el cortez mexican kitchen + tequila bar

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. theservicewas 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 a mexican beer, avoid the cocktails.

if you're looking for authentic mexican this 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.

a great place to stop in for a drink! great atmosphere greatserviceand a lot of fun. food, were all wonderful. we will definitely be going back.

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. theservicewas 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.

we stopped in for fathers day afternoon, décor very nice,servicewas 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.

a great place to stop in for a drink and/or meal! we stopped in on a wednesday evening, just to grab a drink and chat. the new summer menu is out and it is tasty! (drinks turned into food when we saw the new offerings! what? we're easily persuaded!)

great atmosphere, greatserviceand a lot of fun. you're paying whyte ave prices, and have to pay to park, but that's the only downside.

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 for mexican we 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 theserviceindustry 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 betterserviceat 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.

came here for the first time for the 'nightlife' on saturday. the main level was pretty dead, but downstairs was really packed. wish it was bigger. we tried ordering tequila shots but the bartenders took forever . there were 3-4 bartenders working and we never got helped. we stood there for a good 20 mins trying to order. i had to ask another guy to help me order & the bartender helped him like ok thx . when we asked what kind of tequilas there were .. he said coconut, coffee and regular . i thought this was a tequila bar .. worseserviceever not coming back

el cortez is a strong contender in the edmonton brunch scene. although the menu is small there is something for everyone at a very affordable price.serviceis great, food is tasty, and the lively environment is perfect for fun, casual brunch. if you don't feel strongly about any dishes in particular the regular menu is available too, so swing by on the weekend and let me know what you think!

worst customerservicein my life!!! the bartender's talk to you like their doing you a favor by pouring you a drink. i wouldn't recommend going here! i regret ever spending money here!!!!!!!

went to this place a couple weeks back for a friend’s birthday. had a taste of a couple of dishes. fried patatas had cheese, guacamole and walnut. tasted different in a good way, like how lots of cheesy food is, “you shouldn’t eat too much or you’ll pass out kinda way.” walnut was a nice added touch and the guacamole was fresh tasting. steak taco was decent with pickled slaw and some sesame on it. had to add some of the provided hot sauce cause the aioli wasn’t doing it for me. having the taco on a corn tortilla was a plus also as it has less calories than flour tortilla’s and in my preference, tastes better. having a couple shots of agave never hurt either and they have alot of it here.

this is a weird and cool restaurant atmosphere to be in. if you’ve been to this location before in the past it was a shitty looking bar with wood everywhere. newly renovated, it looks like a shitty mexican bar. that’s what i’m assuming they’re going for but i find really stupid like how people pay lots of money for jeans that are already ripped. decentserviceand knowledgeable staff about the tequilas and mezcals, it also helped that she sounded like emma watson. big plus.

sal says: just try it

#food #foodie #foodporn #instafood #delicous #yummy #dinner

came for a late lunch on recommendation this place had some tacos that were the real deal. i did a little research and found out the chef here is quite the culinary competitor. although she does not compete in the same field as this restaurant, it shows there's somebody in the back thats doing more than throwing shit on a plate. it wasn't very busy but we got sat at a high table near the back. 3 seconds on that chair and my back hurt. that it one of the worst chairs i've ever sat on. i'm not old enough to be complaining about chairs. but anyway, make sure you get a booth, or i'd elect to stand.we ordered a couple palomas to start as it was happy hour.  they came out quick and were very good. i ordered 2 types of tacos, so i could get a feel for the place and my lady friend ordered the chicken enchiladas. the bulgogi tacos were the clear winner of the night. pickled cabbage, onion and a really nice sauce to bring it all together, they were great. the fish tacos were no slackers either, crunchy fish and a soft guacamole underneath. also very good. but they don't last, they get soggy quite fast.  don't waste too much time instagramming or your fish tacos will wilt on you. the chicken enchiladas were good, surprisingly nicely plated for what it is. no complaints on those, but the tacos were the clear winners.theserviceis a bit off. we asked to be moved away from the torture chairs and were informed we had to wait and see if one of the 30 open tables were available. it took almost 10 minutes for them to return. then when we ordered the palomas she called it a grapefruit drink or something. i simply repeated ,to make sure we were on the same page. i got a bit of a funny look. when i ordered the bulgogi tacos i got a similar response.  she said "ok, the steak tacos" steak is a very broad term, so again i double checked we were on the same page and again she repeated " ya, the steak tacos" as if i had ordered incorrectly. this isn't the end of the world but there's no need to be argumentative about it. nobody insulted me or anything like that, but her tone was not synonymous with good service.overall it's pricey and theservicewasn't spectacular but the food was very good. so if your in a patient mood and enjoy mexican food i'd say its worth checking out.one other thing i'd add is its a louder place. no big deal to me, but by the end of our meal i almost had to shout across the table when i wanted to converse. just a warning if that's something that bothers you. but it is at the end of the day a bar and it comes with the territory.

the food here is pretty good. have been several times for taco tuesday and only recently ordered their entrees. the beef tenderloin was very tasty.
theservicehere was exceptional, they were late to bring out one of the dishes at the table and not only comped the dish but sent shots over to the table and an extra drink.servicelike this really makes this restaurant stand out. a lot of the smaller casual dining restaurants don't go out of their way for customers like they do here.
this was already becoming one of my go to restaurants and afterservicelike this i will continue to come back.

loved the patio on this place! it was a great place for a variety of delicious drinks, tasty eats and a fabulous atmosphere. it has greatserviceand the manager made a point of being social with us.
you must try the tacos and the cauliflower!!

cool atmosphere (its probably the best thing about this place), the tacos were better than "pub type" tacos ive had in the city and the patata dish was really tasty. the rest is pretty bad and after reading some reviews i have to agree with a lot of it... it took quite a while for me to get my drink, something like 15-20 minutes and when it came it wasn't too great :/ when we finally ordered we were starving and then we were brought some other tables plates. my ceviche was dropped off in passing without a word, i just guessed it was my ceviche. a little weird right? server wasn't really interested in us.

if i could sit outside and grab my own food i wouldn' mind returning lol. i usually try really hard to be accommodating aboutserviceespecially if its busy because i understand how crazy things can get...but i really wonder how much experience or training the servers here have. another reviewer mentioned the restaurant management feeling very rookie and id agree. im sad honestly, i love tequila and their tequila menu is extensive...it could have been so great! ;(

great place!. went here with a large group from work. food was awesome with some nice vegetarian options.servicewas excellent and the vibe of the place was really cool. i will go back for sure.