Good Mexican food, the chicken tamale was excellent. Beans and rice as expected. Chips and salsa very good. Some servers seemed unprepared or did not speak English well. Seems expensive; two entrée, one guacamole, two margaritas ($14 each!), one Dos Equis, tax and tip - over $100. read more

See all

Best Mexican place that I know of!! Everyone is super friendly and accommodating!! Best guac here and it's super challenging to pick something on the menu because everything is too good. HIGHLY RECC, especially with a family. read more

So Good! My favorite Mexican place in this area! We love to go there! Always a nice staff and very clean restaurant! Very speedy service with amazing food! read more

El Tio - Chicken Burrito - Tex-Mex Near Me - Great Falls, Virginia

Went here on a weekday at around noon we were a party of 2 and there were only 5 patrons total during our meal. Our server was friendly but unattentive - had to ask for menus and I got my own silverware. We ordered 2 chicken salad entrees and it took 15 minutes after the order to get them (what on earth could the kitchen have been doing with only 5 patrons?). Simply inexcusable to have slow poor service at lunch with only 5 people in the restaurant. Reason I give 2 stars vs. 1 is the food was ok; basically about 2.5 oz of overcooked chicken on a bed of nice lettuce with avocado dressing and BBQ sauce. read more

We visited this restaurant after hiking at Great Falls and wanted to just grab something quick for a snack before going home. They have "happy hour" everyday from 3-7pm and it consists of like a margarita and a few beers. My boyfriend got a house margarita and he said it was just blah. Nothing special and not worth the happy hour $10 price. We ordered guacamole and it was flavorless. $15 for tableside flavorless guacamole. We asked for spicy and I have to say it definitely was that to the point of unbearable for me at least. Nothing special I'm sure there are better Mexican restaurants in the area. read more

Came with my family for a nice quiet dinner during happy hour which and was amazed by the rudeness of the staff. Waited over an hour for us to order. Ordered a toco salad to go and messed it up and when i took it back the manager aruged with me on i what i ordered. My family ended up paying close to 200 dollars on our meal. The manager was so rude. They did remake my meal which I was greatful. read more

Excellent authentic Tex Mex, great service, great margaritas. Definately worth the visit

Came on Cinco De Mayo & expected to have to settle for a long wait times and slow service but we were pleasantly surprised! Service was over the top even tho they were slammed And our food was fresh and delicious :-) we will definitely be back! read more

Was charged over $50 for 3 take-out margaritas. Total rip off. I can get the same quality at Don Julio for $10-20 at the most. Not worth it.

Friends invited us out to this restaurant and we had never been before. So much better than your typical Tex-Mex with far better choices for entree's. Their steak is marinated so wonderfully and it's so tender. What struck me was their rice with capers!! I'll never make my own rice without them ever again. You need to eat here. This is now a regular for me. read more

Do not order takeout! If you do, you have to check everything because they leave out something every time. How about fajitas with no tortillas? And they've cut the portions to pathetic. Fajitas came with a tiny amount of grilled onions and two measly strips of green peppers. I ordered a shrimp brochette with it & was told I hadn't been charged $2.89 for it. The waiter insisted I go back to my car & get my credit card (I'm disabled). I glared at him. Got home to discover missing food. I wrote the owner, expecting at least an apology. Nothing. Others in town have said the place won't last. I hope not, read more

Great selection of food! Service was great. I really loved my tostada salad. I sat outside and it had a great atmosphere.

Service was not all that great. Food was ok, I got the Lomo Saltado and my girlfriend got the Carne Asada. I was not able to complete my food because of all the flies. They were everywhere, few landed on my food and going into my girlfriends hair. Management took $4.92 off, even though we were nowhere near finishing our meal. Never coming here again! read more

I really wanted to be able to give a good review, but just cannot sadly. The ambiance is horrible to start. The wait staff is below average and the food is often times tasteless and over cooked. I am far from frugal, but it is very over priced for the quality and type of cuisine... not a place that I will seek out or dine in again... twice was enough... and not allergy friendly... read more

I'm obsessed with their chicken and cheese enchiladas! Absolutely mouth watering. This place is truly a hidden gem!

