El Cortez Mexican Restaurant

I sat at the bar and ordered a beer, it was happy hour. Bar tender was great, fun, experienced. I checked the HH specials, a buck off beer, good deals on appetizers, I ordered an asada burrito and confirmed no guac is in burrito, I stressed I’m allergic. The first few bites were good till I tasted it, it was more the back of my tongue itching that made me look. I called the bar tender over to take a look. He took it in back and came back telling me he’s sorry they are redoing it. I excused my self to rush home for the ol’ Benadryl. He said he would take care of my bill, duh. Now I’m super sleepy and my Friday is over at 5:58pm. Too bad just moved to Laguna Niguel and this is only a mile from my place. Two stars the first ten min were great, willing to update if I ever get back there. Hope I don’t wake up hungry, but no appetite now, an early good night to you.

I sure wish there were some way to grade an experience WITHOUT giving one star. Tonight’s experience was about a negative five overall. We were in there for an hour and a half and despite the fact that we had reservations for twelve at 6pm, we never were served any food — other than chips and salsa and drinks. There could not have been more than around twenty people in the whole restaurant. Our order never arrived — that’s right — never arrived in an hour and a half. Someone said that they were short-​handed in the kitchen. They never told us and they never apologized. I don’t care one bit about their staffing problems. We tried to be a customer which is supposed to be the lifeblood of a restaurant and quite frankly I don’t care to hear excuses.
WHAT A DISASTER — WE WILL NOT BE BACK !!!

Don’t bother coming here. The food is greasy and bland. My kids didn’t even like it and they’ll eat almost any kind of mexican food. The only saving grace is their salsa. Try another place, you’ll be better off.

Food was good, not the cleanest of bars, but staff made up for it. We ordered the fajitas, generous portions, however, no enough tortillas. Drinks were a bit pricy, and not poured well, for a dive bar, but worth trying. Not sure I’d go back.

So bummed, we have been going here for years and slowly and sadly the food and the service has gotten worse. Went there today and they over charged us 40.00. When I asked for the manager, a second waiter came out and barely acknowledged how upset I was. Gave me $ 3… $ 3!!! To say the least we will not be back.

I did not enjoy this restaurant and I will not be going back. I called before we went because I wanted to order Moharra Frito (whole fried fish) and I wanted to make sure the fish was not a Talapia, they told that the Moharra Frito was Pollak fish, of course when my order came it was a Talapia. The waitress assured me it was a Pollock, but after further complaining by me another restaurant employee came over to the table and confirmed that the fish indeed was a… Talapia… Some of the other problems I have with this restaurant is everything costs extra, such as… if you want shredded beef in your taco add $ 2, …yes $ 2…if you want garlic butter on your fish add $ 2 ETC… there’s a whole bunch of extra charges for everthing. I have never seen so many extra charges. So I paid $ 15.95 for a Talapia and $ 2 extra for garlic butter on it, and to top it off the fish tasted awful. yuk! …The waitress was clueless about the menu so I asked her are you new here and she no, I’ve Been working here for over a year. huh? She needs to take some time to read the menu… Lol. the whole thing was a bust!

The service has gone down hill!!! Takes forever just to order drinks. They have always messed up on an order. I’ve been a handful of times and each time it get worse! Don’t come here with a large group… it will take forever to order and receive your food. If your looking for cheap, easy, and fast this isn’t the place. If they get your order right the food is pretty good though.

This was the first time I had been here in a while and sadly, I will not be back. I used to go all the time a few years back and loved it, but it has changed. We ordered a house salad and it was thrown together in a tiny bowl, much smaller than it used to be. Our bean and cheese burrito was much smaller than it used to be as well and the cheese was not even melted inside. The Chicken tostada was not good. We had that and one large beer and a margarita and bill was $ 50…not worth it.

My (Mexican) family has been going to el Cortez forever, and for us, it’s the best Mexican food around. It’s really hard to find decent Mexican food in this area, and el Cortez satisfies the craving. My favorite dish is the fajitas, but the crunchy tacos are really good as well. The reason this place doesn’t get 5 stars is because the service has kind of been slipping in the past couple of years, and the margaritas leave a little to be desired, but I will always come back for the food. Also just to note, they don’t do Taco Tuesday, but they do Taco Wednesday.

