el cortez mexican kitchen + tequila bar

great spot for dinner with friends. our server was very friendly and provided lots of great suggestions. loved the cauliflower the flavours were amazing! have to come back to try coconut tequila

great service and very cool venue. i've been to el cortez twice. the first time i went the food was very good. i had chicken tacos and though it wasn't large - it was also reasonably priced and came with a zesty small side salad which was so delicious. i also had a delicious grapefruit margarita and the whole bill was only about $15 which i thought was surprisingly low. the second time i went the salad dressing wasn't quite as delightful however i tried the chips and guac as well as the pork tacos and both were very good. my boyfriend had the burger and fries and he was very impressed. the best part about our visit was that we had very good service and the waiter and manager both checked in often and were open to feedback. i'm hoping with a few tweaks the kitchen will find a way to deliver its best every time. the room itself is so interesting and every little corner has a unique detail. i am certain that i'm older than their target market but i will be back as i think it's a very cool and comfortable new place to eat on (off) the ave. in fact i'm going again tonight with friends who are dying for a good margarita! :)

disappointing, lack lustre food and crappy servers.. attitude is all you get from these stuck up servers! from the hostess to waters, to management, this place is just terrible. customers are your business, you would think you would treat them a lot better! food and drinks are pricey and boring. pass!

bad customer service, bland food, overpriced drinks... avoid!. food was bland, the steak tacos were dripping in worcestershire sauce and lacked flavour. the guacamole was ok, but not what you would expect from a mexican place.overall the food needed some salt and spices, way too generic and bland. drinks are overpriced and heavy on the ice- which melted and became a sad watery $13 drink. the service was just appalling. pretentious waiter, clueless waitress left a seriously sour taste in our mouths. hostess had severe attitude and the entire experience was dismal at best. don't waste your time or money!

i don't understand all these bad reviews. the drinks are great, large tequila selection. the food is even better! i had the steak tacos that were on special and they were amazing. my friend had a burger which he enjoyed as well. they're putting the effort in and it shows. much better than having a dirty hip hop bar in this location. don't listen to the naysayers, go check it out!

incompetent staff & bad food. tldr; went to el cortez for a birthday party and was overcharged $300.00 and threatened because of incompetent staff. save your money, don't go here.

i went to el cortez for a birthday party on saturday october 18 with a large group of friends. we had a reservation that was made in advance for our party, which was accommodated for the most part.
service was mediocre at best, the waiter and waitress assigned to our group were rarely available and had to be prompted for drink orders every time we could flag them down.
i did not order food, but some of the ppl we were with recommended the chicken tacos, but to stay away from the salsa, guacamole and the pulled pork tacos. the food left much to be desired.

after we were seated and began ordering drinks/food the waiter advised us that they would no longer be able to split the bill by name or table which was specified when making the reservation.
at the end of the night we paid our portions of the tab but were told that $300 was still owing. after reviewing the bill we advised the waiter that all payments on the bill up until ours were voided and asked them to clarify(clearly marked on the receipt). the staff refused to take a second look at the receipt and review what had already been paid.
after being told we were not allowed to leave (bouncers and staff standing in the way of the door), called thieves and that we would be arrested, a member from our group put the remaining charges on her credit card.
we later received a text message from the manager, eli diamond, that all payments on the tab throughout the night up until we paid our portions were voided and that they would need to refund the $300.00 demanded from us.
my friend who made the payment had to return to el cortez on sunday twice to collect her refund.

the staff and management at this restaurant are all very disorganized and rude. i would not recommend anyone i know go to this restaurant, it was a horrible experience for our group.

something refreshing to whyte. stub bled upon this place with my boyfriend last night. the decore is unreal, women's bathroom is gorgeous. we had a couple cocktails and loved them, and the guacamole was killer (chunky with tomatoes the way i like it). nice to have a bar on whyte ave that doesn't have crappy cocktails and crappy top 40 playing all night. excited to try the rest of the menu!

viva staff doing reviews. been there multiple times...hmmm...all three reviews.

unparalleled cocktails menu? get out much?

fresh flavourful ingredients?

a responsive kitchen? you mean the staff, all of whom left? now thats a heck of a "response".

