el cortez mexican kitchen + tequila bar

delish!. was here over the long weekend for my first time. loved the décor and atmosphere. the food was fantastic! bestmexicani've had in a long time. we had the fried queso tacos and the veggie enchilada. so good. will be back for sure!

came for a friend's birthday, we had the entire basement to accommodate our large group. it's quite a large space that you can reserve until 9pm when it opens to the public. the décor is pretty cool, dawn of the dead theme, neon signs, and graffiti like artwork. the chairs might have added to the theme but were very uncomfortable. the service was good considering everyone was ordering food and drinks sporadically.

the food: we had 3 or 4 orders of guacamole, it's $12 per but you get quite a lot of it. chips that came with were good, crispy not greasy. unfortunately the guac was as quite acidic so i wouldn't reccomend unless you really like lime.
most everyone oredered tacos afterwards, i had the chance to try the cinnamon braised pork and the coconut pescado. the pork was tender and had alot of cinnamon flavour but that's all you could taste, the corn salsa was lost. the fish tacos were better but very messy, they loaded the sauce on thick which made the tortillas quite soggy. the fish was cooked well but the portion sizes were horrendously varried between the two tacos. one could hardly fit in the tortilla where as the other was hardly the size of a fish stick.

the drinks: they have a large selection of tequila to which the servers are very familiar with (they can tell you all about the agave and how long each is aged etc.)
margarita's were basically just tequila and whole lot of lime juice, definitely not worth the $12. i'd suggest trying some tequilas and washing down with amexicanbeer, avoid the cocktails.

if you're looking for authenticmexicanthis is not the place to be, honestly i wouldn't return unless it was for a group event again and just grab some food from a nearby restaurant before hand.

establishment has a cool vibe, nice decoration. staff is friendly, food is too expensive and notmexicanat all!

good for drinks but if you're craving authenticmexicanfood this is definitely not the place!

el cortez, amexicanrestaurant just off of whyte ave, has invited me to join their cinco de mayo celebrations on may 5. it was quite a coincidence actually, as i had just dined there the week before. at the time, i did notice the food was a bit different. it turns out the restaurant has just released a new food menu, as well as a reinvented craft cocktail menu (based on tequilas of course, since el cortez is a tequila bar). and this cinco de mayo event was the perfect chance to showcase the new offerings. it was a bit cold that evening, and as the event was held outside in the patio, i was pleased to find that the heat was on and blankets had been thoughtfully laid out for guests. on one side of the patio, staff from calgary's rodney's oyster house were busy shucking away for a good portion of the evening. the el cortez folk really know how to throw a party. all-you-can-eat raw oysters? i'm in. i didn't realize how much i missed rodney's , or any good oyster place really. there is definitely a shortage of oyster bars in edmonton. west coast - smaller but sweet, the more popular choice east coast - fat and juicy, but more brine in addition to raw oysters, there were also free cigars. my friend convinced me to try it, but can't say i'm hooked. as the early comers sat and indulged in oysters and cigars, the appetizers started making their rounds. the first was ceviche, with a choice of tuna or swordfish. i found the tuna too mushy, but the swordfish was nice and firm with good flavour and a complementing accompaniment of avocado and tomatoes. next up were spicy chorizo meatballs and pork tenderloin served with salsa. el cortez did a good job with the sauces and seasoning. flavours were intense, but not overwhelmingly so. tacos are usually the main focus of amexicanrestaurant, and el cortez serves up a variety of different fillings. i tried the beef and fish, and as previously mentioned, the meat was seasoned perfectly with just the right amount of sauce and garnishe

a couple of weeks ago, i went to el cortez for the first time and was really impressed! i had heard really good things about el cortez from a few of my friends, and when i was lucky enough to be invited to their cinco de mayo party, i was definitely interested!. el cortez is small building right off whyte. it offers amexicankitchen and tequila bar. they specialize in modern latin food and tequila. chef lindsay porter has created a menu which encompasses everything from tapas, to latin entrées, to gourmet street foods & tacos, to nuevo latino fusion dishes. interesting fact : they are one of only 9 establishments in the world certified by the consejo regulador del tequila (the tequila regulatory council)!

i don't recommend this restaurant. first of all they don't sanitize the tables. i know this because we were seated at a table that had food from the last customer on it. that put my safety at risk as i'm immune compromised.

secondly we booked for a special 18th birthday. we were told there would be a churro birthday dessert but in fact there were no desserts available including churros.

the menu online is not the actual menu at the restaurant which was not explained.

we went on a sunday at 6 pm. it was super quiet but they ran out of many items we wanted to order like mussels,mexicanstreet corn - 2 of our favorites. some drink choices were also not available. a very special occasion was ruined. i called the manager to discuss this very politely because i didn't want to do a negative review. he promised to investigate and get back to me but he didn't. so i will now review everywhere i can find. so disappointed. do not dine here!

great location and an authenticmexicanlook. 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.

