el zocalo mexican grille

sit in the backpatiounder the trees and surrounded with flowers and enjoy the great mexican food. although phoenix is full of mexican restaurants but  one can hardly find relleno. in my search for good shrimp relleno, i landed up here for lunch and would like to visit every time i am around.

for the first night of my foodie group, we ate at el zocalo mexican grille in chandler. i’ve been here several times in the past. they have an awesomepatiowith lots of pretty lights for dining. they are owned by the del la cruz family. my favorites are the chile relleno and the mole de polo along with their margarita on the rocks. i really enjoyed hanging out with all the foodies that just love to eat good food. great bunch of people!

went on a saturday night about eight thirty, waited for only ten minutes or so, our waiter was excellent. chips and salsa and guac were outstanding. i had shrimp rellanos and my husband had the ahi tuna tacos. both were great and he sopapillas and fried icecream were awesome as well. we sat on the backpatiowith the band which made our experience complete. well done el -new-favorite-restaurant.

worth a try!. seat me in the lush, shaded courtyard while the live music is playing, with an order of carne asada and i'm a happy camper. the food is consistent and always enjoyable, as is the service. the backpatiomakes the restaurant an inviting and attractive setting. when on the east side of the valley, i try to make my way to el zocalo!

2 thumbs down. horrible service. after waiting over an hour for a table we were seated on thepatioand ignored for 30 minutes. no chips, not even water. finally i asked for the manager and when he returned i was told they were in the process of sending staff home since the dinner rush was over and he would send someone right away. 15 minutes later still nothing so off we went. never again!

used to like it. i have to qualify my review here. i used to eat here a lot. i loved the backpatioatmosphere more than the food....but the policy on happy hour changed....stopped including thepatioand the inside is like a bus station waiting room....noisy and crowded. this place went from charming and concerned for the customers experience to a high priced customer be damned attitude and that i resent. i know the economy is bad...but lets be real here. you have lost your edge to me..and joined the serve less, charge more band wagon......and that will catch up with you eventually.

yum yum yum!!!. definitely the best nachos i have ever had. we had heard that this place was pretty good and when we got there there was hardly anyone in the place... until we got to thepatioin the back yard...it was nearly full.

as the nights cool off in arizona, this is the place to be, it was gorgeous.

we split the beef nachos and a cheese quesadilla. the beef was perfectly cooked and had a beefy flavor rather than being watery and overcooked) they also had just the right amount of cheese, sour cream and guaco and th chips were home made.
flour tortilla on the quesadilla was also home made.

to top the night off we tried the sopa pilla (i call them sofa pillows)... well this was just heavenly and certainly the best i have tasted... save room for this one when you go.

we will definitely be back to try some of their other dishes.

outside table is the way to go. aside from the fact that the backpatiohas a great atmosphere it is usually way too loud inside so outside is the way to go. it seems there is always a wait but for me the caldo azteca (soup) is worth the wait. it is a unique soup that i have not found anywhere else.