El Guaca Mexican Grill in Maldon

Normally love this place but this visit was very disappointing. I dont think we will go back.

Love this restaurant great for celebrations

Fantastic staff, great food and amazing atmosphere

We’ve been multiple times with large parties and always impressed ❤️

First time, great food, friendly staff, will be back very soon 👍🏻

Definitely recommended. Very friendly and attentive staff and great food. We had enchiladas, burritos and tacos and they were all great. Great selection of drinks.

food was amazing, music could be better, Fran was smiley and friendly - great service:)

Lovely food great atmosphere a real credit to the area Highly recommend

Booked for 20.15 but asked to go elsewhere for 30 mins so they could sort out the current service's desserts. Returned later as requested but was less than welcomed. Indifferent service throughout, no ribs in the kitchen and no coffee available as the machine had been switched off - at 10pm!!! Ushered out of the premises as the lights chased our heels. Despite a regular for over a decade it's time to say adios.

Ma lack of interest in us as we arrived at 8.30 on New Year’s Eve after being asked to go and have a drink elsewhere as the table we booked at 8 want available. Food ok but service poor and no interest in taking a pudding or coffee . When we asked they said the coffee was finished . They wanted us out so they could close early and see in the new year without clients . Poor after excellent service in 2023 and 2022.

Great food, wonderful service, good value for money. Kids eat free, which is great. Always a friendly service, no problem booking a table.

The food was really nicely presented, tasted really good aswell. Great atmosphere felt quite holiday like if you didn't look out the window!! The staff were lovely, second time I've been and it was completely full, I'd certainly go again.

The ribs DRY sitting by a door in winter, the Ely el guaca was first class, Newmarket new again, save your money and go somewhere better,

Christmas Eve celebrations. The staff were professional and courteous whilst also being friendly and witty. The food was absolutely amazing. Well presented, it arrived in a timely manner and there was certainly plenty of it.

The food was not as good as it once was, and the atmosphere and service were also unsatisfactory. Also over priced ... It was a very disappointing experience, especially as it was my son's birthday.

Superb. Never been before, but we had an amazing time with cocktails and real, authentic Mexican food!

Super fast service, friendly staff. Our new fav date night,Thank you. :)

Great food, great service, great evening

Had a lovely time with friends here. The staff couldn't have been more friendly and there was a lovely atmosphere. The portions here are good & the drinks menu is fab! Only downside was that as it was very busy unfortunately it took a while for the children's 3 courses to come out & for us to be able to pay so we were there for over 2 hours but this is understandable in December.

Not too bad. No atmosphere at all. Food is OK.

Absolutely loved this place, the staff were lovely, particularly Daisy and Faye,The food was like really authentic and so so tasty, cocktails were lovely and the whole experience was awesome, thoroughly recommend 🌮🌯✌️🤪

I thought the food was really good when it finally got to Us slow service for a place that was not that busy.

Great restaurant but had to keep asking for more drinks.

Nachos and halloumi are absolutely delicious. Bit of a slow service was a fairly busy Friday evening. We ordered 2 fajitas for mains and only one came out and was told the other one would be out shortly. So one of us ate our mains whilst the other waited. Was almost finished by the time the other dish came out. All in all it is nice but it does seem expensive - £92 for two people to have a starter each, a main each and 1 drink each. Inc service charge automatically put on the bill.

We have just moved to the area and after eating here, we decided to book my daughter's 11th birthday do with her friends here. The food is amazing ( my husband and I had some beef enchiladas when the children were eating).. The children had the kids meal ( 3 courses for £8.50, and the choices were ready good, we also treated them to a mocktail each, which they all liked. . The staff were really nice and friendly, suggested where to take the best photographs, and had the mexican hats at the ready! All the children really enjoyed it. Would definitely recommend and we are going back in a couple of weeks!

Absolutely lovely, we will be back!!

Sadly disappointed, we were given false information regarding a birthday deal, which they did not honour. Leading to us all ordering more than we needed so the birthday boy could eat for free. Then as a gratitude they gave us roughly 6% off our meal ( insult) then charged us £18 service charge!! Sadly won’t be going back Picture show the information I got without any t&c Was booked so could clearly see we had children and knew I was looking for the birthday deal. Maybe a good service would have been to wish the birthday boy happy birthday and been aware of their customers. ( as I had already contacted to tell them why we were coming )

Always a really lovely experience and a great restaurant for family or friends to enjoy.

