I used to frequent this place when it was juacalitos. Now as el patron over the last few times it has gotten progressively worse. It's convenience from being close to my house isn't worth it anymore. We get the same waitress that has the personality equivalence to a tombstone who walks away while I'm still placing my order and interrupting with "uh huh ya ok" while then having to come back asking "what was it again?" I order fajitas and it either comes out cold (odd) or sizzling so much the oil is popping on my skin and all my vegetables are burned black.. Ew. Mind you I'm not picky and chalk up bad experiences as an off day. This place has been bad 99% of the time. Save your money and drive somewhere else. I'll never come back even if you paid me. read more

We came here not long ago to have shrimp cocktail. Their food was alright at best. The main reason I'm giving it 2 stars was for the incredibly rude service. The waitress accidentally gave us a menu which did not list the new increased prices. When we went to pay, I looked at the bill and the prices were more than what was on the menu so I told the waitress and she explained that the prices went up. While I understand that, the new prices were NOT reflected in the menu I got. I even showed her, and still she did nothing about it. She was so rude. It wasn't a lot of money it was only about a 4-5 dollar difference. But they pretty much lost a customer over those 4-5 dollars. LAME! I'd rather go to La Cabana on white lane. That place always treats us right. read more

My family and I went there just recently and although the food was good the service was horrible. There's a young man there that seemed like he was not enjoying his job and made us feel like we were NOT welcome. The waitresses are nice though and one apologized. I still left 10% to him though. read more

$30+ for nachos and 2 tacos to go. My 2 year old loved the rice and beans. My wife and I took 1 bite each of the nachos and tacos. Huge disappointment. read more

Took 15 minutes to get a drink ordered. Then it took another 30 minutes for our food. Only 1 waitress for the whole place. She was the hostess, the waitress and cashier. Possibly the cook too. If you were looking for a lunch spot you better have more than 1 hour. They never came back and refilled our drinks the entire time waiting for our food. Service is not a priority here. read more

Went for dinner and we had to wait about 10 minutes even though we could plainly see open booths. While we waited, the hostess ( who was dumber than a bag of rocks), for whatever reason had her 5 year old son with her and when he wasn't busy destroying the blinds, he was running throughout the restaurant. He nearly knocked over a server with a tray but it seems acceptable here. After the kid slid under my baby's car seat like he was stealing home plate, we walked. Entertaining yes, but we were in the market for dinner not the circus. Plus my wife was going to kill that kids mom when he almost ran into the baby.... read more

We finally decided to try this place after a favorable referral from a fellow Yelper as we were still looking for a place with chile rellenos the way my husband likes them. Besides it is not far from our home in the place that used to house El Jacalito at Panama and Stine. I am happy to say that we hit the jackpot here. We both tried the three item combination with a shredded beef taco, cheese enchilada, and a chile relleno. I especially liked the taco and relleno although the enchilada was just standard. The chips and salsa/hot sauce were good but not outstanding. We did really like the margaritas, especially my husband's tamarind margarita. I will make sure I have one of those the next time we eat there. Also the service was very good and everyone was friendly and helpful. The premises also seemed pleasant and clean. No complaints here. read more

Good food and service. Just wish they had a bigger selections of whiskey. Pretty small selection.

This place is horrible! Its seems like nobody cares about the food or the service in the southwest location. I will no longer come back or recommend this place to anybody. read more

El patron is one of my favorite places to go to for lunch. There food sizes is big and perfect. The reason why it isn't a 5 star is because sometimes the waiters aren't always so great. It takes awhile to get a refill on your drinks and or chips and salsa. read more

My wife and I have been coming here 1-3 times a week for years and have spent literally thousands of dollars here. The food has always been good but what makes this place is the bartender and staff working here. They are not just friends but more like family. Last Friday we went in around our usual time and didn't see Andres our bartender. We asked where he was, and we're told he's taking some "time off". Later we found out he left after 10 years of service because his hours had been reduced. It's none of my business what an owner decides and how they choose to run their business but, mexican restaurants in Bakersfield are on every corner. What keeps people coming back to me, are the people working. It's with great sadness to say, that we wont be back. We will follow our friend into his next journey. read more

