El Azteco Restaurant Reviews

The cheese dip and chicken enchiladas are the bessstttt

I grew up eating this food - the menu has hardly changed in 30+ years. It's not real Mexican food but it's delicious. I'm very biased so take my review with a grain of salt. If your from a place known for good Mexican food you'll probably be baffled by el az.

Hello, I enjoyed my stay in East Lansing. Walking to El Azteco was wonderful. The open air patio was nice. Staff was very nice.

Came in for dinner on Sunday night. All 3 of my friends and I left with a stomachache. Beans were pre-frozen and served stale, food was not hot, out drinks took 30 minutes to be served. Service was fine, but hands down this is the worst food i ve ever had from an establishment. I am still sick this morning to the stomach.

El Azteco is my favorite Mexican restaurants I've eaten at in the area. The staff wasn't the food - wonderful and nice atmosphere. It's one of my favorite spots to stop for good food. Joey

Worst Mexican food I have ever had. The only thing that was edible was the chips and dip brought at the beginning of the meal.

Cool atmosphere, loved eating on rooftop patio. My beef tacos were pretty bland, however-- guess I should've added some type if sauce or salsa. If I do travel back here (I was an out-of-towner) i might try a different menu item.

Had a wonderful Fathers day lunch outside. Quality sandwiches. Amazing soup. Thank you! Covid-19 conscience place.

Horrible. Whoever rates this tv dinner quality food as good has clearly never ate good authentic "Mexican food". Actually laughable. And the way they use extra small plates so that when the server sets it on your table there's a thumb print in your cheese, that's the best. East Lansing simpletons going here because of the "patio" you're dumb Lmao

The food, the atmosphere, the people, the nostalgia. Please stay forever

The best Mexican food i have ever had by far! Great location, quick service, and amazing food!

This is a favorite for my coworkers and I. We come here quite a bit and love it every time!

It's Dec 6, we called & asked if the top patio was open , "they said yes" we get there and NO.. NOT HAPPY... We went to Reno's East.. much better.

Love their food and it is great to sit on the roof when the weather is nice.

Good service, food good but nothing special. The atmosphere is nicely decorated in the traditional Mexican style and the prices are within the expected.

Good food and margaritas. The service was great as well.

Used to go here in the 80s, glad it is still around. The food was still decent, but seemed much more Americanized than I remember. Service was good, prices were average.

Surprisingly fresh food. The chips and salsa tasted restaurant made and were nice to snack on. The enchiladas I had were Beef, and came as 3 small wraps. It wasn't quite proportional to the beans and rice, however it all tasted fresh and was a generous meal. The wait staff were nice however did not come across very friendly. Would definitely recommend.

I have not been impressed by either of the El Aztecos I have been too. The food is average at best not very flavorful.

This place has sentimental value to me. When my parents went to school at MSU in the 80s they would go here on dates and now we all go to eat here as a family today. The food is very authentic. I'm pretty sure they make their own tortilla chips themselves. They used to give away free ones but because of our economic times they only give them away at certain times of the day/week. Overall though it is a great restaurant to bring friends and family for great Mexican fare. Enjoy!

The food was delicious but I was outraged to find out that they had charged us 57$ for a pitcher of Patron Margaritas!!!!! Absolutely outrageous! The average size pitcher was full of ice to the top and we barely got 4 glasses out of it. We had ordered four for our group. Service was also very slow and the waitress had no cares to even inform us how much they would be. Definitely never drinking there again. Very disappointed by their price gauge I really enjoy the food.

I got carryout; it wasn't great. The best way to describe it is that the food probably would have been good when it was fresh, but it had pretty obviously been reheated (or kept on a warmer a long long time). I do not expect carryout to be super fresh and hot, but this was on another level. I could not physically eat the tamale because it was rock hard. I probably won't get takeout again, but I might try dine-in.

Great visit! Ive been here several times, wait staff remembered our order withour paper and brought food out quickly despite a really busy place! Dinner hour on a saturday was busy as expected but Still had a great time with a lovely window seat.

