El Azteco Restaurant Reviews

Our waitress was awesome met with some old friends from California had a good time

Food isn t authentic at all , and is bland . Rather go to Taco Bell .

Friendly staff, however the food wasn't that great and it's hard to get behind a Mexican restaurant that only has ground beef and chicken on the menu.

The margarita was fine, but the food was bland. I've been there once before years ago and had the same experience. There are other much better Mexican places to go to in the area!

An East Lansing legend. Still excellent after all these years.

Have been eating here since 1981. Always order the burrito plate.

It's best visited after a few other bar stops. They have a pretty large (and typical of Americanized Mexican food) menu, but for the past 27 years, my go-to's have been the nachos and the Topopo salads. The pitcher of margaritas is a nice touch as well.

In warm weather, the rooftop patio is quite nice.

Best patio in East Lansing. The food is wonderful, although maybe not the healthiest. Margaritas are plentiful and tasty. Beer choices are okay. The atmosphere, especially in the summer months, is one of the best.

Great food with prompt lunchtime service. Also a very pleasant place to linger after work, especially in the spring and summer when the upper level patio is open. Visit soon, before the sun gets swallowed up by the nearby construction.

Service was fine, but the food was not good. If you are looking for Mexican food , I wouldn't go here.

Great Mexican food right in the heart of east Lansing. Love the enchiladas

If I could give it zero stars I would. If you like eating cold tasteless cardboard this is the place for you.

Service was horrible and the food was cold when it was brought to the table. Waited 20 minutes just for the menu and water. Should of got up at that time and walked out. I will never return.

The food finally shows up but I still don t have silverware. The silverware takes a few more minutes to show up. I ordered steak fajitas with toppings I assumed that the toppings were the sour cream and guacamole, when my fajitas finally showed up, there were no toppings. Just the steak mixed with green peppers and onions on one plate and another plate with 2 huge burrito fajita bread. So I had to ask for sour cream and guacamole. When the bill came they had charged me 14 dollars for the fajitas plus 3 dollars for the toppings ? Plus 4.75 for the sour cream and guacamole!! The steak meat was full of tendons and very hard to chew. Almost 22 DOLLARS for terrible steak meat and 2 enormous burrito fajitas and what amounted to a shot glass worth or sour cream and guacamole. Definitely won t go back there.

Poor service orders not taken correctly long wait for food orders were wrong and took 45 minutes to get them back still wrong BAD

Rating 4 stars because of our server. He was great! I would rate 5 stars but we came on a Friday for the patio around dinner time (super busy, I know) but she told me it would be 20 minutes and gave us a buzzer. We went downstairs and sat on the bench outside and waited.

And waited

But the buzzer never rang. 45 minutes of waiting, we asked what was going on. She said that she forgot to call us..
Ok but how.

We got sat and ordered our food and drinks. Took about half hour but we understood since it was busy. So once our food came, my husbands was totally wrong. So it got sent back. It didn t come back for AN HOUR. I was already done eating, thinking it would take a few minutes. Our server was humiliated and you could tell he was stressed. I ve been there and I know how it feels. It wasn t his fault so we did leave a nice tip.

But that kitchen man... it needs some work.

I have been there a number of times in the last year, this time was the worst experience anyone could ever have. Server acted like he didnt care about being there or servicing our party. Agree with the earlier reviews about the margaritas...if i wanted a picture of ice i would have ordered it. The price gauging is totally a fact. Had to go up to the bar to get extra napkins which is totally unacceptable. The female bartender was more worried about after work activities and couldnt be bothered to hand us a couple napkins. The food took about an hour from ordering till it came to the table. Just not a good experience and will tell people to look elsewhere that is for sure.

I have been going here since college days. Love the nachos

Service was decent. I was in a party of 11 and 3 of us ordered margaritas. We were served our margaritas in PLASTIC TUMBLERS!!!!! I have NEVER been served a margarita in a PLASTIC TUMBLER!!!! It was half the size of any regular margarita in a regular margarita glass and the SAME price. We asked the waitress if she was kidding and she just ignored us . Then 3 of us ordered the Topopo salad as this is their "famous" dish. As we are eating our food we notice there is NO chicken in it.Thinking maybe we just didn't notice we asked each other and sure enough no one had chicken. By this time we had already left so my mother called the restaurant which informed us that we should have said something whlle there so the could have added it. But there was nothing she could or would do now. Fantastic we say. We will never go back.
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This was one of my favorite places in college and I try to get out there as often as I can. They have great food and a fun environment.

One of my wife's favorite hang outs when she is back on campus.

Unbelievable! Terrible service, food long time coming, cold, server said she was going to be back with the rest of our plates and over 20 minutes later we got the rest. Asked for manager and things were even worse he didn't even apologize just excuses!! Won't be back!!!

Hunter is an incredible manager and goes out of his way to make sure customers feel cared about and safe COVID-wise. Easily the best employee, I highly recommend him!!

The food here is always amazing. At this location the portion sizes are much smaller than the other location but they have a rooftop bar and dining area that is great. With a wide selection of cuisine, their beans are a must have.

I love El Azteco! I try to eat here almost every time I'm in East Lansing or Lansing. It's the bomb!

Great Mexican food, great memories. Cheese dip and margaritas are must haves!

