OUR REVIEWS:

"Excellent and cheap Mexican food that's not the run-of-the-mill Tex-Mex you might expect at such a price: The Mexican owner uses some of his mom's original recipes; cactus is featured throughout the menu; there are tasty weekend specials, tortas, and many unique dishes. Yes, it's actual, real, authentic Mexican food—not just bean-and-rice burritos—served by a friendly guy from Mexico. A good choice."
-The Stranger

"Uncommon Mexican street food rendered grande-size and served in simple surroundings on Beacon Hill.
The Scene: With its sponge-painted walls in shades of vibrant yellow, coral pink and lime green, the sunny, spartan dining room is an unfussy, homespun affair. Grab a seat at one of the 10 tiny tables and you'll probably be greeted warmly by owner Juan Montiel himself. The Food: Beware those who have small appetites or tender taste buds; Montiel believes in delivering his dishes generously sized and spiced. Pombazo's Portale is a fiery house specialty, stuffed with chorizo, mashed potatoes, lettuce and cheese,and smothered with powerful sabroso house salsa. Two can easily share one of the Gigante Huaraches, a pre-Columbian treat built upon a mammoth corn dough shell that can be filled with everything from skirt steak to mushrooms and epazote herbs."
-Citysearch.com

"It had to be done... I am metering out my first 5 star for a mexican food establishment. And did El Quetzal ever earn it. The have 2 veggie tortas, cactus or mushroom. They can put either habenero sauce or chipotle on.The staff is really friendly. The vibe is authentic. Que suerte!"
-Yelp.com

"A little more than a year old, El Quetzal on Beacon Hill is about the friendliest restaurant I've come across in the city. One of the ways the Monteil family shows its friendliness, besides welcoming you into their cheery dining room with a big hola, is by feeding you vast amounts of food. A big sign in the window advertises the restaurant's tortas gigantes (giant sandwiches), and indeed the sandwich buns are gigantic, stuffed with big flavors like cactus or flank steak ($7.50 each)-or if you are truly hungry, a combo of ham, flank steak, scrambled eggs and beef ($8.50). For novelty, try the pombazo ($7.50):a gut bomb of the highest order but a lovable one;a big bun filled with mashed potatoes and sausage, then doused in a brick-red salsa. El Quetzal's all-day breakfast offers other comforts: Give the chilaquiles ($7.50) a try, a sort of lasagna made with tortilla chips enrobed in a tart tomatillo-chile sauce served with fried eggs. Another El Quetzal specialty is its 'huaraches' oblong corn cakes thicker than your average tortilla, with black beans, cheese and your choice of skirt steak, ham and eggs, or mushrooms cooked with the pungent Mexican herb epazote ($7.50). It's never too late to expand your definition of comfort food. Lunch and dinner daily. Reservations accepted/recommended."
-Seattle Magazine

"Pound for pound, every 12-year-old in this country has eaten more quesadillas than carrot sticks, and every bar in the nation gums up the gullets of its patrons with giant half-moons lousy with melted jack. But Andrade Smith confirmed my suspicion that the flour-tortilla quesadilla is primarily a Tex-Mex dish. If you want to taste the quesadilla anew, visit El Quetzal, a family-friendly spot in Beacon Hill sponge-painted the colors of a piñata. Waste no time in tucking into your quesadilla de pollo when it arrives; you want to eat the freshly pressed and griddled corn tortilla when the papery crispness of the masa hasn't faded, when the lettuce is cold and crisp, when the jack-like cheese is more of a sauce—there's just enough to anchor the braised chicken to the sides of the tortilla—and when the sputtery saltiness of the queso fresco nuggets scattered overtop is still cool and concentrated. El Quetzal prides itself on Mexico City–style "antojitos gigantes," and at $8.99, this quesadilla is snack enough for two."
-Seattle Weekly