The only place open on a Monday with a dog friendly patio so I came here. El arroyo was closed. Service was great. Chips and salsa were ok, the chopped cabbage with it was the highlight. Limited vegetarian options, I ordered the veggie fajitas. They were weird. It was supposed to have summer squash and zucchini but it was almost all onion, cooked to total sogginess and in a pool of weird brown oiliness that tasted like...soy sauce? I'm not sure but is very salty, a little sweet and tasted like nothing Mexican at all. The sparse squash slices were sliced very thin and over cooked, rendering them piles of mush. The guacamole looked fine and green but tasted like it was made from an overripe avocado, like maybe the brown parts were removed or just old. The salsa Fresca was pretty good as were the pinto beans and rice. After eating so much rice and oil I didn't eat the corn tortillas so took them to go. I peaked at them and they looked like the generic store bought variety. If I come again, and I just might due to limited options, I'd avoid the fajitas and probably order a basic salad with beans and salsa Fresca and hope for the best. read more

El Jardin Restaurant - Veggie fajitas I mean onion fajitas - Mexican Near Me - Sonora, California

Showed up for dinner around 6 pm on a Saturday night. It wasn't slammed, but there was quite a few people there. We were seated quickly. Atmosphere: It's a kitchen-like environment with a modern, comfortable feel. I enjoyed the half table and half booth seating where my party of three sat in a booth. Service: Service was good, and for the most part, just as expected for this type of establishment. Multiple servers came to us to take our order, refill our drinks, and provide extra napkins and utensils, etc. I'm reading bad reviews about service, but I didn't not experience that at all, but it also wasn't busy. That being said, the servers always kept our glasses full, was helpful with the menu, and had not problems with it. Food: The food was good, and in some cases, unique. I had the supreme enchilada, while my buddy ordered the largest chimichanga I've every seen in my life. They have these unique type of chips also, but it escapes me. This establishment is definitely a place I would say give a try if you want Mexican food. It's not extraordinary, but is good enough to stand out from the average Mexican food restaurant. From my experience and what I've read on services, I can see both being valid, depending on how busy it is. read more

El Jardin Restaurant - The largest chimichanga I've ever seen. - Mexican Near Me - Sonora, California

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We stopped in while walking around shopping in Sonora. We were seated right away but waited a little to have our order taken but only one waitress was working so we totally understood. Chips and salsa were alright. We didn't wait long for our food. Everything was alright. It wasn't the best we've ever had but it certainly wasn't the worst either. The chicken soup actual was the crowd favorite at our table but the tostada and super burrito were fine too. Overall a solid option if you just need some food but not a place I would go out if my way to go to. read more

Not enough sauce on the crab enchilada. The torts didn't have a noticeable amount of guac and the bread is just a French roll. The rice and beans are really good and they give corn and flower chips along with salsa and a cabbage salsa which was great but over still wasn't great for the price read more

El Jardin Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Sonora, California

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I had fish tacos. My wife had the Torta with fries. It was excellent. We ate at the one in Columbia.

Great spot in Sonora for outdoor dining and good mexican food. We will be back

El Jardin Sonora has consistently delicious and fresh food. We eat here regularly and have always had great service as well. Highly recommended. read more

Outside seating and servers were masked which was highly unusual for town. Food was delicious

El Jardin is a staple of the Sonora area as the owners have restaurants in multiple locations in the county. They are Mexican food restaurants, with the distinctive feature of having unique mosaics on the floor. I went to El Jardin in Sonora with my husband for dinner this week. We were served in a timely manner. We had chips and salsa to wait. There were a couple of delicious homemade tortilla chips on the top of the basket, followed by store-bought ones, which was disappointing. My husband then had the fajita salad (photo) and I had the Supreme Bujito. The fajita salad was good, even though very meaty. My bujito was pretty medium, not particularly tasty or well spiced. Overall, the price is not worth the food, but the ambiance and decoration may be worth a look. read more

El Jardin Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Sonora, California

I have loved El Jardin forever! I have had many meals at el Jardin growing up with my family, and now I enjoy meals at el Jardin with my kids !!! 3 generations of el Jardin fans in this family ! read more

I used to love El Jadin 20 years ago when Americo ran the place, now it's dog crap. I gave them one last chance today. It's terrible and not worth the money. I ordered a pork enchalada and there was big chunks of dry pork chunks in it. After 20 years,I give up. Don't bother here. read more

