El Señor Sol

I’ve been going here to eat drink and be merry since 2006. Today it had probably been a year since I’ve been. Very disappointed — food is ok — overpriced for the quality you get; host/​waiter/​bartender was wonderful and attentive — at least to the six people there (where is everyone at)? Margarita= 10; ambience = 2;bathroom = 0. This place is a beautiful old building that has gone to crap. It doesn’t have to be this way. It shouldnt still smell like dust with a hint of sewage. The patio used to be my favorite spot. I was nervous that it might come tumbling down on us. This is a premium location. Some attention to detail, redecorating and deep cleaning is needed — today. And 6 hours later… I’m sick!

Terrible service! First of all we were one of two tables in the entire restaurant. We were seated on the patio where we sat for over 20 mins without anyone noticing we were there. The host did come and talk on the phone outside so he saw us and also sat us so we walked out past the host and past the waitress with both on their phone which they didn’t look up from at all. I can’t actually speak about the food because we never tasted anything. Not even water.

Great authentic Mexican food! Great service! And world’s biggest margarita! You’ve got to try this place!

It’s pretty rare when I write a negative review. I live in the area and have spied this restaurant as we frequent the Children’s Museum. It was a nice atmosphere for my 1.5 year old who gobbled up the chips and guacamole. My husband had the chicken enchiladas and I had the fish tacos.
The service was great.
That evening both of our stomachs weren’t right. The next morning my husband was extremely sick. After about 24 hours he was able to eat again.
After that experience I will not eat here again and question the sanitation of the restaurant.

Almost did not go here due to Reviews
I am happy my wife urged me to try it
Francisco was awesome as our waiter
We hit HH so the drink prices a plus
Food was certainly acceptable
We (family of 4) enjoyed the atmosphere
Will be back

This is obviously some sort of tourist trap to make hungry tourists miserable while they wait forever for any type of attention at this restaurant. They charge you for chip refills. Really!?! If I’m forced to wait 45 minutes for my food, i should AT LEAST be able to get some free chips. The server only ran our food. Never checked on us, never gave refills, never asked us how we were doing. I’m also a server so I know how it should be done, especially when the place wasn’t even that busy. They must think that because of their location across the aquarium that they don’t need to worry about giving good service because people will feel obligated to eat here. Here’s some advice for everyone: DO NOT eat here unless you love bad service and mediocre Mexican food. Would give zero stars if I could.

Showed up here at 8:40 on Wednesday night’s told to leave because they decide to close the kitchen early. Went back a few days later and discovered a
BLOODY BANDAID IN MY FOOD.
poorly run. ZERO intelligence within management.

The nachos look amazing and normal! I’m over all these hipster nacho innovations… But the combo looked too good to pass up.

Great Mexican food. I have enjoyed everything I have had there. Big margarita that are not all ice.

So visited yesterday for lunch. 3^rd time we’ve been to this location as we’ve always enjoyed all of our dishes. Again food was tasty, however, we will not be returning to this establishment. At the end of our meal while my husband waited/​took care of the check, my 3 year old daughter needed to go potty. I headed towards back of restaurant to girl’s bathroom. As we approached, we could see the door to the kitchen was propped about a ¼ open and you couldn’t get a glimpse in there from restaurant booths/​tables, but Turing into bathroom entrance you could see right in. My stomach did gymnastics immediately with the view before me. I have Seriously NEVER EVER seen anything so FILTHY in all my days. It was something out of a Hollywood movie trying to portray the slums of Tijuana… It seemed impossibly unreal. The doors into and in back of kitchen out to «employee parking maybe?» was caked in virtually black grime from bottom ¾ way up… it was like it had NEVER been wiped down since the 1880’s back in the Zang days… NOR hand the hands that were handling it EVER been wash. Food stains adored the walls. And furthermore there was old large scraps of food (wilted lettuce, tomato chunks, chip crumb piles) all over the floor which Mr. Magoo could clearly see hadn’t been mopped in over a decade. Scattered everywhere, 30+ filthy stainless pots/​mixing bowls carelessly strewn and stacked all over the kitchen’s counter and even on floor!
I seriously was instantly nauseous. I didn’t say anything and hurried my 3 yr. old along. Apparently it freaked her out too, as when we finally got into restroom stall she started crying and wouldn’t get on potty and said she wanted to potty at home.“Let’s go, home mama, plllleeeaaaassssseee!”. I couldn’t get out of that restaurant fast enough with a belly full of heavy Mexican fair.
Again, I have recommended this place a few times to friends visiting the Child Museum or Aquarium in the past. The food is pretty tasty. I’m not the complaining/​finicky type. But HOLY MARY MOTHER of GOD, You couldn’t pay me my 1^st million to eat there again. Good grief, the filth of that kitchen was a «Kodiak moment.» (You know the kind of mental image that haunts you weeks and months after catching a glimpse of the dead car accident victim)

This was by far one of the WORST experiences I’ve ever had at a restaurant. We stopped in on Valentine’s Day to kill some time as the line for the aquarium was very long. (We took a taxi downtown and this was the only place we could see to eat in the area.) We were passed by 3 different employees (none of which made eye contact) before being seated.
We were excited to see one of the servers setting a dish on fire so we thought the food had to be good. NOT the case! The only item we noticed to be «flaming» was the barbacoa. Not only did it not coming flaming as advertised, the cut of meat was pretty much all fat with NO flavor to it. The regular marg was all tart lime and the strawberry marg was nothing but sugar.
We asked for the food to go (planning on giving it to someone on the street as we barely touched it). Didn’t receive the to go silverware we requested. We felt so bad to give away such awful food that we trashed it.
When we asked for the check, it took him about 10 minutes to bring it and then I had to hunt him down after about another 10 minutes to sign so we could leave. Did I mention that one of the cooks was sitting at the bar drinking (obviously still working). I RARELY tip less than 15% as I have worked several years as a server. This guy got less than 10%. Never once did he ask how the food was (seeing that the food was barely touched). There didn’t seem to be a manager present or I would have asked that they take it off the bill. Complete waste of $ 50 and we left very hungry.

