It was a bright and stormy day. We were forced out the high way due to a blizzard. We found this gem and thank goodness. The place was nice and the service was wonderful. I had the fajitas burrito (made vegan) and it was so delicious! read more

Worst service on planet earth! This is for the Clear Lake location. Heard the food was good but cancelled our order when the waitress started asking if I was stressed just for asking if they had hot sauce. Paying for drinks the guy had attitude and rolled his eyes at my partner. Nothing but hostility from the moment we walked in to the second we ran out. AVOID IF AT ALL POSSIBLE!!! read more

This review is for the Clear Lake, IA location. I have also tried the location in Eagan, MN. Neither locations food taste good. I don't care for El Loro food in the twin cities, but I thought I would give this location a try. Different state. Who knows. Don't order off the pictures. What I ordered is in the picture I attached. You don't get what you thought you were ordering. I ordered the poblano enchiladas, seeing that it had green sauce and covered with cheese sauce. THAT is not what I got. I got enchiladas with some red mole sauce over it. The mole sauce was gross. Didn't finish it. It went in the trash. Sorry, I didn't get a picture of what I received, but it wasn't like in the picture, believe me. read more

El Loro Mexican Restaurant - Menu picture - Mexican Near Me - Clear Lake, Iowa

The staff was incredibly friendly, attentive, and hardworking, and you can tell the family takes great pride in both their food and customer service. The atmosphere was clean, comfortable, and perfect for a night out with family or friends. El Loro is a wonderful addition to Clear Lake, and we'll definitely be back again soon! read more

they forgot to include my queso in one order so they gave me two next time. very generous! thank you el loro

Hassled about my SERVICE DOG immediately after entering despite no customers even being there. Asking for "papers". Who's going to tell them there is no papers required? ME! He is wearing a service dog vest (not needed but provided as a courtesy) and very well trained. Can I see their papers?? Are they even in this country legally??? I don't really care tbh but they are the ones who brought it up......soooo??? Barley spoke English so ordering a drink was very difficult. (Double vodka with Red Bull) The cook was very nice, and was my waiter because the 3 there didn't help at all. When I arrived two servers were outside sitting on the ground. Came back in half way through and never saw them again. The waitress came to my table one time when I had to flag her down for napkins and one time to deliver the check. Apparently she's afraid of professionally trained dogs who sit under the table quietly??? Ordered the shrimp fajitas and they came out very quickly and tasted ok. I used to be a server and the fact they sat the on the other side of the restaurant talking in Spanish, staring at their phones and ignoring me is why I left a crappy tip. Btw America has no official language but most of us speak English. So if you own and operate a business, maybe your employees should speak enough English to understand? Luckily I speak a little Spanish. Also over charged my card incorrectly. So they screwed themselves out of what little tip I was leaving. Happy Father's Day? read more

El Loro Mexican Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Clear Lake, Iowa

Walked in & there were 4 tables with people & a lady behind the bar making drinks. No one at the hostess stand. Not a biggie. Lady behind the bar served the table their drinks & got their order. Walked past me twice to do so plus the numerous times behind the bar. Not once did she look at me or acknowledge me in any way. Actually looked like she was trying to avoid acknowledging my existence. So after more than 5 minutes had passed with me just standing there it was clear they were not interested in m business. So here I sit across the street at Bennigan's where in under 5 minutes I was sat, drink order taken, drink delivered, & food order is in. Dare I mention they are busier as well. I wouldn't waste your time at El Loro. Clearly they haven't improved since promising so in older reviews. read more

How does it take 15 minutes to get a drink when the bar is 10 feet away from table and only 14 people eating in the restaurant. The food had no flavor fajitas tasted like boiled meat. Everything came out like warm. Waiter said they had a new cook. This is the smallest amount of fajita meat I have ever recieved! The picture is mixed fajitas for one. read more

El Loro Mexican Restaurant - Grilled veg with some fajita - Mexican Near Me - Clear Lake, Iowa

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We ordered queso fundido as an appetizer and decided to send it back to the kitchen because it was cold and just really didn't taste good. We ordered small margaritas and they charged us for the large, a $10 difference. When we went to the counter to review the receipt and pay, they acted confused and like they couldn't understand what I was saying. I'm fluent in Spanish and I think the waiter was talking too fast and trying to confuse us on purpose. read more

