Taqueria El Rinconsito

Most of the tacos here are pretty darn good!
Whenever I come here I always order either 3 or 4 tacos with no sides — don’t have the stomach space for sides! So far I’ve tried the asada, pollo, carnitas, and cabeza tacos. I wasn’t a big fan of the cabeza tacos, but I liked the pollo tacos and really liked the carnitas and asada tacos. They also have a wide variety of veggies and sauces on the side that you can add to spice up your tacos.
But there are two things that have convinced me to come back (twice now!) even though there are probably several taco places in the area to try. First, it’s dirt cheap — like under $ 5 for 3 tacos cheap. Second, they have CALORIE INFORMATION for their tacos. That’s crazy! I’ve only ever seen that for large chains and places claiming to be healthy food places. Now, the calorie information is probably not 100% accurate but for someone that was counting calories for a while, having the restaurant provide at least an estimate is a godsend. I know exactly how much to order to get the right amount of calories for me and this way I’m not eating too many calories even though I’m going out for lunch.
I’ve already been here twice and I’m sure I’ll be back!

I moved from LA to Seattle around a year ago and have had crazy cravings for Mexican food. El Riconsito is not as good as King Taco or El Flaming but it’s decent. Can’t go wrong with carne asada tacos and love the pickled carrots at the salsa bar.

I was looking for a quick authentic dinner. This place was quick but NOT authentic. The food was not bad; but not the best. Would I come back? No.

I’ve eaten here twice and had takeout, always the same thing, Pollo Taco Plate. I want to try other things that I see other people eating like the chicken plate and the deep fried fish, but I really like the chicken tacos. I also like their salsa bar, and the horchata is perfectly sweet and refreshing.
I’ve lived in Southern California and eaten the best tacos Mexico has to offer. This isn’t that, but it’s good, flavorful, and satisfying. I eat everything on my plate, and someday I will venture into the rest of the menu.

3 carne asada tacos with mild red salsa and radishes! Perfection! Never attempt the jalapeño though unless you are out for an adventure.
The cashier is always patient as i stare at the extensive menu. :)

Finally found something like it should be :) Very good Mexican food! They have various mexican soft drinks as tamarindo, jamaica and horchata. You can also find all corn stuff, carnitas and tortas ahogadas as well as the regular food.
Staff is so helpful and nice. Almost all tables were occupied but service was still good. I would do something with the colors of the place but it’s ok…

By far some of the best Mexican food on the east side! I’ll admit, I’m hooked on their lengua tacos. P. s. try the churros

It used to be my favorite Mexican restaurant in the eastside, but the most visit was so unpleasant that I kept wondering if the management has changed. Higher price, worse food quality and terrible service. It definitely went downhill.
Pollo asado used to be our favorite dish here. With only $ 5.99, the large portioned juicy tender chicken legs with rice and bean was not only delicious, but also a bargain. But now they jumped the price to $ 7.99, with much less portion. Making it worse, the chicken leg was charred and way too dry. They must have left it in the oven too long. My kid used to finish all two chicken legs because they were so tender, juicy and lots of flavor. Now he could not even get one done. I don’t blame him. It’s simply terrible. Did they change chef as well?
For the beverage, my favorite guava juice is gone. To make it worse, they watered down ice tea, my second favorite.
The service went bad too. Especially this new waitress with glass and blonde color at the root of her dark hair. First of all, she clearly messed up our order because we ordered two pollo asado but she only brought us one. When we asked about the second one, she asked us for our receipts before going back to the kitchen to get it. Don’t they have a slip there at kitchen to check? I’d say it’s kind of rude.
Then it got even worse. She only brought a spoon for my wife’s soup so we asked for an additional fork. Guess what she said, she told us that the soup only got spoon with it.
I was pretty confused and annoyed so I just looked at her, until she gave up and brought us an extra fork.
What kind of lame excuse is that? Only spoon for soup? When customer asks for silver, isn’t it waiter’s duty to bring one? Seriously why such restriction at forks? That is just a very cheap basic fork that nobody gonna take home. I’m not sure if this absurd policy is from the management or this specific waitress was giving us a hard time. Either way it does not make difference because I’m not coming back.
Rude service, small portion and poor quality. All my family agreed that we will not be here again for a long time.

We’re from Los Angeles. Trust us. You will not be disappointed.
Also, the mild stuff is very mild so def go for medium spicy.

