by Julia Wilson
Do you want to take a trip 
to Mexico without having to worry about the border? Then look no farther than El Vaquero. El Vaquero will make you feel just like you’re in Mexico with its delicious food, and wonderful atmosphere. El Vaquero is a Mexican restaurant located at 2195 Riverside Dr. They are fairly affordable, a meal could cost anywhere from 10 to 30 dollars. They are open Monday-Thursday 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m., Friday to Saturday 11 a.m.-10 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m.-9 p.m., so Mexican food is easy to come by at most hours of the day.
At El Vaquero they offer a wide variety of Mexican foods. I ordered a chicken chimichanga with rice and beans, and other things I tried were beef tacos and chicken and beef enchiladas. The smell of the food was enough to make my mouth start watering. I took a bite into the chimichanga and the chicken was very well seasoned and cooked nicely. Guacamole and pico de gallo, which were on top made the chimichanga a perfect bite of Mexico. The rice and beans were delicious side dishes. Delicious ground beef was inside the taco, it was wonderful and the taco shell was nice. The sauce on top of the enchilada made the enchilada a little spicy but not so spicy that it was inedible, in fact the sauce tied together all the flavors of the enchilada.
When you walk into El Vaquero it doesn’t scream Mexican restaurant but as soon as you’re seated and you see the sombreros on the walls and you hear the Spanish music you know you are in a Mexican restaurant. The atmosphere is nice, the music is not so loud that you can’t hold a conversation at the table. Overall the atmosphere is nice and I could sit there a while just eating chips and salsa because you don’t feel like you have to rush.
The service at El Vaquero is nice but not amazing. Most of the servers and hostesses at El Vaquero speak little English. They understand what you say when you order but if you have a question about a dish they may not know all the words for what is in the dish, which can make ordering a little challenging . The good thing about the service at El Vaquero is that the food always comes out very quickly. Also there are a lot of servers in the restaurant so your drink is always full because one of the servers will always see an empty drink right away.
Overall El Vaquero is a very nice restaurant. I will be back many more times. The food was amazing, the atmosphere was comfortable, and the service was good. The next time I want to take a trip to Mexico without crossing the border I will definitely go to El Vaquero.
Image Courtesy El Vaquero