This is by far the worst Mexican restaurant I have ever tried. The place is dirty, the food has no flavor.

After we ate the waitress took my credit card and went to pay the bill. We waited about 15min till she returned. When she did come back she said they were having trouble with their credit card machine and would be back. Another 15-20min went by and she came back with the slip. I checked my online bank app and it appeared that our bill was charged 3 times! I said something to her, and she asked for my card back. Another 15min later she returned asking for the receipt so she could "get my card number" I reminded her that she still had my card! She went back to the register and a few more minutes later a man who I assume was the manager (he didn't introduce himself) asked for my number and said he would call me in a half hour once he could clear up the issue. That was at 1pm today. It's now almost 5pm and no call. As a business they should not allow a customer to leave after an error of this size. Something more should have been done to correct this. I will now have to keep calling until I am refunded the 2 additional charges on my card.​ read more

Waited 30 mins for a table. The girl at the front couldn't even announce the numbers correctly. our waiter was an idiot. He couldn't multitaski at all! We knew what we wanted right away and he said that he couldn't take our drink orders and our food order at the same time. It took him forever to bring our drinks. Then took another 10 mins to take our order. And he didn't even get the order correct. The salsa has way too much pepper in it. Our tacos weren't even full of meat. The one food item we ordered is on the menu and they didn't even know what it is or how to correctly make it. Over all absolutely horrible experience! I wouldn't recommend coming here at all! The el rodeo in york pa is the best ever! I have been here many many many times! I Absolutely Love It there! They know what they are doing! Best service best food!!!! I recommend coming to the one in york pa!!! :) read more

El Rodeo - This is the before pic of our appetizer at lancaster location!! :-( horrible!!! - Mexican Near Me - Lancaster, Pennsylvania

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This has been one of the worst restaurant experiences I've had in a long time. I should have known by the random tarps and furniture scattered on the patio outside, but I figured that was just because of the snow. Inside, my son immediately declared "it smells yucky in here" and it did. He was saying it smelled like vomit, but I knew what it was. I tried to diffuse the situation as more people crammed into the foyer as we waited for a hostess to appear, but my wife said it smelled like vomit too. I knew the scent. It was familiar since I worked at a restaurant when I was younger. It was the smell of a greasy carpet may used to prevent slipping in a kitchen. So why did it smell like this on the foyer? Because the mat laid crumpled on a bench where I could have sat to wait. But instead we all stood around waiting for some staff member to notice I was there. But we should have turned around a filed out the door. The high chair they brought for my daughter was so wobbly I thought it would break. I tried to tighten it with my pocket knife. The belt didn't fit nor latch. And then we waited. I'm not sure if you've ever waited at a restaurant with a 5 and 2 year old, but it's never fun. Finally a women plopped nachos and salsa on the table. Great! Lunch was moving along. But it would take even longer for our order to be taken. Between the chips and salsa arriving and the order being taken, I took my son to go to the bathroom and wash our hands. Then we face our order. At this point I wanted a drink, so I asked for a Jack and Coke. The waitress said "Coke". My wife corrected her "He wants Jack and Coke". The waitress then stared at us and said "I don't think we have that". What restaurant with a bar wouldn't have Jack Daniels? Fine, I'll get a Coke and experience this with zero inhibitions. When the food did come out, it was cold. I've never been to a Mexican restaurant where the warning "the plate's hot" was not given. But at this restaurant, the plates were cold along with the food. When the waitress came by to ask how everything was, we told her this... and there it was again, a blank stare. Then she walked away. No resolution to the matter. Not that we would have sent it back at this point since we were sure it would result in microwaved saliva. Had to ask twice for a spoon for my son to eat his rice. Received and charged for two orders of kids meals when only was requested. Grizzle and odd crunchy stuff in my food like dirt. No glass on unsealed tabletops. Very dirty Coke glass that I decided to ask to be replaced just so they wouldn't get away with that sort of oversight. Bucket of dirty water used to clean tables stashed next to silverware. The waitress came back a last time to ask how we were doing. Not that she really cared since after she asked, she has already started to walk away. We asked for boxes but another wait staff member had to ask and bring them. Evidently we were asking for too much... Like a Department of Health inspection. Had to walk up to the front to pay with two kids. Joy. Finally we got to leave. But my son wanted a gumball out of the machine. After rummaging in our van for a quarter, I decided to get some change from the register instead. The nice lady that came just gave me a quarter instead of exchanging my money. Good idea at that point. So as I watched my son's orange gumball roll down the spiral slide over broken pieces of some other kid's gumballs littering the track, I was happy to leave. Never again. read more