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, butmexicanrestaurants 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 othermexicanrestaurants and will not be back.

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 traditionalmexicaneatery 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 formexicanfood. if you looking for a "cool" place to hang out off of whyte this is your place to drink.

unfortunately in comparison to othermexicanrestaurants 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.

service was great, but food was either awful and ridiculously overpriced or decent but still priced its weight in gold. if you're happy to spend a lot on a semi decent whyte avemexicanmeal, the decor and atmosphere are awesome and happy hour beers are a good value. its definitely a better experience than it's even worse counterpart, julios. if you'd rather something higher quality, opt for one of the city's more authentic mexican/latin american places further off the beaten track..

taco tuesday is amazing!!! was able to try 4 different kinds of tacos and they were all amazing! 50% off tacos on tuesday. the atmosphere is verymexicanand the music is loud inside so be prepared for that if you go. the patio is nice the only i might say is that the chairs aren't as comfortable outdoors. overall great experience and it was some pretty greatmexicanfood. will definitely be back!

extremely disappointed. i really wanted to love this place. my fiancé and i are huge foodies. i would rate our experience a -5 on here if i could. after hearing all the hype and our love formexicanwe decided to stop in on a saturday. it was fairly busy in there but we only waited roughly 10 minutes for a table. our server seemed sweet but it went down hill from there.
i would like to note i worked in the service industry for 6 years, so i am very easy on servers.
1. it took 10 minutes to even be greeted by our server.
2. once we ordered our drinks (2 lime margaritas) it took 15 minutes to get them. once she brought them she only brought one lime and some pink drink. obviously i sent it back because i ordered a lime margarita. we also placed an order for our second round of drinks because we were hesitant it would take a long time to get them again.
3. we ordered our food. our food came... and yet my lime margarita no where in site....
4. we had no utensils for our food we had to wait another 5 minutes for those.
5. half way through our meals. she informs me my lime margarita is on its way... so at this point we are 40 minutes into our dinner and i still don't have a drink. my fiancé has been done his for about 10 minutes.
6. finish our meals and still no drink. we stop her as she's rushing around and tell her to cancel my drink and the additional two other drinks. and to get us our bill.
7. took her 15 minutes to get us our bill.
8. all together we spent just over an hour in there waiting for a lime margarita.(not even blended)

worst experience i have ever had in my life. i've had better service at mcdonald's. i will say the food was good but the portions are extremely small for their price point considering this is more of a bar style restaurant than high end.

either the management needs to bite the bullet and hire more staff or have a better training system intact. anything longer than a 10 minute wait for a drink is a sign of poor bartending or lack of time management.

also as a server when you royally s*** the bed be apologetic to your customers. and send over a manager to explain the situation or anything of that matter. maybe if someone that worked there cared i would have given this place a second chance.

i would rather spend my money else where and i will be sure to make sure i tell everyone to do the same.

update*** i decided to give this place a second chance during a girls night out. the bartenders were awesome this time around and i enjoyed my time there. i have increased the review because i think this place is better suited for drinking with friends verses having dinner.

cool concept - bad execution on authenticity.

we came on a saturday evening for my husband's birthday. i was hesitant to go to amexicanrestaurant that has a head chef with no experience inmexicancuisine/culture - but went with an open mind. unfortunately - my hesitations were correct.

staff: waitress was pleasant and helpful answering questions and describing food on menu. she was helpful and making suggestions for non spicy options for my 3 year old son.

service: friendly; professional; food came out relatively quickly.

establishment: cool vibe for a tequila bar and to hang out and have drinks with adults. great variety of latin music. for a family with kids (3 year old and 5 month old) - it was loud and the content showing on the tv's was not family/kid orientated. didn't check out bathrooms - not sure if there were change tables.

food: although the food presentation looked amazing - the taste was an absolute disappointment. i have eaten a lotmexicanfood in mexico and in texas and in many othermexicanrestaurants. i am of central american origin - so i know latin food. this is by far the least authentic tasting food i have ever eaten.
the guacamole was bland. the tuna ceviche - had good spice level but lacked that lemon-y goodness that good authentic ceviches have. we had 3 types of tacos: fish, chicken, beef - sadly all were bland in flavor other than a hint of spice that you could taste in each one. portions were appropriate for the cost.

if you want real goodmexicanfood go to tres carnalez or 3 amigos!!mexicanowners andmexicanchefs and way better flavor!! @trescarnales @ 3amigosyeg_dt