Review El Camino's - Vancouver

Great place for cocktails and has a solid food menu that has many items you wouldn’t see everyday. Staff is always on point and very friendly. Worth a visit if you’re in the area. For the five star, you’d expect either, a bigger cocktail/food menu or a bigger special board. As a local it’s easy to loose it’s wow factor

This is an excellent joint for Mexican cuisine, focusing on street style dishes. If going here, the “Pan de Maize” or cornbread is a MUST. It will melt in your mouth, too good!! Following which the rest of the entrees are just as good, so really has to do with preference. But if you are feeling sandwiches then the butter milk fried chicken sandwich is excellent! From the tacos I really liked the shrimp tacos. Service was excellent, quick and accommodating. Our server had good recommendations. Great drink options as well!

El Camino serves some of the best drinks on Main. Their Pina Colada is the best. Their corn bread is second to none. Calamari delicious. I tried the Brazilian Style Shepherd’s pie for the first time today and it was yummy too. Good service and yummy food here. Highly recommend!

The fish tacos was crispy and average. The calamari was on the saltier side but super delicious otherwise. We were disappointed with the Brazilian Shepards pie. It lacked something and barely any meat. It was mostly puréed potatoes.

Came for drinks and we had Micheladas, pina colada, calamari. The calamari is fresh and soft. Must try. Pleasant atmosphere, awesome customer service and attentive.

Average cocktails, food was unimpressive. From the cocktail menu, we tried the Margarita, El Diablo and Pisco Sour. From the food menu, we tried 2 kinds of tacos - Pescado and Camarones A La Diabla + Chicken wings

WOW. The service was fantastic; warm and attentive without being overbearing. The flavours we're delish and the vibe was hip.

The cornbread with the side of burnt onion butter is delicious. I don’t go out of my way to add corn to my meals, however, based on reading the reviews here, I ordered the cornbread and paired it with a Main St Pilsner, it was good.

Paloma’s! Yum! Tho, the pineapple habernero salsa was 2 chilies at most, not 4. Tortillas were soggy and the salsas were ice cold. Friendly service. No Pacifico on Happy Hour? Al Pastor tacos were delicious! Too bad there’s no more carne asada, those were the best thing on the menu! But I can’t get past what I saw in the kitchen! I’m guessing he was the dishwasher? Barefoot in clogs, board shorts, tank top (bleh!) and long mid back length curly hair not only just loose and down but hanging over the front of his shoulders!! (Yuck!!)� As he leaned over dishes, and was around food. I was so grossed out! How is this allowed? I wouldn’t have even stayed for the food if I saw that before we ate. It’s gross and unsanitary. You guys had a green haired girl back there who while she had her hair in pigtails still was wearing a tank top as well, which I just don’t agree with in any capacity of the food and beverage service industry. I’m going to pull the “I’ve worked in kitchens” card. For over a decade I toiled in unbearable heat from here to the Carribean and I was always properly dressed as well as the support staff and dishwasher being properly dressed. Hair up, proper footwear, sleeves and pants. It’s uncomfortable, sure, but safe and sanitary and that’s what’s important. If you’re going to continue allowing such unsanitary and gross habits to happen in your restaurant, I’d suggest putting up a door to your kitchen or closing the front doors altogether.

Chillelaxing vibe, social place and did I mention it serves tasty fresh food? Last time I was there the power went out and the whole staff took it in stride. Nobody was agitated and business went on. Kudos.

Great food..great service..let me in for a drink before they were open..thanks for a great afternoon!!

I ordered "The Hangover" to match my state. It would have been better labeled "Breakfast Nachos". Wish I had ordered the Huevos Divorciados which looked delicious! Great coffee. Service was good as well. Will be back!

Been coming here at least once a month since 2009 when we moved to the neighbourhood. So we are used to the menu changes. This last one however... No more enchiladas and no more awesome yummy chicken tacos! Staff is still great and we like the new carne tacos. The tuna tacos are good, but were a bit of a let down right after the empenadas.

Love the food the atmosphere got to get there early or be prepared to wait...always a great time!

Staff was very friendly and the food was delicious!

Dave and staff made our night! Wonderful people, delicious food and a vibrant ambiance. �

Great service.....food was really good!!!! The drinks tasted great and authentic...

AMAZING service, FABULOUS food. Highly recommend visiting

Awesome vibe in the evening , great arepas & tacos

Celebrated my birthday at El Camino's last night and it was awesome! Sat at the bar, sampled some tequila, tacos, guacamole, ribs... Thanks Joel!!! Glad we got there early and beat the rush. We will be back!

Terrific food and customer service. Great atmosphere. Also wonderful place to go before going out for dinner.

The beef tacos are not good :( very dry !

I go to this place almost everyday. Its the best. *wink wink

I’ve had an overload of Asian eats lately so I wanted to change things up and eat something different. B’s been to El Camino’s sister restaurant, The Cascade Room, before so that fit the bill. It’s located beside Don’t Argue! Pizzeria. We dropped in on a busy Sunday afternoon for brunch. The heated, covered patio outside is a nice alternative but we were able to snag a table inside by the windows.

I was exhausted from working and furniture shopping, but we couldn’t miss this chance to catch up with J, who was leaving in another week. We met up with J along Main Street, intending to go to Burgoo, but because of the 1.5 hour long wait, we went over to El Camino’s instead for a quick bite. I ordered their drink special, because ginger beer was in it. It was too sour for me, which really masked the alcohol.