I'm now going to have to put this place in the "used to go there" category. Not something I like to do, but then again, they're the ones not holding up to basic standards of service and food quality. The waitress barely checked back in with us (apparently wiping down menus and unoccupied booths ranks higher than attending to paying customers.) Mrs. Foodie's fajitas apparently lost their sizzle somewhere between the kitchen and our table. The red sauce covering my burrito tasted suspiciously like doctored spaghetti sauce. Even attempting to get our bill so that we could depart required asking several staff members to send the server to our table. To top it off, the cash register was inoperable - leaving the options: a) paying the exact (unverified) amount; b) paying an amount close to what they said was correct, but not receiving change; and c) trusting them to run it through on plastic(uhhh..like I was going to trust that??!?!) We handed over a couple extra bucks and beat a hasty exit. (To our waitress: had you promptly given us our bill we would have given you the standard 15% tip. I'm sorry if we estimated a little low. Perhaps the person who was at the cashier desk gave you our change.) read more

Soooooo goooood! I have heard great things, so I decided to stop in on my lunch break. I ordered a lunch chicken chimichanga, right portion size, so good, even came with chips and salsa. A little on the higher end considering it's a lunch special but sooo good! read more

Trios tacos are terrific Everything else is meh Water is less than meh Service is subpar read more

cheap, greasy, mexican food however, if that's what you like, and it can be great at times, come here good portion sizes but bound to make you feel gross after large menu selection read more

El Rodeo - Mexican Near Me - Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Hands down, this is our favorite Mexican restaurant in the area, and there are several in Lancaster County. This location has been in Lancaster for the last year or two, and before it came to Lancaster, we used to always travel to Harrisburg or York to eat at El Rodeo. We were so happy when they finally opened a location in Lancaster! Service is always fast, and the servers are always very attentive and stop by your table often. The atmosphere is exactly what you would want out of a Mexican restaurant. It's very colorful and done in a festive traditional style, but even though the atmosphere is good, the food is what we truly come here for. The food is so delicious! Let's start with the chips and salsa. They always bring by a basket of hot corn tortilla chips and homemade salsa. The chips and salsa are the best chips and salsa I have had, and look forward to going to El Rodeo for these alone. You can even buy the salsa to take home with you in several different sized containers. And the entrees are always so full of flavor. El Rodeo has the exact right balance of flavors in their food. And they use plenty of cilantro (which I thoroughly enjoy), but not so much that it overpowers the other tastes. Tons of flavor, and like I said, very well balanced! The prices are very reasonable, and I'd go so far as to say cheap. In my area of Central PA, you just can't get any better for your dollar than El Rodeo. And don't forget, they offer live Mariachi music every week! read more

Is El Rodeo "authentic mexican". Who knows?? I've lived in California, Utah, and Atlanta and PA. I've eaten "mexican" all across the country as well as in Hawaii and of course, in Mexico. And "authentic mexican food" is as varied as the locale. And I love mexican food! El Rodeo is what it is. Good decent mexican food. I probably have eaten at El Rodeo a good 35 times (also in HBG and York). It's a default for my wife and I when we don't have a craving for something else. It's a fave for my three grown daughters and their families too. Great chips and salsa. Favorites: Chile Verde (but it can be a little too salty for me), Chicken Mole, Tamales, Enchiladas Verdes, Chile Rellano, Molchete, Carne Asada, Tacos al Pastor, Enchladas Machaca. Beans are smooth and creamy (the lard content, I'm sure). The Flan for dessert is great. The wait staff is friendly. I read a previous review complaining about ground beef and mozzarella cheese. I don't remember ever having mozzarella cheese! I believe it's a white queso blanco (as it should be). And shredded beef is in most of the beef entree items (and easily substituted for a menu item containing ground beef). El Rodeo . . .a quiet, "special" romantic dinner . . .probably not. But consistently good eats for a very decent price . . .yes! And you'll probably see me there on many a Friday or Saturday early evening. read more

