El Vaquero

very authentic Mexican food. Best I’ve found in the area, including SE MI in the past 7 years. I live in MI, but will definitely make the drive.

The food was mediocre at best. The service could have been better. The margs were frickin’ stupid. Not sure where to go with this. Too Fricked up to care. So if the food and service is second to the alcohol, then this is the place to go. Thank you spell check.

Some quotes from our meal:
«Oh my gosh this is the best tamale I’ve ever had.»
«This is the best enchilada sauce I’ve ever had.»
«Is this real life? This guacamole is incredible.»

Service sucks. Food sucks. I have shit 5 times in the last hour. Food poisoning, I think so.

Decent food standard Americanized Mexican food. Service was outstanding. Ambience is very nice outside dining with a view of the Maumee River.

The food was excellent and the environment is really relaxed. I didn’t try the drinks but people said they were really good. I will defiantly visit again of I return to Toledo. I had the carne Asada, which was pretty good. The steak was kind of dried out but it was still tasty. The salsa was flavorful and the chips were fresh.

My boyfriend and I stopped at El Vaquero on the 4^th of July before the firework show. It was our second time here together. The outside patio by the boardwalk is nice with a great view on the water. Unfortunately it was packed due to thousands of people being downtown for the fireworks, but we were seated inside at the bar right away. I forgot our waiters name, but he was at the bar around 830pm & was great server/​very attentive. We split the nacho supreme which was huge! And delicious. Their chips were warm and salsa was very good also. The only complaint we both had was the margarita. We both ordered our usual half and halfs with a sugar rim. Our server told us it would be $ 2 more if we got the jumbo margaritas, so we of course said yes. We are drinkers and go out for Mexican/​margaritas every Friday (Loma Linda’s or Venturas) with the fam, but these were SO strong and the mix was not good… we each took 5 sips and couldn’t tolerate anymore. It was a complete waste of $ 20. I’m rating this a 4 for the food, service and location (especially during the summer on the back patio off the river) but knocking one off for the expensive, not so good margaritas!

What is not to like about this place. Its in a prime location by the river and you can only imagine how beautiful it is in the summer. The vegetarian quesadillas, shrimp tacos and margaritas were well worth it. Will definitely dine in again.

Visited on two occasions in this month. We had joined a group of our friends on the patio after they had finished their meals for a few drinks. I ordered a pomegranate margarita, the server brought me a strawberry one instead. While enjoying the company of our friends, a table next to us could be heard saying homophobic remarks towards our table. We ignored what we overheard. I went to use the restroom and I passed those people as they were leaving, they were complaining to the manager about us using being «gay and ruined their meal» as she has stated. Soon after I sat back down, the manager came to our table and informed us there had been complaints of us being inappropriate. I didn’t know being gay was inappropiate at a restaurant that allows other customers to use vulger language. I then ordered an Absolute vodka with Diet Coke and two limes, but I actually received a small margarita glass with well vodka on ice and a side of soda water. After waiting 10 minutes to get that drink, I just decided to drink it, but asked for some limes while someone else ordered something. He returned with their drink but did not bring my limes, and I asked again. To my surprise I still did not get my limes so I went to the bar to ask for limes since I asked three times.
My other experience was just for dinner. I ordered the combination plate (chicken tostada, Mexican rice, refried beans). The tostada was very disappointing, I have had tostadas at 4 other Mexican restaurants in Toledo which were not. It consisted of a fried tortilla, shredded chicken, a large handful of lettuice, diced tomatoes, and a sprinkle of cheese. The flavor was overpowered by the lettuce and ended up being more of a bland salad. The rice was average, and the beans were very bland, I had to add more salt that I had wanted.
Overall, this place is not my top choice for someone to feel accepted or treated fairly. That is being said because a table said insulting things, and then expressed her homophobia to the manager, which then made up an excuse to give us a ‘warning’. The service was below par, because I received the wrong drink twice. The food is average, a little bland compared to the other places in town.