This is a great place to eat and have some evening drinks. Andres makes the best drinks and the service there is great. You have to try their bacon wrapped shrimp and the molcajete with ranchero sauce. Highly recommended!!! read more

My family and I have been coming here for about a year because it is close to our homes. The restaurant is clean, the staff has always been friendly and the food is pretty good, though not better than a few other Mexican restaurants I have been to in town. The salsa is good, I have had the chili verde enchiladas, the santa fe enchiladas and fajitas to name a few. I have never been disappointed! And the waitress always brings a bowl of marichino cherries from the bar for my son and nephew to share. read more

Had lunch at the El Patron (Formerly Jacalito Grill) on Panama Lane today. I understand the Auburn restraurant and the Panama Lane restaurant are owned by the same people.. We were limited with time since it was the lunch hour. The food and service were outstanding when this was Jacalito. They say its the same people who own it, but I tend to doubt that since the service is now horrible. Have been eating there every 2-3 weeks for years and this name change has had a definite effect on their customer service. We had to 'wave down' the waitress to take our orders. The only female waitress there...along with also being the hostess and cashier. Not a good combination because she cannot multitask. She should concentrate on doing only ONE job. It took 20 minutes to receive our orders and got them only AFTER we reminded her we only had an hour for lunch. She gave us a slew of excuses, none of them beginning with "I'm so sorry." Strange how the service went downhill when its supposed to be the same establishment. Not once did she return to ask how our food was, do you need a refill, is everything OK? Only the name has changed? I think not!! The food is basically the same as it was with Jacalito, but what good is that when its late to your table and you dont have enough time to eat and enjoy it? We'll be looking for another mexican restaurant in the Panama Lane area for our lunches from now on. I definitely would NOT recommend this restaurant. read more

Nothing like a good plate of carnitas, a cold beer (at happy hour prices) and, Sunday Night Football on the big screens. As usual the food and the staff are excellent. read more

I love this place. From the first visit, the employees, all around service, drinks, and food have always proved to be fantastic. Andres is a superb bartender! He knows his stuff. Great happy hour specials. Great atmosphere! read more

Just want to say the bartender is the best you will ever find!!!! Andreas THANK YOU for everything!!!!

Went on Saturday night and asked for a corona familiar (12oz) and a shot of Don Julio 1942. Bartender gives me my beer and pours a shot of of a Don Julio 1942 bottle. Here's the thing guys, when someone is asking for a shot of a bottle that's $100 maybe they know what the hell they are drinking. But anyways, he pours me a shot of silver tequila out a 1942 bottle lol, they really think I wouldn't notice!? $15 a shot for 1942 turned out to be too good to be true, maybe I will report it to the ABC I'm sure they would love to see how you guys are using your liquor license to commit fraud. Buddy and I went across the parking lot to JWI and it was $18 a shot for 1942 but low an behold it was the golden color of real don Julio 1942 not some cheap replacement. If you guys want to make it right message me, otherwise you lost my business. Funny how on a Saturday night when it's probably your busiest there was no manager working... read more

The service was fine, we were there on a Friday night and it was kind of dead so not a lot of other tables to serve. We got the sample platter a little over priced for a bed of nachos and a few taquitos and cheese quesadilla pieces placed on top. The food didn't taste bad but it wasn't anything great either. read more

Great food! We got there around 6pm on a Friday and it was fairly empty but as it got later and filled up the service quality started to dwindle. It seems like they don't have enough servers for the amount of people that can fit in there. Still had a good experience and again the food was amazing! read more

I frequent this place often and have never had a bad experience. Best chicken tacos around. Taco Tuesdays is my favorite. Great prices, great food and great service. read more

Food was super crapy service was incredibly shoddy was Less then expected margaritas were made with cheap Booz all in all it was over priced & will be surprised if el patron stays open for much longer! Don't waste your time & money in this hack of a restaurant! FOOD & SERVES IS CRAP!!! read more

I've had shrimp on c hipotle sauce. It was terrific!! Enjoyed so much that we came back the next day for breakfast. Reasonable prices.

