Did you know that El Tejano now has a brunch option? Well they do! Flavors were great but we did let the manager know what things could've been a lot better. Chilaquiles were yummy but needed more green salsa. We let them know and they said they would make sure that next time we were there they would be more saucy. The plates/food was on the warm not hot side but we will give it to the waitress because she was alone, doing it all. We also gave our input to the manager and he was so open and willing to take our honest opinions about it all. Aside from this...the location is beautiful inside. It's a must! The decor. The colors. The vibe. You can eat and relax. You can drink and watch a game. You can just go and listen to live music and dance. You can do it all. Everyone needs to come and take a look...eat a little something...while you drink a little something...and have a good time. Parking: street meter parking read more

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They have announced that they are closed for good. Guess they never got off to the right start.

This place was extremely wonderful. They hosted a last minute event for a Sunday Brunch for an organization I was in town supporting. The original count was 65 but ended up being about 85. The manager was super accommodating and the food was delicious. The bar kept up with the group's cocktails and again everything was on point. Definitely give them a try. read more

Food- free chips and salsa- good work! hard shell beef taco- par. Pastor taco was on point, birdie - Wednesday is 50 cent wings, double fried great sauces = birdie. Well done! Service - absolutely what it should be - all employees were on point! Birdie. Atmosphere was chill - par one page menu that I believe allows cooks to focus on the essentials!! Score 13. - par would have been 16 El Tejano is doing well read more

El Tejano Tex Mex - BODO IN BOISE - Tex-Mex Near Me - Boise, Idaho

We walked into El Tejano with hope, though we tempered it. You can't always trust Tex-Mex this far from Texas. I've learned this the hard way. The place was nearly empty--a few lost souls lingering in booths like ghosts haunting bad decisions. It was too quiet for a cantina. A place like this should hum with life, with laughter, with sizzling skillets and the snap of tortilla chips. Instead, there was silence, and silence is never a good sign. I started with a Bloody Mary. It's a simple drink, the kind any cantina worth its salt should get right. What came out wasn't a drink--it was despair in a glass. Weak tomato juice stretched thin over a splash of vodka so stingy it barely tasted of anything. It lacked punch, flavor, and pride. It tasted like they'd wrung a bar rag out over ice. I sent it back, and to her credit, the waitress tried again. The second attempt was better. Drinkable, even. But I had to drown it in hot sauce to make it respectable. The menu didn't inspire confidence. Thin as a paper napkin and missing the basics. No enchiladas, no tamales, no chile relleno, not even a chimichanga. Just nachos, tacos, burritos--Tex-Mex for tourists. My wife ordered the taco salad, and what arrived made us both pause. A heap of the saddest, driest refried beans you could imagine sat on top like a crown of defeat. The ground beef wasn't much better. The lettuce wilted beneath it, suffocated by the weight of someone else's apathy. How do you mess up a taco salad? But they did. I took a chance on the pescado bowl. At least they knew the Spanish word for fish. What came out was a lifeless jumble of ingredients--fish, rice, vegetables--but nothing to bring it together. No harmony, no spark. Just food in a bowl, as uninspired as a Monday morning. My buddy, ever the optimist, ordered a burrito. It was enormous, the size of a small cat, and nearly as heavy. He dug into it with enthusiasm, claiming it was good. But I doubt he's ever had real Tex-Mex. A man can't miss what he's never known. The final insult came with the fajitas. Our friend ordered them, hoping for redemption, but what arrived wasn't redemption--it was blasphemy. The cast iron skillet was cool to the touch, without a trace of sizzle or steam. No pop, no smoke, none of that wonderful, rich aroma that announces fajitas before they reach the table. Fajitas without sizzle are like a sunrise without light. It just isn't right. This place could be something. Boise could use good Tex-Mex, real Tex-Mex. But El Tejano isn't it. It's unworthy of its own name. It's a hat on the wall with no caballero to wear it, a mirage in the desert. Tex-Mex is honest food--bold, loud, unapologetic. El Tejano is none of those things. It's a whisper when you want a shout. We walked out knowing we wouldn't be back. Life's too short for food that doesn't fight for its place on the table. read more

