I ate here a few times years ago and my husband and I just kind of popped in on a whim hunting a quick lunch. Boy were we delightfully surprised! This place had a remodel. Great looking on the inside for a little bar and grill type vibe. They have a buffet... which I'm unfamiliar with in Mexican restaurants in our area. So this was really cool. The menu... guys, when I tell you they have a menu, they have a big Ass Menu! It's huge! Their pics in the menu actually look exactly like the food they serve you. We've ate there twice in the last week, both times we had wonderful service by a fella. He is super pleasant and on IT! He got our orders right both times. The first visit was just my husband and I and he orders more authentic Mexican food. The second visit was us and our 3 boys. Wow, were they impressed! The salsa bar is a big fave for us, too! Not to mention the BEST D. Coke in the world. Idk what it is about their soda, but it's the best I've had. I had tostones the second visit topped with shredded chicken and guacamole! Probably the best guac I've had. These are a spin on tostones I've never seen. We thoroughly enjoyed them. This was an appetizer. I ate one as a meal, that's how big this serving is (see pics)! My husband had the birria quesadilla. He raved over it and is a big birria fan!!! Highly recommend this restaurant. You will be coming back for more, like we did! Pros: great service, great atmosphere (a million TVs playing all the games, beautiful setting- renovated, great food, great soda, they have really big portions, great prices. There aren't really any cons. We were satisfied in every aspect with our visits. read more

El Patron Mexican Restaurant - Birria quesadilla, guac, pico salad - Mexican Near Me - Anderson, South Carolina

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The food was good, but the service was not. Had to ask for waters like 5 times. She'd bring one and then disappear. It was the slowest weirdest experience we've ever had. Our server was clueless when my almost brother-in-law asked what kind of Mexican beer they had. She did not know how to pronounce lager (the light colored beer). Wtf?? Once she took our order, someone else came by like 30 mins later to retake it. When we left around 8:00 on a Friday night we were the ONLY customers left and the crew stared playing Jamaican Rasta music. They were all sitting near the door wrapping silverware despite multiple tables, and the bar, being littered with dirty dishes. Doubting I'll be back, but the food, once it arrived, was tasty. read more

The music is too loud and AWFUL! Who wants to hear songs from the 50s? Fairly certain it wasn't even good then. Chips are too thick. Kitchen is S-L-O-W!! Food and the prices are good. Waiting 30 minutes in an empty restaurant and listening to oldies is hell. read more

Two stars because the food wasn't completely awful, even though the service was. My husband and I decided to try the lunch buffet. The restaurant is quite large and has a nice atmosphere (neat decor), yet there were VERY few customers around noon on a Saturday, and we were soon to learn why. Service was horrible. We had to get up and search the restaurant for our waitress to refill our drinks and bring the check. Both times, the employees were found hanging out and chatting at the table near the bar and seemed half bothered to help. Food lacked flavor and some entrees seemed like they had been sitting there for a while (e.g., deep fried items). Best buffet food was the rice. We've eaten here before (buffet and non-buffet) and did not have the best impression. We won't be going back again. Apparently others have had similar experiences. Try at your own risk!!! read more

We had the buffet for lunch. It tasted okay (average) but the flavors were off somehow; different or lack of spices. Service was above average (6 out of 10). The resultant was clean and the atmosphere was "sports bar." Overall; Meh! read more

We love Mexican Spots, we're from NYC. We're here for my Wife birthday weekend. Found this spot online, and we went. Amazing food and a whole bunch of hot sauces you can try! I'm a hot spicy food lover. read more

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This place was recommended by in-laws so we decided to meet them there for lunch. This is the first Mexican buffet I've been to didn't know that was a thing. Food was good for the price point. Plenty of TVs to catch a game and nice bar area. Service was good as well. I would return. read more

Arrived at 11.:30 am for lunch . All workers sitting by the front door on their phones .. ignoring everyone...sure they were done because the food on the bar was gross. Some cold and all looked like it had been there for hours. .refried beans could have been drank with a straw and the cheese dip looked like a bowl of milk ...first and last time for me..y'all enjoy! read more

The service took forever to get our food out. We waited for almost a hour and still no food. The place was clean and people were very nice just took a long time. The food was amazing once we got it. read more

