Great!! Good drinks and the food was really good. There were 5 of us and all enjoyed their food!

Esmeralda's went over and beyond tonight. As we know Thursday nights are BUSY! They dashed to Savemart to fulfill my order of adding of mushrooms to my favorite dish. Bravo Esmeralda's! Once again! FYI - Pollo Tampiquena - add mushrooms, avocado and melted cheese.... DELISH! Our go-to favorite! read more

The food was delicious and the beans was super good, I wish I could rate it 6 stars but the maximum amount of stars is 5

We stopped today for lunch looking forward to quality Mexican food. We were very disappointed. The service was poor, the server didn't input our order and when we asked about our order she acted like it was an inconvenience. Another server stopped by and advised that she didn't place our order an stated we were next being prepared. The quality was poor. Chips were stale, refried beans watery and rice cold. This used to be a restaurant where you waited to be seated - not anymore. Looks like management needs to reevaluate quality & service. read more

Stopped by tonight for some dinner. Sat down in the empty restaurant and waitress was super friendly. We ordered soup, due to cold weather. Waitress had to check if they had their daily soup. Mind you, it was 4:45pm. We are now at 5:45pm and no soup. Waitress explained there was a large order to go. 1 hour for soup was unacceptable! Hubby and I got up, paid for drinks and left. So disappointed! Always try to support local businesses, but this was plain ridiculous. Never coming back again. Place is runners down and service sketchy. Headed over to Primo's, place was packed, seated supper quick and order our soups. Should have came here to begin with. read more

The best mexican food in the area. We love the staff and the bean dip is amazing! Everyone we take here always mentions the bean dip, always at the top of our list. read more

Been there many times but last weekend was most recent and the food and service were absolutely fantastic. Server was attentive polite and just a great young man. This is my favorite Mexican restaurant in SoCal read more

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Heard how great the food was here so decided to try it. Good location with plenty of parking. Lunch was busy for a thursday. Chips were good but red salsa had a harsh flavor that no one at the table enjoyed so we asked for pico. Pico was bland and looked old so we avoided that too. Wife's chile verde was dried out pork that could gag a hungry almond farmer. My "street tacos" tasted like they came from the street on the bad rough side of town and was really tough dried out asada. They were served with a cup of boiled flavorless pinto beans, wierd!? Our server was nice and attentive doing the best with what she had to work with which sadly wasn't much. 2 stars are for the cold beer otherwise the food is a ZERO. read more

Food was good. Services is terrible people waiting for a table several tables open people not being seated at the up tables standing in line. read more

Sat 8 minutes to have someone ask if we wanted drinks, another 15 I finally I got out of my seat to ask a server to take our order. 5 more minutes and they take the order. 45 minutes go buy and we get the food and I ask if we could have more chips. 10 minutes go by and I get up for those. There were only 2 other tables occupied when we arrived. No one came to ask if we needed refills for water until I asked for the check. Check arrives and the prices charged do not match the menu. I am told there is a 3.5% service fee. I ask if that is posted on the menus and they state "it's a business decision." I question again how you automatically raise the prices and am told they are workin on new menus. I then get up to go pay and find out why this was added and they point to the pic attached. It's an adder if you use CC or debit. If that's their policy it should not be added to each line item on the bill. It should be an adder that is charged at the end when you decide to pay. It should also be posted on the menu. Building into the item line that also increases sales tax. I made a fuss as I felt it was all wrong. They next tell me I don't have to pay. Just to get me out. I paid the bill and told them not to return. It's the principle that bothers me, raise menu prices if needed not sneak on an adder the way they did it. They charged me the adder not knowing if I was paying cash or debit. read more

Esmeralda's Mexican Restaurant - Esmeralda's price policy - Mexican Near Me - Ripon, California

Tried to do a phone order but no one answered because they were busy. Drove to restaurant and placed order. Waited 35 minutes. The albondigas soup was horrid. The meatballs looked like little charcoal briquettes and the broth was like nothing i had ever tasted. Not even edible. My friend had a grilled chicken salad which was so unappetizing. He ended up with a major belly ache all night. All this for $30! My advice....steer clear. So VERY disappointed read more

What the heck!? This is the second time I have had my take-out order missed up. I ordered my usual 2 chile Rellenos dinner with all beans...I really like their refried beans. I paid extra for dinner to get the refried beans...my order gets here and it's ALL WHOLE BEANS. They have never served their dinners with whole beans unless it's requested...I didn't. I called spoke to Vianka, she was just as confused as I was. She offered for me to come back and get refried beans but I wasn't driving across town to get them. So I threw away half my meal. Recommend CHECK order before you walk out. read more