I am from Texas, so I love Tex-Mex. Unfortunately, there are no Tex-Mex restaurants anywhere around Boise. The last one was On the Border, but that went out of business some time back. When my wife saw this place open in Boise, she couldn't wait to tell me. So, she and I went here for a late lunch. When we arrived, we saw a nice sign outside, which was exciting for me because so many Mexican restaurants have boring entrances. As we sat down, the waitress told us to help ourselves to the salsa bar, including as many chips as we wanted. This was odd because most places serve chips, but I was certainly willing to try this. It was fine having to get my own chips and salsa, but it was also nice because most Mexican restaurants only bring you one serving of chips and never offer any refills. The problem came with the chips themselves, though. They were very greasy and tasted heavily of oil. We asked the waitress about them, and she said, "Oh, these are probably leftovers from the night before, and the staff probably deep-fried them to wake them back up. She went on to say that if we wanted fresh ones, we should open one of the drawers at the bottom. This was nice of her to tell us, but the way this should've been handled is that they should've thrown away chips from the night before and given everybody fresh ones instead of the greasy and stale ones. I ordered one each of the meat tacos on the menu so try them.The only one that I liked was the meat taco which had a nice smoky and chili powder flavor. The other two were sweet and filled with cabbage, and they had no flavor at all. I also had refried beans and rice. The beans had deep, rich bean flavor, so they weren't out of a can. The rice was a pale green, but it had no flavor whatsoever. The salsa was good and had a nice kick of heat. My wife had Mexican nachos. There was a lot of meat and other ingredients piled on top which should have been a good thing, but with all of the greasy meat and other items piled on top, the chips beneath the pile became a big, soggy mess. The correct way to serve nachos would be to serve the toppings and the chips separately so the chips don't become a soggy mess. The other part that we didn't like was that there was nothing here to indicate that this place was Mexican or even in Texas. It looked like one large bar. There is a pony wall that is supposed to divide the bar from the restaurant, but it looks like one very large bar. That night, my wife and I had terrible diarrhea, which tells me that the meat was extremely greasy otherwise, it wouldn't have happened. We will not be returning read more

Great tasting food. Requested a special order, a vegitarian burrito and it was well great. Self serve chips and salsa bar. Bar tender was amazing,friendly and attentive, as was the manager. Great friendly place and clean. read more

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Such amazing service!!!! Liz is the best bartender and so attentive. They care about this space and want it to last. The owner/manager though needs to stop being so negative. It's not fun hearing that he doesn't want to hear about his workers asking for viable equipment to use in the kitchen and him being annoyed or him being annoyed by other employees venting and saying doesn't wait to hear complaining. Please still give it a shot for these great bartenders and waitresses. read more

Not sure if there's new management or something but this place is horrible now definitely wouldn't recommend it for drinking music was blasting my ear drums out the only thing that's good is the food the table are a mess and they don't even come out half the time. you have to order at the bar even with the music blaring so no one can hear you. read more

El Tejano Tex Mex - outside areas - Tex-Mex Near Me - Boise, Idaho

The food could be waaaay better I'm from Texas and can honestly say they shouldn't call this place Tex mex Service was great But yeah Food not so much read more

El Tejano Tex Mex - NOT SO NACHOS - Tex-Mex Near Me - Boise, Idaho

Great food. The nachos and tots were amazing. Service was spot on. We were there to watch football and they have plenty of TV's. Prices were very reasonable. Give this place a try!! read more

El Tejano Tex Mex - Carne asada tots - Tex-Mex Near Me - Boise, Idaho

We tried when it first opened. Price was decent, but food was horrible, and it was too loud. The service was slow, the chip and salsa bar was the highlight read more

I'll give any new place a second try, so I can't say I won't be back. But I will only be back with low expectations. Pros: the GM is great and the space is fun! Cons: our server seemed like she had never served at a restaurant before even though we were one of like 3 tables in the whole entire restaurant. The drinks taste like pre-made mixes and juices. Tried a handful of different cocktails and margaritas and as a tequila drinker, I just don't want cheap margarita mix. Some fresh ingredients I think would go a long way. The food I think will get better eventually. The carnitas were definitely not the texture I expected them to be and everything else fell kind of flat. Side of sour cream tasted off, salsas were too watery, queso was just fine. Like I said I would give them one more shot but definitely on a night where all I want is a beer and a quesadilla. read more

Food is very mediocre. I got a chicken bowl and I guess it filled my stomach but definitely nothing to write home about. Service was absolutely awful. Came up to the bar after waiting 15 min and they told us "oh, we do NOT come around the bar for anything." They didn't even come around to pick up dirty dishes or anything. Only good thing about this place is the atmosphere. You're in downtown Boise with a good patio. Too bad, I really wanted to like this place too! read more

I never got to taste the food because the service was so horrible that I left after about 25 minutes of not being waited on when I was the only person sitting at the bar! The bartender stood at the end of the bar, the whole time next to the window playing on his phone. Finally he walked behind me telling me he'd be right back. I never saw him again. I finally got up and left. read more

