Rude manager. Terrible customer service. Food is good, but there are plenty of options nearby where they treat customers properly.

The food was good. The staff was very nice, the service was quick, food was hot when served. The restaurant has a comfortable and friendly atmosphere. All good stuff and the prices were not unreasonable. I wasn't familiar with the meaning of the name of the restaurant so I Googled it. yikes read more

Ehh. Margaritas are okay. Food was okay. Nothing really negative. Nothing really great. Just ehh. I was recommended this establishment by multiple friends. Was really disappointed the experience was really underwhelming. I will give them that they have a cute patio and they books local talent for some live music. The ambience is really nice. read more

I have been to El Gabacho many times and have always loved it. Sad to say, today was my last time. The food was good but the drinks were horrible. I preferred the Hondo margarita. $16.50 for 1. Insane, I know but usually they are delicious. New bartender? Maybe. Trying to save money? Probably. The drink that was brought to me so compacted with ice that there was no room for any liquid. 5 sips. That was it. $16.50 premium drink. Complete rip off. The waiter returned and we showed him the glasses that were still completely packed with ice. His reply was simply, "sorry". My husband went into the bar and order another directly from the bartender and told him NO ICE. The waiter returned with a drink same as the first. Completely packed with ice to turn of $16.50. The drink went back and we left. Really too bad about this experience. They didn't even care about trying to make it right. That is a shame and tells we all I need know. I'll take my money else where. read more

I think that I might have found Tex-Mex heaven on the patio at my new favorite Mexican spot in DFW, El Gabacho. I was recommended this spot while back home recently and looking for my Tex-Mex fix. While wary to stray from the old standards, I decided to give it a shot, and I am so glad I did. Located in a somewhat industrial section of Arlington/East Fort Worth, El Gabacho features a nicely decorated and cozy interior, but its highlight is its large patio, decked out in Texana decor and perfect for whiling away a warm DFW evening. After being seated, we ordered margaritas from our friendly server. We both decided on one of their premium options, a strong number called the Seeing Stars, which after two lived up to its name. For dinner, she had the classic bean and cheese nachos, served Texas-style with yellow cheddar on fresh chips, whereas I had what might be one of the best and most beautiful chile rellenos I have ever laid eyes on it, served with rice, beans, and fresh tortillas. All in all, it was absolutely perfect and a new DFW essential, and I cannot wait to bring everyone to this hidden gem. read more

The food was very plain and margarita tasted like limeade only. The service was good, but it doesn't make up for the tasteless fare.

What a great establishment! Great, fun decor and cozy feel! Service was top notch from the host/hostess stand - to the table. Food and drinks were top-notch. This was our first visit and we can't wait to go back and try more menu items and cocktails. read more

I live in Texas, and I'm bored with Tex Mex. I try, I really do. I know it's culinary blasphemy. But, how many variations of taco meat, cheddar cheese, tortillas, and salsa does it take before my palette is over it? Let's just say I'm there. "Really great fajitas?" What does that even mean? Enter El Gabacho. The ingredients are familiar, but the flavors are new. So, at a Mexican restaurant, chips come out. Always. But, my first signal that El Gabacho was going to surprise me was that the salsa here is special. It's warm and especially tomatoey with an almost marinara-ish overtone. We ordered queso with the ground beef and it was outstanding. I've had a lot of queso, some of it really good, but this was in a class by itself. I ordered a meat and cheese skillet dish whose name I cannot recall (and the menu is not available online), which was also exceptionally good. Served with tortillas, the flavor was not typical Tex Mex, but the result of the efforts of some real chef talent. The atmosphere was cozy and detailed, the dining room tightly packed with seating and a bit loud, but fun. There were a couple of large groups and a casual ease to the staff that suggested many in the room were regulars. I passed by the bar and saw some local craft beers on draught. outdoor seating is also available. Located in an unlikely area of Arlington, El Gabacho is oddly tucked away. I highly recommend this place both for dedicated Tex Mex fans and for those who want something new and exciting infused into their chips and salsa. read more

This place is awesome! The food is great, the drinks (happy hour doesn't disappoint ) are great and the atmosphere is wonderful. The waitresses are friendly and courteous. I come here at least twice a month. read more

Fantastic environment , great dog friendly patio , wonderful food and drinks w/ happy hour from 2-7!

