Love the service & the margaritas but do not order the burrito bowl. I got the burrito bowl with barbacoa & it was so unseasoned. The bowl only had beans, meat, lettuce, pico, & huge chunks of some kind of cheese. No salsa, queso, or anything to make it flavorful. Super bland, don't order it. read more

The food was hot and brought out to us within 7 minutes of placing! Most delicious authentic Mexican food I have ever tasted! The staff was very friendly and guided us through the menu, as it was our first time. I will definitely be back! read more

El Cid - BARBACOA QUESA TACOS - Mexican Near Me - Lexington, Kentucky

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GREAT FOOD! You can actually taste every ingredient. Awesome deals, cool vibe. All employees are attentive and very helpful. Absolutely fantastic service from EVERYONE to cashier, bartender, and the man serving the food. read more

Had really well seasoned and tasty tacos tonight. The black beans were really good too. Can be a bit pricy for two tacos, but It was a good amount of food. Will be coming back for sure. read more

Food was good but the music was to loud to enjoy the conversation. Not a night club it's a restaurant.

Saw that this place just opened and decided I'd stop by. So, I came in with a few of my friends and it was phenomenal! We were all very pleased with our entrees, I got the XXL burrito and it was monstrous and delicious! I had a bite of my pals taco and i personally I think it blew local taco out of the water! The margaritas were also very tasty and the place has a nice atmosphere. All in all, it was a great dinner and I'll be back without a doubt!! read more

Ordered take out and it was ready quick. That's awesome. Problem is, if you're going to send some chicken and cheese quesadillas out the door, at least offer some sour cream or salsa. They were dry as hell, despite tasting good. read more

Amazing food, good location, and great atmosphere. Definitely recommend getting the quesa tacos

Went with a group of 6 people, everyone loved their food ! We all got a variety of the different meats available. The sopes were delicious! Definitely gonna be a new spot, good prices too read more

I'll start off by saying I was pleasantly surprised by this place. I don't know if I had such low expectations seeing specials like "$.80 margarita Wednesdays" or "all you can eat taco Thursdays", but the place was pretty good! Started off with chips and queso which were both solid and a frozen margarita with no shortage of tequila. For dinner I went with the three street tacos and got a chicken, steak, and chorizo. The chicken and steak were so so, but the chorizo was my favorite. My wife got the chicken American tacos and said they were good as well. The rest of the table got quesadillas, sopas, and enchiladas. Overall, I wouldn't mind going back. I think the location might be a little tough with Local Taco and Cinco De Mayo so close, but time will tell! read more

Waited in line 20 Minutes to order. Took another 45 minutes for food to arrive. Food was ok but there was no salsa which I have never seen before in a Mexican restaurant. Servers were very disorganized, read more

If I could leave a 0 rating I would. We walked in at 7:13pm and we're not acknowledged at all and sat ourselves down. There were 4 employees running through the restaurant serving tables and checking on tables around us and didn't come by our table once. After 10 minutes, we grabbed a menu on our own and had our order ready, but still weren't greeted by a server. One waitress was texting and another talking and laughing with someone. We got up and left at 7:47 after a waitress checked on the table behind us TWICE and STILL didn't come to our table. Very disappointed at the way we were ignored and treated in this establishment. Honestly, 1 star is overrated. read more

The food was great but the service was so bad that I will NEVER go back! My friend and I went for dinner tonight and were the only one in the restaurant when we arrived. We'd heard great things so I was excited to check out their menu. The woman taking our order seemed irritated we were even there- she didn't even say "hi," just "what can I get started" in an annoyed tone when I walked in. I asked if I could get the quesa burrito without barbacoa since I'm a vegetarian and she told me "no" without further explanation. (Note- I'm not one to be picky. If a restaurant can't make a sub, I get it. But I've never been told they simply can't leave a single ingredient off of an item that isn't pre-made, and I'm hoping their burritos aren't pre-made.) I said OK and asked her what they had for someone who didn't eat meat and she all but rolled her eyes and said "we have a veggie burrito bowl." I flipped the menu over and there, listed as an option for filling for "our amazing entrees" was cheese and beans... meaning I should have been able to get cheese and beans in any entree, but whatever. I asked if I could do the chimichanga with cheese and beans. She asked if I wanted black or refried beans and I asked her which ones she thought were better. She looked away from me and said "everything here is good." My friend ordered next and asked for a side of queso instead of the salsa with her barbacoa queso-tacos and was told "no, we don't do any substitutions." My friend pointed out that queso is a side dish we can order (as in, we'd pay for a side of it), but the woman told her it wasn't an option. Then, when I went to the bar to grab our drinks, the bartender asked if I wanted beans inside my chimichanga. I told him yes and he said "you have cheese inside it, you want beans too?" I told him yes, I don't eat meat, and I would like beans and cheese inside of it. This entire experience was bad enough- has this restaurant ever had a vegetarian customer before??- but then we went outside to find a table (again, ONLY people in the restaurant except for one person who eventually came in behind us to get a togo order). The tables outside were filthy- dishes everywhere, not wiped down. I grabbed a napkin dispenser off another dirty table to try to clean ours, but there was only one napkin left in it. Basically, I would not recommend this restaurant to my worst enemy. As a fellow Lexington business owner, I'm pretty forgiving because I know things happen, but all of these things combined are inexcusable. read more