My daughter and I (both retired) moved from Dallas to rent in downtown Boise this month in order to find a house. To sustain this adventure, we needed to find our Tex-Mex Mexican food fix. A quick search found El Tejano Tex Mex just blocks away. We immediately went for Monday lunch (turned out Mondays are Happy Hour ALL DAY!). Knowing Idaho isn't Texas, we had low expectations. How wonderfully surprised we were to find red cheese enchiladas, crispy and street tacos, nachos, and large Happy Hour margaritas on the rocks and real salsa and chips. Our end-of-lunch overall feeling was a restaurant with famous Texas Chuy's potential. It was a totally acceptable Tex Mex, which with a few modifications (i.e., gently frying the enchilada tortilla and dipping in the really good red sauce prior to filling, then covering profusely with that delicious red chili sauce!) would elevate it's consumption deliciousness!! The $5 Happy Hour margaritas were superior to many a $12 margarita in Texas. The carnitas Street Tacos needed no improvement, and a prior negative review of the Chips and Salsa has been totally elevated to excellent Chips and delicious (not hot but flavorful) red and green Salsa (kudos to the exceptional green salsa). Being from Texas, we needed more 'caliente' (hot) in the salsas, but we accept that Idahoans might not! The fresh tortillas were a definite "plus". We plan on El Tejano Mondays!!! read more

The food: no Bueno, the service: Si Bueno. I doubt this place will be open within a year.

Had the best night! We went for date night and they had the best rock band, The Mixx. I had the blackened shrimp tacos and oh my they were good! I'm from San Diego and they were better than what I've had down south. The beans were 100000/100!! And $4 beers was the icing on top! read more

Food is excellent and healthy. Service is outstanding. Plenty of screens for a sports bar experience.

This place is really a bar with some mediocre to poor TexMex bar food. The quesadilla was the highlight, although it actually had too much cheese and was unbalanced. The rice is gluey, with bits of crunchy rice from the bottom of the pot, and an irritating flavor unlike any rice I've ever had. The refried beans were soupy and tasteless. If I ate them without looking at them, I could not tell they were beans. The Al Pastor taco was served in a tasteless flour tortilla and the meat was covered in a sickly sweet sauce, very close to a BBQ sauce. Don't expect pineapple in this Al Pastor. The tinga taco was also served in a flour tortilla and had way too much lime juice. Also, we were told the tinga tacos were mild, but they contained chopped jalapeños and were not mild. I've eaten lots of good TexMex food in Texas, and this ain't it. read more

Excited that it was supposed to be TexMex, but even if it wasn't, would have been fine if the food was good. I ordered the beef taco (how hard is it to get that wrong), and added refried beans and rice. The taco was not edible. I like salt, but it was almost like eating pure salt. The refried beans were not that great, but edible. The rice...I literally put my fork under it and the whole pile lifted it was so stuck together, and without flavor to top it off. I'm not exaggerating when I say I think it might be the worst meal I've had. Definitely will not be back. Also, there was one other table with patrons. We waited quite a while for this bad food, and then had to track our waitress down in the kitchen, chatting with kitchen help. read more

Let me first start out by saying the bartenders are great, and the drinks we had were tasty. The real downside was in the food that really lacked freshness or a sense of care. Refried beans definitely looked and tasted like store bought Rosarita canned beans that had sat out awhile, rice was overcooked to mush, and the burrito ($13) was lackluster -- the chicken had a weird flavor of cinnamon, cardamom, or similar spice. It also came out wrapped in foil instead of any sort of presentation on a plate. Weird for a sit down restaurant. The salsa bar chips definitely seemed to be sitting out awhile and weren't the best. Salsa, both red and green, were delicious though. The food lacked care and flavor, and you'd honestly do way better to go to local Boise establishment Parilla (also has a full bar and the ingredients taste much more fresh) or Chipotle. Our server was very nice and made sure to get our order before happy hour ended. We waited about 10-15 minutes before a waiter came over to see if we'd been helped yet though and saw those happy hour minutes tick by. The restaurant definitely seemed understaffed for a Friday night, or serving staff weren't assigned specific tables, so it was a bit chaotic. It also took about 10 minutes to get seated since there was no host that greeted anyone (and there were a bunch of empty tables). Had to make eye contact with serving staff quite a few times before anyone came over, and the sign definitely said "Please Wait to Be Seated"... which we did... The atmosphere was fun and interior design was done well. I wouldn't come here for food again but enjoyed the drinks and would probably get a crew to come for happy hour. A $6 happy hour margarita is pretty good these days. I know this is a new restaurant that I'm sure is still working out the kinks, but things will need to improve significantly (and quickly) to survive -- especially in BoDo. A much better chef, fresh ingredients, and better management/organization are much needed. read more

