El Hidalgo

I would not go here. The owner does not care about you at all, HE IS RUDE. The food is so so. The guacamole is not fresh at all. The staff is really good.

Never eating here again. Got sick off the food in the parking lot. I should have known that ordering something called «road kill.» Never again will I eat here.

This is one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in the area! They make everything fresh to order. The chips and salsa are the best. They have a good selection on their menu. The service is good and you always feel welcome when you enter whether for take out or sit-​down.

Stopped in for a beer, chips, salsa, pork tamales, and a cup of soup. Service was poor, barkeep spent more time on her phone than with customers. Salsa was not good, had a strange taste. No pork for tamales. Don’t plan to go back. I used to like this place, but not any more.

Good service
Decent experience

This establishment is exactly what you want, and a 5 for what it is: a humble Mexican spot serving far above average food.
The chips & salsa is top class. The beer selection was even a touch unique. I wasn’t going to order food even, but by that time I had to try it. Definitely satisfied with the taste and there’s quite an array of tasty taco options, so I ordered 3 different tacos. All far exceeded my expectations. Try this place out! Looks on the outside can be deceiving.

I have not said «ewww» on any other post. Want strong margaritas? This is your place! Food? Not a good choice! Burnt meat and just overall not good! I guess if you’re wanting to get drunk then eat this may be your place??? Not even a full star is my choice!

Veggie Quesadilla … really??? YES! Their house margarita is very good, and $ 1 off for Happy Hour. Bartender recommended changing quesadilla from cheese to veggie — excellent choice. Best quesadilla I’ve ever had. Glad she reccommended them. Nice balance or red bell peppers, jalapeños, and believe it or not … broccoli and carrots sliced in small portions. Perhaps not the healthiest — perhaps sautéed in butter, but very tasty. Complimentary chips amd crazy fresh salsa were also spot on. Highly recommend.

I love a random location. This place is in some random strip mall in Elkridge next to a nail salon.
Inside its nothing special to look at. Wooden booths and basic chairs. Standard Sombrero on the wall because, well i don’t know its just what mexican restaurants have.
The lack of 4^th star has everything to do with the service and surroundings and nothing to do with the food. There was no one in the restaurant when we got there so seating wasnt an issue but our waiter was slow to come and get our drink orders. And when i went to the bathroom the hall to the bathrooms was dark and there was a group of about 5 flies hovering which was a turnoff.
We ordered a pitcher of sangria and i need to say that was some. of the best sangria i have had in a long time there was a cinnamon taste that was really nice after note.
The food was good too. I had the burrito preñada wjich came out looking like a swaddled baby it was so big. I got trought about a third of it and gave up. The chicken was seasoned well the chorizo wasnt soggy from being rolled up with the beans and all that sauce its safe to say ill be eating that for dinner tonight and mayne breakfast tomorrow.
Our waiter while very sweet was very clueless about actually waiting. It took too long to be greeted. Too long to get our drinks. and no refill on the sangria btw even though we all wanted another pitcher he didnt come back to the table until we were finished our food. Then he brought to go boxes and disappeared for another 10 minutes, well not disappear because we could see him chatting with the bartender. When he finally came back with the check he went to finish his convo for another 10 minutes before coming back to pick up our cards *sigh*
Food good service not so good

Back again after a long time away, still not dissatisfied.
The owners and staff make this place not just the food.
Sad to see them not busy, you’re missing out if you haven’t been!!!

Wife was craving Empanadas so we thought to try a new restaurant and decided on El Hidalgo due to the decent Unilocal ratings.
Had the following
Beef Empanadas– They were disgustingly Salty and after 2 bites we thew them away.
Chicken and chicken chimichangas. The shredded beef in the Chimichanga was actually good and not salty at all like the Beef Empanadas. The outsides of the Chimichangas were very soggy from the pico de gallo topping negating what would have been a very nice crunch outside.
Sides form the Chimichanga entries–
Refried beans, Also extremely salty so we did not finish those.
Rice… It was cold, clumped up and found a white curly hair in it so that was also tossed.
lastly Yuca Frita
This was by far the best thing we orders, For the price though it was a small portion of casava. 3 pieces. at 3.99 it would be a fair price.
Also the menu prices on the website are out of date and are slightly cheaper than the actual prices currently at the restaurant.
The atmosphere is more of a Bar that serves some food rather than a Restaurant that has a bar in it.
Had high hopes for this place but was sadly let down and with all the other competitive dining options in the area with better food and better prices, I do not see us ever coming back.