I have had takeout twice from El Cid. Food was hot and delish! Highly recommend the chunky guacamole. The second time we ordered they forgot our queso but they called back and said we can get it any time since they forgot. We will be ordering again soon! read more

The wait for Local Taco was out the door, so we decided to try El Cid. Advice: don't do it. I would wait outside of Local Taco for an hour in the pouring rain before coming here again. Warm beer, lackluster service, and greasy, overpriced tacos. Save your money and just go to Taco Bell. read more

Ordered the queso tacos,nachos,and a chimichanga. It was delivered cold and soggy. No chrunch or crisp whatsoever. No roja,no verde, no avo cream. Just some nasty compote/tomato juice with a lil onion qnd cilantro stems. Very bland food. read more

After some disappointing tacos across the street we decided to stop in and I'm glad that we did the staff was super friendly the place is nice and clean they suggested these quesa-tacos which are served with the side of broth that you dip the taco in they very delicious and they have a fresh to order guacamole cart.. We will definitely be back next time we're in town read more

El Cid - Quesa-tacos with barbacoa - Mexican Near Me - Lexington, Kentucky

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I wanted carnitas. A coworker said they had great carnitas and barbacoa tacos, so I decided to try it out for lunch. I placed an order and due to my slow-paced sister, we left pretty late to pick it up. While on our way to El Cid, they called to let me know my order was ready (very nicely). Once we arrived (curbside due to corona), a man grabbed our bags and let me know that they reheated it for us (again, bc we were so late) and also threw in some extra tortillas By the time we got back to our office, the food wasn't super hot anymore (it's about a 10min walk), but it was SOOO DELICIOUS . I can only imagine how good it will be when I pick it up on time next time. The food portions were large and all reasonably priced. We only got the carnitas, but they were SO tasty! The staff was friendly and the tacos were so good. The sides we got were black beans, chips and salsa, and Spanish rice (all good, though I wasn't overly impressed, pretty standard). We also got fries topped with queso which were really yummy too. 10/10 will definitely go again!!! read more

El Cid - Carnitas, Chips and Salsa, Rice, Cheese Fries, Black Beans - Mexican Near Me - Lexington, Kentucky

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Great atmosphere! Food was delicious! Staff was very attentive! Tacos & sopes we're bomb!!!!

Was hoping for the best. Turned out not good. THEY MUST HAD A LEAKY ROOF in the kitchen. The !!!QUESO-PIZZA!!! was wet Barbacoa with a few onions and falling apart, no cheese on it anywhere. Slimly and mushy Jalapenos on a bed or slimy onions (Way over cooked). The ground beef Chimichanga was just a burrito with melted cheese swimming in a soup and rice, The foot long Taco (ground beef) the shell was a large flour tortilla lightly fried dripping a river of possibly water from the lettuce and tomatoes. The unimpressive chips and Salsa 1.99 was pureed tomatoes no flavor and the chips the only thing Dry. (El Cid 304 S Limestone Lexington Ky Location read more

Very poor right from the start. Server struggled with basic orders. Water ordered with lemon showed up with lime and iced tea was musty. It was all downhill from there. Jalapeño queso was runny & flavorless. Corn tortillas dripped grease. And all four entrees were salty to the point of being inedible. Really disappointing. read more

They need more staff, they have zero direction for pick up or to go orders. Waited two different lines just to see what line I'm supposed to be in. The server could care less about anything but their tips. If y'all are going to be a popping store then you need to organize better. I was picking this order up for work I don't even like Mexican food this review is based off of purse customer experience and no reflection on the food itself. read more

I am so picky when it comes to casual dining restaurants because the meat/ingredients always tend to be of low quality, but that's totally not the case here! The food was fresh, hot, great quality, perfectly priced-the staff was attentive and friendly! The only minor problem I experienced (which was no biggy) my chips came out a little stale but they were immediately replaced with hot fresh ones! This place is new so totally normal to have little things here and there to work on! Great place, will be back with friends! read more

Horrible. Went and got $30 worth of tacos and they all were wrong. Had onions on them. Then proceeded to tell me there was nothing they could do for me. read more

Absolutely the best guacamole hands down. The place is really jumping on Friday nights. Great atmosphere, but hard to get a seat. Try it! Yum! read more

The food is not good. I ordered some tacos and they were soggy. .80 margaritas were 7 oz cup.

