El Vaquero Restaurant

I come here for the barbacoa burrito, it is super moist, tender, and flavorful. The rice and beans are also delicious and taste very homemade. Red salsa is tasty and has a kick. I always try to support the small mom and pop shops over corporate soulless mass feeding establishments. You can taste the love in the food.

First time here today. All I got to say is Delicious! I order a Torta Ahogada and was told I had to wait because they were making the bread. What! Fresh bread. Food was just great. Will be back soon.

I love the food here. The service is great. I usually go around 12:30. if you go around 1…130 it gets packed for lunch. Not a huge place so seating at that time is limited.

Was driving in the area and found this small little spot, great authentic Tortas Ahogadas and they make the chilaquiles from scratch which is really bomb. I will be back and will try there pozole too! Friendly service too!

What’s not to say? This place is small, but very clean! The friendly staff have your meal ready in a matter of minutes! The food? Authentic, cheap and delicious! I would definitely recommend this place to anyone looking for a home cooked meal on the quickness!

Great and fast service. Place is clean. Cheap to eat here with $ 10 you get a home made meal. One of the best tortas ahogadas.

The sopes and potato tacos are really good. They have limited seating so its better for take out. They close early so check their hours before you go.

God I love their Torta Hojada! This thing is just drenched in meat juice and spicy chili with lemon onions. A must if you love spicy food! Also give the chicken floutas with green Tomatio sauce and a side of rice and beans a try! They also have a good selection of Mexican sodas. 2 locations one on Fremont in Alhambra (small) and another one in El Sereno which has plenty of dining space.

My co worker and I were here last Sunday. I ordered the chillaquiles and he got a Carne asada burrito. We took our order to go but sat down as our food was being cooked. My only complaint is that every table was dirty. They were pretty busy for 10am on a Sunday. About 4 tables were available and all dirty. The food itself was delightful. The eggs were cooked to perfection and the salsa they use on the chillaquiles was really good. It had a nice kick to it but not too spicy. My co worker who had the burrito said it was also delicious, they are not stingy with the amount of meat they put in the burrito. The Carne asada was full of flavor, and the burrito was big! I took a menu back to work so I could show all my coworkers. I can’t wait to go again and try the tacos tostados!

This is my first time visit. It is a great little hole in the wall Mexican restaurant. I love the potato tacos!
The food is great and the price is right I will be back!

Went in on a Sunday at 2:55 because hours say they closed that day at 8, we walked in they told us they were closed we asked what time and they said 3. We went another time finally ordered a torta ahogada with mild sauce, I couldn’t even eat it to spicy. Won’t be going there again !!

This little place is awesome authentic Guadalajara style. The carnitas torta is a must be careful I asked for the hot salsa they put over the torta damn was it hot and I eat alot of hot chile.
The tacos of barbacoa are bomb.

Came with my BF — Groupon in hand. Normally, I do not like Groupon, but I guess SOMETIMES they do have good deals. Most of the time their deals are for CRAP like Trader Vic’s which is godawful — anyway…
El Vaquero is not bad at all. It’s an ugly little restaurant in an ugly little strip mall. There really isn’t that much parking available but we managed to get a spot in their small lot. They serve good tortas ahogadas but not good enough for puritsts because they are not spicy enough. Tortas ahogadas are supposed to be painfully spicy. I don’t care about this because I don’t do spicy so I enjoyed them. The bread was kind of tough. Didn’t really like it. However, since the tortas are totally covered with tomato sauce the toughness of the bread kept them together longer. The quality of the carnitas in the tortas was pretty good. The tomato sauce was pretty good too.
We also ordered some taquitos. They were not bad at all. Instead of rolling them up like flutes though they just fold them in half, which might bother purists. Their sopes are also good.
Would I come back? No, it’s too far, but if I lived in the area I would come back. Amazing, Groupon finally delivered!

I bought a groupon that gave me $ 20 worth of food, the food was pretty good.