Sadly disappointed, we were given false information regarding a birthday deal, which they did not honour. Leading to us all ordering more than we needed so the birthday boy could eat for free. Then as a gratitude they gave us roughly 6% off our meal ( insult) then charged us £18 service charge!! Sadly won’t be going back Picture show the information I got without any t&c Was booked so could clearly see we had children and knew I was looking for the birthday deal. Maybe a good service would have been to wish the birthday boy happy birthday and been aware of their customers. ( as I had already contacted to tell them why we were coming )

Amazing food as always. Please reconsider opening restaurant in colchester

Great Mexican food and awsome staff, highly recommend 👌

Great atmosphere! I had a great time. My server Emily made the experience great. Overall food was excellent will definitely come back

May was a wonderful hostess. Friendly, polite and funny. Most enjoyable evening. 👍

Went to this restaurant to celebrate an anniversary with the family. We arrived and had to wait a considerable amount of time before we were approached by waiting staff, for our drinks order, the restaurant was not busy. We then waited for about 10 minutes for the drinks to arrive and order our food, starters and mains. The server was not very interested nor did they look happy to be there, once our order was taken we only had to wait about 10 minutes for our starters to arrive. The Nachos and fried halloumi was great, once we had finished the server took anther drinks order, while we were asked to stack all of the plates for them. Then they brought the mains out, they tried to get us to take and pass plates around. Which is not a very professional look for a restaurant. The food was great just the service let them down. We were glad to find out that we were not asked to clean the plates, after being asked again to stack and pass plates down the table. All in all the food was great, however the service is enough of a let down for us to avoid returning to this restaurant again.

Lovely independent restaurant. Food was really tasty. Have booked for new years. Reasonably priced aswell

Nice food , shame that they had run out of a popular main and banana dessert.

Great service and food. Loses 1 star as the surf n turf was small in comparison to other places I have eaten this otherwise the food for everyone else was great

Food was lovely, service by Ebony was exceptional, friendly, priced right & great portion sizes. Margaritas were spot on! Thank you so much guys. See you soon x

Food was ok, if you are a keen cook then doesn't seem that special. Service was ok, not bad but not exceptional.

El Guaca never disappoints. The food is always tasty and fresh and the service is impeccable.

We had Fay dealing with us this evening, it was my 30th birthday. The food was amazing, the service was fantastic, the vibe is outstanding! Really would recommend El Guaca! Lovely small town restaurant with a big image! Thank you

We love coming to El Guaca, it is our favourite restaurant in Maldon. The food, staff and atmosphere are wonderful.

Great food great service welcoming atmosphere Great cocktails

Excellent food and service, and class management who explained all the food very well.

Lovely food, attentive staff , very enjoyable evening

It was great food, fast delivery and nice service.

Fantastic place to go, great atmosphere and amazing food.

Service was quite poor. Didn't get acknowledge when entering. Waiting staff brought drinks to us holding the glasses at the top lip of the glass. Slow service and food not great.

Lovey food and great service, would highly recommend.

Always a great meal out whether with kids or not...sombreros supplied 👍

Love Mexican food, and this us the best we have found in a long time.

We had a lovely meal for my stepdaughter’s birthday and the staff brought out ice cream with a candle & sand Happy Birthday which was unexpected & really nice x

Excellent all round food , service atmosphere.we booked for lunch with all the grandkids.very child friendly.Great vegan menu too.Highly recommend.

Lovely food and staff very efficient.

Food is always good here, really tasty

Lovely restaurant, food very tasty. Friendly staff, nice atmosphere. Well worth a visit.

Great food very good service reasonably priced. Will come again!

Just visited for our wedding anniversary meal. Food was amazing, service was quick & friendly, great atmosphere. Will definitely be back!

Came in for lunch. The menu has plenty of options for Mexican food and grills. The food is tasty and is fresh. The staff are very welcoming and the atmosphere is on theme!

Went to the maldon one and it was lovely food was really nice and the drink options are amazing recommended to Tey thos place

Natalia was our waitress and she was so lovely. The food is beautiful, the staff are amazing, the atmosphere is calm relaxed and welcoming. Loved this restaurant!!

Had a lovely evening tonight. Staff are really friendly and helpful and service was very good. Food was really tasty. I can highly recommend it here.

The food was really good and Fay our server and waitress was amazing and gave us what we wanted and we thoroughly enjoyed our food

Our servers tonight, Fay and May, were absolutely fantastic. Helped with our every query, very patient and overall great service.

