About El Canelo and reviews

Should you find yourself in New Castle, let El Canelo be the oasis your stomach so desires. Once seated, you will be greeted with homemade chips and salsa. They chips aren't salted, and they compliment the salsa perfectly. El Canelo also has the largest beverage cups in a 50 mile radius. Really though, in the 10+ years I've eaten here I've never had something I wouldn't eat again. Must Haves: Homemade bottled soda Special La CasaCamarones a la Diablo Dinner for 2 Nachos Fajitas Queso Fundidos  The servers are friendly, the food comes fast, and overall it's looking like....El Canelo : Flawless Victory

The decor consists of tables laminated with local businesses business cards.  The walls are fake brick.With that said, I wasn't expecting much so I was pleasantly surprised to see shrimp, crab and lobster on the menu.Chips and a mild salsa arrived as I was seated.  The menu lacks a house salad so I ordered a taco salad with intentions of only eating a portion.  Iceberg lettuce with ground meat smothered in a white cheese sauce ... it was described as dinner size ... not ... and it didn't have salsa or guac... I did not enjoy it.I was curious about the lobster options.  I ordered the lobster fajitas.  Langstino lobsters  were plentiful and well seasoned.  It's obvious that fresh ingredients were used ... but the guac was pureed thin and very bland.The waiter was very attentive.For a community with few Mexican options, it was ok.  Coming from restaurant options including various spice levels and thick chunky guac ... it didn't meet my needs.

I really wanted to like this place. I came here based on a recommendation of a family friend. The outside temperature was quite hot, you would think they would have air running but I guess not. The mexican food was ok, nothing great at all. I got the fajitas and they tasted so bland. The waitress was nice I guess, but the food just wasn't that great. Maybe it's just not a place for me, but thats my opinion on this place!

Amazing authentic Mexican food.  Friendly, knowledgeable, helpful staff.  Fast service.

We visited this location post balloon festival. Along with my father and Jennifer. We walk in to no air conditioning, it's hot and nasty and flies are buzzing around. I from research found out this is a former Wendy's, it's small and cramped. We only have one male on the flood, two younger girls who are wandering around unhappy and not wanting to be at work and have zero personality. The kitchen with a guy in a tank top and shorts, it looks like a broom closet. He has to be dying if we are this hot eating. Our cheese dip is like water consistency by far inedible our salsa is empty along with our drinks  just see the pics I posted. Stay away I can't believe they have four of these places locally and are allowed to have a food license and Charge for this food.My food was unedible after one bite. This has never happened to me. Sad epic fail of a location.

I really wanted to like this restaurant. It is  the only game in town so I was praying it was good because I didn't want to go cold turkey on Mexican food. Alas, I'm look for a support group to get me through this.Ok, the scoop. I've seen the El Canelo delivery van cruising around the town so I'm thinking "cool beans, simplified dinner on one of the crazy days". So needless to say, we had one of those all day when you're outside all day then dinner time rolls around. I mention the delivery option to my DH and then give them a call. The delivery person didn't show up to work so no delivery. Sigh. Ok, I'll get it to go. Place my order which I'm told will be 20 mins. I arrive at exactly 20 mins and am told it'll be right out. So I wait and wait and waited some more. My 20 minute pick up taco salad and carne tacos took an additional 23 minutes after my arrival time. Double sigh. Get it home and find that the carne in the carne tacos is fairly dry and the taco salad is topped with what looks like beef stroganoff (definitely not taco seasoned ground beef), there is also a huge dollop of sour cream on top which asked for none of. The chips are ok, not freshly made as you would expect from a restaurant. The salsa is comparable to a local supermarket's version you can get in a plastic container, like lumpy dull ketchup. The salsa may be this regions idea of salsa though because I see this type everywhere. Not the fresh veggie and herb version (like the texture of pico de gallo) I'm used to. The dining room was very diner-ish in setup with some Mexican theme posters and signs. It was live music night which was way too loud. It also gets very crowded for pick up if there is more than two people waiting to pick up. The removal of the take out beer cooler would probably help that.  I don't think this will be a do over for us.