Mount Pleasant is probably the most hip part of town, so of course that’s where you’ll find a hip Latin American street food joint called El Camino's. They were featured on season 2 of You Gotta Eat Here! and were named as the #1 Best South American 2017 in Westender’s Best of the City Dining issue.<br/><br/>We visited on a Friday night and it’s good to note that they don’t take reservations. You’ll know that you’re in the right place when you see their logo, which is, of course of an El Camino. It can be a busy and happening place, so if you don’t want to wait getting there early might be useful. The vibe of the room is very cool, with cinder block walls and spray painted lettering across them. The lights are dim and the bar is busy. We were seated at a booth and began to peruse their clipboard menu. We were also given a bowl of lime-seasoned popcorn to munch on as we did so, which always scores incredibly high in my book! Who isn’t happy when they see that popcorn is coming their way?<br/><br/>But first, I excitedly noticed their special drink feature on the chalkboard near the front: Hot Buttered Rum ($10.00). My all-time favourite cold weather beverage! I asked for one of those. This was absolutely perfect and exactly the way that I like it, cinnamon stick and all! Hot, sweet, and butterscotchy, it’s the perfect thing to enjoy on a cold day. It’s like a comforting hug in beverage form. Maybe not the most Latin American of choices like all of their fun margaritas, but I didn’t care.<br/><br/>I like that they specify that their food has been crafted to be enjoyed as is. They do not allow any substitutions, which is a policy that I can appreciate. We began with a sharing dish, and while several sounded very good (Atun, Pao de Queijo) we went with the Bolinho de Bacalao (Four salt cod croquettes with dill lime yoghurt aioli, dressed cabbage - $12.00). These were nice. The salt cod was prepared very well and was fried to a crispy perfection. Inside each golden orb, the fish was flavourful and delicious. I liked the aioli a lot and it acted as a great cooling dip. The dill matched the cod very well. The cabbage was supposedly “dressed,” but I couldn’t discern any type of dressing. That being said, I enjoyed the crunchy cabbage strands because they tasted very fresh. The cabbage tasted great in the dill lime aioli as well.<br/><br/>For my main dish, I decided to order an Arepa; a grilled & stuffed corn pocket, garnished with cilantro & onion, served with house salsas. I chose the Gambas (Prawns sautéed with coconut & chipotle, cabbage - $8.00) from the seven types available. While this was supposed to be served with housemade salsas, and the menu lists six different salsa types, we were never offered any of these. There was one bottle of housemade hot sauce on our table and that was it. I added cheese to my arepa for $1. I also got a side dish of Mexican Corn ($5.00) expecting that it would be Elote (Mexican corn on the cob), but it was not. So a few disappointments there. The arepa was very good though, packed full of delicious goodness. I especially loved the plump and juicy shrimp which were super flavourful. Spicy and sweet from the chipolte and coconut, such a wonderful combo. The corn pocket itself was very toothsome and provided a great texture. The cheese was the right choice.<br/><br/>While the corn wasn’t exactly what I had hoped for, it was actually very tasty. It was super juicy and there were other vegetables and even some cheese mixed in. I was pleasantly surprised with this.<br/><br/>We had to have dessert because they serve one of our favourites! Pastel de Tres Leches (Spongecake drenched with three milks, maple chantilly, dulce de leche, crushed pecan praline - $8.00). This was an excellent version of this delicious cake!! So creamy and soft and amazing! Tres Leches is kind of like a South American version of an Italian tiramisu, except I think that it’s the better of the two. The pecans were extra good. The whole thing was incredible and you should order it. Order it now.<br/><br/>Overall, the food at El Camino’s was very good, albeit a bit expensive for what you get (isn’t street food supposed to be cheap?). Their flavours are expertly created and if you want great South American food this is a solid bet. They also offer weekend brunch, which sounds like something worth going to try.

My first time having Pisco Sour, it was deeeelish. There's eggwhites, does this mean I will be buff? only time will tell . Vegetarian tacos w poblano peppers. Greaaat with sauces. Rly enjoyed them. Other vegetarian one w black beans. Also very good, more hearty. Again, good w sauces.

If you're into easy parking,  service with a personal touch, handcrafted margs with a shot of fresh green zap-juice that you won't find anywhere else, and snacking on tacos that taste like the person who made them actually cared that you got a little bit of everything delicious in each bite  - then go here. The best people already do.

STALE CHIPS..............................................manager still charged and said they're made fresh even though 10 servings were sitting in the back, not even under a heat lamp

After our epic Cuban meal at Pambiche in Portland, we immediately came back to Vancouver and looked for restaurants that served Cuban food only to be disappointed… why are there no Cuban restaurants in Vancouver (and I don’t count Havana on Commercial)?. The closest I could find was El Camino’s on Main Street which serves up Latin American food. Despite not satiating my desire for Cuban food, I was very impressed with the food at this hipsterish locale. They have the phrase “Nada como una revolución para curar la sed y el hambre” (nothing like a revolution to cure thirst and hunger) graffitied on their cinder block wall.

Wicked little hipster Mexican joint on Main. The arepa was the glowing highlight if the meal and are an absolute must have, however the muscles were also unreal. They were cooked to perfection and the broth was drinkable. Fish tacos were crunchy, but not to greasy. I also love how they give you popcorn to start, and there house made hot sauce is dope! Service was really lacking. The waiter walked away with my credit card agree saying goodbye. This was after having to flag someone down to actually pay after 10 minutes.

Don't know why we haven't been here for dinner before. The restaurant has a great vibe to it, though a tad loud for me personally. But it was not a big issue. We arrived at 5:55pm tonight and were pleasantly surprised to see that it was also taco Tuesday, bonus. All tacos are $5. Plus I squeaked in my drink order before happy hour wrapped up at 6pm, double bonus! A nice cold bottle of Pacifico for $4!<br/><br/>We ordered 4 different tacos: carne asada (beef), pescado (fish), al pastor (pulled pork), and pollo (fried chicken). Each serving came with 2 tacos and all were delicious. I would recommend the carne, pollo and the pescado. I wasn't a fan of the pulled pork, it was too runny. We also ordered a Moqueca (Brazilian seafood rice bowl). At first taste, I thought that it was a Thai dish. It tasted so similiar to a coconut curry. It was delicious regardless of whether or not the flavours were authentic Brazilian. All the seafood were perfectly cooked, not overcooked at all.<br/><br/>Everything arrived FAST despite a full house! We were in and out in 40 minutes. All the staff we came in contact with tonight were friendly. Great execution on food & service. We'll definitely be back!

