This is a small family restaurant that served us great food. We've visited several of the "chain" Mexican restaurants in town and found the atmosphere pretty but the food generic. At El Cajete the atmosphere is neighborhood diner and everything we ordered seemed to be homemade. The prices and service were great too. read more

Got a late start running my Saturday errands and wanted to grab a quick bite that wasn't fast food. A couple locals suggested this restaurant so today was the day we checked it out. It was exactly what I was looking for. Locally owned, no frills and quick. Bonus-they have beer and margaritas. The salsa was fresh and delicious. They had Mexican corn which I had to have and steak tacos with cilantro and onions. If you're looking for a quick bite, check them out. read more

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This place is terrible all the drinks are flat the margaritas was watered down and the waiter is a bi**h

Don't take AE but other CCd's Enchilada suits with pork was good. Had Mexican cheese sauce but not overdone. Rice and beans were good. read more

Everything was phenomenal for our Saturday lunch! Quick, friendly service and my brother declared they have the best tamales in Indiana! read more

El Cajete - Mexican Near Me - Michigan City, Indiana

This little gem is off the beaten path but I'm so glad we found it!! Food was delicious with big portions, and the staff was so friendly!! I ordered fish tacos, brothers both ordered the wet burrito (one with beef and one with chicken), dad ordered beef taco and chicken tamale, and my mom (who wasn't feeling very hungry) asked for a to-go order of guacamole, pico de gallo and lettuce (which isn't a menu item, but they were so nice and accommodating!!). Everything got a full 10/10. If you're in town, go pay El Cajete a visit!! read more

Had the fish tacos here and they were honestly so good. The fish was crispy but not greasy and the slaw on top added a nice crunch. I really liked the sauce they drizzled over it too, kind of tangy and creamy at the same time. Tortillas were soft and didn't fall apart like at some other places I've tried. The place has a relaxed vibe and the service was quick. Good spot if you're craving tacos that don't feel heavy. I'd come back for sure. read more

El Cajete - Mexican Near Me - Michigan City, Indiana

The food was great got a quesadilla it was great and chips and salsa was great to service was so fast I would recomend it to anybody very

Took a trip with my fiancée to Michigan city over Memorial Day weekend and came across this place for dinner. This place is situated a bit out of sight so it's easy to overlook, but worth it. Inside is a small dining room with lots of character. Dining room, tables, and bathrooms were all very clean. We were sat and greeted in a very timely manner and our server was friendly. She was also very Knowledgeable of the menu. Overall the service was pretty good. The food was great! Their menu has a large selection of food and the prices were very agreeable. I had the 3 tacos combo; three tacos with your choice of meat and it comes with rice and beans. These tacos were loaded up with meat and doubled up on the corn tortilla. Rice and beans were fantastic. Not pictured was our appetizer, which was the cheese dip. The dip had a lot of flavor and went well with the very crispy tortilla chips. Everything came to the table hot and fresh. Definitely coming back next time I'm in the neighborhood. read more

El Cajete - 3 taco combo - carne asada tacos - Mexican Near Me - Michigan City, Indiana

Talk about authentic and a plus service!!! Food came fast steaming hot and this little old lady gave us the best service. Work trip.... so we had to do separate checks and even a separate check just for the alcohol and she still did it in one transaction. Burrito was huge stuffed chips perfect only minor down fall was the salsa needed more spice to give it that real flavor and the prices are insane. I got lunch and togo for dinner for less than I spent for one meal in down town Chicago! read more

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This was some seriously good Mexican food. I did request a hard shell American style taco and what I got was as good as any I ever had from the small town mom and pop Mexican restaurants I used to eat at in Texas. The chile relleno and cheese enchilada were more traditional Mexican style like I would get near the border in El Paso, TX or Nogales, Mexico. I will definitely return here whenever I am in Michigan City. read more

El Cajete - Cheese enchilada, chile relleno, and crispy American-style taco combo with rice and beans - Mexican Near Me - Michigan City, Indiana

Great place to enjoy fresh and tasty classics. Definitely intending to visit again when in the area.

Up here visiting and we decided to check this place out. So impressed! The service is quick and polite. The food really blew me away. Refied beans and rice in-house made. Queso made in house and the best I ever had. Please go! The best I ever had. read more