I went for a late lunch after visiting the aquarium, I was the only person in the restaurant and I can’t figure out why. The fajitas were pretty good, they were a little burnt but that happens sometimes with those sizzle plates. The waiter was very attentive. I would definately go back, I hear the margaritas are supposed to be really good.

Worst place EVER because I walked out feeling like I was going to throw up. I don’t write reviews often but this place is horrible. It took 45 minutes for us to get appetizers. The food is overpriced and tastes like shit. I would rather have Taco Bell. My carnitas were super greasy. When we said something about the excessive wait the guy said sorry and didn’t try to comp us. After looking at the check our food wasn’t entered until 15 minutes after our order. I scrounged to try to give the guy a penny tip because giving him nothing would have been too nice.

I have never left a restaurant. Ever. Get your stuff together guys or you’re not going to be open for long. No pregnant burrito for me :-(
Our first experience was better and the food was good. His was a joke! It took a good ten minutes just to get our drink order. Then there was rarely anyone around except for an older gentleman who looked like he was moving so quickly he would have a heart attack. I won’t be back. I’ll have to find someone else who can stuff a burrito for me.

I’ve eaten here about every other Sunday (some times more often) for the past three years. One my second visit, I ordered a side salad and steak fajitas, and have been ordering exactly that ever since. Honestly, the best steak fajitas I’ve had… spanning the entire country. I ask them to overcook the hotplate so everything gets a little extra smokey. I don’t know what’s up with that side salad… It’s nothing more than iceberg lettuce, carrots, tomato, cabbage, onions, some cheddar and ranch dressing, but I can’t get enough of it! The salsa is awesome. There have been a few times where it was just too spicy to eat, but that fault lies on the jalapenos. More often than not though, I end up buying some to take home with me.
Customer service has always been amazing. They know my order by heart, right down to draining the excess water off of the salad instead of my doing it myself, and everything starts coming to my table moments after I sit without my having to actually order. It’s almost like going to mom’s house for Sunday dinner… minus the lasagna.

If the service only paid more attention to the customers, this place would easily be a 4* and possibly even a 5* hole in the wall. The drinks, chips/​salsa and the food are all way too good to not return, so I’ll be back to give their service a 2^nd chance.
Great food!!!

The three of us only had two HUGE margaritas ($ 16.99 each) and a platter of nachos, but the fajitas served to another table smelled amazing! The margaritas were perfect, strong, and our center piece with straws we doubled up so we didn’t have to lean forward to sip (see photo… it was actually funny) The generous nachos were cheesy, beefy, with lots of sour cream and guacamole.
Elias, Ramon, and the other servers were very attentive and I think enjoyed our possibly overly silly and quite vocal table. Our phones had all died and when my friend went to the car to charge them (she had a business call she HAD to make), I was told «We have all types of chargers here; she can bring it back in to charge it instead of sitting in the car.» That was nice!
The décor and ambiance was rather divey and the ceiling tiles and booths probably need some attention, but we didn’t care. We had a great time!
I am pretty sure there is a dispensary upstairs that lent a certain fragrance to the air.
We will definitely go back (not because of that last part).

I’m surprised by the low rating.
Our experience was okay food, okay price, okay service, okay ambiance.
Nothing special, but there was nothing actually bad about the experience.
Typical, average Mexican food.

Came here during a Broncos game and it was not that crowded. It is a pretty far walk to the stadium, but people do park here and do it. After the game, people came pooring in but it was still not crowded. I had their margaritas which tasted like the kind I used to make in college. Strong, and not very tasty! so if you’re looking to just get toasty, this is a great value as they do offer a 60 ounce margarita for $ 16.
As for the food, we had the quesodillas and nachos. They were average at best and again tasted like something I could whip up at home in a microwave. The service was good and we had a nice big booth location so that was a plus. This place is probably more of a 2.5 stars, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt and rounded up to 3.

Oh wow, I’m shocked how many people slammed this place. This is one of my favorite hidden Denver treasures, and not for the food. Let me tell you why you should go and why I take all of my friends here:
Choose a week day you happen to have off work (yes, I’ve taken work off for this on more than one occasion). The key is to start with an early lunch at Senior Sol’s. They offer a variety of margarita flavors in a number of sizes. So whether you like frozen or regular, strawberry or mango, 8oz or 32oz, there is something for you. Be the judge of your own tolerance here but let me recommend the 64oz frozen margarita for only $ 18. This will take you several hours but the staff is used to it and are happy to keep bringing both water and food.
Now you’ve got more than a little buzz going and you can’t drive home so off to the Aquarium with you. Yeah, sure, I love Señor Sol’s for their ability to get me really drunk and for all the entertainment that ensues across the street at the aquarium afterward.
The food, in my experience has been decent, not great but never bad (even sober). They have parking and the staff have always been super friendly.
The owners might not like that I’m adovacating going here for the booze instead of the food but if you are a margarita fan and want to make a day of it, skip the Rio and head to El Señor Sol.