Latest visit: Nov 2024
First visit: Apr 2019
And speaking of RJG Rotation restaurants, here's one of our last revisits for 2024. Same excellent ambiance as before as we were seated in the bar area. I went for the frozen marg and Mrs. RJG had one on the rocks. She complained to me that it wasn't that strong, and mine certainly wasn't. Doesn't make sense to skimp on the tequila, that's how you get regulars in the door! Chips were somewhat typical. They gave us two salsas, one a tomato mild and the other pretty much the same with additional chiles. Nothing too spicy unfortunately though plenty of garlic. I was in the mood for enchiladas, so I ordered the lunch special of two chicken enchiladas with rice and beans, smothered in their hot green chile. Chicken was of the dark meat variety. One major plus, like prior visits, is the dish came our smoking hot! But otherwise nothing too distinctive including a rather mild green sauce. Mrs. RJG went with the two ground beef taco plate, like below. She said it was good, but nothing great. And she needed to add Tapatio sauce for any kind of heat (she didn't like the table salsas at all). The $14 lunch combos are way too pricey for what you get.
So, as you can tell, El Padrino has fallen out of favor with the RJG and out of the rotation it goes. It's a good place, but nothing more I'm afraid. It has slipped in quality.
---4/24/23 update
I'm pretty sure I mentioned this somewhere in this blog, but there's something special about going for a Saturday Mexican lunch on a cold dreary day in Colorado. And that was, in fact, this day. Nothing has changed from our prior visits in terms of quality. Alterations this time is that I went for a draft beer (Red Leg Helo) instead of a frozen marg, and Mrs. RJG went back to boring water (I'm making progress though on corrupting her again...). They did bring out both a mild and a spicy salsa. The mild is more like a medium and the hot is more like a medium. Huh? We agree the "hot" is spicier but not by much. Both were delicious though. Perhaps this is what we received last time without realizing the difference. And we had remembered that the tacos were our favorite, so we stuck with Taco Plates this time. They serve these on a custom tin, made just for tacos (2 per order). On the plate itself were steaming piles of beans and rice. Hot temperature - yaay! Everything came out excellent to our taste and we enjoyed our return visit. Will we be back before next year? It deserves more visits, but we'll see where the priorities land.
---11/12/22 update
OK, back on home turf here. It's lunch time and I still have a hankering for our old habit of a Saturday Mexican lunch. I suggested El Padrino, and Mrs. RJG surprised me with a yes answer (see original review below). On this visit, like the others, we sat in the bar area. Rather than beer, I wanted my biannual frozen margarita and wifey had one on the rocks. Very good - tequila was present and accounted for. Chips and salsa were just as good as the last trip, though I forgot to order a spicy salsa, but the regular one has a nice kick and is very flavorful. This time I ordered the combo #1, and she had #8. The only difference is her enchilada was shredded beef and mine was ground. Both come with a ground beef taco. We each ordered the enchilada to be smothered in the spicy green. I think a wire got crossed because it wasn't very spicy on this visit. Or maybe it just wasn't hot this go round. The big hit was the taco. Mrs. RJG loved the homemade crispy fried shell, as did I. Ground beef was seasoned lightly but the salsa made up for it. No matter, the shell won her over. Rice and beans came out very hot, something we're not seeing much anymore. Yet another plus. So hooray, I think we finally won over Mrs. RJG at El Padrino. Next time we might just get tacos. See you next year if not before.
---original 4/24/21 review
This was only our second visit to El Padrino, a place that should be our "local" Mexican restaurant. Trouble is - for reasons I cannot ascertain - Mrs. RJG doesn't like it. But I most certainly do. Walking in, you can sit in the cozy bar, or wait to be seated at a regular table. We've only done the former - a nice dark space with a large modern bar nearby. Once settled into the little booth, I was pleasantly surprised to see they have local brewery Goat Patch on tap. Not going to miss out on that! Those beers are registered in the Bier Reise (see tab above).
The chips arrived with the server, no need to ask. Nice and crispy, with two salsas - one a medium, the other a hot. Both excellent and entirely unique. Not a common recipe, which is a plus. I do believe they have cumin in them for certain, and the hot likely has chile de arbol or something hotter than jalapenos.
Good time to point out that El Padrino is everything Senor Manuel is not - that is to say, it's modernized, clean, and very comfortable for the whole family. Well, Senor Manuel is certainly comfortable, but not everyone goes for those older, dingier places. Like we do lol.
For the primary meal, I'm burying my ground beef burrito in their spicy green chile (you have the option of mild). Again, I'm lapping it up with glee - and a little sweat. Excellent rice and beans. Maybe not the best rice and beans ever, but certainly very good. Mrs. RJG seemed to be enjoying her meal as well (similar, but enchiladas with chicken). But as she'll often do - she'll tell me it's great while there, and later say "I didn't like it". Why? "I dunno". OK. That's how you stay married for almost 25 years. You say OK.
Problem with the above scenario is I wouldn't go to a place like El Padrino by myself, so it can be awhile before we give it another shot. But Mr. RJG gives El Padrino a thumbs up.
4/18/19; 4/24/21 (new entry); 11/12/22; 4/24/23; 11/30/24
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