Look Y'all, this place is not only GREAT, but the kitchen is on top of it and the servers are all so pleasant and helpful. Our waitress has been 12 years. What does that tell you about the owner and management of a place? Food was incredible, especially the chille verde sauce with pork. Salsa is so freakin fresh and cold. Will be back again and again and again. read more

Service at its Worst This was our first time visiting this city, and we were excited to try what we hoped would be a great local restaurant. Unfortunately, our experience ended before it even began. We arrived on a weekday, and there was no wait. As we walked in, the hostess appeared unhappy that new customers had arrived. We clearly heard her mumble, "Fuck," under her breath as we entered. My family and I looked at each other in disbelief. Whether she was having a bad day or not, that kind of behavior is completely unacceptable in a customer service role. We immediately turned around and left. First impressions matter, and this one ensured we won't be coming back. I hope management addresses this, as no customer should be greeted that way. read more

Just okay. I'm from Southern California, so my pallet for Mexican food has a high standard. My wife and I had carne asada, taquitos, and all the accompaniments. All average. Thus the three stars. It wont disappoint you, but it won't WOW you. Just okay. There are two other Mexican places withing walking distance, we just happened to choose this one because they do have a liquor license, or at least, they offer cocktails, and the other two do not. read more

Super cute place. Came for breakfast, (party of 5). Service was friendly, but waited a long while for our food to come after our food order was placed, but that didn't bother me at all, as it was a lazy Saturday morning and we weren't in a big hurry. The the place was busy with tables filled (so it was understandable). especially if you like your food homemade, so be patient with that in mind. We also enjoyed sipping on a my mimosa's and coffee as we waited. I ordered a simple breakfast burrito, scrambled eggs, cheese, hash browns with a side of their homemade hot salsa, as well as their mild which is a Pico de Gallo style salsa. (loved the homemade hot salsa it was so tasty and not that hot), tasted really good on my burrito. To sum it up, we all really enjoyed our breakfast. It was worth the wait. I told our waitress to let whoever cooked our food know that our food was delicious & we all left happy. read more

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Nice people ... food moderate It's very cute setting and The People managing and taking orders wonderful. The burrito Grande that I had... And I guess I shouldn't complain. ... was overloaded with chicken and missing beans, cheese rice, almost as though they ran out of those things at the end of the night we still have chicken leftovers. Everything needed a lot more Mexicano spice and flavor. read more

Castillo's Mexican Restaurant has been described both as the best and as the worst Mexican restaurant in Mariposa County. For reasons well beyond my control, I am forced to agree with the latter description. One of a handful of restaurants in Mariposa, Castillo's Mexican Restaurant serves bland food with decent service. This, of course, is an inadequate combination. The food here was edible but strikingly bland. In fact, my dining partner described the meal as the "worst ever" in her lifetime. I ordered one of the combos, which included a single beef enchilada, a single beef taco, a chile relleno, rice, and beans. The food brought me back to taco day at my elementary school cafeteria. A hard-shell taco slightly soggy from the flavorless juices of its entrails, filled with shredded beef (the beef was actually fine, but I was unknowingly charged extra for it), some iceberg lettuce and tomato, and a bland cheese. The tortilla of the enchilada was exceedingly chewy, which points toward kitchen staff who sadly do not know the proper way to heat a prepackaged corn tortilla. The chile relleno tasted of freezer burn. I am not sure if this was because of a mysterious seasoning or because it had, indeed, been frozen. This is not for me to say. All of the food seemed to only been seasoned with salt. Is salt even a seasoning? Perhaps to the many reviewers who laud the flavor of this restaurant's food, but not to me. My dining partner ordered what was marketed on the menu as a "tostada." But a taco salad by any other name would smell as sweet. Yes, this was indeed a taco salad, and to call it a tostada is an insult to tostadas as an institution. Similar to my dish, every item within the taco salad tasted the same--that is, tasted of little at all. Its entrails mysteriously coagulated to form a brown, soggy slop. I could not help but think that the president, a lover of taco salads, would love this plate. The meal drove my dining partner into a bout of nausea before she could finish, and she took to her bed in a feverish sweat immediately after the meal. Fortunately, she recovered by the next day. Perhaps two (2) stars is slightly generous for Castillo's Mexican Restaurant, but the tragic thing is that I truly got the sense that everyone in this restaurant was doing their best. This goes for both the service and the kitchen. The server was perfectly attentive and friendly. It is not the fault of the cooks that it is easier to defrost a frozen chile relleno than to make one fresh. Also, the menu was astoundingly designed, and deserves some award for its graphic design. As sad as it may be to say, I would not return to Castillo's Mexican Restaurant nor would I recommend it. read more