I am a happy camper tonight, thanks to the to go foods from Hidalgo. The aroma in the dining hall makes me want to order everything. The portion is good size and not obese size.
Lengua en salsa crotilla is melt in your mouth and not too tomatoey. Aka Beef tongue. Comparing to xitomate, the décor here is more basic but homey. There is an outdoor patio for sun lovers. Not me.
The Mexican music is blaring in the background. They should have had salsa dance night. I didn’t try the magarita or any other drinks. I will be back next week.
Finally I came back to El Hidalgo again. This time I tried the margarita on the rock. It is pretty strong. My alcoholic tolerance level is around four glasses of red wine and two shots. By the time we finished our dinner and got up to leave the restaurant, I needed my husband’s arm to hold on. Best margarita!
I also got bitten by Snake Bites. It should be served with water. We were in excruciating and burning pain. I could only take half of the habernaros chile. The Argentinian steak is ok but the chimchurri sauce is different than what I used to, with olive oil, vinegar and herbs. It is more like salsa verde here.
I finished my dinner with Tres leche cake is delicious. I am not sure if it was supposed to have sweetened evaporated milk pouring in top or not. The icing on the cake is almost like less dense crème brûlée. The waitress is very nice. Bravo!

Great hidden gem! A small but delicious restaurant tucked into a strip mall in Elkridge. This was our first visit and it was packed! We had a reservation and were seated immediately. The jalapeño poppers were great as were our meals.
The one complaint I would have is that the restaurant was very warm. It was cooler outside than in the restaurant.
Deserts were delicious too. The tres leches cake and churros were great!

We’ve gone back to El Hidalgo many times since our first trip. We love the proximity to our house and the friendly nature of the staff. It’s very neighborly.
My husband loves their Cadilac Margarita. I’ve yet to try it (pregnancy) but believe me once I can, I will! It’s a bit pricey, but if hubby likes it then it is probably pretty good. The burritos are huge and flavorful. Try the roadkill burrito if queso is your thing. That grilled chicken… yum!

Came here for lunch and ordered the al pastor taqueria. The pork was eh quality and the salsa that it comes with was bland. I actually enjoyed the rice and refried beans better than the main part of the meal.
The complimentary chips and salsa were average.
The main positives were that the bartender was nice, the music was pleasant, and they have an extensive bar so I was able to try Don Q for the first time since I was in Puerto Rico.
Since I live close by, I’ll give the food another chance and come back for dinner and try something a little more adventurous.

Oh good grief — this place seemed like it had great deals and I even bought the $ 10 for $ 20 worth of food deal just to try to food and because it was close to where I was and this may be one of the few Mexican restaurants in the world that charges you $ 2 for extra chips and salsa — $ 2!!! Can you believe that? I mean I have eaten at a lot of places and that seems like a lot and the amount of chips they give you for starters is ridiculously small and the print to find out that you get charged extra is super small and on the last page of their ridiculously long menu. I was not amused when I found that out.
Not only that but when you check in they give you a free House margarita — but don’t redeem this if you are using any other deals — because they will not give you both at one sitting but the truth is I would never go back their again.
We visited on a Saturday night and they have signs everywhere that there is Karaōke from 8pm — close on Saturdays but there was no Karaōke and there were so few patrons it was sad. Not only that but the booths are oddly shaped and difficult to get into.
The service was meh at best, we didn’t have silverware on our table when we arrived nor did we get silverware when our appetizers came out and when I asked for extra napkins, I was given beverage napkins. The entire experience was seriously one star worthy and that is only because the nachos come out loaded (but need more chips — which cost $ 2 a basket!!!)
Needless to say that is the only time I will be visiting this restaurant.

