El Compadre was the best possible scenario for a restaurant near a highway exit. Instead of trusting their location to bring in a constant stream of new customers, they appear to be a genuine part of the community. Everything about our visit said classic, old-school Mexican restaurant. The basket of chips arrived perfectly warmed. My wife's burrito was chock full of moist white meat chicken, and my carnitas (made with chicken) turned out to go perfectly with refried beans, rice, and soft, hot tortillas. Our table had inset tiles decorated with chili peppers, and the walls and arches featured rustic, colorful tiles as well as photos of local kids sports teams (presumably sponsored by the restaurant). All in all, a bright, comfortable, welcoming space. read more

See all

I love my hometown Mexican restaurant. I have always had great service and the food has always been good. It's in a great location. Stop in for lunch or dinner before or after visiting the mountain. read more

We stumbled onto this restaurant as we were passing through the area and decided to stop for lunch. It was fantastic! The server was friendly, the food was served in a reasonable amount of time, and everything was hot and delicious. I got a bean and cheese burrito and it was huge!! I would definitely stop here again if we are in the area. read more

Four of us stopped here for the first time today. All of us couldn't believe how great the food was. I ordered the #21 combo, a cheese enchilada and shredded beef taco Both were full of flavor and the portion size was huge. Even though it's about an hour away, we will definitely be back. read more

Best mexican food in the large city of Castle Rock! Service is always prompt and food is good, portions tend to be a bit small for the price but when there aren't a whole lot of options it's what you get. read more

Always love it when we can eat here on our road trip. Amazing food. Such friendly service.

The service and food here are excellent! It's one of the best tortilla soups I've ever had. Chips are crispy hot and the salsa it's so fresh and just the right amount of heat. But you should also try the jalapeño margarita. Again, one of the best I've ever had. I will be back thank! read more

Good food. Quick service. Been there reliably for a very long time. Nice athletic atmosphere too. read more

This is a great place to stop on your way out east or back from the mountain. My family and a friend and I stopped in here on a Sunday afternoon and were seated immediately, even though the place was pretty busy. Food came quick and everything was delicious. Portion sizes were pretty big too. The building is a bit older and may have been some kind of a store in the past (the front is floor-to-ceiling windows), but they make the most of it. Pricing is pretty good too. I had the arroz con pollo with flour tortillas, and specifically asked to not have any dairy on it. A lot of places will still put a side of something with dairy (sour cream, guac) when they just omit the cheese. The dish was delicious, and I was surprised at the number of tortillas they gave me with it. read more

El Compadre Restaurant - Arroz con pollo - Mexican Near Me - Castle Rock, Washington

Wow where to start??? Excellent food and fresh ingredients!! The service is top notch friendly and personable. Each dish is flavorful and spiced to perfection. The margaritas are the best!! read more

Food was fast and amazing! 3 different meals and everyone loved it! Molcajete was amazing! Enchiladas impressive read more

I love the airiness of the restaurant! The margarita was so delicious and my chimichanga was just right! The servers were friendly and gracious! I am so glad I tried this restaurant, I will be back again soon! read more

Good food and great service. The staff is always very friendly. Local favorite. The fajita quesadillas are my go to.

The food here was delicious, 10/10, totally recommend. The service was also really good, our waitress was Diana and she essentially ran a one-women show and did a fantastic job of it, she made sure we had enough water and that our food was on time, she definitely needs a raise, so overall this restaurant most definitely deserves 5 stars! read more

We had late lunch here and it was great. We have a favorite Mexican Restaurant at home and this place beat it by a mile. Really, Really good. read more

Fast service and an inviting atmosphere. Our order was hot, fresh and mouth watering. read more

El Compadre Restaurant - Tequila Sunrise - Mexican Near Me - Castle Rock, Washington

We loved it here! Great atmosphere, great service, great food! Not much more to say, except you should go here!

