With all the hispanic culture around central Florida, there are plenty of options for mexican food. You will find an eclectic mix as well, from Tex-Mex to more traditional food. After seeing some information about El Patrone, it looked interesting so we decided to go pay it a visit.

As you can see, it’s located in a shopping plaza, but don’t let that fool you. Inside, the restaurant was very clean and well kept. At the back of the restaurant is a buffet that they offer every day for lunch. I cannot wait to go back and try that!

On the menu, there are many items shared that are gluten-free. While the menu is clear, the wait staff was not overly helpful with the menu. They acknowledged gluten-free and understood it was an allergy, but really didn’t try to help me with the menu at all. This certainly leads me to believe if you are celiac you will want to be careful.

I saw the queso blanco dip was gluten-free, so that was a quick order. She acknowledged the chips were gluten-free, but wasn’t really able to share about cross contamination from the fryer. The chips and salsa are marked as gluten-free also. While I’m not celiac, I did not have any symptoms after eating the chips from my condition. That was encouraging!

The queso was extremely thick and after it started cooling, was a little difficult to get onto the chips. The salsa had a nice smoky flavor to it. It was a little sweet for me, but was tasty nonetheless.

For my meal, I have missed enchiladas since going gluten free. So many places will only use flour tortillas. I was thrilled to see that they offered some gluten-free enchiladas. So I ordered the Enchiladas Racheras. All I can say is wow! Look at that picture!

The racheras sauce on the enchiladas had a little bit of a smoky spicy kick to it. The meat inside was juicy and cooked perfectly. The flour tortillas were blue, they were tender and had a great flavor as well. This almost immediately became one of my favorite gluten-free meals!

The only hesistation that I have in sharing about El Patrone is if you are really sensitive to cross contamination. I cannot guarantee no issues there, I can only share my experience. A wonderful experience at that! If you can, go enjoy El Patrone in Orlando!