Finally, an authentic Mexican restaurant that still serves delicious, quality Mexican food.
Driving from Los Angeles to San Diego, my friend and I stopped here for dinner because our friends told us that El Cortez Mexican Restaurant had flavorful Mexican food, and they were right.
The El Cortez Mexican Restaurant has a cozy atmosphere, and I was very impressed with how clean and well decorated the restaurant was — which I don’t find often at Mexican restaurants.
What really stood out to me, besides the delicious food, was their service and care for customers. I saw two different groups give their servers hugs and waves goodbye, which I’ve never seen. You can tell the restaurant has close relationships with their customers and I LOVED seeing that.
Food:
We started off with the Suritdos de la Casa Appetizer Platter — Chimiflauta, Taquitos, Queso Fundido con Chorizo, Nachos, Flour Quesadilla, Guacamole, Sour Cream and Tortillas — and I highly recommend this appetizer if you want a little taste of everything. The Queso Fundido con Chorizo was so yummy it was on whole different level, I’ve never tried anything like that.
For the main course I had my favorite dish, Carne Asada, and they did a wonderful job at cooking the Carne Asada so it was juicy and tasty. I’ve experienced many restaurants overcook the meat or it’s not too flavorful, but their Carne Asada was spectacular.
Can’t forget dessert, we tried the Fried Ice Cream and pretty much died over the taste.
Next time I head up to Los Angeles, I am planning on eating here again! Love this restaurant!
PS — They have a ton of flat screen TVs in the bar area, it looks like a fun place to watch a game and drink tequila.

I would give it a No Star, yet unfortunately that’s not an option here on Unilocal.We were a big group that night, about 8 adults + about 8 kids. I used to wait tables too, for many years, I loved big groups, especially with kids — 1 table could make your whole night. The El Cortez service was awful, waiter was arguing with a 9-​year old little girl about what she ordered to drink. Really dude? Just swap the 7UP for a Coke. The adult drinks are expensive and pretty much blow. And the food, well it was pretty friggin weak too. Sorry guys. You lost a LOT of 92 677 Locals that night :(Never. Going. Back.

You know when your with a group of people and one says they know a place that has some of the best food ever! Yeah this was one of those situations where that happened lets just say I wasn’t too impressed and I didn’t even come in here expecting all that.
There was lots of room in the bar so our group just went in there to skip waiting for a table it was a good call because they have a decent size bar area that accommodated all of us quite well.
The part about the bar area where I wasn’t too sure about was some of the tables that were selling ad’s for some local businesses like UPS store I’m not sure what to make of this one other than I hope they payed you quite a lot for that because it looks super tacky!
The bartender was quick to get us our drinks which were tasty but definitely not worth $ 9 for a house margarita in the glass it came in as it was a bit small.
They delivered our chips and salsa a bit after our drinks came out which made it perfect because their salsa was a bit spicy but overall pretty good and flavorful.
Of the many choices I decided to get their #10 El Cortez combo as it came with a few different choices.
The Chili Relleno was kinda disappointing and full of oil which kinda brought down the flavor of the chili and the red sauce that was spread over it.
The Enchalada & Taco were decent both were some what flavorful but nothing to get excited about because overall the food and it’s quality was overall pretty standard for something you would find just about anywhere.
Overall nothing here really stood out enough to make me want to come back here again so I guess we will just leave it as that as I don’t really have much to say other than I doubt if I’d come back.

The wife and I were feeling like a Mexican lunch at a more «traditional» American-​style Mexican restaurant. She suggested the El Cortez at Golden Lantern and Crown Valley due to a friend’s recommendation. I used to go there 15 years ago when I was living alone in Laguna Niguel but hadn’t been back since.
We got there on a Friday shortly after one, and there were only a few other customers. Parking was easy. The décor was nice. The chips and salsa, gratis, were very good, and they brought us more salsa, again without charge, when we asked. It was spicier than average and very good. We saved some salsa to pour on our food.
We started with a couple of margaritas, which were well made and large if a bit pricy at $ 8.50 each. We both ordered lunches (served until 3:00 PM). I had the cheese enchilada, beef taco, and rice. My wife had the chili verde lunch with rice and beans.
My lunch was quite good. I ordered a side of sour cream for the cheese enchilada and splashed some Tapatio Sauce into the hard-​shell taco. Both were very tasty. My wife enjoyed her chili verde. I had a bit, and the pork was tasty and very tender, obviously of good quality.
All told, our bill (before tip) was $ 37 before tip, not bad for a two-​margarita lunch.
Our server was the son of the owners, who he said have been operating there for 33 years. No surprise that they’re doing well. The food is good and the service excellent. We’ll be back more often. Four stars as a nice place for lunch, clean and pleasant, without being incredibly fantastic.

