Quick dinner before going on vacation!…read more Love their Tuesday Taco Special- 2 taco entrees and you get a complimentary appetizer! The MANGOTINI is absolutely AMAZING! Guacamole fresh and tasty! Tacos very filling!

Great happy hour spot! Loved the margaritas and empanadas!…read moreWe also tried the chicken fajitas as well. Excellent! Beautiful restaurant and the staff are great!

I little expensive for lunch. Ours were $16 for the Chimichanga and $20 for Chiles Rellenos Queso…read more Decent dinning area. I might come back for dinner.

Hidden gem for sure. Delicious and authentic Mexican food at reasonable prices. Ambience is simple,…read morenothing fancy and the service is good. You can bring your own and we've been here a few times and have bought wine and homemade margaritas. They also have virgin margaritas that you can add your own tequila to. They have an extensive menu but my favorite is the Fajitas. On this visit I went with a steak and shrimp combo and it was one of the best I have ever tasted. Came to the table sizzling and it was flavorful and filled with tender, delicious steak and I believe four nice sized shrimp mixed with grilled tomatoes, peppers and onions. Also came with tortillas and rice and beans, also good. My wife went with the Bistec a la Mexicana which was also excellent. Tender skirt steak made with peppers, onions, jalapenos and tomatoes, served with a side of guacamole, rice and beans. Like I said, we've been here a few times and every time everything is on point. This will definitely be our local go to spot when we have a hankering for great Mexican food.

The restaurant was so chilly until we were finished and the heat came on. The place is cute looking…read morewith the space available. The chips were okay but we didn't get any salsa. The grilled Chicken with salad (very little tomato, onion and avocado) needed some flavor, again no salsa. The refried beans were excellent. The fajitas needed salsa and sour cream, and guacamole would've been nice (even a little). The waitress was pleasant.

Food was amazing they cook with such a passion showing us the true authentic flavor of spicier that…read moreMexico has, also the fresh waters are always available which is great because I do enjoy the horchata water and also the cucumber water, the tacos are also amazing and the fajitas de pollo are outstanding. The service was very friendly and ambience is always clean I would recommend this 10/10

The employees were all very kind. The food was outstanding - we had the guacamole (delicious),…read morefajitas were very good (came with chicken, beef & shrimp), and enchiladas (very good). The portions were very generous - we each took more than half our dishes home.

Absolutely fabulous! Authentic Mexican food, deliciously and artistically prepared, friendly and…read moreprompt service, and SO much to enjoy, visually, within the restaurant! The sound system was a bit loud, but that's the ONLY gentle criticism I have. I wish we lived closer to Toms River: La Cazuela de Dona Mary would be one of our favorite restaurants. Thanks for the treat! We'll be back again next year: count on it!!

This was our third visit to El Familiar. Today was Father's Day 2026…read more First, my daughter had made reservations for 15. They didn't hesitate. We showed up at 12:30 pm. We were seated almost immediately. The restaurant had just a few tables occupied. The restaurant was clean, quiet and our seating was spacious. We were promptly attended to. Second, we were given a Father's Day menu which was a very abbreviated version of their usual menu. Our server was quick to point out that if there was anything we wanted that was on the normal menu that we remembered, all we had to do was ask. We were delighted. We placed our drink orders. We were given plenty of time to review the menu and discuss what else we might want from the regular menu. We placed our orders. The wait for our meals was commensurate with the number of people. The food arrived piping hot. Everyone was served within minutes. The food was absolutely delicious and the portions enormous. I ordered 2 appetizers thinking they were going to be reasonable. I fed most of the table while still having enough for myself. Needless to say, to-go containers were necessary. Last, I want to say again that this was my and my wife's third visit. Each time we were served and attended to by Danna (?). I can't say enough positive things about her. She was attentive, friendly, warm, patient and very happy and helpful. She was very accepting even though I was doing my best with my high school Spanish. For my wife and me, I will ask for Danna to be our server and will be as much of a regular patron as possible. I would highly recommend El Familiar. You can't beat the ambiance, food quality and service.

