I love the food here. The location is perfect for anyone lodging as well. I would visit this location again.

Always kind good always good love to come eat here!!!! It's one of our favorite places to eat we drive over 30 mins just to have dinner or lunch love it read more

I've tried almost every restaurant in Oakland and deep creek and El canelo is my favorite. For one their team is friendly and efficient, the food is always made well and quickly no matter how busy they are. Everything is clean and I inspect everything even the floors, the atmosphere is colorful and cheerful. I have gluten allergies and they cater to those needs by replacing flour wraps for chips so I can have almost any meal on the menu. the portions are large and satisfying. the food is spiced perfectly and the temperatures are just right, never cold when it should be warm, always freshly made. I love their fresh cilantro salsa its delicious and the chips always warm. prices on the food and drinks are better than most places in town. I've been going here 7 years and have never felt sick after eating, like several other places I won't mention. the only thing I can think of to make it better would be to add fresh jalapenos as an add on. I like it spicy! read more

This restaurant is connected to a motel and is one of the two Mexican restaurants in Oakland, about 15 minutes' drive from Wisp Resort. The food is fairly inexpensive, with most dishes at $12 or less. A margarita pitcher was $18., the equivalent of about 4 glasses. The service was friendly and prompt. The ambiance is a bit weak, with very basic chairs and a dining area that resembles a big open cafeteria. The bar on the right has no bar stools so you can't actually sit at the bar. The bathroom is cramped and not wheelchair accessible. Actually there is a step down from the entrance so the main dining room is not wheelchair accessible either. read more

El Canelo Mexican Restaurant - Vegetarian #1, burrito, enchilada, and rice/beans Sour cream was an extra $1.25 - Mexican Near Me - Oakland, Maryland

Some of the best Mexican food I've had and the best I've had in the area. Normally you either deal with cookycutter recipes or food that looks like it was plopped on the plate. When I ate here at first I thought "ok its attached to a motel, sure I'll try ones". I was so glad I did, the staff was friendly, the setting comfortable and the food not only was delicious but looked apatizing as well. Defiantly a 2 thumbs up. read more

Food is always good, service is great and the restaurant is always festive and clean. We always stop for a meal or takeout when we are in town/lake. read more

Do not get the nachos..if you must have nachos...go to Taco Bell. Most of their food is good, great margaritas but big big mistake on nachos...unseasoned ground beef on chips with melted cheese..that's it! Ba da bing! Nothing else...REALLY?!?!? read more

Best Mexican I've had in years! New to the area and we have eaten at this restaurant several times. Family run and consistently delicious and home made. Many of the Mexican restaurants we have eaten at in our travels in recent years have lost their way. read more

My husbands steak was ordered medium rare and was brought out cold, raw, and grey. He was grossed out and didn't want it recooked. He didn't even take a bite. He sent it back and was, admittedly loud and kind of an ass about it. We asked for the check, I just wanted to get out of there. And they charged us for the steak. The owner argued with us about what medium rare is, even showing us a picture on her phone. We are the foody type, we eat out often and cook to perfect Temps at home, 135 this was not. The steak was cold with globs of cold fat, grey, not grilled, no sear, it literally looked like it had been simmered in water..the manager relented and took the steak off the bill Neither one of us ate anything but I was ok with paying for my meal. We won't be back. read more

This was my first time trying this restaurant out, it's a cute small restaurant and I thought their food was really good and very inexpensive. I got the cheese enchiladas and it had more of a sweet sauce to it which I enjoyed. We will be returning! read more

El Canelo Mexican Restaurant - Cheese enchiladas. - Mexican Near Me - Oakland, Maryland

They have a lot of combinations to choose from in their lunch specials, and the prices are very good. I ordered the steak fajitas and it was delicious, good portion and brings salad, guacamole, sour cream, and 3 flour tortillas. The service was quick and friendly and I enjoyed the music they were playing. I can't wait to go back and try other things on the menu. The beef taco and chille relleno combination was also very good. Great food and can't beat the prices. read more

Place was great for large party of 19 for a bachelor party. Efficient in terms of getting food out. Fried ice looked great the shell was stale but besides that great food. Its a strange location adjacent to a motel but for mexican food in the area it was good. read more

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I love the Jalisco special always delicious. Friendly and inviting staff. Very nice place for the whole family.