+ for the margarita's made from lime juice (vs the wayy tooo many other establishments that use a mix). Subtracting a star for their wine choices. I know... this is a Mexican restaurant and you are not coming here for the wine. Yes, I am a bit of a wine nut.. but why can't they differentiate themselves by offering some better quality wine options? This is Great Falls... I would bet the demographic would support it. Subtracting one more star for service. It was ok, but slightly inattentive. Had to wave down someone for additional beverages; hot sauce, etc... Will update the review focused on the food once I have had a couple more plates. I like some heat... if you do as well, ask for a side of their hot sauce. It rocks! read more

Very nice, great food, what else can I say?! The owner came out and allowed me to switch a free desert for an appetizer. Very nice, we'll definitely be back. read more

El Tio - Delicious Shrimp Fajitas! - Tex-Mex Near Me - Great Falls, Virginia

See all

Great after a walk at Great Falls park. Fresh, and tasty - without too much cheese. Recommended.

Went here today for the 1st time after hiking at Great Falls. The mushroom quesadillas were very good. My friend had the fish tacos and said she really enjoyed her meal. Our server could not have been nicer! read more

What a pleasant place. I never ever got bad food or poor service here. I love fajitas and the appetizer shrimp in white wine Sauce. They always make everyone feel special here. You must try it.... read more

I love El Tio! Growing up , I went to the one in Gainesville often with my family . Unfortunately my favorite dish from 15 years ago changed and is no longer served with French fries like it was originally! I used to get the Carne Asada back in 2005 but it was served with French fries . Our waitress was super understanding and patient with me! She brought me out Lomo saltado because it seemed similar to what I was talking about but I just didn't like there's at all:/ so then she brought me out the Carne asada for no additional charge which was just super sweet and awesome of her !! It was delicious but more importantly, that customer service was A1!! Love it ! read more

The prices seem to be higher each time I go. The portions smaller. My enchilada last night was about 2 1/2 inches long but 1/2 inch wide and the taco was about the size of one of those frozen mini- tacos from the grocery store. All the food is pre-made so it arrives in about 2 minutes after order. Salsa was too much onion and looked like recycled pico de gallo. No red traditional taco salsa. I will keep away for awhile as I can find overpriced food anywhere. Too bad. Friendly place in any event. read more

Service was lackluster at best. Food was just okay. Waiter/Bartender was quite inattentive and we felt ignored most of the time. We just swatted flies waiting for a refill! read more

it took 20 min to come when we (my dad and i) were one of the only people there, the food came out superrrrr dry, like everything was dry and pretty tasteless. my dad ordered fajitas and didn't even receive a plate to eat with. i ordered tacos and the rice and beans were so bland and dry. you could tell it's been sitting for a while, the top was dried over so that it made a little dry cover. the tacos were ok. before this place was bomb idk what happened read more

Don't eat here!!! This place is for drinks only which are over-priced and mediocre at best but least they're palatable. The food is another story. You can get better Tex Mex at Taco Bell and not pay crazy prices for it. Avoid the Old Brogue too. Country Club prices for food court quality. When dining in GF your best bet is Mookies BBQ or Pio Pio Pollo. Great food at reasonable prices. read more

Well, I give them points for trying. Our waiter was very nice, and the food good, probably four star good. But a 50 minute wait -- really? Our waiter apologized profusely and we felt bad for him, but it was just too long to wait. El Tio might have pulled off making us wait so long if they had some basic server training. My soup (excellent Tortilla soup) was brought out with the main dishes. First, if you are going to make me wait so long my entree, why not bring out the soup first so I'm not going hungry? Second, how am I supposed to eat both hot soup and my entree at the same time? This seemed like a basic mistake that could have been avoided, even if the kitchen was really backed up. We have high hopes for El Tio -- the people seem nice and are trying. My wife dined there the evening prior and had no wait time issues, so we can issue a pass this time in hopes for better future results. read more

One of the worst service I've ever had. My server with Eric. I will not be returning back to this restaurant. Food was not good

We have dined here 3 times since Triney's closed, they are not the same owners. Give them a chance, we need another restaurant in Great Falls. Service was excellent and food was amazing. read more