Unique and tasty Latin American style food. Crepioca is a must try! So is Paso de Queijo. I don't like the steak stir fry as much. Seems like everyone likes the arepas here too. Besides good food, it's a good-but noisy- place for a late drink.

I've been wanting to try this place out for a while now but never got around to it. This time though, I was in the neighborhood delivering some things to a friend and we decided to head out to grab something to eat. <br/><br/>El Camino's was pretty packed for a Wednesday at 7 pm, but taking to the waitress she told us the wait was never too long. True, since we only had to wait about 20 mins to get a seat. Pretty good. <br/><br/>The ambiance was what you would expect from a place that tries to sell their Mexican or Latin American look in my opinion. While the drinks were great, I was a little bit let down by the meat. While I was expecting traditional Mexican with good carnitas, I ended up getting something more Tex-Mex. The vibe and service was great though, so I'd def come back for the ambiance and drinks.

Got some takeout from this place yesterday. Be warned it is a bit of a wait for takeout so I'd call it in first next time. <br/><br/>The vibe of the restaurant having waited there for quite some time is pretty cool and I'd love to try their cocktails. The bartender really looked like he made a mean drink. <br/><br/>So we got the fish , chorizo and steak tacos, Pao de Queijo, Gambas and guacamole and chips. <br/><br/>My absolute favorite dish was the Pao (Brazilian cheese bread with stir fired veg on top) this was amazing and I could have eaten like 2 of them. Just such well blended flavors. Then I loved the Gambas, the shrimp really worked well with the paprika aioli. The tacos were decent, steak was the best in my opinion. Guacamole was okay not a traditional gauc but good and the chips were crisp. <br/><br/>All in all I will for sure be giving this place another go. I'd love to try breakfast here and have many cocktails as i think this place could be a blast.

Super delicious!!! One of the best Mexican restaurants I`ve eaten at IN THE WORLD. Must tries are: The Crepioca (prawn crepe) and The Vegetarian Bocadillo (warm veggie sub). Prices are very reasonable (not expensive). Highly Recommend this place! Try to make reservations in advance, as it gets packed quickly. I was pleasantly surprised, and will be back for sure! :)

Chicken enchiladas and crispy chicken tacos are must haves. The steak tacos come in close second. Service was on point and our margaritas were especially tasty using fresh lime zest. Def worth checking out if in the area.

This is hands down my bfs favorite brunch spot. It's only open for brunch on weekends and opens after 5pm on weekdays. Service is great and it's one of the best Mexican foods we have in Vancouver! I also love the taxi and driver service numbers they have on the bottom of each bill.. you know it's a drinking joint when..<br/>May 14/16: more added photos. Scrambles were ok..not as good as the other pix I posted previously <br/> Sept 10/16: can't keep us away! More pix to share. The brunch sandwich was killer. Just look at that yummy egg and ham! Stacked!

Greaaaat place on Main Street, the best of the Cascade Group. Amazing atmosphere and decor. I have come here a few times - come for BRUNCH and get the breakfast nachos...seriously.<br/><br/>Taco Tuesday is solid -- their carne asada tacos are the best by far.

Heeeeeeey. This place has some tasty brunch! I need to come back and try the rest of the menu. I had the hash... I always order the hash everywhere. This place also has a crazy steak sandwich with ham and bacon... and maybe even chicken if I remember correctly. Definitely coming back for it. Try this place out.<br/><br/>Update:<br/><br/>I came back for the breakfast steak sandwich. It was amazing. My new favorite breakfast item to date. I will be coming back for it again and again. It was moist and flavourful and was paired with the perfect bun and, and, and...!!!

i love this place. the tacos are awesome! chimichurri on the beef taco is off the chain. I always order at least 3 orders whenever im there. I also have the sandwiches, the diablo is pretty good. the spanish rice :/ meh... and well im asian so rice is kind of my forte. <br/><br/>i will always come back to this place. its a great atmosphere and during the summer, its nice to eat outside

Love this place! Awesome tasty sharable food - except no sharing the gambas arepas- too tasty to share.<br/>Friendly service. Good margaritas!<br/>Busy but attentive service.<br/>Lively atmosphere.

The best tacos and margaritas in Vancouver, in my humble opinion. <br/><br/>Great for dinner with a friend or a date night, but always struggle with groups of 4 or more. Just way too busy and small, and they don't take reservations (an issue city-wide, I would suggest).<br/><br/>To get a table for my husband's birthday for 6 of us it took almost 2 hours!! Which was about an hour longer than we were quoted. And as a former hostess, the seating decisions made along the way were questionable. We could have been seated more efficiently. No apologies or empathy for the staff, which would have made all the difference. How about some popcorn while we waited, or letting us order a drink (were told we couldn't) when standing. <br/><br/>Luckily, the food and drinks makes up for these issues. (For now)

Very chill and laid back. My girlfriend and I tried this place out and it's really nice. Music and ambience was chill with the candle lighting. Steak tacos packed a punch of flavor. The gluten free item was the biggest surprise because it was SO good. I would definitely recommend this place for date night or any night really.<br/><br/>I didn't mind the wait in the line up, as long as the food and service can deliver and they absolutely delivered. I had a wonderful time.

I had plans to meet Mac-n-Cheese for lunch but no actual destination in mind. After some back and forth over text I suggested El Caminos as I’ve walked by a number of times while exploring Main street and always seen it as being quite busy. I had no idea what to expect for the lunch rush on a Saturday, so we agreed to meet around 1:30 hoping that most people would have cleared out by then. As you approach the entrance you you walk passed an interesting little green house-like patio, a glass room with a swinging door to enter. If you enter the main part of the restaurant you’ll find yourself standing directly in front of the bar boasting an impressive variety of tequilas. We found the place was packed full, not a single table available inside or out. Thankfully a table was just settling up outside and only had to wait a few minutes to get a table. Looking around, the food on everyone’s table looked fantastic and made us even hungrier. They have a special brunch menu on weekends from 10AM-2PM so we were just in time for that. Looking at their website it also seems they have a dinner, late night, and even a siesta menu. The siesta menu is offered between 3-4PM and is a subset of the dinner menu with identical prices, and then a short closing before dinner starts back up at 5PM. It’s an interesting idea, but seems a little odd to only close for 1 hour. Something else I noticed while looking at their website is that these guys are owned by the same group that does Cascade Room, The Union, and Charlie’s Little Italian, all except The Union in very close proximity though very different in style from one another. I had quite a few drinks the night prior with Oracle and Blue Coat so I wasn’t quite in the m

