5-19-12 El Patron

JE's mom always reminds him, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

It had a pretty bar area...

But what would a review be without some criticism or opinions of the food? It wouldn't be a review at all. If you've read our past entries, you'll know that most of our reviews are about Mexican food so although we're not experts, we have done lots of field research to know if something is good or not.

We have friends who rave about El Patron (you know who you are) so we thought we should finally try it out. We're apprehensive about Mexican food when it's surrounded by Tex Mex places like Margaritas and Ponak's on the Boulevard. We had a KC Foodie card (you get $10 off $25 of food) so we thought what the hell, let's try this place out.

To gage how you feel about your food, you typically compare items from other restaurants to what you're eating. So for example, a hard taco at one place is your basis for a hard taco somewhere else. Either it's going to be better or worse than what you're basing it on.

For the appetizer, we ordered the chicken quesadilla. Here it is, half way through eating it.

The chicken quesadilla was good, but nothing special.

JE ordered combo A called the El Norteno which was a chicken chimi with melted cheese and a beef taco. It also came with rice.

He thought the rice and cheese sauce was good, but again, there was nothing outstanding on his plate. 

I ordered combo B called the Mariachi Gordo. This was a beef burrito, a chicken mole enchilada along with rice and beans.

I should have known it wasn't going to be a good day when I tried the refried beans. They had no flavor whatsoever. I would say they are the blandest refried beans in Kansas City. I could have gotten better refried beans out of a can and I know they would have had some flavor in them. 

I've had mole before and I'm neutral on if I really like it or not. However, I thought the chicken mole enchilada was really gross. I didn't like it at all. I only finished half of it. 

The beef burrito was ok. The cheese probably saved that one. And the rice was good. I didn't think you could mess up beans but I was happy the rice didn't suffer the same fate. 

Our friends rave about the fish tacos and the tacos al pastor at this place. We didn't try either of those dishes, but from this experience, we won't be going back. 

To end on a positive note, the bar was really cool. Please wash this food down with several margaritas. Then in your drunken haze, everything will taste just fine.