El Vaquero

Joe Pelot

This is our goto spot when we are in Arnold. The food is excellent. The wife opted for the Margarita and I had a Michelada with a Modelo Escpecial.

Vivi Qin

So good... We had: Chicken mole poblanos; Fajitas 2 person beef; Carnitas ; Carmaronas a la plancha. Very tasty and good portion, the order feeds 6 adults and it so good, we finished everything.

We stopped by on our way back from skiing (this restaurant became part of our trip. Food is great, staff genuinely happy to help (though they can get pretty busy), and the restaurant feels so authentic. This restaurant is a gem.

The chicken quesadilla was fantastic! Great portions of food. Kind waitress and clean atmosphere.

Really good place for a decent bite with very typical SoCal Mexican food items. Our party ordered beef fajitas, Camarones crema, shrimp fajitas salad, and enchiladas. All of us were very happy and satisfied with our dishes and no complaints whatsoever. Place is modest yet sufficiently adorned for Mexican sit down restaurant, and because it is so out of context, the food tasted even better. Highly recommend.

Everything was amazing! My wife got the shrimp (spicy) and she loved them. I got the tamales and they were great. We definitely recommend eating here!

Dan Solis

Everything was amazing! My wife got the shrimp (spicy) and she loved them. I got the tamales and they were great. We definitely recommend eating here!

Noemi Petra

We stopped by on our way back from skiing (this restaurant became part of our trip. Food is great, staff genuinely happy to help (though they can get pretty busy), and the restaurant feels so authentic. This restaurant is a gem.

Nick Malvini

Cozy little place up in the hills. Good food and service. Gets busy. Support local!

G & B Dickey

The chicken quesadilla was fantastic! Great portions of food. Kind waitress and clean atmosphere.

Kal Masri

Really good place for a decent bite with very typical SoCal Mexican food items. Our party ordered beef fajitas, Camarones crema, shrimp fajitas salad, and enchiladas. All of us were very happy and satisfied with our dishes and no complaints whatsoever. Place is modest yet sufficiently adorned for Mexican sit down restaurant, and because it is so out of context, the food tasted even better. Highly recommend.

Decent, average Mexican food with a good amount of space inside and a nice patio with several tables. The drink options are limited, seems like they must have a pretty militia liquor license. The chicken enchilada was average, ready quickly, and the staff was decently friendly once they got around to taking my order, which took a bit. There's plenty of parking in the general area with a few other shops. The prices are very reasonable and they have a full menu of all the basics. They bring out complimentary chips and salsa before you order.

Mira Serrill-Robins

Decent, average Mexican food with a good amount of space inside and a nice patio with several tables. The drink options are limited, seems like they must have a pretty militia liquor license. The chicken enchilada was average, ready quickly, and the staff was decently friendly once they got around to taking my order, which took a bit. There's plenty of parking in the general area with a few other shops. The prices are very reasonable and they have a full menu of all the basics. They bring out complimentary chips and salsa before you order.

Have been coming here for years. Our kids used to get the chips and salsa and challenge each other to eating more because it was so hot to them. It's not that hot, but on our most recent visit they had to do it again, obviously. Love this place, food is good, service is usually pretty prompt. It can get hectic if you show up and there is already a bunch of people waiting, which is normal especially on holiday weekends.

I don't know how this place works but everytime we need a refill or something , we have to call our server in the other room where the staffs were just there chit chatting while customers were in the same room with us. mind you , we were only 5 customers at that time. The food is typical nothing really special and so is the ambiance. Will we comeback here in the future if we happen to visit the area, i don't think so.

I went with a chile relleno/carnitas sope combo. Relleno was fine though I prefer a poblano chili to the Anaheim chili's they use here. The masa base on the sope was too hard and chewy for my taste. They didn't roast or grill their carnitas to produce a crust, so the flavor was more stewed pork. Their red sauce is excellent as are the rice and beans.

Mary Queen

I don't know how this place works but everytime we need a refill or something , we have to call our server in the other room where the staffs were just there chit chatting while customers were in the same room with us. mind you , we were only 5 customers at that time. The food is typical nothing really special and so is the ambiance. Will we comeback here in the future if we happen to visit the area, i don't think so.

Wayne Feltman

I went with a chile relleno/carnitas sope combo. Relleno was fine though I prefer a poblano chili to the Anaheim chili's they use here. The masa base on the sope was too hard and chewy for my taste. They didn't roast or grill their carnitas to produce a crust, so the flavor was more stewed pork. Their red sauce is excellent as are the rice and beans.