I had been nervous about trying this place due to all the bad reviews but went anyway. The ambiance of the restaurant was fun and what you would expect. We didn't grab a bite to eat, but had some chips and salsa from the bar, which was a fun concept and would've been a lot cooler if our bartender had told us about it versus us finding out on our own. It also would've been nice to have been greeted upon walking into the restaurant. We sat at the bar where our bartender didn't ask us how we were doing or anything like that just straight up asked us what we wanted to drink. I'm also really confused at the fact it's a Mexican inspired restaurant, but the margaritas are premade? What's up with that? read more

Great food, great prices and GREAT service! The food was AMAZING..Carne asada tots are to die for! Palomas were perfect. Amy was wonderful and attentive. I was just visiting, but we were made to feel welcome - thank you! read more

Service great. Chips great. Wings excellent. Tacos great. Don't let the 1 stars keep you from trying this restaurant.

BEST BAR IN BOISE They were incredibly accommodating to a large group, turned the Boise State game on, and had incredible food/service. 10/10 would recommend to a friend! read more

We saw the TV advertisement and thought we should try this restaurant. We like to try new places to find great restaurants we can go to regularly. We went on Sunday at around 11am. We entered the completely empty building. Not another soul around. There was a hostess which was also the server. We walked in and saw the sign stating to seat yourself. That was fine. We wanted the outside patio. We walked out onto an artificial turf covered 15' x 15' patio. There was about 10 tables in a mess. Chairs strewn all over. Garbage covering the floor. It was FILTHY! Maybe the hostess/server instead of sitting waiting for customers, could clean up and prepare the restaurant for business. It had just opened an hour earlier, so it clearly was not cleaned from the night before. This was so uncomfortable. We ordered drinks which took 10 minutes. The margaritas are not very good. First one was pretty clear, next one was completely different being foggy. Neither tasted very good. There is always a high expectation of great margaritas at a Mexican restaurant. The food arrived after about 15 minutes and it was barely mediocre. The Frito pie was awful! I had no idea as the description never mentioned that it was actually Frito corn chips in a paper boat with about an ounce of overcooked, dry ground beef and a dab of sour cream. Terrible! Maybe that works with a drunk crowd during happy hour. They serve tacos on flour tortillas even though it is not described as such on the menu. How a Baja fish taco can be served on flour tortillas is crazy. It needs to be corn tortilla. At least provide an option. The server never gave any options and never told us about chips or salsa. We saw on the menu "free chips and salsa." But we never got any. Finally we walked inside and saw chips and salsa at a salsa bar. Nice that they told us about this. Or maybe the server with nothing else to do could have extended some service and brought them to us! Overall, the food was not very good. Never offered water or dessert. So, the completely empty (except for us) restaurant is filthy on a Sunday morning an hour after opening. Margaritas are poor. Food was not very good. Extremely disappointed. We will never go back. I do not recommend this restaurant to anyone. Many other great places in downtown including Fork, Tupelo, Ruth's, Matador, Eureka, etc. Madre is also much better and it is fairly close. Visit any of those for a much better experience. This place will not be open in 6 months. read more

Great impression right off the bat. Friendly service. Ambiance was beautiful! Love all the lights and colors. Food was delicious! My favorite was the Chicken taco. Excellent prices! I'm excited to see this restaurant thrive. read more

Left before we even got our food the service was so bad. The server took our order and came back after a bit saying they lost our tab and asked what we ordered again. Over ten minutes later they brought out the margarita that was ordered which actually tasted pretty good, but said the bartender poured the wrong beer and that it would be right out. We sat there for another 20 minutes and watched the beer sit at the bar the entire time. Server nowhere to be seen and bartender standing there doing nothing. Also tacos should not take that long to make. read more

Me and my father waited 8 minutes for a table. We ignored the signs and sat ourselves down. Immediately we were asked to play bingo and politely declined. We waited 20 minutes to be asked for drinks. Instead we had to go and ask for service. We ordered our drinks and had to ask for food. We proceeded to wait 30 more minutes before we left. Absolutely no service. We may as well make the food ourselves. I recommend the P.F. Chang's right across the street. Oh and pf chang has Dr. pepper.. read more

