This restaurant was on our route as we were traveling so we stopped in. It was 5:00 so no wait. The restaurant is nice with bright Mexican decor. They brought chips and salsa right away. The salsa was delicious and the chips were warm. Our server came right away and was very friendly. We ordered the Steak and Chicken Fajitas for two. They were delicious but did a little more seasoning. We enjoyed our meal. The service was great! read more

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El Maguey was on their A game today. Server was attentive, efficient, and quite nice. We had the place to ourselves. The food came out fast. The order was prepared as requested, even with our rather complicated specifications. This remains our favorite Mexican restaurant in Gainesville. We pass four others when traveling across town to get there. That should tell you something. The restaurant was tidy and spotless. You can easily tell the degree of care possessed by the owner and staff. A definite recommendation! read more

Hmm... came here after a recommendation from a friend and was not impressed unfortunately. The service was not necessarily great or friendly here. The food took somewhat long to come out considering it is Mexican food and prob is being hot held somewhere waiting to be assembled to order. It was also not busy at all. There was our table of 3, a couple, and then one lady at the bar (it's 5 o'clock somewhere, right?). I got the steak chimi with rice and it was ok. I've had better and the steak was tough. The complimentary chips were stale. Bottom line, this place is just mediocre and the service doesn't help. read more

Delicious foods, reasonable price and excellent service. Very spacious, not too crowded, read more

El Maguey Mexican Restaurant - Chori - Queso, guacamole dip and house salsa - Mexican Near Me - Gainesville, Georgia

The service says one thing clearly. "We don't care about you or anyone ordering online ". Be prepared to wait, and wait, and then wait some more. Ordered online, got there, and was told they don't even bother to turn on the tablet they use to take those orders. They certainly didn't hesitate to take my money online. Received a notification my order was ready before getting there and then was accused of making it up when I got to the child at the register. I had to tell this person 5 times the order and they didn't bother to listen. What made it worse, the food was mediocre at best. Wayyyyy too many options to tolerate petulant children. Never coming back. read more

I Love El Magueys! The food is Great. It's not heavy or greasy. Its delicious. The chips and cheese dip are great. The drinks are awesome. I usually don't drink a lot of margaritas but the Texas Margaritas are the best I've ever had! read more

Really good new menu. Ask for the seafood menu because that's their hidden secret. Their seafood is amazing.

Never in my life have I seen grey refried beans before. Had to throw away my entire meal. Absolutely disgusting.

I've been eating here since I was two years old and I'm 10 I love this place it's and they treat me like I'm family They are so kind it's so good the cheese dip is one of my favs like omg it's so good read more

OK, I find it surprising that I find some reviews on here that don't give this place the credit it deserves. I have eaten here numerous times and have never had poor service and nothing but excellent food. There are tons of Mexican restaurants but we always make an effort to come here. Don't pass this up. read more

Mexican can be a dangerous choice. We were traveling, were hungry, and found this place by pure chance. There were a number of nice looking people driving quite nice automobiles with nice looking children who were headed in, so we decided to go for it. It was just fine. I went with a Taco, burrito, enchilada... I left happy and healthy. The test - would I go back? Yes I would. read more

Great service and good atmosphere and reasonably priced food kept the rating up at three stars. The food wasn't bad, just not great. Merely adequate. If you need to feed the family and you happen to be right there, go for it. read more

One of the best Mexican restaurants in town. Everything is AMAZING!! Fast service. My favorite place to get steak nachos.

