The service is always great here! Our server was attentive and super friendly. I ordered the…read moreCarnitas Bowl and thought it was a little on the dry side and lacked flavor. I was looking for something light but this bowl was kinda in the medium. The guacamole was delicious and my drink was strong. Looking forward to coming back!

The food was mediocre at best! Tasted very old like it was either made hours prior or the day…read morebefore! No flavor, dry and hard in certain places of the tamale...

Met some family at the airport in Atlanta, half of us flew in from Texas the other half from…read moreColorado. All on our way to Athens. We were starving. We all agreed on Mexican food and this was one that was still open and on the way. We literally got there 30 minutes before they closed, I hate being those people that walk in as they're getting ready to close. The host was so nice, recommending foods, making small accommodations. The food came out and there was so much and it was so good. The salsa was amazing. I can't say enough good stuff about this place. Next time were back in the area I want to come back. So good. I should have took a picture but we ate it so fast it was so yummy.

When in Monroe, we've always been pleased over the last few years about our ordinary Mexican…read morefavorite (the one named after the Kitchen Fountain), but have been looking for a "wow" experience recently. With that in mind, we decided to give the other Mexican places in town a shot. Our first try was The Party Grill (La Fiesta). The overflow of paperwork and office equipment piled up on tables directly in front of you as you open the door had my bride immediately scanning the walls for a health score. 89, if you're interested - borderline for her. But we soldiered on. The decor could be nice, but parts are worn and old; the floors are in good shape, but the vinyl seat in the booth was torn. But I'm not fussy (I enjoy eating from food trucks) so all these things we consider easy to look past if the menu is interesting. It isn't. The options are typical of every Tex-Mex joint from 1990, so we knew we weren't going to be trying anything new to our experience. And when your menu is a full-color 6-page spread in black ink on an orange background, using white-out under the price updates is glaringly obvious and a little sketchy. (Menu reprints are inexpensive these days, fellas.) But maybe the food is "off-the-charts" good? It isn't. The portions are about what you expect, and presented well. But - and here's the bit that made up our minds - what the hamburger meat lacked in chili powder and cumin it more than made up for in clove. I've never tasted clove in Mexican food before. Maybe we were wrong about not getting to try anything new to our experience. (We didn't like the clove-iness, in case you're wondering.) The rice had a canned vegetable flavor, mostly lima beans, which was equally off-putting. So is this review saying there is nothing worth saving? It isn't. The server was nice and attentive, and the price was decent (although at the high end of the market). With some minor upgrades to the decor, fresh (FRESH!) food in the kitchen, a new menu cut by half with a couple of unique specialty dishes added, and removing the office clutter away from the front door - well, then Monroe will have a battle on it's hand for "Best Mex". Is this something that can be done without spending a ton of cash? It is.

So I'm late to the game... I've heard about this place for over a year now. Well last night I found…read moremyself in Monroe, and I had a chance to finally see what all the hype is about. I'm here to say publicly for the world to see. I don't like this place... I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS PLACE!!!! If you're in the area, you must stop by and have a bite to eat here. This place is worth planning a trip to the Monroe area. I was blown away by the quality of taste, the friendly atmosphere, service and just how fast my food came out. I love this place, I'm a fan and I will be back this weekend to eat again! Tacos and Beer is my thing now!

This is a cool spot in downtown Monroe. Food was so good that I forgot to take pics. Extremely…read morefriendly staff!! Apparently, they have good burgers too, so I've heard...

This ised to be a good mom and pop. Now they serve frozen veggies. It hasn't been good for a…read morewhile...

Our first visit here and not very impressed. When we arrived…read morethe parking lot was packed so I was very excited that I was going to get a great meal. My first impression was not great as we waited 10 minutes just to put our name on the list for a table. The staff member who had "the list" was also taking phone orders, getting to-go meals from the back, and taking people's payments. My husband was not happy that the phone orders took priority over the people in the restaurant. We watched people leave and watched the tables get cleared. We and another couple wondered why we were not being seated as there were tables available. The lady seating customers was busy checking out several parties and looking for to-go orders. Finally, after waiting 30 minutes (apparently we got there at the busiest time) we were seated. We ordered and our food came out pretty quickly. We both got the Wednesday special of fried chicken. I looked at mine and thought it looked overcooked, then I looked at my husband's and his was BURNT. I am very surprised they plated and sent out a piece of chicken that looked like his did. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of his. My corn muffin was hard but I was able to eat part of it. We waited for our ticket to go to the register to pay, but it never came. Finally, we just went to the register to pay. The waitress never came back to check if we needed refills (this is important to my husband as he always needs refills on his water). Definitely could have gotten a better fried chicken meal for a lesser price elsewhere. Will not go back.

