Service was TERRIBLE! Food was ok. Servers had attitudes. Happy hour menu was devoid of prices. Not ok!!! read more

Great service, very cool decor, food is great. Odd location that is not super obvious, I found it by accident and have been back many times. Glad I drove past curious what it was. read more

My husband's and my favorite restaurant in Arlington. We love the patio, and the chips and salsa are the best at any Mexican restaurant! Both are served warm. We have always had a great experience with our entrees that we order, as well. We went last night and our server was Irving. He was excellent! Such great service. We took my parents for their first time and they are looking forward to going again. read more

So love this restaurant that my sisters-in-law introduced us to. Friendly, fun, colorful, great food, great service, family-owned! Check. Them. Out. read more

I wasn't very hungry. I sat at the bar (1 seat). Ordered a Michelada which was good. Chips and salsa came. I told the waitress/bartender that I couldn't eat all of those and suggested a small portion. She said that the amount of chips is standard (I hate wasting food). I ordered a simple crunchy beef taco. It was delivered and very mediocre. I've had better at Taco Casa. Then the bill came: $4.75 for the Michelada (very nice price) and $8.00 for THE TACO!!!! I told them I'd pay $2.00 for the taco. Then the A-Hole owner stepped in to say that is the a'lacarte price. The menu does not publish a'lacarte prices. He argued with me and walked me out the door with many, many F-words. I won't be back and I hope this dude goes out of business soon. read more

Everything could be improved except for the outside patio. Haven't been there recently since the few times that I have tried the food was not good and the service wasn't much better. Will not return. read more

The food was good, the server Lori/Lauri is kind, and they're always playing music. But sometimes flies fly into the restaurant and you have to watch over your food. Overall I've had a good experience every time I've been here. read more

Came from music on the patio. The music was great, service well the waitress did a really good job. The food is nothing write home about. They still don't know how to put a pepper on a nacho, but that's just my opinion. Cheese was not hot and had already set. Bad sewer gas smell on the patio does not help. read more

I guess it was a off day. The food was very bland and had no seasoning in it. A Tex-Amex tv dinner was better. The soups disappointed in it had squash and zucchini in it. Also the size of the vegetable was a large cut. Not dice size for soup and it had a lot of zucchini and squash in it so the soup changed from tortilla soup to vegetable soup with chicken. The sauce also had little to no flavor and chips tasted a day old. No flavor for rice and beans. Just all disappointed choice for dinner. El Chico, la Benedician, el fe nix, and any tv dinner was better. Will not be going back this was a one and done experience. read more

El Gabacho Tex Mex Grill - Tex-Mex Near Me - Arlington, Texas

We went for lunch on a Friday. It was as busy, but not real crowded. Fun ambiance, a little loud with music and talking, but not bad. The warm salsa and fresh chips were really good as was the queso. The cheese enchiladas were especially flavorful. Carlos "Charlie" anticipated all of our needs before we could ask. The iced tea was fresh with lots of ice. A very enjoyable meal! read more

El Gabacho Tex Mex Grill - Lunch portion of cheese enchiladas and queso. - Tex-Mex Near Me - Arlington, Texas

Great place to stop in for lunch and a margarita!! The atmosphere is good and the people are always very friendly! The food was delicious although I was a little disappointed with the portion size of the steak fajitas.. I was only able to make two small tacos out of the lunch portion . I ended up finishing all the sides and chips to fill my self up completely but I def like the food and service and I used to live a few minutes away but now I'm in a different city so I make special trips to eat here ! read more

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You should ask for Kim and request a Hondo margarita. Yesterday, I had a lunch break with a friend and we decided to grab some drinks and relax for the afternoon. We chose this place and it turned out to be a great choice. It was easy to find, but parking was limited on busy nights. Fortunately, there is additional parking across the street at the Kroger parking lot. I ordered the chicken fajitas and while they were good, they were not exceptional. The chips and salsa were alright, but the real winner was the Hondo Margarita - definitely a must-try! Overall, I would definitely recommend this place. read more

Always great food, service, and atmosphere. Whether you sit outside on the patio or indoors, it's just always a great time with delicious food. read more