I've heard great things about brunch at el caminos and it's so close to my house there was no way I could go another weekend without trying it! I went with my friend and we were both extremely hungry, thankfully we hardly had to wait as the waitresses were very quick and efficient at getting us a table which was awesome and the food came out right away too. I ordered the chorizo eggs Benny and my friend ordered the hangover which is pretty much just nachos with eggs on top, sounds a bit unorthodox but it was absolutely delicious. I ate my eggs Benny so fast that I even considered getting seconds. I love going to el Caminos for drinks and this was my first time trying the food and I definitely recommend it - plus they make a mean Caesar for those hair of the dog type of mornings!

Don't need to go again. They had been on our try list for a while, but we were thoroughly disappointed. We tried 4 of the 6 tacos and unfortunately they were all less than brilliant. We questioned if they had used cut up frozen chicken strips on the Polo. The tortillas we over cooked and rubbery and the salsa was boring with little flavour. There are MUCH better cheaper options within walking distance. <br/>Never again

Used to be Good.... El Camino's when it first opened used to be really good - food and service. I went there a lot. But lately, brunch has gone downhill. We just went there recently for brunch and the staff was super disorganized. We put our name down on the list and when it was our turn no one came to seat us, even though there had been an empty table for two available for the last 15 minutes. When I finally asked one of the staff if we could grab that table, her response was really rude. We finally got seated, but the server never brought us any water. I ordered something different from what I normally order and it was just ok. The server also forget to bring my side of bacon. I'm tired of the consistently bad service and wish El Camino would just hire people who actually want to be there.

I would like to say that I called for take out because I seem a paella on one of the pictures. I called to get take out and asked for 2 paellas. Once I went to picked them up and got them to my place it wasn't a paella. I called the manager and all he could tell me is that the menu doesn't have a paella. I told him I seen a picture on urban spoon of a paella and spoke to Someone and asked for a paella. The manager and said I'm sorry I can't help you hon, I have to let you go. I feel that is rude for someone to say that to you, I was given really good reviews about this place. But this was so disappointing! You should get real pictures on urban spoon? And get real servers to answer the phone to take orders

Om. Nom.. Loved that I could eat brunch where they serve up humanely-raised meat, organic free-range eggs and it doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Got the Tomatican Hash and I could barely finish it, and I'm a big eater. Beautifully braised meat piled high on tomatoes, peppers, onions and potatoes and topped with a perfectly poached egg and hollandaise – what is wrong with that? The answer is nothing. Nothing at all.<br/>Can't wait to come back!

Great brunch, service.. Great brunch options. Eggs were perfectly cooked and service was great for such a busy place. Will definitely go again.

Good food bad service. Yes people, the warnings on here are real and true stories. You have to ask yourself the question before you decide to eat here is customer service important to you? 'Cause if it is you're not gonna have such a jolly good time. The food here is pretty good but why subject yourself to the kind of attitude and inconsiderateness of all staff-yes all, from servers to the manager it's actually kind of appalling but because it's the only place with good tacos (and actually the subs are pretty good too) for the whole of that Main St/Mount Pleasant area you're kinda stuck for choices unless you choose a different cuisine. Get take out if you really must try this place but skip the wait time and aggravation of crappy, entitled people that need to be brought down a peg.

Great place!. Great little place on Main Street. The best chicken wings I think I've ever had...sweet and spicy...amazing. Great atmoshpere and the staff were great. We were there on a sunny day so it was perfect to sit next to the open window and wait outside (since the wait was pertty long). We ordered a whole bunch of things so quite the buffet. My biggest regret is not having room to try the Churros...I bet they would have been a perfect way to end the meal.

Never Again. The food was good but the wait, confusion and poor customer service does not justify going. We were there around 6 weeks ago on a Saturday afternoon; the lunch/brunch crowd was not a factor in what transpired as table traffic moved pretty briskly. After listening to our server's "your order's coming right up" multiple assurances for roughly one-half hour but seeing other patrons seated after us being served their orders promptly, bizarrely at the forty-five minute wait time, the maitre'd inexplicably and without explanation came to our table to "confirm" what we had ordered. Another fifteen minutes went by, first with our server once again assuring us that our order was coming out shortly while refusing to explain the maitre'd 45-minute late confirmation, then avoiding all eye contact with raised hands or even coming near our table. Finally, after another fifteen minutes and no food, she apologized, saying that sometimes "things in the kitchen get mixed up". Twenty minutes later our food showed up, with our server cheerfully saying after a few minutes "Wasn't it worth the wait". To which we said "frankly no". <br/><br/>Kitchens screw up, so do wait staffs, that happens and we as customers understand that. But the best thing to do is "own up". Clearly, the fault for this fiasco did not lie with the kitchen. Between the server and the maitre'd, our order was not processed to the kitchen in a timely fashion and no one followed up, even after multiple inquiries. We could even write that off. What was galling and insulting was that none of the server or maitre'd (or the putative owner to whom we quietly tried giving a heads up about the service) would even acknowledge that fault lie with them, not the kitchen, as evidenced by the maitre'd "order confirmation" inquiry some 45 minutes into our dining "experience". <br/><br/>Food's good, they comped our two coffees and Bloody Mary, but I'd elatedly pay the freight to get back 45 minutes of waisted time and frustration with a staff that simply doesn't listen to the customer.

Yummy brunch. I came here with a few friends on Saturday early afternoon and this place was packed for brunch. There was three of us and we sat at a two person table, no problem just a bit snug. I tried the vegetarian eggs benedict with a side of their special guacamole - yum yum! the beans, avocado and tomato with the runny egg was delicious and a bed of nicely done hashbrowns toasty and yummy.

