Did not have any fajitas without pineapple I'm not saying that it doesn't taste good. It's just…read morethat I'm not used to that. It must be one of their unique dish ingredients.. the service was good. The chips and salsa were good but we still have the same problem with the pricing. Oh my God do not buy a soft drink or a tea, etc. from them they want four dollars for a soda, which is the cheapest food item that they pay for in their overhead and with only two refills allowed seems a little stingy and they're trying to make some money off of that obviously so the best bet is just to have some water and by the way, the cheapest fajitas on the menu or $20. I'm not from around here. I'm visiting so I'm thinking that there must be a lot of rich people in this area to be spending these high prices at these local restaurants.

What a cool spot in the Cedar Valley. Friendly staff that is fast and present often. Wide range of…read morefun and traditional drinks. I got a duck in my 57 oz Duck Pond Margarita lol. My wife's Margarita was full of yummy candies. Food came out fast, fresh, and tasting great. There's a bit of hustle ambience all around but they also don't mind if you slowly enjoy your meal and drinks. A wonderful Mexican restaurant to dine in.

The service we received today at lunch, September 27, 2025 was so overwhelmingly incompetent and…read moreinept, you couldn't pay me or the other members of our party to ever consider coming back here. I can't comment in the food, because after how long we'd been waiting, and how many times our server messed things up, we had to leave to get back to our conference at UNI. We finally had to request to get our orders in to-go boxes, and when they arrived at the table, half of what we ordered was missing. What was in the to-go boxes was pretty much the ingredients just hastily thrown together. It took our server TWELVE MINUTES (!!!) to total up and prepare the bills for five small orders. It's the first time I left a restaurant on an empty stomach, and we had been there for an hour when we left. Our server and the manage repeatedly reminded us that it was only that servers third day on the job. That doesn't excuse taking twelve minutes to ring up orders, leaving half the items off our orders, and it getting to the point where a party is so frustrated that some opt to go hungry and leave rather than wasting even more time waiting around. The incompetence of our server was sobering, I'd rather have had someone cold and curt over someone who obviously could not handle the job. There were only seven other tables when we were there, how will she handle is when it's a packed restaurant on a game weekend?? I hope that if others experience this poor of an experience from this server, that management gets it that she's probably just not a good fit for working in a restaurant. Lastly, we were offered 10% discount cards for if we came back. That felt kind of insulting. After some of us not even getting our food, and the extraordinary, sustained dysfunction of our server, they should have at least offered a complimentary meal card.

The mint mojito was perfect and the mole chicken delicious!! Service was great and the restaurant…read moretemperature was comfortable. I'm looking forward to trying the shrimp with avocado...

Great food and service! Fast and reasonable prices. Could eat here every week. It's nice to be…read morerecognized and welcome with each visit!

The food was plenty full and tasteful. The sauce was good and the chips were good. The only reason…read morewhy I am leaving a three star is because the pricing.. these days everybody is trying to save a dollar and everything is seemingly more expensive so I chose a less expensive mail. The menu indicated.$14.99. When I receive my bill, I noticed I was charged.$15.99. The server said that it was because I chose a cheese enchilada and it was a dollar more expensive than the beef or the chicken.. given these times when meat is way expensive, I found that hard to believe that cheese is more expensive than that. Also, I don't remember seeing it on the menu so I reluctantly paid the extra dollar when I was trying to keep my bill with the tip under $20 as I am on a budget and it is splurging for me to eat out..

Absolutely love this place! The remodel looks amazing and really opens up the area!…read more My roommates and I love coming here for their great food and big portions. Always leave feeling full and bringing back leftovers. The prices are also very good for how much food you get! I would recommend the birria quesadilla and the Carnita street quesadillas! 10/10

