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The El Camino Inn is the newest addition to the growing restaurant collection on the south end of Downtown, joining Dirty Frank’s, Sidebar 122 and sister restaurant Little Palace (it shares the same owners). Like the namesake Chevy El Camino, this venue is a bit of a hybrid. It’s a restaurant/bar that mixes tex-mex food with a hip semi-seventies lounge that plays more classic rock than disco. The space is small, seating only around 40 at a mix of era-appropriate booths, tables and padded bar-side swivel chairs. The food menu is similarly small, comprised of only burritos, tacos, gorditas and tostadas and your own selection of meat filling.
The Gordita ($3) is served sandwich style with your choice of meat topping (I chose chorizo), lettuce, cheese and sour cream. The masa harina corn cake was on the dry side, which made the gordita a bit crumbly and messy to eat. Adding a dose of salsa (provided on the side) gave it some moisture, and I was pleased to find that the chorizo was moist as well. The salsa I used for the gordita was a classic green sauce made from tomatillos and jalapeños, which tasted freshly made with a medium heat. The remainder of the toppings were pretty standard tex-mex fare, and a couple of cucumber slices were added to the side as a palate cleanser and a mouth soothing solution for the spicy salsa. For the price, this gordita was quite nice.
The Burritos ($5) at El Camino are large Chipotle-sized monsters, wrapped similarly in aluminum foil and serve sliced in half like a wrap. They include your choice of meat (I went with barbacoa this time), refried beans, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese and rice. The barbacoa is sparingly spiced, but nicely slow roasted, almost resembling pulled pot roast. The rice is a red tomato-based spanish rice and works well with the juicy roasted meat. Once again, the beans, lettuce and cheese are pretty standard fare and definitely emphasize tex-mex rather than traditional mexican cuisine. You’re likely to find something fairly similar at any El Vaquero type establishment, but for the low price, you won’t be disappointed or hungry after one of these.
Anyone who’s enjoyed themselves at one of the many great taco trucks in Columbus lately will recognize the Tacos ($2 each) at El Camino to be true to the style. Served in small double-wrapped corn tortillas, these are your very basic meat-onion-cilantro variety with cukes, radish, lime and salsa on the side. I decided to try out the chicken, which echoed the other meats at El Camino with it’s lighter touch of seasoning but a well-cooked and juicy batch of shredded goodness. I added a bit of red salsa to these tacos, made with a mild tomato base and some sort of fresh sweet/spicy chili (maybe mirasol or fresno peppers?) that gave it a slow growing kick. I’d put these tacos up against quite a few taco trucks around town and they’d hold their own nicely.
With El Camino being half bar and half restaurant, I had to try out a drink to wash everything down. I went with the House Made Margarita ($7) made with Cuervo Tradicional Repo, cointreau, agave nectar and sour mix. I ordered it on the rocks with a salted rim for a nice summer-friendly sip.
The ambiance is first and foremost what makes the El Camino a noteworthy new addition to the Downtown dining and drinking scene. It’s got the cozy quirky appeal of Dirty Frank’s combined with the hip-but-not-too-hip vibe of Little Palace. The food here isn’t breaking any new territory in the advancement of mexican cuisine, but it delivers familiar flavors for an incredibly affordable price.
El Camino Inn located at 238 South Fourth Street and is open Monday through Friday 4pm to 2:30am, Saturday and Sunday from 5pm to 2:30am. More information can be found online at www.facebook.com/ElCaminoInn.
Photos by Jennifer René of Jennifer René Photography.
Coming from California its hard to find real mexican food but this place looks legit… will most certainly check it out now.
Tacos=fantastic
Margaritas=fantastic
I want to note that there is dairy in some margarita mixes commonly served at restaurants…for those afflicted with big time lactose intolerance, that marg (with the ingredients listed by the author) is A+.
The photo doesn’t do the (well-done but so-cramped-it’s-hard-to-capture) ambiance justice…the bar seats are suuuuuuper comfortable!
marcjon — I would recommend one of the 40 taco trucks in town for “real mexican” food – as well as food from Central America & parts beyond. http://www.tacotruckscolumbus.com
Of course – the downside of the taco truck is no beer, no tequila, which is what the b + m brings in spades. :)
Sad that they’re not open during lunch. Maybe they’ll add lunch hours in the future after they get a sign on the building? ;)
I really enjoyed the gordita I had there. They need a sign and some AC. But I think it’s a fun little spot.
The chips, salsa and guac may be the BEST I’ve ever had. Didn’t really need to capitalized “best” there but I decided to be wild this Wednesday.
Great place, food and drinks are well priced during happy hour but the seating is very limited and there is no AC. Along with Dirty Franks and Little Palace, this place will most likley often be full.
Looking forward to checking this out tonight before 311. Burrito and a taco is in order.
I wrote this in response to another article/thread on El Camino here. I went. Here is my take. I’m going to sound like an old curmudgeon. I am. Overall, it was not as bad as this will likely sound. The barmaids are kind of hot and they know it. They primp and prawn costantly in front of the mirror at the bar. They struck me as immature but I found it amusing. One was wearing a halter top and kept checking herself out in it. The other devoted her attention the younger, better looking twenty something that walked in at the same time I did. Both on duty the day I went, a Saturday afternoon, were totally abusing the turntable and records-sending the tonearm skidding across the records repeatedly with total insolence-like they felt a grudge at having to play music on an old fashioned record-playing-thingie. Perhaps they were miffed they only had three well-worn records to play over and over. That would make me a bit insolent too. My drink (the recommended house cocktail-”Paloma?”) was very good, a mix of Mexican lime flavord soda and tequila. My burrito was totally and laughably forgettable. It had no distinct flavor whatsoever. Perhaps I should have gone for the tacos, but I doubt they hold a candle to Lydia’s over on Long Street, five minutes away? The house chips are very good. Overall, It’s not a bad place to hang out, but not a great one either.
Just a look at the photos of the tacos makes clear they are Tex-Mex and not Mexicano. That is fine. They don’t claim to be anything but some hybrid of Tex-Mex as Morgan Kelley pointed out.
We need a VEGETARIAN option… please!
No decent vegetarian option for my veggie friends. service was abysmal, food was either totally forgettable or terrible (the chorizo). won’t be back for a while, especially with non-meat eaters.
Had a great time here last Friday. friendly service, great food, good drinks. the barbacoa was excellent. I’ll be back.
Anne & I stopped in on Saturday night and had a good time. Drinks are strong, food is cheap and the music is played a nice volume that is easy to talk over. ;)