El Tapatio

One of our favorite places to eat in Cookeville, TN for many years. The chips and salsa are good along with either cheese dip and salsa verde’. Some favorite dishes are Taco Loco, Polla Ala Plancha, Chicken Cheese and rice, Chimichanga, and Burrito Tapatio. Great place for getting lots of “quality” food for a great price. The service is quick and friendly. And if it is a busy day, the wait usually is not too long. We like eating there about once a week (sometimes more). Whenever we have friends in town, this is a great place to go… never really had a bad experience. This is one of Cookeville’s popular places to eat locally.

Had a terrible experience here. Bad food. Ordered hard shell taco and got soggy shell taco instead. Enchilada sauce was like watered down Cambell's tomato soup. Chimichangas was smaller than it used to be, about four bites; couldn't even see it under all the iceberg lettuce. Showed the soggy shell taco to our waiter and he just shrugged. Told the siniorita at the register and she said nothing but gave us a dollar off of a meal that was not eaten. I'd rather eat a moco next time or go the Tres Ambres. Don't fool yourself, this isn't Mexican food.

Having resided in San Antonio for 10 years, I say that no Mexican restaurant is truly legit if they don't have pollo con mole, (chicken mole) on their menu. Secondly, I compare every restaurant's chicken mole dish to the chicken mole I ate in Cozumel, Mexico, during my four visits there. El Tapatio in Cookeville, Tennesse. serves up an excellent dish in which the chicken shreds perfectly and the cocoa flavor is well-balanced and not over-powering. The avocado salad was a great complement, with fresh, crispy lettuce and a generous amount of avocado. All that was missing was the house dressing, to which I added my own, but I was very impressed by this meal. Delicious!

The food was okay. The beans taste like they're preseason from a can, but the rest of the food is really good. I got the poblanos pepper with cheese lunch special. It was amazing. But there was a dead bug on the side of the little dish with the sugar and the salt and pepper. But seems clean otherwise.