El Gitano

Best Mexican seafood in the county. Great mole sauce. Carne asada steak first class too. We are snow birds and when in town Gitano is our go to place for southwestern food. Have draft mexican beers on tap. Mariachi band on weekend evenings… Solid choice Gringo…

The salsa is fantastic. The chips are nice, they are not stale and they are warm. The food was fine. The food is served extremely hot! I ordered the shredded beef chimichangas. I was surprised to find refried beans mixed in with the shredded beef.

I would leave negative stars but not an option. I just ordered take out from this restaurant. Got home and cut into my ground beef enchilada only to find an ANT inside! So disgusting! My husband called to complain and this is how that went… He asked to speak to manager and was told it’s their dinner rush so she wasn’t available. He informed this girl what I found and she went directly to her manager, knocked on some door (so she wasn’t out helping with the dinner rush) and he was able to speak to her. After he told her what happened she proceeded to LAUGH! My husband said ‘excuse me’! She said ‘no, I believe you.’ Unreal!!! My husband then said he was going to leave a review and call the health department. To that she replied ‘Go Ahead, they were just here’. She then asked is he could send her a picture of what I found through Facebook on a private chat. He doesn’t have Facebook and if he did we would surely make that a public conversation. She then said if I drove back in with the food she would give me a refund. It’s about 25 min for me to get there. In total I spent $ 26 there. $ 20 for food and I stupidly gave them a $ 6 tip thinking they were nice and had good food. Then she asked if we could bring in a picture of the food and then we could get a refund. I think my time is better spent warning you others out there that are considering eating here about this situation and you’d be better off going to a restaurant that 1. Appreciated and respected you and 2. Had good CLEAN food! It’s a shame because back in the day El Gitano used to be one of the best around. Obviously that has drastically changed!!!.

Best chicken mole I have eaten in my entire life! Seafood options are super delicious. Also, they have Mac ‘n Jacks on tap! Love eating here!

Went here for Cinco de Mayo and the wait was over half an hour. But that was fine since we expected it. When we finally got seated we got lots of chips and salsa, ordered drinks… i ordered a mojito and got a strawberry mojito! What! Who does that! I’ve never even heard of a straberry mojito. I really just wanted a plain mojito. We also ordered food, but from sitting down to getting our food was over an hour! The food was very good but by the time we got it we had gone through 4 baskets of chips and salsa so we were pretty full. Overall it was a nice experience, except the mojito! Never assume a girl wants strawberry flavored mojitos. And they even charged me for it! For that reason I won’t be coming back.

The food was great and the salsa was excellent!! We had great service while dinning as well! Definitely one of the top Mexican restaurants I’ve eaten at! I’m only out this way once every other year but will definitely be back!

Discovered this place after a bit of retail therapy in Bellingham. This place has delicious Mexican food. It’s a family run restaurant. The service is great and food is simple but delicious. The interior of the restaurant has a quirky look to it but don’t get it distracted by it too much.
The menu is quite extensive and has a lot of your favourite Mexican dishes. The quality of food is decent and the quantity is always large and you will be required to take a doggie bag home. Oh the complimentary salsa is tasty and has a little bit of a kick to it. If you like you can also purchase the salsa to take home.
I ordered a chicken macho burrito, and it was massive. The soft tortilla was filled with chicken, rice and beans. The burrito was served with a delicious burrito sauce and melted cheese and a side of lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream and guacamole. My friend always swears by a dish called Pechuga Rellena. It consists of a stuffed chicken breast that is smothered in a special cream sauce. That cream sauce is delicious but a bit rich for my liking.
Also if you like to kick things up a notch don’t forget to order their grilled jalapeño peppers (they come as a side dish, order of 3). Usually one out of the batch is super-​hot so please be careful. If you are in Bellingham or the surrounding area, give this place a try — you won’t go home disappointed.

Our favorite Mexican restraurant in Bellingham. Especially since we like to visit it after our Goodwill treasure hunt. Staff are super friendly and quick (although not as quick as Chihuahua’s in Ferndale, no one is as fast as them). The food is of course super fattening, which makes it so great, so you might not want to eat there frequently. Oh and the chips and salsa they give you before the meal are GREAT! This place is a hundred times better than Pepper Sisters!!!

Great food, friendly staff. I bought a side bean burrito and it was perfect to fill a small woman! Their other vegetarian options are great as well. Overall, a good, classic Mexican restaurant.

El Gitano has some of the best Mexican food around — it’s so authentic and delicious. I have tried many of the vegetarian dishes and have never been disappointed. I also love the Carne Asada, Fajitas, Taco Salad and the Express Lunch Menu options. Karaōke here is a blast, every Friday and Saturday night. Their staff is so friendly and personable. And the Perfect Margarita — it definitely lives up to it’s name. EG’s is one of our favorite spots in Bellingham!

Fajitas burrito w jalapenos was awesome! Spicy steak picante was ok, bland sauce. Recommended for a quick, inexpensive meal anytime. Also good for groups.
Healthy portion size, enough for leftovers. good chips n salsa. I’ll be back.

