Not very good! We are visiting from Colorado. We were not expecting great Mexican food up here, but this place was overpriced and awful. As another reviewer commented, they charge for the usually free chips and salsa. Chips are cold. Salsa is chunky, but flavorless and needs more heat. Queso dip tastes like the cheese from the machine at a gas station. read more

Even for Montana standards this place is horrific, I loathe Taco Johns but would prefer that to this one! The best thing was the cheap wine which killed the taste of what they call Mexican food. My Carne Asada looked like Chinese Beef, it had a garlicky sauce that tasted like something you'd get in a Chinese Restaurant. My husband had Chicken Tacos and they were awful, he was sick for 3 days afterwards. The Salsa was more like tomato paste, with chunks of garlic. I asked the waitress who the chef was and she said the owner, he lived in Mexico for 2 years and brought back recipes! Hate to be brutal with this review but maybe we should have had a couple Margaritas before we ate to mask the taste. read more

Expensive food was bland. No chips or salsa. Poor service, waitress too busy visiting with cook. Ordered Carne asada taco dinner, lots of rice and beans, but hardly any filling in the tacos. "Steak" was tough, clearly a cheap cut of meat for a $17 plate of food. Margarita was missing the tequila. Won't be back. read more

Stopped in on a frigid Friday night w my family of 5. Our timing seemed to be perfectly awful as the restaurant was full and the waitress told us everyone came in at once, basically right before us. So we could forgive them slow service at the beginning. The decor was interesting - definitely put effort into collecting Mexican nicknacks for the walls. We started off w a couple pitchers of a mid-level margarita, which was quite tasty. Not too much sour mix. Well made. Then we chowed down on like 20 baskets of chips w salsa and guacamole. Salsa was good, but guacamole, as it often is, was a bit bland. Restaurants always seem afraid to add any heat to it. Also coulda used more pepper and lime. Anyway, I had a fish taco (not the mahi mahi), which was quite tasty - big. Also a side of black beans (fine) and a salad of some sort. I can't remember and the menu isn't online - but I liked it. The rest of my party enjoyed their food too. It included an enchilada and other stuff I tasted. (I clean the plates). Pretty decent tex mex read more

We had a good meal. That is, my compliments to the cooks in the kitchen. Good floors. Nice presentation. Plenty to eat. Unfortunately, our server left our meal on the counter, so the very hot plate was not. Tepid food is tepid and uninviting. It undid all the good work of the kitchen. I am sure we will give it another try. I hope we get another server next time. read more

Not the best and definitely not authentic Mexican food but pretty decent and the best in Bigfork. I make about 2 trips to Bigfork a year and it's one of my favorite places for dinner. Be aware of the fact they are only open from 4pm to 10pm daily. The also have some pretty good margaritas. read more

Excellent food, great service, terrific flan, and awesome service in a warm friendly atmosphere. The waitstaff made sure that everything was just the way we wanted it. Definitely recommend if you are in Big Fork. read more

Nope. Don't do it. Move along. NO flavor, bad service, everything is canned, nothing is fresh, just gross. Facade of a Mexican restaurant. No hot sauce on the table to even mask the fact that it lacks any semblance of FLAVOR. What a disaster. Shocking they are in biz. Homemade "sauce" they sell and ship, yet won't even put out on the table as they know it's garbage. They will ship it away to poison folks that aren't within arms reach. Yikes. We were duped. Just looking out for the next guy/gal/family. Trust me. read more

This is a fun atmosphere. The fish tacos, burritos, fajitas and enchiladas are all very good. Service is kind of slow, but friendly. Their margaritas are awesome! The only downside is..I've never heard of having to pay for chips and salsa at a Mexican restaurant! They aren't expensive, just very weird to be charged for them. Still, worth dining here. read more

Seriously amazing Mexican food in the arty-heart of Montana (Big Fork). And don't forget to order a margarita. One thing I miss the most after moving to Vancouver WA from Montana is El Topo cantina. I've been coming here since 2001 and hope to continue for many many years to come. Consistently delicious Mexican fare made with obvious care and attention is how they roll at El Topo. And that has not changed at all in the 15 years I've had the pleasure of eating here. Cheese crisp! Tortilla soup! Fish tacos! Smothered burrito! All remarkable! Hint: order a "Too Tall" margarita. read more

Best fish black bean burrito the strawberry margaritas are soooo good margaritas are never my favorite, but I was given a little sample they are my new favorite here. read more

