Omg this place is the best! Food, service and atmosphere are just great ! I always get the classic margarita, perfect blend and mix! They serve the hot avocado salsa with the chips which is my favorite salsa . My favorite entrees are the fish tacos and carnitas! And you have to get the guacamole!! Small independent neighborhood restaurant I'm happy to support. Try this spot the staff is super nice too read more

This place is definitely not it. Lol what a rip off! Had dinner with a relative. We will not be back. The waitress and server were both pleasant and accommodating. The food was mediocre. The guacamole was bland and had a weird texture. The salsas with the chips weren't good either. We ordered a catfish soup and molcajete tapatío. I requested to add shrimp which I imagined came in an order of 4 as the waitress suggested maybe adding 4 to the order. I had to send the cheese chicken and chorizo back to get well done and grilled. That took from actually enjoying my meal. Once the check came I asked the waitress about 4 $3dollar charges and she tells me that each shrimp is $3! I'm sorry what!? I wish she would have told me that before I ordered. And the shrimp were tiny! I couldn't believe it. Paid my tab and got the hell out of there. read more

Food was delicious last night. Warm, not over cooked, flavorful. Hand made tortillas with the Momias Molcajete is always my go to. The only downside is that it seems like they had another price increase. Waitresses are always sweet and nice with my requests. It's sad to see the restaurant not get as full as it used to and I wonder if it's for the price increases. read more

El Calamar - Botana Camarones Don Chema - Mexican Near Me - Santa Ana, California

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We used to come here almost every other weekend, but the quality of the food just isn't the same anymore. We've been coming less and less, and I think today might be our last visit. It makes me a little sad because this used to be one of my favorite places. Unfortunately, the food was so bland today it didn't have any flavor at all, and even my michelada was terrible. Very disappointed. read more

Went 3/21 with my dad. My dad saw a cockroach and told the waitress. We were starving we should have left but stayed. We saw the waitress did not do anything about it. Reminded her and her response was "I am the only one the other girl is on break" clearly she did not care. The waitresses are rude. It's like you are doing them a favor for coming in. After 3/21. I will never come back and tell everyone they have cockroaches. Reaching out to the Department of food and agriculture. read more

I went to this place for the first time to try it. How was the food? I liked it. It doesn't disappoint, although I don't find it that delicious, but it's good for its price and for the location, in my case, it's quite convenient because it's close to my house. I had no idea that this place existed and now I know that I have a place nearby for when I have a craving for seafood or a shrimp cocktail. The atmosphere was good, the service was acceptable, I would go back without a problem. read more

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I pretty come here for one thing and one thing only..... The Fried Bagre Fish with tons of garlic and lime juice. It is soooooo good! The garlic fish always hits the spot with some pico de gallo and salsa on a soft flour tortilla. Beans and rice needs just a little bit of salt. You gotta add salt and lime juice to the tortilla chips which will totally enhance the flavor when you dip them in some salsa. Service is ok. But that will not deter me from getting my favorite dish here. Thank you El Calamar for having the delicious Fried Bagre with Garlic and Lime Juice! read more

This is soo wrong Came in Friday at 3:15pm and the waitress doesn't want to honor happy hour prices and she give me the check with regular price on it. I really really wanted to give this place another try but damn it they failed it's soo close from my house and they used to be good. No bueno read more

El Calamar - Regular prices - Mexican Near Me - Santa Ana, California

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I felt like I paid a lot, but I got a lot for my money. I started w/a Michelada. It was quite tasty. For my meal, I had chilaquiles (rojo). The eggs over medium were fine. But the star of the meal was the steak. I was surprised how good it was. Perfect blend to their very, very spicy red sauce. I don't mind paying a little extra if I'm going to get a meal so large that I won't be eating much, if any dinner tonight. read more

Love the drinks. That's the only reason we came and the Tamarita has to be the best! Drinks came out fast and the music was definitely hitting today, playing dance remixes. read more

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I don't usually write reviews but i had to on this occasion. Went there Friday night . My wife ordered ceviche ,I ordered campechana coctail. Ceviche had no flavor. It had the texture and flavor of ground turkey .no joke. The shrimp in the campechana coctail tasted and looked like it was pre cooked bag shrimp Shrimp should have a bit of a crunch to them .these were soft. Maybe their hot menu is better? But won't return to find out. read more

Terrible service they never answer when I try to order. This is very unacceptable of their part I get it they're busy but they never seem to answer and always take long I get it their business is busy but, I don't like that they never answer the phone when one tries to order. read more