Food has improved from last time I visited which was maybe two years ago. Salsa is yummy. Topopo salad is my go to! Perfect combination of nachos with a salad on top!

Not a bad place. Don't order the breakfast burrito, it is lacking substance.

Slow service, took 3 timed to get Sprite order, first time soda water only, 2nd time hair in glass, 3rd time right and free. Food was delicious.

A RARE mix-up with a take-out order was fixed immediately with no problem.
That's just 1 reason El Azteco has been a FAVORITE for 40 years!

Worst Mexican restaurant ever. Nothing even close to authentic and the quality of their food is simply repulsive. They gave me stale chips and when i asked for fresh ones i got the same stale, un salted chips i did before. I would pay NOT to eat here.

Great variety and delicious dishes! Salsa and cheese dip are always a favorite. Rooftop bar is great to enjoy in the warmer weather.

Food is okay, its just your typical place, nothing great but nothing bad either

With rooftop seating, this is one of my favorite places to grab lunch when the weather is nice.

El Azteco is a long standing jaunt in East Lansing. They make killer margaritas and their topopo salad is genius. Enjoying an afternoon on their rooftop in the summer while the bands are playing in the plaza with a margarita and friends is a favorite pasttime of mine. If it weren't for the topopo salad I wouldn't probably go that often but the salad is fresh, tasty, delicious, messy, massive, filling, etc. Their chips and salsa are also extremely good.

Awesome authentic food, very reasonalbly priced. Fun rooftop in the summer!

Reliable old stand-by menu favorites. Wish for the old margaritas of underground El Azteco days.

This place has as much flavor as white culture does: the salsa is bland and quite possibly store bought - way too sweet - the fajitas were a disgrace, who wants raw onions in fajitas? Only come when drinking or to get drunk. I asked for jaritos, a classic Mexican soda and the waiter looked at me as if I just asked for Shanghai beef.

Unfortunately, terrible. Service was fine, the food was the problem...dry and now sitting like rock in my stomach....

As usual, the food is pretty good, you never can go to El Azteco expecting amazing mexican food, this place is just an East Lansing staple. We did order take out and we were pretty disappointed by the togo margarita. $25 for a "pitcher" and they give us a 16oz glass bottle. For $25 we were expecting at least double the amount. It was tasty, but, come on...

I never thought Mexican food could be so bad! I could have made food 10x better at home. The food was very bland and the ground meat seemed to be the same quality as Taco Bell. So incredibly disappointing.

The place is usually packed on weekends even on Sunday nights. The food takes some time to come out but it s definitely worth the wait. Waiters are really nice and friendly. The place is really cozy and cool with the neon lights in the ceiling. I would recommend their chimichangas, they re just delicious.

If your looking for homemade tortilla's & tortilla chips El Azteco is your home. Great specials on Margaritas and at least 100 tequilas all within reach. Two locations. The east Lansing location is a buzzing oasis for students to gather for great Tex mex & fun atmosphere. Game days will be buzzing with activity with overworked servers tasked with too many tables so bring your patience. This place is two levels & can be noisy if busy. Great place for vegetarians & vegans. Lots of side options. I'm a fan of the legendary topopo salad, it is enough for two! The tamale is rediculously overpriced for a 3 inch disappointed. Most dishes otherwise flavors are meat cheese reliant. Also El Azteco's menu is mosIly gluten free! It's a Lansing original for sure! Missing the Chili's Rellenos which has been taken off of the menu. f you like heat go elsewhere. They use jalapenos from a friend farm in new Mexico. Sadly no decent hot sauce either. I've gotten cholula two types once when I've asked but most servers say that they do not have hit sauce offerings. I love their old takeaway design, two paper plates and a paper bag, sadly now you have to request, they mostly rely on plastic, I'm thinking it's recyclable?!

Good food and good and quick service. The salsa is spicy!

El Azteco has been my favorite restaurant for decades. I love their food, especially the Enchiladas Jocoques, which I get cravings for, and also the atmosphere. Prices are reasonable, and staff has been friendly. I apologize if I spelled Jocoques incorrectly. Give El Azteco a try if you haven't already!

