The best we've been to anywhere near New Bern, Havelock, or Morehead City. The table side guacamole is fantastic. They know how to properly prepare and grill meats. The margaritas are always tasty and the entire experience is authentic. And if you can take heat, ask for the chiles toreados, they taste great and complement the food well. The service has always been welcoming. Definitely recommended. read more

This is a favorite spot for us. The staff is so kind and welcoming ! The food is always prepared fresh and delicious and prices are always so fair. Everything on the menu is super delicious. I love supporting great local businesses and this is one we love. read more

I have been going here for 12 years and never had a bad food or bad service. Excellent restaurant reasonably good representation of true Mexican food well worth the time and wait. read more

Try the shrimp they are delicious served with rice and beans very affordable lunch specials

Always a pleasant experience. Our office personnel like their food so much it makes it convenient to treat them a couple of times a month. Very economical too! Friendly staff will always greet you. El Patron gives back to the community in so many ways. read more

Hey the patron nachos with carne asada! So yummy! Everything is great and service is good but usually a little too fast!

This was by far the best authentic Mexican food I have ever had. I consider myself a foodie and I run a restaurant too. I don't give 5 stars easily and this place earned this. From the table side guacamole to the pastor chorizo diablo burrito everything tasted fantastic. Our family from the marine base said the same as me after visiting 2 other times. Will definitely visit again. read more

Used to be good- last night we were rushed, ripped off for shitty tequila, waitress sucked. All done, not coming back.

Not fond of the cheese enchiladas I ordered. I'm used to TexMex Mexican food with cheese enchiladas using yellow cheese with meat gravy. Ordered sopapillas and got a buñelo topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce. It was delicious but I was looking forward to sopapillas! read more

Not bad. Service was friendly, and the bathrooms are relatively clean. The food was ok. The rice wasn't quite cooked properly (underdone), the grilling was a bit haphazard, and the cheese sauce was a bit watery. Yet, the flavors were actually pretty darned good. It's a bit uneven, basically. Maybe that's the meaning behind the odd sign on the door saying, "we are currently undergoing a system upgrade...and ask for your understanding." read more

Not that another Mexican restaurant was needed in Havelock but this one is quite good. Large menu with pictures and good descriptions. They have a salsa bar with mild to quite warm serve yourself so you can try a few. Fresh chips and dip both bean and red salsa delivered as soon as you are seated. The el Diablo burrito lives up to its' name. The enchiladas Suizas are exceptional. Service is attentive but not intrusive and pretty quick. Definitely a keeper in my rotation. read more

Inexpensive, great food, friendly service. Can you ask for anything more? Will definitely return while in Havelock!

Great food selection and good prices. Killer margaritas! Servers are great and very family friendly! Highly recommended. read more

Love everything about this place, the food, the staff, EVERYTHING! I've been to a lot of Mexican food restaurants and this is by far one of the best places to eat. 5 STARS FROM TEXAS! read more

El Patron Mexican Grill - a plate of food - Mexican Near Me

Service was poor for the first time. Female did not attend to the table. Had to get up and ask for tea refills. Had to also ask for to go containers when finished eating. Had to ask another waiter where had she gone? Should not have to had ask three separate times. Food is always good the past five years attending. If young new wait staff continues to have poor service it will be difficult to stay a patron. read more

The best Mexican food in Havelock. We tend to specialize on the seafood entrees and the fajitas del mar with fresh local shrimp and scallops is our favorite. Other good entrees are the fish tacos with Mahi and my San Diego relatives even said it was a draw for the tacos Tijuana which ia as positive as we were ever going to get from them. Seriously this is an excellent restaurant. read more

El Patron Mexican Grill - Fajitas del mar for 2. - Mexican Near Me

This place is a bit overwhelming at first. The ambiance is a little overcompensating. The decor feels like a piñata exploded. Pros: They have the best Mexican food in Havelock. The service is very fast and nice. The menudo is very good. The combo plate was okay. Moderate prices. Cons: The margaritas are disappointing and not made to order. They are made in a large refrigerated beverage dispenser. read more

The food was decent. The service, however, was pathetic. We spent the bulk of time here waiting...on the server, on drinks, on our checks. If you're not in a hurry, maybe you'll have a good experience. I, for one, don't plan on returning. read more

I've been to this business twice while doing business in havelock. Both times the food and waitstaff were amazing.. I would highly recommend the Nacho texana.. This restaurant is an hour away from my house but i will make regular trips to eat there in the future. Well worth the drive.. read more

One of the best Mexican restaurants in the area. Flautas are so good and authentic!!! Tableside guacamole is amazing, with jalapeños of course :-) read more

El Patron Mexican Grill - Flautas - Mexican Near Me

Amazing experience! I was part of a party of 25. We were seated in the large party area off to the side. There was another large party(probably 50 people) in the room with us. Our service was incredible! Our food came out fast and it was hot and delicious! I watched the wait staff work together to give all 75 people a flawless experience! If you want good food and great service El Patron is the place! read more

5 stars from a California visitor. I had the camaron enchilada. Delicioso. Their chicken, steak and shrimp quesadilla plate was huge and good.. Portions are huge and prices decent. I will definitely eat here again if I come back to visit. read more

Had a great dinner here with family. It was a summer night with thunderstorms in the area and we could watch nature's lightning show out the window we were sitting near. The steak fajitas were exceptional. I always HAVE to get a pina colada with my meal. It was a huge drink and perfectly made. We will be back! read more