El Cajete - Veggie fajita! - Mexican Near Me - Michigan City, Indiana

Had come very close to visiting many times over the last couple years as I made periodic trips to the CVS across the street to pick up prescriptions, however, I didn't go in til yesterday, along with my son and his mom. In short, the food and service didn't disappoint. The Chef Cajete (steak, chicken and shrimp with creamy rice) was gangster and plenteous and my son and his mom loved their enchilada plates. Service was on the money; our orders arrived in under 10 minutes. Tortilla chips were good, salsa OK. Overall I would return again and probably will, though not as frequently as perhaps I would have liked. The inside is fairly well outdated and so much so the outside, though a fairly new digital sign covers up a portion of the old signage, though not all, yet it certainly looks a bit more professional. Some remodeling is in order but if only like 3 tables are filled on a weeknight (as it was last nite), I'm not sure management is in a financial position to do so. However, my gut tells me the above may be true. After all, I have never been to any restaurant in all my 60+ years that has paper towel rolls for napkins and missing pepper shakers - all across the eatery. Admittedly napkins were rolled around our silverware but if we needed more, we'd have to use the paper towels. I could understand paper towel rolls if hand foods like messy ribs or highly greasy chicken was served but not Mexican cuisine. Very tacky IMO. Plus I can't imagine any eat in place not having black pepper . I don't use much pepper in seasoning my food but I do on occasion; regardless, though, this is standard in virtually all restaurants and paper towels just the opposite. Aside from that, my only real gripe is, if ordering a combo, you are limited to one kind of meat (ground beef, pork, chicken, chorizo, steak, shrimp, etc.) for your platter. This is why I skipped ordering the Enchiladas Bandera, though my son and his mom went ahead with their respective enchilada meals. As someone who loves a variety of foods at a dinner, this is really a no-brainer and for me a non-starter. This is one reason I ordered the Chef Cajete pate and why I loved eating at Pepe's over the years. They fully allow you to select one meat for a taco, another for an enchilada and yet another for a tamale (as a combo example), if you so chose. Here the server told my son and his mom they don't do that. It would be perfectly OK by me if a dollar or two surcharge was tacked on for doing so but she said only one meat per plate. Plus when you went to Pepe's they didn't bat an eyelash providing both mild and spicy salsas at the table and refills of chips without asking. Plus Pepe's atmosphere has always been nice and lively with great folks. El Cajete is fine but falls short of Pepe's. Next time I visit family in Michigan City and desire Mexican, we may well return to El Cajete if I don't feel like driving far but if I do, the Pepe's in Hammond is likely to be our destination. We used to go to their Portage & Valparaiso locations years ago but those are now closed. Overall I give El Cajete 3 1/2 stars but it's slightly closer to 4 than 3 so I give it 4. Good place but it needs a bit more oomph and less tackiness (AKA no paper towel rolls and putting pepper shakers on all tables). read more

Amazing food & Carlos is wonderful!! very authentic Mexican food, I will definitely definitely go back read more

Driving home from Chicago and hungry. Saw this place just south of the Michigan border in Indiana. Hard to find, but boy were we glad we did. Simply said, probably the best Mexican food we've had in a long time. Worth a try if near by. read more

fresh guac and salsa is top notch. This is one of those places you can drive by 100 times, but once you try it, you'll be hooked. Order everything authentic! read more

Excellent food, a real treat! The Chori-Pollo is awesome. Beer / wine is a bit limited, but the food is worth it! read more

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We would highly recommend eating here. The service was excellent. Everything was very fresh. The salsa is amazing and you can buy it in take home containers. We opted for. Large one. I had the chicken chimichanga and my daughter had a beef burrito. Absolutely delicious!! read more

I loved the descriptions of this place: family-run, authentic, the "best" Mexican food one guy's wife had ever had. I'm in! But sorry, this place is sad, tired, uninspired, and wholly unauthentic. Tasteless ground beef, cold tortillas, flour tortillas snuck into lukewarm enchiladas, and another helping of ground beef in "Mexican-style tacos." (That's an oxymoron: ground beef and Mexican-style.) I was very disappointed. Skip. read more

Had a taste for Mexican food and have wanted to try El Cajete for a while now. Glad I did! We were seated promptly and service was quick, friendly and efficient. Housemade chips and salsa were brought with menus and were fresh and tasty. Entrees are authentic and some of the best MC has to offer. Pork tacos were excellent...shredded pork in a nice red sauce on fresh corn tortillas. Restaurant interior was clean but could stand a refresh however, did not affect overall experience. Gotta give El Cajete a try. read more

El Cajete was declared as the best Mexican she's had in years by my wife. We really enjoyed our recent lunch here with the kids. I had the veggie/cheese enchilada assortment and my wife had the veggie fajitas. On top of that, the margaritas were less than $5 and the waitress even refilled our glasses with the rest of the blender. Cheap double margs! Bonus: El Cajete is just a block from the famous Bubbles ice cream shop. Makes for a great dinner night all around. read more

Their hard shell tacos are delicious! The shells are hard to order. So good. The servers are so nice. Love this place. read more

OH MY. If you are craving some amazing fajitas, go here. I have never had better fajitas. Also, their guac is a must. The service was quick and very kind. Lots of tables outside. The mango marg was too sweet for me, but that was my fault because I am a plain margarita kinda person. The lime margarita was perfect. Their chips, rice, salsa, beans were all great. We got the chicken, steak, and chorizo mix for our fajita meat and let me tell you...it was so delicious. They come with corn or flour tortillas (I would get the corn if I was you) They also put grilled mushrooms with the meat which was much appreciated. Their side hot sauces are really good. I could only handle the green sauce but the red sauce was really good if you like HOT. I do not live close to this place, but I will be back at some point in my life. read more

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I hadn't been in a few years and had forgotten the freshness of the salsa and the amazingly light and crisp chips-wow! Add in great tacos and tasty margarita and a happy time was had by all in my party. read more

Great authentic food! Good atmosphere and friendly service!! Every time I drive thru Michigan City I always stop!!!