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We used to go here all the time, service and food was almost always very good. Been here a couple times this summer and wow, the quality of food was shocking! I ordered a burrito grande. $14 . It was flat, tasteless, and looked like tortilla was cracking and falling apart. I usually ask for their special salsa called mammas sauce....it tasted awful. It wasn't thick with chunks of onion and cylantro, it was watery and tasted just like Tabasco sauce! Gross! My wife ordered fries, that's it fries, and fir almost $5 she got a plate of 7 fries that looked like they had been refried 10 times. So disappointed! Will never go there again. Left disappointed and hungry. What a waste of time and money. read more

Hadn't visited this place for sometime but when we arrived to realize that it doubled in size it didn't take long to notice that the service hadn't kept pace with its growth and neither did its cleanliness. Waitress's simply needs some oversight Food was OK . read more

I have been twice with my wife in this restaurant and I found the service, the food and the environment is simply great, highly recommended

Food here is great. The service has gone downhill. They don't keep up with the volume if they aren't careful another food Mexican restaurant with a good environment could take their business. read more

Esmeralda's Mexican Restaurant - Burrito Bowl - Mexican Near Me - Ripon, California

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Underneath the Coconut Shrimp. Great Presentation and Additional treats, avocado cucumbers lettuce tomatoes radishes and carrots . We throughly enjoyed our food. This was great find. The only drawback was THEY DID NOT ENFORCE WEARING THE MASK . I hope they will correct this. Health Department:NON-CRITICAL VIOLATIONS Standard not met: Handwashing Facilities Supplied and Accessible Standard not met: Nonfood Contact Surfaces Clean read more

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Well, it started off with not being greeted by the two women at the register. They were too busy talking personal stuff. Salsa is horrible and the bean dip was very runny.... The gal wiping other tables down was doing in such a way, food was going everywhere. Very very disappointed in dinner and service. Will not be going back. read more

Good spot for Mexican food. They have a good variety. Ordered Chicken soup, it was tasty but why are the veggies so small??? Only wish they offered handmade corn and or flour tortilla. All the staff are great read more

Heard food was good. So excited to try. Cute decor. Great selection of beer on tap. The Bartender was nice and friendly as well as the guy working. Here's the problem... we specifically asked server if they could deep fry corn taco shell with chicken and cheese inside all together like Senor Frogs or Las Casuelas does, and as she said yes, I reiterated what I would like and asked if she understood and she said "let me just go ask the kitchen, but I'm sure they can" great! So excited. 5 minutes later... she came back and said "yes!" Yaaay!! So excited. Waited so long for our food ( thank goodness they have awesome spiced bean dip) No.. not fried all together... but done (as I guess) the way they normally do:( I told her that was not what we ordered. She said with a smug smile on her face that she wasn't the one who took our order. I asked for her to go check with server who took our order and she never came back. We ate our food because they were closing and we were starving. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't what we ordered nor wanted to wait extra time for. I saw her after we were over half way done and asked if she found out what happened( ( her name is Lily, BTW) and she said the kitchen messed up and they could remake it. Whaaat? Why did you wait to tell us that? I told her we were hungry and had to leave. Honestly, if you KNOW from both the server that took the order, and the kitchen that it was wrong & THEY BOTH MESSED UP ORDER, why in the world wouldn't you rectify that immediately??? And if not, perhaps comp the mistake?? Horrible horrible management because this is where it stems from. Horrible service. I don't appreciate young employees smirking as they deliver this news especially when it was my first experience here! First and unfortunately the last. Don't mess with my chicken tacos!! Booo! read more

Esmeralda's Mexican Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Ripon, California

The bean dip was the most exciting part of the meal. It was complimentary with the chips and was very rich and tasty. Otherwise the tartness of "green sauce" overpowered both of our dishes. We ordered chimichangas $13.45 and the sopes $11.45. I usually love salsa verde, but something about the green sauce was weird. I would recommend getting red salsa instead. Also, the pork on my sopes was pretty dry. read more

