Well, I use to love this place. It has the greatest and fastest food. The chips and salsa everyone loves, but NOT when they are as stale as if they were from a week ago being served. I asked for fresh ones and got more stale ones. Not happy. And not coming back until they get new chips. read more

Typical mexican restaurant. The servers are always nice. The food is always prepared quickly. It is hot and fresh or as fresh as a place like this allows. Cheap eats! If you are looking for authentic or something different this is not your place. read more

Anytime we want Mexican, this is where we go. The food is great and the service is even better. Everyone is very friendly and your food comes out quick. This chips and salsa can vary. The chips are usually slightly overcooked and the salsa can range from mild to spicy. The carne asada And chili verde are fantastic. It is nice that they will let you order stuff that is not on the menu, such as enchiladas with carne asada. If you come and order the regular stuff, such as ground beef tacos with rice and beans, it is bland. There is no flavor in the ground beef and the rice and beans are the same bland sides as all Mexican places. read more

Once again great food. Anyone complaining about this place is probably the competition. I've eaten here at least 10 times in last 1 year. It's always good! read more

I love this place! They are so quick during the lunch hour that you never have to worry about getting back to work in time unless you sit and chat to your friends or co-workers too long! The beef Chimichonga's are my favorite besides their really good Quaso dip and pico de gio. (don't look at my spelling). read more

Love this place! I usually am not a fan of Mexican food to be honest, but this restaurant is one of my faves! The queso is AMAZE like for real, and my whole family loves the food! Great place with good service read more

Best mexican resturant in the des moines area by far. Everything is freshly made and spiced to perfection.

Very quick service. Greeted quickly and friendly at the door. Chips and salsa had somewhat greasy chips. I ordered seafood enchiladas which consisted of imitation crab meat and tasteless cheese. The shrimp enchilada was good however. Guacamole was very creamy with no additional ingredients such as peppers or tomatoes. The fried ice cream was very pretty to look at, however was very greasy with actual puddle of grease visible. The food came quickly and the restaurant was busy for a Thursday night. Maybe I ordered the wrong food as this many people would not eat here if it was that bad. I must be missing something. read more

This is one of those places that gains a local following with cheap, weak margarita specials and fatty Jalisco/TexMex food. Very, very slow service. It took about 15 minutes between ordering drinks and queso for them to come back and take our order. It's been about another 15 or 20 and still no queso. Food just came out. Pretty mich exactly what I expected. Not bad. Everything was a little burnt but it was fine. Guacamole looks processed. Shrimp's good. Frijoles are good. read more

This place is ok. The food comes out quick, and it is very cheap but nothing to be all that excited about. I ordered the guacamole to start with and it was way to salty but expected. Next, the main course I had was beef fajitas which I shared. The beef looked a little burnt and the pieces of beef looked like those that were left over. The veggies like peppers and onions had gotten very saggy and soft. I have been here before and had the chicken chimichanga which was a lot better. This place would also be great for kids considering it also has American dishes on the kids menu. read more

This place is awesome. The cheese they use is really flavorful. The salsa is good and the chips are fresh. They recently renovated inside so it looks very clean and comfortable. Service is quick, lunch is cheap. I usually get the quesadilla with beans for $5. read more

El Mariachi is great place to have lunch, or to have a full dinner with family and friends. I have been here several times and never have been disappointed. You can even call in and order and go pick it up. Amazing service they provide. Highly recommend them for your dining needs! read more

The food was good but the service was comical. Our server struggled to get our order right...several times.

I have been here multiple times for lunch and supper and have not had a bad experience. This is the kind of food I expect to have when I am wanting Mexican. I am a big enchilada fan and am never disappointed here. The staff is always very friendly and the food and drinks always come out very fast. read more

Stopped for margaritas on the patio. Waiter acted like we were bothering him. When we ordered margaritas we said we might order food later but not right then. He was back in 2 minutes with his order pad in hand. The margaritas were good but the unfriendly service was disappointing. Will stop by one of the other various Mexican establishments in this area next time we have a hankering for margaritas. read more

My absolute favorite place to go for Mexican food! Im a huge fan of their chicken tips quesadilla and could eat it every single day!