Castillo's Mexican Restaurant - Menu with astounding graphic design - Mexican Near Me - Mariposa, California

Room temp enchiladas. Spiced with something that doesn't work on an enchilada. Gotten worse over the years. Great service. Couldn't eat it. Never again. read more

The best cheese enchilada I've ever had! Husband had machaca. He had never had it. He loved it. You must try the fried raspberry cheesecake. O. M. G. Sooooo delicious. This was our first time. We will def be returning! Excellent service. Nice decor. Clean. read more

Castillo's Mexican Restaurant - Cheese enchilada, machaca & fries. - Mexican Near Me - Mariposa, California

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Stayed in Mariposa for Yosemite and was craving Mexican food. The service was nice but felt something off. I got a burrito and couldn't decide on chicken or chile verde that the waitress explained what chile verde was to me (I guess I didn't look Hispanic? And ironically I'm Hispanic). The chips and salsa were disappointing and had no flavor. I got the mango margarita and it was good. The only thing I really enjoyed was their house salsa that was very spicy. It's very Americanized and disappointing. The decorations were nice but felt stereotypical. I don't recommend if you're expecting authenticity. I probably won't come back again either. read more

Good food,a small restaurant. But worth it. Will come back if in the area. Parking is limited and down hill.

Castillo's Mexican Restaurant is the highest on the list when it comes to delicious food and excellent service! I usually go there with friends - but last week I decided to go in by myself because I was hungry and craving a cold beer in a frosty mug! My server, Janet went beyond accommodating every request with a smile - even more so when I told her the Dracaena Marginata (money tree) by the front door needed love, water and to be re-potted. She listened with intent to learn how to help the tree - then promised she would talk to the owner and get it done! I love this place and the happy local vibe it gives to all of us! Thank you to the whole restaurant staff - your authentic food is absolutely delicious! PJ read more

Cool people work there. Friendly and fast service. Fresh food, made to order! Loved the Chile Rellenos! read more

My mom really wanted to check this place out because it "looked good". I told her it didn't have very good reviews but she was adamant. My daughter got a Bean, cheese and rice burrito. It was plain outright gross. There was about a tablespoon of cheese in the whole thing. The rice was blah. My daughter said they are canned bean. I tried it and beans are very very bland no flavor, unsalted. I agreed that it tasted like fat free canned refried beans. My mom got Chile relleno w chile verde no beans burrito. It came with sauce on it, Super messy. Tasted ok. Again... always read yelp reviews before giving a company your money. read more

Castillo's Mexican Restaurant - Chile Rellano chile verde burrito. Was ok - Mexican Near Me - Mariposa, California

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It was The Butterfly Festival day # 1 & just left the fairgrounds to support downtown shops . Decided to come here... place was packed & ONLY 1 waitress?? ARE YOU KIDDING?? WE FELT SORRY for the 1 waitress for the WHOLE RESTAURANT!! she deserves a RAISE ! So kind, gracious & apologetic for any amount of time we had to wait if any. FOOD WAS DELICIOUS! KUDOS TO HER!! read more