Es el mejor restaurant 304 Limestone st platos muy limpios la comida sale rápido y la atención muy buena mi favorito sin discusión

Excellent location and fantastic menu! I ordered the Molcejete on a whim and was absolutely stuffed. We sat outdoors when it was warm. Service was a little slow and the margs not as strong as I might have liked, but I'll definitely be back when it's warm again read more

Great food and a staff that went above and beyond to make our visit pleasant. Special shout out to Carson who helped my husband rescue his wedding ring that slipped into the sink's drain. read more

Came here to check out the place for the first time. Ordered a chicken fajita and chicken burrito bowl with fries to go. The $12 fajita had the most bland, scrambled egg-looking chicken I've ever seen, with bitter peppers and it was missing half the things I ordered. The fries had virtually no seasoning, so it was just bland potato. The burrito bowl was okay, but the experience overall was 1 star. read more

While I generally love the tacos here, we stopped by the new location on National & had to wait in line for approx 25 minutes. When we finally made it to the front of the line to place our orders, we were told it would take at least an hour to get our food. The group of 3 and our group of 4 immediately left & opted for Mirror Twin and Rolling Oven instead. I'm all about giving grace & understanding the impact of COVID & being a "new" restaurant, but this just isn't ok. It's a taco place... 1) someone should've told those waiting in line about the wait for food. 2) someone should take orders from the line - like Chick FIL-A. 3) they have a ton of tables at this location, so they should hire servers to provide a quality experience for their customers. We will give them a month or so & give them another try, but if the process doesn't change, we likely won't be back. read more

closest authentic mexican food i've found in lexington!! pretty great service, food is always tasty. love the atmosphere

I'm always on the hunt for good street tacos and El Cid did not disappoint. I got the steak steak street tacos and was throughly impressed. The margarita I got was one of the best I've had it came with good tequila, and was strong. Finally, my bartender Alex was extremely accommodating and made the experience great. I can't wait to be back. read more

Super delicious!! Only thing I don't like is that there is always college students in there not knowing how to act.. this ain't a club or bar they do serve alcohol & beer but they be acting over the top like they ain't ever drink before.. like chill I'm tryna enjoy these bomb as birria tacos & conversation with friends. read more

Not your typical Mexican restaurant. Party way between fast food and sit down. Food comes on metal trays. Nice atmosphere and music. The food is good. Reasonable size portions, but not large. As big as I need. Some draft beer. Order at counter and they bring it to you. read more

This place is so good I already had it for lunch and seriously conferring going again tonight for dinner. Authentic tacos !! I had queso Barbacoa and it was delicious read more

This place is awesome! Their quesatacos are to die for! They also have 85 cent margaritas on Wednesdays and theyre not like what you would think. I got tipsy off of two lol definitely will be coming here before going to the bars this summer! read more

I was exited for .80 margaritas I'm not gonna lie. I waited an HOUR for my Togo order, where it wasn't even what I ordered (2/3 of the people I was with orders where wrong) I HOPE it gets replaced with something better soon. An under staffed MESS. I got 10% off my next order and I just gave it to someone else because I will NEVER come back. There's much better places in Lexington than this mess! read more

I went with my boyfriend a while back and did the all you can eat tacos. It wasn't even the good kind of tacos, just the ones that were either ground beef or chicken. It was just bland, over priced and had a hair in it. The manager gave us a 10% off coupon. I mean what's that going to do, take $2 off!! Definitely wasn't satisfied with this place at all. Cinco de Mayo has better food than this place!!! read more

My daughter took me to here a couple weeks ago for lunch and our meal was "out of the Park" good. I loved it so much I brought my daughter, son and husband back on Saturday evening around five or so. We did not get to eat there as we just so happened to get there after a group of women who obviously needed to eat at home. Pickiest folks I have ever seen. Only liked onions fixed a certain way. Only liked certain kinds of beans, ect. You get the picture. Pretty sure they do not cook, have nannies and housekeepers. We waited I know for about twenty to twenty five minutes behind these women before we gave up and left. After each lady FINALLY ordered ( we had not given up yet as we thought the checkup would only take a few more minutes )and went out to their table apparently one of the ladies proceeded to come back in after gathering each ladies money and credit cards to pay for the meals. Of course the clerk had to figure out who's was who's on the ticket. Then it was a riot watching the woman paying try figure out how much tip to put on the cards for each lady on the ticket! The clerk kept saying to her the whole time that it was alright just take your time. Looking behind me there were probably ten people waiting after us just to get our orders placed. We could not take it anymore and left. I would really like to come back sometime and I pray to god these women are not in front of me. I have worked in restaurants and other jobs for the public over the years and know how hard it can be sometimes with customers but this one took the cake. read more