El Azteca

Amazing margaritas, but the food needs to be improved. I prefer Carlos for their food over El Azteca.

AMAZING! The food is always delicious, hot, and fast. The staff is very courteous and prompt. We‘ve never had a problem. Great prices too! Definitely one of my favorite restaurants!

Great salsa, service, and very tastey food

Good-Cheap-Fast-Hot =) They give you free chips with their homemade salsa (which is soooo yummy, and homemade)!

I‘ve went here several different times in hopes that the food would be better and thinking maybe it was just an "off day" for them. Each time the food tasted the same. The food was cold, the cheese wasn‘t melted on the nachos, there was NO flavor, and the food is just low quality. This is NOT what Mexican food should ever taste like.

Very good food. Service is quick. Prices not too bad. Great restaurant all in all, but I wish the wait staff would come by every so often once the deliver the food. They deliver it and it‘s off to the TV they go and not to be seen again until you‘re done.

I am not a big Mexican food person. I would really rather not have it. But my husband talked me into trying this place out. I was pleasantly suprised on how great the food is, and the service was quick and friendly. The atmosphere was like being in Mexico. Plus the eye candy (the very handsome waiters) made the occassion a very pleasant one. I will now be talking my husband on going there next time we go out to eat.

AMAZING!! Honestly the best mexican restaurant I have ever eaten at. Great service, great food, and great prices.

This place has great food and also the prices are very reasonable. The service is also very fast and friendly!

This is both the most affordable and best Tex-Mex in Ames. Well-seasoned food, great Mexican Beer selection, and excellent service. Look for the $5 Off coupon in the Monthly Mailer and two can eat (and have a beer with dinner) for under $25 with tip.

We stopped by for lunch and wer very impressed with the speed and quality of service. The employees moved with purpose and efficiency. The manager was very much in control and even though there was a line to get in the wait was short. Every restaurant in town should take lessons from these folks.

Great food, very inexpensive, and VERY fast!!!

Good drinks, fast service, HOT food, and fair prices. One of my favorites! The menu has a ton of variety. Great staff. We love El Azteca!

Food is better than most Mexican. Margaritas are great. The service has always been very good. There can be a wait during the peak hours on the weekends but it‘s worth waiting for.

Greasy?? You must be thinking of somewhere else. I‘ve been here at least a hundred times and not once has anything been greasy. Best salsa, best margaritas, best staff, best prices...my favorite place to eat in Ames!

I was there last week and regretted it. It was Friday night so I did not mind the long wait, but food quality was so poor. extremely bland and GREASY. I got a combination dinner but all three varieties tasted the same. a tortilla filled with beef dripping with grease, some bland tomato sauce and cheese on top. Absolutely no difference in taste! I got sick and could not sleep through the night from that fatty food. The reason I gave the only star is their well-made flan.

I live here in Ames and at least once a week my coworkers and I go here. CAN‘T beat the prices and the friendly staff! I would definately say this is the best place in the city of Ames to eat at. AMAZING! Would definately recommend to anyone!

Good place. Food and service was good. Margaritas were good. Everything came out fast.

the food was excellent, the servers were great and the food was prompt

fast service, authentic foods, inexpensive.

We live in the Twin Cities and always stop here for lunch or dinner whenever we‘re driving through on Hwy 35. Now our daughter will be attending Iowa State this fall and I have 4 years of visiting my daughter and El Azteca to look forward to! Yummmm!

This place not only has very friendly staffs, they have delicious food in cheap price. From the chip and Salsa to your meal, which is generous big portion. It‘s cheaper to eat at weekday lunch, but even for weekend and dinner, it is reasonable price, too.

This place is so good! The food comes out fast and hot and they have always been attentive to the kids. We love coming here!

I won‘t eat at another Mexican restaurant in Ames. By far the best in town with great food, prices, and staff. Better than La Fuente!

This is the best mexican restaurant in Ames no doubt about it. Great pirces, awesome food, chips are always warm and the salsa has great flavor. Drinks are strong which is always a plus.

Easily the best Mexican food in Ames. Nice, polite staff, and very fast service. Food is great too and inexpensive. Overall a great place to go, the only Mexican place in Ames I will go to.