Ignore at all costs. We just left there. I had 2 chili rellanos .. brisket. The first was ok. I took a bite of the second and almost gagged. Brisket had gone bad. My husband took a bite and agreed. I told the waiter and he just walked off. Didn't say a word. My husband told him the next time he walked by and he didn't say a word. Nothing. The rice is just so so. A waste of $$. Finally I told the cashier that we won't be back. She said nothing. There was only one other party in the entire restaurant. Why Do I have a feeling that they won't be in business much longer,? Perhaps that is why their customer service is completely absent. read more

they take took long for them to attend us , there was a hair in our food!!! , my sweet tea was not sweet at all had to get a coke. read more

El Maguey Mexican Restaurant - a hair in the food - Mexican Near Me - Gainesville, Georgia

Food was halfway decent but salsa tasted like it was made with canned tomato sauce, orders were not correct, our server disappeared after taking our order never to return, had to flag down other servers for missing items including two kids meals and the check over an hour later when the server was still missing. Seated at a table for 6 with 9 people also. Not planning to return. read more

There is nothing special about this place except for the fact that it offers cheap Tex-Mex in the middle of nowhere and cheap lunch specials even on Saturday. They offer standard Tex-Mex like tacos, burritos, enchiladas, nachos, etc. I tried the chicken burrito. It was alright. Not much meat and drenched in cheese sauce. I'd avoid the restrooms... Not the most pleasant smelling place. If I were to have went in there before eating, I probably would have lost my appetite. read more

First time visit, on a Friday night around 5pm. Still happy hour. 16oz Texas margarita only $3.50! Service was amazing, prompt, courteous and very attentive. Food was well sized and well priced. We asked that the music be turned down due to some hearing aid issues in our party and they obliged. Odd I know, but they were extremely accommodating. Ordered a side of sour cream and guacamole for my burrito and they were huge! Would definitely return. Our server, Stephanie (sp?) was very good. read more

Ill keep this real short & simple. The staff is great & the food is grea.

Wonderful Mexican restaurant on the north side of Gainesville. I do not get over here as often as I would like, but do come in every time I have my oil changed at the neighboring Meineke. Expansive lunch menu with great prices! I however at this place am a creature of habit. I always order the Burrito Supreme (lunch special $5.99). Definitely not something you can eat with your hands. (Comes with fork and knife free of charge :) Great flavor and very fulfilling. I get a great lunch here at a lower price than if I went to Taco Bell. read more

Can't ever answer the phone for online orders. You actually have to go to the store and get take out which means waiting on your food because they can't answer phones. read more

Absolutely love this place!!!! The best Mexican restaurant in the region!!!! The service is great and I always feel so welcomed here. I highly recommend this place to all of my family and friends read more

Amazing food, great service. The manager Lionel has become a good friend over the years. If you want an amazing and cheesy appetizer try the el maguey sampler. read more

So many iffy reviews! Weird because El Maguey has become our official spot after going day hiking in the North Georgia mountains. I mean, who doesn't want baskets of warm chips and salsa after a day of basking in the glory of Mother Nature? First off...service is wonderful. We are typically ravenous when we stomp into El Maguey, and that first round of chips and salsa doesn't stand a chance! Guess what....we've never had to wait on a refill either! Same thing with the drinks. The salsa is so fresh and tasty, that on the last trip, my friend ordered an extra 20 oz cup to go...because that goodness needs to be enjoyed at the house too! Entrees are served up hot and generously portioned. Even the lunch specials are a generous size and they have lots of lunch options to choose from! If you can't find a lunch special, they have tons of combo plates, a la Carte options...and even the dinner portions are nicely priced. What's not to love? My current favorite is the vegetarian quesadilla with whatever meat I'm currently salivating over. Small upcharge for ordering like this, but they aren't skimpy and the combination of fresh spinach, mushrooms, onions and peppers with some delish protein (the carnitas are crazy tasty and succulent) can't be missed. Another friend swears by the chimichanga...and after seeing that little fried pocket of meaty cheesy goodness, I might have to try that on the next round. I'm a huge fan. Fair warning....this is American Mex restaurant fare. If you want Mexico City style tacos, traditional sopes, etc, this isn't the spot. However...it's delicious for what it is! read more

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have been here a few times but today was relly really bad there were plenty of seats but i was seated in a booth right beside the bar very noisy when they were making frozen drinks the chili releno was awful i get that a lot at other places but this was not good the guac salad was on the same plate so the salad was warm the cashier asked if everything was good and i said no it was awful he just took my money did not ask what was wrong or say i am sorry total non concern will never be back a bad meal i can forgive but to treat a customer that way is awful they ought to be ashamed read more

