This locally owned Mexican restaurant has great service, an extensive menu and delicious margs! They survived a tragic fire that shut them down for renovations for quite some time. We eat here often we are in town visiting our student at MSSU. Don't miss this spot, but be prepared to wait a bit during busy times. read more

Holy smokes, this place was fantastic! I swear, it had me dreaming about mexican food the rest of the week it was so good. Their queso paired with the chips and salsa was such a great starter. Their service was fast and friendly. We went for dinner and it was busy, but the food still came out quick and hot. They put cheese sauce on their California Burrito, which had so much beef inside. This was like cuts of steak too (not ground beef) and it was so good, full of flavor, no fat, one of the best I have had. The place is big and open i side with plenty of seating. Prices are great and cannot wait to get back down to Joplin to try this place again. read more

El Vallarta - Burrito California with Beef - Mexican Near Me - Joplin, Missouri

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We absolutely loved everything about this place. The rice, the beans, the chips; the salsas, the friendly staff, the ambiance- everything! Every dish was large and abundant and flavorful. read more

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Had a great little lunch there. The queso and salsa were average, but the margaritas were so delicious! My chicken dish was great, shrimp well cooked without being rubbery, and so much bacon! The rice and beans weren't special, about what you'd expect. Service was great and the place is very cute. We especially loved the pink bathroom! Definitely a good option when in Joplin. read more

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Did was really good. Service was slow. Salsa was amazing. I recommend this restaurant

O have always enjoyed going to eat dinner here with my girlfriends. But I will not be comeing back since the Manger made us feel really uncomfortable. He asked for our number and when we would get up to go to the bathroom we saw him looking at our butts like he was undressing us. We was having some drinks and dinner when he came up to us and said if we waa single cause he was and wanted to hang out after work. His name is Ariel tall dark hair like I said best food and service but the management could use some change love the servers. We had a girl server she is sweet and very professional all the time love her just wish the manager was different. read more

Cute and precious colors Service was good I've never had such poor representation of Mexican food in my 75yrs! Refied beans could have been poured out of the can. Cold, tasteless and just poor with no flavor at all. My pableno pepper was not fully cooked. Tamale could have been out of a can, too. Wife's taco meat was not eatable. Hamburger meat on chalupa was flavorless. Chips hard as a rock Queso was too enjoy Asked for a small bowl of pico. Got a large bowl and since we didn't get a breakdown on our bill, I couldn't tell what they charged us!! We only stopped here due to the foul weather prohibiting us to drive back to Tulsa. Absolutely the WORSE Cinco De Mayo dinner I've ever had! read more

I ordered food online via DoorDash and it was the best! I had a chimichanga, a Tostado and a taco. It was the best I've had in a long, long time.! read more

One of the best service oriented sit down restaurants in Joplin. The food is fantastic and always fast. The prices are reasonable for the entire family. Highly recommend the fajita chicken taco salad - my personal favorite. read more

The food is not good. I order a shrimp cocktail had no flavor. They just put ketchup and 5 shrimp. And that's not a Mexican cocktail. I do not recommend this place read more

Back in business after the fire and still great food. Always good margaritas and guacamole.

One of the better Mexican restaurant in joplin. Lord knows joplin has as many Mexican restaurants as churches. I don't think the chips are homemade and y the salsa isn't anything special. The #4 dinner comes with burrito, 2 tacos, enchilada and a toastada. Easy more good than i could eat. Everything was good and hot when it came out. I got ground beef for everything. My wife got chicken enchiladas and they were good but the chicken was on the dry side. Everything was good besides the chicken. We will continue to come back. read more

Cheap prices!! Great taste. Super cheap drinks and food but don't let it fool you. Still great quality. Nice atmosphere too! Friendly service. read more

El Vallarta - Ribeye ranchero - Mexican Near Me - Joplin, Missouri

Almost been a year since we were here! How did I forget to post a review??? Inexpensive prices, great food and meal presentation. Large drinks, great service great tasting food. Other "places" advertising to be Mexican should come here for food preparation! Time for a trip back... read more