Food and service were awful! Guacamole had no flavor and had to redo order because she didn't get it right. read more

The rudest service ever. Waitress was kind and polite but everyone else was incredibly rude, including especially Nino, the manager. We explained to them that we saw on their website that they close at 10:00. When we arrived at 8:40pm their sign said they close at 9:00 pm. We still arrived with 20 minutes, and left at the same time that another group was leaving. The person who sat us was extremely rude, and the manager begins to argue with me about the website, when he showed me the hours on the website, and then I showed him where it says 10:00 pm. I showed him on Taco Tuesday under specials where it says 10:00 pm. I guess he needs his beauty rest. You couldn't pay me enough to take that kind of abuse from a manager at a restaurant gain. They were happy enough to take our money. I have worked in 34 restaurant, and owned my own coffee shop/cafe. I have literally never met such a rude manager. It is not cultural as I speak Spanish fluently and actually managed a line of products for Mexican restaurant. They are just very disrespectful. By the way there is no Taco Tuesday special. It's a farce. read more

El Patron Mexican Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Anderson, South Carolina

Wonderful service and plenty of space for seating. The bar and whole place has been remodeled, looks really good when you walk in. Bar w plenty of TVs. Warm bean dip is complimentary. Major major upgrade since last I've been here. read more

Awesome food. Will definitely be back. Loved it. My son and I both had left overs the portions were so big. read more

El Patron Mexican Restaurant - This is a Mex Wrap. And it's just half. I ate the other half. It was huge. - Mexican Near Me - Anderson, South Carolina

Well it's not that Yelp failed me on this one it's that I failed to hit up Yelp before going to this one. This restaurant was a reminder to me not to forget to Yelp before I go somewhere. Almost everything about this place was a no go. From the sitting down to a dirty table to opening the menu to salsa being inside, to the very slow service and bland and chewy meat. It gets one additional star for having a salsa bar..... but at that the standard salsa they make is just watery and not good. The meat in my taco was definitely lower grade if meat with some chewy fat spots. The decor is nice - very well done. But not nice enough to warrant me entering this establishment for any reason in the future. read more

This used to be our favorite Mexican place to eat. They have the best tasting salsa. We ate a week ago and the owners wife a heavy set short lady waited on us then and she has no personality. We ran out of drinks and she never came to ask to refill. We had to ask a young man passing by to get us refills. She never checked back on us only to bring our ticket. We paid and thought to ourselves maybe she was having a bad day and decided to go back this week. Well lo and behold guess who our server was? Yes, the same woman. She still had not gained a personality and I decided to order 2 drinks in thinking she would do the same. Well I ran out of both drinks and she never came to refill our drinks. We had to wave to her to get our ticket to pay. She stayed at a table with an old couple who wanted to get the chef to prepare something that wasn't on the menu.. they must've been VIP because a lot of attention was given to these people. We finally get our bill and paid. This is the first time I ever never left a tip. I've always have a small tip for sub par service. But this time we both agreed we would not waste a dime on tipping this woman for the service she gave us 2x in 2 weeks. We will be trying other Mexican restaurant from here out. I will miss the salsa but definitely not the rude owner and poor service. There are awesome young people working there and they are very friendly and polite and always were helpful when we had their service. The ambiance is nice we love the feel of the place but we're done with poor attitude and service. read more

Food on the buffer is excellent. Good atmosphere and service. I stop by whenever I'm in Anderson around lunchtime.

We came here for buffet and the food was alright. I did like the fried shrimp and fried fillet of fish. I think it's because we came around 2 pm and they didn't really replenish the tray.... The cheese sauce is great. The ambiance is good for game time... They have so many televisions and it's good for party time too. However, I didn't like that a kid's buffet cost almost $9 especially for under 4 years old. If anything, it should be complimentary up to 7 years old.... The menu provided didn't even have prices included. read more

