El Jalisco McDonough

"2/14/24 update: I made another trip to El Jalisco. The food was again delicious; Guacamole, Carnitas and Quesabirria. The Quesabirria was a new dish for me and was delicious. This time the service was poor... 30min wait after ordering, forgot to bring out the salsa for my chips and then brought out the wrong dauce AND charged me for it. I lowered the service score to 4 stars. The next trip will decide if the full rating needs to be lowered. The ratings will reflect my average experience over time. ------------------ This was our first trip at El Jalisco and we were pleasantly surprised. The restaurant appears to be new and had a clean, modern atmosphere. Everything we had during our visit was high quality and mindfully prepared. I enjoy Mexican food but have found it difficult to find this level of ingredient quality south of Atlanta. There are a few things I look for specifically to test a Mexican restaurant. First, the quality of the chips and salsa. EJ passed no problem... the chips were crisp and warm with two salsas that seemed to be made fresh in house. Next I ordered a Cadillac Margarita (Patron Silver with Grand Marnier). This is where most restaurants start to fail... I was really happy with the quality of the margarita. It tasted like a fresh lime base, not a poor quality mix found in grocery stores. A fresh sprig of rosemary was used as garnish. For an appetizer, we went with table made guacamole. The guacamole was excellent! Freshly made guacamole is generally good anywhere, but this was perfect. Since everything was going so well, I decided to go with carnitas while my wife had Caldo de Res. The Carnitas were very good, a nice crisp on the outside while tender and moist inside. They reminded me of my all time favorite Carnitas in Salinas, CA. I used to drive over an hour one way just to buy them by the pound. The El Jalisco carnitas may not have stolen away that number one spot, but they are definitely in the top three. My wife doesn't usually go for Mexican, but this is the first place in GA that has gotten her approval. She enjoyed the Caldo de Res which is a beef shank stew that gets its depth of flavor from the bone marrow and vegetables. All of this for approx $60 (before tip) was well worth it."

"The food was pretty good. I did the pick 3 and had the margaritas flight. The taco and quesadilla were outstanding. The burrito was a little dry. The flight needed to be stronger. Oh the black beans were like a soup, but they weren't bad. I'd go back."

"Beautiful restaurant & very nicely decorated. It was very clean. My friend and I ordered lunch specials (steak burrito and steak fajitas) and table side guacamole. Both dishes were very good! The steak had great flavor & was seasoned well. They also cooked it medium for us. The fajitas came with onions, bell peppers, tomato, yellow squash & mushrooms which I think was unique. The table side guacamole was awesome. The refried beans had great flavor too. I rated 4 stars for service bc our waiter ended up with a large party & my friend and I got forgotten about for awhile when we needed to pay our tab & leave. I had to go grab my own to go containers & walk up to our waiter & ask for the check."

"What a cool little place! The food was decent, the atmosphere was great and the service was outstanding. We had Mariano, and he was very attentive to our needs; checking in on us often and making sure we were comfortable. I had the enchiladas, which were very good. They make their shells from scratch and while it threw me off at my first bite, I was definitely pleased. They were really good. My husband got the street tacos and said they were good as well. We will definitely be back the next time we are traveling."

"I was in the area and found El Jalisco and decided to give it a try. It's a recently opened restaurant. The decor was beautiful! My waiter, Rodolfo, was excellent! He was very personable and efficient! When I broke into Spanish with him, he was most appreciative. I tried the Enchiladas Trio and it was good ...not the most outstanding Mexican food I have eaten, but pretty good. The chips and salsa (2 types) were decent. I also ordered Chicken Mole to take home for my Mexican husband and he said that was outstanding! Overall, well done!!"