Handy roadside Mexican place. Nice decor. Extensive menu. Good service. Food is middle of the road Ameri/Mexican. I had the cheese and onion enchiladas. Quite tasty. My wife had taco salad - surprisingly large and also quite tasty. read more

Went there today! The food and service is amazing always! They have no problem letting me add to my order

The place follows the COVID protocols well, and staff was friendly. Food was of the good reliable sort you'd expect. Plenty of different combination plates, though I ended up going with three ala carte tacos and a side of rice n' beans. Asked for their house habanero sauce, it was maybe a 5/10 on the spice o' meter. If you want something off-menu for dessert there's a good coffee stand across the parking lot for that does shakes and blended drinks, or you could go to Parker's across the street for whatever pies they've made that day. read more

See all

Overall delicious! I had carne asada tacos and it hit the spot. Exactly what you would expect for small town off the highway Mexican food - not life shattering but a good meal read more

Was greeted, and seated immediately. Our complimentary chips and salsa was served right away. Very good hot sauce..and chips were fresh We both had Margaritas, which were about the best I have ever had. Both of our dinners were perfect.. our service was perfect. Love the Mexican Ambiance. We. Will definitely be back. Got to try the Sizzling Fajitas everyone is ordering. read more

See all

Love me some El Compadre! My favorite is their fajitas. Better than any other place in Cowlitz County or surrounding areas. Always attentive wait staff and food comes out hot & fresh. Only downside is the women's bathroom which kinda gives off a gas station vibe. Iykyk. read more

For a small town like Castle Rock this Mexican food restaurant is a thumbs up. Chips were light, salsa had flavor and huge server was friendly and attentive. We started eating before the pictures, but you get the idea. A great meal for the small area. read more

See all

This is one of the best Mexican food places in all of Cowlitz County! I love the chips and salsa! Perfect sized chips that taste great and salsa that's a bit runny with no chunks of vegetables but somehow they make it work! Great guacamole as well one of the best that I've ever had! I've been 2 times in the last month and have completely cleaned my plate both times! I have a small stomach and eat slow and NEVER clear my whole plate so that's saying something about this establishment! Or it's saying something about their portions or size of the entree items lol! I've gotten the #21 and #22 combo's because they were the special both times and was thoroughly impressed! With the exception of the Tostada shell tasting weird and feeling like it was laminated everything else was perfection lol! Great and friendly service and food brought out to you fast are huge reasons why I gave this a 10/10 and a pretty safe spot on my Top 5 or 10 Mexican restaurants in the county! I could talk about how great this restaurant is for so much longer but I'll stop here! Thanks for reading! read more

In Castle Rock with no transportation on a Monday night and had the choice between El Compadre and Burger King near my hotel. I should have gone with Burger King. On the positive side, the staff at El Compadre are all very friendly and solicitous, asking if everything was all right and whether I needed anything else. We're talking Johnny on the Spot service that the hoity-toity, expensive restaurants wish they had. The place was clean and social distancing was kept, the ice water was good, the beer was cold and the food was hot from the kitchen and plentiful. Now the down side: the food was as bland as the stuff they serve in retirement home cafeterias. Not only did my chile verde lack any heat (or much flavor at all, for that matter), the salsa was watery and bland as well. Chile verde is supposed to have some zing to it from the tomatillos and peppers in which the pork should have been braised, but this was so bland, it was downright *sad*. Like too many Mexican restaurants these days, they don't make their own tortillas, they buy them in bulk. I originally ordered corn tortillas and thankfully thought to ask the waitress if they made their own. When she said no, they bought them, I changed my order to flour tortillas and she said that was a good decision. 8-( That truly should have been my cue to say 'thanks, but no thanks', leave a $5 for the waitress' trouble and gone to Burger King, but I didn't, and that's on me. If you prefer your Mexican food on the extremely bland side, this is your place! If you prefer food with the amazing flavors that various Mexican cuisines offer, head up to Centralia and go to La Tarasca. If I had the option, that's what I would have done. read more

loved the ribs plate, the meat was cooked perfectly and seasoned great. I have no complaints from this restaurant and think the ratings should be higher. read more

Stopped here after visiting Mount St. Helens. We reviewed other yelpers and they were conflicting, but we thought we would give them a try. Service was great! We ordered salsa brava (spicy) this salsa you have to ask for. We each ordered carne asada y mas. I had chicken chimichanga, he had the tamale. All really good. read more

See all

I wish I could say this is a must eat place in castle rock. Unfortunately it's the opposite. The service was decent however, the food was one you could live your whole life without. The chips they bring you are stale and the salsa tastes like ketchup mixed with a tiny bit of spice, I ordered the chicken strips due to the fact that they don't have traditional Mexican food they have a bunch of dishes that you've never heard of and are to scared to try. When she brings them to the table she says she has already wiped them from the bill (which I appreciated) because they were "a bad batch" they tasted like seafood and char. There is no ventilation in this restaurant so everytime someone orders fajitas the entire place gets so smoky you can't Breathe. Won't be back again read more