Ive eaten here many times and its not all that bad. They give warm tortilla chips and salsa with free refills until youre full of chips, it has a nice atmosphere and a vegetarian selection on the menu. On the down side Ive often found the food to be on the bland side, so I have to heat it up with hot sauce which is provided on the table. But this is my problem, not yours and its quite tasty with or without hot sauce. Price for lunch is really reasonable, 2 people usually is less than 20$ depending on what you order. There are some fast and cheap lunch specials and the food comes out pretty quick too! Located on Manheim Pike near rt 30 and park city. 4 M's mmmm. read more

Decided to stop here on our way through town. It was Absolutely delicious. My husband and I got nachos and our friend got a chicken dish. It was amazing! Chips and salsa are freshly made and wonderful! So glad we stopped here read more

This place was a pleasant surprise; great decor and service - awesome margaritas and quite a selection to boot! I had the Tapatio, which was grilled chicken, chorizo and cheese served with rice, beans, tortillas and guacamole salad. Quite flavorful and a good sized portion. The Pina Colada Margarita tasted more like Pina Colada than margarita, but that sort of wasn't a surprise. I switched to plain ol' margs after I gave it a sample. All in all - it's a place I'll revisit next time I'm in the area! read more

Nice selection, reasonable prices, friendly staff and good food. Margaritas pretty damn good too! I'll be back for sure.

This place makes me so furious cause to tell you the truth their salsa is YUM...their chips are always warm and I do believe there is ONE cook there that knows what he's doing but when he works and if you'll even get him is a whole other thing. Its almost as if you try to go there around 1-5 o'clock in the afternoon that you are sure to get food that was made the day before. The refried beans will be greasy the guacamole will be dark green, the rellenos will be hard and will not be penetrated without a knife and the rice is then mealy. Place is definitely gaudy inside and is in dire need of like a POWERWASHING. Location is super close to the mall so it was an easy pick if you're downtown shopping but the servers disappear for long periods of time, stand by in groups of 15 and just stare at you while you eat or don't even speak good enough English to get your order right its a super frustrating scenario over there. Good place to drown yourself in margeritas I guess and people watch...just be sure to stick to chips and salsa. read more

Pretty good Mexican food. Place is clean and the staff is super nice. Nothing really special good place to come if you're craving Mexican I suppose. My Latina girlfriend wasn't a huge fan but again, she was born and raised in southern Cal. read more

We stopped in late on a Friday night to grab some nachos and dessert. We ordered beef nachos - they weren't great but weren't terrible. We also got the fried ice cream - honey on one, chocolate on the other. Both were delicious, but the one with honey on top was way better. I also had some of the strawberry sangria which was pretty tasty as well. Our server was attentive, helpful and super friendly! read more

El Rodeo - Fried ice cream with chocolate sauce. - Mexican Near Me - Lancaster, Pennsylvania

This is a great place to get Penn Mex. If you were a fan of Chi Chi's, then you'll enjoy this place. Not for those looking for true Mexican cuisine but great for the Taco Bell crowd with good prices, food and portions. May not be using fresh veggies in the salsa but guarantee that there is no catchup involved. We will continue to visit and enjoy this place. For you Mexican/Spanish cuisine snobs, stay away so the wait is shorter for the rest of us. read more

Went there on Saturday night anticipating good Mexican food. We were seated at a table by the kitchen, so it was very noisy. They ran out of menus, so we had to share one.....Sangria was watered down red wine with no fruit. The fajitas Del Mar was very good, but the combo #11, beef hard taco, enchilada and burrito were bland, and the hard taco shell was soggy - no sides came with that combo. Our waiter was handling too many tables (not his fault) so he wasn't around much. He took our order, someone else brought the food and we saw him again when he asked if we wanted our check. We will definitely never go back. read more

This place is the best Mexican food in Lancaster. Now saying that, if this were in a big city I'd give it three stars. It always has consistently good veggie options and nice strong drinks. It's the best this area has to offer. If you want better, drive 90 min to philly. read more

I love Kitschy little Mexican places with interesting tile work and food that tries really hard to be authentic. The food here is good and cheap. I've only been once, so I don't know if it's consistent. Next time I'm back in the area I'll try it again!! read more

