The Columbus area is a hard area to find some good authentic Mexican food, especially to boast about and write a review on. So far since my big move here last year, El Vaquero is my 2nd restaurant for Mexican food that I've visited. Well, my 3rd really if you count "The Local Cantina", but I really don't count that place just due to how absurd their menu is. I brought my wife to EV for lunch, and this place was very clean, which is a great plus in my book. The young lady that waited on us (Erendira), was very friendly, very quick to get us some chips and salsa, very quick to get us our drinks as well. Very good service, no question at all. The first thing I always think about when ordering Mexican food, is always my memories of back home in San Antonio. When the plates came out, I really had that sense of home. The enchilada's my wife ordered were spot on, the rice was so authentic, yet so simple. A lot of places try and spruce up spanish rice with corn and just simply call it "Tex-Mex". Not the case here, very good. The frijoles were also good, don't miss out. I ordered the flauta lunch plate, and it really hit the spot, not overly portioned, but just the right amount of food. They have a happy hour with lunch through 2p, so drop in and enjoy the discounted plates. read more

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I normally love El Vaquero, so was a bit disappointed when my online order wasn't ready. I had placed it for future pickup, but it was more than 15 minutes late at pickup. When I got to the restaurant, I parked in one of their pickup spaces and texted the number. Never got a response, so had to go inside. None of the food was labeled, so that was also challenging. read more

El Vaquero Mexican Restaurant - Bar area - Mexican Near Me - Pickerington, Ohio

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We came on a Monday, the restaurant was sort of empty. A little bit messy, seemed they were doing spring cleaning or something, anyways, we got our table and the server was attentive and friendly. We ordered the California Burrito and Stake Tacos, in general the flavor was good and the food portion (at least for the burrito) was generous. I can come back here in the future read more

El Vaquero Mexican Restaurant - Stake Tacos De Carne Asada - Mexican Near Me - Pickerington, Ohio

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The worst overprice crap good I have ever tasted! Avoid!!!! It's way overpriced and the food is bland! You'll thank me! I have them another chance and never again! read more

The young woman that waited on us was awesome, she should quit and work at a better restaurant. Horrible food. We have been going there for decades it has become so tasteless and bland. Fire the kitchen, all of them. They used to have chicken "street truck" tacos that were fantastic. Now they only have lazy boiled tasteless "Tinga" chicken. Boiled, shredded and tasteless, watery crap. WTF lettuce? All 3 meals were crap for $80! Hell no never again. You all went from one of the best mexican restaurants to the worst. read more

We received excellent service - 5 stars, and I tipped 25%, our server was attentive and kept our beverages filled. Our food, on the other hand, was less than mediocre. I ordered the Pollo Nayarit. The menu promised strips of grilled chicken, served on rice and covered in melted cheese, accompanied by diced tomatoes and guacamole salad. The dish arrived with little dried out pieces of chicken on rice - no cheese in sight. There was a big pile of lettuce with less than a tablespoon of guacamole. The "diced tomatoes" was actually one thin slice of a Roma tomato, about 1" in diameter. My companion had chicken flautas. They were burned on the edges and the chicken was dried out. They were inedible, even with a generous dollop of sour cream. I hadn't been to El Vaquero in a few years and was really looking forward to this meal. It was a disappointment- an expensive one, at that. $42 before tip, for 2 meals and 2 soft drinks. I'm not sure if, or when, I'll go back. read more

Great food. Friendly service . We go regularly to this restaurant when we need a good meal on a busy day .

Amazing food and drinks food was xx delicious. Variety of food on menu Servers were great. Highly recommended this restaurant. read more

Really really good place need to go here for any occasion quesadilla and fries were really good. Service was quick so good chips came out nicely. read more

El Vaquero Mexican Restaurant - Queso - Mexican Near Me - Pickerington, Ohio

Ordered nachos through Uber Eats and they came with only chips & meat and nothing else. No toppings like lettuce or cheese or sour cream. I had to add salsa and queso to the nachos. I called the restaurant and was told if I wanted nachos with toppings on it I had to order nachos supreme, which isn't even an option to order online. read more

My wife and I have traveled from Europe to Japan to USA and this is one of the TOP 3 Mexican restaurants I been to in my adult life Service fast queso blanco thick and hot bathrooms clean Barrioa tacos omg bussssin read more

We have always enjoyed the food it well made and very tasty. We have always received very good service. The ambience of the restaurant is very good. read more

The waits were a tad excessive. While we were seated instantly, it was restaurant week on a Friday night. Clearly a busy time. We started with the chips and queso and azteca soup. We then moved on to the massive burritos in chicken and steaks covered in queso it was a bit hard to tell which was which at first caused us to be playing musical plates. The entries were well cooked. We ended with the flan dessert. A wonderfully fresh and creamy version. read more