Visited this restaurant with my family and we all loved the food. There were so many options on the…read moremenu and all were delicious. They even have a drink menu with fruit juices that are a must try. The service was great, waitress was very kind and patient especially with my newborn being there. The ambiance was nice, families were present. I'd definitely come back.

Won't be back! I arrived to meet my husband for lunch - we had passed this place many times and we…read moreboth had meetings that way so thought let's give them a try. Hubs wasn't there yet so I headed to the restroom to wash my hands - I didn't even get to push open the bathroom door yet and a woman came rushing out from the kitchen area to tell me that I couldn't use the restroom unless I buy something.. let me say they are not in an area that has no restrooms, everything else in that strip mall, even the gas station next door as a bathroom it's not like anyone would come in purely to use the bathroom. I was taken aback I said I was planning to have lunch but my husband is not here yet so I wanted to walk my hands, are you saying that I have to pay for my lunch before I can wash my hands.? She said well my boss said no bathroom unless you buy something. On that note, I left, told my husband to meet me next door at Lenny's and we spent $50 there on lunch and ate it down by the waterfront instead of eating at Ortega's. I'm a business woman, in my fifties, who was planning to enjoy lunch at your place, not someone looking to just use your bathroom and not spend money in your establishment. Poor customer service makes people feel unwelcome, even if you did have good food people are going to remember in unwelcoming attitude over anything you may serve.. can't recommended them and that's a shame for the business because you had the opportunity for some great advertisement and blew it. Good luck to you.

Delightful employees, great food at very reasonable prices. BYO…read moreGreat menu selection, no matter what you feel like having.

My family has been raving about how fantastic these tacos are at Taco- Tastic!!…read moreSo tonight we ordered to go dinner! Got to admit it was Taco -Tastic Fantastic!! Fresh ingredients! Lots of flavors and textures! Definitely recommend!

Last time we ordered I should've stuck to saying I'd never go back…read more We ordered several orders of tacos. The guy even confirmed upon pick up that the Al pastor tacos had no cilantro or onions. I guess this is their interpretation of that. I had to pick it all apart. Also there is no pineapple on 2 of them. That's the entire flavor point of these. And I asked for red salsa and got green.

Make sure you check your order before leaving. We ordered a steak burrito and 3 asada tacos. The…read moreburrito didn't have beans or rice, and my tacos were missing onions and chives. They do give a fair amt of meat, but it was tasteless and dry. Most mexican restaurants food has flavor. Very dissatisfied, food was late when arrived in this area on a Sunday. Only a few choices for food in this location. Price we paid approx $35, kinda pricey for these two items. Customer service was quick, but they need to pay attention to orders.

Very good food, though maybe a touch inconsistent. Reasonable prices. Menu is a bit different from…read moreyour usual American Mexican restaurant, and that's a positive.

Cheap tasty tacos, food comes out quick, and the variety is there. Favorite taco spot.read more

Time to rate these chicken tacos…read more I probably waited a good three months to finally try this place because I could never seem to match my schedule with theirs. Unfortunately, I'm a little disappointed. I paid $13.50 for four small chicken tacos. The chicken itself is good, but there's really no seasoning--it's very basic and, honestly, a little underwhelming, especially for Mexican-style tacos. The green sauce has a nice little kick to it, which I enjoyed, but overall the tacos were just lacking flavor. The tortillas were also falling apart while I was eating them, which made things a little messy. And at $6.50 for a small bag of chips, plus the fact that they don't offer rice and beans, I expected a little more for the price. Overall, I really wanted to love these, but unfortunately they didn't live up to the anticipation. 3.5/5

Nice stafff food I travel to get their at least once a weeek prices reasonableread more

The food was outstanding! The owner was there working and she was so kind and caring. The place is…read moretiny and cute and homey with good vibes. The chilaquiles with steak and red sauce was LO MEJOR! "The Best!"