Got seated right away, wasn't too busy. It was a Saturday night. Sat at our table for a good 20 minutes before anyone even came to us for chips/drinks. All the waitresses would just look at us and walk past. Finally flagged down one and she asked us for our food choices and drinks. Got the chicken quesadilla with rice. Food was okay. Nothing special, but decent to eat. This place could be great!! Just needs a little work. read more

Came here for mothers day. The service is horrible. After waiting 1/2 hour just to get served, The order was slightly wrong. The runner who brought the food proceeded to roll her eyes when told this. Then my oldest, who ordered buffalo wings and received plain fried chicken,had to wait until we were all half through our dinner to get her food, only to not have the sauce she ordered with it. We had to wait till the end of dinner when the waiter finally came to check up on us...after we had to track down another waitress to get him...The service was so bad, we even refused her free dessert. We just wanted the check and will NEVER return. Sadly, this was 1st time I ever gave a bad tip to anyone, but this service warrented it.... read more

The food saved this review from being two stars. I got a chicken and rice dish in a bowl that was delicious, but everything else about my experience here was decent at best. The server was extremely slow. He may have been on quaaludes or something. They didn't have bud light, the margaritas were way too sweet, they messed up my friend's order, etc. I would not go there again unless it was ordered to go. read more

I would say the food is mediocre as well as the service. But it's always quick and the margaritas are always good. Just don't eat more then one bowl of chips or the little Mexican girl will give you dirty looks. read more

Serves nice sized portions of TexMex food at reasonable prices. Good warm tortilla chips. Could use more attention to housekeeping details. read more

Lots of authentic Mexican food. Prepared well and served quickly by the wait staff. Very reasonable prices. You can feed your family affordably here and get great Mexican food. Be sure and try the Guac which is made table side. Very good and fresh. Great Margaritas as well. Mariachi bands scheduled monthly. read more

El Rodeo - Pepe's special - Mexican Near Me - Lancaster, Pennsylvania

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I really really love El Rodeo. I really do. Been going for years. But the last few times I've gone the service has been absolutely terrible. It used to be great, but every time they hire new staff it seems to get worse. I have such an attachment to this place, love the food, but I can't recommend it to people without warning them of the bad service. read more

The food was luke warm. Over priced for mediocrity. Meh at best. $1 for a side of tomatoes absurd.

Not good food it looked like cat vomit on my plate and the tacos were very mushy and the whole place smells like a bathroom

The food and service here has always been medicore, but affordable, so there's that. Today was the worst however. We walk in to a server looking at her cell, stands up from a booth to non-causally greet us. There was no greeting actually ,she couldn't even muster a smile. In fact, it looked like she just found out her favorite pet had been boiled alive .. This non-personality swag continued for the rest of our stay..Enough about her...Both my mother and I ordered our meals. Everything is running smooth. The chips and salsa were the stand out. Meals come out, and everything is downhill from here. A manager in his his stylish mint green dress shirt, and, khakis brought our meals out. My mom ordered a bean soup, and a chicken taco salad. I ordered, from the entree menu, a nacho supreme, and chicken verde enchiladas. When asked who gets what,I explained. He put the enchiladas down, which included rice and beans. Then he placed down the nachos and said "WOW!!" The implication was that it was an unfathmouble about of food, and I'm a fat hog. That may be true, not in this case however..I let it go.. Moments later, I take my first bite from verde enchilada, to find a sizable chicken bone I nearly swallowed. That's a wrap. The portion for this dish, was very small. They were like Mini corn tortillas. On top of that, the nacho entree, was small as well. Spread out flat on a plate, with no layers, and the basic toppings. It looked like a small appetizer, as opposed to an entree dish. It turned my stomach , and the manager happened to be walking towards our table. I handed him the plate and explained the massive bone. He apologized and said they would remake it, or anything else. I said "you said wow, like I was eating all this food , I don't want anything.."..he made eye contact, looked down and walked away. Shortly after he came back apologizing for the chicken, which actually, I didn't care as much about, as his insulting bed side manor..that put a sour taste from the start..He didn't recieve it, and never will. Additionally the couple behind us ordered three tacos each, as an appitizer, then each had a fahita plate.. Mr. Manners then brought out a gift certificate for ten dollars. We settled our check , and we're about to leave, but were accosted by another waitress asking my mother if something was wrong with her soup. She was polite, and didn't want a whole thing, but it was untouched because it taste like s@!/ ..Her salad was largely untouched as well, as it was only shredded chicken, lettuce, missing tomatoes, whatever dressing, and a large taco shell(which actually looked good).. Our miserable waitress, chimed in, to spread her tears of discord over our table one last time.. We ran for the border, trying to make our exit with no more contact. I left the overly generous gift certificate of ten dollars, on the table, and left way too much tip, for the once again, miserable waitress..the manager wouldn't make eye contact on our way out..and the other waitress who accosted us about the soup, darted out in front us, to her man in his car in the parking lot..( probably handing him our gift certificate). She had just started her shift..girl..what was very strange is along the entire back wall, where we were seated in the the back corner.., there were three different booths occupied with employees, all on their cellphones..literally, six or seven employees doing nothing but texting..no wonder they make so many cut-backs with the crappy food here, cause they are so over-staffed, that the money is all going towards employee payroll..I Foresee this place closing down in the near future. read more