Ehhh not sure why people would chose to come here. First off, we waited at the hostess desk for a solid 10 minutes waiting for anyone to acknowledge us. The place was empty. Service continued to be mediocre throughout the meal. I got the sour cream chicken enchiladas. They lacked flavor. I continued to eat them only because I paid for them. The chicken was also dry and tough. The one and only positive was the salsa. But hey, at least I had great company!!! read more

Best carne asada ever! Spicy cucumber jalapeno margarita, yummy. Great service. Will be back soon.

We have been regulars here for awhile but we officially will never be back. The owner is one of the rudest people I have ever met. We order a medium rare steak and received it well done. We asked our server if we could just switch the meal out for a quesadilla. Problem solved? Nope! The owner came over to our table and was visibly drunk and very aggressive towards us. He was so personally offended and refused to replace our meal. I can not believe the way he was talking to us and our server. Multiple employees saw our encounter and told us that he is regularly drunk and rude to customers. We honestly only ever came for the patio and live music, the food was never good. Please do yourself a favor and NEVER GO HERE!! read more

BIg change in food and service since our last (only prior) visit and hubby and I agreed we needed to update. Went yesterday for a later lunch, around 130pm or so. I ordered from the lunch menu, so my entree was about $7.00 and his was about $12 from the regular menu. Started with regular queso and it was a HUGE serving - really smooth, not much flavor, but we could have opted for pico or beef but we stuck w/plain. Went well w/the chips, that were warm, salty and fresh-tasting. Salsa was a little chunky, a little spicy and overall quite delish. I opted for the one crunchy beef taco and two cheese and onion enchiladas - as the lunch special, does not come with rice and beans, which was fine by me. The taco was a bit odd - the only thing IN the shell was the ground beef. Everything else was outside the shell, including one slice of tomato....uhhhhh chopped tomato would have been better, me thinks? Anyway, after I cut up said tomato, I loaded everything into the shell and it was quite good. I ate about 1/2 of my enchiladas and brought the rest home. I asked for a side order of pico, which was again HUGE, which rode home in the queso for tomorrow. Hubby had the chicken chile relleno, with sour cream sauce, guacamole, pico, rice and beans and ate all of the main dish and only left a little rice and beans. Overall, the service was professional, attentive and polite, without being too much! We're going to make a point to return during happy hour and enjoy their beautiful patio. Now that their food is much improved (in our opinions), it'll be all the more pleasurable! Check out my new pics - much better than the previously mentioned day-glow-orange-rice! read more

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Very big menu with all sorts of yummy food. Try the seafood enchiladas or shrimp relleño which is stuffed with jumbo shrimp! They have an excellent margarita and signature cocktail menu. Try the jalapeño cucumber margarita called the Hondo. It is spicy a little bit but the cucumber makes it very refreshing. Great Tex mex classics like enchiladas and fajitas. Privately owned with a very nice staff. Great place for catering and parties, too. read more

This place aesthetically has a lot of potential - cute decor, nice patio but the charm completely went out the window the second my fiancé and I couldn't hear each other over their loud mouthed, obnoxious owner talking (let's be real: partying with buddies) and doing his best to irritate patrons. Based on the staff's response to customers saying something, this isn't the first time this has happened. We opted to leave before ordering lunch, which based on photos it looks like we dodged a bullet of disappointment. read more

When we needed a place close to my brother-in-law's for a birthday dinner - this restaurant seemed to check all the boxes. We had two servers and a chips and salsa person taking care of us that night. I got excited by the decor inside and out. We unfortunately had a hard time getting our waiter to understand our order. Our cups ran dry and stayed empty most of the time. However, the rice and beans were good. The queso was good. Our entrees were alright. The only reason we might not return would be fear of bad service. Our nephews told us bad service is typical of this establishment. read more

