Best in town

Great food, great service, and really polite waiters

Our go to Mexican restaurant

Good tacos

Always kindly greeted at the door, we make this a regular for a meal. Food is good quality, best chunky guacamole and iced tea. Keeps my southern Californian raised wife and mother-in-law happy. Manager checks in to make sure his patrons are happy. Decent covered outdoor space for nice weather dining.

Great food , super fast service and a great price , highly recommend the vegetarian chimichanga meal !!

Food & service always so good!

We was greeted upon arrival and was seated right away. The staff is very friendly and helpful the restaurant was clean and as well as the restrooms. Our meal was prepared and served in a timely manner and it was delicious as always. This Mexican restaurant is my favorite and we will definitely be back.

Always good food and good service!

I love this restaurant! It’s the best Mexican restaurant in our town and all the food is so delicious!

The staff and food were awesome! I got the lunch special and the serving was so big I couldn't finish it. Would definitely revisit when I'm back in town.

We come here frequently and it’s always excellent food and service! The margaritas are on par as well! Can’t go wrong at El Jinete!

Great food for a great price!!

Love the food and the staff. Always go here

We love El J! It’s our favorite go-to for Mexican food in Athens. The food is always fresh and delicious, the staff is so friendly, and it’s managed very well.

This is our go to for Mexican food in our area. Service can sometimes be mediocre, but overall it has been good more than it has been bad. We eat here a couple times a month.

Mexican food as good as any around!

Food and service were excellent.

Everything is always so delicious. Excellent service, staff is always so friendly. Favorite restaurant of all time.

Best al pastor tacos I've eaten and I've eaten a bunch. Imagine a small town in eastern Tennessee having better than I've had anywhere on the west coast.

Great food and service. Thanks for a great meal.

A very nice place to eat

Great dinner location.

Took my kid to the bathroom even left my stuff on the table this is literally after I placed our order. When we returned not even 5 minutes later they had completely cleared our table. My food was sloppily put together and super burnt. Not to mention didn't bring it out without the stuff on it I had asked. Poor service.

I like they have dishes you can't get in every Mexican restaurant. Large portions freshly made and piping hot. Attentive staff.

Best Mexican food in Athens. Love it

Always wonderful!

Some of the best fajitas I've eaten.

My first time here it was so good and our waiter was awesome

My husband and I love eating here! The food is always great and they are quick to take our order/deliver the food to us. The staff is always kind, and our server, (we request Angel), is awesome! He is a server/bartender and is patient, attentive, and knowledgeable!

Great food good price

Always a great place for lunch. I recommend this restaurant for take out anytime you are in athens. By far the best place for a chimichanga

Best Mexican in town

Absolutely delicious! I love going to a restaurant and asking the server to pick something that's unusual or different. He knocked it out of the park!

Very generous portions, 4 stars because I like my food a little more seasoned but everyone at my table loved it!! I liked it very much.

This is an amazing place to eat! I got the Shrimp Chipotle. The staff is very nice!

Maybe I just ordered the wrong thing. My husband and son both enjoyed their quesadilla. My daughter and I were both disappointed with our order.

I loved this restaurant! Everything I had that I ate from menu was incredibly delicious 🤤😋 would love to go there again someday!

A good place!

Excellent food and great service. Plenty of parking.

What can you say, it's Athens. Still, you should expect a Mexican restaurant to know how to make a ching-da enchilada.

The service was excellent Katelynn was friendly and attended to our every need. The food was excellent!

Great mexican food for eastern Tennessee, stellar service, nice atmosphere. Drinks are muy bueno!!!

Service is always friendly. No matter how busy they are they can usually get you seated pretty quick. Fantastic cheese dip. They have a good selection on the kids menu for the Littles.

Good

Overly crowded sure it exceeds fire marshall limits.

One of our favorite local Mexican restaurants in Athens. They have a pretty large menu that should meet everyone’s needs/choices. Chips are hot and the salsa is delicious.

Just a great experience. Food on point. Wait staff friendly and quick.

Great place

We have a lot of Hispanic food in our area and it's all very good - this place is no exception. The food is amazing, but the people who work there are even better - I have so much fun when I eat there. Absolutely recommend eating here and often!!

