El Vaquero - Arnold, California

Mike Ryker

Stopped by to order a couple chimichangas for takeout - the tables were mostly full. The waitress was super friendly and told me about 20 minutes. My order was ready by the time I made it to the Big Trees market and back. The food was great - spot on for Mexican comfort food

Chance Minyard

Way better than you would think. I wouldn't exactly call Arnold spoiled for choice in food options, so they're very lucky they have a place like this.

Business was pretty slow when I was there. Was served quickly and the food was really good at a reasonable price. Get the enchiladas. Portion could have been a bit bigger but otherwise I was pleased.

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.

Adam Jones

Excellent, authentic food and good service. The chile rellenos were so good I came back and tried the enchilada del mar the next night - both delicious

Sage

Food was okay. Service was HORRIBLE. Came to visit from Los Angeles and the lady taking our order was extremely rude. In her exact words she said “do you not have money?” When we asked for a side of sour cream and she wanted to charge us $5 for A SMALL SALSA SIZED SIDE. I’m used to paying overpriced because I’m from LA but she was extremely rude.. saw out of town visitors and wanted to take advantage.

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!

Shani Shoham

Food was great. Staff was very friendly. I don’t like churros but this one was unique and surprisingly good. So was the nachos

jacqui lozada

I always try the Chicken Mole in every Hispanic place. Been mostly disappointed until today. El Vaquero's Chicken Mole finally tastes like what I know how yummy it could be with the perfect balance of spices & the bitterness of chocolate - so rich and scrumptious. Definitely worth my 136-mile drive.