It is a restaurant and not a truck so you can sit and eat. It's a very cute place with inside and outside seating. The bathroom is clean and the bar is cute. It was a little hard to find at the roundabout but the signs pointing helped. Servers and hostess are exceptionally nice and do wonderful. I had a to go order and I was expecting more, but not the most authentic Mexican food. I got a veggie burrito and veggie quesadillas. It lacked a lot of flavor and spices. I wouldn't order anything again. I got a margarita while waiting for my food which came out really super quick after like 10 minutes. read more

I would give them zero stars if I could without ever having eaten a single bite of their food based on the following encounter. 6/28/2025 7:30 ish AM. 8 S. Main Street Saint Albans VT. My neighbors & I are woken by blaring contemporary music. I'm not a fan but let's be honest it's probably not considered the most banging music of all time. The car will be on its way soon & I can go back to sleep. Right? Nope! The music continues blaring, so I'm up now. I see a text from my neighbor. He's pretty unhappy and reports the music is coming from a food truck. One of the gentlemen in my building went outside to investigate where the music was coming from & discovered it's the El Gato Cantina food truck bumping his music from a sub. He says a guy working in the truck told him to eff-off. I guess contemporary music can be banging cuz it's certainly rocking my bedroom windows. And the people who vibe out to it aren't calm sweet souls. It's pouring rain, I get my dog suited up & we head outside for a morning wee. Upon walking outside I realize just how loud this sound system is & I decide to kindly ask them to turn down the music. Maybe a female will get a different response. I knock on the open front door. There's a man holding a broom. I ask "Can u plz turn that down, it's not even 9AM sir" This rude entitled jerk waves his hand at me as if I'm a gnat, and responds. " yeah yeah, get the F out of here." I respond with, "sir This is our neighborhood and you woke many of us up can u plz turn it down." I walked away. I have no desire to hang around to see what other profanity he's planning to throw my way. I waited a good 10 minutes or so and when the music kept blaring, I stood in front of his truck and called SAPD. He turned it down before the cruiser got there. But seriously? This is how your business treats our community? You expect us to want anything to do with your business? Honestly, stay in Burlington/Essex with that nonsense. Saint Albans at 7:30 AM on a Saturday morning is not the place for you. This business is not in it to serve our community. I highly recommend giving this food truck a pass. read more

El Gato Cantina - El Gato Cantina food truck parked across the street from my home. - Mexican Near Me - Essex, Vermont

The owner is from Argentina and has no idea how to cook Mexican food. Also owner ran karaoke show for his very first time. Knows nothing about sound and almost blew his speakers 3 times. He doesn't care if you like it or him at all. Told me I could leave anytime. I would not recommend this place at all. read more

Service is awesome. It's a really nice place. Food is good and the restaurant is cozy. I Love the servers here. They're so nice and friendly. read more

I had some guests pop in unexpectedly and so decided to order Mexican food for pick up. All the entrées were fantastic, and I especially liked the pico de gallo and the guac. read more

They suck. They can't even get a to-go order with 1 app right. They gave my wife a bag with a bucket of guacamole dip and no chips. Am I supposed to eat it with a straw? For 11 dollars. Low IQ as can be. Useless. The rest of their food is awful except for that, but they don't give it to you anyway so no reason to ever eat there. read more

Great place, me and my wife have stopped by here twice now, the food and atmosphere is great, the fresh fruit margaritas are real good! :-)