El Vaquero Mexican Restaurant - 85. Azteca Soup - Mexican Near Me - Pickerington, Ohio

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Delicious and surprisingly quick at getting my food out! I love their chips, queso and salsa. The restaurant is clean and the staff is attentive read more

El Vaquero Mexican Restaurant - 170. Pollo Marinado - Mexican Near Me - Pickerington, Ohio

Super clean, friendly and always extremely tasty! Waitstaff was very friendly and super quick. We came in for happy hour and was very impressed. Drinks came out extremely fast and our waiter was able to help our kiddo with His dinner choice. Chicken and rice everytime! Food came out super hot and was delicious. We were super impressed on how clean the entire restaurant was. Everything and everyone was on top of everything. From cleaning off tables right away to wrapping down menus. The place was not only sparking clean but absolutely delicious! Update ordered during "Stay at home" Wow just wow! We were looking for something local to order take out for date night. And this could not have been a better choice! Food was super hot and amazingly delicious! Came in super quick after we ordered. It was soooo much food. Looking forward to ordering out here again while we are still in "stay at home" 34. Molcajete Ranchero 37. Pollo a la Diabla read more

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Amazing chips, bland chicken, slow service. A little more expensive than other Mexican places I've been to but not too bad. But seriously, the chips are amazing. read more

Great food and atmosphere! I've been getting food here since Ive moved to central Ohio and it's always great! Please open more!

We love coming into this restaurant as you can see from the multiple photos taken here! Since the restaurant is closed to patrons eating in we decided to get take out! We were so pumped to see our favorite dishes come in sustainable packaging that we could use again. The food is always amazing and if you want to get something to share between two people make sure you check out the Molcajete Ranchero. It has chicken, chorizo, steak, shrimp, squash, zucchini, peppers, onions, mushrooms, and some of the best sauce you can taste. There is so much in this dish that it is easily shared between a couple of people for sure. The Pollo a la Diabla was a new dish for us and it was pretty awesome as well. The sauce is sweet at first and then there is a nice heat as you go for the second bite. We are definitely going to get this combo again! read more

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Ordered pick three combo beef taco chicken quesadilla and chicken burrito. All was cold and soggy. Taco fell apart picking it up, half way into eating it noticed RAW meat. That was enough to throw the rest of the order away, will never eat here again read more

El Vaquero Mexican Restaurant - Beef taco - Mexican Near Me - Pickerington, Ohio

To put it plainly, Taco Bell makes a better chicken quesadilla than this restaurant. I ordered two chicken quesadillas from here and they arrived hardly cooked and in pathetic condition. I would be embarrassed to have this make it out of the kitchen. read more

El Vaquero Mexican Restaurant - I thought quesadillas were supposed to be a little bit cooked and crispy? Not this one! - Mexican Near Me - Pickerington, Ohio

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Food was okay, service was terrible.... Took forever to get chips salsa, drink orders, water did not get refilled, had to go ask for more chips, unfortunately will never come back! Used to be much better 10 years ago. read more

Great service from Guadalupe and the food was awesome too.. came out super fast and everything was exactly as ordered! Terrific happy hour specials even on a weekend which is something to keep coming back for..this location never disappoints.. oh and best chicken quesadilla in town! read more

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Nice place to hangout with friends and family. The food is fine and the margaritas are awesome! read more

El Vaquero Mexican Restaurant - Fajitas - Mexican Near Me - Pickerington, Ohio

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We decided to stop here after seeing a movie. We were immediately seated and our food and drink orders were quickly taken. Drinks and food orders were brought out in a timely manner. Both our dinners were good. The skirt steak in my brother's meal was a bit on the tough side but still good. Both of us left full and felt we got our money's worth. I would definitely come back again. read more

The Air definitely wasn't working in the restaurant. Not good at all, on top of it the restaurant was packed. Customer service see you sitting but won't come to place your order. Had to get the host to ask a server for help placing my order. Then they want to be stingy with salsa!? Uncalled for, won't be back to this location. read more

I have eaten at a lot of Mexican restaurants here in the Columbus area and growing up in So. California I think I know a little about Mexican food and drink. I ordered a 1/2 pitcher of Texas Margarita which came to the table seemingly without the Grand Monet, manager stated the drinks are pre made. I was brought a shot and upon pouring into pitcher the drink turned the fimilar brownish color. We also received 2 glasses that should.have had the rocks but just a salted rim. My San Diego burrito came minus the lettuce, tomato and sour cream as advertised and a minuite amount of mashed potatoes. Was offered a side salad. When I complained the manager (who seemed to be in training) really tried a song and dance on how you need to request - what's printed on the menu. No worries I won't be back read more

