The food was on par with lunch special pricing. Not to fancy but warm and had plenty of flavor. The staff was ok. Our waiter was nice and fast but the person behind the counter (maybe manager?) was another story. As we came in he was talking to our waiter who seated us. He didn't stop the conversation just got louder and so he could be heard as we walked to our table. My Spanish is so so but the parts I caught the conversation could have waited. Then while we are paying he is on the phone talking constantly. It seemed very rude. This manager cleans up his service and I'll happily make this a 3-4 star place. read more

Good all around Mexican restaurant. I have many favorites off the menu. I took my wife here on our first date. Great atmosphere

Gross. I ate here years ago and loved it. Now, it's just bland and gross. The refried beans have no flavor. The shrimp is terrible and the chimichangas were worse. The white cheese sauce that's drizzled over the chimichangas was pretty tasty. Everything else was just atrocious. read more

Absolutely the best Mexican in Springfield. Ask for the hot (fresh) salsa--it's made in-house and is not very salty. The staff is efficient and no B.S. They play authentic Mexican music, the decor is amazing, the seating is comfortable. You will be amazed how incredibly fast your food arrives. I've been here about 20 times over the last five or so years, and the service and food has never disappointed. My favorite dish is the the Chori Pollo (chorizo and chicken). I have a game where I order this dish where ever I can to compare it to El Maguey's, and Maguey is the World Champ thusfar. read more

The food is mediocre at best. Our table had to refill our own drinks. The order was messed up and it took what seemed like forever to get it fixed. Don't waste your time or money. read more

The main thing I like about El Maguey is the consistency. I've never had something I didn't like and the staff is always friendly. I probably average 1 lunch there every week. The tamale dinner may be the best value on the menu. I'm not sure how much it costs, but it is a ton of food. The chips and salsa taste good and it always seems like I get my order quickly. read more

How can the food look good but have no taste. Plus my fajitas did not come out sizzling like they need to.

(Please note that this is NOT the El Maguey in Edwardsville, but a restaurant with the same name in SPRINGFIELD, MO. ) Sorry, but despite the previous good reviews, I can't in good conscience recommend this place. We stopped here for two reasons: a vague recommendation and the thought that it might be related to a restaurant with the same name in our town (it is not). The host was totally indifferent, he was on the phone with an obviously personal call when we entered and he barely acknowledged us. He grabbed menus and lead us to a table, not once acknowledging us. The only bright spot was our server's personality, very friendly but mostly inept; forgetting our orders, our special requests, mixing up drinks, etc. The food was a little above comparable Mexican restaurants in cost, but definitely below others in quality. Red sauce tasted like straight tomato sauce and the taco (crispy) was greasy and bland. The shredded chicken was overcooked and tough. Chips were decent - not great, just decent. I'd skip this place and search for a better Mexican restaurant - there are surely plenty in this area. read more

Some of the best Mexican I've had! I live in Texas now and still love this place. The chimichanga can't be beat! Make sure to order the queso for an appetizer. The rice is always so good that I'll order double rice no beans. Ole! read more

This is a standard Mexican restaurant. Our server was fantastic and so patient with us! The food, like I said, nothing special in the Mexican food world. It was good, but not anything special read more

After three or four more visits to El Maguey, I am now truly a fan. This unassuming joint has become the place we take out of towners for Mexican slash Tex Mex when they visit Springfield. So far none of them have been remotely disappointed. I have never had a bad meal or negative service experience at this restaurant! read more

Came here with a group for happy hour along with the family. We were seated and our drink orders were taken quickly. The only real special they had though was $1.50 small beers. The salsa and chips were nothing to brag about, but they were fine. The server kept forgetting my wife's drinks. I had to remind her for her beer, and later for her Margarita. Which we never saw the entire meal. Although they did try to charge me for it. My wife's food order was wrong although she said it was pretty good and close to what she ordered, so she ate it. My kids each had a kids meal which I do have to say was a pretty good amount of food for $3. However, I ordered a Chimichanga and was a little disappointed by what i received. In my experience at other places you usually get a large fried burrito. The plate I received, while pretty decent in flavor, was two small chimichangas. Also half of the plate was pico de gallo, lettuce, and sour cream. For $8 i guess I just expected more food and less filler. For all four of us with the tip and all the drinks we spent $40. So as far as the price goes I would give them five stars, However, the food, ambiance, service, and happy hour specials were nothing to brag about. Glad I tried them, but it will probably be our only time. read more

Good food and service. I have eaten at the El Maguey in St Joseph, MO so decided to try this one here in Springfield. I was not disappointed. This is just plain good Mexican food. Nothing fancy, just good food! read more

Went here for lunch during a work visit to Springfield. Had the lunch pollo con queso. I thought everything was fantastic. Quick to get our food and the service was spot on. read more

This is the only place in town I've had good American Mexican food! It's good, cheap, and fast.

