El Mezquite And Grill - Riverbank

The food and the service was greatWe were checked on about 7 times and we got our food quickIn and out in about 45 minutesGreat pricesDefinitely recommend

My partner and I came here for lunch on Saturday. It was completely empty except for us. I want to say we had a great time, but I really can't. There's probably a good reason we were the only ones there during what should have been lunch rush. The place mostly looks nice, it has fixtures that are already a little dated and the paint on the ceiling is peeling off in big patches, but it has a pleasant, contemporary vibe. We were seated as soon as we walked in, the one waitress on staff was incredibly attentive, the front of house staff were amazing. However, the food was absolutely terrible and overpriced for what was served. I've lived in this neighborhood for a decade and in the area my whole life. I know what good Mexican restaurant food tastes like, and how much it's worth. This place NEEDS a new cook if they're going to insist on charging what they charge. They also need to change the fryer oil more often. Our chips, fries, my huarache, heck even the sushi all tasted like rancid oil. They also charge way too much for what you get. My huarache was almost entirely the fatty trimmings off the beef and a mountain of iceberg lettuce, and there was almost no filling in my partner's quesadilla. The worst part was that only an hour after we left that we started feeling really sick from it. I don't know how old that fry oil was, but it tasted really off, and both of us got really sick off the food from there. I threw out the leftovers and won't be coming back, there's much better Mexican restaurants on that same block.

I love Molcajetes but this is not the place to go for one. *ITS A BEAN BASE* if you like red or green sauce in it, I repeat, this is not the place to go for a molcajete. Unless you like bean soup. The chicken was good I'll give them a star for that but uhhhhh the steak wasn't doing it for me either.

Way, way too pricey for what you get. There are many Mexican restaurants around here with similar offerings for better value. Our steak was extremely tough and mostly fat and gristle. The shrimp plancha was crazy overcooked, we were missing the tortillas for all the meals.

I will admit here that the food is really good. We’ve eaten here a few times and ordered them through DoorDash several times and it has never disappointed. They have a good mix of choices on their menu, customer service is spot on, and food comes out hot and ready!