I really wanted to like this place when we drove up, but it is just too small for what they actually need. When we arrived we were hustled over to a three point table booth that supposedly could hold six people. Unfortunately, when two of those people are overweight, that really isn’t the case. The waitress really should have sat us somewhere else, possibly putting together one or more tables together to accommodate the party of six better. The space issue was so bad it was most likely responsible for my father-​in-​law spilling a 12 oz. beer all over the table and most of us as well because there really isn’t much room to move around. Add that the table we were at was also extremely wobbly and off balanced and you had a real issue with stability.
Now the food itself wasn’t bad. I had the Burrito Prenada, and if you’ve never been, you wouldn’t know that it is large enough for 2 people to eat. They also have the ‘Ultimate Burrito Prenada’ which cost $ 39, but is large enough for 4 people. If you decide to take the ‘ULTIMATE BURRITO CHALLENGE’ and can consume the entire ultimate version of the Burrito Prenada by yourself, it is free. Pretty sure the ambulance ride as the result of having your stomach burst would be quite costly, though. Eating it by yourself is unrealistic, even for someone as large as I am, so that is why they feel confident that no one can actually do it.
I also had the House Margarita, which really wasn’t all that much to ‘write home about’ as my mother-​in-​law would say. Too much cheap tequila, not enough actual flavor to really say they have the best, especially when El Patio in Rockville had much better ‘adult beverages’.
The place also seems to attract douche bags that like to loiter just inside the door with their ‘brewskis’. We actually had to wait to be sat down because the drunk idiots wouldn’t get out of the waitress’s way.
Quick and Dirty: Good enough food, mediocre margaritas, attracts douche college drunks, and not enough space for even medium sized parties.

So I had eaten somewhere else and was returning to my hotel. I just wasn’t ready yet to face an empty hotel room and these folks were just steps from my hotel.
The rumor was that the margaritas here were killer good so I thought I’d stop in for an adult libation or two. Everyone knows that a margarita with a lime = 1 serving of fruit so at least I would be doing something healthy. I sat at the small bar and was warmly welcomed by the pleasant bartender. The owner also stopped by to say hi.
As I suspected, like most Mexican joints they have a Margarita Menu with several varieties. Yup, I was right. The bartender confirmed that each type = 1 serving of fruit. It’s no wonder margaritas are so popular!
I tried two different varieties and they were everything margaritas should be: delicious, potent, competitively priced and of course healthy. While I was sipping, lots of great looking food passed by me on its way to other customers. Although I didn’t eat myself there were clearly several happy customers munching away.
My experience at the bar was four stars. I plan to return to try the food and more healthy margaritas! :-)

If you blink you’ll miss it… El Hildago is at the very end of a little strip of restaurants behind a Giant and beside a gas station. But it’s well worth taking the time to find.
Authentic Mexican/​South American food with a little Tex-​Mex thrown in and a full bar to top it all off. The owner who routinely waits tables himself is very friendly and so are the rest of his wait and bar staff. The food is well prepared with ample portions to send you home stuffed.
They have separate tables and a long wooden bar area, along with outdoor dining during the warmer months of the year.
El Hildago even has their own Food Challenge… Their Ultimate Prenada Burrito weighing in at 8 lbs! is made to serve 4 normal people. But if you dare to try, you can get it for free if you can manage to eat one all by yourself ! Good Luck !

A very good Tex-​Mex style establishment offering an eclectic mix of latin flavors. The décor is thematic and quaint. The service is expedient if not always attentive.
The Yucatan shrimp are tasty with a really nice spicy in-​house made dipping sauce. The pork tamales are also a good option. They are a nice doughy corn meal stuffed with tasty pork. I especially like the picada with grilled pork, chicken, beef, pork crackling, plantain, fried yucca, chorizo, arepa, and fried potatoes. Though it can be hit or miss. The flat iron steak used in the fajitas are ok. A bit over cooked and they need to cross cut it better. They also offer a la carte taco’s with a good assortment of ingredients. The lengua and fish are good options.
Overall a very good option for the local Columbia area with authentic latin fares.