Didn't care for the food. Everything else was good

I recently came here with my service animal. I was asked if she was a service animal and was told she wasn't allowed in the booth. I felt very anxious so I just left. They were very rude. When I asked to speak to a manager they said there wasn't one on shift. Need to train employees on service animal laws. Called U.S dog registration and filed a complaint. Do not come here. They do not care about... More

I recently came here with my service animal. I was asked if she was a service animal and was told she wasn't allowed in the booth. I felt very anxious so I just left. They were very rude. When I asked to speak to a manager they said there wasn't one on shift. Need to train employees on service animal laws. Called U.S dog registration and filed a complaint. Do not come here. They do not care about their customers. Less

Great Food. Attentive service. A hidden gem off I-75 in Athens TN.

Food here is hit or miss depending on who is cooking apparently. Sometimes it is good and you can order same thing the next visit and you are like why did I order this.

First time there, very good. Not too much good Mexican food around here,but this is really good. Lots of choices, easy in and out, of parking lot and that means a lot! Will go back! Very clean,server very attentive, but not pushy.

Another road-trip between Knoxville and Atlanta, another craving for authentic Mexican food. Good reviews guided us here and it certainly didn’t disappoint. A couple pints of ice-cold Modelo Especial and warm crispy chips with salsa as we perused the menu. Tacos Birria and chicken tamales hit the spot. Served up quickly and piping hot. Delicious and filling — more than enough for the two of us. ... More

Another road-trip between Knoxville and Atlanta, another craving for authentic Mexican food. Good reviews guided us here and it certainly didn’t disappoint. A couple pints of ice-cold Modelo Especial and warm crispy chips with salsa as we perused the menu. Tacos Birria and chicken tamales hit the spot. Served up quickly and piping hot. Delicious and filling — more than enough for the two of us. Excellent and attentive service from our waiter, the rest of the staff lacked in the smiles/friendly department but we were there for good food, not good feels. If you’re in the area and craving Mexican, give El Jinete a shot. We enjoyed our meal and think you will too. Until next time… Less

My app and dessert were pretty good but my entree was overcooked and bland. Overall this was more of the same old Tex Mex most places in the area serve. Waiter pretty much ignored me the entire time. My drink was empty most of the meal. Overall a sub par experience. I won't be back

Food was good and service was nice. Some plates were very filling and others a little less. I got a chicken dish and my chicken was thin and small but my son got a steak dish and seemed to have more meat. Both were on the lunch menu. My daughter's dinner menu dish was huge though. I would probably pick something else next time but I think we would eat here again if we were in the area.

Up charges for a simple lunch were ridiculous! No manager on duty (of course) to explain. NEVER again!

Wonderful food and the service was great will be back

Cheese dip was watered down and it was to expensive for what it is.

I ate the shrimp tacos. My husband ate the steak fajitas. They were both good. The restroom was very clean. Staff very professional.

The food was really good and service was excellent

Great food.

Muy buena comida y sirven bastante, la atención muy buena y rápido. Cuando vuelva a pasar por estos lugares, seguro que regresamos.

Good place to drink a beer

Service was ok. Like the patio. Fod was ok.

Great food. Quick preparation. The lighting is just right.

Good food and lots of it.

Food and service was great

It was decent

The lunch specials are really good. Skip them and go to the real food potions of the menu. Wow!

I love the Hawaiian burrito bowl

I had the chicken fajitas and it was delicious.

Bueno comida Buen servicio Precios en relación al beneficio

Is it possible to have negative stars? I'll apologize upfront because I don't like leaving very negative reviews but... the waiter took a while to even take our drink order, then didn't even know what they had on tap. He just pointed over his shoulder. Took forever to take our order. The salsa came right before our meal. My wife and I both had to send our plates back because they were horrible. T... More

Is it possible to have negative stars? I'll apologize upfront because I don't like leaving very negative reviews but... the waiter took a while to even take our drink order, then didn't even know what they had on tap. He just pointed over his shoulder. Took forever to take our order. The salsa came right before our meal. My wife and I both had to send our plates back because they were horrible. They made a new order but it was even worse, like they just added more salt. Horrible. Less

We had the lunch fajitas. They were pretty good.

First time going out with a few close friends. The service is great, our waitress very punctual and polite. Food amazingly good!! Recommend.

The food was excellent!

It was really good. We got the margaritas with the upside down Corona. I got the carnitas and they're a good but not as crispy on the outside as I would like my buddy got the Philly tacos which looked really good and then we got the cheese dip with the jalapenos and Mexican pork which is good but it was not piping hot which is a little disappointing. Overall, I'd go back again.