Don't bother wasting your time going here it's not worth it. The service was almost a tooth pulling exercise, you pay for the chip's(really) I had a beer finished it, put it out where the waitress could see I wanted another, besides we all know this is where restaurant's really make there dough , and I had to wait another 15 minutes on top of the 30 minutes since the waitress took our order, for Chili Colorado, the sauce was grainy and It had two chunks of meat and rice that dry and cold. read more

Cant say enough awesome things about this place. The owner knows how to prepare food and make an awesome margarita! I make a point to go back when I am home in the Flathead valley. read more

Arrived at opening time, found service and chips and salsa to be excellent. My wife and I ordered taco soup, tasty but little chicken. Ordered chicken fajita as main course. Found this disappointing as we are used to fujita's being server in a sizzling hot cast iron pan not on a plate. The plate was hot but the chicken was barely warm, rice and beans lukewarm. Beans were whole not refried and the chicken portion was very small but plenty of peppers and onions. The flavor of the chicken was OK but I have had better. We will give them one more try and order something else. Bernard Wise read more

I have to say that whoever owns this place clearly does not know what Mexican food is suppose to taste like! We just left the place after waiting for over 30 minutes for the worst tortilla soup and flautas. Absolutely no taste what so ever. Like other people have said, it was nickel and dime for everything which wouldn't of bothered me so much if the food was good. After one bite I had to apologize to my friend who was with me, because I have never walked out of a restaurant. I went to the guy who looked like he was in charge to let him know the food wasn't good, told him I couldn't eat it. I offered to pay for the chips and salsa and he couldn't even look at me, he told me to just leave with a flip of a hand! WOW not only horrible food but rude. Dude get a clue, your food sucks!!!!!! read more

I ate there after seeing this restraunt while passing thru town. We stopped, not ever had eating there. We thiught we would sit down and have some Mexican food, pretty hard to screw up Mexican food, wrong!! First thing is you have to pay for chips and salsa, which you usually get complimentary at 99% of Mexican restaurants around the world. Then the menu. Nothing comes with beans and rice, everything is ala carte. They even charge you for salsa, it's considered a side. I got the pork burrito, which comes with beans or rice in it. I pick black beans. If you want the typical sauce and cheese on your burrito, it's $2 extra. The ala carte burrito is $9.95, you would expect cheese and sauce. It comes out in a flour tortilla, right out of the package. The pork had no taste. The waitress asked how the food was and I told her. I asked for some Choula sauce, the stuff all Mexican restraunts have, to try and give the burrito a little flavor. He waitress never heard of Choulula sale. I then thought maybe some salsa would help, but then that's another $2. So to get a proper tasting burrito, I would be in at $13.50, and still no Spanish rice or beans with it. Any Taco bell, Taco John is 10 times better than this place. The food is average at premium prices. Save your money and keep on driving past the El Topo. read more

This place rocks....amazing margaritas and great tequila selection. Tough to find good mexican food in Montana. Owner operated is a cool perk! She's usually behind the bar and plenty friendly! read more

Seriously disappointed! From the time we were sat at a table in the back of the restaurant to the time a wait staff came to our table to provide water and ask us if we wanted non-complimentary chips & salsa was a minimum of 20 minutes. My husband's bottle of beer was delivered at least 10 minutes AFTER two nearby tables ordered and received their beverages (margaritas and mixed drinks). Then a busboy asked if we would care for more chips and salsa -- it would be nice if they told us that there was a charge beforehand -- and assuming that it was free (because I've been to too-many-to-count Mexican restaurants and never have been billed for chips and salsa) -- well, a second requested serving never materialized, so I was only 1/2 surprised when I got the bill. Then the food ... OK, it's Montana and most Mexican restaurants in this region aren't accomplished in preparing authentic, cuisine -- El Topo is no exception -- "BLAND" best describes the food. It may be reputed to be popular with locals ... but not this one! read more

This is NOT authentic Mexican. Think Taco Bell meets Old El Paso. The enchiladas are covered with Old ElPaso canned enchilada sauce. The tortillas are not homemade - the soft corn tortilla holding the taco dissolved when I tried to pick it up to eat it. No refried beans; black beans or pinto beans instead. No flavor. No flavor to the shredded beef in the tacos or enchiladas. No flavor to the Spanish rice. (No refried beans? Really?) You won't find any Mexicans eating here. Somebody said the locals eat here - that would be local gringos who don't know or like authentic Mexican food. Nice atmosphere and friendly service, but very disappointing cuisine. read more

