Went on a late Sunday afternoon and sat on the lovely patio. Service was excellent, attentive and fast. Margaritas were very very good. Table side guacamole was excellent, very flavorful. Chips were huge and fresh and queso while a little runny was very good. I had a vegetarian dish with mostly cauliflower, mushrooms, and zucchini with a flavorful sauce and cheese on top-so good. It wasn't overwhelmed by onions. Good rice. Everyone else loved their food. My only complaint would be the sun hitting you in the eyes as it's setting-but that's a stretch! read more

Awful food. Totally not authentic or any good. Sloppy service and bad attitude all around. Pitiful.

Food and service was excellent. If you like Tex Mex well worth the visit . Clean inside and out.

This place is excellent, totally worth a drive if you need to drive, totally worth it as I stated within the last moment, so worth it. worth it. Sorry I wanted to be a annoying and surely achieved it. This place is higher tier Mexican restaurant without the price of a fancier place. The quality was excellent and the service was on point! You get nachos with salsa and a coleslaw like dip which already has it standing out. I did not order all that much as I was just stopping for a quick bit but I will most certainly be back as it was most tasty. read more

The name has changed to Tres Portillos (3 horses). Large outside eating area adjacent to two train cars left over from the previous owner. Staff is very attentive and remembers my normal drink orders and sides. Very good refried beans and their seafood nachos are superb. The bar and all the tables in the bar are made from some exotic thick sliced tree trunks. Very cool. Clean! read more

I never had anything that I didn't like and their guacamole is one of the best I have had.

Great place. Very cute bar top. I love the atmosphere. Food is good. Service is good.

My favorite go-to for Mexican food. Try the guacamole...seriously you wont regret it. I love coming here with my coworkers and we always have a good time. I am especially a fan of the peach margaritas! Aside from the good food, the lovely employees are the reason we keep coming back. Especially one of the gentleman who says he's a manager, always amuses us when we are up to our antics And even when I'm here with my husband instead, we always have a pleasant experience and hubby has no complaints either...which for him, is something special. read more

Such a delicious place. They are always pleasant, polite, and pretty darn fast. I absolutely love love love the guacamole. I look forward to eating here every time. Thank you for all you do! read more

Last time I was in Ohio was a few years ago. I was here visiting a friend who ate at El Tren a lot, he took me there and I loved it. Obviously, this was on my list of repeat must dos. I am pleased because I was not disappointed with the food. the table side made guacamole was Stella, as was the fajitas. If I had one issue it was that the new place did not seem as fun and vibrant as the old place. But that could just be it was empty and cold outside. read more

Update: Appears to have smoothed out the glitches since my last review. Food more consistent. Their "bowls" are served on large triangular plates with the ingredients separate. Plating is visually attractive. One of the places where you can get Mexican street corn (espote.) Very tasty! Daily specials so a good opportunity to try new dishes. Sometimes live music on the patio. read more

1st time here which we found it on Yelp. I had the burrito and a seafood burrito. The refried beans were awesome. Home made not from a can. You know the hard work put into the food prep. I'll definitely will return. read more

El Tren Grill - Mexican Near Me - Tallmadge, Ohio

Used to be my favorite place...came here today for my birthday... what a joke. Portions have shrunk, beef tasted like it has been cooking in a a crock pot for 10 hours too long. Wait staff was too busy worried about fantasy football to tend to our table and others. We asked about birthday dessert and had to ask twice because fantasy football kid was busy watching and waiter disappeared. Won't go out of the way any time soon to come back. read more

I expected better based on reviews and word of mouth---maybe we came on an off night? The queso was thin and watery. The coleslaw brought with the chips and salsa was very odd but was better tasting then the salsa. My chorizo pollo was fine but nothing impressive. The chimichangas were as lack luster as well. My rice was very dry. Aside from the unimpressive food was the poor service. We were brought wrong food and then other parts of our meal not brought. Our server was MIA once our order was placed. read more

Great little Mexican spot in Tallmadge! Stopped in on a Sunday evening for a quick dinner in between some errands. I ordered the Tren taco salad and it was great! I love that they give you the option to not have the fried tortilla shell outside the salad! I sometimes feel odd asking restaurants to remove certain items but I love that this option is printed right on the menu! One of my favorite things about El Tren is the table side guacamole! No other places in this area do anything like this and it is SO. COOL. My only issue was that we were sat right next to a HUGE (loud) party. It would have been nice to sit in another part of the restaurant but no biggie as it was a Sunday and I'm sure staff was limited. read more

Stop in, you will not be sorry. The margaritas are the size of my face! Coleslaw and chips!?? Yes please! This place has everything from apps to dessert. Great owners, great staff! read more

Great and very cute. Perfect for kids who love trains. Excellent tableside guacamole.

