Gringo’s

How come I have to show up to discover that this place is closed for the season? When your restaurant is closed for half the year you should probably post that somewhere. It might be well known to the locals but for someone visiting Bar Harbor for the first time there was no way for me to know. I went to Jalapeños and had an AWESOME meal. They plan to remain open year-​round.

Gringo’s is… okay. It’s some of the most reasonably priced food on the island, but the quality of the food isn’t the best. I’ve got lots of burritos here, not out of a real love of the food, but more out of the fact that it’s a safe pick.
One of the real problems, as pointed out by other reviewers, is that the food is just incredibly bland. I have no idea how you make beans this bland, other than making them with water and nothing else, or buying them from a distributor frozen. It doesn’t take a whole lot to make beans flavorful either: chicken stock, an onion, and peppers is all you need, and they can be made in huge quantities. If one of the fundamentals of your restaurant can be blown away by a crockpot, 30 minutes of prep time, and even packaged stock, you’ve got a problem. Perhaps this is to cater to a vegetarian crowd, but nobody’s asking for vegetarian refried beans, at the very least.
The rice is similarly bland — it tastes like it was prepared in water. The beef and chicken are of acceptable quality, but anyone looking for a basic marinade, sear, or char, like carne asada, is going to be in for a disappointment. This is not meat prepared Mexican-​style in a burrito, it’s just cooked meat in a burrito. The salsa is pretty bland, for how much work it’s being asked to do, and often seems to be ice cold, creating cold spots in the burrito. I have yet to try the extra-​hot version, but definitely will next time.
The portion sizes are acceptable-​to-​good, although the bigger burritos are the much better buy. It’s a nice place to sit down and eat too — there’s counter seating inside and some tables outside. The bathroom is up a flight of stairs and there’s a couch up there, not sure if you could to eat up there or if it’s for employees. The lemonades/​limeades are pretty good as well, although you can get a better one at Coffee Hound, etc.
There’s not a lot of Mexican in Bar Harbor. Amigo del Diablo is a pricy sit-​down place with middling reviews, and newcomer Jalapenos appears to be. not Mexican food, with culinary atrocities like deep fried corn on the cob, and the same owners as some of the worst restaurants in town. Gringo’s isn’t up to the standards of cheap burrito places in locations almost as ‘gringo’-esque as coastal Maine, arguably not even matching the mediocrity of Chipotle. For lack of better cuisine, though, it’s not that bad. Still, Bar Harbor deserves better, and this place should definitely start ramping up the flavor.

Nice place with good street side dining that has both sit-​down and order2go. We decided to do a take out and were delighted to hear the nice lady at the counter say, «you can have pretty much everything vegetarian and then we add meat if you want.» We like that! Ordered burrito grande and nachos with the works. Ingredients were fresh but taste is definitely for the «gringos». We went for mild and medium on our salsa but found it quite tame. You have to ask them to step it up if you want the super heat. Nachos were crisp, warm, and had fresh guacamole.
We ordered at the counter for food2go but were surprised to see nachos served on a plate (instead of a box or some closed container). Agreed that nachos to go is weird anyways. Otherwise, the service was quick and informal.

If you have a fetish for white beans and rice you’ll love their burritos… because that’s all you can taste in the gringo burrito. Very disappointing. After further inspection I realized they bombard the burrito with white beans and it also lacks sour cream or guacamole. My sister and I both had the gringo burrito. She received the mild sauce mine the hot. Both equally bland and without any hints of spice. Blandness is the epitome of the food here. They should use different beans, use less beans, add sour cream and guac, and learn how to spice their foods. Would not recommend.

Came here for a quick dinner and the food was delicious. We have some food allergies and the staff was very accommodating. Got the fish taco burrito and it was great. Had less of a touristy feel and more of a local feel, which was nice for Bar Harbor. Would definitely come back.

Awful food and awful service and overpriced. Send that gringo to Mexico to learn how to cook.

I’ve been in Bar Harbor for over a week now visiting and I’ve tried many restaurants. Skip this place and go somewhere else. So many better places you can go. The food here is nothing special at all. Very bland Mexican. Stay away from anything that says «has garlic» because they put whole garlic cloves in their burritos. It’s pretty gross.

Wife and I decided we needed to spice up our life after having had sweet breakfast for over 4 days in a row. I ordered their rostarito burro without the tortilla and the wife ordered the fish taco. Mine was good! Except that it had too many garlic pods. The hot sauce could have been a lot more spicier and flavourful. The fish taco was given a thumbs up. Great option for local Mainers.

Unilocalers that give this place more than 2 or 3 stars have never had Mexican food. Any kind of Mexican food. Food was ok as regular food you eat when hungry; but I make better Mexican food at home. And I am undeniably a gringo, so maybe there is truth in advertising. My man liked his mojito. I ordered a negra modelo and was very unsatisfied when I couldn’t get a lime for my beer… Can you even serve this beer without lime? And how are you a Mexican restaurant that doesn’t have lime? Not for the guac? The fish? This may seem like a snarky Unilocal review, but I assure you it’s not. This place may be ok as a place to buy food. But you’ll find no Mexican food here.