Definitively cannot recommend, and plan never to go again! He's what happened: I'm writing from the ER at UVM, taken here by ambulance after ordering dinner at this restaurant. I'm going to state right here that the ER nurse informed me that they know about El Gato and would never eat athere since a friend who worked in their kitchen in the past and shared "too many stories" with the nurse about what goes on there. Would that I had known.... In my case after being served a glass of sangria that contained some ingredients that had long suffered spoilage, I advised my server that someone who works at the restaurant should give it a try. He offered to remove it from the bill, and I accepted opting to go for the Birthday Girl Margarita since today is my birthday. I asked the server for a glass of soda water to go with the margarita, and for my entree taking pains, as always, to inform the server of a severe mushroom allergy and asking that no cross contamination take place. He either didn't take me seriously or didn't inform the kitchen because I with just once but instantly discovered the presence of mushroom contamination, and a moment later that I would need to seek intervention for what was sizing up to be a rather severe allergic response. I felt confused and befuddled, and also bad for the server who apologized several times, and wanted to discuss what in the meal the contamination may have occurred. I just wanted to pay and tend to my health so I put some cash on the table (no time to wait while a credit card transaction took place followed by figuring on his tip). Later. I called the restaurant to report all this to the manager, and shared with Lucian the salient facts, no emotion, and his response included the statement, "Well IF anything actually happened ..." I took pains to ensure I had heard him correctly, and he confessed that he actually had said this, and until that moment I had actually considered giving El Gato an opportunity to offer the experience that good service would want to ensure. But the comment tells me all that I need to know. These people should not be able to have any things whatsoever to do with the public. Lucian member conveyed any transfers, or apology, never acknowledged that birthday was runied due to the faux pas of multiple El Gato staff . Nothing. I do not matter, my birthday or the fact that I choose EL Gato to celebrate it with .... All such matter not s but. Hence the 2 star review and that is for layout design. And set u up for guests in relation to the stage. read more

This is such a cozy and delicious 5 corners spot. Love the rellenos y enchiladas y pescado tacos. Queso not bad and inventive margarita menu. Jordan great marg-ologist. read more

El Gato Cantina - Queso and margs. - Mexican Near Me - Essex, Vermont

We love El Gato Cantina - Essex Jct. Real, fresh, excellent food with great flavor! The best Mexican food! Don't be fooled by the new chain mexican restaurant popping up across VT. El Gato is the best! read more

Been here twice now, it's a great Mexican restaurant when you look at from an ambiance perspective. They have a cute little bar and nice decorations with lively music. However the food isn't that flavorful and in fact not very Mexican authentic either. I'm from California so Mexican food out there is pretty high when it comes to authenticity, however, the food here is more quantity than quality. I do think the free salsa and chips are a nice add on, but again the salsa is watery and not prepared to quality but rather quantity. The service is slow since they get busy but the servers and employees are all super nice. The margs are strong so be careful there! The prices for their deal days are good while the individual dishes are overpriced in my opinion. read more

El Gato Cantina - Vegetarian Nachos Grande - Mexican Near Me - Essex, Vermont

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It was my birthday and wanted to celebrate with some good Mexican. Unfortunately that did not happen. We recently did not have a great takeout experience with the Burlington location but they made it right. So we tried the Essex location. Last night we ordered Queso w/chips, Combo plate with a taco and chicken burrito and a combo plate with 2 chicken enchiladas. -Queso came with no chips -1st combo plate was supposed to have sauce on side, it did not come with order. The chicken burrito was stuffed with refried beans, very little chicken. And the sides? Well, there was a few mouthfuls of each at best. -2nd combo plate had 1 enchilada correct the other had zero chicken. Also very little sides. When we called, when we only realized the lack of chips, the girl said we could stop in and grab them. Well, we used Uber Eats for a reason, so we would not have to go anywhere, but thanks for the offer. She then said we needed to call Uber Eats... hhhmmm So overall, the food was somewhat edible, the Queso was the only thing I enjoyed with my Tostitos. El Gato definitely needs to take a look at the food and service they are putting out. They just lost another couple customers. And thanks for the lack of a birthday dinner. read more

El Gato Cantina - Combo Plate 1 yes, that is the amount of rice and beans that came with the meal. - Mexican Near Me - Essex, Vermont

But the best place I have eaten. Food was ok at best. Service was decent for a slow night. Inside was decorated to a point. Food overall was not that great for the price. read more

We arrived right after opening for lunch on a Thursday. We both had beed chimichangas and really enjoyed them. I'm from arizona and my friend was from Miami so we have a lot of experience with very good Mexican food. This place was great. The beef was tender and well cooked and spiced. The beans and rice were great! All good things to say about this place. Wait staff was attentive and kind. The ambiance is nice and music was all Spanish speaking hits! Nice place. I'll be back! read more

I'm not Mexican or Latino so this is a white guy's review of mexican/tax mex food, but I like this place! I think the portions are good for the price, the ingredients fresher than you might expect, and I really enjoyed my enchiladas. They have a good selection of dishes too. read more

Muerto habanero sauce is VERY...VERY hot. But so flavorful I couldn't stop eating it. Try at your own risk.