DOV: Jan 05, 2017 @ 12:30pm I have been to this El Patron several times now, and my impression is about the same for each visit. First of all, let me say how much I appreciate the fact that they have gone SMOKE-FREE! This is the single most important factor I consider when deciding on where to spend my money for lunch/dinner. (And for you folks reading this who don't know what it's like to go into a restaurant that still allows smoking, yes, we still have some in our part of the country. Ridiculous, I know) So thanks for making the conversion EP; everyone should be allowed to eat in a smoke-free environment. The place was clean and the decor was festive. There was a decent sized crowd since it was lunch time, but our food came out fast and was hot and well presented. The chips were fresh and had a good taste. There is a salsa bar where you get your own, none is brought to your table with the chips. The bar has a nice variety of fresh and tasty sauces to choose from. I got the Nachos del Mar, and it was excellent. Large shrimp and sea scallops with onions and tomatoes and mushrooms in a yummy white cheese sauce. At over $14 it is pricey, but they give you a lot of seafood and it is more than many people will eat, so sharing is a definite possibility. I ordered unsweet tea and the server brought me sweet tea. I brought it to her attention and she brought me a new glass of tea, also sweet. After I convinced her that she was bringing me sweet tea (she had someone else taste it to confirm), she made a fresh batch and brought me the unsweet I had ordered. It was fresh and light and delicious, finally. A couple of time during my visit, the strong and distracting odor of burning meat filled the air. It wasn't a pleasant kind of aroma, but rather an, "Oh crap! These fajitas are burning!" kind of odor. It was so strong at one point that it took away from my ability to taste my own food. Overall, I think this is a pretty good choice for Mexican food. But for the two mishaps, I would probably have gone with four stars. There's always next time. read more

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We ate at El Patron tonight, party of 5 adults and a 6 year old. The food is always very good, authentic, and a great atmosphere. Love the salsa bar, and their Queso Chorizo dip. Our server tonight, Rob, was just so pleasant, and just a very happy, and upbeat guy. We complimented him when we were leaving, telling him his customer service, and personality just made our dining there so much more enjoyable. He said it was his second night there. This guy is a keeper! read more

Delicious! Fantastic service! Love the salsa bar and the beans served with chips! Worth the drive from Clemson, definitely coming back!

Horrible food and service. I would give it a minus 5 stars if it was available. Ordered lunch fajita. Forget the hot sizzling skillet. Came on a cold plate. No tortilla to make the fajita. The girl came back and asked if I'd like to have one. It was several minutes before she walked back by and said "oh the tortillia". Then several more minutes later she finally brough them. Chicken had terrible taste so by then with cold food just paid and left without lunch. If you want something to eat, stay away from this place. read more

Amazing food!! My family came in from Guatemala and they loved it.. Highly recommended

Food was bad, they do not have prices on the menu so you are shocked to find out the total when the bill comes, especially when the food is not good. Would not recommend to anyone read more

So let me start off with saying this isn't the best Mexican restaurant I have been to but we simply enjoy going here for the lunchtime buffet. There are lots of choices on the buffet and I'm pretty much addicted to their chorizo egg rolls. Those things are delicious. The Buffet is made up of a decent selection and they have a very tasty salsa bar as well. They have fried sopapillas for dessert and between the cinnamon and the honey that they load up on them you can't help but to eat a plateful. The staff have always been pleasant and the owner/manager always ask us how our meal was. I give the restaurant three stars simply because it's average, in a good way. The lunch buffet is bountiful and tasty. With the cold beer it makes a great stop for lunch. My only complaint is that if you get there late for lunch they do not do a good job of keeping the buffet items full. read more

To keep it simple the food wasn't awful but it wasn't good either and the prices were high for the poor quality. Basically there are much better Mexican restaurants in Anderson. read more

Friendly people, the place was clean... food was good. I liked the chips and salsa a lot. Tamales - not as flavorful as I would prefer. The Chicken Taco was a bit dry - plain, if you will. The Chalupa was just fine, but nothing that I would write home about. I would go back. I just was not impressed enough with the food to go with 4 stars. I feel a little bit bad about that so I'm going to say that a lot of this is personal preference and I can see how this place gets 4 and 5 star ratings. Maybe i will go back and try other items on the menu. read more

My friends and I stopped and enjoyed the lunch buffet at El Petron. The put buffet was very tasty, quite a few items to choose from. The food was hot and fresh. They had several different sauces to choose from including a nice queso. And we really enjoyed the booth that we sat in very comfortable seating, the music was not too loud and was very upbeat. read more

