A neighborhood staple! I've come here a couple times for the bottomless brunch and each time was a great experience. I've had the pleasure of having Duncan & Jaden serve us. They were both extremely nice and attentive to detail. I've also had the pleasure of dining with Lisa, The bartender, who's also amazing. From the food, to the atmosphere, to the drinks it's a great vibe. Try the birrira quesadillas, too. They're delicious! read more

Thank goodness Catonsville is getting some good restaurants! I wish yelp did .5's because I really would like to give 3.5, but c'est la vie. This review is coming from husband and wife Mexican food snobs as we originate from San Diego and love traditional Mexican cuisine. Location is great with very accessible parking and the inside is super cool! The tables are evenly spaced out for Covid and have we code menus on the table to access the menu. The bar is super cool and string lights across the entire ceiling give the restaurant a party/fun vibe. Awesome skeleton murals are on the walls and a great big garage window opens up the restaurant to the outside very resemblant of downtown Baltimore restaurants. The hubs and I have come here twice since opening night and will continue reviewing as we return in the future :) On opening night we attended and were super excited! We were a little unimpressed by the service and no special opening night food/drink options to kick off their opening. I got their Barbacoa tacos and the flavor was good but overall I felt they were a dry. The corn tortilla was perfect, but I have heard through the catonsville gossip that the option for a flour tortilla would be appreciated. The tacos came with a side of retried beans and rice which were both very flavorful and large portions! The hubs got the burrito and he enjoyed that. Trust me, I understand that the first night is always crazy so we came back a second time for a real review. The second time we came during the week and I got the taco/fajita salad and my hubs got the sandwich. Overall I thought the taco salad was much better than lapalapas but I'm so confused why no one puts grilled fajita veggies on these salads?! I'll ask next time because it was very fresh and their salsa as dressing was perfect. Service was better and it looked like everyone in the restaurant was enjoying their meal. The only thing that was frustrating was that we noticed another table getting these HUGE churros covered in chocolate that looked delicious! We looked and looked on the menu,but there was no desert listed. We asked the waitress if we could get an order and we did but for goodness sakes if you have churros covered in chocolate put that on your menu!! read more

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Always a good time.. They were short staffed and still did an amazing job.. Food came up quick & hot.. Allison was amazing and the vibe was spot on... Oooh yeah - tht tequila selection!!! read more

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Pleasantly surprised!! The beef and chicken were well seasoned and juicy! So many items on the menu to try but kept it light with $2 Taco Tuesday! Thanks Amber (staff) read more

El Guapo - Tasty Tuesday Margaritas!! They look good and definitely made well! - Mexican Near Me - Catonsville, Maryland

Polite and prompt service. The food was good. They had chips and salsa complimentary. The pork carnitas were flavorful. The birria tacos were interesting to try. We would return to try something else. Their rice and beans were also good. Not too mushy and well seasoned. Parking is street parking since they don't have a lot. Also, one of our water glasses wasn't cleaned and had a lipstick stain on it. read more

El Guapo - Pork carnitas tacos - Mexican Near Me - Catonsville, Maryland

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The food had potential but I think they were short staff which resulted in the quality of the food not being too great. Out of the things I tried, the street corn was my least favorite. I've only heard good things about this place so I'm willing to try it again. read more

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Another great restaurant that has specials pretty much most of the week. Iv come here at least 6-7 times in the past year. I usually sit at the bar and get a oaxaca old fashioned. Here are the specials listed on their website (please visit for more information) Margarita Monday and Taco Tuesday option specials. ($5 Bruzzyritas on Monday and $3 a la carte tacos on Tuesday) Wednesday is "date night" and all fajitas are 50% off. Thursday, burritos are 50% off They also have a bottomless weekend brunch for $35 Street parking, but it's pretty easy to find a spot. Could do better on service read more

