El Camino

Was told the inside bar had closed and sent outside. Waited as a group of 6 for 10+ minutes and heard nothing but promises of service with no one actually delivering. The hostess was awesome — everyone else should be fired.

The place looks great. The food lacks flavor. No matter what we ordered the flavors are bland. Drinks are great.

The El Camino is a great restaurant that bridges California street tacos with amazing gourmet food. I had the Pibil and the kale tacos. They were exquisite! The drinks have only fresh ingredients which make them amazing. Next time this Cali girls visits Louisville, she’s visiting the El Camino.

It seems like I go to El Camino more than any other restaurant on Bardstown Road.
And it’s because of this and because of the great service and food I’ve received, that I want to up my rating to five stars.
Some of my fave El Camino finds:
* Kale and black bean tacos. I’m not a big kale fan; I’m not a big black bean fan. But these just work so well together. It’s witchcraft. The tanginess of the kale is cut by the black beans.
* The baja taco, with catfish, is also a great option. I usually go with two kale and black bean tacos and one baja taco for my entrée.
* The Mucho Guac is mucho delicioso! It’s slightly spicy, creamy, awesome. The chips are also great. Not sure if El Camino makes them in-​house, but they don’t seem to be generic or shipped in from elsewhere.
* The Mexican Firing Squad drink. It’s an updated version of a marg. Love it!
* Plantain pancakes. They are sweet and savory with plantains, honey butter and crema. A fun way to start a weekend morning.
* The sundae. This thing is MASSIVE! In my original review, I criticized the ice cream sampler for being tiny and overpriced. Now El Camino has this sundae, which includes large scoops of ice cream, caramelized bananas, a cookie and some other bits I’m forgetting. Just look at my pics. You’ll see it. I would go to El Camino just to order this for dessert.
Three other reasons to love El Camino. 1) Their kitchen is open later — later than most other kitchens on Bardstown Road. It has been my late-​night food savior on more than one occasion.
2) The patio. It’s the place to be on a mild night, with its fire pits and outdoor bar.
And 3) it’s been a go-​to place for picky eaters. During my most recent visit, my boyfriend’s aunt wanted avocado mashed up with lime — to avoid any peppers — and they obliged. They also subbed in chicken for chorizo in the Queso Fundido, and she was in heaven. She and my boyfriend’s uncle even made a return trip on their own while in town, just to get this dish again.
El Camino satisfies, all the way around.

This is a tough one to gauge. I loved the atmosphere and I intend to return for dinner. I visited for brunch recently with a group for the Breakfast Club. The staff was great! We didn’t have much of a wait which is rare for noonish on Sunday. The restaurant’s large space could’ve contributed to that.
For my meal, I decided to go with the Chilaquiles (Guajillo, scrambled eggs, pork chorizo, crema). It was good and I finished the dish, but the eggs really should’ve been fried. Also, the dish tasted more like a bag of bbq Fritos than something that I would want to order again. I wasn’t the only person with this opinion. After seeing what others ordered, next time the plantain pancakes will be my choice! They were huge! The Rancheros is another brunch item in my future.
I also ordered a sticky bun. We did have a large group, but this is one thing that was forgotten. I had to remind the server towards the end of my meal. No big deal because I wanted to take it with me to go. The sticky bun was huge! There’s no way I could’ve finished that after my Chilaquiles. The sticky bun was a nice snack that evening. It was actually so large that I snacked on it for two or three days.
Overall, Con Huevos is the above and beyond winner in the city when it comes to Chilaquiles (for me). I’ll easily go back to El Camino but only with a group. It’s never a place I’d go solo for a quick bite and a few drinks.

Love El Camino for late night cocktails on the patio! The fire pits are beautiful and the cocktails are extremely consistent but could do with a bit less ice and more beverage for the prices.
Brunch is amazing and the plantain pancakes are my absolute favorite. They are not overly sweet like most pancakes so you can really enjoy the brown sugar syrup, honey butter, crema that is served on the side.