We stopped in after seeing this restaurant on Yelp.  There wasn't a wait at 2:30pm on a Sunday.  There were a couple of guys working that were friendly and attentive.We liked the chips and salsa (mild).  We had the burrito and taco lunch meal which was prepared quickly.  It had a good flavor.  If in the area again, I'd stop by.

I love El Canelo -- tasty rice and fresh chips. The last time I was there, the food came out fast -- didn't even have time to demolish the chips and salsa and ask for seconds. The inside is small and not much ambiance, but I don't like every meal to feel like an event. Sometimes I just want  to munch on chips, inhale my food and get on with my day.

We won't be back. We placed an order and were told to pick it up in 20 minutes. We arrived at the restaurant 20 minutes later and went to the drive thru to pick it up. There were 2 other cars in the parking lot...they were not busy. We paid immediately...and sat there for another 20 minutes!!!! Totally ridiculous. The food was ok. My son ordered the chicken fingers and fries and the fries were totally inedible. We think they were microwaved. Not worth the money or aggravation.

This was an old Wendy's many years ago and has been converted into this Mexican restaurant. The service is very good as you are greeted quickly and chips and salsa our on your table practically before you sit down.Huge menu with many options. The fajitas are really good but found the tacos to be somewhat bland.Overall if you want something quick for lunch this place is just fine.

Total poop show.  Pre-made Bacteria SLUDGE food makes you sick, bad customers service, and even worse attitudes from the employees(and owner) makes this the worse place to eat.  The five times I went; there has been an issue.  I assure this: you WILL BE WRONG and the customer is never right.

This is a standard Mexican restaurant with all the varieties of tortilla-based items that you think of, plus a list of entree offerings. The atmosphere is festive with constant background music, the place is clean and colorful, and the waitress is nice and attentive. The menu itself is actually really large, with the lunch menu (again with all the combinations of burritos, tacos, chilaquiles, quesadillas, etc.) taking up a full page of probably 30 or 40 items. Most things on that menu were less than and easily sound like full meals; outside of the lunch offerings, items were still mostly less than or . We ordered a dinner-portion fajitas tejanas, which was essentially a combo with chicken, steak, shrimp, and chorizo. It came out sizzling hot and was tasty all around, along with the standard sides of salad, guac, rice, baked beans, and flour tortillas. We got a lunch-portion crabmeat quesadilla as well, which also came with some of those sides. Finally, I'd have to mention that the tortilla chips provided at the beginning were fried just right and were crispy and warm.

This places has been a staple in our town for over 10 year. Authentic Mexican food for a great price.

Tried this place once and would never go back, would rather eat Taco Bell. Food was bland and tasteless. It seems like they aren't even trying!

A little small and cramped for seating since it used to be a fast food place, but the cherry margaritas are amazing and the food is always great!

My husband and I eat here constantly. The food is excellent and service is super fast. Everything I've tried has been amazing and you can't beat the price. Its simply delicious and reliable and anyone who says otherwise does not know what they are talking about. The servers may not be 5 star caliber but really when the food is that good, you don't want to talk to anyone anyways.

You know how Chappy know's this is authentic Mexican? Because I asked the waitress for no beef and she said in broken English "Okay no beans!" If you want real Mexican this is place, trust old Chappy he's been to Mexico. It's the absolute best thing to happen to New Castle since... well nothing really good has happened to New Castle so this is the best. I order the quesadilla's just about every time, only problem is I love sour Crème and I don't get enough and extra sour cream cost Chappy 85 cents.I drink a lot of water. The waitress refilled my cup six times! Do you know what kind of Mexican Zen Waitress focus it takes to refill a cup six times during service?RECOMMENDATION:Go for lunch, the portions are just as big but its much cheaper.

As usual the food was excellent.  The only complaint is the wait staff are slow and unprofessional.  The whole place is freezing, so bring a jacket to wear

Incredible food! It is a local staple. The staff and owners are always so friendly. By far the best Mexican food you will find in the area.

Great food and great service!! They are attentive to taking your order quickly and making sure you always have a full basket of chips and salsa.