This place doesn't look too inviting from the outside but it's decent enough inside. And based on the food, I'm guessing it's one of the best restaurants in the area. It's just one of a few independently-owned restaurants surrounded by the typical fast-food and fast casual chains. Although you'll find the usual tacos, burritos, enchiladas, and quesadillas, the menu leans toward authentic Mexican fare rather than the typical Americanized dishes. I had the carne asada: a perfectly-seasoned, thin-sliced tender rib-eye with avocado salad, rice, and beans on the side. I opted for the "trim" which added sautéed onions, peppers, tomatoes, and shrimp for just $2 more. On a Tuesday evening I pretty much had the place to myself so it's hard to gauge what service is like on a busy night. But my service was responsive and pleasant. The food was excellent and the prices are cheap. Too bad I'm just passing through--I'd like to become a regular here. read more

El Loro Mexican Restaurant - Carne Asada - Mexican Near Me - Clear Lake, Iowa

Delicious food. I got combo #26: burrito (shredded beef), enchilada (shredded chicken), and chili relleno. Flavorful & they're not hiding the flavors of the food with too much sauce, or too thick of breading on the chili, as many places do. Very clean and bright inside. read more

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Stopped on the way home from Minnesota for a late lunch. Husband ordered 2 tacos beans and rice combo and a cheese quesadilla. I ordered the lunch chicken fajitas. All were delicious. Chips were fresh and loved the salsa. Side of queso was perfect consistency and flavor. Will stop again. read more

El Loro Mexican Restaurant - Cheese quesadillas - Mexican Near Me - Clear Lake, Iowa

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What an amazing restaurant! Yelpers in Clear Lake, IA, come share my joy in discovery! Yes, I know. I lean heavily toward Mexican restaurants, especially underdog little beleaguered places in not very ethnically tolerant zip codes. Tonight I only got the guacamole and a margarita, having already cooked and dined on my semi while I read the reviews on a different site, which scared me so much, I almost didn't come here. Terrified, I scampered over to Yelp, to see if all the venom was merited. No. As I suspected, racism is evil and mega present in White Town, Iowa or wherever I am. You guys, seriously. Yelp freaking rocks. This is the only site with unbiased reviews you can actually trust. So many other review sites are so tainted with racism its literally impossible to judge a business fairly; on its merits. Yelp is the only site I know of that will hide reviews they suspect are grinding an axe called bias. To double check, I inquired with some locals at the truck stop im staying at, they excitedly gushed about the authenticity of this place. Oh yeah, baby. "Authentic" is my favorite buzz word. I knew this place was going to be roming, stomping great; far beyond what lil Podunk, IA deserved. And yes! Service is lightning ridiculously fast; everyone is funny and personable and as friendly as you'd expect in the Midwest. Food, drinks, sides, ambiance, cleanliness, every freaking thing is so amazingly delicious, perfect, stellar and wonderful, I loved it, and I'll be back every day this weekend. I plan to let them feed me till I explode, I cant wait! I deserve a break from cooking on my truck, what an awesome place I discovered to indulge me! read more

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Un excelente servicio bebida y comida, me dieron una rosa linda, hemos regresado con mi esposo por 3era vez y nos sentimos como en casa lugar acogedor le damos un 100 % read more

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Good food if you are not in a hurry! Slow service. They appeared to be short on help. read more

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Stopped by mid week for diner when I was in the area. Service was a little off, only two employees in the front of the house, getting drinks and chips/salsa was hit and miss because of that. They no diet dinks in house at all - "we ran out" Food was pretty good, a little more Americanized that what I have run across in other parts of Iowa. I know that the area is having trouble finding staff, but running out of the drinks? It's not a bad place, but enough wrong with it that I don't think I would return read more

It has a very good atmosphere for family diner. The food was awesome and beer was cold so that makes a perfect meal. The staff are very friendly and helpful with recommending a special meal and I would definitely recommend this place for anyone that loves Mexican food. read more

El Loro Mexican Restaurant - The seafood chimi and chips and salsa - Mexican Near Me - Clear Lake, Iowa

Like the food very much .. I travel all over the USA and this one of my places to go when i am in Iowa .. the service is great .. also love the happy hour drinks read more

