Our family loves trying out new local places and this was one we had our eyes on for a while. Today we decided to try it. We don't expect the greatest customer service whenever we go to new places, but we do expect to be treated like everyone else. 1. We asked for horchata, and we got a Pepsi. We left it at that and didn't complain about it because we get it, people make mistakes. 2. When we received our food, I missed seeing the forks on our tray and asked politely where the forks were. She told me they were on the other tray which they were. But the moment I turned around to head towards our table, I overhear her talking trash about us that that "stupid people never look hard enough and they're always getting mad at me" in Spanish. I speak Spanish, I'm Mexican and heard every word clear as day. I didn't confront her about it because again, whatever we are not like that. 3. After dining in a bit, we ask for to-go boxes and a bag. She quickly grabs two boxes and leaves to do her thing. Normally I wouldn't care about this, but at this point I'm already upset with the service. Everyone else that came in during our stay was treated politely. Someone else asked for horchata and they got horchata. Someone else asked for to go and the got a bag. I'm married to a white girl, everyone else that came in during our stay was white as well. I'm not racist, but it really be your own people! There's a reason why I'm married to a white girl and didn't stick with Mexican. Also, the fries they use are worst than store bought frozen fries. Filiberto's is honestly better than this. read more

El Metate Mexican Food - Carne Asada fries - Mexican Near Me - Mesa, Arizona

It's been awhile since I've been here. I tried the carne asada soft tacos with rice and beans. My tacos were loaded with asada, pico and the right amount of guacamole. Authentic flavors, the rice and beans were also very good. Great service, and the restaurant was clean inside and out. They offer bottle and can drink options only. No fountain drinks here. read more

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Best drive thru Mexican food. All handmade. very tasty, Chicken Taquitos are the best, Love the chicken taco's

This family-owned restaurant is AWESOME!! Super tasty!! Whether it's the bacon and egg breakfast burrito, the bean tostada (I recommend adding pico de gallo!), the carne asada bowl or the taquitos with cheese and guacamole, you can't go wrong!! But don't stop there!! Antonio, Carmen and Gustavo have many more savory dishes for you to try!! read more

The food and service at this restaurant is excellent. I love the breakfast burritos and the green salsa is the best i've ever had. I usually buy the salsa to go so i can use it at home. read more

Service was good The rice is not good The beans tasted like they came out of a can The beef enchiladas were only good cause of the beef The chicken tacos are always really fatty. read more

Ordered 2 tacos con lenguas and a side of frijoles. The flavor of the lenguas and fresh frijoles was amazing!!! The taco was filled with lenguas. I wished they had plain chopped cilantro cuz I can't do raw onion. If I eat both I'll hurt myself....saving the other for dinner tomorrow. read more

El Metate Mexican Food - Taco con lenguas - Mexican Near Me - Mesa, Arizona

Great food, great service. Reasonable prices. I have tried several things off the menu and have never been disappointed.

I first met the owner, Antonio, when he opened El Metate in the back of the chevron gas station at broadway and power rd. in the mid 90's. In the early 2000's he moved to the current location. Ive loved his food from the very beginning - Some of my favorites are chili relleno burrito, shrimp burrito, fish burrito and mixed breakfast burrito with beans. Try their green hot sauce! lIf you are in the area, go try El Metate Mexican Food -Heck, if you're NOT in the area, go try El Metate Mexican Food in Mesa read more

El Metate Mexican Food - (L-R) Shrimp Burrito, Fish Burrito, Chile Relleno Burrito from El Metate Mexican Food in Mesa - Mexican Near Me - Mesa, Arizona