I've eaten here when it was a Mexican restaurant but under a different name. That place has since moved to Canton and El Tren has taken over. To be honest, there is very little difference. The inside looks the same. Food is still just as good. Prices about what they were before. Even the plates are the same. The only actual difference I could see is the glassware: they carry the El Tren name but include advertisements for other local businesses. Is this a coming trend? I don't know but was amused at the prospect. The salsa was not thick, but watery and chunky. Had a nice flavor. Not hot, but tasty. They still do the table-side guacamole. They'll even customize it to your liking (want more garlic in it? Just ask. Need more heat? Tell them.) I had the three-enchilada dinner ($9.95), choosing one cheese, one pork and one ground beef. The ground beef was good. The cheese/onion acceptable. But the pork was some of the most tender pork I've ever had in a Mexican restaurant. Others at the table offered similar comments about their meals. No complaints from any of the six of us. The place was not at all busy, surprising for how good the food is. Probably because there were no drink specials on Sunday. So if you want a nice leisurely meal and would like to sit around and talk after your meal, Sunday would be the day to do it. read more

El Tren Grill - Three-enchilada dinner with extra rice. - Mexican Near Me - Tallmadge, Ohio

Very impressive service. We requested curbside pickup since we're being very strict and they complied. Food was great; so nice not to have to cook! We shall return. read more

We won't go back. For starters, the restaurant is not following Covid-19 guidelines at all. Examples: One employee wore his mask on his chin, not the mouth or nose. Another employee wore his only on his mouth and walked around the dining room all evening. Also, when chips and salsa were served to the four of us (my wife, myself, and two friends), they did not provide separate baskets or salsa. Another, the menus are still in leather covers, which means they were not likely to have been sanitized properly. Next... our service was terrible. Our male server was rude, abrupt, unpleasant, slow, and not attentive at all. The positive- he had his mask on correctly. It took at least 15 minutes to get his attention to get refills for drinks for three of us. We were there at least 45 minutes before he took our food order. The food was average at best. My wife said the mole tasted like it came from a can, not authentic at all. I ordered a shrimp coctail that was supposed to have avacado and veggies in it (like the nice ones you get in Mexico)... it had 10 shrimp in a soup of tomato sauce. Not even remotely like those in Mexico. My burritos were average at best. Not the robust flavor you expect from Mexico. We love Mexico, we go twice / year. We know authentic Mexican. This is not it. They need to do better, or they will not last. read more

Get the fried ice cream!! Itll be worth it, I promise. What you will NOT get is a ball of vanilla ice cream that has been rolled in stale corn flakes, plopped on a plate with some a Tony dollop of whipped cream. What you WILL get, though, is a ball of delicious vanilla ice cream that has been rolled in this amazing breading flavored with cinnamon and sugar and that has been fried to crunch up the coating. And its served covered in whipped cream with a delicious honey and strawberry drizzle. read more

Being raised a Florida girl and then moving to Ohio this past winter, the thing I've missed most was GOOD Mexican food. So many places around here mass produce and freeze the majority of their menu. You can taste the difference between made today and made last month and frozen. My fiancé took me here and I tried one of their $10 combination dinner options on the back of the menu. It was delicious and reminded me of the authentic cuisine that's so readily available in Florida. This place is the real deal. We went again last night and I can say, despite some guests trying to lie their way to free things just because it was one of their birthday (we all know the type! ), it was as enjoyable as the first time! We will definitely be making El Tran our go-to night out spot! And thank you, Chelsea for such WONDERFUL service!!! Food Recommendations: I can highly recommend their Pollo Costeno, enchiladas, burrito hacienda, tamales, tacos, and chimichangas! The queso is ALWAYS thick and creamy! We've only eaten here a hand full of times, but my fiancé and I always share our plates so we can try a bit of everything. We've yet to try something we didn't like! (Our goal is to try every item on the menu! THAT'S when you know you've found a good place to eat! ) read more