Vegetarian and Vegan friendly. A pleasant surprise on our trip home. We always find no oil added, vegan eating options hard to find when traveling. This restaurant is a happy discovery for us. They have vegetarian dishes on the menu and they were happy to make our veggie meal oil free! We had the veggie fajitas and black bean soup with pico de Gallo. The service was friendly and great. We really enjoyed it! We plan on stopping in whenever we are in the area. read more

El Loro Mexican Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Clear Lake, Iowa

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El Loro is the hot, new restaurant in Clear Lake! While they are still working out a few kinks with a new business, they handled a full house with ease. We did wait a bit for our food, but they were at capacity! Everyone wants to try the New Mexican restaurant in town. Bonus points for having street tacos on the menu, which we ordered. They were pretty darn good. The chips and salsa were also good. They brought some cold, mayonnaise-tasting stuff, too. I'm not sure what it was, but it wasn't a fan. I do wish they would've brought us another round of chips and salsa while we waited for food, but that's all right. The staff is all very friendly and helpful! I'll give them a couple months to work out the kinks and will be back! read more

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We popped in off the interstate & had some of the best fajitas & the medium margaritas are most places, large. The service was impressive too! The outside is outdated but the inside is cute. read more

I'm a dasher for DoorDash and my boyfriend and I picked up an order that was supposed to have chips, queso, and a quesadilla with only chicken and cheese. They forgot the chips so we went back to grab them. The hostess refused to give us a bag and said she for sure put them in. When we explained that she was wrong and had photo proof, she refused again. Then it turns out they messed up the entire order and the customer ended up having to call and argue with them over a TINY bag of chips that they eventually gave us. The staff continued to be rude to us and the customer and refused a refund and to fix the order. Will never dash for this place again. read more

Lucky find for a stop off the highway. My wife is GF and can always find alternatives at a Mexican restaurant... finding a good one is more difficult. She prefers red peppers and they happily swapped out for her fajita veggies. Me, I had the burrito / taco lunch... nicely seasoned beef, impressive cheese on the taco. Both of us loved the rice! Great lunch prices and good food... awesome. read more

This was a lunch stop on the way to the Twin Cities. The reason we stopped at this restaurant was because Perkins restaurant didn't care to pay attention to waiting customers so we left and walked across the parking lot to this place. Quick service, very attentive, and good Mexican food for Upper Iowa. Chips and salsa were served during lunch and the beef burrito was fine. The only downside is that this place will charge you the 3% for using a credit card vs paying cash. read more

El Loro Mexican Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Clear Lake, Iowa

We had Terrible service! We were ignored by the Manager/server with empty glasses, no salsa or chips while he sat in the back and talked with Co-workers. read more

El Loro Mexican Restaurant - Chips and salsa - Mexican Near Me - Clear Lake, Iowa

Went there last Saturday night with my wife for dinner. Not much to write home about. Both drink and meal orders were incorrect, food and service OK at best. Then they charged a undisclosed 3% "upcharge" for using a credit card (a first for me). Been there before, not going back. Only two tables occupied while we were there. read more

I think this place is OK. Good service. Things to work on? Please bring the food HOT Food is supposed to be brought to the client at at least 140 degrees. Tortillas were so cold they broke when they were folded. The side order of beans were really cold. Also if people are eating, don't start sweeping the place picking up all the dust around me. Also moving tables making all that noise dragging them back and forth. Smile smile smile!!! I won't be back but this may help for other cust read more

My husband and I dined here on 10-07-19. The salsa and chips arrived and the chips were fresh and warm. The salsa was thin and tasteless. My husband ordered the two chimichangas. One with shredded beef and one with beef tips. What arrived was one with beef tips and one with ground beef. We spoke to a server and the issue was quickly resolved. His opinion of his meal was that it was FINE. I ordered the Carnitas Burrito with no beans, only rice and meat. It arrived and it was prepared in the strangest way...there was rice on one half of the burrito and meat on the other half! Also, there was very little meat and a huge amount of rice. There was really nothing about it that would entice me to return. read more

Stopped here for dinner on a road trip. Service was prompt and great. Chips, salsa, and drinks were replenished when needed. After ordering the food was shortly out on the table! It was good food that was very enjoyable. Great atmosphere and environment. Very homey and inviting! A very good place to stop by and eat on your way through town if you're feeling zesty!! read more