I had never heard of El Guapo but I have friends in Catonsville that have been and really enjoyed their monthly Drag brunch. I met up with them for Sunday Brunch to check it out. I found out a spot right in front of the restaurant. The restaurant is spacious and I loved the open shelves--stocked with all different types of tequila behind the bar. We were brought complimentary chips and salsa. The chips were stale so our server brought a new batch. The chips still weren't that great but the salsa had a great flavor. We all decided on the bottomless brunch-bottomless tapas and select cocktails for 2 hours. I selected the Mexican Mimosa (champagne, tequila and grapefruit) while my brunch buddies selected the red sangria. My first mimosa (yea I had a few) was perfect! The ones I had after were not as good but still tasty. My friends enjoyed the Sangria. We ordered almost all of the tapas except the platanaos, pozole, and tostada. We really enjoyed the tapas. My friend enjoyed the shrimp and grits so much that she ordered two. The grits were so creamy and the shrimp was perfectly seasoned. Truly a delicious dish. I couldn't decide which was my favorite since I loved everything I tried. I didn't try the corn muffin but my friend who did said she didn't enjoy the flavor. I'm so happy to have found a new brunch spot! read more

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I was optimistic going in since we enjoy Catonsville and the new variety. Unfortunately it appears the owner due to a lack of interest has decided to impose upon his clientele by adding additional fees to his exorbitant Tequilla collection. It's pretty impressive. But $70 per shot for a bottle that cost him approximately $150 is not fair trade. Be warned. It varies depending if you look like you can afford it or not. You would think he would walk around and introduce himself too after he attempted to essentially screw you. He stayed back and laughed with the crew since there were no tables to serve. read more

Racist waitress. Watery salsa and big block of ice in drinks. Would not seat us near the outside because it was 4 people and they wanted to save table for dinner crowd. Except there were 2 white people sitting at a table for 6 near the outside. Then they seated a white family with kids near the outside. read more

El Guapo - This is supposed to be salsa. - Mexican Near Me - Catonsville, Maryland

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My friend and I tried out this spot. What can I say? We were excited to try a new place. It's clean and well decorated. Well staffed. The hostess, waitress, and food runner were all very friendly. Our drinks were really good and fairly strong. The chips and salsa are ok. Salsa was watery, but tasted pretty good. The quest dip was pretty good too, but when the entrees came out things went downhill. Both meals, Seafood Enchiladas with rice and pinto beans, appeared dried out. The enchiladas were luke warm and had a lot of crab shell mixed into the crab meat. There wasn't a lot of sauce on the enchiladas so they were pretty dry. The rice was also dried out. The beans were the best part of the meal. The waitress was friendly even when I told her the food wasn't good and we just wanted our check. She took the entrees off the bill since we barely ate anything. I wasn't expecting that and it was very generous. I don't think this place will last long if they don't get the food quality issues under control. Go for the drinks, not the food. read more

Nothing exciting about El Guapo. No one in the establishment speaks Spanish. No one. Even the kitchen is white. Sense trouble? Uh huh. Chips and salsa. Chips are from a bag-- pre salted. Ask for more? He can come and shake some out for you. Very expensive. Poor quality and small portions. I was done my enchiladas in a few bites. Tiny, tiny Enchis. This is one of the first times I had nothing left over to carry out. Oh, and they have the toughest, burnt chicken in their tacos I ever had, and I've had a lot of them. Expensive bar tab, drinks literally with practically NO alcohol in them. Horrible ambience, lackluster service. I don't see this place being here long. Go somewhere else if you have the choice. With so many great Mexican-inspired places out there, I'd never visit here again. read more

My friend and I stopped in on a whim for happy hour. We ordered margaritas. The first one was strong but the 2nd one was very weak,, like they forgot the alcohol ? We ordered the shrimp and crab ceviche, which was delicious. It was a bit unusual t have avocado on top but I'm a fan of avocado. They chips and salsa were OK. They weren't bad, but nothin exceptional. The chips seemed like something out of a bag, not like the fresh cooked ones you get a Chevys. I would definitely come back to try this place again and perhaps have dinner. read more

El Guapo - Shrimp and Crab Ceviche - Mexican Near Me - Catonsville, Maryland

Kylie was a terrible server. She had more interest in chatting up people at the bar than in her job. I had the Cubano and it tasted nothing like pork. Terrible service and food. read more

El Guapo - These murals had skin on their faces when we started - Mexican Near Me - Catonsville, Maryland