knows that it is chili oil and habanero sauce on every table

speaks of the evolution of the menu in two cases.

defines the restaurant as the owners would want in two cases.

has precisely one review upon which great care has been expended.

has nothing even mildly critical to point out in two cases

equals: desperate staff review. the place was bad with sneazwell in the kitchen and plummeted from there.

at least two of the last three reviews are all suspect and seem to be advertisement not reviews. how foolish do you think the eating public has become?

edit: interestingly i pm ed a couple of the the positive reviewers...one even admitted to be friends of the servers hoping to help them out...hmmmm.

enjoy each visit!. i have been to el cortez a significant amount of times and cannot comprehend why so many bad reviews. drinks were flavourful, food was appetizing, service was excellent and the decor is neat. went here again friday night and thoroughly enjoyed our visit. our server jazmine even recommended we tried out the new cocktails on the menu and educated us on some of the restaurants tequila.
will definitely be back. the only issues with the place is their green salsa and maybe they could add the churos back to the menu as there is only one desert option!

big fan!. i have been to el cortez on a few occasions - one because it is a trendy new hot spot, and two because it offers something out of the ordinary. i continue to be amazed each and every time i come by the amount of work and creativity that went into the decor of this place. the la vibe is very unique for edmonton and not to be criticized but rather embraced for its originality. the drink menu is amazing - delicious and unique! plus there is no better place in the city to taste fine tequila. for someone who has always disliked tequila, i have realized i am now a huge fan (unless it is the cheap stuff that every other restaurant/bar carries).

the food menu has gone through an extreme transformation from the opening week (for the better!). the team has done a great job of listening to the feedback from their customers. after reading reviews about the food lacking flavor, i would have to agree that it was the case over a month ago. however i gave el cortez a try again a little over a week ago (because i love the drinks and decor) and can say that the flavor was absolutely amazing. i have friends who were born and raised in mexico so i have tasted the authentic flavors and would now say the food is better and more flavorful than anything i have had before. i highly recommend... the guacamole and chips, tuna tacos (which also comes with a salad in the price), and mango desert. the new burger on the menu made with mexican chorizo looks unreal...i will be back to try that next time!

viva el cortez!. i have been to this restaurant countless times and have always had a great experience. their cocktail menu is unparalleled and considering the most expensive item on the dinner menu is 18 dollars i can't begin to understand the complaints about prices. all the ingredients are fresh and flavourful and every table has chilli oil and habanero hot sauce to spice things up. this isn't a mexican restaurant, the concept is east la meets latin american. lose your preconceived notions of what you think el cortez is. great atmosphere, great drinks, great service, and a kitchen that listens to guest feedback and is constantly evolving to rise up to expectations. what more can you ask for?

expensive and bland. maybe they have a different menu for groups over a certain size, but last night i was here with a bachelorette party and it was very disappointing. the menu was completely different than the picture shows. very little selection. for $9 i got 2 small chicken tacos and a spoonful of what i assume was salad? the tortillas tasted like stale dirt and the filling tasted like nothing. there wasn't even any hot sauce on the table to cover up the stale dirt taste. the deep fried cauliflower was okay but very greasy. the guacamole was also very tasteless. service was slow but it was quite busy. the only thing i would recommend is the $10 blood orange margarita. if you are looking for good tacos and margaritas.... keep looking

offensive and tasteless. my hubby and i came up from calgary with the intent to make a stop at el cortez....what a joke! as a latin family i came in so excited to see an amazing modern take of my culture to only be offended by religious photos and candles being thrown around for decor. there was no consistency with a vision. cool tables?sure. cool quotes?sure. weird bug thing on the wall?yeah i don't even know. the woman's bathroom was missing toilet paper, the doors at the stalls were difficult to open, and there were empty drink glasses i'm assuming from the night before. not to mention when i first went in there all the toilet seats were lifted up(usually a sign if cleanliness) but nah they were filthy. now back to the drinks and food. this is not mexican food....at all. filling a room with anything and everything latin you can get your hands on and having an uneducated staff correct me when i say something properly in my language is not okay. the chips were horrible...the salsa verde i was told by the serfer was a "different type of salsa verde...." again i'm latin and this is horrible...taco bell has better food. i then ordered a chorizo hamburger....which by the way a big ball of beef is not a chorizo. it was cold and for some reason bacon was on it....which again not at all mexican food. the drinks were over priced and the waitress was having attitude issues with questions regarding what the drinks entailed...when my group is spending our hard earned money and tipping no less...you better be educated to help and serve..that's your job not mine. i would never ever go back and i honestly don't think el cortez will make it past a year. stick to tres carnales and everything associated to those amazing men because they get it more and care about the culture behind the food and decor more than these owners who just made a offensive mess of it all.

