My friend and I were craving Mexican food and decided to give El Jardin a try. I ordered the chicken tamale with red sauce and single asada taco with rice and beans. I was disappointed that the rice was dry and a bit hard and it tasted pretty old. I figured there was no way there could be anything wrong with my refried beans, but it actually was overly salty. The sauce on my tamale also seemed like it was microwaved on since it was a dry texture, not what you expect sauce to be. My taco was not very memorable and just okay. My friend said something tasted awfully sour in her food, so I tried it and turns out the green sauce on her enchilada was very lemony and didn't seem like whoever made the sauce ever tasted it, otherwise they would've known it tasted way too sour. We were both pretty disappointed with our meals here. The service was okay but overall we agreed this wouldn't be a place worth returning to unfortunately. The food just was not fresh and we had wished we went somewhere else instead unfortunately. read more

El Jardín - Chicken tamale with taco plate & burrito with enchilada plate - food was not that great and not fresh - Mexican Near Me - Elk Grove, California

Lovely time at El Jardin which is locally owned. I've been a few times over the years (it's one of my friend's favorite restaurant and is near her home). Americano usually helps us but this trip we were serviced by a young lady and regrettably I didn't write her name down. This past visit I ordered a fajita salad which was so hearty I couldn't finish it. Fresh ingredients, and I absolutely love the chips and salsa at El Jardin. read more

El Jardín - Fajita salad - Mexican Near Me - Elk Grove, California

We tried it for the first time and the food was decent. The service was pretty good and the ambience was really great.

5/5 for the friendly service and atmosphere; wonderful staff, and great setting. 1/5 for food. I ordered a taco plate. Tacos did not taste good, same for beans. Rice was ok. They have a nice drink bar if you're into that. read more

Very good food. Guacamole is great with the flour chips. I don't eat meat, so I add the fajita veggies in my burrito - I am picky about how I like my burrito and they do a good job with my order. My husband tips them well because of how picky I am, lol. My husband got the chicken chimichanga-and it was very good. Staff is always very nice. It's very clean and decorated. It's nice to see a lot of customers eating there & picking up to go orders. read more

Good place to grab a drink. Ambiance is nice! Service is good. Food is okay. Definitely a place to check out the game

We ordered their burrito with pork and it had NO meat. One of the coworkers said "we were busy so we probably just forgot to put it in" which is very invalidating. The chicken quesadilla was lacking cheese and flavor, it was pretty bland unless you use their sides to dress it up. Overall pretty disappointed! read more

Came here for lunch. My husband ordered the shrimp enchilada, I had the burrito supreme. It took about 20-25 minutes to get our food. What came was nothing short of disappointing. The shrimp enchilada had nothing in it besides a few measly tiny sautéed shrimp and a barely warmed tortilla.. Nothing on it, no flavor. Mind you husband ordered without sour cream but my goodness, it was just nothing. Beans and rice were on the side and the beans were so sloppy all over the plate it looked as if someone had diarrhea. My "burrito supreme" was not even rolled like a burrito, it looked like an enchilada and was flat like one too. Minimal stuff on top.beans and rice on the side were the same as husband. Looked as if someone had diarrhea. The grilled chicken inside was tough as can be. It tasted as if it had been boiled to death to begin with and then thrown it in a hot pan for a moment. Terrible flavor. Terribly tough. Do yourself a favor and steer clear of this place. Waitress didn't even seem to care when we told her about our disappointment. read more

El Jardín - Burrito supreme - Mexican Near Me - Elk Grove, California

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Went there ordered a burrito it's supposed to be chicken and beans. No chicken all beans really bad. They just give you beans and rice.

The food was very underwhelming. I had the chicken mole. It tasted like a terrible can version. The chicken was clearly added on right before it came to the table and hasn't soaked in the flavors (which may be fine because the flavors sucked ) . The rice was very dry and poorly cooked. It is telling that the restaurant was packed without Mexicans. One extra star for service. The waiter was attentive to checking in on us . read more

Customer service was not good. Not greeted by host. Server was slow to greet us. Food was tasteless. The black beans were cold and the rice was undercooked making it crunchy. The fish tacos lacked flavor. Not sure if there is new management or they just let the quality go down. read more

Ordered a burrito and it was mainly cold cheese, beans, sour cream and only a couple pieces of meat. Extremely overpriced too. The taco stand on Bradshaw and Calvine is a much better option if you want some authentic food for half the price. read more

We always go with a big family. Mason and staff are always welcoming and the service and food are great. We love it here Rhonda and family read more

I don't believe this is a Mexican own restaurant. It didn't meet my authentic Mexican restaurant criteria which is: 1) there was no salsa bar 2) there weren't any Hispanic or Latinos eating there 3) they didn't offer foods Latinos are likely to order like menudo, pozole or tripas Their salsa tasted like it was right out of the jar or tub. Probably purchased at Smart and Final. Gave me acid reflux. Not a place I'd take my Mexican relatives ever. read more

Clean, comfortable, great food, fair prices, great service! Been coming here regularly for years!

