The food wasn't much to speak of. Actually, they brought it out a bit too fast. I had enchiladas and I'm used to them being so hot I burn my mouth on the cheese, but that wasn't the case here. There was a fairly large bar that had a wide variety of alcohol that might be worth checking out. read more

So delicious. Their margaritas are strong, they keep you well stocked in chips and salsa, and they'll make special requests on almost all their items - extra cheese, sauce, whatever. The staff is very friendly and it has a very independent feeling to it. Their albondiga soup is so good, I always regret not getting a full order of that for my meal. I generally end up getting a shredded beef taco & a chile rellno or tostada. read more

This place was completely packed every time we would drive by to and from the way to Yosemite. We had to try it on Father's Day. My first rule of any Mexican restaurant is to see how the chips and salsa are. The original salsa is hot and delicious, but I was partial to the red Medium salsa. As usual with a first visit to any restaurant, I always order the Carne Asada. I would highly recommend the #61 with a medium cooking. El Cid has a very very friendly staff, who just in the 10 minutes or so we were waiting for a table had to put up with SO MUCH CRAP from the public. read more

This is a great place to have mexican...especially after a long day in Yosemite. The food was fresh, generous portions, great salsa, and the service was excellent. Oh, and let's not forget the margarita...definately had tequila in it! I wish I was not the driver that night as I would hav had three or four. All of the food we had was just great and was prepared very well. One cool thing I really enjoyed was the garden behind the rest. had a Humming bird feeder and they were all over the place...How cool! If you want Mexican in Oakhurst you have foung the place...Stop looking and start eating and drinking! read more

I wanted to give El CID 5 stars. We always eat here when we visit Yosemite. The place has been nicely remodeled there is always a crowd and the staff is friendly. In the past I have always liked their food and their chips are pretty darn good. But this time the food was completely cool, not even warm. Maybe just a bad night we all have those. So this time it was just so so. However, I will give them another try the next time I am in Oakhurst. read more

An either telekinetic or diligent and observant wait staff (which is hard to find in the highlands) graciously floats through the channels and corridors granting this sleep deprived parental unit his 3 wishes for culinary consummation 1./ Cleanliness - nothing sticky out of place beat down or questionable. 2./ Quality of ingredients - nothing fake in their strawberry margaritas or their Chile Verde burritos. It was solid all the way through. 3./ An open environment that tolerates kids, El Cid has a decent view off the back deck. All in all I enjoyed this place immensely and will be back. read more

I love mexican food and have to try nachos at every place I visit! Nachos here were outstanding! !!! Best part for me was all the jalapenos! !! Washing them down with a double margarita on the rocks was just what the doctor ordered!!! read more

Very popular! Expect waiting unless you get an early start. Friendly service. The food is more Midwest American Mexican Fusion than the healthy Cal-Mex fusion. Does that make sense? It's the refried mess versus the colorful fresh. read more

This is one of the most successful restaurants in town. The staff are great, the food is consistent and always comes out quickly. It's affordable and the margaritas are great! read more

Best Machaca I've ever had in life. If you are ever in Oakhurst area I highly recommend this place!!!

I used to HATE El Cid due to their love affair with bell peppers (which are not food). Now there've been so many large gatherings I've been forced to eat here. I have learned that anything may be ordered with chicken instead of nasty bell pepper yuckiness and it's all pretty tasty. Thank goodness! read more

Great food! Great service! Great View! Fabulous cocktails. This place was recommended by my hotel and is great. Shrimp enchiladas amazing. read more

The food was a little disappointing. Beans are okay but I've had better rice from a buffet line. I was really looking forward to some great Mexican food but this was, at best, just okay. Service was acceptable and nice inside, just hoping for more from the food. read more

Best Mexican food in Oakhurst. Margaritas are amazing. New addition shortens the wait time. Echi-rito is a 2 portion meal for a decent price. read more

I haven't been here in a few years but what I remember was delicious food and a reasonable price. This establishment has been in business for a long time and I hope they continue to be. read more

As a Los Angeles resident, I have high standards for Mexican food, this restaurant was terrific! Food was great, plentiful, decor is nice, SERVICE WAS TERRIFIC! read more

The food here was great. We had huevos en Chile verde, huevos rancheros, and chiles rellenos. All tasted authentic. The tortillas and salsa were good too. Our server was very attentive. We were a bit skeptical about the restaurant but knew it was gong to be good when we heard the cooks singing and whistling in the kitchen. ;) read more

Great food and service. Have had large groups there and they do a great job. Kid friendly. A family favorite for sure. Awesome floutas, a must try. Large portions and good prices. read more