Honest and accurate review incoming: TL;DR: CHEAP, GOOD QUALITY, DECADES IN BUSINESS, FAMILY OWNED/OPERATED. BEST IN MESA? NOT QUITE BUT HE FULL REVIEW: Is this the best Mexican food? No. Is it better than most? Yes. Here's the tier, from worst to best: Taco Bell, Del Taco, Filly Bs, Senor Taco, El Metate, Chipotle, Carolinas. So this is on the middle end but better than Filly Bs. The great part about them, which counts towards their rating, is that they are very cost for effective. I have 7 mouths to feed (mine, my wife, and 5 children) so if I don't feel like spending $60 to feed all of us I'll come here and get more than enough food for about $40. Also: they have been around for a very long time. This place has been feeding people like my father in law during his lunch breaks when he worked for the city of Mesa for decades. Pair that with also being family owned/operated and you have a hole in the wall staple of east Mesa. read more

The best Mexican food. Always fresh, clean and friendly. I recommend the chicken wings.

The food, a solid 3 star. Good beans and rice, and decent guacamole on my taquitos. Lady at the drive through window was pleasant, and got the order correct. Reason for the extra star? I ordered Horchata, and it was perfect! Not too sweet, and plenty of ice. Made my day! read more

Dropped wife off at the Doctors. Was hungry on the way home, so I decided to try this place out. I ordered a steak and eggs breakfast burrito. First of all, their burritos are not huge like other franchises are. However, you still get decent size for seven bucks. Burrito is very good, would take an effort to really mess up a breakfast burrito. I liked both their green and red sauce. I only used their drive through. So I do not know how clean the inside is. Everything I needed were met, can not complain. read more

They have the best service! I have been very pleased every time I visit. Friendly and food is great.

I've eaten at some bad food places but this place by far takes the prize for worst food ever. If you look at my other restaurant reviews you will see that I am not a picky eater. I ordered a carne asada taco and the meat seemed old, gray and flavorless. The enchiladas had very old lettuce, the sauce seemed canned and the cheese was poor quality. The rice and beans seemed greasy. I was starving when I got here but couldn't finish my food because it was so bad. The staff seems nice and I feel bad writing this review because it's a small business but someone needs to tell these owners to step up their game in quality and flavor of the food that they sell. They can raise their prices to cover the cost of goods if they make changes. People will always pay for higher quality food. read more

El Metate Mexican Food - Old lettuce on the enchiladas - Mexican Near Me - Mesa, Arizona

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Had a burrito which was entirely forgettable. Most likely won't return, can't recommend.

Stopped in for a quick lunch. Place was not busy at 11:30. People working behind the counter but no communication or even ...hey will be with you in a moment. Finally someone asked for our order. I had the carne asada burro. Tortilla was fresh, burro was good. Adequate spice, beef and guacomole. No complaints about the food quality at all...it was authentic. Better than fast food options in the area. read more

El Metate Mexican Food - Carne Asada Burro - Mexican Near Me - Mesa, Arizona

Great food and service. The salsa is also good. Quick drive through service every time I go.

It's 10am, yes I'm getting a carne asada burrito. Don't judge me, just go get one yourself. read more

El Metate Mexican Food - Carne Asada burrito. Get it! - Mexican Near Me - Mesa, Arizona

Great service muy Bien apurate ya compra ahora ya compralo ya dinner food service clean place friendly and service tasty burritos chimichangas and green plate great service read more

Love, love, love El Matate! Great food! Great staff! Great service! Food is always hot. Never disappointed.

First and last time we come to El Metate. I ordered carne asada tacos and meat was boiled. Asada means grilled, meat never saw the the grill. End throwing plate in trash can. My boyfriend found a hair in his food. Will never come here again. read more

I was leaving Joann's when I realized I was about to drive past a Mexican drive thru I hadn't see before. I wanted tacos so I gave them a try. I had their two beef tacos for $5 deal. It was freshly made, stuffed with shredded beef, in a crispy shell they fried (no premade fake crunchy taco shell here). The green salsa was tasty and the red salsa was spicy. Service was friendly. I'll definitely be back to try out their other menu items. read more

