With over five locations found in the heart of Redwood City, this family-owned Mexican restaurant is a big hit for many students and staff. El Grullense has been around for over 30 years, serving a variety of Mexican cuisine ever since. While there are several locations, there is a hefty debate on which one is the best to go to.
The most popular location amongst students seems to be the one right here on El Camino, off of Jefferson Ave. This location makes it convenient for many to stop by for a quick bite to eat after school, but also advantageous for students living in the area.
“The tacos are good, considering the meat at other places is kind of dry. They definitely have a lot of flavor [to them],” freshman Armando Pantoja Hernandez said.
With a wide menu from breakfast to dinner, the Meaty Fries is a dish that stands out the most. “There’s your choice of meat, sour cream, avocado, cilantro onion and a bunch of others. It’s just really filling,” sophomore Jayden Russi said, who also finds this El Camino location the best.
There are a total of eleven meat options, some of them including asada, carnitas, pollo asado, pollo cocido and lengua, which is beef tongue. Additionally, you can get pescado, camarón, cabrito or chorizo with the tacos along with the variety of these other meats.
“I usually get the [Meaty Fries with the] carnitas and all the toppings,” junior James Lundell said. While Lundell enjoys the Meaty Fries like many others, he prefers the location off of Middlefield Road, across from the Redwood City
Library.“The outdoor seating and downtown environment make it a good place,” Lundell said.
Some, like senior Gabrielle Vella, argue that the location across from Costco is the best. Vella has been to several in the area and enjoys going with her parents.
“They have this quesadilla that you can get meat in it, and then it has sour cream, lettuce and tomato on the top, and it just tastes better from there than anywhere else,” Vella said.
Campus security aid Mary Gil enjoys this location as well and believes their green sauce makes it stand out from the others. “The other El Grullenses I’ve been to, their green sauce isn’t spicy,” Gil said.
Just south of this El Grullense location is another one off of El Camino near Target, nestled in a small shopping strip with stores like GameStop and Chuck E. Cheese. While this place might not look as spacious from the outside, freshman Ricky Delgado claims it to be the best and pretty roomy on the inside.
“Just the whole design of the place, it has more tables, more decorations. They bring in mariachi bands every single day,” Delgado said. He says that due to the lack of space at other restaurants, they aren’t able to do mariachi bands as often.
Delgado goes around twice a week with family, and just like Pantoja Hernandez, he loves the tacos.
“I get al pastor. It’s pork meat with pineapple chunks,” Delgado said.
In the end, it’s pretty difficult to conclude which really is the best El Grullense location, given the various viewpoints and opinions. While they might have some differences, they all seem to have one thing in common: amazing, authentic Mexican food.