El Compadre

Came here tonight– it was 81 degrees inside the restaurant. Hot damn, run the air please! There were so many people inside wanting to eat their overrated Mexican food. I’ve ate here once before and was not impressed by the dinner and was shocked by the sticker price. We ordered 2 taco plates and 2 beers… It was $ 30+… Portions are pretty small, salsa not as flavorful as I’m used to. The beans and rice were served lukewarm. I did enjoy their free chips and salsa. Ehhhhhh is the way to describe this restaurant.

Ill give this a solid three stars.
I had the carnitas taco plate. Beans-​OK. Rice– OK. Tacos– OK. Salsa — OK.
Brown cardboard to-​go containers a bit unusual, but I get the recycle element.
Cool. If you want the same ol, but descent same ol, then this is a go.
If you want spicy, different, flavorful explosion, then this is a no go.
Overall, I feel a tad expensive for OK. But I WILL go back at sometime. No issues here.
BTW, its been 2 hrs and the tummy is still good.

Have gone here for years but this last weekend they catered my daughter’s 16^th birthday party and like always, it was delicious. The Puentes family went above and beyond and made us a good taco bar. The chicken and carne asada was cooked perfectly and the beans and rice were fantastic. They gave us just the right amount of salsas, tortillas, lettuce and cheese for or tacos as well. Everything was fresh and hot when we picked it up. Their food is authentic Mexican food and is my favorite in town.

Not recommended ! Bad experience while staying in Atascadero. We were in the Mood for Mexican Food so went to Unilocal for Help! Even though the pictures didn’t look great it had four stars so I figured… why not! Wrong… Big mistake… Unilocalers got this one backwards! My first impression walking into this place was… Really…looks like a dive! Stained ceiling tiles… dust coated hvac ceiling vents… unfinished & patched walls, dirty restrooms w/​over flowing trash, Really… Come On… people are eating here! I ordered the Pollo Asada Nachos… they dumped greasy refried beans on the chips… chicken did not look grilled more like boiled and cubed, cheese piled on top and melted in oven. That’s it… served with a side dish of sour cream and watery looking guacamole. The plate was a big soggy mess. I ate a few chips off the edge of plate that were still crispy and left the rest. Worst Nacho’ s ever and $ 9.25 to boot! My wife got two Pollo Asado tacos… terrible… no flavor! Two limp tortillas, bland cubed chicken, shredded iceberg lettuce and an pinch of cheese. She ate one and left the second on her plate. I rarely leave food on my plate at a restaurant… this was one of the rare times I did. Our bill was $ 16.50 and felt like we were Ripped Off! I can make better nachos and tacos any day of the week. Can’t wait to get back to San Diego and have real Mexican food. One of our horrible road trip memory meals. An hour later we found ourselves at Firestone Brewery eating a warm oven baked prezel with a couple pints of IPA! Oh so good!

Nasty nasty nasty. Strip mall, do I need to say more?
Unilocal reviews were good so I decided to try.
Ordered tacos and chips. Girl at register did not know how to give change and shorted me. Guess that was her tip.
Salsa bar had flies all over it. As people filled their mini little to go cups salsa ran down their fingers and back into the salsa container. Yummoo!
Place was dirty. Above bathroom wall there was hinges. This opened about 2ft below ceiling. Cameras in restroom?
Floors and wall dirty. Do they ever clean?
Not sure why I decided to even eat part of the taco. Pollo asada. Well I always though this was grilled chicken, not here it’s boiled. Not much of a taco. A little lettuce and sprinkle of cheese. Aftet a bite I walked out.
What a waste of money and time. Ended up in Paso for a real dinner.
If I could of have it a zero I would of.

We’ve been on a hunt for a great mexican food place after moving here from LA and this is definitely it. The carne asade is sooo good. Great quality food.

delicious fish tacos, and they have black beans. YUM

They have the best shrimp tacos I have ever tasted. I love their salsa bar and they have great prompt service especially if you are getting your order to go.

Great food, good salsa bar with plenty of chips along with friendly service. I only have one complaint /​recommendation. I went into your restroom to wash my hands. The hot water was extrememy HOT. You need to turn your hot water heater down and save on natural gas. You could also turn down the pressure of the water going to the sink. Many restaurants need to do this. To many people turn on the water full blast and waste water. Just a recommendation; I mentioned this to one of your employees.
Thanks for listening, Steve from Lake Mathres, CA.

The borrito was so small and only had a few pieces of carne asada. The rest was rice and a few beans. Place is starting to cut corners. I will never be back. What a rip off! Beyond dissapointed.

Standard Americanized fare. The fish taco would have been good except for the mango salsa heaped on top– ramekins are cheap, guys, serve it on the side. You make good fish, don’t bury the flavor under mediocre salsa.
They do have horchata, but it’s the watery, industrialized version. Chips are thin and cold, salsa bar is broad spectrum but weirdly under-​flavored– the table salsa had nice heat, but needed more salt & some sort of acid. It tasted like hot chopped tomatoes, there was very little bite or savor.
More confirmation that the presence of french fries on the menu is never a good sign at a Mexican joint.