My boyfriend has been eating at this place for about 8-9 years now. It reminds him of the time he spent with his dad on the weekends cleaning up yards. He shared this spot with me about 4 years ago and almost 2-3 times a month a we enjoy breakfast burritos together. It's reasonably priced and it tastes soooooo good. I'm always satisfied after eating. 10/10 would recommend :) read more

I used to enjoy coming here. After today's visit I don't think I ever will come again. I stopped to pick up a burrito on my way to my work meeting this morning and this was my experience: If a restaurant advertises that they open at 6 AM, I would expect that the employees would be there sometime before 6:02 AM to get prepped and ready to serve food. I don't know if this is an every day occurrence here but that's what happened today. I stood waiting patiently outside the front door at 6 AM, and the employees saw me standing there but chose to go around setting up the tables and chairs and pretended I wasn't there rather than opening the door. Then when I got inside I saw that they did not have the grill warmed up, no prep was done and so I would not be able to have my food until about 6:30. As I stated I was on my way to work and I did not have the luxury of time, but even if I had time to spare that would still be unacceptable. Usually when I eat out I prefer to go to mom and pop places and support local businesses, and usually they're very customer oriented. this place not so much. The food is usually good, but even when I've eaten there in the past the lady who runs the cash register never smiles and is not very friendly - she just takes your order and your money and that's about it. Today's experience was the nail in the coffin and I'm not going to eat here anymore nor will I recommend it to anyone. read more

They charged me for two burritos instead of one, they purposely ripped the receipt to the point where I couldn't see the extra charge and the worst part about it was that it wasn't busy, also the fact that I can over here them cussing at each other or at me, couldn't really tell but I was the only guy there so I'm assuming it was directed to me read more

This is a great, authentic Mexican restaurant. The venue is small, but they allow for take-out if you are more comfortable eating at home. There are many combination options as well as al-a-carte items. Their food is fresh, well-seasoned, and very affordable. There are food items for all tastes as well as multiple drinks and desserts to choose from. This is definitely a great place to visit. read more

Not a great dine-in experience. The restaurant was clean and appeared to be fairly well maintained. However, the staff was not friendly or knowledgeable and the food was just so-so. The cheap, flimsy silverware and foam plates were a terrible combination with hot, heavy, wet food. Maybe a take-out experience would be better? We ordered: 1) #19 chimichanga plate (large chimi - guacamole, sour cream, lettuce and pico de gallo on top - rice and beans on the side.) It comes as a beef chimi. We paid extra to make it chicken, which i found ridiculous! There were rice and beans inside the chimi as well as on the side. The beans were really good, authentic Mexican refried beans! The chicken, while tasty, was very wet (too wet) and left a puddle on the plate and provide a sloppy (instead of crisp) chimi. The rice was way too salty and lacked any real Mexican flavor. 2) Chicken burrito. This was for a picky eater so we requested chicken and cheese only. It was loaded with onions and green chilis. Needless to say, the picky eater was not a happy camper. Again, the chicken was VERY soupy/wet. The soft flour tortilla was soggy. Served with a side of lettuce and pico de gallo. Most of this order ended up in the trash. :( 3) Bacon and eggs burrito. (The menu says these are only served in the morning, but we were told they could make them anytime.) This was 90% bacon, 10% egg with a sprinkle of cheese. Because it was mostly bacon, it was quite salty. Not very good; dry and greasy. 4) Beef burrito, enchilada style. Again, very wet, which would have been fine if the order had been done correctly and served on a plate enchilada style. What we got was a soft burrito wrapped in paper. At one point, juice actually squirted across the table when my hubby bit into it. Funny? Yes. Something you look for in a burrito? Not so much. 5) An order of super nachos (to share). We had high hopes for these after reading other reviews. They were maybe 2 - 3 stars (out of 5). The flavor was great! The chips were super thin (but very good) and could not hold all the stuff piled on top of them. The guacamole, beans, sour cream... all good. The meat was flavorful, but gristly and we kept having to spit little pieces out. Plan to eat with a fork if you order these. Not a good idea for sharing. read more