Very tasty! Would definitely go back again. We stopped by for a late lunch during Christmas week…read more The lunch rush was over, but they were still busy with holiday shoppers. To drink, my husband had a Modelo. I tried the strawberry margarita. It was a bit sweeter than I'm used to and may have preferred a salted rim to sugar, but it was good. After our meal I asked our server about one they call the Flu Shot and I think I'll try that one next time. The chips were fresh and crunchy. Great corn flavor. I wasn't a big fan of the salsa but my husband liked it. A self-appointed burrito connoisseur, my husband was delighted by the significant variety Rancho Chico has to choose from. He chose the Express Burrito with ground beef. When it was brought to the table, we were both amazed by the immense size. The plate on which it's served is large and, you can see in the photo, it went all the way to the edges. I tried the sauce and it was quite tasty. He enjoyed the whole thing - literally! I ordered the Mariachi Bowl with steak - a truly beautiful dish. The steak was impeccably seasoned and delicious. I tried to eat all of the components separately, but quickly found the best bite was created by stirring everything together. I couldn't eat it all and was quite happy to bring home leftovers. I love trying something new each time we visit a restaurant, but I'm not sure how I will avoid ordering this one again and again.

Until yesterday, June 30, 2026 I would have given El Patron a 5-star rating. Unfortunately, my bad…read moreexperience left me feeling hurt and unwilling to return. I was with a group of 12 who came in for my birthday lunch. Our table didn't have napkins for our drinks so because no waiters were close by, I went to the bar thinking I could get some napkins without bothering our waitress or other waiters. There wasn't a stack of napkins on the bar (as many other places have) but I noticed some napkins on a lower shelf behind the bar. I took a few and returned to our table. Just as we began to sip our margaritas an employee (manager or owner?) came up to me and accused me of breaking a small decorative piece of pottery! There's absolutely no way I broke the piece! I'm an honest person and if I'd broken something I would have noticed it or heard it break, apologized and offered to pay for it! I was very offended by the nasty accusatory tone that was used toward me. Needless to say our group will take our business elsewhere. There are may other good Mexican restaurants in our area that treat their customers politely!

It was a little slow on actually getting seated but to be fair the gal was working solo. That being…read moresaid, it wasn't busy when we stopped by. The food was amazing, the restaurant was very clean and nicely decorated. We ordered the Tacos De Barria's and the Street Tacos Pastor...you get four of each and we split them two and two for the each of us. The Pastor Street Tacos had the perfect amount of char on the meat and the little sweetness from the pineapple was perfect...good quac sauce to boot! The Tacos De Barria were the first we've had up in the area and they were outstanding! With the barria dipping sauce adding even more to the flavor! Service was better once we were actually seated and we'll definitely be back again as the menu has alot of options that look delicious!

Dallas FRESH IS SOOOOOOOO MUCH BETTER! On La Porte next to Pizza Hut!…read more This place here has worse service ever. The younger woman is horrible. Her attitude and the way she treats customers. They finally hired someone who has good customer service skills but the shitty service remains cause of that other younger woman who speaks perfect English. The owner of the store has a nasty attitude as well, when I originally went to compliment how awesome the store was and the tacos. In reality the tacos are tasteless. The verde and rojo make it a little better but so not worth it. Try Dallas fresh for literally $1 per taco. Authentic steer tacos!

Excellent service and the food was very good. Ever since a friend of mine told me about this place,…read moreI've become a regular customer.

Nice restaurant with much authentic decor! The Mexican pizza was great. Server checked back several…read moretimes and gave good service.

We sat on their outside deck overlooking downtown and it was wonderful. Our waiter was friendly…read moreand kept our drinks full. Our food came out fast and hot. The fajitas were great and the steak had great flavor. My only complaint was how watery the salsa was but it did have good flavor.

Full disclosure: I'm a Mexican food snob. I spent 20 plus years in Texas and most Mexican food in…read moreIowa is bland and lacks authentic flavor. That's why I was EXTREMELY surprised to find authentic Mexican food at Chapala in Waterloo. It's a family restaurant that is now 18 years old ...and the recipes are from the kitchen of the grandmother of the owners. The chips and salsa are made on premises and they're very tasty. There's a ton of luncheon specials in the $9-12 range. And the food is REALLY tasty. I had the fresh steak quesadilla with the grilled fresh veggies and it was the best Mexican plate I've had in Iowa in the last five years. Top notch food. Top notch friendly staff. And they even carry Mexican Coca Cola and Mexican Pepsi. Most highly recommended!

Great service Great ambiance…read more Great food. Mano took care of me and helped me with my selection. Carne asada and chile relleno Plus caddy margarita.