El Poquito, Philadelphia PA

Sad! I used to frequent the restaurant and could say I never had a bad meal. I ordered takeout this evening and the meal wasn’t prepared as ordered, wasn’t appetizing and took a significantly long time.

Mid drinks and expensive Mexican food that is an insult to the amazing cuisine.

Staffed well but no one seems trained.

Skip it and go to a taqueria in the area instead.

Chicken tinga Nachos arrived without chicken waited 45 mins for other machines that were mediocre. This was a horrible first time experience. All we were offered by the manager were his well wishes ("good luck") my reservation for next week has been cancelled. I hope you "luck" if better than mine

Came in 10 minutes before happy hour was over. Server knew we were in there for happy hour but ignored our table until 2 minutes before happy hour was over. At the two minute mark she came to serve us water. She spilled water all over the table so then had to go get more water twice. Then at 6: 01 (one minute after happy hour) she came to get out drink orders and refused to let us get the happy hour special. No customer service skills. Extremely disappointed.

When we got there, we thought the place was closed because the single, large, wooden door was shut with no window and no signage. The patio had an unfortunate smell of a nearby dumpster.

Friendly staff were physically responsive, but overall the four in our party felt the food was just passable and the kitchen and FOH staff weren't dialed in to what makes for a good dining experience. Three entrees came out with about a 10-minute wait before the fourth arrived, and key parts of my own brunch special were missing on arrival.

Lots of seating indoors and out, but only one single-use men's and one single-use women's restroom available.

I hate to give 1 star so I'm going to give 2. I came here with my husband in March and we had a nice time so we decided to come tonight with our 4 yr old and 1 yr old. Unfortunately we probably won't be back. Our server was kind and was able to get our meal (that we didn't even get to eat) comped. The first time they brought the food out it was cold, and then the second time, you guessed it just as cold. At that point we had been sitting for an hr and my kids were being so good but we were all getting hangry so we decided to just leave. A really disappointing experience for us, especially since it's a rare occasion for us to eat out.

The nastiest margarita I’ve ever tasted. The bottled premixed Friday’s brand tastes better. And that’s disgusting. It was bitter & served in a water glass. The steak burrito bowl didn’t have any beans & weirdly involved green peas. I should’ve taken a cue from the several patrons there simply drinking bottled beer. Nice atmosphere with the outdoor seating & live music on a Thursday. The server was perfect. But save your money. Go to Chipotle and Wine & Spirits. You’ll be so much more satisfied!

Food is pretty good. Nice drinks, great outdoor seating. We came at 12pm with only four other tables. We waited 50 mins for our food. Almost walked out.

The food is really good. A cool bar spot and a little outdoor dining area as well. I wish the bartender had a little more so he would lighten up a bit but if ya catch him in a decent mood he isn't bad.

Third time I try to get a drink and the waiter outside barely talks to me and then leave. Consistently terrible service. The personnel doesn’t care

My daughter and I came to this establishment yesterday. The hostess stopped us in our tracks. She said that we cannot be seated at this time, that there was a 10 minute wait, because a server called out. But in my head I'm like what does that have to do with us being seated. The restaurant was not packed at all. So I was ready to leave at that point. But my daughter was like we can get it to go. We had to go over and order from the bar. While waiting for our food I noticed that there were soooo many flies and gnats flying around. I was like oh no. My food might have a fly in it or a fly might have landed on it. This place gets one star because the host was not inviting at all. But the next few people that came in she seated them immediately. Plus the flies, I won't be going back to this place.

Came for brunch and tried items from brunch and lunch menu. The atmosphere is great and the space has a lot of potential. I hate so negative but the food really was terrible. I think a major overhaul of the menu/ingredients/chef is needed. Maybe the issues are also from being short-staffed? As is I, I think Taco Bell has better Mexican food. I also implore the management to switch from using plastic cups and at the very least please have wait staff refill glasses instead of bringing a NEW plastic cup each time more water is needed!

El poquito is a vibe! Love the happy hour so much but they need to revise their menu & step it up in the food department. Add vegan meats to the menu because the mushroom taco isn’t good & the nachos are the worst. Take notes from some Mexican/Mexican American restaurants around the city because the food needs work. Other than that, I’m always gonna come for the happy hr but I’ll eat before I get there. The 3 star is solely for the drinks, atmosphere, & service.

Just went to try to get a table. They said there would be a 20 minute wait because of the reserved tables. I call nonsense. This restaurant needs to hire more staff or at least figure something out. There were at least 50 empty seats

Where do I begin? We used to love coming here for happy hour and enjoying delicious margaritas and tacos and occasionally having specials like taco Tuesdays or margarita Mondays. Well, all of that has ended, and clearly nobody cares anymore about the quality of anything that is being put out to customers.

We arrived around seven on a Tuesday in summer time, which admittedly could be a popular time but we were told the wait would be 15 minutes. We were supposedly in their digital system and would get a text when our table was ready. We waited outside for 10 minutes, then 20 minutes, then 30 minutes and I finally went in to check. There were two open spots at the bar so I called my husband over and we sat down there. By the way, I checked my phone an hour later and still hasn’t gotten a text that our table was ready. It was like our reservation just disappeared.

We ordered two classic margaritas, chips and guacamole, and two taco entrees. We got our margaritas pretty quickly, and honestly, that’s the only reason for two stars instead of one. They were tasty, and they were strong, which i needed as I waited a half hour for food. People who were seated at the bar after us got chips and guacamole while we sat with nothing. I asked the bartender if he could check on our order, and after about fifteen minutes, he told us that the kitchen had run out of guacamole. Okay…

So we finally got our tacos, and my husband’s taco bowl was the saddest thing I have ever seen. Dry rice, dry chicken, and some sad looking lettuce. Nothing else to make it tasty. My mahi tacos were also sad and dry but covered in so much chipotle sauce as to cover up the sadness.

To our bartender’s credit, he comped our second round of margaritas, but ultimately, the only word to define the entire night is sad. Sad that a place we used to love has gone so downhill, sad food, sad service. This beautiful location deserves better, and the high prices and long waits are an affront to common sense. By the way, we were still hungry when we left the restaurant so we went across the street to the Fresh market, which had plenty of ripe avocados and we made homemade guacamole that was so much better than anything we had eaten at El Poquito.

I won’t be back to this place until I hear management has changed and quality has been restored. What a waste.

I went here twice and the food was terrible. It had no taste everything I ordered I even sent the chicken tacos back for the beef tacos and it was still nasty no taste at all please do better that’s crazy

Ever since management changed, this place has not been the same. Food quality dropped significantly, attentiveness of the staff is at an all time low, and overall not a friendly, welcoming environment anymore.

I love this place.very nice restaurant in chestnut hill, pa.super friendly staff, the foods are good (its more like tex-mex instead mexican). The portions are generous so I'm super happy ️. Definitely worth to come again