31 Aug 2020 My critique--- Simply put, excellent quality food; generous portions; fair price! I've dined here many times at the Oakland, Md. site, and found it ever-excellent, including the pleasant, decor autentica. ¡Que deliciosa! read more

Great Service, Great Authentic Mexican Food! Always have great specials!we have been coming here for many years and food is always good! Never had a bad meal or bad service! Always Clean! They just put a fresh coat of pain on recently! My favorite is the fried chicken chimichanga! Today I tried the sweet & Sour Shrimp special over rice and it was very good! read more

El Canelo Mexican Restaurant - a man eating a meal - Mexican Near Me - Oakland, Maryland

I really really want to like El Canelo, especially since I love Mexican food. But unfortunately, it just lacks some quality. Granted, I've only been there to get carry out, so I can't comment on the overall service. My veggie fajitas came with cheese melted into the veggies. It didn't taste bad, but it was just strange. I like adding my own cheese. The tortillas weren't toasted or anything, just felt like they came out of a bag. The chips and salsa are pretty good, I will give them that. I would give them 3 stars if they just did one thing- Make their own guacamole!!! Come on, you call yourself an authentic Mexican restaurant but you buy cheap Store made dyed gauc?! So so so disappointing. Don Patron is opening soon right across the street so they'll have some competition. They really need to step their guac game up. read more

This is hidden gem in Oakland, Maryland. Not only is it a motel and gym complete with sauna but a terrific Mexican restaurant. It is very affordable, clean, and centrally located. read more

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Good food and nice staff! For no frills Mexican food, this is one of our favorites! Highly recommend you try it if you're in the area!

Can't speak highly enough of this place, if you're looking for affordable good food, great portions, friendly staff this is the place. The place was quiet, humble and not busy but me and wifey actually prefer that. We will be back one day. Food tasted authentic like someone's abuelita made it and not like many of the Tex mex places out here. Go here ! read more

Some of the best food and service in town! Always have had a good meal here with my boyfriend.

Consistency is key, and this place nails it, I have never been disappointed here, everything is always delicious!

Found this gem on the way back from hiking around swallow falls and so glad I did. To be honest, I knew I was gonna like the place when they advertised $5.55 big margaritas at the door! I decided to partake in this deal since it was practically calling my name and came with chips and salsa. With it, I ended up ordering the steak, chicken and shrimp fajitas with the corn tortillas. The food was delicious and served with beans and rice. I figured I couldn't accurately rate this restaurant without having a second margarita...so naturally I placed my order. Everything after that is a bit fuzzy...although, I didn't end up on the floor, so that means I had less than 3! This is a nice quaint restaurant perfect for inexpensive yet great tasting Mexican food. read more

El Canelo Mexican Restaurant - Margarita #1 w/ chips & salsa - Mexican Near Me - Oakland, Maryland

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Mexican is mostly the same to me wherever I've been but this place has outshine a lot of restaurants back home. They had a nice sized menu that wasn't overly complicated. Me and the hubby ordered a number #10 with a side of chile rellano. It came with a quesadilla, rice and beans and a burrito. The seasoned beef muy bueno, not too salty and soft but not mushy. The quesadilla was so warm and the cheese was by far the best I've had anywhere. To just be cheese in a flour tortilla was very impressive as far as taste is concerned. They chile rellano was also great and the red sauce they used went perfectly with everything, even the free chips that come with it. I also ordered a margarita on the rocks, it wasn't as sweet as I like it but still had a good bit of flavor of alcohol in it. Not too strong which was great. Service was by far great, even thought the place only had about 4 tables of people. Our waiter was very punctual and provided us with great service as well as advice on the menu. I would definitely come back here next time I visit MD. Only down side was they didn't have any tortilla or enchilada soup :( read more

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This was always a favorite eat-in restaurant. During the pandemic, it continued to be a favorite. Now that we know we can get take-out, we eat there even more often! It's always fresh and service is great! read more

I was pleasantly surprised by this little gem of a restaurant in Oakland. It is attached to a small motel but do not be discouraged by this. The restaurant is Incredibly clean and the staff was beyond accommodating and friendly. I enjoyed the chicken burrito which was more than plentiful and incredibly tasty and fresh. My husband enjoyed the chicken quesadilla which he enjoyed as well. The prices were very reasonable. We both loved the house margarita which was lime based with the perfect amount of tequila. Price could not be better at 4.75. I will definitely return here when I visit again !! read more

El Canelo Mexican Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Oakland, Maryland

Food very good. Staff friendly. Ambience needs updating. Reasonably priced.... won't break the bank.

