Supposed to be a longview institution but sadly we thought it was just okay. The white queso is super yummy, I'll agree with that. The rest of the food is drowning in seasoning (ie really salty) and all tastes the same. Beef fajitas kinda tough. Tried to order fajitas by the pound to pick up for a large group and they would only sell it by the plate with rice, beans, cheese, sour cream, etc. terribly ineffective and not cost efficient. read more

What has happened to this "used to be great" restaurant? Lousy service and a dried out meal. Will be looking for a new favorite Mexican restaurant! read more

Just walked out of the restaurant. Took an hour to sit us. We sat in our booth for nearly 30 minutes without any service. We will never come back, this is our third bad experience in a row. The chip guy was good though. read more

Horrible service. Was seated and it took almost 10 minutes for the person who seated us to come back and get our drink orders and bring chips and salsa. I made eye contact with three different people, multiple times and they all chose to ignore my family and I. I was seated in the back of the restaurant because of having a child. Never got a refill, but my Hispanic husband did. The food was poor quality. This is the first time I've ever had issues with this restaurant and I'm highly disappointed. read more

One of the staples of Longview my family loves. The food is great and the atmosphere is loud and casual. Our favorites are the burrito loco and the burro de roqueta. Both have huge portions, and my wife and I usually split one of these. Does not taste like carboard, cookie-cutter Tex-Mex. We have more than enough of these in LV. The waitstaff is uneven. There are great servers and not so great ones. Watch out for: Ask for a margarita, and they will bring you a top shelf margarita if you don't say "house". Check your ticket, and ask for an itemized ticket. I have had the wrong total several times. Honest mistake or not? I don't know, but worth checking to make sure. If you go after 6:30 on the weekends, prepare to wait. Overall, best Mexican in Longview, if you're not willing to go to a Taqueria and get the real thing. read more

We went to El Sombrero for the first time because I heard they had pretty good white queso cheese dip. Ordered it to go along with some other items. Got home and saw they forgot part of the order and screwed up the other part. How do you forget tortillas with an order of fajitas? lol So I brought it right back for a refund, and went some place else down the street instead. The girl working didn't even say sorry we screwed up your order lol. She had an attitude like it was MY fault the order was screwed up! The people working are completely incompetent and really don't care.. I tasted the cheese queso dip and honestly it isn't anything special, in my opinion. It's basically a melted block of white cheddar cheese. With the amount of Mexican competition around the area, one might think they would care about their service and want repeat customers. Apparently I was mistaken. I will never be back and will advise all to do the same. read more

Best Mexican in East Texas. Staff is very fast and friendly. White Queso is sooooo good. And the papa nachos are the best. Eat here regularly and have never had a bad experience. read more

Longview has several Tex Mex places but El Sombrero is one of the best. Make sure to try the Chile Poblano. It's a house specialty and it is always delicious. If not go for the Burritos Tipicos with beef tips. I've tried most everything on the menu but those 2 keep me coming back regularly over the years. Also the white queso is some of the best. It's even better with pico added to it. Just that alone is reason to try the place. Something I crave more often than I should. Service is usually good. Chips and salsa get delivered immediately, and they're pretty good. Food comes out fast and hot. Prices have got a bit high over the years. But the food is always good. It's definitely a local favorite and almost always busy. read more

Average to below average Tex-Mex. Somehow a local favorite, I have been there 3 times and was disappointed on each visit. Go to Leon's Taqueria if you want some good tacos. read more

This is our favorite place to eat in Longview! The food is always wonderful! Our regular waiter, Jaime is the best ever! He is always friendly and has our drinks and white queso ready for us without even having to ask. He really goes the extra mile and is the reason we keep coming back! read more

I eat at El Sombrero every 2-3 weeks or so. The food there is good. The service has always been pretty good (efficient but not overly personable.) I do have two complaints about this place.... #1 - I think all Mexican restaurants in town have complimentary salsa and chips. Most of the Mexican restaurants have both red and green salsas. BE FOREWARNED, El Sombrero also has green salsa but what the server fails to mention when you ask for it is that it is NOT complementary. You will be charged for each bowl they bring. This wasnt a huge deal for me - I just didnt make the mistake of asking for it again! #2 - My biggest problem with El Sombrero (this specific location) is the old witch (and I use that term loosely) who usually mans the register. I understand that she is the owner's mother. Of all the times I have been in there I can honestly say that I have NEVER seen anything that resembled a smile on this old battle-axe's face. Granted, there could be some underlying reason.... her feet may always hurt or maybe she just needs more fiber in her diet but regardless, life is too short to be (or appear to be) soooo miserable. "Up your meds and get some Metamucil, Honey!!" read more

My daughter and a friend of hers have eaten here many times with no issues, until June 6th 2014. The service at the table was not good at all so she decided not to leave a tip due to the bad service. After leaving the resuraunt and checking her bank statement. Seem someone felt it best to write in their own tip. Though we are not talking a ton of money, it is still worong. After contacting the management by phone the experience got worse. Instead of trying to solve the problem, we were asked why we didnt talk up about the bad service and that there is not very many ways to prove what had happen, Though my daughter did not keep her reciept, the store does keep copies and management would not even try to work with us on solving the issue. Seemed that they were coving for each other instead of trying stop an issue that is a small for of theft. WILL NOT RETURN EVER AGAIN. read more

While the food was okay, when I got my credit card statement I realized I had been ripped off. Not just a little- a LOT. I take pictures of every work receipt to upload to my expense account. Someone had turned a $24.25 bill with a $4.80 tip into a $24.25 bill with a $48.00 tip. Someone turned $29.05 into $72.25. It took several days to resolve with the restaurant and they seemed like it was no big deal. Unless you want a $70 burrito I would go somewhere else. read more