Normally, we really enjoy El Gato. This last time wasn't very good. We ordered take out with a full side of guacamole, which normally comes with jalapeños, and a lime slice in a large, completely full, take home container. This time it was a small container half full as the picture shows. We also ordered salsa with chips and only got chips. The food also looked unappetizing. Attached is a photo of my chicken quesadilla...where's the chicken? When I did find chicken, it was a large piece of inedible chicken fat. Normally, the quesadilla is filled with shredded chicken. Our meal for 2 people ran $40 without tip. I feel very let down. If we order from here again, I feel obligated to go through the order before paying. read more

El Gato Cantina - Horrible order of guacamole. Half the size of the normal container and this container is half full. 25% of normal order?! - Mexican Near Me - Essex, Vermont

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Not sure what happened but the food at this location went downhill. Ordering to go is near impossible, as every order something is either forgotten or made wrong, or an entirely different dish on another occasion. Dining in isnt as bad but certain menu items are extremely dry and flavorless. Most recent takeout order I ordered vegetarian nachos with no cheese, and I opened a box of nachos that had dried up black beans and some jalepenos. When I went back and asked where the other toppings were, they took my ordered back to the kitchen and slapped on some lettuce and tomato and handed it back. 16$ for a meal I threw out , inedible. Not worth your money, go to el cortijo, or even chipotle is better. read more

El Gato Cantina - Shriveled up black beans with jalapeños dice tomato and lettuce - Mexican Near Me - Essex, Vermont

At one time El Gato in Essex Junction was one of our favorite restaurants. In the past 2 months we have been there times. All three times have been a major disappointment. The on-site manager is extremely rude, the phone has been off the hook, the food takes forever once ordered, and tonight they didn't honor a reservation made yesterday. We are through with El Gato in Essex Junction. We may try the one in Burlington sometime but not very soon. It really isn't worth it anymore. My advice to future diners...find somewhere better to spend your time and money. read more

After many drive-bys, today we stopped for lunch at El Gato in 5 Corners. First, they're one of the few Mexican restaurants that bring chips & salsa to the table. Chips, house made salsa, and large glasses of water were on our table shortly after we were seated. I had a mushroom quesadilla which came with some sour cream, and I added a scoop of guacamole for .75. Lots of cheese and shrooms and it was very good. Good food and good service. read more

El Gato Cantina - Mushroom Quesadilla, Chips & Salsa at El Gato - Mexican Near Me - Essex, Vermont

I know things are challenging with Covid and a week ago I had a horrendous experience with another restaurant. Today was totally different. El Gato made an error but when I called about it , they asked what would make it right and did just that. They offered amazing customer service, along with amazing food. I will be ordering again later this week to keep supporting this great local place! read more

I usually like El Gato, but I have to write a review about my recent delivery experience with them. Their menu prices are massively inflated for delivery, but I was thinking "okay fine, the occasional overpriced delivery is fine". When the food arrived, we discovered that our requested 16oz serving of salsa (which costs an enormous amount of money via delivery) was barely more than 3 oz. We called the restaurant and Rebecca there giggled and said "oops. Guess I didn't read the ticket right". There's only ONE option for salsa on DoorDash, so how is it even possible that you screwed this up? I wish there was competition for Mexican food in this state. El Gato wouldn't survive long or would be forced to perform basic quality control. It really doesn't take a genius to read a ticket. read more

El Gato Cantina - We paid over 11 dollars for this salsa and couldn't get a refund. Was supposed to be 16oz. - Mexican Near Me - Essex, Vermont

I typically am a fan of el gato. Nothing crazy special but its okay. We went on cinco de mayo (so yesterday), knowing good and well it would be very busy. As it was. One main plus was that we were seated before our 25 minute expectancy time. Our server was very sweet, but never really came back to check on us. My water stayed empty for 25 minutes (it's all I was having to drink due to being pregnant). I ordered from kids menu as I really cant physically eat much. My quesadilla came out after my friends entire meal. It's a kids size, what's taking so long? I also ordered the street corn, barely grilled on one side, and NOTHING at all came on it. No mexi mayo, barely any cotija cheese and zero chili lime powder. Extremely disappointing. It's my favorite thing on the menu its just seriously the most inconsistent thing on the menu as well. And it was super cold. My quesadilla, my poor poor quesadilla. Huge chunk (not chunks, chunk) of chicken on one slice. Pretty whole tomatoes throughout. I asked for nothing but chicken and cheese, baby doesnt like anything else. On to my lunch mates food: she really didn't have much of an issue other than the fact that there were SOOO many raw onions in her quesadilla. I get it, it comes with onions, but all of the onions this side of the Mississippi? She ordered a shot because it came with a shot glass, bartender brought over a drink not a shot and offered it to the obviously pregnant me. I unfortunately have to place some of the blame on our server as she came back to ask specifically if I wanted just chicken and cheese and if my mate wanted no cilantro. Overall probably wont be back for a while. I was super let down with the soggy mess I ended up with. read more

