Very good. Service was fast and courteous. I had the combination with chili relleno and tamale. The chili relleno wasn't too eggy, light batter and a large chili. The tamale was amazing. There was a charge for water but not for the chips and salsa. I don't mind paying for water but they should let you know there is a charge. Otherwise the food was great read more

As advertised, "family style" (i.e. simple and unpretentious) Mexican food. Enjoyed sitting on the patio with my dog. Nice waitresses.

If I could have rated this restaurant a zero, I would have. It was highly recommended by the local couple we stayed with during the Scottish Festival, so I made reservations 3 to 4 days ahead of time. To say that I was upset is an understatement, as upon arrival, we found the restaurant closed, with no "Closed" sign or other explanation as to the reason. I am guessing there must have been some sort of emergency or good reason for the closure, but a heads-up phone call or sign on the door at the very least would have been appreciated, as we had tickets to attend a performance that evening, so didn't have much wiggle room to try and find another place to eat. read more

Not impressed. My family was charge 16$ for water. The food was not very good and the restraunt was not clean. The service was horrible. The manager argued about the water charge. Not impressed! Don't walk, run!! read more

Well - this place is legit. A surprising find one day when I was trying to not go back to the office... I was passing by and decided to give it a shot. The place was fairly full for 2 PM, a good sign. I was seated in a comfortable but worn vinyl booth near the windows. Water, chips, and salsa arrived immediately,and so did the margarita I decided to have while I was playing a little bit of hooky. I perused the menu, and found that it contained most of the typical Mexican food staples. I decided to give the tamale a shot, smothered in green chili with rice and beans. It was a good decision! The spices were right on, The chips were fresh, the salsa was just the right spice, and the big old tamale plate was quite satisfying. Solid four star Mexican dining in Estes Park! Score! read more

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Dont waiste your time! Come to El-Mex Kal. We went to other mexican establishments in the Estes Park area and were disappointed until we went to El-Mex Kal! Fantastic service with authentic mexican food. read more

El Mex-Kal - Chicken Fajitas - Mexican Near Me - Estes Park, Colorado

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The chicken fajitas were delicious and the chips and salsa wonderful! The service was outstanding and the restaurant very clean!

A little disappointed for a 4th of July dinner. Walked in with high expectations and walked out with a cold sour taste... Ordered our food and waited about 20-30 minutes to receive a cold burrito. I understand they were busy with large groups but its unacceptable to deliver cold food to a customer after waiting so long. We received no apologies, almost felt like no one cared that we decided to walk out and not wait for a new plate to be remade. As a business that's been around for a while, on a holiday weekend should ensure proper staffing and especially continuously acknowledge your clients periodically assuring them that food will be up soon! read more

We ended up here because the Mexican restaurant in town had an hour wait. We drove up here and were pleasantly surprised. Great service, beer was cold, and food was excellent! Guacamole was superb! read more

The service was slow and uninterested. My meal was bland and poorly prepared and not hot with fire. The other guests at our table referred to the food as poorly prepared, tasteless, and not good. Any person having any experience with good Mexican food would call the food trash. There is no excuse . read more

Fantastic ground beef tacos with rice and beans!! I'll be back here on my next visit to Estes Park!!

Always delicious! Friendly staff. Clean and calm atmosphere. Homemade flour tortillas are on point!

The service was fast, the waitress was very nice. The food was great 10/10. i highly recommend this restaurant, it will NOT let u down. Me and my family really enjoyed it. read more

El Mex-Kal - The Chicken Taquitos - Mexican Near Me - Estes Park, Colorado

Service was wonderful, the chimichanga was excellent, salsa is very authentic, and the margarita was very delicious.

Awful service. Super disappointing the way our party was treated. Food and drinks took two hours to come out only for the food to come out cold. Do not waste your time or money at this establishment. Even the manager was an ass. Trash. read more

We were expecting way better food and service. Couldn't get a fresh drink, had to ask for a straw from across the restaurant and she never brought us or check we had to as the manager for it. read more

One of our favorite places to eat when in Estes. It's off the Main Street through town and has more of a locals feel than the more touristy places in the area. The owners & staff are so friendly, the food is always good, relatively inexpensive and the portions are large enough we can usually get more than one meal out of our order. read more