Good prices, fast service, good food. Easy to forget about, out on Dayton, but a very good choice if you want Mexican.

There is no doubt El Azteca is the best mexican restuarant in the Ames area. Never have had a bad experience there and talk about service, their staff are the most polite and courteous i have encountered. If you can‘t get in due to them being extremely busy well you can always go to La Fuente they are fairly decent but El Azteca is worth your wait.

Second best place to get Mexican food in Ames. Good service, decent food at fair prices.

Reasonable priced, Quick, and great Food. Never had a bad experience there.

The service, food, and atmosphere are awesome! We take our kids here and they love it. The servers do a great job at bringing out the kids‘ food first, and they make sure there is never an empty glass. The food is delicious and fresh!

This resturant is the best in Ames! My husband and I love going there. The staff is so friendly and the food is amazing! This is always our first choice if we decide to go out to eat!

My family loves going here. The food is great, and the service is excellent. The prices are very reasonable. Also, a fun atmosphere. No matter what we order, we must have at least one beef taco - they are so good. The salsa is fantastic.

Best Mexican food in town.
And yes, the monster margarita is HUGE

We were disappointed when we first moved to Ames and weren‘t able to find good Mexican food. That was until this place opened! The food is great, the wait staff is wonderful, this is definitely the place to go if you‘re looking for Mexican food in town.

This place has the best american style mexican food in Ames. The friendly owner and staff are what make this place top notch. While the combo dishes aren‘t spectacular, give their specials a shot. One of my fav‘s is the fajita burrito, if you like spicy, I dare you to try the "camarones a la diabla" (shrimp of the devil). If you like rich food, try the Chori-polo, a dish of chorizo and chicken. The margaritas are great, they added a bar last year and have put in tv‘s for watching games too. If you are looking for the authentic mexican food, Des Moines is your closest bet (try Los Laurales), but if your in Ames, I wouldn‘t eat mexican food anywhere else than here!

Good Service. Food is poor and not authentic. Soggy crispy beef tacos. Beef enchiladas drowned in cheese... no doubt to make up for the blandness of the meat. The Mexican Steak was so salty I almost had a coronary. All dishes had no true Mexican seasonings. Just salt, black pepper, some cayenne and veggies from a can. We‘re from Texas and we eat at Mexican restaurants religiously. There‘s no way the staff eats this stuff. One reviewer said he lived in Mexico and this is how the food tastes. He has to be lying (about something). I‘ve been to Mexico many times and have never had food taste like this. It has an obvious bland, side of the highway truckstop taste to it. Mexico is a big country and there are a lot of different spins on one dish. But I‘ve never been served canned jalapenos in Mexico. On a high note... the chips taste fresh and the salsa is pretty tasty. Still searching for anything that passes as "decent " Mexican food in the area.

awesome food, great service, can‘t beat the prices!! we love this place!!

This place has the best Mexican food in Ames, hands down!
Great service, great prices, big helpings.
And the Monster Margarita! what more is there to say?

Seriously one of the best mexican resturants in Ames! The people are nice and arent staring at you while you eat like some other places in town. You cant beat the prices for the amount of food you get!

I had a great experience when I went here with a group of friends. The food was delicious and the ambience was great! The prices are pretty awesome too! Its a great improvement on the restaurant that used to be here...

mmm, I got the Camarones a la Diabla last night, sooooo tasty.

I lived in Mexico for a while, and this is the sort of food I got in restaurants there. Try the Camarones Diablo if you want a spicy seafood dish at its best. Muy caliente! My son likes trying the Mexican pop. Pineapple is one of his favorites. The salsa is outstanding, and the prices here are great.

el azteca has the BEST service in town, they‘re food is inexpensive but tastes awesome, this is definately my favorite place to eat in Ames!

Best mexican in Ames! Sadly, that‘s not saying much despite the abundance of mexican eateries in this town.

When I got there I realized why no one was there at lunch time, the food sucks if you are looking for something edible

I threw up in a snow bank the first time I had a monster margarita

its the fucking best thing to happen to me!!!!! ever!!!!!!