El Chilito

During my quest of finding the next great local Mexican restaurant, I decided to try El Chilito. The last time I was here was during the TDM days. Now this place is a hit or miss. I returned back here on a Friday night and was denied entry. For the sake of my wonderful first experience back, I will solely base my review on that visit. Although this is a large venue with plenty of seating, this place can get packed in which you may have to experience a short wait. Luckily, upon arrival we were seated fairly quickly in the outdoor patio seating. Our server Rosalia was by far one of the friendliest servers I have ever had at a Mexican restaurant. She was super friendly, welcoming, and even joked around with us. My boyfriend and I ordered the huarache and a seafood platter served in a molcajete. Our meal came with a complimentary soup and chips with salsa. Everything was reasonably priced and rich in flavor.

Great food with excellent service = an great dining experience here. Carolina goes out of her way to make sure you get great service every time.

Came here for dinner with the family. Was pleasantly surprised. The food was amazing 7 mares soup was great. 8 of us came out and everyone enjoyed their meals michiladas were delicious. 3 piece Banda was here tonight and we enjoyed ourselves so much! Waitress was the best we have ever had! Definitely coming back!

I debated between several places and only chose this place cause Mexican and seafood is a good combination. The grilled chicken joint next door to it looked good, but was closing. So, my decision was made. It was a winter night and the place was empty. Being from out of town I was hoping to find a restaurant that was actually busy. You know, it’s usually a good indicator of a good restaurant when the place has customers there. But, I didn’t want to wait longer than usual to get food and gave it a try. It is a fairly big sized restaurant. Oxnard is lucky to have this place. It is set up to host lots of people during the summer months for some serious fiestas.
Big menu with many choices, which made it hard for me to decide. Big mistake on my part. When getting seafood always opt for the dish that keeps the seafood in its most natural state. Raw or fire grilled. The drink that I had was the best drink I ever had, alcohol and non-​alcohol.

Very bad service. Sat and ordered some drinks for me and my husband before he showed up, 15 minutes later still no drinks. Place was not even packed. Then I asked the owner a simple question and he told me the waitress would explain me the menu of drinks. I felt brushed off like a little kid. Then our food took too long to come out. Long story short we left without eating what we ordered. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME GOING!!!

I went today with my friend and had a good time didn’t real eat we just wanted to try their micheladads, we also had some shrimps everything was good just the wait time.

Great service. I had the Puerco. Very tender, juicy, fall of the bone. Good serving size. Hot corn tortillas. I’ll go back.

Came here with my sister, she loved her michelada! I had the soft taco plate. I finished the rice and beans before eating my tacos because it was that good ! Their pastor meat is amazing, the taste is perfect. better than taco de mexico down the street in my opinion. Chips and their salsa? on point!
What throws me off giving it a 4 star is that theres like 3 security guards right when you enter, kind of weird. Really throws off the restaurant.
Food took a while to arrive but it was well worth it.

Best place for a Friday night dinner and Michelada’s. Yum had a blast restaurant has a good vibe. It set the mood to start the night. Great staff, great food, good music what else do you need.

Best mango/​chamoy cheladas! Came in on Thursday evening, good ambience, good food and great service from miss Carolina. Definitely a good spot for a some good «botanas & drinks».

My mom and I came here for dinner and this place is known for their seafood and michelada.
We were greeted at the door with warm smiles and were seated at a nice cozy corner.
My mom and I didn’t know what to order so lucky one of the servers helped us in deciding what to get. We started with a Marischelada (michelada with seafood cocktail on top) and it was really good with the mango and tamarindo.
Next, we got the tostada as chips with fresh salsa and shrimp soups as appetizers. My mom got a stone bowl heated hot with seafood and I got a warm and spicy seafood soup. Garlic bread side was okay but the fresh corn tortillas just melts in your mouth: D
We didn’t finish anything because the portions here are HUGE. The soups are packed to go and now my mom and I are ready for a food coma: P thanks El Chilito!