So, we own a cabin above Arnold and have eaten here probably 80 or 90 times over the last 14 years. One obvious problem living in the mountains is a lack of dining options, especially ones that are not very overpriced for what you get. As far as Mexican food, El Vaquero is the only game in town in Arnold, except for a taco truck down the road. Basically, the food is good, not great, but it's solid. The prices are definitely about 15% more than they should be, but again, only game in town. Just like all restaurants, we just don't go out to eat as often, not because we can't afford it, but because I just can't stomach spending $65 for two meals and two soft drinks that just 5 years ago was $35. Anyway, the main issue with El Vaquero is the service. In my opinion, they have the attitude that most of the customers are tourists and will never be back, so why give a crap? They mostly get the job done, but that's about it. You shouldn't expect good service, if you get it, think of that as a bonus. If the owner decided to, they could make this a really great restaurant, but I suspect it will not happen.

We went on a very busy night. Start of a Holiday weekend. The staff seemed to handle the crowd well. Our servers did a fine job. I had a shrimp meal. It was edible. That’s about it. Since I hadn’t eaten all day it was eaten. However.. the shrimp were so over cooked they were unrecognizable! The tails were the only thing that identified them. Terrible chewy bites. Ok. I did eat it. First time there. Never again. The other three in our party did not complain.

If you like Mexican food, you won’t want to eat here, even if desperate. Their salsas are basic and off flavor. The refried beans must be out of a can, and the chips are tasteless. What’s sad is that it’s been this way for over a decade. Nobody seems to care or know how to prepare good Mexican food. Better options down the road.

TravelMonk

If you like Mexican food, you won’t want to eat here, even if desperate. Their salsas are basic and off flavor. The refried beans must be out of a can, and the chips are tasteless. What’s sad is that it’s been this way for over a decade. Nobody seems to care or know how to prepare good Mexican food. Better options down the road.

Michele Perreault

We went on a very busy night. Start of a Holiday weekend. The staff seemed to handle the crowd well. Our servers did a fine job. I had a shrimp meal. It was edible. That’s about it. Since I hadn’t eaten all day it was eaten. However.. the shrimp were so over cooked they were unrecognizable! The tails were the only thing that identified them. Terrible chewy bites. Ok. I did eat it. First time there. Never again. The other three in our party did not complain.

The food is alright and the restaurant is clean and well decorated, but I was not impressed by the experience we had here. When we first arrived, we were told that they would be right with us, but we ended up waiting 15-20min before they sat us. The service was nonchalant, and when it came time to bring drinks or food, the server just put everything at the end of the table and expected us to pass it eachother when she could easily walk to the other side of the table. No extra effort, no smile, didn't ask if we needed anything else. We asked for an extra side of guacamole and it came out slapped on a plate, not in a pretty bowl like the salsa. We ordered a glass of milk for my sister, and when it came we could clearly tell it was old and gone bad since it smelled and tasted sour. We drink a lot of milk at home, so this was very obvious to us. We told the server it didn't taste right, and she had the audacity to tell us it was low fat milk so it is normal for it to taste like that. She didn't offer to get my sister anything else and also didn't remove it from the bill, eventhough she took it from our table. I normally don't hammer on below average service and would still tip my typical 20% but since we were a party of 6, they charged us a mandatory and automatic 18% gratuity which feels like they can't trust you to tip or something? The service also felt like they knew they were getting that 18% tip anyway, so they didn't even try to give us a better experience. On top of that, they charged us $2 to split our meals since some of us were sharing... and 4% card fee on top of that. If you're hurting for money, make your menu items a bit more expensive, don't nickle and dime your customers....

Judith Homann

The food is alright and the restaurant is clean and well decorated, but I was not impressed by the experience we had here. When we first arrived, we were told that they would be right with us, but we ended up waiting 15-20min before they sat us. The service was nonchalant, and when it came time to bring drinks or food, the server just put everything at the end of the table and expected us to pass it eachother when she could easily walk to the other side of the table. No extra effort, no smile, didn't ask if we needed anything else. We asked for an extra side of guacamole and it came out slapped on a plate, not in a pretty bowl like the salsa. We ordered a glass of milk for my sister, and when it came we could clearly tell it was old and gone bad since it smelled and tasted sour. We drink a lot of milk at home, so this was very obvious to us. We told the server it didn't taste right, and she had the audacity to tell us it was low fat milk so it is normal for it to taste like that. She didn't offer to get my sister anything else and also didn't remove it from the bill, eventhough she took it from our table. I normally don't hammer on below average service and would still tip my typical 20% but since we were a party of 6, they charged us a mandatory and automatic 18% gratuity which feels like they can't trust you to tip or something? The service also felt like they knew they were getting that 18% tip anyway, so they didn't even try to give us a better experience. On top of that, they charged us $2 to split our meals since some of us were sharing... and 4% card fee on top of that. If you're hurting for money, make your menu items a bit more expensive, don't nickle and dime your customers....