On first impression it is a decent option for mexican but not amazing. It is a little divey, but that doesn’t bother me one bit. It was really busy during lunch hour, the service was quick and the place was clean.
I had the taco plate and after reading reviews was just hoping for more flavor. The best thing was the fresh tortillas, the meat was okay and the beans weren’t great. I have had better mexican in the area, but for the price point it is a solid lunch spot.

Finaleffin’ingly! A place that serves non-​gringoized food!
Mullitas are maravilloso… los tacos de lengua y pico de gallo… muy sabroso.
I WILL return!
Oh! All you can eat menudo (Fri., Sat., Sun.)…$ 10!!!

This place is the shit for authentic Mexican food on the Eastside. It may be a chain, but this specific location has a much better vibe than the other ones I’ve been to because it is a lot cleaner. The thing I love about Mexican food is that the portions are always huge so it might even serve as 2 meals depending on how hungry I am.
I love the salsa bar, it has a variety of hot sauces. You know it’s the real deal Mexican food if the majority of customers here are Mexican! This is located in the Crossroad area and even though my work is in Downtown Bellevue, I would sometimes go for a drive to get food here during lunch. I also like how it’s open late, something that restaurants in Bellevue is lacking.
Tell me about your experience if you’ve been here or is going to after reading this review:)

i dunno why but i want certain foods to be served in a low-​budget atmosphere: viet food in some ramshackle building that looks like it was decorated during the tet offensive; a dai pai dong food stand in hk that is LITERALLY next to an trash strewn alley; tacos from a truck that is only fast enough to outrun a health inspector. i love eating at those types of joints. while this particular el rinconcito ain’t quite as gully some of the trucks i like, it serves up a lot of that flavor i dig so they get a pass.
i can’t say i’m an authority on mexican food in any sense (hey, i like the dumbed-​down-​for-​americans-​style mexican joints! #fajitasftw), so i asked my mexican peeps where they liked to eat. quite a few of them pointed me here.
this joint is not fancy at all (definitely geared toward the working folks, conveniently open super late). walk in, order at the counter, get a number, go find a seat. they bring you for food — straight up, no frills, just some pretty damn good chow at a low price.
i haven’t tried everything, i just stick with mainly tacos (fish, cabeza, lengua) and their enchiladas. the asada can be tough sometimes so i generaly stay with the lengua. they got a selection of random hot sauces, pico, sliced up radishes (i haven’t figured out why i would eat them… but i still do), and limes on a station to the side of the cash register. looks like some lady is making fresh tortillas on a griddle throughout the day too. orale!
for a few bucks more than «taco» bell, i’d rather just come here when i am turnt and need tacos.

Another delicious meal here, as usual.
I got the lengua mulitas which were tasty. I really didn’t want onions in it so that was annoying but I managed to pick most of it out.
The new offering was all you can eat menudo and pozole (dine in only). Score! I had one bowl of each. I’m going to be culturally insensitive and say the menudo was much better but could they throw some homony in it? It would have been nice to have a tad of something else in my delicious bowl of stomach. Yum! With a splash of lime and dried herbs, I was in heaven.
The refillable horchata was delicious as usual. I love horchata. The one they have is so creamy and flavorful.
The most surprising thing was they have a manager now walking around asking if you’re enjoying your food, offering to go boxes etc. That was a nice touch because it made me feel like I was in a restaurant versus fast food place. He was so friendly and helpful. It made a delicious meal all the better.

I trust this place is authentic because it serve menudo. I’m so happy I was introduced to this restaurant because now I know I can buy fresh menudo and guacamole. If you want menudo or fried fish (trust me, it’s delicious!), you can only purchase those from Friday to Sunday. I highly recommend you go any time Friday to early Saturday or they WILL sell out.
There was so much food for four people. Part of me wanting to keep ordering food, while the other part of me was too stuffed to move. I also love love the horchata here. It’s reminds me of home back in L.A. where I’ve had the best horchata in the U.S. thus far. Whatever the chefs are doing, they’re an A+ in my heart.

For Bellevue, there isn’t many options for tacos, especially for the late night munchies. They are open till midnight when other dinner places all shut down by 8:30 or 9pm!
For a little over $ 9 you can get a 5 taco combo with a drink. Drink selections include sodas, but why would you do that when there is a nice assortments of agua frescas such as horchata???
Has a good mount of selections for meat: carnitas, pollo, asada, adobaba, birria, lengua, and cabeza. There is also a salsa bar that is stocked full of sauces and pickled veggies. The tortilla usually comes out a bit hard and doesn’t feel like it was JUST made but its small price to pay to get tasty tacos at 11:30pm on a weeknight. Tacos are stuffed, they aren’t cheap on the ingredients.
Seating is pretty informal, you order, get a number, and have your food brought out to you so its not that instant like how the taquerias are in California. Plenty of parking in a strip mall.