Food was way better this time. Maybe bc we ate there insteada take away...? I had veggie burrito extra spicy. Thot spiciness would come from veggies cooked in spicy sauce but no, a jalapeño pepper I bit into. Yeow! Still good. LOL Husband had rib steak with shrimp and cheese and i had a bite and it was delicious!!! He always gets the steak fajitas and i managed to get him out of that comfort zone. He loved it. TYVM. read more

It was the first time I actually liked my meal at a chain Mexican restaurant, I had the El Morro Special. My refried ice cream tasted like someone made it 3 weeks ago and sat on a shelf waiting for me. read more

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Not bad, but nothing special. Pretty standard, bland Tex-Mex, same as the other El Vaquero locations. Sweetie wanted a burrito while we were out running errands, and since we're off Chipotle for a bit I searched Yelp and found this nearby. It was smaller than I expected, but looked decent inside. Service was great. She ended up with a quesadilla, which she liked well enough. We shared the bean dip, which she said was better than her previous favorite at Las Margaritas. The chips and salsa on the table were just okay. I had the birria estilo Jalisco, essentially barbacoa. It was okay, but bland. Seriously, I like Chipotle's better, and Taco Loco's way better. The rice and beans were meh. All in all, I was not very interested. Prices were a bit high. I would look elsewhere if I was nearby again. read more

AVOID AVOID AVOID is the best advice I can offer. While the food can be delicious the service is deplorable and they don't care. If you're in Pickerington go to La Fogata I love Mexican food and love the El Vaquero in Gahanna but this place is wretched. And their terrible service doesn't just happen when they are busy. It's disappointing because they have a great patio and when their food is hot it's really good. read more

Barbacoa beef tacos. The beef has no flavor. Boiled meat!! Mexican rice is dry and flavorless. My friends had tasty food. Normal ground beef tacos were good i guess and the del mar bowl was tasty. read more

Don't know where to start. Very nice people but I won't be back. Wish my first choice for Mexican food was open tonight.

Service was horrible. I had to ask 4 times for chips and a bowl for salsa. My fork had some disgusting gook on it. They never checked on us. When I voiced my concerns the waiter walked off. Really thats how they treat customers. I will never ever be back. Ruined my whole mood I shouldn't have to complain the whole time read more

Bad experience this time. Ordered chicken and steak supersize fajitas and was brought just the chicken fajitas. This dish had more onions than chicken and two small tomato wedges. It tasted very bland as the rice and beans. The chips didn't have any salt and were bland as well. We definitely won't be back read more

Horrible customer service, wait 10 minutes then find table for our selves, wait another 10 minutes and nobody come to us to clean a table and give us menu until we ask them. Finally they clean our table then we wait another 10 minutes and ask for menu. They ask to wait again, restaurant was about 20% full. We decided to leave hungry and with bad mood. It was my first and last time there. read more

Horrible customer services, no body to come say hi to us , nobody clean our table before we told them , and nobody gave as menu , we were waiting 20 minutes, they weren't even busy! and when we told them we're our menu leisurely answer we will bring!!!! But we decided to leave this place and never come back ! Such horrible customer service I have never met! Do not recommend! read more

I'm usually hit or miss on this location. Food was decent on this visit. I had just a couple of tacos for lunch, sans the lettuce. Flavor was good. Had just enough zest and oomph without it feeling like I was eating grease. In fact, tacos were grease free. My tummy appreciated that. The meat to cheese ratio was tons of meat to not much cheese, but I had "just enough" so I'm ok with it. Taco shells were crisp and not stale. The complimentary chips and salsa was as expected. The chips tend to be larger than normal chips, that can sometimes make it a little awkward. Salsa was standard flavor for the area and more on the mild side. My mouth wasn't burning after the first bite, which I appreciate. But different tastes for different folks. The husband got the fajita quesadilla and ate half. He said it was ok, but has had better. Service was decent. I felt we were in and out with minimal wait time for ordering or clearing the table, but without the sense of being rushed. This isn't my standard go to for Mexican. I honestly wanted some quick and food tasting tacos for lunch and this is what came to mind. They fulfilled what I came for and met my expectations. I would recommend based on that. I'm feeling this one is a solid to high three stars. read more

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Just received my order.... It was terrible tasted bland not hot will not be eating here ever again. Next time I'll get La Fogota

Love this place. Authentic Mexican food. Waitresses are great and chips and salsa is amazing. Grilled shrimp is highly recommended. Location could be better it's a little hard to find but definitely worth the drive. read more

El Vaquero Mexican Restaurant - Bar area at El Vaquero. Great tacos! - Mexican Near Me - Pickerington, Ohio

I've been a regular to this restaurant for quite some time. Unfortunately over Memorial Day weekend I took my family here to eat. Their salsa tasted slightly spoiled and my entire family got food poisoning.. not sure if they used frozen salsa from before covid began or not. I don't think I can risk going back read more