Solid 4 - festive, friendly, and flavorful. Get the Pollo Loco if you've been to a bunch of Mexican Restaurants and want to try something a little different. They said it would be spicy; it wasn't. Flavorful Sauce, generous portion, and sides. My Bride and MIL got combinations (burrito and chimichanga) - they were standard fair. Our waitress was attentive without hovering. The layout where we were was. Dry private and not too noisy (good for my MIL). read more

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I love this restaurant! They are consistent with great and fast service. Their ACP never disappoints and you can tell their corn tortillas are fresh and made in house. I've taken my family and friends on multiple occasions here and every time, we have really enjoyed ourselves. I'm thankful to have this place down the road from me ! read more

Food is always on point. Service is excellent. We go as a group every Friday and the waitress knows my name and my order. I love it. Food is well portioned. And authentic. I've always gotten the super burrito which I only eat half it comes with rice and beans, salad and guacamole. Definitely try it if you're in the area! read more

I love this restaurant! The food is very good! The service is always wonderful and the restaurant is always clean!

Our HOA used them to cater our community gathering and it was very well received. The food was excellent and the manager Laura was excellent to work with and was extremely helpful. Would highly recommend using them for this type of event. read more

Best chicken fajita bowl but you must add rice !!! Taco shell is always fresh and crispy. The sweet tea is absolutely amazing

Been coming here for years and is still one of my favorite Mexican restaurants to eat out at

Food here is really good. Son and I go regularly. Great Taco's! Pollo Loco is the best ever. Generous portions alway have some for taking home. Also great chips! Can be crowded at times. But GREAT Mexican food. read more

I can tell you this, this place, in my opinion, is a hidden gem. I've been here 3 times, and each time I'm seated promptly, my order's taken, and my food is amazing! It's also a budget friendly restaurant. Don't expect great ambiance, but it's still pretty good. If they'd dim the lights and play soft Mexican music, it'd be very very nice read more

Food is ALWAYS delicious, fresh, and consistent. Love our waiter as well. We drive an hour to eat there because it's that good. Super Chicken Chimichanga is my favorite always. My husband always gets the Super dinner Chicken & bean. Comes with a nice little fresh side guacamole salad on the plate. SOOOOO GOOD read more

Best Mexican around in my opinion. Has become my go to! Love the chicken super burrito! My favorite. read more

El Patron - Chicken Super Burrito - Mexican Near Me - Gastonia, North Carolina

Our new fav Mexican restaurant in the Gastonia area. The food is consistently fresh and flavorful. The service is spot on. Typical Mexican restaurant vibe. read more

I have been coming to el patron since they opened. I am a loyal customer and this is my all time favorite Mexican restaurant and my favorite comfort food. This is what los arcos used to be. The chips and queso are essential, and my order changes frequently, but my favorite is their chicken enchiladas. It is so flavorful and delicious, best food all around. Highly recommend best Mexican!!! read more

Probably my favorite Mexican restaurant in Gastonia. The food is consistently good, and all but one time was I served kindly. We always get pretty much the same things :) The pollo loco is spicy and delicious. It's chunks of chicken in a chipotle sauce sothered with a cheese sauce, served with tortillas for making tacos. The burritos, tacos and chimichangas are all spiced perfectly and taste great. This restaurant is tucked back in a strip mall, so you may have to look closely for it, but it is worth it. read more

El Patron - Taco, chimichanga and enchilada - Mexican Near Me - Gastonia, North Carolina

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Makes the top 5 Mexican in Gaston county. A surprisingly great experience in what feels like a hole in the wall restaurant. Amazing food and drinks specials read more

Hostess was on the phone upon arriving. After hanging up you says come this way. No good afternoon or how many in our party. We were seated at our table. Wow, the seats should have had upholstery replaced years ago as I had to sit on dirty fabric were the vinyl used to be. Waitress walks up and doesn't introduce herself or any other pleasantries. What do you want to drink? Returns with drinks and we have to ask for menus. Food was ok , however with the poor mood set by the staff and need up upgrades to the seating for sanitation reasons we will not be returning. The food quality was ok , don't want to be too hard on the cooks. Also the Latino gentleman who served the meals was the brightest and most cheerful part of our visit. read more

Great food and service always ! Always get taken care of great and efficiently. The only Mexican restaurant I will go to for years !!

Have eaten at this restaurant numerous times over the years and have been a satisfied customer. Not today so much. I placed my order and had in my head what the total should be. It was more than I was expecting and I had not seen the itemized bill. When I asked about the total I was given the slip. It showed a10% tip added on the whole total. I understand the disruption COVID has caused. My problem is not notifying the customer before the change is run. I am disappointed in the management of the restaurant and expressed it to the person at the cash register. It will be a long time before I return to the restaurant. read more

We have never really had a problem here but I recently order takeout and there was a long hair completely entwined within my food. Quite disgusting and I couldn't finish my food. read more

We've been going here for years, and everything is great, but their ACP is the best around! No matter what you order from their menu, you won't be disappointed. read more

Great Mexican dinner with great staff! We love their chorizo queso. Pick up or dine it, never fails it is fabulous! A must try!