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Such a disappointing experience today for lunch here. I search out restaurants that have patio seating for a couple reasons, I like being outside and I have 2 kids and they don't have to be so perfectly quiet outside. I aksed to be seated on the patio which I was very disappointed with. They have a 3 or 4 tables sparsely covered by some cheap umbrellas and literally nothing else out there, they have spent zero time or money fixing up a great patio spot. I'm guessing as they are reading this the owners are saying to themselves "Because no one eats out there"....yes, of course they don't its not even the least bit inviting. We were brought out a drink menu and 3 lunch menu's, I asked for the kids menu and she said its in there. I looked through them all and there was no kids menu. She returns 20 MINUTES LATER and asks for our order. Still haven't been able to order a drink yet by the way. She realizes her mistake and brings out thr correct menu's which I quickly order because it's already been so long. Food comes out in a reasonable amount of time and it's pretty good, the food is why they are getting 2 stars instead of 1. Now the wait again. I posted on Facebook asking how long I should have to wait before just leaving. After dropping off the food they literally never returned, and my drink was empty my entire meal. Which I wanted to order another beer, more lost revenue. I waited about 20 minutes just sitting there when I finally lost my patience and had to go ask for a check. She quickly drops off the check and disappears again, with my card sitting in the tray. I wait about 10-15 mins and finally bring it inside and pay at the register and leave. Ripon restaurants struggle, you guys cannot afford to have this kind of service and expect to stay in business. Put a couple bucks in your patio, add some music, trees, more shade, decor...make it inviting and more people will come. read more

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Been here several times and the food is always delicious. They are always busy so plan on waiting a bit but the service is great. read more

Esmeralda's Mexican Restaurant - Filete norteño - Mexican Near Me - Ripon, California

First off, the girl taking my order can't hear!! I said whole beans & she thought I said No beans!! Therefore I received beef burrito with rice only!! The meat is salty AF!!!! She asked if I wanted sour cream which I replied yes!! No F'n sour cream either!! My daughter & I both asked for pico de gallo in our burritos & we got Nada!! Not at all AUTHENTIC MEXICAN FOOD!! Honestly, it seems like their food caters to folks who like white washed Mexican food!! I'm not trying to sound racist, it's just the truth!! I would NOT recommend this place if you know good Mexican food!! Nasty & I won't be returning!! I wasted my hard earned money read more

03/30/23 We came in here while traveling for business and was in a hurry. Jesus took care of us, very friendly and professional- he's a very good server. Unfortunately we had to leave because my husband got called in to work but he comes here all the time if he's working in the area. Their chips and salsa and bean dip/frijoles is really good - yummy! read more

Food service and wait times are excellent. The restaurant is usually very busy, but they get you seated quickly.

I've always loved this place! Been coming here since they opened. But it seems like it's turned into something else. For one, they should invest in one of those contraptions that blows are downward at doors to keep the flies out. The flies were EVERYWHERE. Next, apparently it's become a place where some 20 -somethings come to do shots, get drunk, and peacock! SO LOUD! You can't hear the people in your party. I like a party too, but there's a time and a place. All of this adds up to not a pleasant experience. I'll say the staff was pleasant and the food is always good. But it's about it the whole experience to me. Not sure I'll be back. I think this guy has invited all of his friends. read more

Esmeralda's Mexican Restaurant - a bed bug - Mexican Near Me - Ripon, California

Every time I come to this place they make you feel super welcome, every worker from this place have good communication and very good table touching as well. The food is delicious and great menu as well, come try the variety on the menu. Recomendable 100% !! read more

Esmeralda's Mexican Restaurant - Come and try the bomb fire micheladas! They're very addictive and super refreshing, Definitely recommendable. - Mexican Near Me - Ripon, California

Have eaten here several times over the years. It has really gone downhill. Walked in and wasn't greeted. Me and the family were just standing there for several minutes before anyone acknowledged us. Red salsa was terrible today. I literally couldn't eat it. I don't remember it being so bad. It's been close to a year since the last time we ate there. Worst chile relleno I think I've ever ordered at a restaurant. Small chile, very little cheese, terrible batter....was flat as a pancake. And the red salsa on top was just weird. Service was bad. Kept forgetting our items. And several flies kept buzzing our table. I'm hoping the restaurant was just off for the day and isn't going to be like this all the time or we'll have to start going somewhere else. read more

First of all, my wife and I have always been happy with the food. Service is ok. Last night (6/4/2023) my wife and I stopped in for dinner. We were immediately seated, provided menus, and took our drink order. It was busy, but not packed. The music was turned up pretty loud, which made it difficult to converse. After our order was brought to the table, my wife asked if the music could be turned down just a tad. Instead they turned it off. We weren't being jerks about it, we just wanted to be able to talk to each other without yelling. Here's what rubbed us the wrong way: There was a group sitting at the bar area. They were having a pretty good time, which is all well and good. But, there was a female who was loud and obnoxious, obviously well fueled from the well stocked bar. She could be heard throughout the restaurant. One comment from her was "Are you hearing me?". Yes, we all could hear her. The bartender should have cut her off at least one drink prior. What really steamed us was our server had dropped off our check when we were finishing up, then proceeded to go to the bar, pour two shots, gave the drunk chick one, and downed the other one himself!! He pretty much abandoned us as we were getting ready to leave, waiting on him to pick up my credit card to pay. Finally another server took my card and I was able to pay and we left. Our tip (about half of what he would have got) reflected our mood. I'm pretty sure those two shots didn't get charged to the woman or the server. The house ate the cost on those. Completely unprofessional IMO. Employees should not be drinking on the job. That's the kind of thing that can break a business. I'm hoping this was an anomaly, and not the norm. read more