Service was very friendly. Our table of 4 served quickly and all our dishes were delicious! I had the spicy shrimp enchiladas, yum! Friends loved their chili relleno and tostada salad, and shredded beef or chicken enchiladas & tacos plates. Very clean, outside patio is seasonal. Castillo's has been here since 1955. Colorful dining room. read more

We were looking for a meal after a morning in yosemite. It was a hot day and we needed somewhere with fast service and cool drinks to clench the palette. We saw that there were 3 Mexican places in town and choose this one due to it being near the main drag of shops. The server was nice and we were the only ones in there for a bit. Their air conditioning was the highlight. The margaritas were okay and so was everything else. The beans were a tad bit salty and the sauce on the burrito tasted more gravyish. Have public restrooms for patrons. read more

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This platter is usually a go to. The chili verde was watery, instead of thick with flavor. Tasted like a watered green sauce. Rice tasted like 5 minut rice with the Mexican flavors added, beans dry like my mouth in the Mojave desert. I should have tipped the waitress, I'm sure their pay is below average, and feel really bad about not doing so. I just see extraordinary service and food plays a big part in tips. At least make an extra effort if your food is lacking in the (Latin) ways of specialty's. No ordinary go can pull or "authentic". Tho...it does perceive to be well put together as a well organized authentic Hispanic meal, but is lacking in taste of a true Hispanic colture. read more

Castillo's Mexican Restaurant - Chili verde plater - Mexican Near Me - Mariposa, California

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Food is haphazard in presentation. Food quality is bland and uninspired. Hot does not equate to flavour. Quality spicing involves tempting the palate with a subtle mix of varied spices to make the dish a pleasure to eat. Like fine perfume, spicing needs to have layers of flavours. Not just a bunch of sauce thrown on. Not much flavour, just hot. Plus the food shouldn't leave a metallic after taste. Decor is nice, colourful, but vary cramped. Don't like eating from my neighbours lap. Wait staff seems harried and on edge. Apparently the owner lacks empathy for the staff and that tension is reflected in how the staff act. Just not a place I like to eat. Very poor food quality. Stressed out staff. Cramped seating. All make this a very unpleasant place to dine. Mariposa has a variety of other options, don't waste your money here. read more

Server was grumpy. And tortillas were raw. The food is decent but to Americanized for me. read more

Castillo's Mexican Restaurant - Shrimp tacos. Raw tortilla. - Mexican Near Me - Mariposa, California

My wife and I ordered our food. Service was very nice. I ordered a burrito, my wife got two tacos. Her beef taco had raw ground beef in it! We stopped eating and left. Raw ground beef! read more

We were staying in Mariposa and missed the opportunity to eat here due to long days in Yosemite. Finally got the chance and so glad that we tried Castillo's. I think that this is the best place in town. The restaurant is pretty small but don't let that fool you. Good stuff!!! I always say that you can gauge the food by the chips and salsa. Both were pretty amazing. The salsa had so much flavor. I would come back just for that. For our mains my wife had the carne asada and I had the pork Chile verde. Both were pretty amazing. Portions were good and the flavors were amazing. Service was good. They were pretty packed when we got there and they were short staffed. They did call in for another server so the Service improved quickly. Can't fault anyone with everything going on. They were proactive and that says a lot. I would definitely return if I was back in town. read more

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Food was absolutely delicious. Chicken flavoring was fire! We tried multiple different entrees and everything was perfect. Will definitely be coming back! read more

The food was very delicious for my parents plus myself! And the service is very nice and quick! I'd love to come back here again! And the house margaritas were great! read more

Stopped by for a quick bite to go. I went during COVID, so please be prepared for everyone to be maskless (if that is something that concerns you). There is one table outside on the porch you can eat at, but otherwise, no outdoor seating. I ordered two children's cheese enchilada meals, and one shrimp fajita. The enchiladas looked decent (a plus that the refried beans were not made with lard, however hard to decipher the authenticity of the food, as I failed to see anyone looking nearly close to someone with a surname of "Castillo" here). The food was okay overall for the children's meal. The fajitas on the other hand...the shrimp looked like it was cooked in a non-faijta way and had a lot of what appeared to be a watered-down version of "sauce", but what tasted similar to something I would eat at a Chinese food restaurant. It wasn't bad, but definitely didn't taste authentic. Overall, the food is reasonable and suffices when hungry, but doesn't have the best flavor and lacks authenticity (so I wouldn't run here if I were craving Mexican food, otherwise you will probably be disappointed. read more