Friendly staff and funny, lovely service, couldn’t ask for a better evening, definitely coming back, food was excellent

Faye our server was amazing. Food was excellent and the atmosphere was great. Definitely recommend and will be coming again. Tegan done us amazing cocktails

Brilliant night,good food and superb service

A great place to have a family meal. Amazing food and service x

Food and service was Excellent as always!! Will keep coming back for me!!

Great food and fantastic customer service, will be back soon.

I've eaten here twice now and their food is very yummy. They have quite a few vegan options, a kids menu and a good selection of drinks. I'd definitely go again.

Amazing Gluten free and diary free meal. Great service, even included a pen!!!

Do not go here during the lunch time the food was dry as a bone and not good. I have really enjoyed the food in the evening but the daytime food is reheated overpriced rubbish

Great find! Something Totally different.. in a world full of Chinese, Pizza and Indian restaurants it’s great to have something out of the ordinary! Cooked amazingly with a fantastic choice on the menu. We will be going out of our way again and coming back for sure 👍🏻

What a great little place on the high street. We came here as a walk in for a late lunch. Very quiet the time we came, lovely decoration and staff very friendly. Food was nice and fair price, also not too long to wait for the food. Very happy with it all and would definitely come back and recommend to anyone who likes Mexican food.

Amamzing food, fresh and tasty. Friendly and quick servce and relaxed atmosphere.

It was a shame when El Guaca in Clacton closed… but now we’ve found the Maldon “branch”…. Worth the 45 min drive. Absolutely fabulous food, great service and top not decor. Love this “mini chain” ….

As always, lovely food and brilliant service. Will keep coming back and would always recommend!

Excellent food excellent atmosphere good value for money will definitely come back and recommend to all friends.

Absolute beautiful food 4 of us came here for dinner everything was cooked perfect from starters to desserts. 5*** highly recommend this restaurant. Excellent value for money really big portions and really tasty food absolute spot on.

Staff friendly. Good food. Will be back again.

Tasty food and excellent service. Possibly the nicest toilets in Maldon or at least very clean.

Always enjoy coming here. Beautiful food and great service

El Guaca is our "go to" family meal out destination. We all love it and have tried loads of things from the menu, never once been dissatisfied. The staff are excellent, again we have only ever had good experiences. Highly recommend

Had a lovely Mother’s Day meal service and food was amazing as usual

Great food, good atmosphere, service excellent, will go back again.

Brilliant evening, great food, great service.

Always wanted to try this restaurant and it didn’t disappoint! My husband and I popped in at lunchtime and had nachos, enchiladas and a burrito. The food was lovely along with excellent service. Additionally it’s super clean and accommodates babies. Definitely recommend and we will be back 😊

Food was absolutely amazing. One of my favourite restaurants!

After a few years absence due a loss in standards we tried el gauca again. So glad we did. Back to authentic flavours, brilliant service and just a good night out for something tasty. We used to come weekly, and will be returning. Thank you el gauca.

Very nice food, service and atmosphere was good 👍

Lovely Mexican food we ordered the duck enchiladas and the steak and chicken fajitas. Very nice would definitely return if in the area again

We've eaten here twice now, been such good service from the staff and the food is amazing! Loads of choice, and the Kids menu is also good, seeing as my kids are fussy eaters. Not too expensive either, a new favourite of ours, the staff cannot do enough for you.

Great place with amazing food. Been several times.

Verry nice dishes with great tast Try the Paella - is amazing

Expensive. Food arrived too fast from ordering. No time to relax and chill. Wouldn't go again

Wee been to El Guaca, but I'm not disappointed at all. The service was excellent, the food was perfect 👌. The kids side menu was huge 👌. The price is a bit chilli but if u want a good meal don't hesitate 😋..

Have always gone to El Guaca since it opened. The food is okay/good but not outstanding. My main gripe is the cost of the drinks have shot up. £7 for a pint and £9 pounds for a cocktail seems to me exorbitant. Our bill for the two of us came to £120 quid and we didn't go silly on the drinks or food. We both came away thinking what used to be a reasonably priced place has got a bit out of hand, so unless someone else is paying we won't be back.

Our server Mae was incredibly helpful , whenever we needed top ups she was there to help . Brilliant service. Food was wonderful! 10/10 would recommend. Everyone loved it - will be coming back 100%

Always fantastic food and service. 😋