El Az has always been awesome - an EL staple. Occasional service misfires are made up for by consistently good familiar food. Curbside has been GREAT.

Good food, excellent chips and salsa! Highly recommended

Good food, pricing good. Not too bad of a wait. Very friendly considering my Michigan gear I was wearing!

Great atmosphere on the outdoor deck and downstairs, and the place has some good beers, but the food is decent at best.

Given downtown East Lansing's pathetic restaurant scene & focus on establishments catering to college students (bars & fast food type places) it's not too hard to understand why a place serving such mediocre, heavy, overpriced pseudo-Mexican food is such a culinary icon there -- it has offered a fairly unique & homegrown option for many years. They have a pleasant rooftop area, the dingy interior is somehow atmospheric, and the heavy food goes well w their margaritas & beer if you are in the mood for that kind of thing. They do make their own tortillas, chips & salsa. Service is uninspired.

We were looking for some tasty mexican food! Sorry to say it did not exist in the burrito plate nor the chicken quesadilla which we ordered. The burrito meat looked like it had been soaked in dish water and had very little flavor. Refried beans and rice also lacked flavor. Thought it might be just me but my girlfriend chose the quesadilla and said she couldn't get any flavor either. It was no kidding less the 1/4 inch thick at its best. Hardly any meat. Diet Coke was good and service was good unless you were looking for friendly service

This restaurant serves more tequila than any other place in Michigan!

You go here for the amazing patio with its great location and views. My wife and many people love the Topopo Salad. The cheese dip and salsa are both good. Outside of that , the food is terrible. Stay away from quesadillas, its as if you went to your fridge and grabbed some cheese and threw it in the microwave.

Best. I mean BEST MEXICAN RESTAURANT IN TOWN. never a bad meal there.

An old Lansing/East Lansing Mexican classic, known for distinctive thick chips served at the table, Topopo Salad and margaritas.

A favorite from when we were students which still is fun to visit and actually had great food!

Love Topopo salads. Put nachos n Taco salads to shame. :))

Decent food, but not the best Tex-Mex in town. Great if you can sit on the roof deck.

Mediocre food. Putting advertising in the restrooms is disrespectful of ones customers.

One of the great Mexican restaurant in the Lansing area. This place is an institution!

The food is not so good, it needs that touch to be good Mexican food!

I love the place, it looks like a dive, but the food is great, my favorite is chicken enchiladas. Everything is so hot from the kitchen I know it's been cooked to a safe temperature, no questions about food safety.
The West side location has free chips and salsa, while the East side charges for chips, but has the roof top and better views to watch college students do stupid stuff for free entertainment.

I went for my 21st Birthday, the other day and the food was not that good, my shot tasted watered down, and the service was not the best.

The standard which any Mexican restaurant north of Texas and east of Arizona should look at. Art retired a couple of years ago for New Mexico, but the food, ambiance and tradition are still the same since 1976. I dont get the haters - the chips and salsa are still homemade and reasonable prices.

they have good food and friendly service. we just wished they would close off more tables during the pandemic now. great service!

Horrible. First the guacamole for a tiny cup was $3.50. Then their chips were stale. I would never recommend this place to anyone. Took the manager forever to come see me, he didn t do anything to help me. They disgust me. I wish there was an option to give them no stars. That is how bad this place is....

It is the rooftop terrace on a sunny day, why we come here. Good service and beer. The food is a decent value.

Margaritas are good and the rooftop is great even in cooler weather. They have a white cheese dip that was amazing with the endless chips they give you!

Not as good as 1974 Topopo but I was also sober this time

This is my wifes favorite from when she was at MSU. Still very good food.

They microwave and deep fry just about everything that shows up on your plate but that doesnt stop me from continually going back there whenever im in town! Grubby but good af!

check my other reviews, i m usually a positive person....

so we waited over an hour after being lied to that the wait was 30 min

we waited 2-2.5 hours plus for food

chicken was rubbery and reheated, just not appetizing, guac was kind of gross

multiple people received wrong food or no food

too hot in restaurant

understaffed

overall terrible experience

excellent server given the handicaps of being understaffed, terrible food and terrible experience.

Nice rooftop seating. Drinks and food were good. Decently priced. Had a mix up with the drinks and they were right on that. Cool atmosphere for watching MSU games.

Good food and great service. The chicken enchiladas were delicious. ..try it with the Verde sauce!

Delicious food and great drinks! Reasonable prices.

Been going there since early 90's. Always great and felt safe with Covid protocols.

Awesome food! Great portions and value for your money! The servers did seem a little understaffed and seemed quite stressed, but it was still good service.

Love the rooftop patio. Food is pretty solid and service is usually good as well.

It has been over ten years since the last time I ate at this resturant, the Topopo salad was just as good as I remember it.

This is hardly Mexican food. My cheese enchilada was greasy and smothered in cheddar cheese(?). There were hardly any onions in the dish. The refried beans were dry. The restaurant was deafeningly loud. When I asked for a to go box, I got two paper plates and a doggy bag. The only good part was the waiter, who was polite and refilled drinks very quickly. Friendly service, bad food.

Decent food for good prices. Beef tacos were quite tasty with their guacamole. Not sure if I'd recommend it over Jalapenos, but it's worth your time if you're nearby.

Fun place with decent American-Mexican food and great Margaritas. Try the rooftop!