El Tren is a cool little spot on the Summit County Hike and Bike trail. They have some of the old railroad cars out back, which is a nice touch. The patio is great - spacious with an outdoor bar (though I have never seen it open) The table side guacamole is really cool. They peel the avacados, mix the garlic, etc etc right at the table for fresh guac. Good frozen margaritas!! The food is basic traditional Mexican that you can find at many similar types of restaurants all over the US. Not much changes from place to place. But El Tren does the food well....just nothing unique. The three stars are due to service. Both times that I have been there, the service has been unapologetically slow. This last time we sat outside for 10 minutes before we even got a drink order. The chips and salsa would never have come. Had we not reminded her. If you are looking for Mexican in the Tallmadge area and you have plenty of time, the food is well done and the margaritas excellent. read more

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We used to love this restaurant and go every Thursday. Last night we ordered takeout and our meals didn't taste good and we both got very sick after eating part of them. Super disappointed! read more

I was reluctant to visit this restaurant because off the recent reviews stating that it was understaffed and people also complaining about the food quality but we went anyway. The reason we had to try this restaurant is because I have lived in Los Angeles the last 32 years and my wife is of Mexican decent so let's just say we know a little about Mexican food. Since I have moved back to Ohio I have not found one restaurant in N.E. Ohio that has any decent Mexican food it's been pretty disappointing so we had to try this place. We were greeted right away when we walked in and it was pretty busy we asked to be seated on the patio so it took a few minutes to clean up a table all good ! We sat outside it was a great table they brought out some chips and salsa and some white concoction I have NEVER seen before in a Mexican restaurant , the salsa was not spicy at all but it had good flavor we had to kick it up a few notches with some bottled hot sauce at the table, like I said I have never seen that white concoction they served with the salsa it was some type of cole slaw .....never seen that in L.A or any Mexican restaurant in the Southwest will tell them not to bring that out next time. Well my wife ordered the Carnitas Tacos and I ordered the Shrimp Fajitas then my wife started to speak Spanish to the waiter and he hooked us up with some real salsa lol ......that was the bomb it was a green salsa with tons of flavor and spiced just right ! Food came out pretty quick and it was pretty darn good you can usually tell if a Mexican restaurant is good by their tacos and these were tasty they were not skimpy and the pork was flavored perfectly, my fajitas were great the only thing I would recommend is to not put so many vegetables but other that that it was seasoned well oh yes I forgot to mention the Margaritas they were on point ! So in closing I did not experience anything that some of the recent reviews stated that they were understaffed and the food quality was poor we found just the opposite and it was a busy Friday evening. I am looking forward to visiting this restaurant again and trying some more of the menu items , I would definitely give this spot 5 stars based on our experience and definitely this is the best Mexican food we have found so far in N.E. Ohio for now we will see . read more

Food was good, but I will not be back while we are dealing with covid. Our waitress had her mask down her chin the whole time. Another one had his nose exposed. Not happy with this! read more

This is my new favorite go-to Mexican restaurant! There are a few good ones around the area but this one has a bit more "class". It's just nicer; the atmosphere, service, bar area, etc. The food here is outstanding as well!! I have yet to order something I haven't devoured. Most times I can't finish it all due to the portion sizes! My wife and I gave it a try a few months back and now we're regulars. Excellent food, great service, and fair prices! What more do you want?!?! Oh! And check-in with Yelp for 10% off your food! read more

Always "short staffed" therefore the bar is closed all the time, and so is the patio. For all the trouble of being there including long wait times on some nights, the hot bar, and the closed patio...the food isn't worth it. I have gotten enchiladas and a chicken burrito and neither were good the red sauce taste like tomato paste. read more

My boyfriend and I went here for lunch one day during the week, for some reason it took a while to seat us but there were no other customers. Once we were seated and a waitress finally came to greet us it was no later than 3:05. When I asked if we could still get the lunch specials she said no because it was after 3. We weren't impressed by either of our meals, it was pretty generic. Much better food just down the street at Taqueria la Loma. The setting inside was nice and it was decorated well enough for an enjoyable ambiance. read more

This use to be our go-to restaurant for outstanding food. Not so much over the past year. 3 times food was served not hot. Was not this way when Roberto was the owner / manager of this once fine restaurant. What happened? read more

Food ok drinks were good service was ok we had a new person so he was still learning but I probably wouldn't go back for food