David Govea the owner, assaulted an employee last night, after firing her, and refusing to give her tips. She refused to leave without her tips until law enforcement arrived. Before they arrived, David grabbed her and started trying to drag her out. She never once tried to attack him or harm his establishment, and was only concerned about the money she was owed. David fired her for asking a table to move to another area so she could clean up around them, as it was an hour past closed and getting close to 11 pm. read more

I love the building and environment. The bar is comfortable to eat if it's crowded in the restaurant. They have s great patio. If you're a!fan of the 'Make me sniffle' spiciness of salsas and dishes (as I am) it's not here that I've seen. But their seasonings are precise, well balanced and delicious. The queso with pico I had was thick enough to stand s chip up in and it tasted and had a flavorful kick. The sauce on the cheese chili relleno. I've had the carne asada but it was a bit chewy. The margs are good too. Worth s stop if you're in the area. read more

El Gabacho Tex Mex Grill - Queso con pico de gallo and top shelf margarita - Tex-Mex Near Me - Arlington, Texas

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The margaritas are great, the food, and atmosphere is head on. It's a good place to hang out and enjoy . You won't be disappointed read more

BEWARE! They will automatically add gratuity to your bill for curbside pickup-NO EXCEPTIONS & NO WARNING. This is not disclosed anywhere on their online ordering site. I was very disappointed. This is a new thing they are doing and this establishment needs to disclose this information. read more

This is a nice little tex mex food spot. A little pricey but decent. Recommended by a friend. We preferred to switch over tables to a high top our server oscar was very unhelpful. Be seemed "already over his shift" he took our order without allowing us to look more into the menu walking off lacking any drink order besides water. We sat around for about 30 mintues or so without him coming by to check on us maybe twice. I had to get up and request napkins and limes from the bar. Wasn't a vet friendly waiter. Maybe he had a bad day and without asking if we wanted to split the check between us ladies he assumed and brought one check placed it on the table and walked off. No interaction or curiosity on how the food and or drink was. I can see the potential in this establishment possibly with a better server. Mind you it was slow and a Tuesday evening. Personally being in the service industry myself i give where credit outta due and this guy i would not recommend. The light chips and salsa were so good, the enchiladas were alright, rice and beans good. I will equally distribute points for food, service, and the atmosphere which is very nice with a cute patio. May later revisit read more

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Visiting? Skip this place it's awful. Lived her most my life and all the one star reviews are spot on. Today, after waiting 6-7 minutes and employees ignoring me I asked a server about a hostess. I was told to "Chill Out. We're busy." I did not "chill out." Atmosphere is okay. Food is consistently inconsistent and without a doubt overpriced. I've seen the owner argue with guests, and honestly some of the worst guest experiences I've ever had. I tolerate their free chips, patio, and decent margaritas. read more

Doesn't look like much on the outside. We ended up going here Sunday afternoon because we were at a dress store on the same block. There were 7 of us and they sat us right away, which was nice. When you walk in the front, it's a little cluttered with antiques (which I can admire, I must admit), however, the seating area is very narrow and cluttered. That wasn't a big deal because the place was relatively dead, especially for a Sunday afternoon. The service wasn't really remarkable. The food came out in about 5 minutes of us ordering it. I'm going to be honest, that quick always terrifies me. It tells me that the food is prepared well in advance and not fresh in the slightest. The food that my daughter and I got was not good. We both ordered the beef chimichanga (we exchanged our feelings on it in the car afterwards). The meat was absolutely terrible - it was extremely overcooked, some pieces were burnt, and there was absolutely ZERO seasoning on it. The ranchero sauce on top also lacked flavor. It was really disappointing. read more

Food was pretty good. We had the mariscos enchiladas and the street tacos. My husband loved his enchiladas. The street tacos weren't bad. Just don't recommend the corn tortilla drenched in oil. Maybe next time flour tortilla for me. The ranchero beans were the best! Probably my favorite part of the whole order. My husband had a couple of different drinks and he said they were all well made. Will definately return read more

