El Compadre

Doesn't Recommend

steve s.

Joined 1 year ago

Terrible. My first time and last time there.

It was busy, we got a couple of chairs at the bar and ordered a couple of margaritas. Gave the bartender $20 ($18+$2 tip.) I ordered the Enchilada with King Crab and Bay Shrimp. First thing I noticed was it wasn't King Crab but..oh well. Then I noticed a fishy smell. My only thought was I hope I'm not puking later. The guy next to me questioned his bill telling the bartender he was overcharged. Bartender agreed and reduced his bill. This is where I should've paid attention. My "bill" comes he said it's $60. I asked where's the check? He said this was the cash price for the two dinners and four margaritas. I paid him and later realized he charged me twice on the first two margaritas.

The only good news was I didn't throw up. If you like good Mexican food, this place isn't it.

Doesn't Recommend

VeraWaitress

Joined 4 years ago

Um... no. I can't believe people give this restaurant four stars. Four stars? I mean, really? It's the standard Mexican slop. A pool of refried beans, shredded iceberg lettuce, crispy tacos with some ground beef, some tomatoes. Some fresh salsa with a decent amount of heat and fresh crisped chips. But overall, nothing original, nothing exciting. I mean, there are Mexican restaurants in Peoria, Illinois that are better. My fried rice was dried out around the edges. The ice water is from the tap and tastes chlorinated. I mean, really? You can't pop for a water filter even?

Also, El Compadre is that sort of dark red leather seats, slightly grimey, keep-the-lights-low type of restaurant. I just don't get the four star reviews on here, unless it's drinkers who love the place because it's an excuse to get sauced. Our waiter messed up one order. The guest (who has taken elocution clases and has a standard American dialect) said Chille relleno and a beef burrito, and the waiter brought a burrito with a chili relleno in the middle of it. Um, freaking whhhat? Blah.

Recommends

littletree323

Joined 2 years ago

Great neighborhood restarant. El compadre has been consistent throughout the years with exceptional margaritas, food, and service. I've seen many celebrities here and the owners don't treat them any differently than their other clients, everyone gets the same respect and treatment. David and Shane make killer flaming margaritas and Eduardo is one of the friendliest waiters there. They don't nikel and dime you which is another refreshing aspect of El Compadre, you can have all of the, highly addicting, freshly made chips and salsa you want!

Doesn't Recommend

robertrichter

Joined 8 years ago

Institutional Mexican food.. You would expect to find exceptional Mexican food in LA. You would not find it here. Sorely disappointing.

Recommends

ChristinaMatson

Joined 2 years ago

Good stuff. I came here for a friends bday and we had a big group of about 20. The margaritas are stiff and the staff is pretty friendly. I know there were several bdays there that night so the staff probably felt overwhelmed. The chips and salsa is soooo damn addicting!

Recommends

spinqq

Joined 3 years ago

Great for ExTexan TexMex Cravings. Did you move from Dallas or Austin to Los Angeles? Are you missing some of your favorite texmex flavors from Rudy's (mmmm.. Mexican Martinis...), or Papasitos, or even the fast food chain Taco Cabanna? (I stopped in El Paso for last chance tortillas for a friend in LA right before leaving years ago.)

Of the many Mexican Restaurants in LA I think El Compadre has the closest, even if unintentional, of texmex flavor that sings home to many ex-Texans' taste buds. You can taste it in the chips and in the beans. And while I was never focused on the flaming margaritas when I've gone in the past, it's certainly an experience to have. I doubt you will be disappointed with the food.

If you're craving a good texmex taste (even better than Mericks) this is the spot!

It's cramped at this location. So take out is a great option. But if you don't mind jostling for some space, take a moment to enjoy the experience.

Recommends

CSMobileUser3

Joined 5 years ago

Bomb ass restaurant. I just love this place. I go there almost every week for lunch with my friend. Their food is just wonderful and their service is awesome. We personally like MEMO the waiter, he's great:)

Recommends

CSMobileUser2

Joined 5 years ago

THE BEST. I highly recommend this restaurant. I love their food, drinks and service. This place is the bomb, and so is memo the waiter:)

Doesn't Recommend

Toby Valencia

Joined 3 years ago

Not What It Used To Be. I was a loyal customer up until about a year go when my best friend and I decided to go for dinner and drinks. Being that we both live within walking distance we had counted on having several shots of tequila to start out before eating. Our tab ended up being well over $100 which was to be expected the way we drink. We each had about 8 shots of Don Julio blanco and were nowhere near as intoxicated as we should have been. This is when we realized they were watering down the tequila. We made the decision to never go back.

Flash forward about a year...My neighbors and I decided to give it another chance last night.. I am a huge tequila drinker however my friend prefers red wine. We were told that they were out of red wine so I asked if I could go to the liquor store down the street and bring some in. I was told it was fine but that they would charge a $15 corkage fee, but then he decided to make it $10. We took it to the bar and asked them to open it and were told that they would open it right away and bring it to our table. 15 minutes later our waitress comes with the bottle and 1 wine glass and explained that they only had one clean wine glass.

In all the service was slow and simply unacceptable. We asked that they remove the corkage fee being that they were out of wine, only had one glass, and took forever.

I noticed the quality of food started to go way down when they opened the Echo Park location but was still acceptable. Since the brothers have taken over it seems like they are more concerned about making money and couldn't care less about quality or their loyal customers.

I for one will never be returning to El Compadre and will make damn sure all of my friends know how bad it's gotten. It's such a shame since I've been going there since the late 90's.

Doesn't Recommend

RRRyan2

Joined 4 years ago

El Compadre. We had reservations for New Years Eve(early too) and an obnoxious older waiter told us we needed to pay and leave after we had just ordered, and received drinks. Food is Ok and they have a lot of old school drinks like stingers. Go on a Saturday afternoon and you'll be fine. The service is slow, so order an extra Mai Tai and relax.