As always staff is amazing , food is even better. Here for breakfast, staff is courteous, wearing masks and keeping everything clean. Just like before masks. Had Fish in foil this morning, a flavorful mix of white fish, shrimp snd an amazing broth of serrano, bell pepper, onion and tomatoes. Covered in melted cheese. Use the flour tortillas to mix the fish , rice and salad to make some tacos. Im full. read more

Esmeralda's Mexican Restaurant - Filete Relleno or as I order it Fish in Foil White fish and shrimp baked in sauce - Mexican Near Me - Ripon, California

Came in for a quick snack. The chips and salsa were so good! Even came with a side of bean dip. I love the service and how affordable everything is! read more

I understand when things are busy that food can come out slowly. However, tonight, 5 + tables were sat after us and got their food before us and we were only 2 people. When I brought it to the server's attention and asked for our food to go, it seemed as though it was slapped together. Very disappointing since my boyfriend frequents there very often. Sorry theyoung party people took priority over local regulars. read more

I have been coming here for years, always great food, service and environment. Authentic food and people keeps me and my family coming back again and again!! read more

I went there for Valentine's Day not the most romantic place, but I wasn't really expecting it to be. The place was kind of dirty. The chips and salsa and beans they brought out were pretty good. We sat there a half hour before our food finally came out, and they weren't even busy. They messed up on my order. I got the fajita trio it was pretty good, nothing spectacular. My partner got Esmeralda special. It was overcooked. So when I go there again, probably not. read more

If I could give them more stars I would! I wish I lived closer so I could come here more often. I got the shrimp fajita bowl and it was delicious read more

I normally don't review a place negatively unless I feel strongly about it. The first time we went to Esmeralda's was years ago for a private party.. tonight we decided to check it out again since we were in the area. I am pretty mindful and know that a lot of places are very short staffed; however I've been to places that are short staffed and still offer great service. So here are the issues... first, the place is sooo loud and it's hard to have a conversation... our waitress took forever to bring our drinks. I noticed patrons getting out of their seat to get their own silverware because the waitress (who happened to be the one we had) never came. Then she took a long time to get our food order which was 1. Child chicken tenders w/ rice 2. 1 child bean burrito w/ rice 3. Tacos Caseros (tacos dorados) 3. Carne asada. There was a family of 3 who were seated after us who received their food, ate, paid and left and we still hadn't received ours. I asked a young guy buser about our food & all he could say was "the kitchen gets backed up we have no control over it." Oook. Fast forward about 15 mins and another guy buser comes to our table to ask if we are ready to order lol. We tell him we've been waiting for our food for a while... then our waitress finally shows up and says our food should be out shortly. It's now been over 45 mins of waiting for our food. The kids and I receive our food first.. the chicken tender order was wrong but we didn't send it back or it would have taken another 45 mins and the tacos caseros were soggy already which leads me to believe that they had sat at the counter for awhile to be as soggy as they were. Then my husband finally received his food.. the beans had this layer of dried/burnt cheese on top--I worked in a restaurant long enough to know that that happens when the food sits waaaaay too long in the warmer. I had to get up to get silverware and napkins.. there were no forks when I asked the young buser guy he said "we don't have any they're all being washed" .. ok.. so we sat there with no silverware for about 5 mins.. so we asked again for silverware and we were told again that there wasn't any forks because they were being washed. So I got up and got a spoon for my so he could eat his rice.. Finally a girl buser brought us nice, clean, wet forks. The food was pretty bland. Nothing exciting about it. Our waitress came to our table a total of 3 times 1. To take our drink order 2. To take our food order 3. To take our bill. Terrible experience, won't be going there again that's for sure. read more

My boss had this catered in for are X-mas luncheon. We thoroughly enjoyed it. Finally had the opportunity to try the actual restaurant with my wife. To start the chips and salsa are excellent, you get that surprise flour chip which tastes awesome. They brought the chips and drinks right away, then took our order. Was not a long wait at all for a very good meal. The atmosphere was great, great place to take your family. Look forward to my next visit. read more

Open every day - seven days a week - Yelp says closed but it's not. Best Mexican food, family owned business. Friendly and great service. Nice bar and multiple TVs with multiple games on at all times. Family friendly read more

Really enjoyed the food and place was packed when I placed my order and picked it up. Got fast and accurate service regardless. For sure have a return customer. read more