I can't give this place 5 stars because I'm a Texan who knows awesome Mexican food, but for Washington this is a great stop.
It doesn't look like much on the outside, and it's located next to a noisy car wash, but the service was wonderful and food was out fast.
We came as a party of ten after wine tasting and everyone was happy with their meal. Solid tortillas and ranchero beans all around. I had the pollo al chipotle.and really enjoyed the mix of chicken and veggies in a nice slightly spicy sauce.
The only real gripe was portion size: huge. Even the hungriest among us couldn't finish. Oh, and the rice was only ok, but everything else was excellent. Would surely stop by again.
Great restaurant that is willing to go beyond the traditional (in addition to offering traditional fare).
El Porton is the place to go after you have toured Zillah's wineries. This is a small, family chain of five restaurants in the immediate vicinity. I need to eat gluten-free, and that presented no problem. The wait staff is extremely knowledgeable of what goes into the food. I had the spinach enchaladas, which where a very satisfying combination of cottage cheese, spinach, and mushrooms all rolled up into two corn tortillas and sauced to perfection with a tomatillo sauce. Of course there were rice, beans and corn tortillas for the table as well as chips and salsa. Others in our party had an off-the-menu vegetarian entree which was basically lightly sauteed vegetables with a tomato sauce and salad and pollo con arroz. The staff does speak English.
Prices are reasonable and portions are huge. This is obviously a restaurant that is proud of what it prepares and does a good job of it.
Very nice little restaurant if you're driving that way. Easy access off the freeway. Â We had chimichangas and chicken mole. All tasted fresh. All was seasoned well. The homemade pico de gallo that came with the corn chips while we were waiting was terrific. Huge portions. Â It's small, not many tables, but it's clean, and the servers are very polite. With drinks (soda pop) and tax, we paid $40 for a party of 4 on a Friday afternoon. If we hadn't been in the car, we would have left with at least three good sized take home boxes. Â Â I would definitely recommend this as a great place to stop.
Review Source:Good stuff. Supposedly, they use corn oil instead of lard for the refried beans and such, but my Spanish isn't good enough to be sure. Each entree is at least 3 servings, so I'd recommend either sharing, or being prepared for a very stinky trunk by the time you get done wine tasting and get back to the hotel. My veggie fajitas had lots of real veggies! Often, it's just onions and bell peppers. Their version included carrots, broccoli, and squash. Definitely has the grease quotient to get you through a day of drinking, but what did you really expect?
Review Source:We stopped here to eat after tasting and before heading back to Seattle, and we were incredibly pleased. The service is top notch and friendly. The lunch menu is very reasonable and you get a ton of really good food. How good is it? When a couple at a nearby table asked if they could have mild salsa with their chips, the waitress told them it wasn't ready yet. Nice! It's the kind of experience that makes you not want to go back to the city to pay twice as much money for mediocre food and crappy service.
Review Source:This "family style" restaurant is a great stop while wine tasting in the Rattlesnake hills. Â I think family style means that it's run by a family and this restaurant is.
For lunch try to arrive early as this seems to be very popular with the locals. Â There are lots of delicious Mexican favorites prepared simply and quickly. Â There are many vegetarian items and I had a spinach burrito that was good with a side of sour cream and soaked up the chardonnay nicely. Â Another day I had a vegetarian burritto "wet" with burrito sauce and it looked soooo good the lady next to me ordered it too.
The iced tea is perfect and unsweetened.
On the weekends the menu is a little more expensive and the portions a lot bigger so plan accordingly. Â Don't miss!