If you're looking for real Mexican food look no further!! Comes with chips and salsa which was great since the last 2 places we tried in Estes didn't. The margaritas and strong and mixed well. We split a combo, we chose the chimichanga, chalupa, and flauta. The pulled beef flauta was delicious, crispy and stuffed with meat. The chalupa was huge and filled with meat. We could not finish everything, the portions were so generous. The prices were good compared to other places we have been in the Estes area. read more

Service is kinda slow, the food is barely ok, I love Mexican food but this need more love when put together. I've experienced the food of Mexico City and this may not be intended to be like that and it isn't. I've given it a couple visits, its going to take so work to get me back there. read more

Probably the best Mexican food I have had in Estes Park. The prices are reasonable, and the meals fill you up. As well they have great chips and salsa. I highly suggest this restaurant and will be going back in the future. read more

The chips and cheese appetizer are chips, burnt, with shredded cheese melted on top... like I made when I was a kid after school.. $9.25... when it's only listed at $6.95 on the menu. $65 for 4 tacos, chips and cheese, a kids meal, and a chicken chimi meal... find somewhere else. read more

Fantastic food and great service. The salsa was absolutely delicious. Original Margarita and Shrimp Fajitas were so good. If you're here, you gotta go! read more

Very good food, fast and friendly service. I got shrimp enchiladas and they were excellent.

I was hesitant before coming because of the 3.5 stars but someone recommended it so we came. Well, the rating gives this place no justice. The food is amazing, very authentic, great flavors. We had chiles rellenos, tamales, steak fajitas and tacos al carbon. Even the chips and salsa were spot on. The service was great too, so ultimately I have no one little complaint or reason to give this place less than 5 stars. Loved it! read more

El Mex-Kal - Tacos al Carbon - Yummmmm! - Mexican Near Me - Estes Park, Colorado

Good food. Friendly service. The service was outstanding. They kept our chip basket and water glasses full which helped restore us after a tiring day in the mountains. The fish in the fish tacos was cooked in a light cream sauce with vegetables. My husband enjoyed the burrito and my kids ate their enchilada and mini-burrito kids meals. read more

Stopped here since it was close to our hotel and we weren't in the mood to brave any sort of crowd. The place was empty on a Monday night and we were seated and greeted immediately. Chips and two salsa's hit the table in seconds. Chips were fine and I really enjoyed one of the two salsas. Neither were spicy, but they had nice flavors and tasted rather fresh. Between my family, we had a kids plate, Chili Colorado and Soft Fish Tacos. However, I was intrigued by their enchiladas which note that they are made with peanut butter. The food came out fast and hot (except for the rice which was cold), and tasted fine. Nothing special, but not bad at all. Our server was friendly and prompt and we never lacked anything that we needed. I'd give it another chance, but I wouldn't rush back. No complaints at all. read more

Went to Colorado for Thanksgiving week. My sister's kids were in school both Mon/Tue, so we decided to make an overnight trip to Estes before Thanksgiving. Coming from Texas, my kids are used to TexMex, so we decided to try this place for lunch as it was recommended by the visitor center as well. When we got there around lunch time, it was not very crowded as we were seated right away towards the back of the restaurant. The original lady helping us spoke very little English so another lady came and help us with ordering. The food in general was just OK as it was nothing unique in its presentation, taste, or anything else. I do have to say the service was excellent. The English speaker waitress kept coming back to make sure everything was OK. So if you care about service, it's a positive 5 stars for sure. However, I was there more for the food. All of our dishes came out pretty fast (restaurant was less than half full), but the flavor, portion, etc. was just average. Only thing I can say was the chicken sandwich my mother ordered was more for kids as the chicken patty was extremely thin as in less than 1/8". Only flavor was the sauce they had on the bread. So if you're there, just don't oder chicken sandwich (why my mom ordered chicken sandwich in a Mexican restaurant, I have no clue...but that's my crazy mom). Considering all else, it's no more than 3 star rating. read more

We came in without any expectations. Boy were we blown away by the flavor. A previous review stated there were no refills on drinks, we had at least 3 refills on soda, as well as ice water. Their salsa is really tasty too you could tell it was authentic, it does have a bite to it but still very good. I got the chicken enchiladas and my husband got the beef enchiladas, it was served with rice and refried bean we both were extremely satisfied with the flavors. We were on vacation when we went here wish this restraunt was closer to home. read more

