Tried this little Me Ivan restaurant and bar today. Nice sized backyard patio. Very friendly attentive service. Good was pretty good. I had tacos (steak, chicken, chicken + chorizo) - truck style with cilantro and onions - full of goodness! They came with sides of rice, black beans, and salsa. I think other sides are also available. And, of course, a lime wedge and radish slices. I also had a cafe de olla which was nice to sip with n a patio on a nice day! I will definitely return and try their tasty look margaritas and other cocktails! read more

El Carajillo - Cafe de olla - Mexican Near Me - Columbus, Ohio

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Stopped in here for dinner last week. It's in a really cool location in a perfect little neighborhood restaurant. Their patio looks really nice, but it was unfortunately raining so we had to sit inside. That being said, service was great. We sat at the bar and were well taken care of. The drinks were delicious; and I had the strawberry margarita, which was very refreshing. For my food, I did have the tacos. The reason I went four stars here is I would've preferred a little bit more seasoning on the shrimp. That being said, they were still very good. Definitely enough food as well with the sides. Great neighborhood spot, would happily come back! read more

El Carajillo - Strawberry margarita - Mexican Near Me - Columbus, Ohio

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El Carajillo rocks! They have awesome chips and salsa, the margaritas are so refreshing and pack the perfect punch, and the food is spot on! Coming here when it's nice weather and sitting on the patio is unbeaten! The service is great and it's the ideal causal Mexican spot right in Italian village. The tacos are tasty and the brunch has a ton of fantastic options like the chilaquiles as well! Give them a try! read more

El Carajillo - Chicken Tacos - Mexican Near Me - Columbus, Ohio

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May 4th and 5th they had LOUD (over 100 dB) music playing all day until after 10p They claim police came and said it was "ok" So upon investigation finding that they must have had permit - still doesn't make it right. Also, the zoning is wrong for building and will be corrected. Landlord has been notified about disturbance and I believe he wants peace between neighbors as well. You cant have events like that right next door to your neighbors without any notice or concern about your volumes weather or not its from loud music and/or your guest. That's why rules apply and fines are issued. read more

I stoped in because it always seems so lively, and I'm SO glad I did - the service was top tier: very personal and energetic; the food came out very quickly and tasted aMAZing, and I can't wait to come back. My server, Julia was the pinnacle of energy and charisma read more

El Carajillo - Mexican Near Me - Columbus, Ohio

Came for breakfast on Saturday around 10am. A couple tables and hightop seating by the register and an upstairs area. Not busy at all! We sat upstairs. They had pictures on the wall, flashing lights, and were playing pop music. They give complimentary bolillo with cream cheese. Very buttery, soft and warm! For drinks, my friend and I tried the latte with churro syrup. Delicious! I saw a lot of people ordering horchata and margaritas but we wanted something warm since it was cold outside. For food, I got chilaquiles with salsa roja. Nice and spicy! Our server said the green salsa is not as flavorful and gave me some on the side to try. Not bad either, a bit more watery so I was glad I chose red. My fried chose the speedy breakfast: eggs, rice, pico, avocado. And she added a conchanita on the side as she wanted bread. The conchanita was delicious! Not overly sweet. Prices were reasonable for the portion. I left the restaurant pretty full. Likely because of the bolillo. For two people, it was a lot of bread! Service was good. A couple people servers but they weren't busy. Super friendly and didn't rush anyone at all. Parking around here is parallel. Not free either. But I got a spot less than a block away. read more

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Vibes - 4 Service - 2. We waited 38 minutes on a moderate Tuesday night. Never got water refills Food - 3 Starter chips don't have a lot of flavor and the salsa is more of a pico de gallo. Not a good first impression. Shrimp burrito was good. Clean, high quality ingredients. The filling was not mixed and the chunks were much too large for a burrito (in my opinion). I had the taco week burritos in chorizo, beef and brisket. The taco beef was spiced really well. The brisket had a nice slow heat build but was dry. The chorizo was fragrant but not memorable. Black beans were delicious. Value for money 4- well priced for the ingredients and quality. Overall the freshness of the ingredients is the winner. read more

El Carajillo - Shrimp burrito - Mexican Near Me - Columbus, Ohio

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Didn't even know El Carajlllo existed until today but will definitely be back. It's in the old Woodhouse building, adorable back patio we took advantage of. Happy hour until 7 meant we got two Modelo bottles for the price of one (and he brought them both at the same time). Only saw one employee the whole time, but he warmly greeted us and was the server too- he was great! Free chips and salsa, but we ordered queso too and agreed it was some of the best we've had in the city. Lots of vegetarian options, I went for the mushroom dish and it was great, yummy flavors. My friends got the chicken burrito and ceviche, we were all very happy with the meals, service, atmosphere and all agreed we'd definitely come back! read more