If I could give zero stars, I would.
I have frequented El Camino in the past, while visiting my friend who lives in town. It used to be one of my favorite spots to get food. Until tonight.
Now, I have had my fair share of micro-​aggressions, but today, I was kicked out of this establishment for simply being Black. I am soooooo mad right now that I am shaking. Forgive any mis-​typings. I promise … this is the absolute truth. TLDR: Don’t go to El Camino in Louisville if you don’t want to fall victim to eating tacos while Black.
11:48 PM Sunday, May 8^th — My friend and I just got kicked out of a restaurant for not smoking.
Context: my friend and I are sitting at our table, talking about life, eating tacos and then a waitress (not Our Server) interrupts us.
Waitress: do you need an ash tray?
Us: uhh… No, for what?
Waitress: I saw smoke coming from this direction
Me: We are not smoking. Actually, I am offended that you came over and assumed that we are smoking, out of the other 100 people in here
Her: OK
*we continue our conversation, deciding to ignore that weirdness, then 2 minutes later. The Waitress goes over to the Manager and begins crying.
3 minutes later …
Manager: We are going to have to ask you all to leave. You were offensive to our waitress and she just asked you all to use an ashtray.
Me: We are not smoking.
Manager: You all could be smoking things that are not cigarettes. It could be weed.
* at this point, she thinks weed is apparently a magical substance that disintegrates into thin air and erases all traces of itself and its origin.
Us: *absolutely astounded* We are not smoking!
Me: So you’re kicking us out because we’re not smoking? *begins to tape the conversation*
Manager: You are allowed to smoke, you just need an ash tray
Us: just give us our check so we can go
walks away and then our server comes over
At the end of the day, our server was so apologetic and felt so bad about the way the manager had treated us that she offered to pay the bill for us. We declined, because the next thing you know, the story was going to be that we left and skipped the check. I’ll spare you more details, but the check didn’t come to our table and our server left for the night.
Finally, we went to the bar to request the check. The bartender could see that I was obviously upset and asked if he could do anything to remedy it. I said no, and began describing the situation that had just taken place. The Waitress who accused us of smoking came over and started talking to the bartender as well, interrupting our conversation. I told her that we weren’t talking to her. The bartender said that I couldn’t talk to her like that and then decided that we had been smoking the magical disappearing cigarette weed that leaves no traces. They refused to give us our check. After about 5 minutes, another server came out and gave us our check (that had been balled up). She apologized and said that it was on her. Again, we refused to accept the handout because … black. We were sure that the story would be that we skipped out on the check.
Anybody that knows me knows that I hate smoke, I hate smoking, and I am afraid of fire. The fact that they kept insisting that we were smoking and telling us that it was ok if we were smoking weed was absolutely infuriating. This chick asked us to leave because we asked her why she was not questioning anyone else about smoking, when there are clearly people at the bar smoking,

Second time here, food a little higher price, but your money is well spent. Server Ferguson was great. Very prompt and made good suggestions based on our taste. We also told him we were in a bit of a hurry and he thanked us for telling him, and got our food out very fast. I would give him 5 stars. Overall this restaurant is great for a nicer meal with friends!

Had the BLACK FOREST HAM dish, which was like a stew of the ham, Charro beans, roasted poblano, fried egg and salsa verde. Delicious, but even more so with the addition of their red and green sauces.
Also their coffee is bomb, and I would go there just to sit on the patio and drink that.

I recently went to El Camino on a late Sunday morning to try out their brunch options. This was with a group that tries out various brunch spots around the city and since I’d heard good things about El Camino I was eager to try their offerings. Sadly, I left more than a little disappointed.
El Camino has a fantastic outdoor seating area. Unfortunately, probably because of our large group and the popularity of the eating outside on a beautiful day, we were seated inside the restaurant. I will say that the inside has a very lively and interesting décor.
As it was a fairly large group, with the exception of an initial group of eight, our fellow brunchers arrived in ones and twos, as is usually the case with larger groups. Our waitress did a good job with seating the initial group and getting our drink orders. However, as other patrons trickled into the tables around us, she was absent for long periods of time and, as a consequence, drinks were left empty and orders were went unfilled.
The El Camino brunch menu is relatively small, but everything described sounded delicious. Disappointingly, in my opinion, the reality was lackluster. I ordered the Chilaquiles, which were described as: Guajillo, scrambled eggs, pork chorizo, crema. The first time it came out, it was cold, I sent these back and it was quickly replaced with a warmer version, but it tasted like Fritos. I also tried the plantain pancakes which my wife ordered and I thought these were good, but the piloncillo syrup is so overwhelmingly sweet that it overpowered any flavor the pancake might have had. The syrup is fortunately served on the side, but it would have been nice of have the option of a more balanced syrup. Some of the items served to other patrons, such as the semita sandwich did look very good, but then again so did the Chilaquiles.
Overall, I enjoyed myself at El Camino because the company was so good. The decoration and ambiance is great, especially in the outdoor patio area and I’ve been there for drinks and not been disappointed. However, after my brunch experience I doubt that I will return for any meal. The prices are too high for what I experienced and with so many great restaurants in Louisville there is no reason to settle for a mediocre meal.