We are so please El Vallarta is back, and better than ever after the fire! The ambiance has improved greatly, along with a menu revamp and it adds to the whole experience! Thankfully the menu appears unchanged, as some of my old favorites were still available! The service was wonderful, and our food came fast. The Emily Special is my favorite and was as good as ever-pro tip: add bacon! We will definitely be back!'n read more

Stopped by to have some Mexican food while on the road and we were amazed by the awesome food AND excellent service!! This is a must stop if you're in the area!! DELISH!! Great FOOD, PRICE, AND SERVICE!! read more

El Vallarta - The Especiale plate!! - Mexican Near Me - Joplin, Missouri

Glad they're back after the fire. Same great food. Only complaint is the music. Too loud and poor choice of programming.

Nasty dirty dishes, except for the silverware which is weird. They for sure reuse the salsa bottles, because you can see old salsa where the bottle was poured before you use it. The salsa bowls are ALWAYS dirty and they have food stuck on them. The cups are caked with white film at the top. If you say something about it the waiters get angry. The only other problem I have with the place is the chips are hard, and ground beef looks gray and gross. read more

El Vallarta - Dirty Salsa Bowl! They are always this way! - Mexican Near Me - Joplin, Missouri

Super good value and super good flavors. I rotate between the enchiladas suizas and the enchiladas verdes. My wife gets this rice dish with grilled chicken and veggies...that one's super good too. Love this place. read more

Just an average place. Average salsa. Tea was very watered down....colored water basically. Beef taquito very very salty but chicken taquito was good. read more

One of my favorite Mexican places in Joplin. Their fajitas are amazing and they have fantastic chorizo. The salsa has great flavor and isn't to hot, which is good for a wimp like me. Nice decor and chill environment. Can get loud, but what popular place doesn't? I don't drink but friends say they have fantastic margaritas. read more

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Good atmosphere with fast and friendly service! Would recommend to anyone who visits the Joplin area.

This restaurant has been open for quite awhile, and I am just now getting around to trying it out. What can I say? Festival is in my neck of the woods, so my husband and I typically go there for our Mexican cravings. However, this weekend we thought we'd spread our wings a bit and finally go to El Vallarta for something different. First of all, the inside of the restaurant is very festive and fun. However, this is not their own decor but the decor that came with the previous occupants of the building back when it was an Island-themed restaurant called Coconuts. So, I wasn't much impressed by El Vallarta's cleverness, as it's not even their own. But for those who are unaware of this, I can see where they'd appreciate the atmosphere. They've kept it up pretty nicely except for some peeling window tint on the outside patio area. Also, it is very clean and spacious. Definitely does not have the dive-y feel of some of the other locally-owned Mexican joints in town. Our service was okay. It took so long to get our guacamole that I almost thought they had forgotten we'd ordered it. Maybe they prepare it to order? I dunno. But it was very delicious. Creamy with some larger chunks of avocado. I liked it very much - may be my favorite of all of the guacamoles I've tried (locally). Entrees were chicken enchiladas and pork tamales. Both had great flavor. The chicken enchiladas were stuffed with beautiful white meat, and the red sauce on top was very good. However, despite the yummy taste of the tamale, the pork/masa balance was very lopsided. The masa was very thick and the pork inside was little more than a smidge. Not sure if that was an accident or their standard recipe, but there was about 2 inches at the end of the tamale that was strictly masa, no meat. Definitely edible, but I believe there should be pork in every bite. However, if you're a masa lover, maybe you would love these more than I. They had a very large menu, so I would like to go back and try something else. Definitely will satisfy your Mexican food craving. But at this point, Festival is still my favorite go-to. read more

I don't care for the food here, there's a lot of other Mexican Restaurants around here that are way better. The chips are never good and neither is the salsa. I only go here when other people want to go here read more