I would give 0 stars if I could. Nobody in this establishments was wearing a mask. The bartenders and servers were unsanitary in handling drinks the bartender literally squeezed an orange in my sangria with her bare hands then placed the orange slice in my drink. Our waitress Kayla F was HORRIBLE. She was rude and argumentative. Another waitress had to pull her from our table because she wanted to argue w/ me about my experience instead of just apologizing. The vibe in the entire place is off. The food is NOT authentic at all. It's super disheartening because it looks really nice inside but I had a horrible experience and would not recommend this place to anyone. As a umbc graduate I love seeing new spots open in the area, but this is one place I'll tell people to not visit. read more

El Guapo - Queso dip - Mexican Near Me - Catonsville, Maryland

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Ambiance was great but service was slow and the food was not flavorful . Drinks were ok nothing to write home about.

A relative recommended this place, so we had to try because we love Mexican Food. We came for a late lunch, the place was fairly empty with only 2 tables occupied. Don't know if a lot of people know they are open yet. We were seated and our waiter came right over and took our drink orders and brought Nachos and Salsa. He didn't give his name, but he was the only Waiter we saw. We ordered several appetizers and put in our main course. Our appetizers came at the same time as our food. I wish he would of space that out so we could enjoy our Appetizers first. Everything was good, but it wasn't hot, just warm. Don't know why when the Dining Room was so slow. Our Waiter was nice but not attentive. I do like the Decor and Murals on the Wall. They have a Barber Chair in the Dining Room, don't know what's that about, but it was a cool feature. It wasn't the Best or the Worst. I probably will give them another try. read more

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Did a take out order on a Friday night, first time eating here. Accuracy of the order was perfect. Service was pretty good. When I went to pick it up that place was dead for dinner on a Friday night. Didn't give me a good feeling. Taco salad was ok. Beef enchiladas not so much. Was barely edible. I wasn't impressed and doubt I'll go back. read more

Not sure how we haven't found this place before now. It was delicious. We got the elote, queso fundido, steak burrito, and shrimp tacos. The elote had great flavor. Queso is amazing!! I have been looking for this type for awhile. The steak burrito was so large it was lunch the next day. Great addition with the queso on top. The shrimp tacos were good and would order again but felt like they could be better. The sauce perhaps kicked up a notch? The bartenders did a great job with the drinks. The Diablo and the Mezcal Old Fashioned were great. We can't wait to go back (this week)! read more

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amazing food! amazing service!! every single time!!! i had the pork tacos with a side of charro beans read more

El Guapo - Mexican Near Me - Catonsville, Maryland

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So torn on this place. On one hand, their drinks/cocktails are fantastic, some of the best around. On the other, their food is extremely meh as well as overpriced, IMO. I'll give you a cheat code, eat at State Fair across the street then head to El Guapo for a marg, I'm a big fan of the Bruzzyrita, personally read more

Our team rented out this place for a postgame meal. They set up each table nicely and set the food up buffet style. The food was very good but not the best Mexican I've ever had. The workers were very good at making sure things moved smoothly. The guac did not seem homemade, but the chips are good. The margaritas looked amazing. The buffet was good but did not seem like authentic Mexican food. Great service and set-up but it's did not amaze me. read more

Kayla was very kind courteous and very funny. She made me feel very comfortable and welcomed. Good customer, Eric read more

The one thing which stood out the most was the food service. Food did not take long to come. Ambiance was excellent, and the restaurant really fits the community!!! If you want to enjoy a place to chill, and have nice casual conversation, El Guapo is the place for you!!! read more

Pre-made; stale; poor flavor Margarita tastes pre-mixed as well. Waitress was sweet but got the drink order wrong. Ambiance cool and likely May be why their business sustains. read more

Food & service was great! Great TFT y be cecefrfrctvrgrgtvtvtvybybybybybybununununung

