El Rey Tolteca Mexican Restaurant

Reviews

• Nikk M.

  star star star star star_border 30 June 2026

  On this day, I thought about going down to Chili's but then I passed El Rey Tolteca and thought that since it was closer, and served the same food I was after, I would stop in and give it a try.
  
  The restaurant at the time that I visited (around 1 PM on a Tuesday) was very quiet and had almost nobody there.
  
  The staff member who served me was very attentive and she was consistently checking on me to see that everything was good, and that I did not need a refill on my drink. She was attentive enough to not be one of those "fly-on-the-wall" constantly-watching waitresses, nor was she the "out back smoking, and never seen" ones. The service provided was just the right mix, and came out to perfection.
  
  The reason for the one-star off from perfection is due to the food served. I asked for only cheese and sour cream. What came out was refried beans, covered in cheese in desperately wanted to put on my fajita, no additional cheese anywhere in sight, brown rice, 2 burning hot tortillas, and a mix of super-thin sliced chicken and steak strips mixed into a pile of onions and peppers. The dish could use more seasoning.
  
  Plate was extremely hot, to the point the waitress had to bring it out with a glove, with no warning to the customer, and also no plate to put the creation of a fajita on....
  
  They could have done better, but overall, it was a nice time.
  Thanks for reading!

• Tara G.

  star star star star_border star_border 19 June 2026

  This used to be my favorite Mexican restaurant for the 4 years I lived in Manassas. My husband and I were frequent diners and ate here at least once a week; if not 2-3 times per week (yes I love Mexican food that much)!
  
  We were in the area Saturday and decided to stop at our 'favorite' Mexican restaurant for lunch. When we arrived, the place was nearly empty, but that's not uncommon for them. There was no one at the front to greet us or seat us, but I could see a small crowd of women standing in the back and I heard them notify someone to come seat us. A very young girl came out and sat us in one of the booths on the upper level; one of the many booths we'd eaten at before.
  
  I told my husband what I wanted to drink and excused myself for the restroom. When I came back, I was surprised to learn that no one had bothered getting our drink orders yet. The young gal who seated us would also be our waitress. She came back with chips and salsa and got our drink orders, while also asking what we'd like to eat. I told her we were prepared to order our beverages, but not yet our food; we'd need a minute.
  
  She came back with our 2 unsweetened iced teas and we told her we'd like to order the nachos supreme with no beef (an old favorite of ours). While waiting for our food, we munched on the complimentary chips and salsa. The salsa seemed spicier than I remembered it. I haven't lived in the Manassas area for a year, but it hasn't been that long since I'd been here (maybe 6 months or so). So it seemed like they changed their salsa up. It wasn't bad, but a tad spicier than I recall and liked.
  
  Food came out a little later than would be expected, considering the place was nearly dead. Our order was made right and our nachos were as good as I remember, for the most part.
  
  The problem with this last visit was our service. I didn't recognize but one of the waitresses. It looks like the place has employed all new staff and they just don't provide the exceptional service that we were accustomed to getting. After dropping off our food, our waitress stayed in the back, not to be seen again. We had to flag down another waitress to ask our waitress to come out, because we were done eating. She came out and cleared our table, asked if we wanted dessert, which we declined and said she'd be back with the bill.
  
  Fifteen minutes later! I was in mid conversation with my husband, looked down at my phone at the time, and realized how much time had passed and we still hadn't got our bill. I once again flagged down another waitress and said, "Can we please get our check?" Our waitress then comes out with our check. My husband and I immediately walk up to the register to pay. I don't know if this waitress was newly employed, but her attentiveness was severely lacking.
  
  Other than nostalgia, the restaurant just didn't provide the same experience to us that kept us coming back so many times in the past. After all of those years of visiting El Rey Tolteca, I don't think we'll be making our way back in, when we're in the area. Thinking that is the end of the chapter for us.

• Renon G.

  star star star star star 7 June 2026

  This is actually not a bad little joint. Pretty good food. Has really awesome decor and plenty of seating. Quite a clean establishment as well. The wait staff are very friendly and attentive.
  
  They've got great chips and salsa. The salsa can differ from day to day though as they make new batches of it every day. Sometimes it's not, other days, not hot at all.
  
  They also have weekend parties which is really cool.
  
  Over all, this is a great place for dining. Great atmosphere, good food, great wait staff, clean place, and a nice expansive menu.

• Taylor F.

  star star star star star 5 June 2026

  Great flavorfilled food
    The Salsa was delicious, packed with flavor and a little bit hot. Then came the queso which also was loaded with flavors. My chimichanga came exactly as I ordered (which I do order specific and a lot of places have trouble meeting my request) I received two chimichangas with guacamole and sour cream on top, fresh jalapeños inside exactly like I love them.
    The server was attentive but not overly. She took care to relay my order request to the kitchen staff so it was great.
     I definitely recommend this place and will be returning again.

• Pennylane M.

  star star star star star 4 June 2026

  Loved this place. Very tasty food, good service, wonderful atmosphere. There was even live music, an unimposing guitarist that sang some really lovely romantic songs. I'll be back!