This is truely a hidden gem in a far away place! Fresh fried corn tortilla chips are wonderful and they have a house salsa that is nice. Slight negative is that they are not complimentary...but hey, if you don't want them, you don't have to pay for them. Nice atmosphere with a rustic bar and dining room. Wait staff is very friendly. My wife usually has the fish tacos and they are very good. I really like their carnitas, especially in a burrito or enchiladas. Their side beans are whole cooked pintos, not refried, and I think they are good. Margaritas vary from house to high-end. Their house margarita claims "fresh squeezed sweet-sour mix". I make fresh squeezed margaritas at home and El Topo's aren't as fresh as they describe. But, the plus is that they are sold in carafe and pitcher sizes at considerable volume discount (Hey, its Montana...bigger is better). If you want mexican food in Big Fork, you must stop here. Kid friendly too. read more

Talk about dog food. This place is awful! Now I know Mexican food in Montana is a stretch but come on at least look up some recipes. The salsa is mushy and bland. The enchilada sauce was way sweet. I got the carne asada and it tasted like sesame chicken from an Asian menu. The rice was clumpy and had no flavor. They use whole pinto beans and the beans weren't too bad. At least I could eat the beans. This was by far the worst food I have ever been served. The service was decent nothing to note. Looks like you get charged for refills on lemonade. What a crock! Will NOT be back. read more

I had been there once before and had a pretty bad and expensive experience. 10 years later gave it another shot with family and friends in tow, bad idea. Poor service below average food and fairly overpriced. Second star because I didn't get ill. read more

Stop!!!!! Don' t go in, the food is horrible. I try to be fair so I have eaten here more than 5 times!! And sadly none have impressed me. The chips are fabulous as are the margaritas, you have to pay for chips.... Really!! But that's where the good stuff ends the rest, just leave in the kitchen. Try down the road at Taco Mexico for better food!!!! read more

I've gone to this place multiple times and every time I told myself I wouldn't go back! You'd think I'd learn, but I kept going back hoping it would be better. The salsa is way too onion-y, the tacos are nothing special with typical chain food crispy shells. Not going back again. read more

First time at this restaurant and the bartender ignored us. Horrible service! He was more busy talking to his drunk girlfriend and her friends than serving us. When we asked a waiter to help us he did and the bartender lied and said he was closing others out but we asked him three times if he could help us and we were completely ignored. The rest of the night was awkward as he refused to make eye contact. Won't be recommending or going back. read more

Great atmosphere, loved my margarita and the fish tacos were killer.

One of our very favorites in Bigfork. Welcoming, friendly "Cheers" atmosphere as well as very good food. Wide menu including vegetarian/vegan options! Something for everyone. read more

While staying in Big Fork a friend recommended El Topo. My husband's gluten intolerant so Mexican food is a great option. We were seated immediately and ordered chips/salsa and margaritas. YUM! Chips were crisp and not to thick. Margaritas were fantastic! Our meal was received in a minimal amount of time and was great! We will definately go back! read more

We came in April... Never Again. Terrible, worse mexican food I have ever had and it was expensive! Service was lacking, they weren't busy the waitress would just rather hangout at the bar with her friends than take care the customers. read more

I love El Topo. Wonderful fish tacos! The bartender makes the best margaritas in town and the atmosphere makes single folks like me feel comfortable. read more

Not real Mexican food ( for world travelers ) but! Some of there dish are tasty. Their dish's seemed more Cuban influenced than Mexican. But not bad? read more

This is in response to a review posted by "Angelique" this year. Her review has some other motive than an honest observance. El Topo Cantina's business is approx. 80 percent regulars who return at least once a month and many of them for the 15 years we have been in business. The owner, myself, has never lived in Mexico and no employee has ever said that. I am from San Diego, Ca., where I started cooking in 1968. There is no "tomato paste" in the salsa, which is made of fresh tomatoes, onions, cilantro, jalapeños, and some spices. All of our food is fresh and we consistently get raves. It is "southern California" style and is simple but original. Our fish tacos and our Carne Asada are our best sellers and the Carne Asada has won awards, so I don't know where this person gets their vindictive and nasty attitude. Please visit Montana and maybe even Bigfork, where the beauty of this country has to be seen to believed. read more