What has happened to this restaurant?!?!? When we first moved to the north part of Arlington a year ago, we ate at this restaurant and it was great. The last 2-3 times we have been there, the food was good but the service is terrible. Last night took the cake and we will not be returning. We waited almost 20 minutes to be seated but there were many open tables. We were probably seated for 10 minutes before anyone asked us if someone has taken our drink order. Waters never arrived. The "Perfect Margarita" was subpar at best and was served in a small plastic glass. For $17 you would expect a large schooner and a taste that made you want another. No offer to refill the chips or hot sauce that was obviously empty. My dinner order was incorrect and was sent back. I made 3-4 requests for corn tortillas before they arrived at our table. I should have accepted the incorrect amount of the bill when it arrived since it was in our favor, but wanted to pay correctly for the food, once ir was correct. The SERVICE SUCKED!!!! Please go to El Arroyo on Cooper Street instead. They are worth the extra drive from North Arlington. read more

Food was awesome!! Service was excellent!!! Loved all the John Wayne decor! Definitely will go back again soon!

Neighborhood gem. Just good folks serving good food and drink. Our go to Tex Mex! Good food and service. Let's support local non-chain establishments! read more

Second time here and it was even better than the first. Our waitress was happy and smiling, our food was hot and tasty and salsa was anything but watered down tomato sauce as some have mentioned. Hubby had combo fajitas and the beef was tough and overdone but everything else we have tried here was good. Not sure why others have complained because our experience has been awesome. We will define back again. Even hid a rock in the parking lot. read more

El Gabacho Tex Mex Grill - a hand holding a painted rock - Tex-Mex Near Me - Arlington, Texas

We went in for a light lunch of tortilla soup and a side of tortillas. The food was all cold. They were not busy but the service was horrible. The chips were stale, probably left from the previous day. The bill was $24!! but my wife was in a hurry and didn't question it! We are long time customers, but we're done with them now. read more

Excellent service and the food is always delicious! Love the decor which gives it a nice, homey feel. Highly recommend!!!

This is a neat place with cool stuff to look at. The server Carlos was amazing. That's the good. The bad is, the a/c must have been broke because we were sweating and the food was horrible it honestly reminded me of TV dinners. The chips were stale they just warmed them up really hot to try to cover up the staleness. The queso we ordered to go with chips was super processed like it just came out of a can. read more

Used to give this place 4-5 stars. Hadn''t been for a while. Came here last week and it has really gone down hill. Food was sub-par, drinks were weak and the service was abysmal. When we asked for the manager he didn't seem to care. So we won't care to go back. Plenty of other good Mexican restaurants in the area. Such a shame. It used to be a great place. read more

It was so good I forgot to take photos. The atmosphere is so unique and we loved the John Wayne memorabilia. The queso was flavorful, I also ordered the sour cream chicken Chile relleno and it was so much food. Definitely get more food for your buck! read more

El Gabacho Tex Mex Grill - Tex-Mex Near Me - Arlington, Texas

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Nice place to grab a quick bite. The atmosphere was laid back, nice staff, decent did food (the ground beef in my taco could've used some seasoning) I've never ordered a dinner combo that didn't include beans & rice, so I added them for an additional fee. The queso was delicious (not photographed) we added ground beef to give it a hearty feel. All in all it was a solid spot for dinner. Our pick read more

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We had a date night here. I made my husband plan and pick a spot and was very happy with his choice. We ate outside on the patio. It is lovely. Fun people watching available and it's just cute. I had the fish tacos and my husband had the Puebla plate. My was delicious! It was served with sautéed veggies on the side which unlike better then beans. The margaritas were super strong and not overly sour. Wait staff took a little long to return to table for drink refills but it was a busy night and who knows what type of staffing issues they might have been having. Will return for sure read more

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Love this restaurant. We go there for the food and to get together with friends. Highly recommend.

The food!!! OMGOSH!! Delicious! Everything. Love it. Atmosphere is calm, beautiful, inside has a lot to look at! There is a patio! Sports bar. read more

El Gabacho Tex Mex Grill - The patio - Tex-Mex Near Me - Arlington, Texas

Food was okay. They don't make their own tortillas. I think they should! This would make their food stand out more! I got quesadillas, they were a bit oily for my taste. I like their patio and inside the restaurant is nice too. Other in my group enjoyed their food, I'll try something different next time. I do want to come back and try a margarita on their patio. Maybe this will be more enjoyable than the food. read more

El Gabacho Tex Mex Grill - Tex-Mex Near Me - Arlington, Texas

Awesome service. Food was delicious! The atmosphere was great, and the margaritas were tasty!

The food here is sub-par to just about every place in town except campo verde. Stale chips, lifeless salsa, and poorly executed dishes. Any restaurant this size should have homemade tortillas. read more

Great margaritas and atmosphere. The food is also pretty good. We live no where near this restaurant but will make it a regular stop.