Seated right away, not too busy. Have had better margaritas. Very large menu, lots of choices. Food came quickly, would have had more time to enjoy appetizers before they brought the meals. Food could have been hotter. The steak on the fajitas was tough. Never asked us if we needed drink refills or if we wanted dessert. Took forever to get our checks to pay and leave

Very attentive wait staff! Surprisingly good chicken wings (seasonal menu) with great flavor and heat! Margaritas were decent, too. I would visit again!

Beautiful view. Very nice hostess sat us at table we requested. Spicy salsa was excellent! Food was good and reasonably priced surprisingly especially because of its location by the river and nice décor. Superb service and margaritas were made exactly the way we ordered them.

Ugggg! You would think that a downtown waterfront restraunt with only 1 other table of customers at 7 pm on a Sunday would be on top if things.
Nope.
We waited about 20 min to get our drinks, an hour for our food and absolutely no refills, or checking in to see how we were. Not to mention they can’t make a mixed drink to save their lives and all of our food was dried up, over salted, and just plain bad. We refused to pay for the food we didn’t (couldn’t) eat and got attitude from the manager. Also our server was a buffoon who nearly spilled a plate of dried up shriveled chicken nachos on two people’s heads. We ended up going to San Marcos which was light years better in every way.

I consider this to be Toledo’s best kept secret. The Chile Relleno is a fantastic way to start a meal. Filled with cheese and potato (a pleasant surprise), it is a gateway to for fantastic food. Any dish with shellfish is a winner… shrimp & scallops are cooked perfectly each time. Something as simple as a quesadilla is a standout on their menu. I recommend the mushroom! The drinks are killer! End your meal with flan… you won’t be sorry.

I fell in love with the food at El Vaquero in Perrysburg, OH because I think it’s very close to authentic. Was very happy that a location on the Docks opened because it was closer to home an on the river. Time after time we have gone there and had terrible service. While the food is good, the service is bad and the place is dirty. We had a party of 7 tonight, and we waited for well over an hour while smaller parties were seated all before us. They finally started clearing a large table, and we were excited that we might be finally seated after an hour, but were told that it was for a reservation that was coming in 50 minutes. After complaining to management and given the cold shoulder, we gave up and left to eat next door. Not going back… not worth the hassle.

Three stars is generous, given our last visit, but overall I don’t understand the disconnect between the Secor location and this one. One would think this beautiful restaurant on the river would be the flagship of the El Vaquero family, but we have found it to be almost comically bad at times. Maybe we will give them another shot in a few months.
If you want to give El Vaquero a fair shake, try the Secor location (where Denny’s used to be).

El Vaquero was literally moe like El Don’t Care-​o. This is the furthest from authentic I’ve ever attempted to eat. And I say attempted because I literally couldn’t eat something as simple as vegetarian enchiladas.
I lived in Mexico and this was shameful.

The minuet I sat down and took in the view I wanted this place to be 5 star. When the waitress left the chips and salsa, took my drink order and the little sparrows began to beg for chips I thought this could be really cool. it was a beautiful day, the view was awesome and the birds added a cute touch. All was well with the world until the food arrived. I ordered the steak fajitas got a cold Modelo Negro draught and sat back to relax. I was one of three tables, the one next to me had pulled up on an impressive speed boat, but my lunch took 20 minuets to arrive. Not really a big deal as I was enjoying the afternoon but the fajitas arrived luke warm and not very flavorful. What a waste of fantastic potential this place is. refuse to recommend this place or return.

i love this place. only one other mexican restaurant in toledo is close to authentic
they seem understaffed and maybe one rude manager is in the back cracking the whip because theyre moving around so fast they forget something you asked for like salsa etc.
other than that, the food is great, drinks are great. but wow are some people LOUD when they get drunk…
and no it wasnt the stereotypical people you’d think it was either.

Again, I put one star only because I have to to so I can post my review. As usaul whenever I go to a Mexican restaurant for the first time I ordered the enchiladas. I sent them back as they were terrible. Will not go there again.