Never a bad experience here in many visits since they opened in this location early last year. Attentive, friendly staff and very good Tex Mex. On weekends a special brunch menu is also available. read more

WE LOVED EVERYTHING ! We were hesitant to try again because the previous owners did not have good food or service. I'm so happy we tried with the new owners. We orders the queso , chicken fajitas and top shelf margaritas ... ALL WERE DELICIOUS. This is a very authentic Mexican restaurant and we will be back for sure !! Ooooo we got the table side guacamole .. the best we have ever ever had. I am a huge fan of Mexican food and very picky and this exceeded my expectations. All of the servers were excellent and very attentive. All over awesome experience , HIGHLY RECOMMEND read more

I ate at the restaurant when it first opened. Ok. Not great. Then a few takeouts but nothing amazing. We ordered last night and we were very happy. Fajitas, chimichanga, burritos, etc. all were very good. The steak fajita was tender and well marinated. I definitely recommend this place!!!! read more

Clean establishment & very friendly staff. We stopped in on a Saturday afternoon for lunch and we were sat immediately. Our order came out very quickly & arrived hot & delicious. I had the chicken fajitas. A very generous helping of grilled chicken & grilled fresh vegetables. I was also surprised at the generous portions of sour cream, pico de gallo (sp?) & guacamole. My husband enjoyed his beef burrito. I read the complaints about the prices, but I thought given the portion size & the fresh vegetables/ingredients & fresh, homemade, guacamole, the prices were reasonable. read more

So Great Falls has a new place that looks promising, but fails to deliver. Save your money and time. Go to the one in Falls Church. It will be cheaper and cooked right. Restaurant was clean. Seating and parking was ample. Thin tasty chips. Pico de gallo was tasty but watery. Server offered to take my food back and recook it since it was burnt. The niceties end there. Wife's chicken chimichanga had more rice than meat. The guacamole that was served had started to change colors, thus was not fresh. Rice and beans were included. Cost $12.95, A little high since there was hardly any chicken in her chimmy. Table Side Guac is $15. That's the highest of every Mexican restaurant that I can think of. $12-$13 seems to be the current "high" standard. We opted for the $5 bowl not made table side and only consisted of 1/2 an avocado, or so it seemed and the usual onion and cilantro. Tasty and fresh, but $5 was a tad high for the small amount. I ordered a steak fajita for $17.99 it came sizzling (and burnt) on the usual cast iron. My "bed" of onions consisted of 1/2 an onion if I'm lucky. No bell peppers. The steak might have been 1/2 pound if I'm lucky. All together, only 1/2 the plate was used as they put a ceramic plate of rice and beans on the other side of the cast iron to make it look full. I barely filled three tortillas, thus not very much food. It came with the usual amount of sour cream, pico de gallo and guac on the side. One piece of meat and most of the onion were not caramelized, but actually burnt. Don't know if they think carbon is a good thing for food. Wait staff was a little busy for a Wednesday night so chips and salsa were slow for a refill. Ditto with water. They were nice. A pleasant dining experience was ruined not due to cost, but due to what we were presented with. The cost just added a little bit of insult. The fajitas were priced competitively; just the portion of what you were given means this should have been about $5 cheaper or more. The chimmy was a little high. The guac was high. I would recommend the other location. Otherwise, I like Chevy's although they will NOT allow you to order happy hour drinks at the table, which is quite the PITA. El Paso in Springfield is usually busy, but a little cheaper and good food and drinks. Senior Tequilas has great margaritas and tasty food, if they can get your order straight. For that reason, we gave up going there (went there many times). Chuy's is average food and on the $$$ side. Guapo's is usually good and a bit cheaper, but seems their prices are increasing. Uncle Julio's is good but can be $$$. Silverado is $$$ but good. Chile's is good and not priced as bad, but sometimes their food is not consistent from visit to visit. Pancho Villa in Rosslyn (Arlington) is overpriced crap. They have NO idea what they're doing. They need to close! Their original restaurant in Fredericksburg is much better. Cheaper of course, but just better overall. Still upset that there isn't any decent Mexican food for California transplants here in northern VA. AKA, no 24 hour joints for your late night needs and just food that lacks the soul of being closer to Mexico. read more