amazing food and service and atmosphere! good vegetarian options like the breakfast burrito or el gordo nachos without meat. I wish they had tsp instead of bottled water but other than that it was perfect read more

El Mexicano By La Parilla - 1. Nachos el Gordo / 1. The Fat One Nachos - Mexican Near Me - Hamilton Twp, New Jersey

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Comida deliciosa y buen servicio al cliente! Hay muy buen ambiente y te sientes en casa read more

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Authentic Mexican food. Had the tacos platter and it was so tasty. Comes with 9 tacos - 3 of each, al pastor, birria, carne. The restaurant is beautifully decorated with lots of vibrant colors. Went for lunch on a Saturday and it was full so you know the food is good. read more

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The food was absolutely delicious and authentic here! The portion sizes are huge that I was able to have my leftovers for lunch the next day. The inside ambiance is super cute and makes me feel like I'm not actually in NJ. I would give 5 stars but I am knocking off a star for a few reasons. Although it wasn't busy we had to flag down our waitress for boxes and the bill. They only give out bottled water not tap water and charge $2 a bottle. Also, if you finish the chips/dip and ask for another basket, they charge extra for that too. I would still come back though LOL read more

El Mexicano By La Parilla - Mexican Near Me - Hamilton Twp, New Jersey

The place is cutely decorated & the waitress was friendly. The food was good and the portions were good for the pricing. :) However, I was a little surprised to be charged when asking for water. They also charged for extra chips (which is understandable, but I feel water is generally a free item given). read more

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I've been here several times now. El Mexicano is a straightforward Mexican joint that serves traditional style, not Tex-Mex style, food. The menu isn't huge (a couple of my fave Mex standards like Chilies Rellenos and Sopes are sadly missing), but what's there is varied enough to fill any needs, and the family platters are sights to behold. My first trip was to try out their gorditas, which were well stuffed in a thick corn masa shell. It wasn't deep fried, as I've had in some places, but nice and tasty. My wife got the Mojarra, a whole fried snapper (may have been tilapia, but Mojarra is traditionally snapper). It was well cooked, but not overcooked as we've experienced in other places. The tortillas that accompanied it were freshly made, and perfect for clawing out pieces of the fish. All in all, a good experience. My second trip there was less thrilling. My chicken enchiladas in salsa verde were so salty that I could barely eat them. It wasn't the salsa that was salty, but the chicken inside the enchiladas. Unfortunately, it was a takeout order, and I wasn't willing to drive back to the restaurant to return them. In retrospect, I wish that I had. My wife got the mojarra again, and her fish was also heavy on the salt side. Whomever was cooking that day had a very heavy hand for the salt, and if not for the positive result of the first visit, I'd likely not have returned again. It was that bad. I almost didn't go back for a third trip, but I gave them another chance, and I'm glad I did. I went in for breakfast and ordered Chilaquilles verde, and they were very good, and the plate was big enough for me to get two meals out of it. The over easy eggs were over medium, but I let it slide. That meal got them out of the hole they'd dug, and my Tacos de Tripa (ordered crunchy) were a diet cheat delight, and my Rancheros breakfast was very good, and very filling. It wasn't the typical Huevos Rancheros presentation, but all the constituent elements were there, and the taste was on board too. Again, my eggs were more medium than easy, but it wasn't a world ending crisis. The thin slice of beef was also overcooked, but from similar experiences in many other Mexican places, I've come to wonder if that's just the way they do it? Next time I'll ask for it to be cooked just a couple of minutes. The excellent hot chocolate more than made up for it. I'd stop in there just for the chocolate. in the end, this will be a regular stop for me. They can improve on their four star award by getting my eggs right, serve the beef sides less than extremely well done, and by keeping the salt shaker lid secured in the future, but it's much better than the three star I would have given had I not made additional visits after my second. Unless a restaurant does something God awful (usually service related) to me, I'll not slam a place after just one visit, and I now try for at least a few visits before even reviewing. Also, please be patient with the servers. English is not a strong suit for some of them, but they're nice, and it's a good opportunity for you to practice your Spanish. read more

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This Mex spot has slowly become my favorite in my immediate neighborhood. My original 4 star review was conservative and after many visits I realized I needed to update it. The language barrier I encountered during my first few trips has been improved, and a few eat in meals proved to be very good, as my guests also attested to. I was told to try a platter months ago, and was so satisfied when I actually did. Coming in at around $20 these are way more than 1 meal, I really like the grilled chicken pork and steak. I'm not a fan of the refried beans here, but the rice is excellent and you can sub cactus for the beans. I think one of my favorite items here are the gorditas, I thought this was a made up Bell item, but no, they are thick corn discs sliced open and stuffed with chicken and lettuce, tomato and avocado. The salsas are very good too. The flautas are great too, 5 large flutes stuffed with pulled chicken in a light red sauce. And a huge salad right on top. The last reason for the upgrade is the ambiance/ decor. This is a large restaurant with plenty of seating. They keep it very clean and the Mexican themed decor with bright colors and parrots hanging from the ceiling is fun. read more

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First time here for the Birria tacos but the Trompo stole the show. No alcohol, but the menu is quite large. Disappointed they do not serve fish or shrimp tacos. Al Pastor De Trompo de pina - excellent Tacos de birria - very good Ricos tacos Tacos de carne asada - good grilled steak flavor, but overall slightly dry but worth a chance. Needed some lime and alot of sauce Tacos de charos de res - least favorite. Dry and needed alot of sauces or something So many items on this menu to try. Winter is coming so its soup season. I will be back read more