First off I blame myself , We shouldn't have went in ... there was a man standing outside the restaurants back door smoking and hacking and looking like he was about to die . I continued in because Ive been wanting to go here for years and maybe that guy didn't work there . (Found out he does) anyways when we walked in the "waitress" looked me and my mother up and down as if we just bothered her , she says "two?!?!?) grabs menus and just walks off . Doesn't say "I'll seat you here or please come this way . Or even a let's go ". She continued with her nasty Karen face and stood there looking at us .(by the way it was us and one other person). (thank god I have been to food places before or I would have been confused because she didn't ask what we want to drink she just stood there) . So I was like "do you have coke?" She says "Pepsi" . I said ok "Sierra mist please" .. now mind you this is a place that has a HUGE menu . She doesn't ask if we have been there before or tell us how it goes with the lunch menu or anything" she brings the drinks rather quickly and then again stands there with her pad of paper and pen just looking at us . At this point I just want to either leave or order and just get this over with , maybe the food is great and it won't matter that we have a robot waitress who has the nastiest face I've seen in all of Oakland! So we rush to order and with in about 10 mins (how fast does it take to make a taco know what I mean?) our food comes . It was two of us and we each ordered one thing . She forgets my sour cream like I'm going to eat cheese only quesadillas dry. I ask for sour cream again. She rolls her eyes and goes to get it (at this point it's funny because no one should be this miserable and she's young at that) anyways my mother gets her burrito I get my quesadilla and we start eating . I'm half way done and I notice my mom just flicking her plate like a 3 yr old . She ate one bite and was done . The meat tastes like deer meat and I don't mean properly prepared deer I mean road kill off the side road meat. My quesadilla was made with some kind of other cheese then I asked . I asked nice for cheddar cheese . It's on the menu so that's what I wanted . I only ate half because they used so much of this other cheese that by the time I got to the end it was just a blob of cheese. No tortilla with that yummy burnt crispiness just blob. . So we were done , Karen comes over (I don't really know her name). Looks directly at my moms uneaten plate and says " done?!? We say "yerp!" She hands us the $21.00 bill walks away . I then almost left without paying because she never came back I didn't know if I left the bill on the table or what . I had to almost go in the back (where I saw mr hacker sitting and coughing again) to give her the bill. Of course I say "have a nice day, keep the rest for you!" THEN she smiles and says "Bye!". Short story .. no don't go there. Unless you have an iron stomach .. my mother was sick last night from her ONE bite . No lie. I did tip " Karen " because I'm not going to lower my standards because others do. But I will not ever return to Karen"s Shitsville Hotel Hideaway as we now call it. read more

Great Restaurant / Motel and the staff are very friendly and The food is Amazing!!!

One of the best Mexican places I've been to! Close to our cabin and service was quick with friendly waitress! Kind of small but cozy. Margs were great! read more

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Great place to eat if you are in the Deep Creek area. Good food and portions are big. Service is friendly and attentive. We are a very picky family when it comes to Mexican food and this place does not disappoint. read more

The only reason I'm giving 2 stars is because the margarita was good and you could actual taste the alcohol in it, otherwise the rating would've been less. The food was mediocre. I ordered a chalupa, 2 tacos and a tostada (#19)I got 2 hard tacos and 2 tostadas. Not what I ordered, didn't complain. Apart from that, my waitress was nowhere to be found after she handed me the check. I wanted to order another margarita. That went out the window after waiting about 20 mins for her to come back. Coming from a family of waitresses and having been one myself, I know what the customers expect and how hard it can be sometimes. That's why despite the service I still left her $5 tip. I swear I was ready to leave nothing or less than $5. read more

Service was great, every special request was granted. Just beware, the prices are higher than the average Mexican restaurant. Anything extra is considered a la carte (extra jalapeños, cheese, substitutions). This won't be our regular dinner out in the future. Just preference, the money I paid for two meals, I'd rather pay at a nice steak house. read more

Quite a nice surprise in Oakland , Maryland! Very nice server very clean bathrooms...The food was great, just beware chip/salsa are not complementary.Otherwise it would be a 5 star read more

Would give half star if possible. Service was shit. Found bugs in our pina colada's!!!! One of our members food went to a different table before it came to us and our friend refused to eat it because it was in front of someone else for a good minute . They took it back and 5 seconds later brought it back out. Obviously it was the same plate of food. We never got refills or even got the chance to ask for anything we needed!!! One positive thing is my taco salad was good. read more

We love El Canelo! We probably eat here each trip to the lake! Great, inexpensive Mexican food!

This place is pretty decent. The servers are great--very friendly, the food isn't bad, not a whole lot of flavor, but I always seem to come here 1-2 times a month. It always helps to chug one of their margaritas. Me likey. read more

Good Food, great spicy Salsa( you have to ask for it), great service at a great price.

Fantastic food and great service. We had a party of 9 and everyone got something different and everyone loved their meals. The special of the day was a shrimp dish and it was a huge portion and very delicious. The margarita was good and very reasonably priced. The kids loved the cheese dip with chips!! We will absolutely be back!! read more

Great restaurant. The people are mostly friendly. Even after my gf quit not bad cut but she did quit. But we do go still because the food is awesome and authentic as much as possible and the queso sauce fresh guacamole it's along people don't realize just how good. It's great for beer toon and always get great service and plenty of children things. I go as often as possible read more

This place was a very nice treat! I came in with my wife while visiting my parents at Alpine Lake, and they volunteered to watch our son to let us have a night out. So we decided to give El Canelo a try, and were very glad we did! There is plenty of parking and we has zero wait on a holiday weekend! We were immediately greeted and seated and had our drink orders taken. The menu has a lot of variety and the free chips and salsa are very fresh and good! We each ordered a smallish meal because we weren't terribly hungry, and the portions are very generous and the food was great! Our total was $20.30 for two meals plus the queso with chorizo appetizer. Highly recommend this place! read more