The service here was terrible the staff is just absolute trash I would recommend eating anywhere else. Waited 25 minutes for my drink and after 40 minutes we never even got to order so we just left. With it being really slow, I was watching all the waitresses just BS with each other instead of working. read more

Great food, service was top notch & margaritas were very good & in margarita glasses not large soft drink glasses. Will go back, outdoor seating starts in March. Oh, atmosphere, very nice. read more

Food is great chips and salsa is good wish salsa had a little kick but it's good service is great but today I had to ask the waitress to refill my drink but whatever lol chimichangas are my favorite to get there the restaurant it's self is a nice place but find it kinda weird that the restroom is across from the soda station and u can see in the kitchen lol overall read more

El Jardin Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Sonora, California

I eat at this place like once a month at least and overall the usually get my order wrong. This time I ordered two chimichangas one with chicken and one with steak with no purple cabbage. They clearly didn't know what wasn't supposed to have which toppings do they scraped off the cabbage of the chicken and labeled it as steak with no cabbage then didn't add cabbage or tomatoes to the steak and labeled it chicken. Not really a huge deal. Just makes for a dissatisfying chimichanga. If I wanted to be disappointed I bet I could have figured it out in my own kitchen for less than 15 bucks a plate. And scraping food off of an already prepared meal is just sloppy and trashy. read more

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Just passing through town. Service was nice, we were greeted, seated, and had drinks all within about five mins. The low stars are because of the food. It was delicious at first, very greasy, then I started with stomach cramps and the shivers. I maybe had five bites of an appetizer dish and couldn't finish the rest. I started feeling ill as soon as I started eating but kept it to myself thinking it was just jitters. My bf ordered a burrito which he didn't finish either because he started feeling ill halfway through his dish. read more

Service was none existence only 3 employees working & clearly the bar & clean up was the priority. Took 15 mins just for our drinks, chips & dip had to ask for our other order. When it came time to order for the kids they were out of refried beans... How can you be out of the main component of all your dishes? We spent 45 mins there half the time waiting so we decided to leave since they were out of the refried beans for kids burritos etc. drinks no one drank and flour tortilla chips & dip we didn't get to eat & still ended up paying for shitty service. Unfortunately, We won't be back read more

Love the decor. The food is very good, the servers hip, the salsa hot! I will go back again. read more

Just some advice for the cooks...when a customer orders cilantro in their burrito, they aren't talking about the entire 10 inch stems. Please stop being lazy. read more

Visited this place for a coffee on a sunny Wednesday at 6.30pm, ended up meeting some lovely locals: Gary & Lyn, got some great chat and checked out the margaritas. Enjoyed sitting in a lovely garden with great service. A lovely quiet spot, to people watch and a good margarita, with a special midweek price at 3.75 dollars they were great value. read more

Okay, I get it... It's April 20th... I can take a joke as well as anybody else. What I cannot handle is witnessing the wait staff screw up two table orders as well as my to go order (30 minutes to prep a salad) with the smell of either a dead skunk or prime cannabis coming from the kitchen. We considered calling the police, but decided instead to just dispute the charge and leave without the food. Not sure we feel safe eating food prepared by those of questionable sobriety. Sorry folks, not returning. It's a shame. read more

We had lunch here today and it was overall very mediocre. We ordered the enchiladas de mole and the carne asada flat iron steak. The enchiladas had dry, over-cooked chicken in them and mole that wasn't very flavorful. The carne asada was also dry and over-cooked, making it very tough. Seems a trend here is over-cooked tough meat, they need to correct that if they want repeat business. The refried beans weren't too great, but the rice was good. The salads that came with the meals were large and fresh, with very average dressings. Chips and salsa were not too bad either, but not mind blowing. The above mentioned food +2 cokes with tip was nearly $40. Not worth it. On the plus side, they do have a large menu with all the standard Mexican fare (tacos, enchiladas, etc.) + some unusual/hard to come by offerings that aren't options in every standard Mexican restaurant. The restaurant was casual and nice enough and the waitress was good. I give our main courses and the cost 2 stars, "Meh, I've experienced better," is what comes to mind. Probably will not return when we're in the area. We would rather try other places (like Diamondback Grill) than return for very mediocre food. read more