My first time going to this restaurant and what a great experience. So many items on the menu to choose from. I had the shredded pork burrito with cheese sauce served with a rice dish that was very good. I skipped the green sauce. The portions are huge. You definitely get your money's worth. I will be enjoying my leftovers for a couple meals. The service was great and our server, Francisco? T... More

My first time going to this restaurant and what a great experience. So many items on the menu to choose from. I had the shredded pork burrito with cheese sauce served with a rice dish that was very good. I skipped the green sauce. The portions are huge. You definitely get your money's worth. I will be enjoying my leftovers for a couple meals. The service was great and our server, Francisco? Thank you for an enjoyable meal and time. I was amazed and plan on coming back. Come and check them out. Yum! Yum! Less

Food was good got our food fast my only problem was the smart remark waitress made after she took the check out recipt from table was gonna leave her cash instead of tip from the card and she made the comment thanks for the tip with attitude.

Excellent Mexi egg rolls and fajita bowls

Friendly welcoming atmosphere, we were seated quickly with a sizeable group and the food was fantastic.

One of the best Mexican restaurants within 50 miles. Wide and varied menu with excellent preparation and great service.

Standard Mexican fare. Hit or miss on food quality and consistency of drinks. Would have given 3 stars but the wait staff is super polite. Not the best Mexican but not the worst either.

Worst Dinner on a beautiful day. Tacos cold, taco salad- wrong meat & very soupy! Yuk.. Will be a long time before I go back!!

Very nice atmosphere!- very friendly service and the food was amazing

Great service and food!

In town for a couple of days to ride the Harley’s in the mountains on our way back from Gulf Shores. Stopped in for supper and got Fajitas Jellisco and shared it with my wife! WOW!!!! They were excellent and plentiful!!!! Service was fantastic and fast!!!!Great place here in Athens!!!!

Very good food. Service was excellent and pleasant atmosphere.

Service and food are always wonderful

Delicious and wonderful. Terrific service. Generous portions. Reasonable prices I have been there twice so far. (Chimichanga and Hawaiian burrito).. and will certainly become a regular. My only problem is that the food is good that I tend to eat too much and then it is difficult to continue working the rest of the afternoon. 🤣

It's GOOD!

Very good food

Service is bad. Food is bland. Do not recommend and will not return.

Outstanding food and service

The food was good. Service was good. My only problem was the checkout girl shorted me ten dollars. I didn't realize it until I got home. By that time I figured it would be too late to say something. My fault for not counting it there. Just too trust worthy I guess. I can understand it could have been honest mistake but I told her what the change would be and that i needed singles. Oh well live an... More

The food was good. Service was good. My only problem was the checkout girl shorted me ten dollars. I didn't realize it until I got home. By that time I figured it would be too late to say something. My fault for not counting it there. Just too trust worthy I guess. I can understand it could have been honest mistake but I told her what the change would be and that i needed singles. Oh well live and learn Less

Good food

Great food. Excellent service!

Family oriented restaurant with authentic Mexican dishes. I had the Taco Pastor, and they were delicious. My hubby had the chicken fajitas and loved it!! We'll be back again!

Very good food and service when dining in. But when using door dash there's like a 40 dollar difference in price ridiculous

Price is a little high. Food is good and portions are bigger than normal.

Great food and good prices. Usually they have very good service. However, service can sometimes be a little slower if you are seated at a table or booth in the bar area.

Great food! I love the beef Burrito Real.

Was there eating with a friend and his wife. Their son and his family came in so there was a crowd added to a crowd already there. Enough seating for everybody for sure and not feel crowded. There was plenty of food that was ordered and was cooked really good. No one complained. Priced were very reasonable.

Excellent food and service.

I enjoy the restaurant. The food is delicious, service is very good and the portions are very generous. My daughter and son in law took me out for my birthday!

☆☆☆☆

Excellent food and service. Awesome selection of authentic Mexican food. Prices are reasonable with many different combo plates. Great selection of Margaritas and Mexican beers.

The food I ordered was very good . I will definitely be ordering it again.

Good atmosphere and good food.

Delicious large portions and superior service!!!

The food was good and the service was good, too.

Always enjoy eating here.

Food was dry and tasteless waitress was aw6

Delicious steak fajitas

Great food, fast service!