This place is honestly a hidden gem in Oxnard! I was honestly surprised by the quality of their seafood here. My friends and I were craving some shrimp cocktails and micheladas and some good seafood. Everything was closing, and this was the only place still open, and glad it was!
We arrived at the place, and I was surprised how I could’ve missed this place. There were several people already and it looked like a busy place even for a Thursday night. There was a live band/​singer too. What a nice touch. We got seated in a few minutes, and were impressed with their selection on their menus.
I am not quite sure the name of what I ordered but, it was like a shrimp cocktail with everything! Shrimp, octopus, crab, and abalone, cucumber tomatoes, onions, and tomato juice.
It took a while to get our food, and our server forgot some of our sodas, and forgot to refill our water when asked the first time. But she eventually attended to us and brought out our food.
They also serve complimentary tostadas and salsa and shrimp soup! Which was packed with flavor! Anyways my food came out and it filled with seafood! There must’ve been about 8 pieces of shrimp and more than enough of octopus crab and abalone. I was expecting the octopus to be hard and chewy, but it was surprisingly soft and tender. My eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach because I could not finish it. I ended up sharing with my friends.
I also have to mention that all my friends loved what they ordered. This is going to be my go to spot when I am craving seafood, and their open later than most Mexican restaurants.

Food was some of the freshest I’ve had in all Ventura County. Customer service is excellent. Our waitress was very informative on helping us choose some amazing dishes. It was tough to choose as everything on the menu looks delicious.
We went with the agua Chile with the green sauce, and a seafood burrito, which was huge. I had a mariscochelada, which is like a seafood appetizer, but it’s a pricey drink at $ 19.99. Lunch was $ 61.00
Looking forward to going back and trying other things on the menu. Looking forward to our next visit.

Blown away with not only the quality of food but also service. Top notch customer service from server Yajaira. I went with 2 friends and we each tried each other’s food and it was all exceptional. I can’t wait to go back. It’s THAT good!

Buen ambiente! Los aguachiles son muy deliciosos con una michelada bien helada! Carolina es muy amigable y muy atenta.

Had such a bad experience here. No one knew what the policy was for splitting a check. Waitress said two checks. One girl who said she was a manager said one check only and one credit card. General manager came and he said he can split three ways.
The girl manager was so RUDE!!! She got pissed because the general manager said it was ok for three checks. She gave attitude and was putting menus away and tossed it right next to me.
Told the GM that it is time for training because no one knows policy and attitude is not appreciated. He agreed.

The food was great! The service was awesome… Especially our server Carolina! The marischeladas is was attracted my friend and I to come and I highly recommend.
We had the aquachiles and they were delicious.
We also had the oyster shooters, which were so goooood. We wanted more but we were getting so full from all the seafood.
Overall, I recommend this place for seafood lovers :)

First time here and it did not disappoint! Friendly and fast service from our server Carolina. Had the aguachiles, oysters shots and marischeladas!!! All super good! Noms :)

This place rocks! Best michiladas around. I highly suggest the Barbacoa home made tortilla tacos. Yum!!! I’ll def. Be back.

Went here today for the first time. The service was really good. There were a lot of servers and various workers who were assisting with whatever we needed and everyone was very pleasant. I also liked the soda which came in bottles. They give free tostadas with salsa which was okay. The complimentary seafood broth wasn’t very good. I took a few sips and left it there and mind you I like seafood.
We ordered posole and a carne asada plate. I figured those would be safe choices. This restaurant is mainly seafood so if you’re not planning on eating seafood the choices are limited. The food took some time the place was busy but the staff always made sure to see if we needed anything which was nice.
We got the food which they gave good portions of both but it wasn’t anything special. I would just say it was okay and because the staff was very attentive which is why I gave 3 stars and I would have maybe thought about going back but the food was just okay and the worst part was the price. it cost $ 40 for 2 which I was surprised because we didn’t have alcohol and I’ve paid less for better. Not to mention it was so hot in the restaurant that before we got ready to go I was starting to sweat. I don’t sweat easily and I definitely dont want to be sweating while I’m eating. To sum it up I don’t think it’s going to be worth it to go back.

Muy buena atención comida buena, fresca y su personal se esmera por la atención.expecialmente Paty gracias

I decided to give this place another try and I was pleasantly surprised. The service was better and the place was cleaner than usual. The food tastes better than it did before. The salsa was tasty and flavorful. I took off one star because they don’t always have the items on the menu.
I’m not sure what changed, employees or management but this place has dramatically improved.
They have the best marischeladas and tosticheladas I’ve ever had! If you’re into micheladas this place is a must!