This is usually our first choice for Mexican. The salsa is good, the chips usually hot and the margaritas have some kick. I dont care for 'spicy' and this places doesnt burn my stomach. If you like spicy mexican, its probably not for you, but if you like good mexican with just a little kick, its good! read more

We LOVE El Mariachi! My favorites are the Chimichanga with beef and chicken, the combination fajita taco salad, and the Pollo Loco or Chori Pollo. My husband and son's favorite is the Burrito California...it is HUGE! The price is cheap! I can feed my family of six for $50, and we all go home full! The portion sizes are very good, if not large! This is definitely not fine dining, but they are always packed, are very accommodating of large groups (we tend to have b-days here with 20-30 people), and are always pleasant, and welcoming. Sometimes we go there just to get a quick chips and salsa with queso. Love queso with meat. We almost always run into friends and family when we dine there...it is a local hot spot for sure! Go early evening or late lunch to avoid the crowds! read more

Really, really good food! We used to go to el rodeo but switched here as the food is delicious and margs are good. Try the cheese dip and quesadilla chicken tips! read more

This place offers quick, tame Mexican food for a cheap price. If that is what you want, go here. It's not fabulous, and you're not going to find a ton of difference flavors and spices. read more

These guys are super fast. The food is always good and the prices are great. This is our go to spot when we dont want to wait to eat on friday or saturday evening, if you are not from the dsm area, these are the only two nights of the week you ever have to wait to get into local restaurants, except Olive Garden and Texas Roadhouse there are waits there everyday. Anyway back to El Mariachi, the flautas could easily feed 2 but I somehow seem to almost clear the plate each time. The atmosphere is super casual, which I like but dont go if you are a restaurant snob. This is basically mexican fast food but with a great wait staff. read more

On Sunday, May 22, 2016, I went to El Mariachi Restaurant in Johnston, Iowa, at about 5:30 PM for a evening meal. As we drove up we noticed that the patio seats with tables were all filled with customers. When we went inside, most of the seats were filled with customers. The waiter at the door seated us and gave us a basket of chips with salsa. About 10 minutes later a different waiter came to take our drink orders and food orders. We ordered two margaritas and two combination platters for the two of us. I am a regular customer and I have eaten about half of the items on the menu over the past several years and I like most of the entrees. I prefer the #9 combination platter for $7.99 so I ordered that on May 22. The #9 has two ground beef items with rice and refried beans. Our drinks came right away and they were perfect regular margaritas on the rocks for $4.50 each. We waited for half an hour for our food orders to cook and the waiter apologized for the delay and brought more chips and salsa. He said the kitchen staff was overworked with the late afternoon Sunday crowd that night. A third waiter brought our food. The food was cold and the plates were cold. Usually the waiter comes with a big full size up to the elbow heat glove carrying the steaming plates with steaming hot food. We ate our food which was cold but looked OK and tasted OK. Then we waited another 20 minutes for our check. I finally flagged down the second waiter to ask for our check and he did bring it. We then went up to the cash register and paid without complaining. I felt stuffed. I had nothing else to eat or drink after eating the #9 combination platter. When I got home about 7 PM, I felt like I had two basketballs in my stomach. Then I got stomach cramps from 8 PM to 11 PM. Then at about 11 PM the diarrhea started and continued until 4 AM. The cramps decreased each time I went to the bathroom. The discomfort stopped by 5 AM. I was afraid to eat or drink anything until Noon of the next day when I drank some water. I think I got some minor food poisoning from eating the #9 combination platter. I am grateful that I recovered quickly after one night of discomfort. I will never go back there to eat again. read more

There was no wait to get our food, the waiter was so nice and The food was excelente! Will definitely come again!!!!!!!!