I wanted to like it, but I couldn't. Talk about bland. I had the fajitas and there were no spices to be found. The peppers and onions tasted fresh, but unseasoned and uncooked. I tried the chipotle chicken and it was tasteless. The beef burritos tasted like canned hamburger hotdog topping. The "you have to try this" coleslaw tasted like every other mayo based coleslaw minus the sugar. All in all it seemed like senior citizen cafeteria food. We won't be back. Oh. If you're in love with cilantro, you might like their salsa. That's all we could taste and one in our party likes cilantro and still complained. read more

A co-worker recommended El Tren and I was impressed! The patio is gorgeous and the food is so fresh and tasty! My boyfriend and I split the chorizo cheese dip and steak fajita quesadilla and were quite satisfied! The portions are huge so come hungry and take a doggy bag home if you don't finish!! read more

El Tren Grill - Steak fajita quesadilla - Mexican Near Me - Tallmadge, Ohio

I went there with friends for the first time 2 weeks ago. Since then I have taken four different friends on 3 different occasions and each one said the same thing I said, "Absolute best Mexican Restaurant ever!" and, I 'm bringing my husband here! I'm a seafood lover and have has the seafood enchilada and burrito. Love them both! How in the world they could make normally boring refried beans taste so smooth and creamy is beyond me. They use Dumas meats which is impressive and everything is made from scratch. The seafood does not include fake crab meat but does include a great assortment of fresh scallops, clams etc. The spices are oh so tasty. And then there is the owner as well as all of the servers. TOP NOTCH! My friends and I all live over 40 minutes away but are glad to make the trip for the food and service. I believe you will too! read more

My new favorite Mexican spot! Good margaritas and flavorful food! Is it just me or do many Mexican restaurants have the same bland taste? Not this place! They serve both a regular red salsa and a creamy slaw like salsa with their chips, both were tasty. Never had anything like it before. The house hot sauce is more of a mild green sauce, but tastes of fresh lime, cilantro and jalapeño made it a great compliment to everything on the table. The Taquitos Rancheros came with shredded beef, it had good flavor to it but was admittedly dry. The ground beef burrito was juicy and well seasoned. A great place to satisfy that Mexicraving with a little added flare. read more

This place is great. Service is spot on, right as we sat down about 1 minute later we had our drinks and tables side guacamole. Amazing everything is so fresh. The frozen margaritas are amazing and don't taste like all mixer. Lots of tequila yummy!!!! read more

El Tren Grill - Table side guacamole and margarita - Mexican Near Me - Tallmadge, Ohio

Amazing food with good service! Plenty of vegetarian options too. The table side guacamole was delicious.

Stopped in here a few times now even back when it was Nuevo Acapulco. It is located right off of the Tallmadge Circle and has its own paved parking lot. There is a nice outside seating area for the warmer months. Inside has a modern decor which lends well to their modern Mexican/American menu. You will get the complimentary chips and salsa as per usual. The salsa is very fresh and has a good taste. I tried the Enchiladas Mole once but wasn't very impressed with it. That was the only thing here I have had that I wasn't a fan of. The burritos are pretty good and hefty. The Queso Blanco is very tasty if you are into that but the true star is the table side guacamole station. For about $7 you get fresh guacamole made right at your table. Depending on who you get they will either interact with you or just do their thing and be gone. It is expected that you will tip them and you should because the make some truly incredible guacamole here! You get a lot of guac out of this. It is totally worth it every time. Unless you are allergic or hate guacamole, there is no excuse to not order this. The service is quick and friendly. I've never had a bad experience in this regard. I do feel like the prices are a little inflated because of the modern twist they are putting on the menu items to be trendy. This isn't just your standard Mexican fare. I'm not sure how I feel about the added flavor just yet and would probably only give them 3 stars if not for the guacamole. I'll need to try a few more menu items to be convinced. Sometimes you just want good old Mexican food without all the fancy modern recipes. read more

El Tren Grill - Table Side Guacamole to die for! - Mexican Near Me - Tallmadge, Ohio

This place is sooooo good! The service has always been very good and the food is always on point! The guac station they have going on is where its at! Everything is always fresh and the servers are always friendly. Highly recommend this place read more

Terrible service and food mediocre. Same basic American "Mexican" food as everywhere else. Bland. Nothing exciting or tasty during our visit. 2 adults and 1 teen, everyone felt the same. Wish I could say more but they really left us wanting. Maybe if service was excellent, we'd go back, but that was worse than the food. read more