My wife and I absolutely love this place. We come here a couple times a month. They are a family run restaurant and have always treated us very well. My favorite dish is chicken fajitas. The chicken is cooked perfectly and the give you a ton of vegetables. The rice and beans have never disappointed. They arrive on the traditional steaming hot cast iron plate. We also really enjoy the bar offerings. My go to margarita is the jalapeño margarita. It is insanely good. I have a love for spicy food and this does the job. Please stop by and give a small local spot a chance. read more

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Came here for late dinner on a Sunday and sat at the bar alone. Bartender was very nice and attentive and the food was good. Chips and salsa had great flavor too. Great spot!!! read more

The staff is friendly and the food was delicious! We were seated quickly and the waiter was quick to take our order. I ordered the lobster enchilada with beans and rice. It was really good! The dessert was not the greatest. We had the churro with ice cream on top. The churro was old, microwaved or both. I did not bring it up to the waiter. read more

This was our first time here. We were in Elk Grove for an event. The place was clean. The service was ok. We were greeted right away and tended to. One strange thing was once we were done eating our waiter did not take our plates. Just left them on our table and went to get the check. When he brought back the check he still did not clear our plates. Overall the food was bland. The chips were stale. The salsa was ice cold. Like it just came out of the refrigerator. I ordered the shrimp enchiladas. My husband ordered the grande burrito. While the shrimp enchiladas were good, the black beans were bland and but very flavorful. The rice was also bland and very starchy. The carnitas in the burrito was also very bland. They did was the least flavorful that I have ever had for Mexican. read more

The service is always friendly but the kitchen is very inconsistent. One night you order fajitas and get a generous portion of meat and the next you get barely any meat. It feels like that kitchen either cooks or uses what they have already cooked. I ordered another dish there and the first time I ordered it, it was delicious but have ordered it three times since and it was never as good. I have given up on getting a consistent meal there. Despite it being very close, we are now driving further away to get a consistent order. read more

Our family has had a love affair with El Jardin in Turlock and Oakdale for years, and upon hearing one was in Elk Grove on a recent Sunday afternoon we went in expecting our typical wonderful experience. Boy were we sadly disappointed. Starting with the drinks and chips things served off a cliff.. the margaritas were watered down and the corn chips had burn spots and were a dark toasty brown and tasted of scorched oil... We mentioned this to our waiter (and per him, the manager, Mason ..if I recall correctly) To remedy this at our expense we ordered flour chips.. thinking they would be fresh and made in clean oil...wrong again.. they were cold, oily, sat under a heat lamp and though lighter.. tasted like burned oil. We ordered the Chile Rellenos combo and a La Computers taco salad with carnitas... During our wait we overheard tables around us asking for managers and mentioning similar complaints which brought responses like "that's your opinion" and "I'm sorry you didn't like it as much as everyone else does" which screams arrogance not customer service... And is such an inappropriate response to bad food from your kitchen. Our food arrived and from delivery it was underwhelming... We actually thought it was the children's order from the table next to us and said as much.. asking twice are you sure this is the adult portions and ours? Yes, we're assured it's our and the portions reflect "economic challenges"... The Chille Rellenos is 4 inches long and 2 inches wide.. it looks like a large jalapeno.. call it a jumbo popper not a Chille Relleno.. my salad looks like it's literally half the normal size and half filled. THE PHOTOS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES. I literally had to hunt to find the tablespoon of meat in the bottom of the salad as shown in photo.. and then there was the quality issue... I took three bites of the salad and had to stop..the lettuce was wet and dripping water and the grease of the tablespoon of meat smelled like sour dish towel.. and worse yet the two weren't mixing well on the plate or in my stomach. I sat waiting for the manager/waiter to return.. upon his return I asked him to look at the salad and smell it.. I pointed out that there was no filling.. and even less meat.. and that it smelled like dish rag. After he visibly recoiled he set it back down and asked if I was done with it.. I said it's literally INEDIBLE... and he took the plate away. So we sat for around 15 minutes.. I'm thinking they are remaking the salad.. he comes back with the check.. and takes my mom's half eaten plate. I asked how much longer on the salad.. and he straight faced looks at me and says "what salad?" ..I asked how much longer on the remade salad and he says nothing is being remade. I then open the bill and the salad is on there... At this point this is becoming outrageous.. I said either bring a remade salad or take it off.. he responded with.. I kid you not.."you ate some of the salad and then said you were done sir... You got your salad.. I'm sorry if you didn't like it as much as others do but you had a salad brought to you and when I asked if you were going to eat anymore you said no"... $60 dollars and a terrible experience later... I called back once that week to speak to a manager or owner..left my number.. no response. I called again last week.. no response.. so we arrived here.. pictures THAT SCREAM dirty.. gross.. grease and water salad with no meat.. and no remedy or effort to make it right.. I want it to be clear.. the food and service we get WEEKLY at El Jardin in Turlock and Oakdale is both excellent and delicious and the portions are the same as they've been for years.. a few dollars more BUT THE SAME. So this review is solely about the Elk Grove location which honestly is tarnishing the name and reputation of El Jardin.. I DO NOT recommend this location and it's food is terrible and borders on fraud if not theft.. inedible food for a high price..is expensive starvation .. the worst part is even when given an opportunity to fix it and make this right.. they didn't.. read more

