El Parador Cafe
“You will be pleased with anything on their menu – guacamole, chicken or mushroom quesadillas, chicken wings, their special corn..the list goes on.”
“It is easy to miss as it sits between a big residential building and a busy side road to the Midtown Tunnel.”
“The bartenders are attentive & the peanut-butter stuffed jalapeños are to die for.”
El Parador Cafe
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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strong seasoning, a little too salty to our taste. service was nice, good ambiance. good for couples or families/groups. fajita with carne was great. chimichanfpga, which I did not know deep-fried, was a bit too heavy for me.
Came here and had a solid weeknight meal. Made a reservation and glad we did because there seemed to be a wait for those without one. First impression of the space was positive, very dimly lit and cozy – a far cry from the midtown tunnel entrance its located next to.
As for the food – the menu has the standard 'higher end' mexican fare. Plenty of chicken, steak and seafood dishes. There were also a large selection of specials to chose from which I always like. For starters, I had the octopus special. This was my favorite item of the meal. Cooked perfectly with the right amount of char on the outside. There was a garlicky / vinegar type drizzle on it which I really liked. Decent size portion as well.
For the main course, I had the shrimp quesadillas (technically an appetizer) and my girlfriend had the chicken fajitas. The fajitas was the better of the two, however were decent but not remarkable. The chicken was a little overdone and the veggies were good, but a little less plentiful than you might expect. The accompaniments were good – much better guac than you usually get with fajitas. The shrimp quesadillas were somewhat of a miss. The shrimp had a bit of an off taste to it – not spoiled or anything, just didn't taste great. Overall they were fine, but I would not recommend them.
Overall, the food was good and I would absolutely come back to try some different things. I will say that the service was a little slow. Very friendly staff, but it took about 20 minutes to get our check. Total came to over $45/person so for those prices I expected a little better service.
Took the family here after some Yelp research. Wow!
When walking in the place is dark, took a bit for our pupils to adjust! We waited a little bit to be greeted. It was a bit awkward as no one acknowledged us at first and there are "no wait here to be seated" signs to be found. We were finally approached by a gentlemen and we told him we had reservations and gave him out names. We were seated immediately seated.
We quickly got the complimentary chips and salsa dropped off. We both took a bite of the salsa and agreed it seemed to cuminy so we stopped with the salsa and wondered what the rest of the food would be like. We didn't care fore the salsa. When going through the menu we noticed a disclaimer that the salsa wasn't vegetarian with not explanation as to what that meant ingredient wise. We weren't sure about this place until the actual entrees came out. Wow, wow wow! We were floored at the complexity of the flavors. It was unlike any other Mexican we've had before. We will definitely be back here again.
Came here on a weeknight. The restaurant wasn't crowded at all and I didn't make a reservation. Chips and salsa are complimentary. Their salsa is served warm, and it's kinda creamy but very tasty. The ambience is very intimate, and the service was good. I ordered this carnita dish and my boyfriend ordered a chicken fajita. Neither of them was tasty. My pork tasted weird (maybe it wasn't fresh?) and my bf's chicken tasted dry.
Excellent service, great dimly lit ambiance and food.
The bartenders made my favorite kind of mescal margarita great despite never having made it before …
And the shrimp quesadillas – amazing ! Best I've had and a must order here… They were highly recommended by the friend who suggested this restaurant and they were wonderful.
Definitely recommend as a Mexican restaurant to go on a date or with friends
Extremely authentic Mexican food, you can taste the love
Very clean and actually very intimate setting (me and my coworker were seated in a pirvate booth, lol)
Table Salsa and Chips – BEST Salsa I've ever had. Yes, that IS a thing, it's possible. There was such a depth to it almost like a stew-salsa (brick-red color), it was very bold and deep with the perfect hint of spice. My friend and I couldn't stop eating it, I had to remind her, "We still got the entree!!" Then, I picked up another chip and dipped it in the salsa LMAO
Ahogada de Cochinito $14 – One of three different tortas (Mexican sandwiches) they serve. Look at picture. I had NO idea the sandwich would come out slathered with a red shell. It looked like a volcano erupted and poured over lol. That red sauce, Salsa de Chile Guajillo, was delicious, and again very complex. Fresh avocado, pulled pork and Oaxacan cheese. This was amazing; HUGE PORTION
My friend said she really enjoyed her Milanese Chicken Cutlet Torta
Really good Sangria!!
Can't wait to come back for the 1) Lobster Salpicon Salad & 2) Fajitas w/ saffron rice!!
Recommended: Sangria, Ahogada de cochinito
Mehhh. Food was good, but it was pretty expensive and nothing too special. I split the guacamole but it was kind of a waste because plenty of guac came with my steak fajitas. The worst thing about this place is the horrible service – there were 10 waiters standing around and we were almost always ignored. It took forever to order and pay the bill. Pass.
My second time at El Parador and it was just as wonderful as the first visit. I just don't understand how anyone can complain about the service? Our waiter Manuel was extremely attentive without being overbearing!! Thank you Manuel. The dirty dishes and utensils were removed quickly. Water and drinks never went without being refilled. For appetizers we got the nachos which was a combo of the Nachos Normales and the Vestido Nachos. Normales was simply beans, cheese and tomatoes and Vesitdos were beans, cheese, tomatoes, guacamole, and a slice of jalepeno pepper. We couldn't decide so our server suggested combining them. We ordered the red wine sangria (they offer red or white) and it was delicious. Eating the apples in the Sangria was like taking a shot! Haha! Chips were warm and refilled for us without asking. The salsa is very unusual, in a good way. It has chicken broth in it with a hint of cinnamon and is nice and spicy. Delicious! We also had the vegetarian pico de gallo salsa. Awesome and refreshing! For main entrees, I had the Carne Fajitas with flour tortillas, my friend had the small Taco Tray which has grilled chicken, beef picadillo, chunks of chorizo, refried beans, guacamole, crema, tomatoes, cilantro, onions and cheese. At first he wanted the medium but our server said that would be way too large. Good thing my friend got the small. He was offered hard or soft flour tortillas and chose the soft tortillas. My niece got the special which was a chili relleno, echilada suiza and a beef picadillo soft shell taco. We all loved our meals! You get a choice of how you would like your beef sirloin done for the fajitas. Everything came with sour cream, guacamole, beans and we asked extra cheese. I asked for medium rare and it came out perfectly. We were way too full for dessert. Even though we got the "standard" fare, they offer a lot of gourmet Mexican dishes. Many other upscale Mexican places in the city have gourmet dishes but don't offer what American's consider traditional dishes. This is what I love about El Parador. They have the best of both. Can't wait to go back!!!!