el cortez mexican kitchen + tequila bar

el cortez is an amazing place!!! such a great atmosphere. we went late(11:45ish), it wasn’t too busy. just right. our waitress was great. very knowledgeable about the drinks. she had some great suggestions for us.
no food on this trip thou. just some cocktails....
the coconut margarita is probably one of the best i have ever had. i recommend to any margarita lover.
also the selection of mezcal is superb. i’m a mezcal fan so it worked for me.
we will be coming back to eat all the tacos at el cortez on our next trip to yeg.

first time dining here. we chose this place because of their dog friendly patio - we had just attended the art walk and decided to go for a bite.

venue: interesting venue. interior is very nice. the back patio is eclectic with loads of space and good shade.

staff: ok, this is where they lost points. when we arrived at the front there was a family or 3 waiting ahead of us and they said they had been waiting a long while and no one came to greet them. we all continued to wait a while before anyone came. both parties requested to be seated in the back patio so the waitress said we had to go around to the back. so back out and around the building we went where we waited. and waited. and waited. and waited... the hostess never came to meet us to let us in like she said. several servers saw us, made eye contact but didn’t come over. finally a customer seated close to the door popped the gate open because he saw us waiting and waiting and felt sorry of us. we seated ourselves and a waitress came over to finally serve us

food: seriously one of the most delicious meals i’ve had in yeg. because it was our first time we decided to order a variety of appetizers to share and they were all delicious. so many flavours and not the tired, reused and abused dishes you see at the big chains. eat here.

great location and an authentic mexican look. my main issue was that, even with a reservation, we could not get a suitable table. it is hard to enjoy the evening sitting at an uncomfortable table under the loud speaker. waitress was friendly but we all could help the feeling that we weren't welcome there.
the food was okay - orders were the fish tacos, pork tacos, and enchiladas. the gaucamole is great and definately would have that again.

went for taco tuesday and loved it! the pork carnitas were delicious and the tres leches was so good i’m still thinking about it. i honestly can’t wait to go back

my dinner club went here at the end of october for our day of the dead themed meeting. the decor was perfect...skulls and creepy stairway to bathrooms.

our server was friendly and helpful...got the first to arrive early into the happy hour treats (drinks and chips etc.). strange collage of movie clips played on the wall throughout the night...not sure what that was about.

food was delicious but perhaps a bit overpriced for the sizes. also, it’s too bad you can’t mix and match taco flavours. fortunately i shared with a friend so we ordered two different tacos and swapped to be able to try more than one.

first appetizers: the homemade chips (both corn and potato) were delicious. my friends wished there were a bit more potato ones thrown in the mix. the guacamole was good as was the pico de gallo.

drinks: i had an original margarita which was lovely. not in the standard large rimmed glass though. then i opted for a beer for a cheaper price tag (i can’t recall the name). one friend bought tequila shots for the non drivers. fortunately i still had my margarita glass and used that lime and salt from my rim...i don’t like tequila shots with the standard salt lime which wasn’t given.

starters: the mexicali poutine was good but not really poutine as it was basically just potato chunks. the valentina’s fried cauliflower with aji aioli dip was fantastic...my kids might even eat vegetables if served this way.

tacos: my friend and i shared the arrachera steak taco and the bulgogi steak. both were tasty but my favourite was the bulgogi, with lovely tangy picked cabbage, a subtle sesame flavour and excellent bbq aioli.

dessert: not many wanted dessert but enough did (including me) to order one serving of churros with warm caramel sauce. i’ve actually never had churros before so i can’t compare to other places but these were warm, doughy and sugary...yum!

to be honest, i use to really like this restaurant, however over time i feel they have gotten extremely overpriced and skimpy on their food portions!

they use to offer three tacos for a reasonable price, with more than generous portions, however i don't know if it is an edmonton thing, but mexican restaurants have become uber expensive and pretentious in this town!

if you have ever been to mexico, you would understand what i am getting at here. it is insulting how a place can take a simple cuisine and over charge for it!

the food is okay, but not worth $12 for two tacos!!!

very disappointed. had heard good things and thought it was worth trying, but we were not at all impressed.  the music in the restaurant (more like a bar as another reviewer pointed out) was loud enough to make conversation difficult so we sat on the patio. the service was excellent, but the food was sub par. i had the pork enchilada. the mole sauce was lacking flavor, as was the pork itself. the bean side was very dry, as though it had been made a day or two before and rewarmed and the rice was almost tasteless. my wife had the grilled pescado tacos. our guest had the grilled baked vegetable quesadillas. our server highly recommended the house made tacos so both went with those. the tacos were undercooked and tasteless. our guest, while too polite to say anything, barely touched her tacos and only had the filling. my wife advised the taco fillings were average at best. 

we have had far better at many other mexican restaurants and will not be back.

dinner at el cortez tonight. first this is more bar than restaurant. long bar along the side of the restaurant and loud music playing. staff are friendly, chatty and quick to seat us and also to take our drink and food orders.
thursday is have price tequila night so it is a great night for shots. the list of tequila options is very long ( see pictures of options).
waitress explains that the enchiladas are really big so we don't order appetizers. one chicken and one pulled pork to try. plates come out of the kitchen quite quickly served again by another polite staff member.
portions are one enchilada served on top of rice and beans. they seem small for the $18 price tag. flavors of both dishes are also disappointing and in need of a lot of hot sauce ( several choice are on the table to choose from), rice is only warm, and beans are slightly under cooked.
we will return on another thursday but only for the half priced tequila

we stopped in for fathers day afternoon, décor very nice, service was good menu was disappointing. my wife had the taco salad lots of stuff but little lettuce. i had the pork enchilados nice flavor  for the price the portions as on the small side  again this is not a traditional mexican eatery thus i was a bit disappointed - if you wish to drink the bar looks very nice and stocked !  the red light in the men's bathroom was odd - i believe there are better choices in edmonton for mexican food. if you looking for a "cool" place to hang out off of whyte this is your place to drink.

i came here with a friend for taco tuesday in which tacos were half off regular price per order (2 tacos), so $6. it was quite busy so there was a waitlist. you can choose to stand around or walk around and wait for them to text you when your table is ready. my friend and i decided to try 4 different taco flavours: grilled pescado, bulgogi steak, charred corn and mushroom and cinnamon braised pork. the one i liked the most was the bulgogi steak. my friend liked the grilled pescado most. the portions are quite small in my opinion. i think on average, you'd need 2-3 orders to be full.

really cool atmosphere. good drinks. food was tasty and fresh but portion could have been a bit bigger. i will definitely be back to try more food and more margarita

best place to come during happy hour. always great specials and delicious food. we always start with the cauliflower and share a few different plates. have yet to be disappointed.

came to el cortez on a date last week. even on a weeknight we should have made reservations because we had to sit at the bar. atmosphere is cool and food was delivered fast. tried the fish and shrimp taco, and the cinnamon pork taco. the latter was especially tasty. it's on the slightly more expensive side of things when you consider the tacos aren't huge ($6-7 per taco). i recommend ordering 3 per person.

super cool atmosphere. the drinks were good, but very expensive. the food was really tasty, but perhaps on the pricier side for what you get.

unfortunately in comparison to other mexican restaurants in edmonton it really isn't anything special. i have tried many of the tacos, all pretty bland tasting. i recently ordered the guacamole last week (i am a guacamole fanatic) and i seriously could've made better at home. our group complained that the drinks were either way too sour or way too sweet to enjoy. it's a great atmosphere so i'm sad it doesn't live up to the hype.