The owner is awesome, always polite and the food is amazing. Priced really well which is nice in the day of overpay for underwhelmed Its not fancy but it doesnt need to be Love this place read more

Food was good. Authentic Mexican. Service was ok. Had to wait a little long to get my to go order.

We tried El Cajete out for a special birthday dinner and it was fabulous! Five in our party, including an 8-year-old, and none of us were disappointed. The kids menu was very diverse, daughter got the taco and loved it. Grownups ordered burrito, enchiladas, fajitas and chile rellanos. Margaritas were great, dessert of fried ice cream and sopopillas were even better. They even made a special one for the daughter on request with no honey. Service was amazing, food was fresh and we will come back often! Great for families and for anyone interested in fresh, authentic Mexican food. read more

El Cajete - Special order sopopilla. - Mexican Near Me - Michigan City, Indiana

Insanely great food! Went there because of yelp recommendations and they were right. Sweetest owner too.

I love this place. Our go to is tacos pastor. Big beautiful tasty pieces of pork with pineapple. Yum! Get them "Mexican style" with cilantro and onions. The additional taco sauces aren't needed but both are delicious and add appropriate spice. And if you are a guacamole lover...order a large. Made fresh and it fills all my guacamole desires...onions, tomato and lots of avocado! (Obviously) I didn't get it today but they have this shrimp soup that is the cure for the common cold. read more

Wow, what a surprise with this place! I came here for a friend's birthday lunch (her choice). EC has a solid selection of authentic Mexican menu items with the option of "American style" available with certain choices. Chips are very thin and crispy. They appeared to be fresh fried and there's a bit of oil in the bottom of the basket (as another reviewer pointed out). However, they're delicious! Salsa also tasted fresh with a very mildly spiced flavor. Alcoholic beverages are also served, although we did not try anything other than bottled beer. We agreed that our main entrees were all well-prepared and delicious. Rice is different than other restaurants in that it contained other vegetables (corn, Lima beans) but this was a nice addition. The best part at the end was the surprise beautiful dessert...it was reminiscent of sopapillas but instead with puffy, crunchy tortilla type chips drizzled with caramel sauce and assembled with ice cream and whipped cream. When our dishes were served, the waitress brought two bottles of hot sauce. No one tried the verde, but a word of warning...the red sauce is HOT! I mean like screaming, raise your blood pressure hot (this coming from a gal who eats Sriracha or Frank's on everything). You have been forewarned! read more

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As a frequent traveler I have certainly had my fair share of mexican cuisine but to put it simply El Cajete is the BEST I have EVER had! I knew I was in for a treat when the chips and salsa came out and the chips were still hot so I decided to splurge and ordered the large queso and boy was I glad I did! The warm queso cheese dip, although not as thick as some, was a perfect blend of melted white cheese seasoned with just a light touch (I think!) of chili peppers and complimented the warm tortilla chips perfectly. Since I was new to El Cajete I asked my courteous and attentive server for her recommendations. She politely suggested the namesake, El Cajete, which she described as a four meat blend of shrimp chicken, steak and beef served in a sizzling bowl, accented with edible cactus, and side plate with all you could hope for including refried beans, rice, fresh guacamole, sour cream, lettuce and a small dab of pinco del gallo. Finally after basking in the bliss of what can only be described as "Mexican love in a bowl" my server optimistically recommended a few other dishes that were her favorites and suggested that I could take them to go for later. To which I politely declined but I assured her that I would definitely be back soon! read more

El Cajete - Mexican Near Me - Michigan City, Indiana

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Lousy experience. Used to love the food. Will never go back To get treated that rudely last night, they can go to hell. There's plenty of other Mexican restaurants around that Ivan spend my money with. Strongly recommend to go somewhere else!!! read more

Love this place. Great authentic Mexican food at good prices. Not a huge place but good food and service

We frequently go to El Cajete & have never been disappointed. The owners/staff are very friendly & the food is always so good. My favorite is the Cajete Special (I think is the name, I know it changed at least once)-usually I just tell our server 'my regular', lol. The cheese sauce on it would make a piece of cardboard taste good......the fajitas are also wonderful. Definitely one of our favorite restaurants in town...... read more

Well, let's put it this way ... I don't really have to cook Mexican dishes anymore . We just enjoy El Cajete's food and staff so much that it is worth making it a frequent stop. read more

Great food and even more wonderful service. Great family restaurant and environment. Definitely coming back soon!

Authentic mexican food, with the right spice, flavorful but overall authentic mexican, to be clear not a fancy place but the right taste

Absolutely treated horribly rude! Will not be back! Waitress/owner completely incapable of providing customer service. Used to like the food here but too many Mexican restaurants to choose from in MC to be treated like that! read more