One of the reasons I started going here for Mexican food was because it’s open until midnight every night (open until 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays). I can’t say I know of too many places open that late on week nights. The reason I continue to go to Taqueria El Riconsito is because it’s inexpensive authentic Mexican food. When you first walk in, you order at the counter. You’re given a number, and they will bring the food to you. When you’re all done, they bus the tables too! They are really friendly, and the food is always super tasty. As much as I love this place, the reason I can’t give it 5 stars is because the dishes and seating area aren’t always super clean. It’s not a big deal to me, but I can see it being really off putting to some who come here. Also, it’s packed at lunchtime, so it’s possible you won’t find a place to sit down.

Authentic and excellent. The soup, oh, the soup man. I wanted to slap a 5 on this review for the soup alone. They are SO good, available only on weekends but so flavorful, deep, and filling. I highly recommend the beef soup out of everything on the menu; see the picture I have of it. You’ll hardly be able to finish it, and you’ll be blown away by how much spicy, tender beef flavor is packed into that bowl.
What stops Rinconsito from getting the last star is that all the other items on the menu are good — good, but not great. As far as I can tell it is absolutely authentic, though, and often they have special deals on random items, so look out for that! Great place for a late-​night splurge.
Did I mention unlimited refills on Horchata?

— Awesome special, yummy food —
Food: 4 stars
Price: 4 stars
Service: 3 stars
Ambiance: 3 stars
Overall: 3.5
Food:
I got the Pollo Asado special for $ 5.99, which comes with 2 chicken drumsticks, rice, beans with some cheese, and three tortillas. You can also get some salad from the salad bar since it’s free for all (I THINK). My food was delicious and the chicken skin was somewhat crispy too even though it’s grilled/​pan fried (?). I am not a big fan of rice, but the tortilla was pretty good. The special is awesome because it usually costs more than $ 10 bucks based on the menu, so it’s quite a steal. I also tried my husband’s enchiladas chipotle, which is just so so. I think I prefer the small and crispy ones from grocery stores. u know, the microwave food: P
Just for the record, I’m full after finishing most of the rice, beans, 2 tortillas, 2 small plates of salad, one of my drumsticks, and one of my husband’s enchiladas. I think you can order something small with the Pollo Asado to share between 2 people.
Price:
The price is awesome due to the special. Without the special, it is still alright. If you can get full for less than $ 10 in Bellevue, then it’s not bad.
Service:
There aren’t much service since all they do is giving you the food and clean up after you leave. You have to get water or salad yourself if you want any. There’s pro/​con, but I tipped a little just in case.
Ambiance:
The place isn’t too busy at Wednesday night. There were probably 5 groups dining at that time (Well, allow me to count single person as a group in this case.). When we arrived, there’s someone ordering, and he used the plastic bag there to take out some salad from the salad bar to go. The salad bar doesn’t have much except salad (the cheap type that looks like cole slaw), beets slices, 4 different salsa, and boiled pepper.
There are also 2 TVs in the restaurant for you to watch your fav sports games.
Overall:
I enjoyed eating there with my friends, but I’m generally not a big fan of Mexican food. I have to say I still like Qdoba or Chipotle better, but this place does have a friendly environment and it reminds me of my Spanish class in high school. I’d eat there again if the Pollo Asado is still on sale that time~

I have eaten here in the past and never considered them special. I thought that their food was good enough and reasonably priced. When I saw Stan Y.‘s recent Unilocal review, I couldn’t believe it was the same restaurant, so we had to try what Stan had.
What made this a 5 star review was the Pollo Asado, a special that nobody knew how long they would continue. It was two chicken legs cooked to tenderness with a crispy, flavorful seasoned skin. At $ 5.99, its a huge bargain. I never noticed before but they make their own corn tortillas freshly as you order. They were delicious.
We also had the Taquitos Rancheros which were very good. The meatiest taquitos We’ve ever found. We will return soon in the hopes that the special continues.

I desire the things that will destroy me in the end.
I cannot resist the sweet serenade of that love long past, still unable to shake the rich memories we made over a lifetime together. The joy we shared during those intimate nights in, the long dinners enjoyed with friends. Oh, the times we had! He calls me from so far away with his irresistible siren song, alas I am unable to answer. The pain of our parting stings after all of these years, but my search for another marches on. Taqueria el Rinconsito may not replace my old love, but in a land where mediocre lives, this star shines bright.