Amazing!!! Super good food and big TVs everywhere!! & they have a salsas bar that was really cool if you like some spice! Have lots of choices on the menu! We went 9/9/22 and the service was really fast and friendly with no wait!!! read more

Blackened tilapia is out of this world. Always hits the spot & I always want more. I could eat here everyday & never get tired of it. The salsa bar was delicious & nice that they let you have various options for free. Service was great as well. I look forward to going back with my family. read more

Our second visit and after loving our first visit, the second one was terrible. We definitely will never recommend or go again! They brought out our meals, my husbands was incorrect and mine was burnt beyond even trying to eat. The took both plates bake, brought his corrected, mine wasn't brought out until after he was done with his entire meal and he had to ask if they forgot. They finally brought mine out and the meat was so tough, I could only eat a little bit of it. They never offered to adjust our bill or anything. And they no longer have prices on their menus, so your taking a leap of faith that they won't charge an arm and a leg!!! 35 dollars for two of us to eat, outrageous! read more

Recently remodeled. Great food. Salsa bar. Yummy drinks. Lovely wait staff. Always consistent.

I agree with some of the other 3-star reviews. This place was just ok. The smell of smoke was pretty strong when you walk inside. I hate the smell of smoke. The salsa was great, but the chips were thick and not very crispy. They had a bad oil taste to me. We got chicken fajitas, which were ok but my husband felt the chicken was bland and dry. Servicer was neither pleasant nor unpleasant, she was just blah and never did smile. I'm not sure if I would go back. No bueno. read more

El Patron Mexican Restaurant - Chicken Fajitas for two. - Mexican Near Me - Anderson, South Carolina

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When we want to eat Mexican food, this is our one stop! We always get crispy beef tacos and sometime the chili poblano. The food is always consistently the same. Always great! We love the price value and it's the best Mexican restaurant in Anderson. We also like the Salsa bar. It's got a great variety of salsa and sauces to try. The restaurant employees are always cheerful and greet you with a smile! read more

The service was amazing!!!!! My server (don't know his name) was super sweet, on top of everything making sure we had what we needed. The food was AMAZING!!! My usually place is Casa Grande BuT this place was better by far!!!!! Thank you for the best service!!!!!! Will go back!!!! read more

Delish food. Had the shrimp cocktail, huge. Reminds us of home, since we live in Brownsville, tx. The even had dos equis .

First night in a while visiting this restaurant. I will not be back and for very good, understandable reasons why. First of all is the price. There are other phenomenal Mexican restaurants in the area that much cheaper than what I paid for my 3 item combination. To add on to the food, the small (medium size) cheese dip is $3.95 plus tax, simply ridiculous! Secondly, the customer service is very very poor. Even the fast food Mexican restaurants have more character to their personalities. I sent one other party member's plates back because she couldn't eat it. The chicken was very though and looked like it had ca out of a frozen grocery bag, non comparable to other Mexican restaurants. Bottom line, this restaurant is off my list of good eats. read more

Went there with my adult daughter because of the buffet. We were not impressed by the food. So much of it was very greasy and other things were very dry. We both are now suffering with terrible stomach aches. It was clean and the staff was friendly, but another turnoff was when the waiter handed us our bill, he stood there waiting for us to pay. Instead of letting us do it slowly, he kind of wanted to rush us out. We have been to a few Mexican Ret. in Anderson and this one was not one we would go back to. read more

First time at El Patron and I was impressed, the food was good and the servers very friendly. I like the salsa bar options and the menu has plenty to choose from. The service was a little slow but it was a Saturday around supper time. The only negative thing about El Patron is that a lady tripped on a rug coming in the door and not one employee checked to see if she was alright or needed help but other than that I will return. read more

Ordered the lunch chicken fajitas, there was NO flavor on the chicken or peppers and onions, tortillas were hard too. The other people I was with said the same thing their food lacked flavor all together. Will never go back. read more

Friendly staff, great food, nice atmosphere! They prepare guacamole table side. This place is a MUST for lunch, dinner, or just a night out without the kids. read more