El Rocio

Not the best customer service. Food is not the best either but is the closest thing we have in the area.

This little mom and pops place is a nice spot for some good eats! I’ve seen this place for years, but for one reason or another never stopped. I regret that now. The services was nice and friendly and the food was very good. My daughter really enjoyed her taco and I had the fajitas which were great! We will be coming back soon! Oh and they put this bowl of hot salsa on the table that I couldn’t leave alone! If you haven’t been-it’s worth a try and beats going into the city when you don’t need to.

The juke box, Univision, or both, will probably be disturbingly loud and there might be a language barrier with the staff, but you will get solid Mexican food at a decent price. The staff are pleasant, straightforward. Be open to recommendations. Polo Fundido was once recommended to me and I now almost exclusively order it. Get it SPICY!

This is another business that has been in the East Point area for many years. It sits on a corner behind the bank right across from the train station. My Mom likes this restaurant much more than I do. (She raves about their beef soup.) Actually, if it wasn’t for her I would have forgotten all about this place. It is a typical family restaurant. It’s not cozy or very aesthetic inside. The service is pretty slow and not good or bad… it’s just service. You order, they place it, you pay and you eat and or leave with your take out. Sometimes they answer the phone if you call… other times they don’t. I guess it depends on how they feel. The food tastes edible but not exotic or bursting flavor on my tongue like I except from Mexican cuisine. I feel like the dining room is not as clean as it could be and the lighting is very poor, not in a sexy way; but in an annoying ‘turn up the lights so I can see what the hell I’m ordering’ kind of way.
I am assuming the owner is the stoic Latino man who stands behind the counter and never speaks or makes any expression towards his customers. I will also assume that the lovely middle-​aged Latina woman who takes your order is his wife or close relative. I would prefer not to eat here but if I was ravishingly hungry with a 20 spot in my pocket, I would give in… not so willingly though.

Clearly family owned/​run.
Service can be a little spotty. Nice enough folks, though.
You might find a bit of a language barrier if you’re a non Spanish speaking Gringo, but not enough to keep you from ordering.
Food is fine. Not incredible. Solid.
Really, there should be two scales. One for East Point, and one as judged against anywhere else.
On the East Point scale, it’s probably 4 stars, just because food options are so thin around here. Anywhere else, it’s probably 2.5.
It’s sort of like Oz Pizza down the street. Under normal circumstances, that is very forgettable pizza. If you’re too lazy to leave East Point, though, it’s great.

My favorite Mexican restaurant in town! This is a place that does it right. Quite authentic, down to the servers who barely speak English. I made the mistake of ordering Tilapia El Diablo once. She tried to warn me. But I don’t listen so well sometimes. It was tasty, like everything I’ve ever had here. If you want something that’s tastier than the norm and feels like real Mexican food this is worth a try

Beware… this is no lunch secret. This is a scary spot. Salsa was basic tomato sauce with hot sauce added for «flavor.» Service rudimentary. Food nothing to write home about. It’s a running joke in our family about how bad this hole in the wall is and we’ve visited some delicious hole in the wall restaurants before. Ugh

Here the deal… HELP YOUR LOCAL MEXICANS OUT…
It is what it is good food ate there 20 times or so. Last night the place was empty. East Point Ga isn’t the richest place in America anyway.
But I was totally shocked. This is an older building but clean and they have liquor license. Big olé frosty Mugs of bud $ 2.oo. Clean yes it is and the food is fantastic. Lunch specials are 7. oo and under. digital juke box.
And there’s a vegetarian menu as well. Cool thing it’s at the east point train station just across the street so hop on Marta and bring your best friends. cheep and fun place… Love Diamond

