El Tapatio

Food was just ok and we had to wait over 45 minutes to get out dinners. Restaurant wasn’t even that busy.

I grew up in the Pacheco area and went to the El Tapatio in Pleasant Hill a lot and loved it. Moved out to the Clayton Rd area and have been visiting this El Tapatio for a couple years. Never again.
My boyfriend and I went for a quick lunch the other day. They only had the bar area open and one server who was also the bartender. He was obviously completely swamped and they needed more staff desperately. It took him about 10 minutes to get around to taking our order. He brought us chips and salsa and I asked for extra green salsa after he finally took our order, I would not get that extra salsa until after our food came 20 minutes later and I had to remind him. I ordered a la carte, a crispy chicken taco and a chile relleno, my boyfriend ordered a large shrimp burrito. I wish I would have taken pictures.
By the time our food got to us, it was cold, I had to remind the server of the extra salsa, which took him another 10 minutes to bring me and so the food just got even more cold. The chile relleno they gave me was about an inch and a half in width and about 5 inches long, it was amazing to me that they could even justify charging $ 5 for that! In the past, when they were small like that, they had put 2 on the plate and apologized for the small peppers, not this time. As I opened the taco to put salsa in it I noticed there was about a half inch of chicken at the bottom of the taco shell (NOT exaggerating!), the rest was filled with lettuce and light cheese. I am not one to ever return things at restaurants, not to mention, I probably wouldn’t have seen it for another 30 minutes. My boyfriends burrito came open at both ends, why would they do that? It causes the filing to dry out and get cold faster, please stop doing this!
It took us another 20 minutes to get the check paid because the only waiter/​bartender was busy making drinks for a group of girls that had come in. The entire experience was a TOTAL disappointment and we will not be returning. Such a bummer because it was always a favorite of mine. Service has gone WAY downhill and the food is a joke.

Horrible seevice we were sat down and then ignored. Out of the two servers non of them even said welcome or acknowleged that we were there. Long wait for mediocre food. Last time here

Well have to say i was disappointed. My girls and grandson took me out for dinner. Its cold outside so i ordered a bowl chicken soup and its was blend. For a Mexican place it lack the Latin spice. Cheryl ordered a sopa 15 min later the waiter tells her that their out. So she just ask for a shrimp taco that was soso. Well at least nachos was ok.

My husband and I go almost every Friday night. They have a lovely free appetizer buffet in the bar area and the drinks are very strong. The waitresses are always lovely and accommodating. Music/​Karaōke starts late Friday nights and is always well attended. Great laid back and relaxed place to dine.

I would put zero stars but that’s not possible. This is not the same service and quality of food as the El Tapatio on Treat Boulevard.
I ordered over the telephone a 10-​piece mini chimichanga appetizer platter which they were going to cut in half to be 20-​pieces for a party. They gave me 10-​half pieces pieces in a Styrofoam container. The scooped in brown guacamole and sour cream. The mini chimichangas were cold and soggy. That’s just gross! Had to throw away the crappy food!!! And it’s over priced!!!

Who ever answer the phone «don’t speak Spanish» so people this Mexican place is closed
At 10 pm

This restaurant has really gone down hill. Stopped going here about a year ago for same reason. Decided to try and was disappointed. Their prices have gone up. And the food was tasteless and cold. Service wasn’t any better. Had to ask for chips and salsa had to ask for refills on soda. The place looks dirty and hasn’t been updated since they opened. Save your money and go to cinco de mayo on Concord Blvd.

Amazing food. Great service. I highly suggest this place. I don’t write many Unilocal reviews but goddamn this place is great.

Arros Con Camarones — too spicy for me
Beef burrito — the beef was too seasoned. couldn’t tell it was beef
Nachos with shredded beef — it was good
Tortilla soup — on the salty side

Very good spinach enchaladas with lots of spinach. Fresh food and great service. Would recomend to go here. Thanks for great meal!

El Tapatio on Treat used to be my go-​to restaurant for sit-​down and take-​out Mexican food, prepared and served by local family who prided themselves on authentic, hearty food, served with genuine friendliness and excellent customer service.
Tonight, I ordered my last to-​go burrito from this restaurant. It took about 30 minutes to prepare, and the tortilla was greasy. On the outside of the tortilla. The filling was a monotonous amount of mostly flavorless rice, refried beans, Monterey Jack cheese, house quacamole, sour cream, and ground beef.
Something has gone seriously wrong here.
What happened to the restaurant with the friendly men and women who would come to say hello, even when you weren’t seated in their station, and waiting for an order to-​go ?
They’ve been replaced with a staff with no smiles, little personality, and zero fun factor. This crew has decided that it really is a job, definitely no potential for adventure, and they just grind out the covers till they can call it a night.
Then, there’s the real problem, in my opinion. I call her La Reina (The Queen). Haughty, arrogant, and rude are not the job skills of a professional maitre d or hostess, but she has all three. And she sets the overall tone of the restaurant. And, I’m afraid to say, she may actually own the joint.
Tonight, she took my order-​to-​go, and seemed fine with my having to run another errand, and pick up my order on the way back. When I returned, my order wasn’t waiting for me. No problem, the dining room was full, and the kitchen may have been «in the weeds». She then made sure I had actually ordered something from her, and, most importantly, did I pay for it? I waited for another 15 minutes or so for them to roll my burrito. I didn’t need to hear a «thank you for waiting». It wasn’t going to happen, but it might have helped.
Concord needs a lot of things, but another good taqueria isn’t one of them.
If La Reina doesn’t turn things around, and keeps treating long-​time, regular customers as inconvenient, El Tapatio won’t have to worry about busy Friday nights for long. People vote with their wallets out here, and the huge amount of vacant restaurant sites attest to that