The skinny: decent Mexican food in the area, but nothing overly amazing. Atmosphere: cute small restaurant right off the main strip. Food: typical texmex joint, nothing terrible, nothing amazing. The steak was actually quite good, seasoned and cooked well. The pork in the salsa verde was a bit disappointing and tough. Portions overall were quite large. Free chips and salsa to start. Service: friendly and decently quick. Price/value: $$ pretty large portions. Would I come back: probably not with so many other restaurants in the area. read more

Castillo's Mexican Restaurant - Steak - Mexican Near Me - Mariposa, California

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Delicious food! My friend and I ordered the enchiladas and they were so tasty. Chicken and beef were tender. Chips and salsa were very fresh. read more

After walking around Mariposa we decided on Mexican food and an ice cold beverage. Our waitress seated us right away. Our margaritas were tasty and ice cold. The burrito was fat and delicious. We could've used a little more carnitas, since that's the kind of burrito it was supposed to be. And the tacos were full and crispy. Cute interior. Kinda busy but any wait was minimal. I'm going back. read more

Microwaved old food and margaritas tasted like cleaning solution. Save your money and try Don Rueben's down the road.

We loved the shrimp fijitas. Beef taco was gross, we never tasted any meat like that before. It could've been bad. The server was friendly. The atmosphere was ok, we sat at a table for four because the two seater was too cramp. read more

Castillo's Mexican Restaurant - Beef taco - Mexican Near Me - Mariposa, California

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The restaurants sign says Mexican but the food definitely does not meet the standards of Mexican cuisine. Ground beef in a burrito? This is more like a Tex-mex type of restaurant. Tamale is terrible! Chille rellono (notice that it is spelled incorrectly on menu) is also terrible! The chile colorado was okay but on the sweeter side kind of more like a mole taste. The color is the sauce I also expected to be more on the red side. The service is fast which is great but doesn't make up for the crap food. The ambiance is weird. It's a Mexican restaurant but they play old ass 50-60s western music. This place needs a new menu and a chef that can cook authentic Mexican cuisine. read more

Really inconsistent food and service lately. Got a to-go order tonight and it was wrong. Paid $14 for a chicken quesadilla but only had cheese when I got home. Guacamole was brown. Too far away to turn around and go back, pretty disappointed. Won't be eating here for a while. read more

Castillo's is tucked away on 5th, off the main road. We were passing thru town after a weekend in Yosemite with slim options for food. Its a tiny restaurant but was packed full with indoor diners. The staff is incredibly friendly and the menu is so big, it was hard to decide what to get. We settled on a enchilada taco combo with shredded chicken to go. I would not call this authentic Mexican food nor do I know if that's the claim, its more so the type of non-authentic Mexican food I would make at home or "tex-mex" as some call it. I may be a harder critic being that I have lived my whole life in the bay area where it is much more diverse and you find authentic Mexican food no matter where you turn. With that being said, the food was good and filing, expectations aside. The chicken was seasoned well and the portion sizes are generous for the price. My only feedback would be that the beans, rice, sauce and pico was sort of bland, no salt whatsoever. I found myself sprinkling salt on all my food, but I suppose we can chalk this up to a personal taste. Overall, not a bad choice while in the area! read more