Very dissapointed
We walked in and nobody greeted us, the server and cook were too busy watching t. v an talking with their friends/​family.
sat down and order the torta ahogada, sope plate, tacos dorados and horchata. first, the carnitas in the torta ahogada were stale as was the carne asada in the sopes, the horchata had a weird after taste, the best but still mediocre thing was the tacos dorados.
Service was poor, the cook and cashier were more interested in watching tv and talking to their friends.
I do not recommend this place to anyone. the only reason I went was cause I had a groupon $ 12 for $ 25 and even with this discount, I still feel like it was a waste of money, time and gas.

Lord, these guys know service.
A clear memory is hard to have of El Vaquero because as I entered the restaurant, a little kid pops out of the salon next door to yell «baka! BAKA!» then darts back inside. Confusing because rarely do I have a child try to be simultaneously culturally sensitive and insulting.
El Vaquero has these plates for $ 5.40 after tax – I ordered two carnita tacos that come with a side of beans, rice and chips. The rice was anemic, undercooked; the beans were the equivalent of what you get when you desperately scrape the bottom of the can.
BUT THROUGH THE POWER OF CARNITAS, THEY WERE DELICIOUS. Perfect even. That’s how good the pork is at Vaquero. It’s juicy, tender but falls apart on the grain. They’re balanced perfectly across two small, perfectly warm and soft corn tortillas. The crappiness of the side items was necessary to my enjoyment of meat so delicious.
And because I ate in, I got chips from a guy who looked like he went to Mark Keppel with me. He had CNN on and constantly offered me water and limes for some reason.
Woe is me for not bringing tequila and shot glasses.

hole in the wall, family owned mexican place.
looked sorta ghetto, but thats where most authentic and tasty food are!
torta ahogada was so so. chunks of tender pork in between bread soaked in pork sauce.
tacos dorados were delish! i would totally come back for that. barbacoa meat in crispy tortillas.
soup was tasty as well and loaded with veges and meat!
ladies in the kitchen were super nice and friendly!

Went here and it was the first time in a long time, I felt I was not in Alhambra. Latino Staff and patrons and the telonovelas blasting — weird but pretty cool.
So when you come here, just like in Mexico or the Mexico I know, you need to bring cash.
Also parking not very good, theres only like 4 spots, so you will have to park on the street, though not a bad walk. No restroom, that I remember, either, too small of a place, only 4 tables.
Ordered the Torta Ahogada, took a bit, but it was well worth of it, as a couple bites into it I was once again reminded of my motherland (well my mom’s motherland) as I was transplanted back to the rough cobblestone streets of Guadalajara, sitting next to my giant cousin, watching the rucas and paleta man walk by as little kids play futbol on the street. Love the onions and the red sauce as it made the sandwich. The bread was a perfect complement as it held the sauce and didnt get soggy with it. Carnitas inside of it, also good.
I would totally come again and relive my torta ahogada experience.

CASH ONLY
I came here for lunch with the guys Ed, JR, and Dre to try out their famed torta ahogada con carnitas. Just think of a torta (Mexican Sandwich) that has been stuffed with carnitas then drenched in a spiced red sauce. The meal is served with knife and fork because it would be a mess to eat it with just your hands.
I do like how the red sauce is a bit of delayed kind of hot. You can eat up to half your meal when the sweats and sniffles from your nose starts to come. What can I say I like surprises!
Would I be back?
I can see myself checking place again.

Had the carnitas torta ahogada. It’s a bagget with some refried beans, carnitas, then drenched in a chili sauce, with some pickled onions on top. The onions are crisp and the pickling takes away the onion bite. I would preferred that the onion were pickled longer, but that’s just me. The bread is chewy and the sauce only permeates half way through the bread. There is enough sauce to soak up all the bread if that’s your thing, it’s my thing. The carnitas are good, not the most tender or most flavorful I’ve had, but it works in the sandwich. You can get half the sandwich drenched or all of it. It takes a few bites for the heat to kick in. The first few bites will be ok, by the last few bites, you will be sniffling. That’ the right amount of spice.
Be aware, it’s cash only. They do have a ATM on site that has a $ 1.50 service charge. The parking is big enough for 6 cars, 3 of which seem to always be taken.
Next door s a liquor store that sells a Bud light tall boy for $ 2, +/​-​there.