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We had stopped eating here about two years ago due to lackluster food, so thought we would give it another chance to see if things improved. Unfortunately it did not. The location is in a good spot and shares the parking lot with Bel Air, so there is plenty of spaces to park even if you do have to walk a bit. It also has Steve's pizza and a stone cold there which helps to bring in other traffic. The restaurant itself is nice and has a good little bar area set up. Service was prompt and friendly so that was not an issue. It took about 15 minutes or so for our Togo order to come up so that was fairly quick. We were there on a Monday night, so may have had the uninspired cook for our chorizo burrito and chimichangas. The chorizo burrito seemed like a breakfast burrito and simply lacked any flavor, which was surprising with the chorizo. The chimichangas also were simply blah and nothing to remember. The green salsa was the better of the two but a little too salty for my taste and the red sauce was a little too Haley on the chili for my liking. There are a lot of good Mexican places to eat at nowadays but sadly this is not one of them in my book. read more

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El Jardin was so accommodating for our large group of 12, the other night. They had to move the back end of the restaurant around to get enough table area to fit, but they did it. The wait staff was excellent and the food was excellent! Highly recommend going there. read more

Great place for lunch and dinner. Steak Fajitas are my favorite. Good food, good drinks, and good people! Congrats on 20 years!

If I could choose 0 I would. This place is trash. Filth. Most is cooked or rewarmed by Chef Microwave. I asked for meat that was cooked to order and the server only could point out a few dishes in a huge menu that were cooked to order. Accompanied my 80 year old grandparents to their anniversary dinner. Waste of time. Its sad that the elderly were lied to about what authentic food is. Ordered veggie fajitas cause I was scared to eat any meat. Vegges were supposed to be julienned and came out in chunks. No flavor other than dumpster filth. Rice was hard. Refried beans with cheese and rice were warmed up in the microwave. Shame on you for advertising authentic mexican cuisine when you actually serve nasty ass dumpster splooge. Crooked filth. Never refilled my water once. Worthless. And why tf is there the silverware and paperwork and trash on the table next to me. read more

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I like to bring my dates here. Get to know each other, enjoy some margaritas and if we click we go to Bob's get drunk and go home to enjoy some premarital you know what. Servers know what's up so they act as they don't know me. Oh yeah I recommend echiladas a la parrilla, my favorite dish! 5 stars read more

Awesome place to come for a margarita and appetizer. This is just what I wanted on this Sunday afternoon. Since it was middle of the afternoon, there was no wait whatsoever....we were seated promptly by the waiter and quickly given some water. We ordered house margaritas on the rocks with salt and these were made excellently! We also ordered some chips and salsa which came with some kind of side of cabbage slaw which sounds kind of odd but if you add a bit of the salsa to it, it totally works! Just trust them and try it...that's all I can say. We also shared a chicken quesadilla which came with a generous heap of guac and sour cream. Chicken was shredded and moist and it was cooked to a perfect crisp. Oh and it also included a side of their delicious warm green salsa, perfect for dunking your quesadilla in. Easy in and out and my thirst and belly were happy! Great local go to Mexican place! read more

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food was great ! TACO PLQTE WAS REALLY good plated just lovely .Wasn't too busy and service was nice. Liked the dip on table and chips were good. It is decorated cute and the Mexican suns are a nice touchI enjoy this restaurant. read more

Terrible. Ordered chicken enchiladas verdes and chili relleno.... Red sauce not green and cold, cheese raw in the chili relleno... aweful food!!! read more