This place is good for non-vegetarians, if you are vegetarian forgot about this place and try some other restaurant. The chips and salsa(free ones) are just OK, salsa is more watery and it doesn't have any taste.We ordered chili Verde, two tacos combo, a burrito. The Chili Verde is too delicious, the best dish of what we had. The two tacos combo comes with refried beans and rice. The chicken taco was very good but the veg taco is not good at all. Veg taco has nothing tasty inside. It has just beans and lettuce. Again the veg burrito is huge and no flavor at all. It is very bland. The man who served us was very good and patient. He clearly explained the questions we asked. Food: Non-vegetarian - 4 Vegetarian - 2 Service: 4 Parking: Just 4 spots in front of the restaurant. read more

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The last time I came here we were so disappointed with our meal and it felt like a waste of money. Granted we did order to go, but that shouldn't make our meal different at all. My fiance's burrito was flavorless, as was the salsa. The salsa was watered down. We had ordered nachos, I believe it was around $10, it literally tasted like tortilla chips and cheese that got microwaved with a few pieces of flavorless meat. My food (which was a regular meal) came with a small side of rice and beans, meanwhile my son had a kid's rice and beans, and the portion was HUGE compared to what came with my meal! Why is a kids portion bigger than what comes with my meal? So the portions seem inconsistent. Won't be back for a while. We were letdown. I'd rather make my own microwaved nachos at home than spend $10 on the nachos that we got. read more

We've been going to Castillo's for over 20 years. Popping in on the way to Yosemite feels like second nature now. What's so special? The cute size, ambience, wooden tables, the servers (like the amazing Brittney!) and of course -- THE NUMBER 23. The #23 is two cheese enchiladas smothered with Chili Verdi Pork, rice and refried beans. Don't miss out on this one. (Docked 1 star for a puny tossed salad) read more

Found this gem of a restaurant by accident , good thing we made a good choice , Amazing food and staff was very nice and attentive to us. Food serving was good for two ( unless you are a big eater ) , highly recommend to anyone visiting this small town. read more

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My husband and I stopped in for lunch. I had the incredible vegetable fajita. I had enough leftover for my dinner at home. I hoping to enjoy it again in the near future. With being a vegan,it's hard to find food out that is healthy and tasty! read more

Not the best, pretty basic, but not the worst Mexican food I've ever had. Service was friendly and food was hot, so there's that. However... I asked some locals which place they recommend for lunch, and so I ended up at Castillo's. It was right off the main road but parking was really scarce. The first thing I noticed was the music, they were playing pop country...odd but ok... I was greeted promptly in a friendly manner. The salsa was watery yes, but the flavor was good. I ordered chicken fajitas. They came out so hot the pan mitt was melted a bit, which is cool with me cause I don't want luke warm fajitas. It came with beans, rice, and flour tortillas. And that's it, no garnish, nothing. Beans and rice were ok but they were topped with shredded cheddar jack? Very meh if you ask me. The fajita sauce was decent! But the chicken itself had that re-warmed taste, you know the one, so that made it pretty meh as well. Tortilla dried out in record time in their paper covers. That being said- I support my local establishments and I would definitely give this place another shot. A far stretch from "authentic" but it vaguely reminded me of my grandmother's attempts at "Mexican food" and part of me enjoyed that aspect for sure. read more

Castillo's Mexican Restaurant - Chicken fajitas - Mexican Near Me - Mariposa, California

Been coming here for years and it's always been great! This particular time, our food was hot and the service was fast. Our server was very kind as well. Only thing I can say is that the food can sometimes be a little more bland than I'm personally used to for Mexican food, depending on what you order. The whole space is cozy and inviting, and the decor is nice to look at. We will surely return in the future! read more

Castillo's Mexican Restaurant - Tostada Compuesta - Mexican Near Me - Mariposa, California

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We emerged from the mountains invigorated and alive -- ready for food. We had the misfortune of believing the vaguely Spanish name of the restaurant implied a base-level understanding of Mexican cuisine. Castillo's appears to be unfamiliar with the benefits of salt. Let's just say the highlight of the meal was our leftover Chik-fil-A dipping sauce. The enchiladas were weren't bad. read more