Thx Yelp. Traveling on business you never know what u r getting. Accurate reviews and above average food with great service. Did not get 6 chips down and my food was on the table read more

The cheese dip is white and delicious. They make the best shredded chicken corn tortillas enchiladas. They sauté onions, tomatoes and peppers with the shredded chicken. Yum! This is a great place to eat good food and visit. read more

This is a place I have been frequenting for years and it has become a staple for me to come to. I love their vegetarian options, but my favorite is the pollo deluxe. I never want to use the tortillas that come with it just put a little guac or pico on the chicken and I'm satisfied. But the chicken can stand alone. Always brought out sizzling and nothing ever doesn't seem absolutely fresh. Their salsa while isn't my favorite (sorry that belongs to multiple places in New Mexico) is really delicious for a local place. Service is always prompt and very friendly. read more

Food was okay, not the best Mexican place we have tried. However, the service was pretty terrible. He only came by when expecting to order, and when he thought we were done. Menu was lacking as we were unaware that there were peppers and onions in one of the dishes. read more

I don't see how they stay in business. Taco Bell is actually better. Service is good, but that is all I can say.

The food is great, the people are extremely nice. My husband and I find an excuse to make it up there at least once a week. Chori-Pollo is delicious. read more

Very good Mexican restaurant. Ate here last weekend, and we were very pleased. Great food, and good portions. Salsa was some of the better (not the best) salsa I have had in a long while. read more

El Maguey is my Mexican food place of choice every time. The food is delicious and cheap. It is actually underpriced for its quality in my opinion. They also have very good salsa and awesome white cheese sauce. I recommend the chicken fajita quesadillas. If you haven't been here give it a try. read more

12/12/2016: I had to update my 5 star review from 11/2014 because after years of loyalty, I've had to abandon this staple. I use to get take out here several times a month but, despite always ordering exactly the way I always had, I wasn't getting the right items. In fact, the order was never right. I'd say exactly the menu item I wanted and then wait to see what would actually be put in the box- and it was never the same thing and never the same price. I also noticed that the food just wasn't as good as it use to be- it just didn't seem to have any flavor at all. But the last straw was when I brought an out of town guest here for dinner then had to care for them for 3 days as they recovered from the food poisoning they came down with in the middle of the night. Seemed like a no brainer, food is no longer good, the order is never right, and the food got someone sick, its time to abandon my long beloved Tex-Mex restaurant 11/14/2014: Best Tex-Mex you will ever eat. Their beans are amazing. Cheap food, served fast. Can't really go wrong with that. *Worth noting: I use to eat at several of the El Magueys in the St Louis area. This one is way better than the one on Watson and a little better than the one in St Charles. Not all El Magueys are run the same. read more

My favorite mexican restaurant in town. The food is always fresh and tasty. The staff is extremely friendly. Most of all, they are very affordable. read more

This is our go-to mexican place for the Saturday Fajitas & Margarita pitcher specials. Their salsa is more flavorful than a lot of other restaurants in town. We always get served quickly. I would say 4 out of 5 visits, we get served in under 10 minutes of placing order for a group of 6. We have never waited to be seated since the capacity of this restaurant is high and they have plenty of larger tables to accommodate larger groups. They have dinner and drink specials for every day of the week posted on a board just as you enter the front doors. They do need to work on the quality of their guac and queso as the guac is basically just mashed avocados and the queso sauce is extremely thin consistency. Overall for price and value, this satisfies both the wallet and the stomach. read more

There were 5 of us, 2 kids and 3 adults. We got 2 adult meals and 1 kids. Waited until those meals were done before we got the other 2. Offered a 5% discount?! First time here and will not be back. read more

Favorite Mexican place in town! I've been here a hundred times and the food and service is always great. Reasonably priced too.