This is the 2nd El Loro restaurant location I've eaten and this one just as good as the first! The hostess (didn't get her name...looked like a masked Rosario Dawson) was a really good waitress, and even with doubling as the bartender, was very attentive. My meal was perfect, very good margaritas and always love their chips and salsa. I highly recommend! read more

Get the fajitas for 2 on date night!! Amazing food and service Everytime!! The the salsa is also great. I highly recommend this place they are so nice and service is always good. We've never had a long wait even on busy nights. The parking lot is also easy to navigate read more

This is probably the best Mexican food between iowa and northern Wisconsin. The mole sauce on the Enchiladas Poblanos has to be the best I've ever tasted. Make sure you taste the rice too...authentic recipe that isn't the "usual Mexican rice flavored with salsa". Amazing restaurant! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!! read more

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As good or better food than Las Palmas in Mason. As good or better margaritas than Chapala's in Waterloo. And the service? I think the only 'truly-excellent' service I have ever had at a Mexican or Tex-mex place in the Midwest. Crazy!! read more

First experience was ridiculous. They messed up our order and then refused to change it. When I asked for a refund they also refused that. I hadn't eaten any of the food and there was no reason for them to be so rude. So 2 months later I figured I would try it again. Gave them the benefit of the doubt and again was let down. My boyfriend and I ordered the same food. Only different was the meat. My platter looked great and then he got his. The chimichanga was about 2 bites size and there was no veggies in it at all. Only meat. Also he was missing his sides. I would not recommend this place at all. The food has potential but the staff make it not even worth trying. read more

El Loro Mexican Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Clear Lake, Iowa

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Greasy and soggy food, tortilla tasted stale. Also forgot my sides. Although very few people were there during lunch, service was slow and poor. Not recommended. read more

I've been to lots of Mexican restaurants all over the country, and don't understand why the ratings here are so high. On the plus side, El Loro has a huge menu, and the Salsa that comes with their fresh Tortilla Chips, is very tasty. However, the service from our waiter was significantly lacking, and he seemed very disinterested in all of his customers. The specialty Peach Margarita, which was the only one made with real fruit, rang in at an unbelievable $13.95 for a Medium! I was very excited to see Octopus Tostadas on the menu, but alas, the Waiter came back 10 minutes after I ordered, and said they didn't have any Octopus, so I had to chose something else. I ordered Cheese Enchiladas, which were stiff & rubbery, and the Beef tips in our Tacos were an unappetizing gray color, with little flavor, but my Chile Relleno was good. I wouldn't come back here a second time, unless it was for the Lunch menu, where the prices are more in line with other Mexican restaurants in the area. read more

Wow wow wow! Great and tasty food. Have lived in ames for three years now and am greatly disappointed that we just found this little gem. Drunk food galore!!! read more

Every time we are in town we eat her at least 3 times... the queso, salsa, & quac are to die for.

Mexican !! That sounded great as we traveled thru town. wow could not have picked a worse place to stop. We ordered a small guacamole , it was so processed and not fresh is was not eatable. Speaking of not eatable , that was the theme of the rest of our meal, our meal that our server never asked us what kind of meat we wanted , and she was trying to memorize but we had some changes she couldn't get a grasp on. There not only was no flavor in the ground beef which filled everything that was placed at our table , the enchilada sauce was so greasy my tostada was soggy and in able to be eaten and same story with my taco. It's fine nothing that arrived at our table was hot, so eating wasn't gonna happen. When we tried to get it fixed everyone was suddenly confused! So we asked for the bill , they tried to put everything in boxes for us and the STILL charges us full price for all three meals, 3 drink and the guacamole. read more

El Loro Mexican Restaurant - My taco after trying to peel it from the button of my plate. - Mexican Near Me - Clear Lake, Iowa

You have to be very careful with this restaurant they over charge you, they offer one price for the happy hour and when you are going to pay they raise the price and start playing stupid, plus the lady who said is the manager has no customer service skills at all, she was yelling at the customer with no manners . We have been ordering a meal at least twice a week during this pandemic crisis from that place, but this time they treated us very bad and so disrespectfully we will not be back. read more