Very good Mexican food. Salsa and chips were fantastic.I had the Chicken Enchilada and my girl friend, April had the Vegetarian Burrito. Iced tea was great and served with a slice of orange and a slice of lime. read more

El Jardin Restaurant - Salsa! - Mexican Near Me - Sonora, California

Very unfriendly/rude hostess the night we were there - Which was May 5th. Pretty much threw the menus on the table, never a hello or smile. I'm sorry, but that left a bad impression on us. Aside from that, we had 3 people wait on us of which none knew what the other had done. We have been there a few times and never have been impressed with any of the servers. It doesn't hurt to be friendly ladies. read more

Went tonight for dinner for the first tome in over five years. My husband & I shared a plate of veggie fajitas - it was a generous amount of food, all tasty & ready really quickly. just a note - the rice is not vegetarian & neither are the refried beans. We will be back again soon! read more

A dump. Board of health should be notified, run for your life.

I hate to write this, but the Sonora El Jardin has seriously gone down hill. :-( food comes out cold, limes are rotten and being served, new servers are incessant and annoying (really, you know our table is waiting for one more - don't ask 3 times to take our order when he's not there). My favorite Lemon Chicken Taco is nothing like it used to be. The last two times it was dried out with no lemon taste. I wish the old staff was still there. There's a reason this place is not crowded or even busy on a Friday night at 7pm. read more

This place is way over priced and is typical cheap/tasteless Mexican food made by people who cook this stuff in large batches. It does have really cute floors. But since you can't eat those, go somewhere else. read more

The best Fajita Salad anywhere, usually called a taco salad elsewhere. I drive all the way here almost 2 hours) just for this salad because it is so good. Thanks again for the great food and great service, Kim. read more

El Jardin Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Sonora, California

First time here & it was delicious!! Authentic Mexican food...Great customer service! Would definitely come here again! read more

El Jardin Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Sonora, California

Good setting, mediocre food, sub-par drinks, and scarce service. Went with my husband on a hot summer day and the outdoor seating looked nice, however the tree continuously dropped leaves and flowers into our food and drink - they knew it was an issue, and it should be dealt with to make the dining area suitable in the long term. The garden really is the only saving grace for this place. Ordered drinks right off the bat and they didn't come until AFTER our food. Had to remind the waitress 3x, and when we finally got the margarita it tasted 100% like mixer. Too sweet, not any detectable tequila. The chips tasted stale, and my meat was SO dry, it tasted as though it had been cooked days ago and then reheated. My husband's enchiladas were tasteless with a cold rojo sauce on top. read more

This place was great. I loved sitting on the patio and enjoying the end of the day. The waitress was very friendly and helpful. The food was decent and the pricing was accurate for the food. I would definitely return. read more

We enjoyed sitting on the secluded patio. The margarita was generous and tasty. I ordered the La Compuesta Salad. It came in a crispy oversized shell and was delicious. The service was friendly and efficient. read more

Lovely, peaceful courtyard dining and great food. Has the steak enchilada and the meat was lean and tender. Husband had the chicken flauta which was very tasty. read more

We go here once a week. They have the best Mexican food, margaritas, and chips and salsa.

Great little gem. Stopped for lunch on the way to Calaveras Big Trees. Great food and friendly service. read more

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A tip of the hat to Zeke and Kayleen at the helm in Columbia enabling my wife to charge the battery pack for her cochlear implant device when we showed up for dinner during the great power outage. We ended up leaving after a great dinner and my wife's implant device charged long enough to get us through the outage until power was restored...many, many thanks for your kindness and support! Bill and Nancy...Marble Quarry Rd./-Columbia read more

The food is just average, nothing spectacular. We were all starving so anything would have been good to us but even my torta was way too salty and just not good. Nice outdoor seating. Maybe a couple of margaritas would have made the difference ;) read more

We eat here quite often. Best Mexican food in Sonora. My favorites are Caldo de Pollo, carnitas & chicken tacos & carne aside. My wife's include the mole & chicken dishes. I hear great things on the huge salads. read more

Nice outside seating. Plates beautifully laid out. Food...gringo...muy gringo to the point of mediocrity . Nice outside seating....did I mention that already? Yes...that was the highlight of my meal. read more

El Jardin Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Sonora, California