So a quick google after visiting the parents had me coming here for some Mexican. The salsa does taste roasted but they also throw in a little pico de gallo on top and gives you that fresh taste. The chips were nice and thin super crispy. The boy got a carnita tacos and I ended up with the taco di birra. I had a bite or two of the boy's carnitas and they were flavorful, juicy and some good porky goodness. My taco di birra was good as well -- however because they dip the tacos in the stew and then crisp it up, some bits were a bit more charred than I liked. The stew was very flavorful, smoky, slightly spicy, slightly sour, some sweetness and for me maybe a bit too much cinnamon. The tacos came with some of the stew on the side for you to dip the taco into or pour on top. I for sure opted for the pour on as the tacos were a bit on the more fragile side as they were a bit more moist than your average taco. The boy asked if we could mix the tacos and we were told no, so he was slightly disappointed as he wanted to taste 2 flavors but opted just for the pork. The elote soup was very flavorful -- the soup is a creamy almost cream of corn soup with the sour cream, jalapeno, cilantro and cheese lending it to a more Mexican spin. The jalapeno slices though, in my opinion detracted from the soup as they were harder to eat -- large slices that may be a bit on the spicier side. I wish there was a little more cilantro but overall pretty good and did remind me of street corn. Would i come here again? yep sure will. There are plenty of things on the menu that we still need to test out but as this is pretty far from the new house, it'll have to be when we are on this side of town again. read more

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I was so amazed by the portion of the food it was unbelievable.. I was a little worried about the price being just a little high but it was worth every penny. The portions of the food can really feed a entire family. What I ordered and my girlfriend we really couldn't eat everything. This was my first time eating from there and it was nice. But I will tell you they already add there 20% gratuity if it was a delivery or pick-up. Check out their website it's is amazing. read more

Sunday all-day happy hour: 3 apps and a generous poor if sangria= $24--good value! House made chicharrones! Duck confit on house made toasted tortilla! Spacious, airy, relaxed atmosphere. Service is civilized and earnest. Food is a unique take on Mexican. read more

Just happened by this place and decided to try it. Friendly, awesome service! We did the all you can eat brunch which was small plates of different foods and it was delicious! The chips and salsa are amazing! You can tell the chips are homemade. I recommend the shrimp and grits, churros, chicken taquitas, and potato nachos. Everything came out quickly and was hot. I will definitely go back! Yummy! read more

Excellent addition to Catonsville's Main Street. Love the enchiladas and the queso fundido with chorizo is the BEST! Love the tequila and mezcal collection. So excited to come back and try more types of tequila! El Guapo is a nice piece of levity during 2020. read more

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Came here recently around lunchtime and decided to go for the bottomless brunch. Not a bad deal if your server doesn't avoid you the entire time as it's limited to two hours. My husband and I placed our initial order (all small plates), and the waiter brought out everything we ordered but only left half (my order) with us, saying that the other half was for another table. Quite the coincidence that they brought out exactly what we'd ordered all at the same time. So my husband didn't get any of his food, but the waiter told us it was coming. Whatever, we ordered some of the same things, so we shared my order. They never brought out my husband's food. We had to order it all over again after we finally managed to flag down our waiter an hour and a half later (he was either not in the room at all or hanging out behind the bar doing nothing). We ordered a couple additional items to share as well, but we never received all of it. We got fed up and left. Waiter couldn't be bothered to bring out more of the drinks either (also bottomless). Nothing really surprising about any of this though. We had a similar experience at State Fare (same owners) with extremely poor service. Food was alright - nothing special, but the scrambled egg dish we ordered for my toddler was undercooked. Seriously? Eggs are not hard. If you can't manage eggs, maybe the restaurant business is not for you. Won't be going to El Guapo again; State Fare is already crossed off my list. Won't be taking a chance on the Beaumont either. I wish these guys would stop scooping up restaurants in Catonsville - they're going to ruin downtown with bland food and poor service. I'm honestly not sure how this place or State Fare manage to have as high ratings as they do. read more

I strongly recommend that you do not order the "ceviche" from here. It comes in a weird square shape with a layer of avocado on top. I had maybe two or three bites and it was terrible. My husband had one or two bites and was up all night with stomach issues. I'm not a fan of complaining when food doesn't taste great, but I feel that the bartender should have asked why we didn't finish our food, since we didn't even come close to finishing it, instead of asking us if we wanted to take it home. At that point, we just wanted to go home because my husband was feeling sick from the ceviche. Other than that, the customer service was fine, but please do not order the ceviche. read more