Awesome and authentic Mexican food! This is not run of the mill chain restaurant food. Excellent mole, choir queso and tres leches cake. I could list more! Fantastic food and the Owner is super friendly. My go to for Mexican food. read more

Coincidentally we stopped by on their first open day, and just remembered to write a review. We got seated after lunch right away, offered salsa and beans with chips for free. However, the rest of the food was kinda bland. We were told that a bunch of the wait staff from another Mexican restaurant left (I'm assuming El Cerro Grande), and is basically cooking the same food (albeit more expensive prices). The ambience and decor was amazing! But not worth skimping on the taste of the food! I ordered tacos and asked for corn tortillas (bc I can't have gluten) they agreed, and what came out were 2 HUGE flour tortillas, so I had to wait more and then came 2 tiny corn tortillas. Why not give me 3 to compensate for the drastic size difference? We also had to ask multiple times to have drinks refilled. I was disappointed in the taste and service, but even more so was my father. We all agreed that despite the ambience & servers being nice, they were extremely slow and inefficient with minimal customers. Arturo's in New Bern and El Cerro Grande are better, especially Arturo's! Go there instead and save money and get better food and service! read more

Garbage. I'm from Texas so I'm picky about "Mexican food" but the food wasn't bad.... the service was worse than an McDonald's in Harlem. If you want to pay for the people's food that sat at the table across from you as well as your food this is your place. I wouldn't recommend this place to hitler... and I'm Jewish. read more

This is a amazing place to eat. I have eaten here 6 times and have never had a bad meal. The portion are large and the food is always well done. Be sure to order the table side guacamole It's made right in front of you!. The service is also quick and friendly. read more

I used to sing the praises of this place but it has gone down hill. I called and was left on hold for over 15 minutes. When I tried to call back for the next half hour I was sent to a voicemail that wasn't set up. You have lost a regular customer!!!!!! read more

First visit, will not be our last. Came for lunch on a weekend. Big menu. Really enjoyed our food. Chips/Salsa were excellent (always a good measuring stick). Loved the decor/atmosphere. Great service. read more

The restaurant looks nice and is very inviting. The customer service was pretty good. My issues came when I ordered the Flamazo. I expected it to come with the side salad and toppings to fix up my tortillas. Well it didn't come with it and if I wanted it that would be extra money. El Cerro gives the sides for free. Just expect less for your money at this restaurant. read more

Great food, wide variety of delicious authentic Mexican food, fairly priced. Awesome friendly service, seated immediately. Table side guacamole was really good. read more

I had seen good reviews here on yelp so after a long day of fishing with friends we decided to give this place a try. I was NOT impressed. I liked the taste of the complimentary beans and salsa but that was about it. Chile relleno was soggy and meat was pretty dry/gross. Enchilada was dry as well (i would have preferred green salsa but they couldnt accomodate) beans and rice were OK, husband and I shared the appetizer nachos and they were pretty awful... no pico de gallo, sourcream/guacamole, the cheese was the thick/saucy kind. Just not authentic mexican food as I had really hoped for... husband's chicken quesadilla was very plain and not tasty. I also bought the skinny margarita, cheap and reasonably big but not strong, not too bad. I will not be coming back, but if you don't care for authenticity you will like it. I moved here from California so... i'm still on the lookout for Authentic delicious Mexican food! read more

First of all why should somebody wait for over half an hour when their are more than eight open booths available. There were atleast eight families we saw walk out because of the wait. People asked multiple times why we are waiting if there are places to sit??? No answer. We asked to talk to a manager. The manager came out with a cooking apron on. We did not even think it was the manager to begin with. We asked why nobody was sitting. She stated that they were overwhelmed in the kitchen. We asked again why we could not sit in a booth? She stated because we would be sitting there just the same, but atleast we could be ordering drinks while waiting and eating chips and salsa!!! We told her this is not a way to run a business when people are walking out. She stated and I quote "thanks for your wishes and NEVER COME AGAIN!" Who says that to customers when they are trying to run a business. This place just opened up. If they cannot compete with the clientele then they opened up too early and are not ready. This place will not last. We were already told that the food is exactly the same as a Mexican restaurant right down the road just overpriced. We are never going back!!!! read more

My wife and I went there last Wednesday. The hostess was someone my wife knew from her previous employer. She even asked us how our baby was. I asked for a booth and she said of course and after going back and forth in Spanish with another employer they sat us at a table. The next couple came in and asked for a booth and were immediately sat at a booth. The waitress went up to the hostess and the hostess told her to go serve the table that came in after us. My wife was in the bathroom and I told her all this when she came back and we ended up walking out. Very unprofessional and I honestly believe that the hostess just did it to be rude bs she didn't like my wife. read more

Love the food! Great atmosphere! Close to my house. Cheese dip and ACPC is the same exact thing as El Cerro...which I love! Only thing that keeps me from giving 5 stars is the price. It's more money for the same thing at El Cerro. If I wanna drink I'll walk to Patron, if I wanna only eat, I'll save the money and go to El Cerro. read more

So I've eaten here twice so far......the food is I had hoped for and because of that I will be back......it's good! Although they do pour weak alcohol drinks......they could step that up a bit.....aside from that....I'll be back!! Service was decent. Not too slow but acceptable.....the prices are good. read more