I love coming here but the quality in service and attention to detail is slipping. Please clean your menus.

Love this place. The food is so tasty ! I've been there twice in one month. I've tried most things on the menu because I was lucky to go with two groups & got to try a lg selection of different things. The chick pea fries are a must . They only weak menu items are the desserts. The service was very slow one of the times we went .once the food was ordered it came from the kitchen quickly . The servers are a bit inconsistent as far as checking in on there tables goes.

Nice brunch but make sure your keep your receipt. We had a great brunch here on a Saturday. The different styles of eggs benedict were a stand out. <br/><br/>Our bill was presented and we paid via debit card. I put the receipt in my wallet and we went near the door to put on our coats and leave. One of the male waiters came running up to us saying "did you pay???" I said of course we did and pulled out my receipt. That could have been handled a lot better rather than accusing us of trying to do a runner.

Amazing Amazing Amazing!!!! GREAT FOOD! GREAT ATMOSPHERE!! GREAT SERVICE!!!! Gluten free options that are entirely edible and enjoyable!! I have yet to order something that I didn't loooooove!!! MUST GO!!!

Come to El Camino about once a month for dinner. Wait on Friday and Saturday nights can be long, even for just 2 people so super sad the patio is closed for the winter. I really like the tacos and prawns and my husband loves the wings. Popcorn that comes to table is too salty for me but we enjoy the beer and wine options, tho they keep suggesting something from their extensive tequila list. Came here for brunch once but wasn't fan of selection.

The food was terrible and portion sizes were very small considering the price. It was very disappointing and I will not be coming back. The Spanish rice was also terribly mushy and tasteless.

Joined urban spoon b/c of this place!. I alway read reviews of new places on this site before I go there, and have never bothered to join/post/review before, but after the crap service we got at El Caminos last night, I felt compelled to do something.<br/><br/>service was some of the worst i've had anywhere, including main street area, and the manager made no apologies and was speaking us in a condescending tone the entire time.<br/><br/>there are a ton of places where we can spend money at that won't treat you like you're an ass when you barely complain about the lack of service.<br/><br/>good food, crap staff.

Really been trying to love this place.... I live in the neighbourhood, go here often, and the service ALWAYS sucks. Literally every time I go in there, which is par for most of the places on Main street.<br/><br/>The manager is mean as hell too. The owner needs to do themselves a favour and get someone else to run their place. it's ruining their restaurant. <br/><br/>great that you got on TV, sucks that can't hire decent people that excel in customer service.<br/><br/>Like I said, it happens EVERY TIME we go in there. good luck!

Good food but slow service. The restaurant looks and feels like a bar but the atmosphere is pretty good. I went for brunch around 12:30pm on a Saturday and waited 10 minutes for a table. The hostess/waitress was nice and set my expectations accordingly. For parents with young kids, be wary of their "high chairs" as they are just booster seats that don't tie down (ie. your kid could fall off the bench or chair with the high chair still strapped to their bum). <br/>The service wasn't bad, but we waited over 20 minutes for our food. Other tables around us had similar wait times. The group of 5 a couple of tables down from us waited over 30 minutes for their food. <br/>The food was really good and I would go back just for the food. We tried a pulled pork bennie and it was really good. I'd like to try the dinner menu next time.

Customer Service Stinks!. I used to really enjoy going to El Camino's. It was the kind of place where everyone was comfortable and the vibe was laidback and fun. But in the past few months, things have been really going downhill, mostly in the service department. I don't know if there is now a policy among the staff that they are so popular that they don't need to treat people in a decent way, but I for one have had enough. <br/><br/>Last night, we had a bartender tell us we were first in line for the patio, so we waited outside for just over 30 minutes. There were in fact tables available on the patio, but there is a capacity limit of 9 and as we were a group of 3, we would have pushed the patio numbers to 10. So we waited.<br/>We understood that. At one point, two of us sat down on the bench just to rest and the bartender came to chase us off (even though we pointed out that there were only 9 people on the patio: he later apologized). Still later, one couple on the patio let us know that they were just waiting for their bill (and had been for 20 minutes), so if we could help them find the waitress, we could have their table. We tracked down the waitress who was clearly pissed off at being told that some of her customers wanted her attention.<br/><br/>Later, the waitress came out as this table was leaving and told us that we couldn't have it as a couple inside had been waiting for it. We pointed her to the bartender who had promised no one else was waiting, but she made it very clear that she would not serve us if we sat down. So we left. Later we realized that she was lying to us: the people who wanted to move were a couple, so there was no reason that they couldn't have sat on the patio in the first place. We were only waiting because we were three. <br/><br/>If this were my only negative experience of El Camino, I might have brushed it off as a bad night. But more often than not, I leave feeling irritated or even angry at the way we've been treated. So we won't be back.

Good dinner in a lively restaurant but unfortunately odd customer service. My party had been offered a free drink when we had to be moved inside from the patio. When the bill came we noticed the drink had not been removed so we told our waitress about it. The bartender came over and stated that because we were later offered a seat on the patio, when we were 3/4 of the way through our dinner,that we "were ok with it". I have never been offered a free drink contingent in anything... and in a city of hundreds of good restaurants customer service should be better than that...

I love the place we find it for casualty the food is amaizing but unfortunately the service is foing down I been there yesterday around 2:30 pm the place was no very busy inside was around 5 empty tables no body come to say welcome I thing the customer is important always they getting a lot popularity between my frends bud no body care about service any more the business whit out customer is nothing I guess the minimum respect from the restaurant to the custome is try to make it feel comfortable and welcome and bring the basic attention on service I dont ask about vip service <br/><br/>After no body come to bring table for us we get inside and we get a table and the waitress come whit us and she say ooh guys you here next time let me know you need a table so my frend told here we was waiting by the entrance and no body even say welcome or ask how many ppl and was a lot staff passing by and she was kind of mad and she I just ask you next time to toldme you need table so we know you here <br/>And no even say apologize guys her attitude was bad I hope they can change becuse the food is great I hope ppl from the kitchen can check all this detail I know they work so hard and they dont know about it

Came here with my Mexican boyfriend and our Mexican friends the other day. We had heard that they had the best carne asada tacos in town. Well, I agree that the carne asada was good, but we also order a variety of things on their menu, but we were sorely disappointed with the lack of flavour and seasoning in everything aside from the carne asada.<br/><br/>The food was over priced, and the portions weren't very big either. But what offended us most, aside from the average food, was the service. You literally have to bark at your waiter to get service, and he took away some of our plates before we were done with them. Then as we were paying, our waiter didn't even help us with the portable card machines, so we ended up just pressing in our own bill. He's lucky we were honest.<br/><br/>All in all, we would come back maybe once in a blue moon for take outs of carne asada tacos, but we wouldn't go back to dine in.

