El Charro Mexicano - Aiea

I am only reviewing my recent takeout experience... It 's been a long time since I went to El Charro, so I was really looking forward to getting an awesome Mexican plate takeout after a long day. I went to the takeout window located on the side of the restaurant (in an alley , and it took quite a while before time I was even noticed by a staff member. I 'm pretty patient and figured they were busy, so I spent the time looking over the takeout menu posted. I noticed there were no prices listed, but I figured it would be average, so no biggy. When the staff member finally took my order and gave me the total, I gotta be honest I was a little shocked. Geesh, I know inflation is bad, but it was pretty steep compared to other restaurants. Mind you, I ordered small plate, not even regular size. Still, I had high hopes the food would live up to the price, so I paid and then was told it would take 20+ minutes... Okay, once again, being an optimist, I figured good things come to those who wait. When I finally got my packed Chicken Chimichanga plate, I hopped in my car and headed straight home only to be totally disappointed. The chimichanga was lackluster, to say the least. Specifically, the chicken filling tasted off (like bad . The refried beans were okay, but the Spanish Rice was tasteless, dry, and COLD! (Hey, I don 't live far, so it was like that when they packed it. I actually tossed it out... I really don 't want to give a bad review, but this was soooo disappointing.

Excellent food! Service: Dine in Meal type: Dinner Food: 5 Service: 4 Atmosphere: 5

No prices on menu or complimentary chips /salsa, pretty expensive and unfortunately largely mediocre. Nice friendly staff and authentic look inside though Service: Dine in Price per person: $20–30 Food: 3 Service: 3 Atmosphere: 4

This place is an absolute complete scam with a greedy manager or owner. I ordered the 3 item combo plate and i wanted one ground beef and one shredded beef taco and one enchilada and when i told the waiter he said he had to go ask how to input the order? I saw him ask a lady who i presume was the manager/owner and heard her loudly say, No! The menu did read they don 't allow two of the same items of the three you get so i figured two different tacos would be fine but I agreed to order a tamale instead. I didn 't pay attention to the price when I ordered but to my surprise when the check came my meal was $28.99..??!! And mind you, my husband ordered the two enchiladas, rice and beans for around $16 which is typical. Basically, I paid almost $10 for each item besides the rice and beans...WHAT??? And thats not all, they actually charge you for chips and salsa and they bring a small amount of watery salsa to pair with a somewhat generous bowl of unsalted chips for $3.75. And when the waiter refilled our chips, he neither brought nor offered more salsa to go with them and we needed more salsa but he gave us a bottle of hot sauce instead for my taco. Who ever heard of a mexican restaurant charging for chips and salsa? Not I..!! The food was good but the place is just a hole in the wall and very casual, so why my ridiculously high priced meal? Also, the rice and beans were skimpy. Every Mexican restaurant ive been to in my entire life fills your plate with the rice and beans sides but not here, you get precise portions. I would of loved to of made this a new regular place but left feeling ripped off. A glass of soda will cost ya about $4 too. Sign of the times i guess but im sorry for $28.99 for what I got the chips and salsa should be free and the rice and beans should of filled the plate and if I 'd noticed the high price on the menu I wldve not ordered it but instead i just assumed it 'd be close to what every other Mexican restaurant in the United States charges for a three item combo meal!

Our family orders the family style dish Parillada which comes with 10 tortillas not enough so we order extra tortillas 6 $4/3) for our family of 4. And chips/salsa they charge about $4. Total $70 +drinks, tax, tip. It's a lot of food leftover lunch for me. The Parillada is supposed to come with chicken, beef, shrimp and sausages but lately something has been left out. Once was the shrimp that time it was take out so didn't want to bother) and 2 3 times it was the sausage. Didn't think it was a big thing figured they ran out so we haven't brought it up before. I just found out that of the 4 meats, my daughter likes the sausage best so she's not happy when they leave it out. Will check if they have next time before ordering.