Awful 120$ worth of crap and had to make two trips because they couldn't give us the right bags I wouldn't ever eat here again! If I could give negative stars I would! read more

We ordered takeout and will definitely be back to try it again. Ordered adult and child's burrito with the barbacoa-it was so tender and juicy. Their rice and beans are decent enough, nothing spectacular. Good size portions. read more

El Gato is a great lil Mexican restaurant. The enchiladas, chips, rice & black beans were friggn awesome but my pear margarita and red orange margarita was bomb!! I rarely eat everything on my plate but my plate was clean. I just moved to the Essex Junction area so I will be returning soon!! read more

I went with a group of friends on a recent Friday night. Overall, the experience was good, but the main issue was the slow service. The atmosphere is nice, but it's odd for a Mexican restaurant--it looks and feels like a New England Colonial Inn. El Gato's Burlington location has an amazing atmosphere and a very authentic feel. The staff are very friendly, but as other reviews have noted, provide rather slow service. It got to the point that we considered walking to the bar to retrieve our drink orders 30 minutes after placing them at the table. The drinks were very good when they arrived at the table. The food was decent. The chips, guacamole, and salsa were tasty. I ordered four tacos and the flavor was excellent; however, they had very noticeably been sitting around for a while and were cold on arrival. Overall, this location has food, good drinks, friendly service, and a nice--albeit anachronistic atmosphere. The staff are all very friendly and professional, but the service is just ridiculously slow when compared to other places. I definitely and very highly recommend El Gato's Burlington location for an awesome and authentic Mexican dining experience, but consider the Essex location a work in progress. Essex will be just as amazing as their Burlington location if they can do something to speed up the service. read more

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Terrible carnitas tacos!! Should be moist shredded pork and was dried up cubes!!! Ugh!!

We were visiting from out of town and picked this place based on the YELP reviews. We both had the taco combo and quite good. Tasty chips & salsa as well Nice waiter, good experience. read more

We went in and we're all very pleased with our food. The service was great as well. It's hard not to get full on chips, salsa and guacamole. Haha. We got a few different tacos and loved them all. The highlights were the mole, carne asada, and the carnitas. The rest were good, but those three were amazing! If we ever find ourselves up there agin, we will be sure to go back! read more

I really want to like this place!! However, every time I try their food it has one overwhelming taste- salt. The food is just salty. They have so many delicious options on the menu but I have to skip this place because they're just not good. read more