Went on a sunny evening and really liked it. We had a few tasty margaritas and each had a bocadillo (I had the fish<br/>One and my hubby the beef) and it was delicious! Simple, well priced food in a cool environment. The staff is a bit slow but it's Main Street! It's nothing to complain about if you are there to relax and enjoy the scene.

Server was really friendly. However food wasnt that impressive. Taco didnt taste too fresh. Ordered a shrimp Arepa, the flavor was blend. Chicken wings taste ok, but it was raw...........

This place failed to impress me. We had to flag down the waitress to order our food. As well, it took 20 minutes to get my beer. I asked the waitress & she told me they had to refill the keg. Would it kill her to let me know this instead of making me wait??? The food was very small in portion size. My husband had the chicken taco which was smaller than his palm in size. Our bill came out to be $80 and we didn't feel satisfied at all. Overall, the food was mediocre at best. I've had better for less!!

Great food. Visited El Caminos in October. Delicious food, even better wine!<br/><br/>Taco Tuesday is a great deal and delicious! Tacos were Sooo good and GF!<br/>I will rerun next time I'm in Van!

Don't bring your appetite. This is more of a drinks and snacks place than a place you’d go for a meal. While the menu choices seem interesting, the food is teeny tiny. Two tacos sound like a good deal for $6 until you see them. They are laughably small, barely the size of a baby’s palm and don’t come with anything. Same with most of the menu items. The arepas were about four bites. The side of Spanish rice was about three tablespoons of rice at most. The food overall is mediocre at best. They do have drink specials that are well priced, so maybe that’s their main objective – to be a bar rather than a restaurant.

Not returning!. Choose to try based on 'open late' , food reviews and we like to support new operations. Went after art show and arrived at 10:20. Hours of operation stated they closed at 11pm. This is 'late' if you are 8 years old, and we are not. We arrived way before closing to be told[ by 2 tough girls] that the kitchen was perhaps closed. I stated that we were hungary and we would go elsewhere if they could not feed us. We were then told they were closed and we left. In an over saturated restaurant market one would think El Camino would want new customers. I guess they do not.

YUMMMMM. Went here the other night with some girlfriends. Great funky little place. The food is cheap and delicious! Although portions could be a little bigger. Had the cheese Arepa and it was amazing!!A must try if you are gluten free as its like you are eating a burger. Highly reccomend this place

Brilliant. I just discovered this place and I'm sold. The food was top notch. As were the drinks. I found the portions small, but filling. The price is right, however. I think they could get away with raising the price and giving you bigger portions...

Totally disappointed. Heard about a cool Mexican place on Main, so tried it out for a Sunday lunch with friends. At 2pm, the only choices were brunch or tacos, so we went with tacos. Don't be excited - they weren't much bigger than a toonie, and didn't come with anything else. Worst part was that our waitress, who explained to us how nothing else was available from the kitchen, sat at the bar eating a big sandwich that the kitchen apparently made special for her. Won't go again.

Latitude now El Camino. Same place, new name, new menu, more veggie options, yay!

OK.... Taco Tuesday is what caught my attention, however, there isn't anything special about this place. They have a basic menu and the atmosphere is good for a romantic drink. <br/><br/>Unfortunately there isn't a consistent amount of interest in this place as I constantly see it empty.

One of my favourites. I come to Latitude fairly often and have never been disappointed. The food is consistently delicious, service is attentive but unobtrusive and the drink selection is excellent. My only complaint is that they took the bolirepitas (sp?) off the menu! It's a great date spot to boot, not super loud and perfect lighting.

Was there this week. The only thing better than the service was the food. Amazing waitress, super busy bartender cranking out fantastic drinks & an owner who seemed to care.

Delightful!. My boyfriend and I have been going here at least once or twice a month, and it has been a great experience each time. The appetizers are very yummy, and the cocktails are even better. The atmosphere is upbeat and the staff are always very friendly. I highly recommend!

Great food, great drinks, a little pricey. I've come here a few times and have enjoyed it every time. Staff are super friendly and they know their stuff. I love their cocktail menu! However, since this runs more in the vein of cocktail bars, you have to expect to pay a little more than at your average resto-bar, so it's more of a treat for me.

I thought tips were discretionary. We went in for a nibble post car free day. The restaurant had about 3 full tables. <br/><br/>Drinks = A<br/><br/>Food = A <br/><br/>Service = D- Server actually said she wasn't sure why, but things were really kinda slow today...sorry. (May I remind you...there were three tables full in the entire restaurant.) We get our drinks and food orders in and get served. <br/><br/>Order dessert and post dinner drinks, one for one of my friend and one for me plus a coffee. Desserts arrive, the Server asks again any drinks, I say yes, the coffee I ordered. She replies, Oh yes and the brings it.<br/><br/>Time comes to pay. We all agree the drinks and food were really good however the service was much less than stellar. We leave a small tip. The bartender comes over after we've paid and says, "I think there's been a calculation error...there's only a $5 tip on $115 bill". I say, "uh huh", he says, "Are you sure?". I say, "uh huh". He goes away. The tip was $8 on a $115 tip which equates to about a 7% tip, give or take on D- service. They are lucky we gave any tip. Plus, last time I checked, tips are DISCRETIONARY, not a given. When I receive good service, I and my friends tip accordingly....and this tip was according to the service we received. I will have to think about returning based somewhat on the lackluster performance of our server, but more importantly, based on the absolute cheek of the bartender. That attitude of entitlement is beyond reproach.