El Cortez is a friendly, good quality Mexican restaurant next to the more upscale Patsy’s on the corner of Crown Valley and Golden Lantern. It is very good quality, traditional old school California Mex. dishes and flavors. This is the place to go for a relaxing meal and good service. If you have a hankering for the kind of Mexican food a lot of us grew up with, this is the place! The burritos are wet and huge! The chips are the nice thin kind made from split tortillas… Service is super nice and friendly. Also there is a cute toucan overlooking you! Do not listen to skanky «Elite» Unilocalers. This is a very well operated, clean and nice traditional Southern California style Mexican-​American restaurant. I cook real Mexican food … La Rana is the best Mexican Mexican food in the area. This is a family friendly, laid back American-​Mexican restaurant. PLUS: 5 stars… Yes — Crying Baby.

Warm and cozy restaurant with great traditional Mexican food! I make sure when I am in the area, I always make a stop. My favorite is the El Cortez Combo, but I call it the triple threat: chile relleno, taco (hard or soft) and the enchilada, rice and beans. They also have a MASSIVE Burrito, the Discovery Burrito, choice of beef, chicken or pork: rice, beans, lettuce, guacamole, sour Cream, and «Everything But The Chef’s Hat» as they describe on their menu, oh and they best way to have it is «wet.»
I also LOVE going there for Taco Wednesday, the awesome thing is it is not just a few options that are on the Taco Wednesday special like some Mexican joints have for their Taco Tuesday. They actually have a great list with lots of varieties.
I am a Mexican beer man and they have some good options for beer on tap!
THEY HAVE FRESH MADE TORTILLAS AND FRIED ICE CREAM !

It’s been pretty hot here in South Orange County, so I didn’t feel like bringing my body temperature up with something like a steaming plate of fajitas. I got the Shrimp Cocktail, which was amazing! The shrimps were cooked just right and the sauce had the ideal balance of tang and spice. All in all, the meal was incredibly refreshing.
On another note, we got served in a timely manner and the customer service was impeccable.

This restaurant has been a favorite of mine since I discovered it in 1985. Owned and operated by Jose’ and Molly, you can trust that whenever and whatever you order will be just as fabulously mouth-​watering as the first time you fell in love with it. I grew up knowing a lady that blessed us with her homemade chili rellenos. No one could compare to her expertise until I ordered them at El Cortez. They were perfect then and today they taste exactly like the first time I ordered them. We have several family members and friends who visit from out of state. They always request El Cortez while they are in town.
I recommend this place to those who can appreciate truly authentic Mexican Food.

So went here since its local and seen it for years.
Upon walking in, hostess was friendly and the restaurant was warm. Maybe 80 degrees and like the ac was broken.
After going to the cocktail area, order the drinks at 5:50 and was told by the server at 6:03 that we missed happy hour and there was nothing she could do.
Ordered the drinks anyways. $ 8.75 for a weak house margarita. Way over priced.
Order the food, it came out mixed up and was very bland and over cooked. The server was no where to be found. Asked for salsa 3 times and never got it. Asked for water 4 times and finally got it.
Overall it’s WAY over priced, and not good at all.
There is no chance I’d be back here. Even don joses seems like a 5 start compared to here
Con
— $ 2.50 for extra chips.
— horrible service
— bland food
— over priced
— weak drinks.
Pro
— location
— next to a bar with real drinks.

We have been here three times and it is always crappy. No more chances. The service is always slow. I ordered a margarita today and my hubby had to get up and get it because it was just sitting at the bar. Their bean and cheese burrito is super bland. Come to think of it… all the food is bland. Our michelada ($ 13) didn’t have salt on the rim and we had to ask twice for water. The food is totally overpriced. The only redeeming quality this place has is their chips and salsa.

If you could plate Morgan freemans voice and serve it to people, that’s what they’re doing here. I had the carnitas discovery burrito and it was the length of the plate. The words to describe how good their chips and salsa is, haven’t been invented yet. The menudo is superb. The staff have a «second sense» and always come at the right time and are never far away when you need them. The décor is great and they have a variety of atmospheres depending where you sit.