I’ve had dinner and drinks at El Camino before, but hadn’t tried their brunch before the UYE Breakfast Club last weekend. I would give another half star if I could as I think the size of our party played a big part in the overall experience (we had about 10 or 12 in our group). I’m going to return for brunch with just my family to compare.
Our server was welcoming as we were seated in a back section of the restaurant. We had plenty of space and got to enjoy the beautiful décor. She was also kind enough to do separate checks for everyone. Many of us had ingredient questions about items on the short, brunch menu which threw her a bit. I wondered if she may be new or this wasn’t her regular shift.
As a vegetarian, I was torn between the plantain pancakes and creating a meal from various sides since most of the entrees contain meat. I went with a variety of small dishes. I ordered the sticky bun ($ 3), crispy potato ($ 4), and two, sunny side up eggs ($ 2).
My sticky bun came out first, and it was HUGE! A warm mass of sweet dough covered in a brown sugar and maple glaze with pecans, delicious. It was so big that I boxed up half and took it home.
My bowl of crispy potatoes with roasted garlic, cotija cheese, and herbs came next. They had a great flavor and texture, but would’ve been much better if hotter. They were closer to room temperature when they came to the table. The eggs came out over well, so I asked for them to be remade. The new eggs over the potatoes made for a fantastic, (vegetarian) breakfast dish that I would order again. I tried a bite of the pancakes and they were also very good. I’m hopeful for my next brunch visit!

Did you know that El Camino serves brunch all day on Sundays?
I stopped in for brunch with the UYE Breakfast Club. Our group was fairly large, about 12, and they had a table set up for us in the back of the restaurant.
The brunch menu has a lot of great options. I ultimately ordered the Chorizo Biscuits and Gravy and a Sticky Bun. The sticky bun was enormous. It really could have been an entrée on its own. The biscuits and gravy were sweet, salty, and spicy. I highly recommend them.
I did notice that the restaurant seemed a little underprepared to have a large group, which was surprising since we had put in our reservation nearly a month in advance. Our waitress was working several other tables of 4 – 6 people. She was clearly struggling to keep up with drink refills, checks, etc. The kitchen also seemed a little backed up. One person in our group had to send their food back because it was cold, two sent back eggs for being cooked incorrectly, and all of the meals trickled out instead of arriving together.
Despite the issues handling the large group I’m still giving them four stars because my meal was just so tasty and I would definitely eat it again.

I enjoyed El Camino. There was a wait for outdoor seating today, but the outdoor patio is very nice.
The bartender, Matt, was excellent. Very friendly, knowledgeable, and willing to share information. He was busy, but when he was with us, it felt as if he had all the time in the world. That kind of service is an art, and Matt has it down!
The cocktail menu is interesting, and there are some innovative drinks. El Camino crafts all of its own mixers, which is a big plus for me. This craftsmanship comes at a premium, though. Drink prices were $ 9 and up. I opted for a Mexican Firing Squad. It was very tasty, with lime, house made grenadine and bitters. Very refreshing on this sunny day. My dining companion got a Jungle Bird, which contained pineapple juice and Campari. It was also very nice on this beautiful day. A little sweet, but not too much, with a nicely bitter overtone. It came with a fruit sprig and an umbrella, which brought a smile to my face.
Both of us opted for tacos. Between the two of us, we got Panza (pork belly), Pastor (marinated pork), and Baja (fish). The tacos arrived quickly, and were very pretty.
The tacos were good, but not great. I am a Mexican food junkie, and there are places in Louisville with less atmosphere but where the food is much more flavorful. Tacos at these places are about half the price of El Camino’s $ 3.50 to $ 4.00 range. My favorite taco, and the most unusual, was the Panza, full of crispy, porky, rich goodness.
El Camino offers two house make salsas, but like the tacos, the flavor was a little toned down. Neither had any discernible heat.
In conclusion, El Camino’s atmosphere was good, and the service was very good, but for a true representation of the delightful sophistication of real Mexican food, I would go somewhere else.

One of the greatest «just stopping in» moments ever! Waiting forever for a cut at Derby Chop Shop, we meandered into this lovely establishment. After 5 minutes I was head over heals! Why you ask?!
1. Surf movies showing on the TV… and not just ANY surf movie. Riding Giants! Starting at 5 stars!
2. Friendly bartenders that make me just what I wanted even thought it wasn’t listed on the menu. Still 5 stars!
3. Ordered the chips/​guac/​salsa. For Indiana, the guac was SPOT ON and a HUGE portion! Keeping 5 stars.
4. Not just any salsa was delivered… it was more like a salsa flight. 4 different salsas to choose from. And I tell you what, growing up in Southern CA and living in Tucson, AZ for 20 years can turn you into somewhat of a salsa snob. All 4 of those salsas were absolutely incredible! Great individual salsas, uniquely flavored and what I would consider authentic salsa.
For these reasons, El Camino stays at 5 stars! Great atmosphere, great food… need I say more. I’ll drive my 90 minutes to come see you again for the salsa alone!

