(9/29/25) - First timer: we ate early so not much of crowd but staff was super friendly and…read moreinviting. I typically judge a Mexican restaurant by their chips and salsa quality and this place was great! Fresh chips, salsa was high quality, even spicy version was good. The margaritas were decent and flavorful (not overloaded mix or tequila) The best part of our experience was the Mocajete dish! Mix of shrimp, steak, chicken, cactus, jalapeño, chorizo, amazing cheese... More than enough to share for 2. This was first time I've ever seen or heard of and came recommended from a friend but it was worth it! So fresh, so tasty, and flavorful. HIGHLY RECOMMEND! I will definitely eat here again when in town! :)

As soon as we walked in, we saw 3 employees who were speed walking and practically jogging to tend…read moreto their customers. Despite a full house, service and time to get food and drinks was excellent! Madeya was our waitress and was so great. I ordered a molcajete, so delicious and enough for 3 people! Margaritas were excellent as well. Great food and service, even the chips and salsa were fantastic- the chips were still warm and you could tell had just come out of the fryer. My new favorite Mexican restaurant!

We had a great family experience for lunch at El Patron's today. The restaurant itself has a great…read morevibe and ambiance: comfy black chairs and booths, great lighting, colorful walls adorned with various photos, and a full bar full of Steelers (?) football regalia. Owners must be big fans! Food was fresh, delicious, and prepared beautifully. Margaritas were enormous and in beautiful glassware. The team who took care of us was phenomenal. They have regulars with whom they chat and ask about family, so this restaurant has some roots at this point with the locals. Best of all was the VALUE: very reasonable prices. Will definitely be back! ¡Gracias a todo el equipo en El Patron's!

Food came out really fast and there was lots of food on the plate…read more The staff was really friendly and quick. And, the food was reasonably priced and delicious.

Excellent service for our to go order on a Sat…read more Extremely generous portions Absolutely no issues for 7 orders Had many soft tacos and accompaniments. So fresh! Try the Chili verde with pork! It's not to spicy but red peppers haven't a zest! Great queso too! Will be back again and again. Marg to go !!

Food was extremely good! I would definitely come back here…read more Service was also good. They were very polite. The place is small there tables inside and outside, probably can accommodate 20 people. Best Mexican restaurant in this area

Why haven't I tried this place before? Well now I know that it's delicious and a first rate choice…read morefor Mexican food in Camdenton. The restaurant space is clean and would be good for large groups. Grab a margarita and enjoy the large deck. Set off from the road and surrounded by pines you can enjoy the outside space without all the commotion of the city. Our service was fast and friendly. Our food came very quickly, watch out for the plates, hot, hot, hot. I ordered the combination plate: pork tamale, chicken enchilada and beans and rice. Very tasty. The tamale was ridiculous. The portions were more than generous. My son ordered the Burrito Ixtapia. It was giant and he said it was delicious. You won't need to take out a second mortgage to eat here. I was pleasantly surprised to not pay Lake prices. It's a little off the beaten path, and well worth the trip!

Great food and excellent service. We highly recommend them. The restaurant is always clean and…read moreinviting. We enjoy it every time we go.

The food was not good. There was a hair in our salsa. Very loud environment…read more Would not recommend.

Tried for the first time. The place is a bit of a dive -which is good by me. The food was good…read more-the service was good -their Salsa was amazing! It had a good Smokey chipotle flavor. We'll go back when at the lake for Mexican.

Tastes better than most Mexican places and it's cheaper! Fast service and great chips and salsa.read more

We had a group of 13, we called ahead and I showed up an hour early, but still had to wait for an…read morehour and a half to be seated, then a waited another hour to be served. My fajitas was burnt on the bottom, but the flavor was good. Along with the corn tortillas were raw.

I'm not typically a fan of Mexican food, and when I do get it, I usually stick with a shrimp taco…read moreon a corn tortilla and some queso. We were in town for our annual family vacation with my in-laws and siblings, and Carmelita's is one of their favorite go-to spots. We went on a Tuesday evening around 6:30, and it was definitely busy, but we were able to get a table for 7 (1 child and 6 adults) within about 10-15 minutes, which was not a bad wait at all. The restaurant was very clean, and the service was quick and friendly. We started with the queso, which was so good I completely forgot to take a picture of it! My fiancé recommended that I try the Jiba Dinner, and I'm so glad I listened. It was surprisingly delicious, and I would absolutely order it again. I'm still not a huge fan of Mexican-style chicken, but the quality of the chicken was actually really good. I also appreciated that they were able to accommodate my gluten intolerance by swapping the flour tortillas for corn tortillas. I honestly can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm already looking forward to coming back to Carmelita's! It's definitely a new favorite for me.

As someone who doesn't eat mexican I was very satisfied with the food. Big portions so there is…read moreplenty for leftovers. I had the tropicana fajitas and had a couple bites of the jiba dinner. All were very delicious. Service was really quick. It felt very local and personal inside. It reminded me of small restaurants I like back home.

Ok I can't speak on the whole menu but I can speak on their rice and ambiance. We are a fan of…read moreboth! We did a carry out pan of Arroz and while it was good, it needed just a bit more salt so luckily I had some Goya Seasoning, added that and was good to go. We needed this as I was grilling 12 lbs of Carne Asada that night. It was a nice piece to the meal. Yes, we had guac and salsas as well for the BBQ. I would like to come back and try their menu and hang at the bar as it looks like fun. I actually left my cc there and the owner held onto it. I met him when I picked up the rice. Very nice man and we have to support gente in this stressful times!

Service was very good Carnitas and shrimp enchiladas were ok…read morebut not great. Margarita was good I feel like this visit deserves 3.75 star, 3 for the food, 5 for the service

The food was excellent the service was amazing, love the look of the place. We will be back for…read moresure. Thank you Emma and Nick.

Great place to grab a beer I'll put a hold on the rest ice water with three ice cubes. It's cold…read more Good luck with all that we'll see y'all next time.

Sat our large party immediately. Great enchiladas! Honestly, really good hole in the wall Mexican…read morefood, delicious queso Blanco, nice service and lots of big tvs throughtout (we were there for the World Cup). Cutie decor. Clean bathrooms. Would def recommend!

We love Pablitos but our visit on July 6th was very disappointing. The street tacos were so tough…read moreand stringy, they were inedible. My wife's taco salad consisted of about 3 tablespoons of some sort of dry ground meat and a little bit of lettuce. No cheese or tomatoes to be found. We asked for some cheese to add to the ground meat but never received. Not trying to be negative and we don't usually complain, but this trip to Pablitos was terrible.