It's usually very busy and crowded here, so expect some noise. Outdoor seating is plentiful, but now there's a taller building hugging the establishment that cuts a lot of natural light out. It seems more busy than festive these days.

Still sitting here and still waiting. 45+ minutes to get all of our food for a table of 4 with this place maybe halfway full. 12 minutes to have a waiter take drinks then he forgot 1/2 of the drinks and took 28 minutes to get them. To top it off just found a hair in the bland tasting nachos.

I always love the food and service at El Az. Makes great leftovers.

This is my all time favorite Mexican restaurant! I started eating here in

mediocre food with bad service. there s better Mexican food you can get in this town.

Great food, slightly overpriced. Been going there for 30+ years

My wife and I have been eating at El Azteco since we were MSU students, circa 1979. Started in the original underground. When we're in E. Lansing we never miss the opportunity to drop in for a plate of nachos and hot sauce. Same taste and quantity as always. Love it, never change.

Food is horrible. I got the taco plate and beef enchiladas and they were both disgusting. Way better off going to Taco Bell

Food was bland and didn't look very appetizing. waiter looked so uninterested in serving us. Def won't be back.

Food is Bland, not exciting. Cheap but not that good.

El Azteco had the worst customer service I have ever experienced in my life. Our waiter, Zac, acted erratically all night. He continued to get orders wrong and had to come back multiple times because he forgot the orders. When my friends ordered the Topopo salad, he brought the salad with dressing even after they requested no dressing. When they tried to send it back, he acted like he did not want to take the order back. They, then, ordered the Fajitas which were basically a pile of onions which they could not eat. When we went to contest the charge for the meal that could not be consumed, Zac yelled at my friend and became very aggressive. Eventually the charge was take off. Because of Zac's aggressive behavior, we asked if another waiter could cash out our checks. Zac came to our table and attempted to snatch our payments, almost hitting me in the face. We preceded to tell Zac that we would like to speak to the manger. Zac refused to go get the manager, threatened to call the police on us, and said that we could sit there all night because another waiter would not be over to check us out. This went on for over 30 minutes. Zac continued to come back to our table and harass us. Eventually, another waitress came to cash out out. I have never been treated this way in my life. Zac and the rest of the staff were extremely unprofessional. Never should a business allow their employees to harass and disrespect their customers in such a way. I will never eat here again.

My friends and I had a terrible experience here. The wait staff didn't want to seat us even though they had 3 large open tables and we had to convince the hostess to let us sit to order drinks while we waited for a small table to open up. During the time we ate, there were 5 other parties turned away and no one ended up sitting in those large tables until we left. The margaritas had no liquor in them. The waiter noticed how cold it was because our plastic window shade was rolled all the way up, offered to close it, never closed it because he 'couldn't do it without a manager'. (Even though we were told there were 4 available that night). The waiter brought us our food with the window shade was still open but forgot to bring us plates or utensils. Instead of bringing us our utensils he filled up beers first. Our food got cold and then we were charged extra for tortillas and toppings that he forgot to even bring out. Steak was hard to chew and the fajitas only came with steak and onions (where are the peppers?). Manager(s?) heard us complaining and blatantly ignored us but checked on other tables near us. It's a shame because the upstairs area has good atmosphere but we won't be returning.

A long-time favorite in East Lansing, but they've been overated all along. Service and staffing can he erratic, resulting in long waits before and after being seated. The good is good, not great. I go there for sentimental reasons.

The food was pretty good and my Margarita was really good and strong. I see why they have awards for their drinks!

If you are looking for good Mexican food in East Lansing this is not the place to go. Dishes here lack the flavors and tastes that one comes to desire. If I am ever looking to eat Mexican food I go to any other restaurant in the area. Drinks here are also very overpriced. The only redeeming quality of this place is the rooftop deck.

Love the chips and salsa. The topopo salad was awesome

I'll tell you we just go there for the Ambiance & Nostalgia.We grew up in East Lansing & Now my brothers in LA & I'm in Chicago! Looking forward to coming back Next year for your Botana & Fajitas!