El Novillero Restaurant
Sacramento, CA 95820-1136
Phone: (916) 456-4287
- Best of Citysearch:
- Mexican Food 2007, Mexican Food 2006, Mexican Food 2005
- Hours:
- Mon-Thu 11am-2:30pm, 4:30pm-9pm, Fri 11am-2:30pm, 4:30pm-9:30pm, Sat 11am-9:30pm
Editorial Review for El Novillero Restaurant – by Kira O'Donnell
The Scene
The setting whisks you back in time to Mexico--there's a hallway decorated with ceramic bulls' heads, a wide-open plaza-style dining room with a fountain and a romantic sweeping staircase. There's even a stagecoach on the restaurant's upper level.
The Food
This is not the place to go for heart-healthy, yuppified Tex-Mex food. People come to El Novillero to pork out on "old-fashioned" enchiladas, tacos, tamales, chile rellenos, appetizer combination plates (with nachos, quesadillas and guacamole) and superb beans and rice.
What to Order
The house specialty is carnitas, and they are the best anywhere--amazingly tender, with crispy edges and a light but flavorful seasoning.
(5/99)
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Insider Tips
Curious About Curios?Spend some time walking around El Novillero checking out all the funky little curios—this is a fun place to visit.
Made in MexicoIf you enjoy authentic Mexican food, put Birrieria Bugambilias on your list as well.
User Reviews for El Novillero Restaurant
04/09/2008 Posted by oceg1
The place is great, well decorated and very attractive. The staff is very unfriendly, unproffesional and rude. My boyfriend and I were out to dinner and wanted to have a good time, the only thing we found in this place was dissapointment, the server got our food and never came back. We waited for ever for our food and no one ever came by to see how we were doing. We ended up paying cash because we never got our tab. WILL NEVER GO THERE AGAIN!
Pros: food
Cons: service and staff
07/28/2007 Posted by coleymoley
Our family of three dined at El Novillero for a Friday night dinner and were disappointed. We ordered the hot flour tortilla chips and they were not very good like we have tasted at other Mexican resturants. They were flat and chewy, rather than light and fluffy. We ordered two different Carnitas dishes because it was a house specialty and were disappointed in the flavor, because there was basically no flavor. It was very bland. Maybe they have better dishes and we should have ordered something else? But, we won't be going back because of the service. During our whole time there we were dissapointed with the lack of service and unfriendly staff. When we requested our check, we paid in cash. The server picked up our check and money, but never returned with any change. We waited and waited, but he never came back. Our dishes were cleared and when we asked up front about our check, no one seemed to know what was going on. We ended up leaving feeling ripped off at having to leave a bigger tip that was over 25%, when we would have felt more comfortable at leaving a 15% tip. We won't be back and have had more flavorful food and great, friendly service elsewhere in Sacramento.
Pros: Well decorated, nice parking
Cons: Poor service, unfriendly staff, bland food
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