Now this is some Mexican food I've been looking for! I've been here twice on trips to Estes, think I had a burrito once and a chimi the other time. Both times they were excellent, both times they were huge, though I would have liked to finish them, and both times I ended up very satisfied. I'm not sure how long it will be around, though. It's not in Estes Park's prime location in its downtown and both times we went was in the evening and things were fairly quiet. And my fellow reviewers don't seem to share my enthusiasm. The interior is simple, mostly booths, in a well lit and pleasant atmosphere. I'm hoping this place gets the attention that I think it deserves. read more

Just had their garden fresco burrito (meat & dairy free) - simply amazing - highly recommend for the plant based/vegans out there

We have been coming to Estes on an annual basis for nearly 30 years and actually went to the Chinese restaurant before it was El Mex-Cal. This is our first visit to El Mex-Cal and we decided to try it for lunch. They bring chips an d salsa and they made sure we always had plenty of both. Chips are thin with great flavor and we loved the salsa too. I decided to try a chimichanga with shredded beef with their green chile sauce...I highly recommend the green chile. I didn't want the rice and beans and ordered it a la carte. It was plenty for lunch. I also had their house margarita on the rocks and it too was very good. I shout out to Maria who did an outstanding job! We will definitely be back! read more

El Mex-Kal - Ala Carte Chimichanga with their green chile sauce - Mexican Near Me - Estes Park, Colorado

After visiting Rocky Mountain National Park, my husband and I ran into this new Mexican restaurant and decided to try it. I first noticed that the inside was very new--new tables, chairs, paint, etc. It was clean and spacious and very family-friendly. We sat down and were immediately given chips and delicious salsa--it had a rich tomato flavor with a little zip. We got at least 3 free refills. Yummy! They had quite a large menu and everything was very affordable (meals $6 - $12). I ordered a chicken enchilada and my husband got a chimichanga. Both were delicious! The refried beans that came with our meals were especially good. Our waitress was very attentive and sweet and our food arrived promptly. We spoke with the manager and apparently the restaurant opened just one week ago! For a new place, it was really excellent. We would definitely go back! read more

Stopped in for lunch with my sister and her husband after checking out Estes Park. The food was really good, as was the service. I ordered the shredded beef enchiladas, they were on point! Check this place out if you have the opportunity! read more

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Good crispy chips and the margaritas were great. Salsa is different. The main salsa has a lot of chili powder in it and is spicy. When we asked for a milder salsa it was mainly tomato sauce with chili powder in it. Nachos, burrito and tacos were good and portions were large for price read more

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On vacation on Estes Park. Wandered upon this little Mexican restaurant. I had guac and chips as well as chicken taquitos with more guac. The food was so-so in taste and presentation. The staff was kind but not very efficient. Later that night I obviously had food poisoning because I became very ill. Do not recommend. read more

The food was delicious but the restaurant was not prepared to be busy on a Friday night, which was odd considering the Catch the Glow parade occurred today. There was one waitress for the whole restaurant so service was very slow. I had the Mexican burrito,which was served lukewarm. My husband was the only one to receive hot food and that was because he had to send his original meal back because they brought him the wrong one. My daughters Vegetarian burrito contains lettuce, tomato and a handful of beans. I assume that the numerous 5 star reviews came from evenings where they had sufficient staff read more

I had some of the best Mexican food ever. This place is fantastic! The portions are huge, the taste is delicious and the service was amazing. We just found the place in Milliken by chance and thought we would give it a shot. I am so glad that we did. Believe me, I will be returning. read more

One of the better Mexican restaurants in Estes Park. The staff was friendly and attentive. I may have eaten the best chile relleno I have ever had and I have had many. read more

El Mex-Kal is our FAVE Mexican restaurant in EP. As a local, I can highly recommend their food, service and prices. The Mgr is always quick to come by and say hello- and the service is always fast and courteous. The burritos are the bomb and for the price you get a ton of food! coolest place to see and be seen- but if you are looking for a reasonably priced meal with excellent food- This is your spot. read more

We are visiting from Denver and decided we wanted Mexican food. Was turned onto this place by the front desk at the hotel we were staying at. I ordered the carne azada medium rare and the meat came out so tender. I also got the chicken tortilla soup, that was alright. I didn't really care for the beans or rice but this place overall is good if you're looking for some comfort food. read more