Any restaurant owner will tell you it’s not just great food that keeps your customers coming back time and again.
You also need hospitality staff prepared to go that extra mile to make sure patrons have a great night out and leave happy and contented.
Mt Tamborine’s El Burro Cantina owned by Marcus McKay and partner Malie are proud that it has built its reputation on just those ingredients since they launched the restaurant more than eight years.
Social media can be the sharpest critic in recent times and reputations can be damaged quickly, even by one of two negative comments.
For El Burro Cantina it has been one of their best advertisements with customers constantly posting glowing reviews of their night out at El Burro and from more than 1000 plus customers they have rated 4.8 stars.
The reviews see diners frequently mentioning that the mains are huge, easy to share and gluten free
They also love the DIY taco platters, chicken or mushroom fajitas, chilli bowls and hand-made churros.
The home made hot sauces, frozen slushy margaritas and the restaurant’s traditional margaritas are also major crowd favorites.
Marcus said one of the big attractions for their restaurant was its atmosphere.
“We encourage diners to get into the spirit of El Burro by donning the sombreros and ponchos that we have ready for them to wear.
“Many do and they have great fun gettinto the spirit.”
El Burro is also known for its table fiesta which is extra popular with large groups out for a night’s special celebration.
The popularity of the restaurant has prompted Marcus to look at a future expansion project to increase its current 70 seat capacity.
That’s down the track and for now the focus will continue to be on serving quality hand-make food using traditional Mexican recipes which importantly are all Gluten free.
As a treat for all the home cooks Marcus has provided us with one of his favourite sauce recipes:
Here is a simple recipe for our made-in-house Habanero Sauce, which we
affectionately call Don’t Come Crying – it’s pretty spicy!
100g Habanero Chillies
20 g Chopped Garlic
15 g salt
200ml apple cider vinegar
Simmer gently covered for 10 mins, then blend well. Great with chicken!
