stay and about 5 different people asked me if I wanted chips and salsa. Every time I said no thank you. Eventually someone brought me chips and salsa and a water anyway. This reminded me of visiting my grandmas house and the hospitality gave me a sense of nostalgia. So that was appreciated and earned my vow to return. Maybe I will update with the 5^th star when I actually eat some of their food? Also I noticed how clean and new the restaurant was so that’s always promising! Thanks for the great service :)

New location seems to have sent this place downhill. Very noisy inside, service was very slow. Had fish tacos, very dull tasting

Good food. but the noise in the new restaurant is horrible… the acoustics suck and slow service

I’m from the Seattle Tacoma area, and everyone we come to visit yakima, we make it a must to stop here. Never been disappointed & their chips and salsa is so good! Definitely recommend.

This place is located close to home for me, so I go quite often. The food is pretty good, pretty reasonable price. You get a lot of food for the money too, so you’ll probably have leftovers, which is always a bonus! The wait staff is quiet, and not overly friendly, but they get their job done well. A good neighborhood Mexican place!