El Jardín - Cold uncooked food - Mexican Near Me - Elk Grove, California

We are residents of Stockton and enjoy visiting parks and exploring new cuisine in Elk Grove. I have two and three-year-old children, and as a mother, the quest for establishments with exceptional customer service is paramount. It truly enhances the experience, making it both delightful and seamless. Marisa, our server, was truly exceptional! She anticipated our needs and provided outstanding service. I am grateful for her kindness and the extra effort she put in. The food was exquisite, and we will certainly return. Many thanks to Marisa. read more

The kitchen does a great job serving tasty meals. I enjoyed a combo plate of carnitas burrito and chili Relleno. Enough food for leftovers. Assuming shortage of staff we were surrounded by tables that were not bussed. Friendly service but lacked visits to check on us or waiting on drinks. read more

My family and I have been going to El Jardin for nearly 15 years. At one point we had weekly dinners in excess of 20 people. The staff has always been helpful, over accommodating and great at what they do. They feel more like family than anything else. Oh and the food is fantastic!! Highly recommended frequenting their restaurant. read more

Nothing Specia-EL. With several Mexican food spots scattered all over town (you can find a handful just driving down Elk Grove blvd) you have to do a lot to stand out as an establishment - and unfortunately I'd say this is one place that just doesn't do that. I've come here to eat a few times now and it has never been "busy" and I think it has a lot to do with the quality of food and the price they charge for it. That's not to say that the food is bad - but I can get better quality food down the street for a fraction of the price. My last trip there we ordered the Burrito combination plate, comes with a burrito, rice and beans for $13 - the burrito we got was filled mostly with rice, a little bit of steak and a lot left to be desired. On top of the lackluster food, the service we received was average at best - waiter did not seem very personable and checked on us maybe once after our food came. This is definitely not my first choice in Mexican food, nor is it the second, third or fourth. Last resort? Maybe. read more

Excellent Mexican restaurant! Can't go wrong choosing El Jardin. The chicken nachos are my favorite. We've been going here for many years. Try it! read more

AVOID!! Unfortunately they screwed up my order so bad I can't even give them one star. I ordered online the day before to bring lunch to my dental office employees for giving up their lunch break to accommodate me in their schedule. Two hours after I place the online order for the following day I get a call asking me if I was going to pick up the food. I said this order was placed for tomorrow please check your online order details. The guy did not apologize he said OK will see you tomorrow. I was worried about my order. Lo and behold I show up the next day and the young man behind the counter had no idea about the order. he appeared frustrated he was rude and he said I'll have your order right out. He brought out my order and I had to ask for utensils. And I ordered guacamole and I got one tiny little bag of chips with about 10 chips in there I said sir that order of guacamole is to serve four people. He said I have to charge you a dollar per bag. I said I don't care what you charge me at least give me some chips for the Guacamole that I paid nine dollars for. He handed me one more little dinky bag. I was so frustrated I didn't care at that point I took the bag and left. Will definitely not be going back. It's too bad because I live right here in the neighborhood. read more

I just had the Grande Burrito and it was as good as it gets. Big, full and reasonably priced. Atmosphere is a bit upscale and the service was spot on. read more

I've tried this restaurant in the past and it was okay. I ordered a chicken grande burrito for myself with black beans, no sour cream, and guacamole on the side. As I ordered the cheese quesadilla for my wife. The burrito was terrible. Why? Because the put the guacamole and sour cream in the burrito after I told them not to. I was starving so I decided to scrape out as much of the sour cream and guacamole as I could but even after that, it didn't taste great. My wife said the cheese quesadilla at Taco Bell was better than el jardin and she said it was because Taco Bell puts some sort of sauce in it, el jardin just put cheese in between a tortilla. Terrible service, restaurant looks decent inside but I wouldn't eat here again. They can't follow simple directions and the food didn't taste good this time read more

Good local neighborhood Mexican restaurant. Picked up a grande chicken burrito for dinner & managed to finish all of it! Didn't see much variety in my stuffed burrito other than shredded chicken, rice & sour cream. Opted for no beans; but still no lettuce, onions or salsa?! Burrito was overall good, chicken was quite flavorful. Would order again if I'm in the area on a grocery run! read more

We go here as often as we can! Staff is always friendly, the man who seems to be the owner/manager is always there and remembers us and our drink orders even after not going for a month :) food always tastes great. Drinks are reasonably priced and strong! My favorite Mexican restaurant in EG by far. read more

We were here several years ago and the food was good. But, today it was not. Burritos were dry, no sauce like menu said. Refried beans were way too spicy, which they shouldn't be. Salsa hot hot! No offer of mild sauce. Won't be returning. read more