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I go here often with my 6 year old daughter. They always remember our order and my daughter loves that her burrito always says "for princess." The food is delicious and the service is always good - our favorite breakfast burrito stop! read more

We've been coming here for years. The food is really good for a small restaurant and the owners are very nice. We moved out of the area and still drive over for the carne asada! read more

The woman at the window comes across as hostile. I say this for should you have a concern or problem and attempt to convey it in English- she plays the dumb card yet she knows how to take your money... read more

We ended up at this place by pure accident. We had just come from a bad experience and another Spanish food location. Our goal today was to find a great breakfast burrito.I also needed to go to one of the other shops in the plaza of this place,so that's where we were headed to the other business. We saw this place and we're still hungry so we decided to give it a try. This is a small authentic Mexican restaurant. Is probably owned by a family which made me feel even better supporting a family. The food was fantastic we got breakfast burritos, a large horchata handsome great sauces. The sauces were fantastic as well. it seems like every other person that came in wanted a bowl of menudo. This place had nonstop action and that is because they look like a family who cares. I will most definitely be coming back to this place. Very happy to end my beginning bad experience with a very positive grade experience! This is how you do customer service. read more

El Metate Mexican Food - Front counter - Mexican Near Me - Mesa, Arizona

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I am from Ocala, FL and am in town visiting my parents. My mother and I stopped there to give them a try. We were a little skeptical pulling up as the building was quite small. However, there were several cars in the drive-up and the reviews were really good. We were both really happy with our experience!!! We ordered the Cheese Enchiladas and decided to split their Nachos Supreme. The young man at the drive-up window was very nice and friendly. Everything we ordered was EXCELLENT!!! We received a LOT of food for the $$$. We have found our new favorite Mexican Restaurant. read more

I don't have much to say about this place. What I do have to say is something to be concerned about. The food was really good going in. GOD F-ing awful coming out. Explosive diarrhea 4 times today and the day is only half over. I want to blow colon in a taco shell and chuck it through the drive thru. I'd normally post a food pic but all I want to post is a toilet pic but I won't because someone might be about to have lunch. I can give 2 shits about ever going back to this place. read more

For a little place that doesn't look like much very good food at a reasonable price you will not be disappointed

The breakfast food was fresh, hot and well worth the price. The store was clean and well taken care of. First visit but will be back to try lunch in the future! read more

Been going here since I was 10 years old! Now 24 and it's still just as amazing !! Do yourself a favor and eat here!

My new favorite place for delicious homemade mexican food and quick friendly service. We couldn't eat it all. I judge on the tacos and tostados and theirs were very good. Grandson #1 couldn't finish the very large bean and cheese burro. He loved it. So did I. The hot sauce was pretty hot too. Grandson #2 had the tamale plate. Two of the yummiest tamales I've ever been served in a restaurant. Well I had to help him eat it. The rice and beans are as good as the homemade ones mi amiga Juanita makes. Give it a try. Maybe I'll see you in there. I'll definitely be a regular. read more

One of the best, if not number one fast food Mexican places in the Phoenix Market is El Metate. Enchiladas are melt in your mouth good as is the green chili. Food and Mexican drinks like horchata are authentic. Service is amazing, too. read more

We have been going to El Metate for years & have NEVER been disappointed. The food is always fresh & good. It is a real authentic Mom & Pop place & it comes through in their food & service. My hubby always gets the Carne Asada Burrito, he says, "it's the best one he has ever had anywhere." I usually get the 5 rolled tacos (beef & cheese) & they are by far the "best" I have ever had anywhere. They do not skimp on the cheese & guacamole topping & they are cooked to perfection. We both have had other items on their menu over the years & never were disappointed by any of them either, but we always go back to our 2 favorites, the burrito & the rolled tacos. We love this place. read more