Chips, salsa and beverage at El Vaquero on Olentangy
I continued my tour of Mexican restaurants in Columbus with El Vaquero off of Olentangy River Road. I opted for patio dining as I had had my fill of air conditioning this summer. Athough a bit hot outside, it was nothing a cold Bohemia couldn’t counter. Of my standard Mexican beers, I’d have to rate Bohemia first followed by Negra Modelo, Pacifico, Dos Equis, and then Corona. Corona is the bud lite of Mexico. In fact, I think it means Buds Lite in Spanish.
I also need to update my current salsa rankings which would be 1 - La Casita, 2 - Hacienda Real, and 3 - El Vaquero. El Vaquero’s salsa is simply not spicy at all. It has a strong tomato base that reminds me of catsup. In fact, it reminded me too much of catsup. That would be a nice time and money saving trick, use catsup as the base for your mexican salsa. I wonder if you could still make it taste good?
Along with the salsa, the chips were a bit stale. Not too bad, but not exactly fresh. I came to El Vaquero to hang out on their patio so I just ordered a chile relleno. I love pablano peppers. The relleno was good but maybe a bit too cheesy and a bit too bland. I’ve found the mexican restaurants can often overdo the queso part of the dish. El Vaquero was mas o menos and nothing spectacular. I’ll rank it just as I ranked its salsa.
[where: 3230 Olentangy River Rd, Columbus 43202]
(614) 261-0900
Popularity: 14% [?]
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From Betty
Comment:
I’ve had my fill of air conditioning too and it looks like I’m stuck with it for a while since I don’t live alone.
I’ve always thought El Vaquero is ok and reasonably priced for a Mexican food fix, but not great.