El Carajillo - Mushroom dish - Mexican Near Me - Columbus, Ohio

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Now is the time to visit El Carajillo because I get the feeling that tables are going to be hard to come by once the word gets out on this recently opened restaurant. Arriving at 1:00 on a cloudy Sunday led to ample seating on their patio for a brunch date. We tried several items: Frozen Lime Margarita - Thoroughly enjoyed. Horchata - a little lacking in flavor Chips & Salsa - Chips were fine; Salsa was better and has a little kick Breakfast Burrito - Good but was a little dry on its own. I got a side of the salsa (same as the one that came with the chips) which enhanced the entree. Chilaquiles - Came as described but I would prefer if there was an option to upgrade them with eggs and/or chicken Churros - Not bad This place really excelled in the intangibles. Very nice and accommodating service and a wonderful patio. They also have a Mon - Fri happy hour from 2-6 with margarita and draft beer specials. With a whole separate dinner menu to try, this new addition to Italian Village has good potential. read more

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This spot is adorable and will be so nice in the summer. Their patio is big and cute outside. We stopped by on a nice sunny Sunday for their brunch. The service was great. We had multiple people attending on us and always checking in. I don't think there's free chips or salsa though which is a bummer. We ordered the chorizo queso so that's how we had chips, but nothing complimentary. If there was, we weren't offered any salsa and no one around us had chips. Their menu is pretty small compared to other Mexican restaurants in the area, but it's also unique. I ordered their normal dinner burrito. It was pretty good! It kinda tasted like chipotle honestly?? My boyfriend ordered a breakfast burrito which he enjoyed. He did ask for the fries that come in it to be on the side. He doesn't like fries anyways so he got them on the side for me, but they were ice cold it wasn't even worth eating them. I think they have a few little kinks to work out with the menu and maybe adding some more specialties. I would've loved to see a carnitas option or a breakfast quesadilla. read more

We come often and the food is great! Our server Wendy was awesome and we hope to see her again

Had a lovely brunch here! Surprised there's no reviews of the cafe de olla, it was delicious! A perfect balance of sweet but not overly so, and the spices were forward enough to stand out. I think almost anyone would like this drink! We also got the breakfast burrito with sweet plantains - also delicious. The owners were lovely and it was a nice place to chat and have a weekday brunch! Lots of natural light inside too. I'll be back! read more

El Carajillo - Cafe de olla - Mexican Near Me - Columbus, Ohio

El Carajillo is exactly what I hoped it would be. They are an exceptional modern Mexican restaurant. The menu is diverse enough to satisfy a group, but focused enough to highlight what they make well. We've tried eating in, carry out, breakfast and dinner and it's all awesome. They have a great staff, consistently good food, and are quickly becoming one of our favorite spots in all of Columbus. read more

What a gem! Stumbled in for lunch while in town. Being from California, I have pretty high standards for Mexican food and El Carajillo did not disappoint. Delicious food and drinks. The fresh fruit horchatas were perfect on a hot day. Everyone in party loved their food. Very tasty! read more

Stopped here this past Saturday on our walk back to our place and now I can't wait to go back. I really enjoyed the Cantarito drink and nachos! We also got the Pride shots, which were delicious. There is a nice little patio out back that we sat at. Service checked in on us very often, which I appreciate. read more

El Carajillo - Mexican Near Me - Columbus, Ohio

This place ALWAYS has the best! Food is incredible, good prices and their margaritas never disappoint. The staff is always so friendly and I love supporting small businesses. read more

This is not your average Columbus Mexican restaurant. This is the best I've had since I lived in San Antonio. The ingredients are fresh and the flavors bright. The service was very fast and the food was out faster than expected. I highly recommend this great slice of Mexico. Well done! read more

We were very pleased by the items we chose. A cappucino and bloody mary, esquites as an appetiser and the caprese sandwich and side salad with cilantro dressing. All excellent! read more

El Carajillo - Esquites and chips - Mexican Near Me - Columbus, Ohio

Margaritas were amazing and all of the menu items are reasonably priced. The Garfiul's Special was delicious, however the burrito bowl lacked a little bit of flavor. The service was slow but it was mostly due to things that were out of control of the wait staff. The outdoor patio was cute and secluded. read more

El Carajillo - Garfiul's Special - Mexican Near Me - Columbus, Ohio

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Record breakingly slow service. Got tickets refunded for a movie cause the wait time. Food also bland.