We eat here all the time, they have a very friendly staff and are always accommodating. In several years my order has only been wrong once or twice and they made it right immediately. The food is excellent, this is the best restaurant in Gainesville in my expert opinion because I'm fat and eat all the time. read more

Not really sure what has happened to this place lately. My wife and I would eat here almost every week and had no issues at all. About a year ago the service went down hill FAST! Waitresses have terrible attitudes, orders are wrong, scalding hot plates with Luke warm food ( how does that even happen?!) and long waits. The long waits really don't make sense because every time we go in there is less and less people. read more

This is one of our favorite "regulars". Good food, good service, good drinks. We never have to wait more than 10-15 minutes for our meals during the day or night. Evening manager is super nice and waitresses/waiters are on top of things. My love for horchata came from this restaurant. If you've never tried it, give it a shot. Love this place! read more

We specifically went to this restaurant because the other reviewer gave it 5 stars. I don't know if he or she works there or what, but it is NOT a 5 star place. Our pitcher of margaritas was 75% ice and tasted like sour Kool Aid, and our appetizer (El Maguey Sampler) took 30 min to arrive. We did even bother to order dinner. The sampler was cheese dip with grilled steak, chicken, and shrimp. It tasted pretty good or I would have put one star. We will not be going back! read more

This is by far my favorite restaurant in Gainesville. Fajitas are awesome and the Margaritas are the best!

The food took 25 minutes to come out even though we were one of three couples. When we got the food it had been sitting under heat lamp for most of the time we were waiting. I happened to find a hair baked into my food and was given the explanation it was from the meat by both the waitress and manager. I haven't seen any black hairs come from chicken. I will not be eating here ever again! read more

Group of five seated quickly and the food was good, but those are the only positives I have. The service we got was TERRIBLE. It took 10 minutes to even get someone to wait on us. We had to ask for refills, we had to ask for our order to be taken, we had to ask for silverware, and we had to ask for the check. And by ask, I mean we had to flag someone down because the waitresses were all standing around talking. We got a margarita pitcher and they clearly didn't put much alcohol in it, if any at all. I will never go here again. read more

Terrible Customer service!!! I advise not to come here was treated very bad!!!! I would never come here again the bar tender was very rude and made me feel like I don't belong there! Rating 1 star read more

Love this place. Somewhat typical Mexican restaurant atmosphere. Food comes fast, but I have never felt like they were rushing me. The steak in my steak burrito was better than average. This is my 5th time here. Service is always friendly. I am here on a Sunday afternoon for the first time, and this is the busiest I have ever seen it. Margaritas are excellent, strong but not too strong. read more

El Maguey is okay. It delivers what you'd expect from your run-of-the-mill Tex-Mex restaurant. Salsa ia always too mild for me and to my knowledge they do not have any high grade octane alternative they can bring out. The Fried Burritos are their best menu item with the enchiladas running a close second. The best Mexican Restaurants in Hall County are any of the Pueblos locations. El Maguey is fine for a quick meal at a decent price but otherwise is standard Mexican Food. It earns a small Hooya. read more

The few times we have eaten here, our orders have been fresh and as ordered. I also don't feel like they overcharge like some Mexican restaurants do for things like cheese dip...where the size is the same for the small or the large, just depends on what you ask for (Looking at you, Pueblos...). I always am hesitant to eat Mexican because sometimes it can be hit or miss but each time we've eaten here in the last few months (from Dec. 2014) to present, it has been fresh and good. We would go back. read more

We got here at 6:20 today. Got our drinks at 6:45. It is now 7:30 and we don't have food yet. This is frankly very disappointing. We were supposed to be somewhere else at 7:30. I'm literally about to cry. The only bright spot is the food is "decent." Our waitress disappears, only to be seen at 10 minute intervals. read more

This place is real Mexican cuisine! The food is always good and the service is on par. They have several locations that all adhere to the same expectations. If you go, you have to try the fried burritos. Awesome! read more