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Outstanding food, very authentic and friendly service, prices are very fair. Excellent atmosphere and colorful decor and they were very happy celebrate a special occasion! Highly recommend trying their sampler platters which makes ordering easy. Also another hit was their shrimp and steak dish! read more

El Mexicano By La Parilla - Love the decor! - Mexican Near Me - Hamilton Twp, New Jersey

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El Mexicano on Hamilton Avenue, Trenton, NJ (actually, Hamilton) is a new South of the Border restaurant from the folks who brought us La Parrilla Steak House. It looks like many others with tables and chairs brightly painted/shellacked, but unlike most it offers three meals a day, seven days a week, for primarily Spanish speaking families. The menu is diverse, offering everything from traditional street food through large plate multi side dinners. While I was there late on a weekday afternoon, most other customers were couples and families enjoying themselves. I ordered Flautas and a Batida Fresa. The five chicken flutes were buried under shredded lettuce, tomato, crema fresca, avocado, and stuffed with chicken and more cheese. They were crisp and very tasty. The strawberry milkshake was cool and very refreshing. They played well together and left me full enough until the next morning. I really didn't have room for the chips and salsa and left them behind. Really liked the food and the experience of the house, although I admit the appointments reminded of so many other places with the same furniture. Still, it draws the locals who seem to be totally into it, so who am I to question? Will be back for their desayuno. Props to Vince for this find! read more

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The service is unbelievably awful. Soon as you walk In you're greeted with a stank face from the staff. The server was rude. I told her I didn't like my drink ( the horchata ,which tasted like mouth wash) and she gave me a dirty look . Then asked me again if I was sure I didn't like the drink. The tacos de berria did save the experience. Complements go to the Cheif. read more

My husband loves Mexican food so we went here for Father's Day. We were warmly greeted. All of the colors, flags, paintings, etc. were a little overwhelming to this non-Mexican. It's very bright and cheery, just sensory overload. Since we've been to ALOT of Mexican restaurants in the area I feel I can give a full opinion. First off, a tiny basket of tasteless chips and salsa. The wait staff was friendly but if we didn't have my husband to interpret we would have been lost. Food was adequate, not spicy as I asked and filling. My husband loved his cervice, and guest loved the fajita served in half a pineapple. I don't know if it was just for Father's Day, but there was a mariachi band. This was fun, loud and fun! We're glad we tried it....we'll take My Quato in Hamilton instead. read more

I've called this restaurant on numerous occasions recently trying to place a take out order. I've received incorrect take out orders in the past, so I've been asking to speak with someone who speaks English. At that point the person says "sorry no English" and disconnects the call. I give up read more

One of the best local food spots in the area. Prices are great, portions are even greater. What more is there to say about the spot.

Food is a amazing with many different options to fill all your cravings. One of the best spots with the best prices .

Well priced. Service horrible. After ordering I left the restaurant and returned to pick up my food. I stood at the counter for a timed 5 minute while the whole staff watch a video on the phone of the hosts. During that time I was able to watch 2 cooks eat food behind the counter. When the host finally came over she said my food was not ready yet. I said okay and waited at the counter. I didn't move. She walked to the side and walked right back she handed me the food that was right on the counter. She didn't want me to know she had me waiting while her whole team watch a video on her phone. This was not my first time here but will be my read more

First time I ate here I was to say the least I was disappointed. Driving by I noticed the parking lot is usually pretty full. I decided to give it another try. The food was really good, especially the tortilla. read more

El Mexicano By La Parilla - Chips and salsa - Mexican Near Me - Hamilton Twp, New Jersey

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Food was very good and it was decorated very nice but the customer service was not it

I live in the area and have been wanting to give the restaurant a try. I want to start by saying the decor is really nice, I loved all the color, cultural decorations! There is clearly a language barrier however I speak Spanish so that was not an issue for us. So let me start with the food, I ordered the Birria Tacos and my mother ordered the El Tri Color. The birria tacos had very good flavor, however, the consume did not taste good; completely different from other places where I've eaten birria tacos. My mother's food consisted of grilled chicken & steak and spicy pork and 1 chicken mole enchilada. The chicken, steak and pork were very well seasoned and tasteful. The chicken mole was not to our liking at all! The beans were cold and bland, the rice was also bland. My reason for the two stars is the lack of attention from the staff. I had to request that water be brought to our table as our waitress wanted to take our food order w/out even taking our drink order first. Our food was brought out practically as soon as we gave the order which leads me to believe it wasn't fresh. Once food was delivered we never saw our waitress again. She finally came by when we were done so I requested the check. She brought back the check and then never returned! Needless to say, I had to go to the register to pay. I still left a 20% tip but I must say that I was very tempted not to. My mother & I agreed that we will not be returning to this establishment. While some of the food had good flavor, the lack of attention to us as their customers left a lot to be desired. read more

Looking for a new place to eat a good Mexican meal and found this place. Had the birria tacos and the tamarind juice. They served chips with three kinds of salsa in small dishes before the meal came. For dessert, had churros with ice cream and drizzled chocolate and a piece of flan. Everything was fresh and delicious. The service was a little inattentive, but the food is worth the time. I wasn't in a rush. Will go back. read more