My family and I come here often and we all love the food here. The staff here are very friendly. The cooks cooked my food the day I wanted it. So far this is my favorite place to eat. I have almost tried every thing on the menu and my favorite is the fajita one with prawns witch is amazing. Thank you

Good Mexican food. Love that you get chips, even with a take out order. Large portions, it is slightly greasy, but better Mexican then most options in Bellingham.

I liked this place and I probably will be back every now and then. The atmosphere was very nice and the customer service was GREAT! It’s a very clean and welcoming restaurant. In the seating booths are (I’m presuming) hand painted art.
I had the chile relleno and my daughter had the chalupa. The food was ok. It looked good on the plate BUT the rice tastes like mexican rice you buy in the box. I was kind of disappointed by this and my daughter’s chalupa was a big fried thin stuffed flour tortilla :-(
Also, I was hoping for Mexican music the whole time. I didn’t get that «authentic» Mexican restaurant feeling.
Overall, I would come back for the atmosphere alone and try something else. Hopefully my next experience with the food will prompt me to up the stars.

Tucked into a strip mall between Goodwill and Joann’s Fabrics, this restaurant is easy to locate and has lots of free parking available.
Once inside, you have a choice to hide away in a booth in the family restaurant or grab a seat in front of one of the many flat screen televisions in the bar/​lounge. They televised both the World Cup and the Super Bowl. On both occasions, I was able to find a good seat with a great view of the game, get quick, efficient and friendly service, and enjoy margaritas and combo plates at bargain prices
The quality is decent and the quantity always requires a doggie bag or at the very least splitting the meal with a friend. Just don’t forget to take your goodies home with you.
Supposedly karaōke takes place on the weekend nights, but I’ve never been at that time to join in the butchery of popular music. I do like coming during the weedays for the lunch express menu. It is cheap and quick.
I’m certain I’ll be back. Hasta en el futuro.

Sadly, being up in Canada means a very real and painful lack of good Mexican food. So when we get the chance to go to the States the priority is usually: EAT GOOD MEXICAN FOOD. This place is the best one we have found so far. The price is right and you get enough food to last you until your next States trip. Seriously. I am so full I don’t want to see another tortilla chip for at least a month. And that’s saying something for someone who loves their Mexican foods.
They give you as much free chips and salsa as your heart desires. The service is always very friendly and prompt. Gluten free options abound as you can always get dishes with corn tortillas instead of flour. The menu has a lot of options but I always order the same thing: A pork dish in tomatillo sauce with rice, refried beans (soo goood) and soft warm corn tortillas. I am no dairy so I take a side of guac instead of cheese. wish I could have cheese with it but oh well. My husbands food always looks awesome — usually some kind of burrito, taco, enchilada combo smothered in melted cheese.
The little one is content with some of my food and munching on the chips. They have high chairs and I think there was a change table but I don’t remember because we didn’t need to use it. Pretty sure there was.
Overall a very tasty experience every time. One caution: don’t plan on an intense shopping trip afterwards — you might be in a food coma. Speaking from experience here.

How I heard of this place: Through my friend Leslie. It was recommended as we shopped to satisfy a nacho craving.
Type of cuisine: Mexican
Ambiance: Large, spacious interior with Mexican-​themed décor in reds, greens and white.
What I ordered: I ordered the vegetarian taco salad ($ 6.50) which was served in a large tortilla bowl with rice, beans, lettuce, olives, sour cream and guacamole. I added the salsa picante (from our chips and salsa) to give it more flavor. One dining companion ordered the large plate of nachos ($ 8.99), which consisted of a large plate of corn tortilla chips, lots of cheese and shredded chicken. We asked for a side of olives to place atop the nachos. The third dining companion ordered the children’s nachos ($ 4.50), a small plate of chips and cheese. They also ordered a side of rice and beans to accompany the nachos.
What I loved: I loved the flavorful salsa!
Why I loved it: The quick efficiency of the food and the do-​able portions made the meal.
Cost: Low to average ($ 6-​$ 10 for lunch)

At first glance this little restaurant may not seem like much, in fact, you might wonder if you’ve stepped back into the 90’s with its orange and green leather seats and abundance of non-​high def TVs. But once you sink into those leather seats, the friendly waitstaff hand you a margarita, made from their own mix, and top it off with warm tortilla chips and flavorful, chunky salsa! The waitstaff is so friendly, they’ll even hand you the remote!
As for the food, holy molé! My boyfriend compares every Mexican restaurant on their chicken molé, and El Gitano is definitely a contender! The flavors are bold and spicy, an excellent combination!
In short, if you’re coming to El Gitano for a great meal and an afternoon of sports, you’re in for a real treat– a treat called margarita!

The restaurant is very friendly, food cooked up to standards, and the food is ready to go as fast as you order it and you can sit down outside on the benches in a serene area while waiting for a few, have a smoke, and be on your way!

Fantastic Mexican food, good service. .and the world’s booziest sounding Mariachi band. The carne asada is some of the best I’ve had north of Los Angeles. The band is a little. eccentric, but with a great sense of humor and very entertaining. This is our new favorite Mexican spot in town.
Note to Disabled: Reasonably accessible, has its own parking lot.