This place doesn’t look like much from the outside but once you walk in you will be pleasantly surprised with the décor. We went in at around 830 on a Friday night and the place was to about 80% capacity and it seemed like they are used to being that busy. The had karaōke in the bar area we were seated on the left side where it was nice and quiet. Our server was very friendly, attentive and fast. Now. The food… The food it’s obviously sewing to cater to American taste buds. They have the generic Mexican dishes with rice and beans, nothing spicy vey bland. Everything has melted cheese on top.

This place is the jam. Fantastic tacos, great drinks, great prices. Whenever people come to town we always bring them here because they’ve never let us down.
Their food has been great every single time, no matter what we’ve ordered. The drinks are good, they are not cheap with the booze and they have a large tequila selection. Love these people

I used to go to this place a lot because I have a friend who lives around the corner. I haven’t been in a while until tonight. I was disappointed with the food. I had a Chile Relleno and a side of refried beans. I’m almost positive the beans came from a can. We both had margaritas, one Top shelf and one pineapple. Mine was the top shelf and it just wasn’t that good. They shouldn’t use the mix they’re using. It tastes bad. My friend’s pineapple margarita didn’t really taste like pineapple.
The other thing that I noticed is that their bathroom is really run down. My friend said the men’s room was also. Not dirty, just in need of major maintenance.
The service was good, no complaints, but I can’t recommend this place.

Food is decent with good sized portions. But I have never received good service at this location. Last time I ate in (maybe 2 months ago) they sat us in the back room and ignored us while they served the tables around us and we sat with an empty table while other groups came and left. There were 5 of us, including a hungry toddler. But I guess we were all invisible that night. Tonight we phoned in an order and when we arrived 15 – 20 min later to pick up the food, they hadn’t even passed the order on to the kitchen yet!
Bottom line, skip this location altogether and go straight to the one on Treat Blvd!

The people are nice, but being addressed as Mi Amigos every time the server approached the table got to be pretty annoying.
Food quality is mediocre, and the serving temps seemed really low… Possibly unsafe. The weekend appetizer bar had many containers of salsa, which were good… but all were lukewarm to warm, again making me question proper food handling techniques.
Pretty sure I won’t return.

My husband and I love this place when we come to town. The food is pretty good, the atmosphere is fine, the service is usually impressive, and the prices are comparable.
I’m only taking one star off because the bathroom makes me cringe and seems to get worse over time.
Otherwise, a great place to eat!

So I have been here a couple of times, and it hasn’t been that busy either time.
They make a good margarita and the chips are good. They have a few good salsas to choose from as well.
I have ordered the huevos rancheros both times. Although the flavor and consistency of the dish is good, both times they screwed up the eggs over easy, overcooking them. Not sure what the problem is, but I’m guessing it coincided with the fact it took quite a while to actually get my order, even with virtually no other customers. Maybe its the inexperienced cook getting the off peak shifts.
I am sure I will be back… for the margaritas at least!

Late afternoon Friday we decided to stop in El Tapatio for an early dinner. We were seated in the bar area and happy hour specials ($ 1 off drinks) had just started. There is an appetizer/​salsa bar with free snacks and salsa for patrons of this part of the restaurant.
I ordered a house margarita ($ 6.25 HH price) and was shocked at how big it was — and strong! Husband had a fountain soda ($ 2.95). He ordered a plate of chicken flautas ($ 11.95) and I ordered a bowl of chicken tortilla soup. (Had I realized there was soup on the appetizer bar I would have just stuck with my margarita).
Casey’s hot plate came out but my soup never arrived. A woman came to check on us and asked how everything was, and I told her that my meal had been forgotten — but my now he was done eating and I was full on chips and his rice and beans. She kindly brought me a sample cup of the soup, which I’m glad she did because I’ll for sure be back for more. Very tasty broth with lots of veggies.
All over their menu I saw a lot of veggie options. Veggie fajitas sounded spectacular! Almost every item on the menu had a vegetarian substitution. What a great place! The salsas were delicious and the flautas were too. Everything on our table was enjoyed.
We’ll be back for another happy hour, and definitely need to check out the sunday champagne brunch! Service was very friendly from the host we sat us to our nice server. A little bit slow for how empty it was — but that just meant I spent some extra time eating tasty chips.