I’d like to refute these snobby tourists who say it’s «grubby» and not «family friendly». Go find one of Bar Harbor’s 10,000 ridiculously expensive sit-​down restaurants to use these complaints on, not a burrito joint. Get your pretentious little heads out of your asses.
The food is very good in general. The only exception I’ve found so far is their Thai-​style burrito, which was very bland. The salsa-​based burritos are all tasty. If you’re not into hot salsa, order the Barharbeque; I liked it a lot.

4 of us showed up after a looong hike, 2 of us rather whiny and starving. I had the fish burrito, veggie wife had the potato burrito, kids had the nachos and quesadillas. I loved mine, with hte brutally hot sauce — yea. Wife said hers was ok. Kids enjoyed theirs. Cool place.

Honestly, the several bad reviews on Unilocal and TripAdvisor of this place that we have loved for years are enough to put us off from using these websites at all.
We ate here twice this week and are happy to report that it is still the great burrito place we knew it to be since it opened in 2001. Yes it’s unpretentious, a bit rough around the edges, etc, but basically you get really fresh ingredients in generously-​sized, reasonably-​priced burritos.
My unusual fish taco-​burrito (featuring wild-​caught pollock in a citrus marinade) was really delicious. The guy warned me that because the other ingredients in the burrito were chilled (tomato, lettuce, etc) it might have an overall cool feel, although the fish itself is freshly cooked. My burrito did indeed have some cool spots, but the fish and rice were very warm.
The other burritos my family had were all good too, chicken and veggie types. These burritos were all a big step up from the Qdobas and Chipotles which are our usual options back home.
Don’t be put off by a few off reviews or even the place itself; their food represents some of the best, freshest eats at the most reasonable prices in this ultra-​expensive town of Bar Harbor. And their Margaritas rock too…

Uncle burrito mostly beans. Fish burrito mostly rice. But good flavor (if you like beans or rice).

This place is overrated. Was recommended for «good margaritas» and «ok» food. The staff was rude and the counter was dirty. Ordered the fish taco burrito. Bland, and there was hardly anything you could call «fish» in it. I asked if they had left it out and they did not offer to improve it in any way. Will not go back.

Skip it. Dirty. Bland food. Annoying music. Grubby staff. We vacation here every year but this was our first trip to gringos, and our last.

House Margarita on the rocks, half salt (weird, I know) but delicious! Love the no-​mix, homemade route!

This is a small place in a side street in the hub of downtown Bar Harbor. They have a small menu which is great for me as I don’t get confused with what I should eat.
The place is self serve with an outdoor seating arrangement. I had the self made quesadilla with veggies, chicken and jalapeño with guacamole on the side.
The margarita was ok. Not the best I’ve had. The quesadilla was good and filling though. I believe they can be slightly cheaper, but that’s not a complaint. Everything was well done and I got served quickly.

Family friendly, inexpensive FRESH food (try to find that combo anywhere in Bar Harbor!), pleasant staff, accommodating to dietary needs. Several vegetarian options — including tofu!
Salsas are really tasty. Fresh cilantro & delicious homemade guacamole for the burritos! I didn’t partake in the alcoholic drinks but we did have delicious homemade limeade and it looked like everyone there was drinking a margarita so…
Seating inside is cozy but sparse. Outdoor tables are great — wish there were just a *few* more!
If you’re a family on vacation, looking for a casual post-​beach meal that’s quick, inexpensive, and healthy, this is the place!
Visited two years ago & it was terrific. 2^nd time was as good as the 1^st! We’ll definitely be back for a 3^rd!

Gringo’s was just what we needed after a day of kayaking around Mount Desert Island. It was nice to have a quick, casual meal that was very filling. While it wasn’t the best burrito I’ve ever had, it was pretty good, especially for Mexican food in Bar Harbor. The chips and salsa were really good. The service was excellent and very quick too.

Le pire resto que j’ai visité. Carrément immangeable. J’ai eu mal au cœur toute la soirée. À éviter!

Veggie Friendly — that’s the USP of this place in my opinion. It’s a self-​service place with limited seating. There are two tables inside along with some bar stools and 4 – 5 tables outside. We made our own burrito with veggies, beans, rice, and salsa. The burrito is definitely bland as other reviewers have pointed out. The portion of the burrito with salsa had some flavor, but the rest was just bland. I had to open my burrito to throw in some salsa all over. The guac is very bland too. Perhaps this place is catered towards tourists with low threshold for spice.
Either way — worth trying it out if you are looking for vegetarian food. Make sure you get extra salsa to spice up your burrito.