El Saltillo Long Beach

Food was typical and came out quickly but our waitress disappeared. She didnt really check on us inbtje beginning but I chalked it up to lunch hour rush. However, she never returned with our ticket. We waited amd waited until we saw everyone who arrived and were seated after us had left. They had different servers. I won't be back simply based on the bad service.

Dined in. No wait for seating; but after menus, it took 14 minutes for a server to ask about drinks, and another 25 minutes to get them and a different server to ask us for our order. Felt crazy ignored, and it didn't seem like they were that busy (several tables and booths were empty). So finally, at the 1 hour 10 minute mark, FOOD! By then we were late for something else, and asked for to-go boxes... which took another 20 minutes. Worst service there in my experience, ever. Which is NOT normal. I suggest ordering ahead, and PAY IN CASH, if possible (they offer a discount).

I don’t normally write reviews but tonight’s experience warrants it. A word of caution, do not waste your time and money at this restaurant. I have given them the benefit of the doubt on multiple occasions but after tonight I will never go back again. To begin with there was no hostess and when the hostess did show up she did not even speak to us she just looked irritated and sat us at the nearest table. It took 10 minutes for anyone to show up with chips and salsa and then another 10 minutes for the server to get our drink order. It was not busy, if you were wondering about that nor did they seem short staffed. The server did come back fairly quickly with our drinks and we placed our order. When the food came out the cilantro on the Carne Asada tacos was actually slimy and moldy. The Chile relleno was rotten and deep-fried so it tasted like mold with the consistency of puréed baby food. The ground beef and my sons taco plate was chunky grease with meat like substance. At this point we did not bother to send anything back we just paid and left. Beware! It is awful!

If you're looking for a nice place to have dinner or lunch El Saltillo's is it. We were quickly seated and waited on by our waiter Luis, he was very pleasant and helpful. We shared an half plate of Nachos al Carbón, which was a super savory appetizer. The steak was so tender and full of flavor. We ended up ordering the Burrito Bandera (giant burrito covered in a light layer of queso and verde salsa), the Carnitas and the Chimichanga meal (chicken). Our meal came out very expediantly, everything was delicious and hot. The restaurant was very clean and had a very chill and relaxing atmosphere. Will definitely come back next time we are in town.