Came here on a whim tonight and it was delicious. The workers were kind, service was quick, and the food caught me by surprise. It was also family friendly, with a kids menu. My toddler devoured the rice. The food. We ordered a shrimp cocktail, empanadas, and shrimp tacos. Everything was fresh, well seasoned, and decadent. I must say, the empanadas were very impressive. They had so much filling! Definitely a must try. The cocktail was solid. Great fresh flavor. And the tacos were unique. It wasn't a traditional shrimp taco, more of a quesadilla with shrimp and veggies. It was really great and full of flavor. We also ordered some cocktails! Which were so delicious as well! I'm telling you, everything was really good. I'm seriously impressed. I had the Mangorita, blended. It was so refreshing and perfectly sweet. Definitely a must try and I'll be back. read more

El Calamar - Shrimp Cocktail - Mexican Near Me - Santa Ana, California

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We had some good food there everything was going good and the lady that served us was nice but when it came to the check we got charged an extra $50 because they brought us food after we stayed there for a couple hours more we got charged another $100 just for being there we got charged $150 and not including the food just for service and us being there they scammed us read more

Disgusting food and worst service , don't go eat there ! Server was very rude and the chorizo tasted like plastic , never again ! Got food poisoning! read more

Very bad service, I when for my birthday and I ordered a 7 mares caldo was cold , the Trimp cold, and salted. Hardly I recommend .

This place was literally not the best?? I ordered Ceviche de camarón and my husband got the coctel, Levanta Muertos. I absolutely hated the ceviche, literally i could not describe what everything tasted like and my friend who had been there before said it tastes "unclean"... and truly that is the BEST word. The food was just...weird?? The "aguas frescas" were not good either. The worst of all...the service was HORRIBLE. The waitresses all suck, we saw them maybe 2x?? Will never be back. read more

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Huge portions! Be ready to share with friends, or if you have no friends then be ready for leftovers. The staff is super friendly and the service was impeccable. They took care of us. The prices are more expensive than other places but the portions are very large ! Worth the money! Immediately after being seated you will get a large basket of just made tortilla chips snd salsas, so fire! We went on a Friday around 7 pm. Karaoke started at 8 or 830 pm. Very family friendly too! Lots of parking available. I will be coming back. read more

El Calamar - Carne Asada quesadilla - Mexican Near Me - Santa Ana, California

GREAT FOOD ! Came across this place on our trip up north to watch the Anaheim angels vs Padres game and we're so lucky we found it . I ordered a strawberry margarita and aguachiles . The Rita was strong ( but not nasty strong ) yet well blended ( just the way I like it ) . Aguachiles were spicy but still eatable how they should be in my opinion . Only thing I didn't like about them they were cooked and cured in limon and they were not butterflyed. But still 4/5 my boyfriend had a few drinks ( michelada , Pacifico and cantarito) they were all spot on . He also ordered a caldo which was so good . * note : michelada had no ice BUT that's an easy fix ( ask for Ice As starter your given chips and salsas ( guacamole salsa and spicy house salsa BOTH delicious 5/5) read more

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I've been coming to this restaurant for over 8+ years and honestly the quality of food and service has decreased drastically super fast. Our tostadas were super soggy and the the topping were at room temperature. Suele disgusting. As for the tacos de Cameron the tortillas were super cold. It took about an hour to get our food and the restaurant were not even half full. Our server was not attentive at all and we had to ask one of the supervisors there for some help. It sucks to see this place go downhill when this was one of my favorite restaurant. read more

El Calamar - Mexican Near Me - Santa Ana, California

Hola buenas tardes solamente quería poner un comentario el día de ayer fui a comer pero me tocó una muy mala experiencia pedimos un caldo de camarón y solamente tenía tres camarones en el caldo pagamos $28 por el caldo y la verdad no daría ni cinco dólares por ese caldo el sabor era pésimo ni caldo sabía pedimos un molcajete y solamente tenía un pedazo de carne uno de pollo uno de chorizo y tres cebollas por $39 tres tortillas y era todo pedimos dos enchiladas a la carta y la verdad las enchiladas daría un dólar por cada una en cambio pagué $6.99 por cada una la verdad no recomiendo que vayan en atención es buena pero la comida nada que ver estaba fría un plátano lo llevaron primero el otro plato después y el otro plato hasta después cuando ya habíamos acabado de comer lo demás llegaba pedimos un café que era agua caliente no era café y nos cobraron $4.99 por el café la verdad no vuelvo a ir a ese lugar no lo recomiendo read more

Food quality has gone downhill.. I ordered the shrimp Ensenada tacos and couldn't even finish 1 they tasted uncooked and batter was mushy. Not going back. read more