Fried ice cream!! Queso fondido with chorizo, guacamole, taco salad, fajitas, everything we've ever gotten from here has always been great. Staff is also very informative, family establishment, quiet yet relaxed atmosphere. read more

excellent service the margaritas the best and excellent customer service I recommend it 100%.

Is it legal to serve food this bad? My tacos were so waterlogged they would have dissolved if left for a few more minutes. At least my rude waitress didn't bother asking me if I wanted a box, I wouldn't have been able to contain my laughter. read more

Summary: Lacking service plus mediocre food set in an overdone mexican decor. === Our family gave El Rodeo a shot tonight after seeing a coupon for $5 off a $30+ total check. On the way we realized the coupon wasn't allowed on Friday nights. Oh well, no harm done, but so far my mexican-restaurant-like-o-meter is reading just under 50% (50% being neutral...) since we can't use the coupon on the weekend. We arrive and walk into perhaps the gaudiest mexican place I've seen, and are seated quickly. The booth has ripped seats, but at least it's not an eyesore of color like the tables with the brightly painted chairs. We sit and begin to look at our menus, and a moment later a woman brings chips and salsa to our table. Free chips and salsa get me excited because all my favorite mexican restaurants do this -- but I expect them to be fresh and tasty. These weren't fresh warm chips, and probably came from a bag. We asked if the two cups of salsa were the same, only the lady who brought them didn't speak English and had to wave the manager over to answer our question. (I'm sure there had to have been at least a few people there who spoke English, since I could count no fewer than 14 people working in the dining area when we were seated -- not an exaggeration.) Mr. Manager told us there was a "mild" salsa available but didn't offer to get us any. If you're keeping track, my like-o-meter just went down to about 40%. After one bite, my wife wanted the mild version, and a few minutes later when the male server came to the table we asked for some. He left to get some and our drinks, and came back with an extra milk (we had only ordered ONE for our daughter -- and they were $2 each if we had ended up paying for both) as well as a cup of the "mild salsa." It was pretty mild, but it was definitely not like any salsa I've ever had. I am reasonably sure the base of it was marinara (tomato sauce) with some added chili powder. This same mixture came on top of a beef burrito I ordered, making the whole thing more italian-flavored than mexican. Like-o-meter reading: 32.5%. We needed several extra minutes before ordering since there were well over 100 menu choices AND an a la carte menu. I get the feeling the a la carte menu is there for people who give up reading through the rest of the menu and just say "give me a taco!" I ordered combination NUMBER SEVENTEEN! out of a more than 25 on a list almost as tall as the menu itself. And most of them were so similar it was hard to differentiate them. I substituted one item of chicken instead of beef for an extra 60 cents. We ordered a chicken quesadilla appetizer for the kids to split. Food came quickly. (Like-o-meter: back up to 38%) The kids' quesadilla came first, although the server didn't bring an extra plate even though I had told him the kids were going to split. It took several minutes to get his attention to ask for one. (Like-o-meter: sliding to 33%) Our food came next, and looked suspect. There was the italian sauce on my burrito. The rice had peas and carrots in it -- very odd for any Spanish rice I've seen -- which were almost certainly frozen if not freeze-dried before preparation. (Like-o-meter: now 30%) The chicken enchilada and my wife's chicken burrito were better because the chicken was fresher, but the tortilla in mine was tasteless, soggy, and cardboard-like. My daughter would not eat the chicken quesadilla -- and that has NEVER happened before. It's one of her favorite foods. (Meter: 25%) The manager breezed by asking if everything was okay. I didn't know where to begin so I just waved him off. I knew that nobody really wanted any replacement food. None of us finished the food we were given. The total check came to about $25 -- so we wouldn't have been able to use the coupon that we brought anyway. At least the crappy food is cheap, right? (Final mexican-restaurant-like-o-meter reading: 17%) I tipped -- the server has to make a living -- but it was low. I left a note that I felt the service and food was no good. We won't be back -- my mexican cravings don't include tasteless, soggy dishes served by inattentive servers and those who (despite living in Pennsylvania, USA) don't speak English well enough to serve English-speaking patrons. read more