We enjoyed eating here - having family join us. They are a bit pricey on items, but . . .you can also order a la carte. We like that you can get vegetarian options. Chips are good - and they keep you supplied w/chips and salsa. Server, Haley, was super patient as we visited for quite a time before we ordered. We enjoyed the chili relleno. Beans are good. Salad looks barely OK - plain iceberg lettuce with a few extra things (can't even remember - so unimpressive) TONS of TVs, so . .hard to visit as they are everywhere and people's attention get's distracted - wish they had one room w/o them. read more

This is my favorite Mexican restaurant of all time! I have grown up in mariposa and have been coming here since I was 4 years old. I went away to college and still haven't found anything nearly as tasty at the cheese enchiladas here! Every time I come home to visit, we go here and get a pitcher of margaritas! Definitely worth it and Debbie, Jodie, and Marcella are our long time favorite servers! read more

3 starts for the following. 1. great quac and salsa 2. they treat you very very well there. 3. Food has been great in the past. No with some of these things, i would normally rate higher, but 2 years back I had a burritto and my son had one also, both different in the fact that the only shared item between the both was chicken. 2 hours later he is not feeling well and I was sick.. My wife had steak there that night and was doing great.. Ill go again, its my friends and his familys fav place to go... They are locals and im not. D read more

Good restaurant during the way back from Yosemite to Fresno, CA. Beef Fajitas is very yummy. My husband love Camarones al Mojo de Ajo (Shirmp dish) but I'm not a fan. Avoid tostadas. I think tostadas in Salsa&Beer is far more better than this restuarant. We ordered 3 dishes, it costs us about $41, after tip is $48 read more

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We always stop here to eat on our way home from Yosemite and I have never been disappointed. This time I ordered the shredded beef tacos and they were wonderful. Hubby had the carne asada and loved it as well. We had a very attentive server named Debbie and we will definately go to El Cid again the next time we are in that area. read more

Food was good, salsa was very fresh. I'm a little spoiled on the authentic mexican food because I live near little Tijuana but the food was still good, The helpings were on the large size and the staff was friendly and always kept my water glass full. A good value with no complaints. read more

Skip the food here and find something else. The Mexican food is as basic and blan as could be. We were hoping for more

Really good salsa. Get the carnitas. Drink a beer while you wait as they are very busy on a sat night. Service is very friendly. read more

El Cid - Carnitas - Mexican Near Me - Oakhurst, California

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I would definitely recommend this place. The atmosphere is quaint and the food is pretty good. The chips and salsa were great! My wife's tostada was really good. The margarita's are good and cheap. My veggie burrito was so-so but still good. The best part was the cheerful staff. Everyone was nice and helpful and hard working! read more

With at least 5 Mexican restaurants in the vicinity, the competition is tough. We were going to the Mellow Drama at the Golden Chain Theatre which is around the corner. The two enchilada dinner with shredded beef and chicken was enjoyable. the waitress were very helpful to our party of 15. The patio view with the finches and hummingbirds was a delight to watch. The modernized clean restrooms were really finished with a wonderful design, read more

Just visiting in the area and went for lunch on a weekday. Interesting menu with lots of choices. Service was good and food was OK - not the best, not the worst I have had. Pretty pedestrian flavors and prices were a smidge high for what you get. Seems popular with the locals, but I probably wouldn't go back if we were in the area again. read more

After a long day of hiking, little to eat, and car sickness on our way here from yosemite, I was so hungry, I probably would have eaten anything put in front of me. Not too bad of food, but I did find it weird that they put bell peppers in their burritos. Maybe it's just me? They basically served me a glorified fajita. But it wasn't bad by any means. The part that got me was the terrible service. Waitresses chatting with their friends that were there, taking 20 minutes to bring us waters, and getting odd looks from the staff in general. I wasn't sure if it was the look on my face when I walked in from being car sick or the fact that I was wearing a pink camo t-shirt and the town seems to be kind of hipster. Either way, customers are your paycheck, and you shouldn't be looking at them like they just spread leprosy through your town..if you ask me at least. read more