horrible service. went in to grab dinner and waited for 10 minutes in their lobby before someone even acknowledged we were waiting. We finally get sat by who I believe was the manager. As we are being sat, I ask him if they have a cinco de mayo specials menu and he says "yes, give me one minute". He walks away and are literally ignored for 15 minutes. Not one server stopped to ask us for drinks or introduce theirselves to us. The manager never came back with the menu we had asked for even thought he had walked by many times and saw us still there. Very disappointed with how we were treated so we just got up and left. Waisted 25 minutes for nothing. Thanks El Patron! read more

Very good food!! Actually the best Shrimp cocktail I've had in a very long time!! Reasonable prices, needs to be more staffed to handle the busier hours. There was only one waiter taking care of 12 tables plus, but other than that everything was excellent! Definitely coming back! read more

El patron at both locations is the place to be when it comes to some good tasting Posole, the food is plentiful,tasty and amazing service, that is the place to go for a good Sunday morning breakfast. read more

Friendly staff. A lot of good things on the menu. I really like their salsa. They have a good happy hour too

My co workers always bragged about this place so we finally tried it out and should have just went to Taco Bell.

I've eaten here six times now! The food and service has been good and consistent all six times. I enjoy the fajitas with a Cadillac margarita! I have eaten at many of the other Mexican restaurants near by and I keep coming back to this one! Enough Said! read more

I love El Patron on Panama! The service is so friendly and if they have error, they are quick to fix. David and the waiters are fabulous!! Thanks for all you do. read more

Would recommend... Nothing overly special about this place. Been coming for a few years. Good service, although sometimes takes a little while to get noticed even when restaurant isn't busy, but they do a good job at checking in to see if everything's ok. Great food at good prices. Their salsa is pretty good. I order chorizo and eggs breakfast on the weekends and I'm never disappointed. read more

After 3 months of being a regular and consistently being treated rudely by the regular waitress with a gang disposition and constant grumpiness; I finally said enough! The food was not worth paying to be treated badly. read more

First time in on a late Sunday night. Though food and salsa for chips was great the staff was mediocre at best. No smile, no interest. We were asked drink order, food order and given check all the while swept around. I felt we had from beginning interrupted them. I will try again perhaps lunch for the menu had a lot to choose from. We all have bad days! read more

My husband and I love to take our kids here. They always seat us promptly, get our food and drinks out quickly, and are always friendly. The food is good and it's just easy to be there with kids. Nice ambiance and distractions for the kiddos. Its definitely out go to. read more

Sorry won't be back! First time going there tonight and definitely the last. Took at least 15 mins to get a drink ordered then another 15 mins for our appetizers. Ceviche was warm! Gross! When we said something to the waiter, he was rude and sarcastic. Although they offered to wrap our food to go...No thanks! I'm not there for free food. I went for a pleasant dining experience. read more

The salsa and guacamole was store bought like wth the food was flavorless not the best Mexican restaurant

this place is fast becoming a favorite for me for happy hour and beyond.. andres the bartender is incredibly friendly in his manner and approach. the chicken tacos are so incredibly tender and they have all the wonderful add ons. prices are terrific and located in a very convenient newer center. read more

Very good, but it is a little pricey. The waitress's there were amazing they always filled my drinks and they cared for us during our visit.It was an amazing experience ill most likely visit again :) read more

My family and I have been going here for about 5 years. Used to be jacalitos grill. This place has always done us good, great food and great service. Always friendly and nice. We're like regulars they know what we want already. Great food. read more

I am a huge fan of Mexican food, but after my family's experience at el patron we will never be back. We were originally going to eat at the just wing it two doors down, however before walking into just wing it we observed that the bar scence on a friday night was inappropriate for our daughter so, we decided to go to el patron. upon walking in we read the restaurant was open until 10. It was only 9pm, so we had plenty of time to eat. Or so we thought. Shortly after receiving our chips and salsa the waitress came over to our table and asked if we were ready to order. We asked for a minute then she replied "well the kitchen is closing soon." I couldn't believe the rude service I received at this establishment. At this point we left without ordering. This establishment doesn't deserve my money. read more