very cool spot. despite the bad reviews this place is getting online i was looking forward to going to el cortez. a group of us went last weekend and we had a pretty good experience. first off, this place looks absolutely incredible inside. they've done amazing things what used to be a dirty hole of a sign-changing resto. it's worth going just to look around; the details are what make it. yes the guys bathroom is kind of creepy/weird but the women's is stunning (the staff said we all had to check both out, so we politely checked out the respective opposites).

the service was helpful, efficient, and friendly. the menu did have a lot of typos and some items weren't really clear; those problems are easily remedied. we ordered a range of dishes and drinks. the blood orange margarita (with a bitter sweet mexican candy rim) and their on the spot virgin margarita were clear winners. the pork tacos were great; nice balance of flavours and textures. the chicken tacos were okay (my fiancée really liked them), but i've never been a fan of chicken tacos anywhere so i'd try them yourself and decide. the vegetarian tacos went over really well. the grilled chicken main was incredibly succulent, juicy, and well seasoned. their nachos are made fresh and the guac was bang on. the side salad was a bit on the spicy side out of the gates but once you got into the grilled sweet corn things balanced out more. the meals were all priced really well (tacos and salad $9, grilled chicken breast and salad $10, nachos and guac $6) and the portions were more than sufficient.

all in all things went well and we'd recommend people checking it out. we had a great time, had a good meal, and got to check out a funky new place in town. we'll be back to check out their progress & consistency for sure. so much has come and gone over the years in this location, i hope this place makes it work; they've sure as heck put in the effort.


-----06 oct, 2013-----

something odd here. this is another in a long line of restaurants through this location that seem to be having an identity crisis (mexican signage/ fine dining (sort of) table setting /pub grubby /dance club set up) and may well not last long.

service was okay but there was 4-5 other staff (off hours staff?) sort of just hanging out at the bar area and from our table we could hear a bunch of griping and relatively inappropriate conversation. the place was empty besides our table and their group; not a good sign between 6 & 8pm on a friday. food menu's were crinkled inside of staples page protectors (and 2 of ours were missing the appetizer side) and there is no drink menu or dessert options available.

the food was okay and better than some other pseudo-mexican places i've been. we got a reasonable explanation of the menu items but the order did take almost 30 minutes to come out after we ordered, which seemed odd. also surprised that the pork in all the dishes was chorizo sausage (not bad, but a clear explanation would have set our expectations better...). everything was just okay with a side of odd. it's not bad, but i can't say that we'd go back.

sad. i'm not really sure what happened to el cortez. the first time i went, the food was pretty decent (though not worth the money), and it wasn't that busy for a friday night. i was willing to give it another chance, thinking that time would improve it. the second time i went...the menu complete changed (for the worse) and it was dead on a thursday night. my tuna tacos were incredibly bland (no salt, way too many alfalfa sprouts, no cheese, poorly chopped peppers), and i could tell the chef in the back wasn't experienced with something as simple as cutting vegetables. it kind of looked like a 15 year old boy grabbed a butcher knife and chopped up an onion roughly before throwing it into our chunky pico de gallo. i'm also pretty sure their salsa verde was thickened with corn starch - it had the consistency of jam, and it was unusually sweet.

i really really want this place to succeed. they have to get a good chef in there to create a menu that reflects the upscale interior while paying homage to affordable mexican food. i feel like something like la carnita (an awesome mexican restaurant in toronto) is what they're going for, and they feel so close to achieving it. as long as they can bring delicious food at a reasonable price, it will overcome this rocky period. i hope they do whatever they can to revive this place, because the love and labour they put into it is very apparent, and it would be a damn shame if such a cool space went to waste.

please improve your food, el cortez! please!