We stopped here completely at random. So many restaurants in this area, it was hard to choose. It reminded us of a familiar restaurant in our home town so we gave it a try. Good choice! Plenty of food, well-seasoned, lots of variety on the menu. My carne asada was thin-sliced and perfectly cooked. My wife's fajita combo platter was awesomely stacked with 4 kinds of meat. We had plenty to take home with us afterwards. read more

The food was delicious. I recommend the JOMO special. The prices are very good! The atmosphere was nice and our server was awesome too. Not to mention we got our food really fast. Would definitely come back! read more

Great Mexican restaurant. Fun decor, bar area covered with a tiki hut. The salsa was good, cheese dip excellent and food was great. Huge menu and typical Mexican place that you will certainly find in any town. And when you are done chowing down on fajitas and having a beer or margarita...walk next door to Orange Leaf and have some yogurt. read more

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Excellent food and fast service. Great place. Love the chicken enchiladas. The tacos were fantastic Chips were nice and warm Thanks read more

By far the best Mexican food in Joplin Mo. Staff is amazing!! Very clean excellent service.

Oh gosh, yuck. I hated this place. I have NO idea how this restaurant got 4 stars. Looking at other reviews, must be that they rated it AFTER drinking their giant margarita. I didn't have any alcohol, maybe that's why I could taste how un-authentic and bland my food was. Ordered Queso dip to start. Runny and flavorless. Probably out of a can and watered down. Both of our meals, spicy chicken burrito and chicken burrito (flavor not different either), bland and I swear they use Walmart brand tortillas. Horrible. For the record, I rarely write a bad review. I am not picky either. This was just NOT good. Nothing authentic about the place. read more

It's a Mexican place just like the rest of them. Serving the same food, same prices, same salsa... seems a little dark like they do t clean so they hide the junk in the shadows. read more

By far the best Mexican food around. Best chili rellenos anywhere! Fast, delicious, best margaritas ever! Fun & friendly staff. My whole family loves coming here! Only compliant is that the kid's food is always the last thing delivered, like they forget about it or something. read more

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the service wasn't amazing it was gross they were mean and grumpy typos on menu would not recommend I would rather Taco Bell food was cold

I love that this place really Feels like a Mexican restaurant! It is very well decorated, has fun music and is rather busy all the time. That being said, their food is just ok. It was pretty bland and nothing unique about it. I ordered my daughter a cheese quesadilla and she loved it. To be honest, it was much better than the chicken chimichanga that I ordered. The margaritas are heavy on the alcohol. If you want to be tipsy with just two sips, then by all means, have a whole one! still looking for that favorite Mexican restaurant in town..... read more

We had an excellent dinner. They are open until 10pm which works for us the best. Chips and cheese dip were both outstanding. Margaritas were excellent. Very tasty. Our meals were awesome. This was a top rated Mexican dinner experience at a great price. read more

This was my taco... No tomato and it was topped with mozzarella cheese. When I asked the waiter why, he just said "that's what they put on it." Two stars for a cold beer. I would say to skip this restaurant. read more

El Vallarta - Mexican Near Me - Joplin, Missouri

Super cute beach theme, and really great food! Service is fast and very friendly too. We've been here several times now, and have never been disappointed! Our favorite Mexican place in Joplin by far!! read more

the food was ok but Joplin has better mexican food. I didn't like it as much as the other places in town read more

This restaurant is the definition of perfection when it comes to mexican food in the area. It's become a restaurant I make a routine visit to every single thursday with my girlfriend. We always eat for under $20 yet always leave stuffed; most of the time we can't even finish it. They have specials for every day of the week, but i prefer Thursday fajita specials. A grilled onion steak fajita will fill almost anyone up for $7. The staff is super friendly, and actually rememeber you upon returning. You aren't just a $5 tip to them. read more

Great atmosphere. Restaurant is much larger inside than it appears from the outside. The service was fast and very friendly. Standard chips and salsa with a well flavored salsa. I had a couple tacos and beans. Delicious. read more