I wanted to try birria tacos but I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be. They were good but not heavily flavorful. Margaritas are huge and delicious though! read more

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El Guapo - "Some choices are better than others....." We wanted some Mexican food. We passed 8 Mexican alternatives within 5 miles of our home and instead we chose to drive 19 miles to El Guapo in Catonsville with high hopes for a good Latino food experience. We shared this was our first visit with the hostess, waitress Sophia and the gentlemen who appeared to be the manager. After all, you only get one chance to make a good first impression. Our visit was not a good choice. Upon entering we found stadium-level lighting from an excessive amount of ultra-bright patio string lights. Thousands of lumens. Not a great choice for atmosphere. The hostess wanted to seat us directly in front of the speaker (?) for the musical performer with his single guitar and electronic sound box despite the cavernous restaurant was only hosting maybe 8-10 folks (60 vacant seats). We asked to be moved. A good choice for us. 300 tequilas (true!) on the menu as well was flights of tequila and mezcal. The restaurant was out of the flight of mezcal offered on the menu. (hmm ..supply chain issues ?). So we requested the bartender assemble another flight and it was really good. Good choice on bar mezcal / tequila. We ordered pozole from the well-constructed menu. It's a latino soup with some history and pretty legit to see on a menu. Sold as a Mexican 'stew' with hominy, chicken, radish, crispy tortilla strips, and lime in a roasted chili broth but what came to the table was a chicken broth with hominy, chicken but no radish or tortillas strips and was served with table spoons not soup spoons. Poor choice to offer a classic dish missing ingredients. Ours was a poor choice to order it. The menu was indeed well constructed but the food suffered. Chorizo quesadillas lacked enough chorizo to be meaningful. Food was under spiced in general. Plating was indiscriminate - another choice - this one by the kitchen. Table tending was slow and spotty. Dishes and glasses stacked at the table despite three wait staff and a dozen customers total. From our table we could see the staff congregating off the floor and goofing off with the manager instead of actively watching their tables like hawks. Poor choice not to train your employees how to be professionals at their craft. The elements that plagued El Guapo on our visit are easily corrected if management chooses to do so. The music element was appreciated, the space was decent, the bar was long and home to (really) a lot of tequila. The menu was intentional, but the bar was too high for the kitchen to pull off. Servers needs training on how to make the customer experience better. All would be good choices. 3 pops1 review read more

Excellent food and ambience. Chicken tacos, chicken, enchiladas, and burrito are all very good. The decor is very fun. My wife says the margaritas are excellent as well. read more

Had so much hope but it didn't last past the first try. Really good corn tortillas had us hopeful as well as prompt service - after that just all bad, non authentic poor mex food. Has the group ever had good Mexican/ food? Doesn't seem like it. read more

The staff was very friendly and attentive. I ordered a classic margarita with a salted rim. It was the saltiest margarita I've ever had in my life!!! Apparently they ran out of rock salt and used wet table salt. The wet table salt of course dominated the margarita making it impossible to drink!!!! The free chips and salsa were the only food item served that has some flavor!!!!! The food is very BLAND!!! You have to put the free salsa on all the food you order to give the food some flavor!!!!! Yesterday was my 2nd and most certainly my last time visiting this place. read more

The first time we had brunch at El Guapo and the food was wonderful! We stopped in for lunch on 7/5. Ugh everything was less than desirable. The guacamole was tasteless and had some strange oil floating in the bowl, it was in need of salt at the minimum, just gross. We ordered the birria tacos and shrimp tacos with plans to share....neither meal was good. There were unsuspected carrots in the shrimp tacos and the birria tacos didnt come with dipping sauce and the flavors weren't there - precooked (old) not well seasoned meat, yuck. The rice and beans...horrible. Who's idea was it to premake these bean and rice bowls and microwave them. Im from Texas so maybe my expectations are a little different but the entire meal was a waste of time and money - severely underwhelming in all categories. The house margarita was good. read more

Food is awesome and family friendly. We've been there a few times and tried all the different tacos - the pork tacos are my favorite! Taco shells are homemade and delicious. Place looks clean, well kept and we had great service. Easily becoming one of my go-to spots. read more