Horrible service almost 2 hours and we asked the server how our order was coming she said let me check if they started it yet. She said they had a lot of to go orders so I guess the people sitting in the restaurant are less important than a to go order. We decided to leave the guy at the front thought he was going to charge us for our drinks sorry buddy if after 2hours you cant serve a party of 4 then the drink should be on you. read more

Was just here on 12/12 celebrating a birthday and the food portions were great! I ordered the 7 mares caldo and my dad ordered another caldo and it was a great portion and perfect temperature. My sisters enjoyed their tacos and even had leftovers because of all the food in the plate. We also ordered the queso fundido which was soooo good! I decided to snap some pictures of the menu because before we got to the restaurant, we tried to take a look at the pictures they already had online, but they were blurry. Hope they help someone else in the future! read more

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My friend picked up a gabornador shrimp taco for me and Oh My Goodness! I'm amazed. I don't generally like shrimp... usually over priced, sometimes sketchy... but it came highly recommended so I wanted to try it. It's DENSE with meat and luscious with the cheese. The salsa tasted Smokey but was a bit too spicy for me so I tried a hot sauce packet I had in my stash from a fast food restaurant and it was so yummy. I recommend. read more

El Calamar - Gabornador shrimp taco - Mexican Near Me - Santa Ana, California

PARKING: Parking can be a little scarce here but it wasn't a problem during lunch. SERVICE: Wonderful service. Our server was super helpful and gave us awesome recommendations for food. FOOD: This was my first time trying molcajetes and it was awesome. The food came out piping hot and had a variety of proteins and vegetables to grab. The fresh tortilla chips and salsa were the perfect appetizers too. PRICE: Can be expensive but definitely recommend sharing the molcajetes Food IG: @NachoJame read more

El Calamar - Mexican Near Me - Santa Ana, California

Food was not great at all. The ceviche had no taste. The only reason I gave this place a 5 was the service. The waitress was great and attentive. read more

HORRIBLE! Stay away if you wanna keep your sanity. Went for Father's Day and absolutely the worst experience. Server was very dry and had an insane attitude. We waited over 2 hours for our food which we only got because our party complained. Once it arrived not only was it 2 hours late it was COLD! I asked if the rice was served cold because it was and her response was "did you want it cold".And to top it off the server did not bring us any utensils. We were trying to get mangers and serves attention which was completely ignored. After 2 hours and 20 mins she brings the utensils and after we complain about the service her response was "oh,sorry".Please do not come to this place,if unless you want to deal with incapable and stupid people. Food was also disgusting. read more

again to tried to give them the benefit of the doubt. After leaving a few days later I noticed they had added a tip of $18 that I never authorized. I went back and spoke to the owner, sometimes he's there thicker guy with glasses. His response was I have to check my accounting WTF lol its been over a month and I'm still waiting on his phone call. Clearly he doesn't care. HORRIBLE SERVICE read more

The food it's great and the service was great before COVID19. They offer take out but they will keep you on hold for 15 then they will hung up! I called 3 times and something, once you get there they are not that busy! I guess they don't like to take orders over the phone! La comida está deliciosa y el servicio era genial Antea de COVID19. Ofrecen para llevar pero cuando llamas te mantienen en espera por las de 15 minutos y después cuelgan, llame 3 veces y las 3 veces nunca me dejaron ordenar. Tuve que ir y no están tan ocupados y solo dicen lo siento. read more

El Calamar - Calls on hold and never answered! - Mexican Near Me - Santa Ana, California

Horrible. All around. They added automatic gratuity for terrible service provided by the waitress "Sandy". This was 5/16 at 2pm they didn't even have many people and every order was wrong. Food was terrible. When I asked for my check to be revised for something I didnt Order the waitress was extremely rude. read more

Excelente lugar, la atención es muy única y especial Paola nos hizo sentir muy diferente y muy en casa ella es muy especial y amable con el trato que les da a los clientes te hace sentir como en casa ordena una piña colada que estaba exigente y deliciosa. Ni hablar de la comida todo con un excelente sabor, venimos de vista desde Seattle Washington y sin duda volveré a este lugar fantástico. 100 por ciento recomendado read more

Worst service ever , I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt because it was on mothers day but slowest waitresses ever. I was there an hour and a half in and all we had gotten was our drinks not even the appetizers. The waitress kept ignoring us and the food never got there when I asked for the check they asked if there was a problem I said I just wanted to check and there excuse was it was gonna be an hour for food to come out but yet I was there and hour and half and not even the appetizer had came out . We had two people from out party join us 30 min in and it took her 45 min to come and take they're order for their drink and only because we asked another waitress to help us . We asked for the check and left . Never going back !! read more

worse place ever!! I got a shrimp burrito and all I got was a pound of rice 2 pcs. Of shrimp!! only I hate it . NEVER GO HERE!! SUPER EXPENSIVE ! NOT WORTH IT.... plus I got shrimp ceviche all I got was a pound of cucumber I couldn't find the shrimp any werezero stars read more