Hello friendly business owner. You have an excellent mustache. Anyways. We are critics and we have notes and recommendations for your relatively new business in the cut throat restaurant market of Columbus. To begin. The restaurant has incredible potential. What a beautiful opportunity that space and outdoor area is. However With the restaurant's kitchen so exposed and playing such a role in the customer experience, it needs be better. A good open kitchen is one that is impressive for the diner no matter if they are watching or not. Your kitchen has a lot of room for improvement. There is a microwave in clear view. There are single serving mandarin orange cups in clear view. If I wanted mandarin oranges, I can get that from my cabinet. It should at least put on the appearance of a show. Something that impresses the guest at the craftsmanship of the drink and food making. The coffeechata was 2 ingredients that were just poured together. Something impressive and exciting for guests to see and watch is important in a space like this. The food was good, but nothing to write home about. The choriqueso was fine, but truly it was some prewarmed queso with precooked chorizo on top with some mildly stale chips. Worth $10? Yes. Something I will desire to come back for? No. I do recognize the limitations of the space and difficulty of making a small kitchen like that impressive for the guests without completely redoing the place. However, I think that if your goal is to survive a year in Columbus, some changes need to be made. I hope you do not find discouragement in this. You are clearly caring, hard working, and passionate. We only write this to help you. We recognize this is a relatively critical review. Please pm us or comment on this review and we will remove or edit this. Thank you for reading and good luck. read more

Every time we go here, the food and drinks are SO GOOD!!!! We love the patio and they let our dog enjoy the patio as well!

Great location and bones - patio in back is adorable and there's space in the back for bigger groups. Finally, a more chill breakfast experience in Italian Village with great breakfast burritos and a memorably delicious black spiced coffee. The proprietor is serving up a subtle and relaxing dose of morning delicious. Check it out! read more

I've come here twice, and both times I really enjoyed my meal. That being said, the first time, I ordered a quesadilla and there was a veggie with an entire produce sticker on it. Caught me off guard but didn't really bother me that much. The next time, I ordered a burrito bowl and there was a hair in the middle of my bowl. Not loving that as much. Despite those two unfortunate incidents, I'll cut them some slack because they had opened up relatively recently. And at the end of the day, the food was still really good! The service was also great, and the outdoor patio is cute. I'll probably give them one more chance before I rule it out completely. read more

El Carajillo - Chicken Quesadilla - Mexican Near Me - Columbus, Ohio

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Absolutely love this neighborhood spot! We walk here all the time for coffee or food. The workers always go above and beyond with their service, and their food is always great. Can't wait for the warm weather so that we can enjoy their outdoor seating! read more

Great service and Excellent food. The horchata and bacon sandwich are so good! Feels like they care about their customers and have cool inside read more

I had lunch at El Carajillo yesterday and loved it. The service was terrific, the staff which I assumed was the owner and his wife were very personable, and lastly the food was delicious. I had the breakfast tacos and a latte. The restaurant is small but there is an additional room for full-service dinning. I highly recommend supporting this small business. I look forward to going back in the spring to sit on the patio for margaritas. read more

Small restaurant with a lot of charming. La comida estuvo deliciosa!! Food was delicious and the service felt like we were at some friends house tasting moms food. The chilaquiles are great and they even gave us a home made bolillo sample with Philadelphia cheese inside. Awesome. We will be back soon read more

Very cute little patio outside with tables with umbrellas. The food was fantastic and the margs even better. Perfect to have a frozen margarita on a hot day! The waitress was wonderful, friendly and attentive. I highly recommend!! read more

Great coffee and great service! I finally stopped after driving by all these weeks. Glad I did read more

El Carajillo - Mexican Near Me - Columbus, Ohio

Great server. Excellent breakfast burrito. Good coffee with cinnamon taste. Nice patio.

First time here and we loved it! Stopped in for coffee and $1 margs (5/27-6/2). House marg was delicious and the iced coffee with vanilla was great. Even got a free sample of an espresso shot of some kind. Had the cheese dip and the bacon sandwich, loved both. Would definitely recommend stopping in. Waitress was super kind and attentive. Loved the vibes on the back patio. read more

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Great friendly service, family owned, delicious food and drinks! Warm and cozy atmosphere.

We love this place!! Just the right amount of options and everything we've had has been great. Both the brunch and dinner menu is affordable and tasty. The beverages are excellent and well priced with a great happy hour. Most of all, the servers are incredibly welcoming and kind! Ever since the first time we went, we knew we would keep coming back. I recommend this place to everyone! read more

Nice coffee shop feel with very good prices (especially for the area), kind staff and cool range of options from coffee shop to mexican restaurant to bar. read more

Restaurant right down the street from where I live. Service was great, food was delicious. Will definitely be coming back and recommending to friends read more

Best margaritas and nachos in all of Columbus, coming from a local. Incredible service and a great atmosphere!