After ordering for 8 people, it’s safe to say their Carne Asada and Carnitas smothered burritos are the best around. We were very happy with the sides, taste and sheer SIZE of our individual plates-​they are not stingy on the ingredients! I will definitely come here more often.

The staff at compadres is very friendly. Carly was so helpful!
Being Mexican I know what Mexican food should taste like (my mother cooks)
Having said that the «Tortas ahogadas» are the best thing I have had. Try them. They won’t disappoint. And for the price, it’s a win.

I’m not going to go far enough to say this is the answer to Atascadero’s Mexican food wasteland, but it is a step in the right direction. A modest, clean interior and an order counter greet you when you step inside. The counter help are friendly and serve your food when it is ready. The salsa bar (who doesn’t have one of these nowadays?) is adequate, and there is a nice variety of tastes. If you want a beer with your meal (yes please) just grab one, and a frosty mug from the cooler, and take it to the counter to pay for it. Carne Asada fries are not offensive, and the Carne Asada taco was delicious. They have an inexpensive children’s menu, but we need to explore the menu further. We’ll be back, but we won’t be insisting our friends «have got to try this place» just yet. Right now it is an inexpensive place to pick up some casual Mexican food.

I was told by my local relatives that this is the best spot in Atascadero. While I haven’t eaten in too many places in town to validate this claim, this restaurant was great for lunch. Order up at the counter before grabbing a table. We were dining on a weekday just before 1pm and the place was almost full.
My wife selected the Baja tacos, my uncle the fish tacos and I picked chicken. We all agreed that my uncle made the best pick. His salmon tacos were fresh with a little bite tempered by mango. My wife’s halibut tacos were almost as tasty while I found my pollo tacos filled with tender and juicy chicken.
Service is great here as our food was delivered promptly to our table. There is a salsa bar to load up on your tacos as you see fit. Plenty of drinks to choose from at the fountain and in a display case.
Only caution is we found parking to be tight there and we had to make a lap around the lot before catching someone who was leaving.

The best Mexican food around! And, one of the only ones left that don’t use lard or put sour cream in their guacamole.
The staff are all super nice and hardworking. The food is amazing and pretty consistent.
Also, you’ve got to love a fully-​stocked salsa bar.
Protip: Get the torta. You can thank me later.

Best Mexican food in north county. if not the whole county. Been coming here for years after my job moved up to Atascadero. and it’s probably the thing I miss the most after moving out of the state a couple years ago.
Joel and Luis are always there. and will make whatever you want, however you want it. I’m lucky if I manage to get in there once or twice a year now, but they still remember my name and exactly what I want. The pico and salsa verde are amazing. especially in the summer.
Only downside is the parking lot is shared with a lot of other popular places. Try to get there before or after the lunch rush unless you want to walk far or circle the lot for awhile.

The people who work here are very friendly. The food is always pretty good, but their rice simply has no flavor, and at times the meat in the burritos has been fatty and grisly. The enchiladas are great, and their chips are always super fresh. Overall, a good option while in Atascadero.

Before arriving at Compadres in Atascadero, I had an unyielding craving for a sandwich. Alas! The lunchtime north-​county hot spot, Harsh Harbor, was closed for dinner! After realizing this, my wife [personal tour-​guide to the A-​Town food scene] made an impromptu suggestion: We can have a Torta at Compadres across the way!
At first, I was a bit sluggish to accept the torta as an equivalent to my craving. Sure, it’s contents are sandwiched between two thick pieces of bread, but that’s about where the juxtaposition ended in my mind. My affinity for sandwiches usually requires a heavy-​hand of vineagar — sauerkraut, mustard, pepperoncini, pickle, etc…
I never would have thought grilled steak with cheese, tomato, guacamole, sour cream, lettuce and bread would work for me — but boy did it ever! The fatty, juicy combination of meat, cheese, crema and vegan cocaine (avocado) made for an amazing party in my mouth. And the main sell for my tastebuds came from an unlikely source, the carb envelope itself!
Crispy and nom-​tastic, the bread used for this Torta was especially memorable due to the fact that their was clearly a layer of charr-​grilled cheese on the outside.
While the Torta @ Compadres may not have satisfied my vinegar lust, it was successful in broadening my perspective on what constitutes a «real» sandwich. Now if we can only find a way to engineer some pickled food in there somehow… Eureka! The salsa bar!

It’s hard to find great Mexican food here in Central Coast, however, this place did justice!!! I tried the Carne asada fries and boy did they deliver! It’s like nachos, except you get fries instead which is fantastic!!! It was pretty big, so bring your appetite! An excellent salsa bar as well with fresh pico de gallo and delicious green sauce gave my carne asada fries a kick in the butt! Price was right and service was fine. Atmosphere may not look fancy, but what Mexican place is??? Doesn’t matter as long as the food is delicious!
Overall: Excellent food, great price, great service!!!