Yuck. Any Mexican is better than this diarrhea-inducing concoction of flavorless combo plates.

I'm sorry but I will never go back to this place again. Last time I was there, it was not busy so there was zero excuses for the poor service. I ordered a margarita and you should see how it came out. Imagine the tiny glass that is by the bathroom sink in a hotel. Yes it looked like that. It wasn't even made right and it tasted like Sasquatch spit. The food was nothing to be desired and the place looked really dirty. Sorry but I am just way too grossed out to ever set foot in this place again. Best place to go eat Mexican food in Lancaster is hands down El Serano on Columbia Ave. Sorry for such a bad review but it is what it is. read more

I don't know which was worse - the food or the service. As a disclaimer, my fiance is from L.A. and I lived there for a long time. We know good Mexican food, and since moving to Lancaster we have been sorely disappointed. As we walked in to El Rodeo on a Monday evening, we thought maybe that we had found the right place. The food LOOKED like it was supposed to - like it was authentic. That's where the good reviews end. We were first alerted to the inauthentic cooking when we ordered our drinks. I asked for an "Agua Pina", which the waitress looked like she had never heard of. Agua Frescas are a fairly common occurance in Mexican restuarants (the big drink tanks next to the horchata and jamaica). She asked me if I wanted Pineapple juice - we ordered 2 Pacificos instead. She took our meal order and eventually brought out some chips and salsa. The salsa was "off"... it tasted like canned tomatoes that hadn't been cooked. The chips were the best part of the meal! They were warm and tasted like home :) When our meals came we were very excited and dove right in. Unfortunately both my fiance's beef enchiladas and my burrito were made with sloppy joes filling! The "enchilada sauce" was even sloppy joe sauce or some kind of ketchup. It was very tomato-y and we were so disappointed. In addition, I had ordered a "combination" meal and failed to get my rice and beans! We finished quickly (since the food wasn't good) and the server cleared our plates. That's when the service really took a turn. From the time our plates were cleared until it took 20 minutes for us to get our check! Then it took another 24 minutes for the server to pick it back up and process it (by this time we were timing it!!). This was at 8:30 at night with almost no other patrons in the restaurant. We watched and watched as the server chatted with a male employee for nearly 40 minutes. We stood up and put our jackets on but she didn't seem to get the hint. All in all TERRIBLE food and poor service. We will never be back. read more

It's exactly what you would not expect to find in a city in Central PA. Sure the decorations may be heavy, but who doesn't love hand carved out seats and painted with classic mexican colors? With seven locations, this Mexican restaurant has an extensive menu with daily specials. They offer unlimited free chips and salsa, which is fresh with chunks of onion and cilantro! I feasted on the Enchiladas Verdes: Two chicken enchiladas topped with cheese and green sauce. Served with rice and beans. I also ordered a side of guacamole, which was blended to perfection. read more

Their pico de gallo was a wonderful version with avocado chunks in it. But I am giving them one star because I ordered a quesadilla, cheese enchilada, and cheese stuffed chili relleno - all of which were made with what appeared to be white american cheese. YUCK!!! I never don't finish my food or take it with me, and I had to just abandon all three dishes. On top of that, the chili relleno had a breading batter around it which was just too much. read more