The food was "ok" what upset me to no end is they gave us an old menu with lower prices the items we order were 12.95 according to the menu we were given. But when the check came we were charged 13.95. I brought this to the managers attention and he said they didn't distribute the menu's in there wooden binders due to covid and those were the old price. When I told him that the hostess gave me the Wooden binder menu and it was cheaper in that menu he did not offer to refund me the $2 we were overcharged and rightfully owed. I would have returned another time but the manager attitude and lack of wanting to take care of me as well as the extremely snoddy attitude of the hostess. With these difficult times and restaurants struggling you'd think tgey would want to take care of small issues like this.. I WILL NEVER RETURN AND WILL MAKE SURE I TELL OTHERS ABOUT MY BAD EXPERIENCE. I wish yelp didn't make me give them even 1 star they deserve zero stars. On a side note our waiter was very good. read more

Oh my gosh this place was awesome! I loved the atmosphere and the staff was sweet. The food was spectacular as well. Definitely a place to keep going back too. 5 stars for sure ! read more

El Gabacho is a fun, Tex mex restaurant just shy of downtown Arlington. This place is rustic and messy, featuring an eclectic collection of John Wayne memorabilia. Yes, you read that right. El Gabacho is John Wayne heaven. As far as the food goes, I love the chimichangas, and my husband loves the shrimp stuffed relleno. Many tasty options, and a few lunch options as well! read more

This place is amazing!!! Service is fantastic. Workers are insanely attentive and we haven't even gotten our dinner yet. Yes, Seriously! Great atmosphere and a lot of cool things hanging in here. The patio is pretty cool looking too!! You are missing out if you don't come here! Brandi W. Arlington, tx read more

El Gabacho Tex Mex Grill - Tex-Mex Near Me - Arlington, Texas

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We arrived with a group of six and were told we had to wait ten minutes due to short staff. After waiting fifteen minutes, and watching them seat a group of three and two groups of two, we were told it would be another ten minutes. Plenty of empty tables and it makes no sense how three tables would be easier to serve than one table of six. When our group decided to leave, we were told we could be seated immediately. We took our group down the road and spent our $200 on food and drinks at another independent Mexican restaurant. read more

Food was ok. I did like the salsa and the queso. Service started out bad, but quickly the waiter found his groove and we never had empty drinks or chips but then he got another table and we were essentially forgotten. Finally flagged him down to place Togo orders for our family that didn't want to come & also to get our checks. read more

Tonight the fiance and I wanted to get out and enjoy the great weather. We were in central Arlington and we've eaten everything else 5 times and passed by El Gabacho a hundred times. They are in a new development of old-timey looking buildings and El Gabacho has a great patio right on Abrams so we decided to give it a try. We each had a margarita ($4 and very strong) and we shared the El Gabacho... One tostado topped with nacho cheese, two cheese enchiladas topped with chile con carne, one chicken soft taco and rice and beans. PLENTY of food for two people, way too much for one person and a great deal at $11.95. All in all it wasn't bad. Great service, great patio, good margaritas and pretty decent Tex-Mex. Next time we want some good, decent Tex Mex for a great value, we'll go back! read more

I met my friend at dinner at this restaurant tonight. During our dinner, they sat a large group next to us and asked us if we wouldn't mind moving to a different table. We agreed and moved to the table the waiter indicated. Almost immediately, they sat a woman and 3 very loud, rambunctious kids, around 10 years of age, next to us. They were extremely loud, so we decided to move one more table down. The manager (Mr. Govea), came to our table and said something about us moving, and my friend asked if he would comp our last round of drinks. He immediately went ballistic. I've spent over 20 years in table service and never seen anything escalate like that. The next thing I know, he is literally THROWING CHAIRS and yelling at my friend, with his face inches from hers. He said we didn't have to move (um, you ASKED us to?), and that if we didn't leave immediately, he was going to call the police. Neither of us knew what to do, and frankly, I was flabbergasted. I get not wanting to comp drinks, but throwing furniture, shouting at customers, and threatening to have them arrested for "trespassing" is astonishing. I love the food there, but no thank you. I won't be going back, and I wish I could take back the $50 I spent tonight. read more