The food was mediocre at best even when it did taste like it came from a can. The whole table food was like this not just mine. The only thing great was the salad. Advertised as a taco salad but was a regular salad with tortilla strips on top. The drinks were definitely not on par and if you're not sure how to make one please for the love don't offer to make them and hope for the best. We saw the advertisement on Facebook and was completely disappointed. The service staff though was top notch and the place was super clean. read more

The food, especially the bowl, was delicious and well priced. It's very cute inside. I've recommended it to all my friends

I don't normally leave reviews, but we had a truly laughably awful experience. To start with the positive, the staff was friendly and they've done a fun job with their renovations of the restaurant. The place looks inviting. To get into the less than stellar...I was ready to get some espresso for the staff. I'd rate their hustle a 0/10. I worked as a server in college, so I try not to be overly critical. Totally get that some things will go wrong, that's life, but I would work up a sweat hustling while I was serving. I don't think this staff is familiar with the phrase, "put some pep in your step." Also, to be clear, there were about 5-6 tables in the entire restaurant. We could see the staff out front most of the time, either standing around, or chatting with each other and laughing. It didn't seem like there was some back-of-house emergency causing the hiccups we experienced. We were greeted and sat the second we came in the door. It then took about 7 minutes for the server to greet us, an additional 3 minutes for her to bring a bottle of water....with no cups. About 15-20 minutes into being there, we finally had water AND cups!! Only to find out, my cup must've had soap still on it, because the water tasted like soap (luckily my friend's didn't). When the server dropped the water, we had been there plenty of time to have our drink and food orders ready. We both ordered a cocktail, an app for the table, and two entrees. 10 minutes later, the cocktails arrived. They were both good. It took about 20-25 minutes after ordering our food for that to arrive. Both of our entrees came, but not our app. We mentioned that, and when it finally arrived at our table, we were told it'd be comped. I'd rate the food quality 2/10. 1. Rice was so overcooked it was legit paste. I was able to pick up the whole ball of rice with my fork and it was so clunked it didn't break apart. Yet, it was not hot? 2. When the queso finally arrived, it tasted very "from the jar/can," and had a clump of cold salsa in the middle. This made the queso not hot and very "room temp". 3. The refried beans tasted very "from the can," as well. The texture also led me to believe that. They too formed a ball. 4. My burrito was also room temp. The chicken in it was good, but unfortunately the pasty, overcooked rice was in it, so it was pretty inedible. 5. My friend got a steak burrito bowl, she said the steak was good, but she too had the infamous rice and beans. Her bowl also included kale, which I just found intriguing. I don't think I've ever before seen kale as an ingredient in a burrito bowl, but to each their own. 6. We both ordered the Paloma margaritas. The first round were great, with salted rims, and the perfect ratio of tequila to grapefruit juice. I ordered a second round, which came out much quicker than the first. My second round had about two salt grains on the rim and tasted like straight grapefruit juice. I could go on, but I think that paints the picture of our experience. Hopefully they're able to pull it together, but I likely won't be a return guest. read more

Service was poor-our server didn't even give us napkins or utensils. The Burrito was horrible and had mole on it which the menu didn't mention. (I hate mole). It also didn't come with sour cream or guacamole which was supposed to come with it. It was probably worst burrito I've ever tasted. I won't be back. read more

This place probably has the best TV set up in all of downtown Boise! Great spot for watching sports. The tacos were tasty and the prices were excellent. Their happy hour deal is amazing. Unlimited/self-serve chips and salsa was great too. read more

First of all as a TEJANO I walked in for the first time and had waited and waited for this place to open for a while I was excited and bamn was very disappointed. Walked in and they was playing rock music like if it was a club. It's a Mexican restaurant come on people wow what a disgrace. Second of all the food was a thumbs down and they ran out of hot sauce disappointed. read more

Kinda bummed. I might give it another try. Their green salsa had a strong cucumber essence

Decided to try out this new place and let me tell you I was not disappointed. Came in with my husband to have a few drinks and maybe a snack after we had been out at a concert down the street and I am so glad that we did. Dave was our bartender, and I cannot thank him enough for the service he provided. Give this man a raise! He always had a smile on his face and engaged in one of the best conversations I've had at a bar in 20+ years. The drinks were amazing and I was pleasantly surprised by the food, considering what other reviews say. I absolutely loved the tater tots and I will come back for those again soon. it's still a new place so to anyone wondering if it's worth giving it a try I would say definitely do it. be sure to ask if Dave is there if you want to make a new friend. read more