Being married to a Mexican woman for 33 years and eating her mothers food for many of them,(God rest her soul), who was the chef in her own restaurant in Mexico City for 30+ years, I have some thing to compare to, real home style Mexican food not the Americanized restaurant stuff. One of the first places that I've found that offers a real Mexican variety of dishes. One of which is the "Lengua en Salsa" It was the first time that I'd seen a restaurant even the "Mexican Restaurants" offer such a dish so I had to try it since Lengua is one of my favorites. My wife always gets the Fajitas but since she is a vegan she orders a Vege Fajitas. The server was very friendly and since they didn't have a "Vege Fajitas" on the menu she said there would be no problem for the chef to accommodate her request for a Vegan meal. We were seated in the adjacent room to the main serving room with the big bay windows and enjoyed the finches and the hummingbirds feeding just before sundown and a lovely view of the gardens below us. While we sat there waiting for our food we enjoyed their seasoned chips & fresh salsa, yep seasoned now where do you see those? I wished the fresh salsa had a thicker tomato texture and flavor, but it was still good however their "Hot Sauce" would have been better for us with the chips. Our order came to us in a very reasonable amount of time. As our food was being served to us the smells were fantastic and the food looked great and very well arranged on the plate. The first thing I noticed is that the Lengua, cut in thick slices was served in a red sauce with lots of vegetables rice and beans with some cheese over the beans. My mouth was watering by now and as I took a piece of meat in my mouth and bit into it I found a wonderful spicy flavor and the meat was cooked to perfection not mushy like a lot of chefs cook Lengua for taco's, but slightly firm but yet your fork would cut right through it. The rice was a true "Spanish Rice" seasoned very well. and the re-fried beans were cooked to perfection not clumpy but smooth and creamy with flavor, not watery. My wife's Vegy Fajitas were made with every kind of fresh vegetable that the chef could find in his kitchen cooked perfectly not crunchy but not too soft either. Even though they were cooked with a very light amount of oil they were seasoned and delicious. Not only was the food great but also very reasonably priced for a restaurant located in a tourist area. There isn't a lot of atmosphere there but you would really love the food at least I and my wife did. When we go back again to Yosemite we will eat there again. Maybe because this restaurant is a true Mexican restaurant and serves traditional dishes is why some don't like the food. Their expectations are geared toward the Americanized Mexican food normally served in chain restaurants. My compliments to the Chef, Thanks for the good service and delicious food. La comida es rico. read more

We were staying at B&B 15 miles from here. Every visit into Town, we noticed the full parking lot at El Cid. So, it it's that good, we must try it kind of thing. And our guess was 100% correct--it was very good. The beer was served in cold glasses which was a good sign AND refills came with a new/cold glass! The chips with salsa were great! Everything we ordered arrived on hot plates and excellent. Service was great as we noticed no problems at all. We sat in the rear with a view of humming bird feeders. It was interesting to watch the birds attempt to chase others away. Great view and meal! read more

This is a family oriented restaurant just outside the South gate of Yosemite National Park. They have a small dining room adjacent to a large dining hall. We sat in a booth in the dining hall where there are also large tables that can accommodate big groups (more about that in a moment). For as crowded as it was, this is a quiet place. Lots of TVs around to watch sporting events. A basket of chips and bowl of salsa were brought to the table when we arrived I had a delicious margherita and my husband enjoyed his usual Corona beer. The Mexican dishes we had are typical of the type of food that you would find in any Mexican restaurant where the patrons are not Hispanic ... mild spices and tasty although not what I would consider authentic. Of particular note is the ambiance. Although this is not what I would consider a warm, cozy place to look at, it has a feeling of welcoming. Many families as well as small groups and couples were in the dining areas. The wait staff was attentive and friendly. A very large banquette table was set up in the dining hall. Suddenly a burst of applause could be heard from the smaller dining room next to us. Then, in walked the California Fire brigade who had been fighting the fires in Yosemite. Everyone in the restaurant had applauded these men for what they had been doing for the past several days! That's the kind of place Oakhurst is! If the parking lot looks full - go in anyway, they have lots of room for many guests. read more

El Cid is a local favorite, seemed like everyone knew everyone. They also made you feel like you were a local yourself. The staff was amazingly friendly and helpful. The food was excellent. It's not the place I expected to go and have Mexican food. But I would definitely go there again. The food and staff are very good. read more

Coming out of Yosemite and looking fora late lunch in Oakhurst. Saw the packed parking lot and had to turn around and try this place. Very friendly service, nice view out the back window. The salsa was fresh and the chips served still warm. Had a simple enchilada dish that was prepared just right, had one chicken and one shredded beef. Both were very good. My highest accolade: would definitely return here next time in the area. read more

Good service. Full plate of food and flavorful. I've been back serval times and the experience never bad.

El Cid was recommended by the hotel we stayed at. Our food was decent, but not outstanding. The waitress was not overly friendly although the fella refilling our drinks was on top of it and did a great job. Would probably try somewhere else next time. read more

We were in desperate need of some Mexican food. So we went down the hill and found eL Cid. I had the tamale, cheese enchilada and beef taco. It was all good the hubby had the enchilada, taco and tamale. Very satisfied. Good chips and nice view of the hummingbirds. read more

Food was delicious and staff was nice. Highly recommend dis restaurant in Yosemite national park.

I went to dinner with my parents last night and the food here is decent but as other reviewers have said, there are other local eateries with the same quality or better Mexican cuisine. The main reason for the low rating is the owner and waitress that served us. My very elderly parents took a coupon which would have saved $3 off our beverage bill but the day it came out in the paper, it expired and El Cid wouldn't honor it. What a shame! We heard excuses about the newspaper in which the ad was placed, yada yada yada. It's not the restaurant's fault, yada yada yada. Well, let me clear up who's fault it wan't, MY 83 OLD PARENTS!!! I hope that this was worth $3. read more