Dave Savedra

It tasted like we were eating leftover meat. We ordered a couple burritos to go, it was in the early afternoon.

This is a quaint little authentic Mexican restaurant that We will NEVER return to again. It was our second visit in an attempt to see if they could redeem themselves from the first bad experience. Initial hosting service was good, but after that it was a downhill slope. Our server continuously was not attending to his tables. The restuarant was not busy. We had to ask the bus boy for even our first drink refills, he told our server, server came, we told him, waited another 10 mins, when he returned he still did not have our drinks. When ordering, (even with pointing directly to the item wanting to order) he wrote the order down wrong then even charged us for the wrong item(which was over 5$ more). Which somehow the correct item came to the table. But we were still charged overages for wrong item. The dirty dishes were not removed as more were brought to the table, and continued to pile around the table while trying to enjoy the meal. We had to ask for anything needed and not ever approached for regular service attendings. The guacamole was tasteful and tortilla crisps fresh. My chicken tortilla soup had abundance flavour, yet was allowed to sit with the toppings in it, causing them to be soggy and unappealing unlike the crunchy contrast in the soup they are supposed to be. The main entrees' taste and appeal were good and as expected. Again we had to approach the bus boy with any need and had not seen much of our server at our table. To order dessert was a task to have the server finally come to us. Which I regretfully wish we had chosen not to order. When ordering we inquired on the preparation to make sure that a certain ingredient could be left off. Our server had said that ingredient was not in the dessert toppings. ...... Well it was. And therefore one of my guests that had accompanied us was unable to now enjoy their dessert. I had the fried icecream, which left a disdain for this once loved dessert lingering with me. They were not made fresh, and questionably aged from how stale the outer cornflake shell tasted. After receiving the bill, there were discernible errors(one was previously mentioned). After having to prove myself and then the server double checking even just after seeing me calculate in front of him, he reluctantly accepted his error and then changed only part of the bill. So on a positive note, at least the soup tasted great!

Heathora Keith

This is a quaint little authentic Mexican restaurant that We will NEVER return to again. It was our second visit in an attempt to see if they could redeem themselves from the first bad experience. Initial hosting service was good, but after that it was a downhill slope. Our server continuously was not attending to his tables. The restuarant was not busy. We had to ask the bus boy for even our first drink refills, he told our server, server came, we told him, waited another 10 mins, when he returned he still did not have our drinks. When ordering, (even with pointing directly to the item wanting to order) he wrote the order down wrong then even charged us for the wrong item(which was over 5$ more). Which somehow the correct item came to the table. But we were still charged overages for wrong item. The dirty dishes were not removed as more were brought to the table, and continued to pile around the table while trying to enjoy the meal. We had to ask for anything needed and not ever approached for regular service attendings. The guacamole was tasteful and tortilla crisps fresh. My chicken tortilla soup had abundance flavour, yet was allowed to sit with the toppings in it, causing them to be soggy and unappealing unlike the crunchy contrast in the soup they are supposed to be. The main entrees' taste and appeal were good and as expected. Again we had to approach the bus boy with any need and had not seen much of our server at our table. To order dessert was a task to have the server finally come to us. Which I regretfully wish we had chosen not to order. When ordering we inquired on the preparation to make sure that a certain ingredient could be left off. Our server had said that ingredient was not in the dessert toppings. ...... Well it was. And therefore one of my guests that had accompanied us was unable to now enjoy their dessert. I had the fried icecream, which left a disdain for this once loved dessert lingering with me. They were not made fresh, and questionably aged from how stale the outer cornflake shell tasted. After receiving the bill, there were discernible errors(one was previously mentioned). After having to prove myself and then the server double checking even just after seeing me calculate in front of him, he reluctantly accepted his error and then changed only part of the bill. So on a positive note, at least the soup tasted great!

I went in and ordered, but customers who arrived after me got their food first. The server checked on their tables twice, but never once came to check on mine. When I finished eating, it took a long time just to get my check — I had to go up to the cashier myself while the others who arrived later were already done and paid. When I asked, the staff only said bigger groups get priority. On top of that, the food wasn’t very good and lacked authentic flavor. Overall, disappointing experience, and I won’t be returning.

Esteban (Estebanr08)

I went in and ordered, but customers who arrived after me got their food first. The server checked on their tables twice, but never once came to check on mine. When I finished eating, it took a long time just to get my check — I had to go up to the cashier myself while the others who arrived later were already done and paid. When I asked, the staff only said bigger groups get priority. On top of that, the food wasn’t very good and lacked authentic flavor. Overall, disappointing experience, and I won’t be returning.