A little back-story - my wife and I are foodies, and eat all over Vermont, New Hampshire, Texas, and Montreal (where she is from). We try anything and everything, its about the experience, and exploring cuisine anywhere we can! We wanted to give our son a great 16th birthday and he wanted Mexican, it just so happened El Gato is two minutes from our place. I ordered take-out for four from El Gato, having recently moved to Essex and thinking I'd try somewhere new. Every one of my family members, from 16 (his birthday dinner) to 43 (me) were horribly disappointed by the food. We ordered enchiladas, tamales, taco de barbacoa, and the taco platter (beef), as well as a spinach quesadilla. All of the food was cold (I was told to wait 15-20 mins for pickup. We waited 12 minutes then drove down and it was still cold after only a 2 minute drive home). Enchiladas were bland, the sauce tasteless and viscious, in a very unsavory way. The tamales were horribly overcooked, dry to the point I needed to take a drink between each bite, or I couldn't swallow the tamale pieces. My wife commented that they looked like animal droppings, and she couldn't bring herself to eat them. The taco de barbacoa had two corn tortillas wrapped around its filling. The cold tortillas were so hard and leathery my wife scraped out the filling as she couldn't tear the tortillas with her teeth. She found the meat inside "meh at best" in her own words. My son had the spinach quesadilla (his sweet 16 meal, it was his choice of places to eat that night!) and said he didn't want to finish half of it, because it didn't taste "right". I took a taste of it, and found it unoffensive, but certainly not flavorful. I didn't eat anything further of his quesadilla. My daughter had ordered the taco platter, and left one of the two tacos uneaten, the rice (which was horribly overcooked, all the grains split, super dry and unspiced/unflavored) and the beans were serving sizes a little larger than a silver dollar (a huge savings for the restaurant) - so basically a bite or two. I have never spent close to $50 ($44+)and been so drastically disappointed. (3 tacos, 2 enchiladas, 1 quesadilla, 2 tamales for this price). Nothing about the food stood out other than the poor quality, and tastelessness of it - beyond that, it was cold and surprisingly expensive - with small portions. If I could rate this restaurant less than one star, I absolutely would. The worst part of the whole experience? I live right in Essex, so this place was one of the restaurants we couldn't wait to try, now I can't tell people ENOUGH about avoiding it. I can look past a single dish not being A+, but when everything from a kitchen is beyond bad in a single order?! It wasn't merely a disappointment, it was a "won't ever order again" experience. One meal for a family of four completely destroyed our interest in eating such sub-par food again. DO NOT EAT HERE. Walk across the street and get twice the quality for less than half the price. read more

I put off eating here because the reviews seemed so mixed. Big mistake! I was in Essex Jct and Really wanted traditional Mexican: a big beefy and beanie burrito. I ordered the El Gato beef burrito for lunch. Service was fast, friendly and efficient. Burrito was warm, well seasoned, well-stuffed, and delightful. The chips and salsa side dish was exactly on spot. I've been very disappointed with Mexican food in Vermont as it tends to be expensive with skinny little re-imagined taco thingees. El Gato is affordable, the portions large, and the food meaty and authentic. The only thing I didn't like was the rojo sauce on top of the burrito. It tasted like a sweet Italian pasta sauce to me. Not bad - just not Mexican. read more

El Gato Cantina - Mexican Near Me - Essex, Vermont

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Recently stopped by the el gato 5 corners. I have been here before but I must sAy this may be my last time. The tortillas had a strong smell and were falling apart. I'm thinking they were old. The service was not good at all. No refills on drinks, no refill on chips, no check in to make sure food was ok, no to go container, and after waiting for about 15 minutes after we were done eating we had to finally have to ask for the bill. There was though several employees that were able to stand together and be talking Update. I finally returned to El Gato. I was served cold food and when I aLerted the wait staff I was tOld that was not possible. We left with the same attitude ass we will never go back. read more

Everything was good, the food was delicious as always and the staff was wearing masks tables were placed Covid style. We had a great time Can't wait to go again. Thank you El Gato. read more

Ended up here while visiting my sister because the place we had wanted to go was closed. El Gato sounded cute and the waiters/waitresses wore themed cat shirts. The place felt grimy, which honestly isn't a sign of bad Mexican food off the bat (most burrito places in the Mission have "character"), but absolutely nothing was good - not even the margarita. I wasn't expecting authentic Mexican food, but usually the drinks are at least good! Definitely skip this place. read more

Gave a 3 star because the server and the drinks were great. The food was flavorless and lackluster. As my husband described it... airplane rice bag beans and zero zero zero flavor. read more

Absolutely great option for drinks and lunch! Very Covid conscious and the margs are wonderful! Alekia was a joy- I was struggling a little with the menu and she helped me figure out the perfect drink/food combo. Great food, great staff, great drinks. 10/10 read more

Service was fine, but my girlfriend and I got very sick after eating here and the food wasn't good It's a shame because el gato used to be pretty solid read more

12/1/17 -Not a great experience! Called for a reservation, was told they don't take reservations after 5PM. Got there at 7 and was told we had to wait 30 mins. because there were 2 reservations ahead of us?? Seven in our party, they added the 20% gratuity to the bill even though they stated they only do that for parties of 10 or more. Appetizers came after the meals were served. 3 of the 7 meals were incorrect. End of the night, the waitress literally threw the checks on the table rather than handing them out as she did for every other table, then again threw them back on the table after charging the cards. No thank you's or even any eye contact at the end. Will NEVER go back there! read more