This place is great! Had family in town and we all were impressed with the food.
Funky indoor atmosphere and has a fun atmosphere.

My perfect night is to go to El Camino and split a kitchen sink burrito with a friend, have a Mexican Firing Squad (the cocktail, not the sex act), enjoy their ice cream dessert, and then go to Carmichaels to give them the money I didn’t give the server.
I’ve also tried all their non-​fish tacos and I have never, ever had something I didn’t like at El Camino.
I always have the guacamole. My friends are divided into two groups: those who eat guacamole and people who are dead to me. Their guacamole is served with chips that are freshly made; this is important to me because the friend I am most likely to be seen with there is also 1% and we insist on the very best. We are fancy. You can also have a flight of salsas and pickled vegetables with this and I enjoy that tremendously with my guacamole.
So, this burrito is like a milkshake: it brings me to the yard. It has kale, it has Barbacoa and chorizo, and many other delightful ingredients. One person complained that it didn’t come with sides (also dead to me now) but this burrito is so amazing that finishing it yourself is a task in itself and it is so flavorful that you would ignore the side dishes anyway. This isn’t a ubiquitous Tex-​Mex chain around the Louisville area: this is a 1% worthy restaurant.
Twice when I’ve been there they had a Godzilla movie on and I feel like they were pandering to my religious beliefs. I appreciate that. It is customer service at its best.
Then, when the guacamole is gone and the burrito has been vanquished we pretend like getting the ice cream is a discussion. It has a snicker doodle and caramelized bananas with it, there is nothing bad about this and in fact it is actually a SALAD because it has more than two ingredients. It is HEALTH FOOD and you should chase the burrito down with the ice cream.
They also give you a snazzy post card with your check — which I’m not 100% you’re supposed to take but I do every single time.

El Camino is great! Brunch, lunch, dinner, drinks— all good. For brunch I’d recommend their take on biscuits and gravy — it’s absolutely delicious! I personally wasn’t a huge fan of the plantain pancakes, but know others who love it. The potatoes and tamal hash are tasty as well!
Obviously the main attraction here are the am tacos, which are great and for a great price! There chips are also great, and I recommend ordering them! They also come with a tray of salsas that are unique and tasty!
I’ve also gone to the Sunday pig roast, and my advice: GET THERE EARLY. The line for the free pig roast was insane; it wrapped around most of to patio. By the time my friends and I got to the front, there was little meat left and I made a wimpy taco. However, the vibe in the patio was great. We stayed for a couple of hours. I ended up ordering two tacos, and they were delicious as usual!
The drinks are great too! It’s such a great place to just hang out with friends – love el Camino and I’d recommend it to all!

I’m a huge fan of El Camino!
They have so much going on here. They have a movie night every Sunday (advertised on their Facebook page), they usually have some kind of surfer/​beach/​Kaiju movie playing on all the tvs while you’re eating. They have a wonderful list of signature cocktails. And delicious food!
I always enjoy myself here. The outdoor seating is wonderful during the warmer months. A usually sit at the outdoor bar and watch whatever movie they are playing on the tv. I try to order a different signature drink every time, and still haven’t tried every one.
A few small notes that stopped me from giving El Camino a 5:
–In my personal experience, service is spotty. There have never been any glaring issues, but from time to time, I’ve been disappointed. I haven’t stopped going, it’s just worth noting.
–Price; Expect to drop a little more here than you anticipate you will. Frankly, this is mostly with the cocktails more than the food.
Overall, I love this place and pop in here at least once a month. I wish I could visit more often. Definitely try the barbacoa tacos and don’t sleep on the chips/​dips! They’re wonderful!

I absolutely loved this place! Awesome drinks, food and service. That’s a five star in my book. We started with a cocktail and the guacamole appetizer. I had a passion fruit mojito and she had a margarita on the rocks. Both perfect. The guacamole came with homemade tortilla chips, spicy pickled veggies, salsa verde, a thin tomato based sauce/​salsa, and a chunky salsa. After the appetizer we were both kinda full so we ordered one taco a piece and another round of drinks. I had a Bohemia and the Baja taco (fried catfish). She had another margarita and the Barbacoa taco (shredded beef). Wow! Just amazing. The flavor combinations were so yummy. The piece of fish on my taco was so big I had to eat the entire thing with a knife and fork. I loved it!
Our waiter was very attentive, the drinks and food were fresh, there was funky colorful décor everywhere, and fun music played throughout the restaurant. This is definitely my kinda place!!!

Service was slowewwww.
The B&G were amazing.
The Bloody Mary was gross… couldn’t even drink it.
Chilaquiles were huge and yummy. Semita was also really great.
Flair is fantastic in this place.