Used to love coming here. Came back for the first time for years and should have known the writing was in the wall when the place was almost empty on a Friday night. Prices have gone up, food quality has gone downhill. I'll have good memories but probably won't return. read more

This small cup to go is the "tostada shrimp ceviche" I ordered over the phone for pick up was $15.24. That's ridiculous. I usually eat here for dine in but the price for this cup doesn't make sense. Online it says $12 on their menu but in person it was 13.95 + 1.29 tax. I mentioned it to the young male server and he said "the prices are different online cuz the tax." I told him there was already an extra 1.29 tax on the receipts for he just said "well idk" I told him that needs to be fixed because it's deceiving. He ignored me. read more

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My initial impression was El Calamar is a great choice in Santa Ana to grab excellent Mexican style seafood and watch soccer with boisterous, knowledgeable fans of the game on a big screen TV. The seafood is fresh, good quality and you get very generous serving portions. The shrimp were large, nearly the size of store bought prawns. This is important to note because you will pay for it too. (Most dishes range between $9.99 - $24.99. Even the burritos start at $8.99.) Popular for their cocteles or cocktails. I sampled the Campechana (shrimp & octopus cocktail), $14.99. Prepared well because you can taste all the ingredients that make up this dish including the tomato juice, ketchup, clam juice, salt and pepper, cucumber, celery, jalapeno pepper, lime juice, onion, hot pepper sauce, avocado and cilantro. All the flavors come through nicely. As always the case, the tacos (including asada, pastor, pollo, chorizo, tripa, carnitas, lengua), $2.50, are the best 'bang-for-the-buck' on the menu for meat items. The fish and shrimp tacos, $3.25, were very fresh and a good bite-size. The carne asada was tender, juicy and lightly seasoned. The asada is often too salty for my taste at many Mexican restaurants and taquerias I have tried. I thought the cubed steak here, however, was seasoned just enough to highlight the flavor of the beef. Unfortunately, we left here on an unhappy note. Seemingly unaware of their Lunch Specials (served Monday-Friday, 11am - 2pm) prices posted on its web page, those of us who ordered a Lunch Specials tray were still charged the regular price of the dish. The owner or manager, to their defense, did offer a full refund to those who ordered a Lunch Special item after we had called to complain about it. A couple of months have passed since the incident. The Lunch Specials section and prices, however, are still listed on their web page. My suggestion to the owner is to remove this section all-together from the web page and no longer mislead its patrons or honor the prices as listed and make certain the staff are aware of the same. read more

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GREAT place 4 Taco Tuesdays! =) Come on Tuesdays after 3 PM so you can get their Taco Tuesday special WITH their Happy Hour Special =) The Fish & Shrimp Tacos are so YUMMY! The Piña coladas are AWeSOmE! ;) The service here is great 2 ;) The waitresses are very nice & helpful =) But, I wish that they'd tone down the 3 Mexican Man band playing, which makes it kinda loud & hard to talk. FYI, use the Yelp Deal: $10 for $15 Certificate at El Calamar or: 20% off when you check in with the Yelp App =) Use either 1 but you can't use both ;) read more

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This place has gone downhill lately. I really don't want to give them any more chances. I have been a customer for quite some time. Definitely more than 5 years. Every time I go I order the same thing and every single time they cook it differently. I swear to G not one person has made the momias the same way they originally made them back in the day. They are either too dry, not enough cheese not enough sauce, it's always something. One of the last times I was there I paid for music on the jukebox and none of my music was heard because some DJ showed up on a Friday night and totally took over what was supposed to be the jukebox. Anyway, please train your employees to make the momias the way you guys used to make them. read more

Their food is, for the most part, very good. However, they seem to over charge from time to time. For example, I ordered a medium parrillada Tapatia, which according to their website is $130.00. I also ordered a docena de enchiladas de camarón, and according to their website is $60.00. So I figured I would pay approximately $220 including taxes. To my surprise they charged me $377.00!! Really??? How do you go from $190 plus tax to $377?? The manager Sandra adjusted the price and honored the prices listed on their website. After she was done adjusted the price asked her if my order was the one sitting on a table and she responded "I don't know, I'm not helping you with that." And didn't attempt to assist. If you order anything be very careful on how much they charge. Always verify your check!! And hopefully Sandra learns better customer service. read more