Boyfriend and I wandered into this place. Great atmosphere but most of all the food was amazing and fairly cheap. It all tasted so fresh. Will definitely be back regularly.

Superior Seafood at Latitude. My wonderful boyfriend took me to Latitude last night for a special birthday dinner. I knew nothing about it, but I did have a sneak peek at their menu online. I was really impressed with the prices and the dish descriptions.<br/>The room was beautiful: sophisticated and sleek, but warm and inviting as well. Comfortable seating also.<br/>The service was friendly and unobtrusive; it was perfect.<br/>We shared the Saltpspring Island mussels in a coconut curry sauce, which were delicious. They were served with strips of pita bread, which I happily used to mop some of the delicious sauce.<br/>We also tried freshly shucked oysters for the first time. My boyfriend had two and loved them. I just stuck with one and while it was good, the oyster texture is just a little too "slimy" for my taste. <br/>We both ordered the rockfish tacos which were fantastic. Excellent toppings (mmm, sweet onions!) and a perfect portion size, with some freshly squeezed lime on top to polish it off beautifully.<br/>The flourless chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce (with a birthday candle in it of course, accompanied by a sweet boyfriend serenade) ended the night.<br/>You get some incredible seafood dishes at a big bang for a small buck at Latitude. I'll definitely go back to try the arugula salad, chickpea fries, and polenta main dish.<br/>I majorly recommend!

Cool rather than fun. Latitude has a slightly more mature clientele than the other storefront bars on this part of Main, and, unlike them, its style is 'sophisticated', rather than 'quirky fun' - and the focus is on wine rather than beer. It's a pleasant enough spot, but hard to get all that excited about.

When I went I ordered steelhead trout. It arrived unseasond and absolutely tasteless. Our server had zero personality and people skills and was doing the wrong thing for a living. I live in the area but not sure I'll be back.

My new favourite. I went to Latitude with a friend for the first time last week and found the food and service outstanding, a welcome addition to Main St. I didn't realize until we got there that the owners used to operate the Raincoast in Tofino which was one of my favourite restaurants ever, so no surprise at the quality of this place.<br/><br/>With more than three dozen wines by the glass, it was hard to decide what to try first, but we managed! Same with the menu - we wanted everything. For starters we settled on the Qualicum scallops and arepas (deep fried<br/>cornmeal cakes, common street food in South America) with the best guacamole I can remember. We also shared the mussels with smoked chili coconut broth and the soccas which are chickpea crepes stuffed with shrimp sauteed in lemon cream. For our mains, my friend had the bison flank steak with chimichurri and I had the fresh halibut, perfectly cooked with avocado creme fraiche and cheese quinoa fritters. We were too stuffed for dessert, so we'll try those out next time which will be soon!<br/><br/>All in all, one of the best new restaurants in Vancouver, for quality and value. They said their winter menu is coming in the next few weeks with the end of the fresh fish season, looking forward to it.

Needs work!. My wife and I checked out Latitude last week. We went on a weeknight and there were a few tables taken. We were seated in one of their booths. There is a long banquette opposite the booths. The room looks very sophisticated but I found the design was lacking any character. I didn't get the feeling I was in a "hip" room and the music playing was not helping. I'm not sure what artist it was they were playing but it was a female vocalist and it was very boring, whiny pop music. They would be much better off playing some good alternative music or old hard bop jazz. <br/><br/>On to the food…For an appetizer we shared the scallops. They were the highlight of the evening. We were served 2 very large scallops with a housemade guacamole. The guacamole overpowered the delicate flavor of the scallop but it was still an excellent dish.<br/>For dinner, I had the lamb shank and my wife had the paella. The lamb shank was tender but lacked flavor. It was served with a rather bland sauce and the sides were also bland. I only tried a bite of my wife's paella but she was not overwhelmed. Our meals were certainly not bad, just not great. We had a few glasses of red wine with dinner that were quite nice.<br/><br/>For dessert, we had the pannacotta. It was too light for a pannacotta and the texture was also not creamy enough to make it a good pannacotta.<br/><br/>Overall, I think Latitude needs to step it up a few notches in the kitchen if they are going to succeed. The dishes other than the scallop appetizer were lacking punch. The design could also use some work to flow a little more with the cool and relaxed Main St. vibe.<br/><br/>I hope things do improve as it is a stones throw from my place!

Leave a reply 3250 Main St,  Vancouver, BC  Food rating: 8.5/10 One of my top spots to hit up for weekend brunch. I’ve been here for dinner before as well, but breakfast/brunch is my favourite meal to eat, so I’ve eaten more brunches here than dinners. I’ve tried a lot of the dishes on the brunch menu, so I’ve narrowed down my all-time favourite to the chorizo, guacamole benedict with sauteed tomatoes on an english muffin. My boyfriend agrees that this is the best thing on the menu as well, so now every time we go, we end up both ordering it. Their hollandaise is more orange-y than yellow and for some reason it makes me like it even more! We sat outside on the patio!   This entry was posted in All Restaurants , Breakfast/Brunch , Mexican on October 8, 2014 by

We stopped by El Camino's (Main Street) for happy hour (cheap beer), and stayed for a light dinner. For food we started with an order of Al Pastor tacos, which are pork with a pineapple salsa.  Then we had the Carne Guisada Bocadillos, which is a beef short rib Mexican style sub sandwich.  Then we ordered the Queso Arepas, which are cheese filled grilled corn pockets, and finished off with a grilled red devil chorizo sausage.  The food was quite tasty, but the portions were on the small side. A decent place to eat. -B