Second time eating here. First time was a bust. This second visit is because the family chose this place - their first time. So I told myself maybe my first visit was an off day. Salsa is always where I start when deciding the good, the bad and possibly the ugly of a Tex Mex eatery. My daughter's base is the flour tortillas and my son in law is all about the margarita. Salsa was basically a cup of tomato sauce without much else going on. The only spice I could taste was salt - as though it was added as an afterthought. We ordered a cup of queso. Again, SALTY. If you could get past the salt issue I would say it is better than the cup of warm cheese you get at Taco Bueno or Taco Bell. On my first visit I gave it a 1/5. On this visit I would bump it to a 1.5/5 - at most. Ignoring the salt issue, it did have a wee bit of flavor this time. I stuck with the same dish I had the first time, going for the apples to apples comparison. Yep, same criticisms hold true. It tasted as though they microwaved a TV Dinner and transferred it to a dinner plate. I could have saved money and just purchased an El Charito frozen dinner from WalMart. At least then the experience would have been better because I would have spent $4.00 instead of $17.00. My daughter was not impressed with the tortillas. I can back her up on this - it was like chewing rubber. Son in law said that the margarita was pleasant enough. The service was lackluster. But considering the state of the food why would I expect otherwise. This was our first outing on our quest to find a favorite TexMex joint in Arlington. It was a forgettable start. I figure that the bar is set low enough now that we can only go up from here. I am being generous with a 2 star rating. Going with that because at least the place appeared to be clean. The decor is pleasant and warm. Too bad the food did not follow suit. read more

Great customer service. Fajitas were delicious. They have great cocktails as well. Anyone that's a John Wayne fan will love this place. Go! You'll see why! Decor is super fun and vibing music. read more

I live right by El Gabacho & used to frequently stop by there to pickup food for my wife, son & myself. I called in today to place an order & the phone was answered & then hung up on. I called back again & was met w/ "Are you ready", I asked for the person who answered what he meant & he just rudely repeated "ARE YOU READY". I told him I was not & disconnected the phone. I'm not one to leave reviews but I did not appreciate the experience. As a regular customer who typically spends between $75 - $100 there a 2 or more times a month, I was pretty upset. I will no longer be stopping by & will now find a new regular spot for dinner & margs. read more

The food was amazing, and the patio was excellent. The owner was really nice and is big John wayne.. Would highly recommend this place. read more

El Gabacho Tex Mex Grill - Tex-Mex Near Me - Arlington, Texas

The service my family received at El Gabacho restaurant was horrible. After waiting for a host to see about a table (and being ignored by many employees), we were finally told that we had an approximate five minute wait. Then the host proceeded to give the table cleared for us to another party (of our same size) that came in AFTER us. When we asked the server what happened, he claimed to have not seen us, and we were told it would be a much longer wait for a table. So we left. We will not be going to this restaurant again and will not recommend it to friends. read more

This used to be a favorite of ours, but tonight was the last time we'll be here. Took half an hour for a server to recognize we were there and take a drink order and appetizer. The drinks came and part of the appetizer. We had to flag him down again and again to get the rest of the drink/app order. Nothing was correct or timely. After an hour, we gave up on even trying for dinner and started the process of getting a check. That's when we found out they rung up one of the ice packed, five sip margaritas as $23. We supported el Gabacho during the COVID shutdown, have been regular customers, but the experience has been getting worse and worse and simply isn't worth it any more. read more

I've been going to El Gabacho on / off for some two decades, even since I moved from Arlington to Dallas. It's always had good food and consistent service. But in the last year or so, their food has gotten very average; It's still well-prepared but has become very plain in taste. The biggest drop-off has been in service; it's still polite but somewhat slow and inattentive these days. The overall result seems to be a noticeable drop-off in business. It rarely seems crowded but service can still be slow. My fiancee still loves El Gabacho, which is the main reason I still go there. But if given the choice, I will choose somewhere else in town. read more

Rude manager. Terrible customer service. Food is good, but there are plenty of options nearby where they treat customers properly.

Did not like the food at all, chips were steal and food not hot enough and service was too slow

If I could give a negative star rating I would. We sat at a table and were ignored. We finally were able to give a drink order after waiting twenty minutes. After waiting more, we made noise to get the attention of the waitress, where she informed us we were rude for wanting service. We left and don' t plan on going back read more