The service was great, the staff was friendly, the food didn't take long, and our waters were always full. But the food left a lot to be desired. Starting with the salsa. It tasted like a watered down tomato sauce with some seasonings and a little cilantro. Then I ordered the Mariscos Del Mar Seafood Burrito. I was expecting the same shrimp you would have in fajitas or some of the other dishes, but what came out looked like tiny shrimp you would find dehydrated in a cup of noodle. I thought maybe they used bay shrimp at first, but after eating it I think it was previously dehydrated. The rice and beans were fine, but not super flavorful. My husband got the Super Burrito with Pastor and his was better. read more

El Compadre Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Castle Rock, Washington

We come here probably once a month as locals. We came from San Diego in 2014. I get the fajita quesadilla-hubby likes the Carne Asada burrito. Service is great! Chips are warm-salsa is very tasty ( a little watery, so a bit messy ) the Zombie drink is THE best! Probably best for the passenger in the group :-) I always ask for the "hot salsa" it is delicious! Friendly staff that have been the same since we moved here. So yes it is hot plate Mexi-but we ALWAYS enjoy our meals! read more

I am from San Diego, Mexican food is our favorite food and I have nothing but good things to say about the food here. My dad also has ordered here many times and he is also born and raised in San Diego, he also loved in. I got the carne asada plate and everything tasted great, I will be ordering again soon. read more

Decent food fast service price is a bit on the high side for what you get but overall a decent place to eat

We were excited when we saw the reviews and when we pulled in the parking lot it was very busy. We both ordered frozen margaritas. They were very cheaply made and we couldn't detect any tequila in them. Similar to drinking a Sonic Limade. I ordered a Chili Relleno and a Cheese and onion enchilada. I ordered both with the Green Verde Sauce instead of the red sauce. As you can see I got the red sauce. The egg butter on the Relleno was not good. I removed it and ate the chili and cheese. The Enchilada was delicious, but the onion was on the rare side instead of being cooked. The service was good. read more

See all

Random stop headed back to Cali, def worth the stop! Very nice staff, delicious food and a strong margarita to go!!! Oh and add another star for it being so clean especially the bathroom. read more

Bland Mexican food. Nothing special about this place. Taco Bell, Del Taco, El Compadre . . . All about the same. Actually the 1st and 2nd have sauce packets to add flavor to your food. read more

My review might be biased because this is the first restaurant we have been to in months but our food was soooooo good! I got two tamales with rice and beans and my husband got one tamale with a beef burrito. The portions were very generous and I wasn't able to eat everything, despite wanting to. The staff was courteous and maintained distance which we appreciated. The restaurant itself appeared spotless and I felt confident they are cleaning above and beyond. read more

I drove from California , food was out standing. We had carne asada burrito with rice and beans .. chips salsa and guacamole.. Even the water tasted good it did not have a weird taste. read more

Not one bad thing to say.... Walked in to AC on a hot day, friendly greeting, sat down within 2 minutes. Chips and salsa were normal but we asked for enchilada sauce to dip our chips and we both said how good it was at the same time. Delicious! Margarita was pretty dang perfect, he had a Corona. He: two enchiladas w/rice and beans-gave it a 8 out of 10^. Me: one enchilada one chimichanga w/rice and beans- I have it an 8 out of 10^ as well. Made him try the chimichanga as I was loving it, he agreed. Food came out within 10 minutes. Service was great, checked on us twice before bringing the bill. Bill was $36 Very very happy with our stop here. Only thing I guess was the dust/cobwebs on a lot of the decorations/ art work around the seating area. Bathroom needs some love- it was clean but I felt like I was at a park bathroom with paint chipped seat and scratchy toilet paper. read more

El Compadre Restaurant - Great start to our mini vacation! Food, drinks and service was great! - Mexican Near Me - Castle Rock, Washington

Staff is always nice & facility is clean. Its passable Mexican food. It'll get you fed for a decent price - but It'll never be the best meal you ate that week. For example, we ordered the street tacos, which was pictured as coated with cojita cheese, but arrived with a dusting of cheap parmesan cheese. I asked about it & the owner shrugged saying, "people don't like Mexican cheese." That says everything you need to know about El Compadre in Castle Rock. read more