Went here for lunch the other day. Standard Tex-Mex fare with some kind of John Wayne theme that I'm not sure I quite get. Anyhow... Came in at about 1:30, and was 'greeted' by a waiter that appeared less than enthusiastic to seat me, much less, take my order. Maybe just a bad day at the Gabacho? I don't know. Chips and salsa arrived with warm salsa. Actually, I really like warm salsa, but this was more like a warmed bowl of spicy finely chopped tomatoes. Nothing to brag about. Chips were okay. I ordered the Lunch Special #4. Food arrived quickly. Flavors were fairly good, overall, but nothing stellar. For the CheezeWhiz Queso Fans...you'll love it! Tons of it...rich and gooey all over. Did I say "all over?" Yep...all over, and stuffed with a stick of processed cheese that failed to quite melt in order to hide its original shape. No fooling me though. Anyhow...I ate it. :/ The somber waiter arrived back and handed me the check. I wished him a "better day." He just gazed at me, and took the plates away. There's GOT to be something better in Arlington than this! read more

Nice little place in Arlington. Ordered the Cheese Enchiladas, with the Beef Fajitas on top. They were great. My wife wanted Fish Tacos, and they are not on the menu. The waiter went and asked the kitchen staff, and he said, that was not a problem. They were excellent. Service was good, and the chips are so-so. I like my salsa spicy, and El Gabaco's serve a mild salsa. The waiter asked us how is everything and I told him that the salsa isn't that spicy. He said that he would be back and brought a nice serving of a spicy salsa. We also had the Queso and it delivered. We will be back, read more

It's been a few weeks since my last visit, but I wanted to go ahead and rate my most previous experience. Not sure why my friends designate this at the celebration spot, but to my disappointment, it is. It's located in a strange shopping complex, it's tiny, and the food is just not my taste! Typically, I am not greeted when arriving. The host stand is almost always empty. I have to stand around and wait for a server to notice that I'm awkwardly standing in the doorway. Nothing is more uncomfortable that standing in the entryway of a cramped restaurant because all you can do is focus on making eye contact with an employee or having to move out of the way for anyone trying to use the restroom. I always judge a Tex Mex restaurant on it's salsa, and let me tell ya, it's not great. The last time I was here, it took nearly an hour for our entrees to arrive. Not sure why. It was a stormy Sunday, wasn't busy. I ordered the Carne Asada with double rice, no beans. And I got a side of rice and beans. The food itself is just not great, nothing to rave about, and certainly not worth an hour wait. I think I'll just have to schedule one-on-one celebrations with whoever chooses this place next. read more

Came here for lunch and was presently surprised. let me start out with saying I thought that the service was going to be terrible, because I walked in to a full crowd. Also, a large party on two tables. Well, I was wrong. Very prompt service. There to order drinks quick, right back with drinks and chips and salsa. Chips and salsa were really good. Chips had a hint of fresh Lime on them, salsa was just the right kind of spicy, and it's server warm! I got my chimicanga and I was really happy. Smother in Chili con queso at my request. The chicken was obviously grilled, and still held that right off the grill taste. Wasn't dry, and there was plenty of it. Served with rice and beans thay I actually enjoyed, sour cream, pico, and guacamole! Yum yum yum! Overall great experience. I will be coming back, and recommending to everyone I know. read more

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It is usually good but is understaffed and is hot inside. There is a wait in the evenings. Parking is terrible.

This is a cute place the Mexican food is good nothing special I had the Taco cobon. Not the best but I would get it again. My friend had the chili relleno it has the mushy out side layer not a fan. Will not get again. But if your in Arlington want to try a new non chain restaurant this is a place you should try. Cozy place in a out of the way location but very fun. The margaritas are very good. read more

What a terrible experience I had this evening. It started off well, but was incredibly frustrating at the end. When the ticket came, I was over-charged for two items and charged for a meal I did not order. The manager was very condescending, rude and unprofessional. He did not apologize for the mistakes and took quite some time to resolve the matter, making it seem like it was my fault. I have dined there before numerous times but will not go back. read more