The food was decent for cheap mexican, the service was like COMEDY bad. We got our drinks within a few minutes of sitting down, but when we were ready to order food the waiter was nowhere to be found. We finally asked another waiter to locate him. But after the food arrived he disappeared again. Nowhere to be seen. We waited several minutes with spicy spicy food on our plates and empty margarita glasses before tapping another waiter who once again located him. Same deal when we we finished our food. Hilariously though, once we had our bill in front of us our waiter parked himself right across the dining area within eye-shot and played on his phone. But the best was yet to come. I forgot my box of leftovers on the table and by the time I ran back in from the parking lot he had thrown it away and wiped the table clean. Seems the only time this guy knows how to do his job is when it's time to go home for the night. I can't believe I actually tipped this guy. read more

Service was awful!!! We first had a waiter who got my drink but then never came back to get our order. Then a waitress noticed we were just sitting there with our menus and finally came up to us and asked us if we have been waited on. She then took our order after like 30mins or so. Food was good but kind of cold. If I could give them zero stars I would. read more

Sadly this is no longer our favorite place in Springfield for Mexican food or a place I would recommend, as I had done just not an hour before we went. Our last three experiences have been awful service wise. The first one was about a month ago, we had the tall lady waitress, she was too busy flirting with a table full of guys and we waited to the point we had to ask about our food. It had set so long under heat lamps that the cheese sauce on my burrito had a thickened backup and had a rubbery film on top. When I pointed it out, she offered to Microwave it... yes, microwave it. I insisted on a new burrito and after asking several times, we had another waiter help us. The second time we were in for lunch and had her again. We had to ask for drink refills and again our food took forever. We just chalked that up to her being a horrible waitress. By the way, she still works there. But, after tonight's experience we will NOT be back. The waiter carried our chip basket on top of a plate of food. It wasn't sitting to the side, it was literally on the food. We pointed this out stating that we wanted another plate of food, he argued stating he didn't have it on top of the food and that it was fine. Then he said it wasn't on top of the food it was in his other hand. We asked for the manager, he continued to argue and say he carried it in his other hand. The "other" hand was carrying the salsa (stupid idiot!) We had to ask him THREE times for a manager. As he walked off, he started laughing with another male waiter about the situation. That was it for us. We left, without paying for anything or eating the food we'd been served. Its sad that a place that once had good service and has always had good food has to hire idiots and lose long time customers that come at least once a month and a business office that places over $100 lunch order twice a month.. read more

literally awful. smells awful. food was awful. service was awful. worst restaurant i have ever been to hands down. chips tasted stale. felt sick two bites into my taco salad. 10/10 would not recommend. read more

Really great service and food was fabulous try the white cheese sauce and fresh salsa. I had chicken in cheese sauce for lunch the seasoning was excellent. The chips are fresh and plentiful. read more

Indistinguishable from most Mexican restaurants in America. Not better than many. As good as most.

One of my favorite places. They have great food and good customer service. I give it a 5 star. Please do yourself a favor and go there. :)

Excellent food! If you ask for Eli he will be the best server you could ask for and if you like jalapeños ask for him to make a roasted jalapeño for you because it's truly amazing. Try the Chori pollo its amazing, the tacos carne asada are delicious and the el maguey fajitas give you a sample of everything they offer for fajitas. read more

Met a friend here for lunch. The place has plenty of seating the staff are very polite and friendly. I really like their chips and salsa, with the exception of the cilantro. (Must they put it on every thing?) The food is not only pleasant to the eye, but to the palate as well. Not going to say its the best Mexican food, but its not bad in a pinch. The place is clean and have outside sitting area. For the most part food was really good no complaints. read more

Was hoping for great Mexican food...instead we got bad service, horribly salty food that was luke warm and the restaurant was filthy! Please don't waste your night out or money. read more

Best place ever!! We drive across town for there food.Great service and food. And so cheap!!! Would eat here three times a week if I could!

I moved to Springfield from Poplar Bluff, Mo in August of last year. I had a favorite mexican place there and tried for a while to find one here that could at least come close to it. El Maguey not only came close but surpassed it. The food is amazingly good and the prices are great. This is the only place in Springfield that I will go to get Mexican food. read more