The food here has always been enjoyable, especially the white queso. However, service is poor. Even worse than the dine-in service is the "to-go" service. Twice now I have placed a large order to go and both times, it has not been ready at the agreed on time. These were not last minute orders by any means. First time, order was over thirty minutes late. Tonight, we are at almost an hour. Total disappointment. read more

Nope. Went here one time and I won't go back. If you like bland, mediocre, non-spicy Mexican food, then this is your place. They really like white cheese (Monterrey Jack I think) becuase they use it for toppings on the tacos and it's also the base for their con queso. Service was so-so but food did nothing to entice me back to this restaurant. I will say when you drive by it does smell delicious but the taste just doesn't hold up. Many other Mexican restaurants are better. read more

Really 2 1/3 stars... A bit too mexican for me. Flavors different, service very good... but then again I came here for the food. The carne asada was a stange cut of beef, 0.25" thick. Salsa ok. Overall nothing spectacular, and I would not return. read more

Mediocre at best.....beans are watery and tasteless.....rice greatly over cooked...food smothered in bland white sauce. No spices, flavor, or texture. Don't waste your money or time! read more

By far our favorite restaurant so far in Longview. We went on a Friday around 7 so it was packed, but only 15-20 minute wait at most. The salsa is delicious. I had the fried chimichanga combo and loved it. He had the fajita quesadilla and loved it too. The white queso was great and we even took home the extra. Service was quick and friendly. read more

Food is excellent. Yes the queso is some of the best in town. Service has been great- I have not had any of the problems other reviewers have mentioned. My only complaint would be that two times I have been charged a higher price at the register than the price listed in the menu- so pay attention if you don't want to pay more. read more

If you want great Mexican food in Longview, this is the place to go. I've always ordered takeout so I can't say much about what it's like to dine-in. I've never had any issues with my order even when I make special requests. The Texas Style Fajita Nachos are out of this world! Chips and salsa are fantastic too (so many Mexican restaurants get this key aspect of their business wrong!). read more

Decent food. Ok service. Was recommended by our hotel. Not bad but was expecting a little more. All in all I would come back.

I went to eat at El Sombrero yesterday and did not have a good experience. First I ordered a traditional Mexican drink "agua de horchata" and it tasted funny. I asked the waitress if it was homemade or made from a powder mix, she went to go ask. When she came back she told me that the kitchen did not want to tell her how it was made. That was a little disturbing. For food, I ordered the chicken burrito with a side beef taco. The food was out to me with 4 to 5 minutes which was a little too fast for my liking. That obviously has MICROWAVE written all over it. The cheese and sour cream that was poured all over the top of it was waaaaay too much. The burrito was extra soggy and not really all that good. The taco was okay, but the meat was a little on the salty side. Another down side was that I got to the restaurant about 5 minutes before they opened (they open at 11pm for lunch) and I saw my waitress along with another waitress right smack in front of the restaurant smoking a cigarette. I don't have anything against cigarette smokers, I guess, but it was not very appealing to see that. I really hope they change their policy and have them go smoke in the back. I don't think customers want to get the smell of smoke before their dining experience. read more

Best (Tex)Mexican food there is. The salsa with the cilantro is fantastic, my favorite on the planet. This is my favorite place to eat.

Be aware when ordering to go. Didn't fill order completely and employees would not admit the mistake. Even got manager to cover up the mistake. Horrible customer service. read more

Wonderful place, great food, service excellent, eat here regularly. Owner, staff, all very friendly and are there to work and serve their customers. read more

Enjoyed my first visit and will be back soon! Server was friendly, food was cooked perfectly... Actually, it sounds like I know where I'm headed for dinner! read more

Really don't understand why this place is so popular. Food presentation is poor. The food doesn't look good on the plate. Waitstaff haven't figured out how to write prices of food on your ticket. You find out when you get to the very cramped cashier area. Only good thing about this place is the hot sauce. read more

Had crispy taco craving Ordered #10, requested chicken instead of beef, 50cts extra. Ok. Asked if they had green sauce, sure. Apparently that was $1.65 or so but wasn't told but that amount showed up on receipt. And it had zero flavor, didn't eat it. Asked if they had sour cream, sure for $1.00, declined Dinner brought out rather quickly, it was beef so he took it back & exchanged. Chicken at last! Picked up taco & took a bite, hot greasy mess spilled out over my hand and arm. Yuck After I cleaned my hand with a napkin, I went to pick up the taco again and the shell was one big soggy mess that disintegrated. As did the 2nd taco on the plate. I "deconstructed" it, and ate it with the chips from the basket instead. Chicken itself had zero flavor. Rice way overcooked, didn't even dare try the beans But, the guac was good! Oh and kitchen manager a dish cannot be labeled vegan if it has queso on it (that's cheese folks, vegans don't do dairy) so change it to vegetarian. read more

My husband and I ate there when it first opened and it was terrible. We waited 2 years and decided to try it again. There are always a lot of cars in the lot so we thought it must be pretty good. WRONG!! I had a chile rellano (that's what I ordered) and it was like no chile rellano I had ever eaten. I took one bite and that was it. My husband had the encheladas and left most of it. Don't waste your money on this place. I still can't figure out why so many people eat there. It is cheap. read more

This is our favorite place to eat Tex-Mex. The service is good and the food is great.

Rude and disrespectful service. Waiters that don't care if you get your food or not. Typically the food was so-so, with this type of service this restaurant has lost all of my business. read more

I had the 2 taco entree yesterday, and it was delicious! Sadly, just two tacos come on it with no sides. This was fine because I wasn't that hungry. They also have excellent tea as well, and great customer service. We will definitely be back. read more

very good Mexican restaurant.. burritos are big and very filling.. I would recommend to anyone.. service is great