Yummy fajitas! We eat here often. Best enchiladas rancheros in town. We eat here at least once a week. Always friendly service. Wonderful salsa. read more

El Patron - a plate of food and a can of beer - Mexican Near Me - Gastonia, North Carolina

Love Mexican Food? You need to come here! The service is great & the food is yummy! Very reasonably priced. read more

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I absolutely love the food here it's so amazing. But the staff that work here make me not want to come back. They are rude and not friendly they act like they don't want to work here. I wish they were more friendly. Food is a 10/10 though. read more

This was my first time eating at this place. I had the taco burrito combo and ordered 3 extra taco's. This was an order to go and did not get to eat until couple hours later. By then the taco had gotten soggy not their fault, but when I finally opened to eat there was hardly any beef it did not fill the taco. I had ordered extra shredded cheese and had to use as filler. The taco's were very thin even taco bell uses more meat. We ordered a side of whole jalapenos but they were old and mushy. The refried beans were good, salsa had no taste. It was definitely not worth the 20.00 spent. I will not be going there again there are better places where you actually get your money's worth. read more

Food was Great. I love the mango strawberry margarita. BUT....Service was awful. It was us 2 eating and we waited over 10 minutes b4 some one came to get our order. By the time we was gonna leave. Someone came and took our order. Smh. If I come again. It will be takeout. read more

What a disappointment. Just spent $65 on my family tonight, and the food was terrible. Everything was soggy, like they over steamed it, or soaked it in water or something. All across the board: tacos, burrito, chips, everything was subpar quality. Second bad experience out of three times. Never eating here again. read more

This is our weekly go-to spot for Mexican! Food is always great, hot, quick. Service is excellent and wait staff are friendly and responsive to all our requests. Definitely worth a try!! Love this place!! read more

I've eaten here a few times and it's "okay." We ordered takeout tonight, and I was disappointed to find that they had forgotten the tortillas for our fajitas. My wife drove back to get the tortillas and some extra sour cream (there was very little with the fajitas and none with the quesadilla). I was surprised that they decided to charge her for the 2oz of sour cream, given that we had to drive all the way back for their mistake. Really?! Then to top it off, while eating my (now cold) fajita, I pulled out of my mouth what I first thought was a chicken bone, but found a twist tie instead. From here on out, I will drive a little extra to go to La Fuente or Tequilas or On the Border! read more

El Patron - Twist tie from my fajita...nice! - Mexican Near Me - Gastonia, North Carolina

This is like MANY Mexican restaurants I have visited in the past, and the quality is about the same as the rest (yummy, but not fancy). If you are looking for a little Mexican joint for chips and salsa (their salsa is great!), a beer, and tacos, enchiladas, etc, it's a great place to visit. Prices are reasonable and the service was very good. read more

Having read all the reviews, I expected terrible service. We were greeted at the door promptly, got our drinks and food fast and free refills of chips and salsa. The place didn't have any guacamole, because they ran out of avocados. Which was kind of weird, since there's a grocery store like 100 feet away. My issue was the food we did actually get. The ground beef in the burrito was really bland, as well as the rice and the beans were really watery. All of the food was drenched in some red sauce which made it soggy, but didn't add any flavor. The only upside of the meal was the price. We only paid 16$ for two entrees, but I guess the price matched the portion. read more

Very good food! Friendly atmosphere and is kid-friendly as well. We love getting takeout from there as well.

We will not be going here anymore. The service is slow, they always manage to get our order wrong, and we found an obscure hair in our queso. GROSS!!!!!!! Have given them way too many chances and it seems they just can't get it right!! read more

This is literally the nastiest shit I've ever tasted. They play this annoying music and the salsa is gross. The service is fine, but the food in general is just weird. When I go to a Mexican restaurant I expect the stereotypical Mexican restaurant, not a restaurant that has spicy ass mild salsa that taste like fuxking dishwater. read more

Love this Mexican eatery!! Great food, great service! The staff are very friendly. So glad to have a delicious authentic restaurant so close to home. read more

Me and my wife ate there last night. I got the enchiladas rancherias and it was absolutely the best Mexican dish I have ever eaten. We had been there before and most things are pretty good just regular Mexican fair but that dish was like nothing I have had before. read more

Great little Mexican restaurant to get some traditional Mexican food. The service is generally good and the food is affordable and good quality, i.e. what you'd want from a good "hot Mexican" restaurant. Nothing fancy, just a satisfying Mexican meal. read more

This place is a rip off, I ordered a Super Burrito, and it was the size of a tampon. They put about 4 slices of steak in it...For $10.58...Ridiculous..Go to Taco Bell. read more

We eat here a lot and usually order the same thing every time. Best chips and salsa on the planet. Pretty good service even though there has been lot of turn over with staff lately. There are still a couple who have been there for a long time. They need to work on consistency of how the food comes out. We always alter our order and it never comes out the same twice lately and that gets old. Still great food!! read more

Having moved to Gastonia, NC in January, this was our very first restaurant ever having visited. We now come here at least once, mostly twice, a week. The staff is very friendly and attentive. We're always greeted at the door and sat promptly. The kitchen always accommodates our special order, if needed. The food is delicious. My personal favorite: there's always $2 rotating beer on draft! read more