We don't come here as often as we once did, but El Real is still one of our favorite Mexican…read morerestaurants anywhere. I have been a fan of their carnitas since my very first visit almost 10 years ago and it's still the dish I will order 80% of the time... either as a meal or as a bowl. My wife almost always gets a veggie burrito or chimichanga and we definitely ALWAYS get their chicken taquitos either by themselves or as part of the sampler plate. They've had a few fails over the year, like a few occasions when the taquitos were served cold in the center or when the carnitas over a bed of onions came out waaaay too overcooked and dry. But by and large they have always given us an excellent, clean and consistent dining experience with wonderful servers. To their credit, I don't think we've ever had an issue with any server in all of the years we've been patrons. NOTE: The times they got it wrong were always corrected when I spoke up. The sweet tea here is some of my favorite in all the south (except for this last visit) and also their frozen piña colada is my third favorite ever, with the first being one I had on a random beach in Costa Rica many years ago and the second favorite being at Pepper's Cantina in Panama City, Florida. I don't personally believe their current 3.7 rating is accurate (should be higher), but then again my loyalty might be making my opinion bias. However, any local will tell you this location is packed regularly and is almost impossible to get in on weekends without a significant wait time. Get the carnitas, burrito, sampler, three way cheese dip and a frozen piña colada or sweet tea.

Took our adult kids out for dinner (Thursday eve 6:30 ish). We were taken to a table immediately,…read moreserved drinks, chips and salsa. The food was plated nicely and delicious. This place is superrr busy (vibrant and active with families eating and chatting). The decorum is culturally beautiful, as well. We enjoyed dining at El Real. The only drawback for us was the wait for our server to come back to take our dinner orders. We were relieved when our orders were taken. However, this was short-lived. We then waited close to 30mins before our dinners arrived. The wait(s) were exorbitant. However, the meals were delicious, our server was polite, so we will try this eatery again.

If I could rate this place 0 I would. Ordered two orders of the quesabirras with rice and beans & a…read morebeef soup. I get there and all they have to offer me is cold corn tortillas and a tub of broth. That's it..... What the hell? Couldn't give me a refund or anything else if the menu, she had to use Google Translate to talk to me , very unprofessional and weird place . How are they still in business? Over $30 for broth and cold tortillas . This place will be done for soon

New place gave it a try. I could tell it's family owned and operated. Gave individual attention to…read morethe guests. Ordered queso birria, gordita, and pupusa's. Very welcoming and nice cashier and cook! Both checked in during the meal to see if it met experience and expectations. YESSSS the food did! You definitely got a BANG for your buck. What I thought was going to be regular portioned...was not! I could not finish my tacos and had to pack my gordita to go! The only thing I will take 1 star is menu is on a monitor screen making it hard to read. Font needs to be bigger. I know they are new, but hopefully they will add physical menus for the tables. Other than that...GO CHECK THEM OUT!

Fantastic barria quesadilla and street corn. This is an authentic Mexican restaurant with…read moreeverything from appetizers to drinks. The location threw me off a bit as it's attached to a convenient store. Inside was decorated well with televised telenovelas. The service was friendly and pricing was amazing since a party of 4 ate for under $50.

Clean, great food and very friendly. The have horchada ( sry if spelled wrong) TVs to watch while…read moreyou eat. I'll be going back for sure.

Wow! I certainly didn't expect this gem of a restaurant in the middle of nowhere. We were heading…read moreout to the beaches for the weekend and we knew we had a long drive coming up so we decided to stop by and get some dinner. Both my wife and I decided to get the burrito especial. I opted for steak and she got lengua. Delicious burrito topped with that amazing cheese sauce was exactly what I wanted before my long journey. It was excellent! What made it even better was the red hot sauce! The owner actually said she has a special orange sauce that she usually makes that's even better. Unfortunately she didn't have any available when I was there. I also ordered a steak torta for my sister and she absolutely loved it! She said it was a Mexican steak and cheese. I can't wait to go back here again! Looking forward to trying that orange sauce.

Love this place awesome food and a family vibe that you get nowhere else would highly recommend any…read moreand all of there food and hand made drinks