Pssst… I’m going to let you in on one of the best kept lunch secrets in Atlanta but let’s go ahead and get all the other stuff out of the way first.
When you walk in to any businesses there’s an unwritten contract for the things you’ve signed up for by being there. You go into a Ritz Carlton and you’ve agreed to have well-​dressed people be overly nice to you because you’re going to pay out the ass for it later anyway. Go into a dive bar and you expect to see people smoking, over-​served, and talking about nothing important whatsoever. Go into most family run Mexican restaurants and you’ve signed up for car crashes and novela tear-​fests on Telemundo while having your face melted by the jukebox. Order a beer and get over it already.
Continuing the weed-​out, yes, El Rocio bombed their health score not too long ago. Passing or failing a health score is about as predictable as who lives and who dies in the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan. Sure, there’s best practices and habitual offenders but the health code is so strict and the enforcement so arbitrary that all most restaurants can do is put their head down, keep moving, and hope they don’t get shot. If an inspector with clipboard in hand watched most people make dinner at home, they’d fail before they ever finished cooking. Then again, my favorite Chinese restaurant was shut down twice by the health department before they finally got their act together so yeah… I’m guess I’m that guy.
Anyhow, El Rocio delivers some serious value at lunchtime. The have a small buffet that’s good, not great, but for under $ 7 you can ruin the rest of your afternoon and get as stuffed as a python that just ate a harvest pig. They always have a rotating selection of things and I’ve seen enchiladas, shrimp, fish sticks, beef stew, you name it. Sometimes they have pitchers of cinnamon spiced horchata and they even have fresh guacamole. The service is. however good it is or isn’t going to be that day but everyone is nice and you probably won’t have to break out the Spanish to get what you want. Come hungry, eat all your want, and stumble to your car asking yourself, «Dear Jesus God man, why did I just do that?»,
El Rocio. Get some.

We have been to El Rocio around 6 – 8 times. We like that it’s close by and parking isn’t an issue. I really like their carne asada tacos– they are terrific. Even before their recent failing food score, we had a miserable experience. We popped in for dinner to find their jukebox blaring AND the Telemundo program also on full blast. I asked our server if they could turn down the volume, she smiled and walked away without making any adjustments. I’m thinking she may not have understood my request.
The food was average on that visit. And, with it being so loud, I decided not to return.
It’s unfortunate that restaurants in the area are so indifferent. Dining out is expensive, no one wants to have an uncomfortable experience…

I went to El Rocia by mistake the other day. I had a
certificate for another place just down the street. I tried to redeem the certificate and the told me I was at the wrong place.
I already ordered so i stayed. No big deal. The food was prompt and good. Regular prices.
Then the server comes and tells me that they are going to give me a discount since I came in expecting to use my certificate. They didn’t have to do that. But they did. It was nice.
i will go back just because of that. And of course to eat.

Come here hungry. Leave full. With left-​overs.
The food here is solid. I’m not claiming multi-​tire-​name stars, but damned solid. I mean, this place has *quail* on the menu. The little, yummy, you-​can-​turn-​them-​inside-​out-​to-​debone birds.
And the people here are solid. Ready with a smile and recommendations. Good folk. It’s dangerous being so close to home and en route for my commute.

If you don’t like true, down home, right from Grandmas kitchen, Mexican food this place is not got you. BUT if you do love all that this IS THE PLACE!!! My partner and I don’t get to go as much as we would like (would like once a week), we have always had great food, good wait staff, the place has always been very clean. All the food is cooked to order (well 90% of it is) so if you go with a large group the wait could be a bit long, but you know the food is fresh!!! Sometimes the Mariachi Band (only seen them there one time) or the music can be a bit loud, but it is all a lot of fun. And the big $ 2.99 margaritas are a plus!

Great food! The staff is friendly and the food is straight from your grandmas kitchen. A little on the heavy side but that’s not a bad thing at all. One of my wife and I’s favorite places

i LOVE this place, this is one of East Point’s best kept secrets-​the food is authentic, the waitstaff is nice (albeit not always fluent) and it’s very clean. i’ve never had the lunch buffet but i hear good things, however my husband and i go here at least twice a month to pig out on cheese dip and watch Univision. it’s small, tacky (but i LOVE tacky) and occasionally you get the pleasure of watching a small mariachi or ranchero style band.
fair warning: the food can be spicy, which is another reason why i like it, so if you’ve got sensitive gringo tastebuds, man up.
i highly recommend the Enchiladas Verdes con Pollo, my husband loves the tamales.
and also be forewarned: this is a small restaurant and on occasion they don’t have everything on the menu. keep your options open and you may be very pleasantly suprised if you try something different.
p. s. you get bonus points (and sometimes other menu options than the ones listed) if you speak a little spanish :)

While the staff is friendly, the rest leaves something to be desired. What I thought was 3 ala carte fish tacos at $ 1.75 ea turned out to be 3 greasy, inedible fish tacos for almost $ 9.95. Apparently cheese is $ 4+. While the chicken soup is a significantly large portion, it too was greasy and flavorless. And I don’t think 2 small pieces of chicken on the bones is what I had in mind. To top it off, the Mariachi band leaves a lot to be desired. The «complimentary» song was played right in my ear at full volume. Then they stuck their hand out for $ 10 for a second song. Rip Off!!!