HELLO! Been going to this place for exactly 13 1/2 years. Nothing but excellent food. Bargain deal of the decade for Mexican restaurants in Iowa. I hope you're not in a hurry (HA HA) since everything comes in five minutes (Hot and fast - steaming hot pads down the arms of the waiter). Prices are completely reasonable . Nice digs they built up (by hand the brick at a time ) - what used to be a Hardee's thank God ))and done a beautiful job ). Handsome waiters. Excellent food -very "earthy" mix of traditional Mexican and a little bit of Tex-Mex. Keep trying other places and always come back to this one.HINT: not on the menu but ask them to make a plate of chorizo and onions grilled (then take a dose of Lipitor:)! read more

Server visited our table maybe three times. My dad, friend and I sat with empty drinks for 45 minutes, had to ask to be seated outside twice and had to ask for boxes three times. Asked for our check to be split up, which the waiter acknowledged and then brought it to us all together. When asked for boxes for the last time, the server brought them to us and said "sorry, I've been busy." We watched him help the tables around us many times. Food was fine but regardless none of us will be back! read more

Mediocre, although maybe the lesser of two evils in Johnston when compared to Plaza Mexico. Service was harried, food bland. Even the chips were stale and the salsa lifeless. My chile relleno was a complete mess, completely indistinguishable as a chile. read more

The Mexican food here is delish! Chips and Salsa and chips and cheese dip were amazing. Tacos Carne Azada were seasoned to perfection!!!!

Love this place-it's our Friday night regular spot. Try the tacos carne aside, they're fabulous! Sat night is buy 1 get 1 free margaritas. Great casual place, good food, friendly staff read more

My family believes this to be the best Mexican food in Des Moines. I agree. Ask for the green, spicy salsa if you like it hot. Service has been excellent for the last ten years. Once they accidentally used beef instead of chicken in a dish, and when we mentioned it they said that was now free and if we wish they would quickly make the correct dish for us, also. We recently had them prepare food for a large event and almost every person there commented the food was great and asked who made it. read more

I have eaten here probably a dozen times over the years, mostly for lunch. The lunches are usually pretty good with large portions - no complaints. I have now ordered carry out dinners three times and the first two were none too great once I got them to my house about 10 minutes from the restaurant. The chips and lettuce and such were soggy. Okay, should have learned my lesson. No more carry-out from El Mariachi. But no. Had to do it again. So tonight I placed an order for a Taco Salad Fajita and headed right up there where my order was waiting for me. Once home I opened the plastic bag and was a little surprised to not see a container for my taco salad. Instead it was wrapped up it aluminum foil and actually looked like a large taco in shape. Uh oh. Peeled the foil open and the poor taco salad looked like someone had used it for a soccer ball. It was all beat up, the bottom of the foil was ripped in a couple of places and kind of fused to the bottom of the "Crispy" flour bowl. Not happy. Had to use a couple of spatulas to get the "salad" separated from the foil and onto a plate. By then it was just a pile of glop. So I called the restaurant and related my displeasure to Salvador who said that my call was the first time anyone had complained about receiving a taco salad in bad shape. We eventually agreed on a store credit for another taco salad, so to paraphrase Carl Spackler of Caddyshack, "I guess I got going for me". I ate about half of that pile of uninspired glop and pitched the rest. And it did not taste that good either. Urp, where's the Alka Seltzer? Guess I will stick with Taco Casa for my Taco/Mexican Salad. Too bad. read more

I am from California and your not going to find the same type of restaurants or food here in Iowa. However, the service is good. The food is good. One of the better that I've tried locally. I've tried a few places but when I found this one I continued to eat here because it will satisfy my Mexican food craving. Family restaurant. read more

Extremely unpleasant service. It was busy, so I can understand the staff being stretched to accommodate everyone in the dining room, however if you're looking for quick table turn-over, do not make the table wait an hour an a half for their food. As frequent customers, we had ordered our food and drinks at the same time to hopefully speed up the process. While waiting for food to arrive, we had to call our server over multiple times to refill our drinks and chips. After an hour of waiting and seeing two other tables arrive after us receive their food, we made our first "complaint" to our server. He didn't apologize, but said he would check up and let us know. He didn't. We caught him 30 minutes later and he told us he would check again and let us know. Shortly after that, our food finally arrived and was thrown down on our table. It was ice cold. We asked for our queso to be reheated, but when our server returned it was still just as cold. A friend found plastic pieces in his rice. The server didn't remember what we ordered, then waited for us to hand over our money before walking away. We complained to the manager and received no apology or discount for our experience. We were very understanding of the business, and were looking for the bear minimum of service expected at a restaurant, but the lack of service, communication, and accountability for the situation was very disappointing. Eat here when it's slow, but beware if it's busy. read more

bad food i eat chile relleno complete mess i like better plaza mexico i loved there