El Camino's is another restaurant that was featured on You Gotta Eat Here. We went there this past weekend around 12:30pm and found parking right in front of the restaurant. One of the servers took my name and informed me it would be 5-10 minutes for a table. It took a little less than 10 minutes before we were led to our table, at which point I asked for a highchair for H. A few minutes later the server forgot about the highchair as she went back to cleaning tables, so I reminded her. She came back with a booster seat that couldn't be strapped down to a chair, which wasn't very safe for H, so I returned it to her and brought my own from the car. J and I ordered a Mexican Cola and a Ginger Beer, both of which were served promptly and came by the bottle. We put in our orders and waited for the food to arrive, which took over 20 minutes. The tables around us had similar wait times, and we noticed that a large table nearby of about 6 people waited closer to 30 minutes. I ordered the Huevo

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Our first choice was a bust, so we were looking for anything else in the neighbourhood. We eventually found ourselves at the most lively spot on the block. Ironic, as I originally wanted to come here for happy hour at 3pm only to discover they didn’t open until 5pm. Either way this turn of events had me back now for dinner at 7 pm. There was no line and no wait, it seemed good enough. The place was busy on a weekday, and I was lucky enough to grab the last table for two. I beat the crowd that was now forced to fill the bar or wait for seats by the front. I did as I read, and waited at the door to be seated. It was the bartender who eventually greeted me, seeing as all the servers were otherwise engaged. She ended up passing me two large paper menus and suggesting that I grab a seat anywhere. The restaurant served Latin cuisine, the lingering scent of spice helped to convey this. The room was a capsule of darkness and noise. It was kept dim for that lounge-like feel, and made loud with boisterous music, to regulate the pace. I can only recall one specific song, it played without words to the background of a whip cracking. The chorus simply had it hitting five times in a row. Not that anyone but me noticed, chatting patrons of all ages and all walks of life were enjoying their company and their drinks. Walking in you can’t miss the spray painted sentence across the concrete stone block wall. The words were in Spanish, I made a note to google it. “Nada como una revolucion para curar la sed y el…” From my iffy translation app, I believe it reads, “nothing like revolution to cure thirst”. Given the vibe, I concur with its appropriateness. Each of the other walls were as unique. The wooden one towards the back was made up of small square blocks of wood. They protruded at various lengths, creating contrast with the aid of shadow and candle. I thought, how very industrial, how very Vancouver of them. And on the wall that squared off the booths hung large canvases in bold or

Average review  For  Average food  But  Good, prompt service. But Won't be returning. Food is of utmost importance And El Camino's did not impress.  The Good: Innovative Food Creations Just did not pass the Yum test. The Pao de Queijo was filling, but too much filling and nothing special. The Queso was a bit like an egg and cheese sandwich.  All interesting on paper but average in taste.  As my friend suggested, perhaps it would all taste better  with a couple of drinks.  It's more of a tapas restaurant.  Not my thing,  But I can see that it would be liked by others. 

I would recommend coming here, but don't bother with the appetizers. Just come here for the entrees and atmosphere.

As we walked in, the first thing we noticed was that it was "Taco Tuesday". 2 for $5...not a bad deal but not remarkably cheap either. Pretty in line with my favourite taco places: Dona Cata, La Taqueria, and Chronic Tacos. The second thing I noticed was the decor, vibe, and music inside. I actually mentioned to my dining companions, "This place has a 'Cascade Lounge' kinda feel." I found out later when I returned home and googled the restaurant, that they are the newest member of the Habit Lounge/Cascade rest

when you enter you will find that it is a pretty classy joint. The restaurant decor is minimal; a few leather booths, a straight row of tables lined against a concrete wall covered with dramatic stenciled graffiti. I’m not totally up to snuff on my spanish but I believe the graffiti said something about recovering from a revolution, don’t quote me on that ’cause for all I know it probably says “Enjoy your meal and thanks for coming!”

I ordered a pull-pork arepa and he ordered empanadas. Beck ordered a beef-short rib Mexican style sandwich. When my arepa first came, I was shocked and thought the waitress made a mistake. The arepa was SMALL. It was the size of my palm….the content was good? Really couldn’t taste all that well considering I finished it in 3 bites…It definitely was not worth the $7.50.

There's something about summer that makes me crave tacos and cerveza. Latitude specializes in Latin American street food. They're also famous for their latin brunches. I decided to check them out for dinner with a friend of mine. It's a casual atmosphere with lots of natural light and with laid back, eclectic decor. We got our paper menus with the offers of the day - the menu has a variety of tacos, arepas, and all sorts of Mexican finger food and tapas. They also have a handful of dinner offerings, but it's mostly Mexican pub fare. I got us a drink that was not on the menu. Back in Mexico I loved these drinks called Micheladas - Sol or Corona beer with salt, pepper, tabasco, lime and worcestershire sauce. If you you've never tried one of these, you should, it's a delicious summer drink. So tasty. I loved how our server knew exactly what I was asking about. For dinner we decided to try all the tacos on the menu: We had the Carne Asada tacos (grilled steak, guacamole, jack cheese, horse

We all remarked how Latitude seemed like a hidden eatery on busy Main Street as we were surprised by our enjoyment of the meal based on limited info and word of mouth. It was good eats. Yum.

We ended up at what was then Latitude, but is now called El Camino, and that was lucky for us.

A couple of Fridays back, a group of six of our friends decided to try out a new restaurant for dinner, and I managed to get us some last minute reservations at Latitude restaurant on Main Street after doing some checking around. I had heard a few things

So I was looking forward to try the newly opened Latitude Restaurant. There was some apprehension as the reviews have been mixed but I wanted to give it a try. I believe in the benefit of the doubt..and I’m glad I was right. I LOVED IT. It is a great addi

One of my go-to places to brunch is El Camino’s. I love the Latin twist on one of my favorite kinds of meals.

Exciting, contemporary, comfort cuisine.

For food, we order a few tapas plates – things that sound so full of flavour I’ll be back to normalcy – food with fresh herbs, oils, char, vegetables that don’t have the word ‘root’ ever used in front of them – we start with the Avocado and mango salad on

El Camino’s takes some of the Mexican pop-cultural vibe and plants it firmly on Main Street. The Latin American street food influenced menu features a variety of familiar mainstays like tapas, tacos and empanadas then venturing into less familiar territory with arepas (stuffed white corn pockets), bocadillos (Mexican style sub sandwich), and antojitos (side dishes).