Enrique's Mexican Restaurant
- Hours:
Mon-Thu 11:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat 11:00 a.m.-10:30 p.m.
Sun 11:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. - Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Private Lot
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Dinner
- Alcohol: Beer & Wine Only
37 reviews
Garden Grove, CA
"Are you kidding me? Only 27 reviews??? It should have 300 and they should all say the same thing...good food, cheap prices and great staff.…" read more »
82 Reviews for Enrique's Mexican Restaurant
For the quality and price, its no better than this. The salsa and chips are fantastic, very fresh chipotle-flavored salsa. If youre a burrito man like I am and enjoy a massive colon bomb burrito, this is it. Good portions, fresh good ingredients, not a big wet grease ball like your lower-end burrito stop. 10 bucks and you get a massive primo burrito, I like the carne asada with pico de gallo. The carnitas is also muy sabor.
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Enrique's has been one of those places in LB that co-workers have always talked about, and I have had bookmarked forever! And after all the waiting of going there since I just seem to forget about the place, it was really good.
Its in an unassuming strip mall off PCH and you wouldn't think twice about the place unless you knew about it. Signage isn't great and there's even a new froyo / sushi place (what is wih this as this is the 2nd place in LB to tout this unappetizing combination?) called Young & Lazy that dominates the corner parking lot / view of Enrique's. What is with that crazy name? But, I digress....
But beyond that - it would take me a solid 6 months to eat all the combinations of food offered here! And everything that everyone ordered was good. And yes - burritos the size of my head. All the chicken dishes looked really good, that will be my next dinner for sure. What I also love is the traditional food, but a unique spin on things. It seems more upscale to me than a typical Mexican restaurant?
And for the parking lot / security issue.... if you do go here on a Friday or Saturday night on the later side, its those patrons at Gaslamp that are trying to park over here that makes the lot full. Its actually nice that there is someone patrolling the lot! You actually even have to pay to park in the lot after a certain time if they know you are headed over to Gaslamp. But let's not talk about Gaslamp.... I always try to forget that I have gone there.
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I love this place. I go there so much the owner knows me by face. If you your looking for good mexican food that is light and not heavy this is the place. How many mexican restaurants do you know that serve vegetables as a side order.
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I used to go to Enriques when it first opened and loved it. Some years later my friend Ty D and Gurl W selected to have our "Supper Club" at Enriques. It is still just as delicious! The only difference was the wait to be seated. Apparently everyone knows how great this place is.
I ordered the chicken a la diablo. It was the perfect amount of hotness (just like our cute waiter!). The rice reminded me of the kind my grandma used to make. I recommend ordering your dish with black beans as the refried ones aren't the best. I mentioned to our waiter about the beans, so he brought me back a large to go portion to try again. They were much better, however still not the best. Stick to the black beans, those are great. My friends ordered the pork shank...Good Lord!!! It was big and tasted out of this world!
Special mention for the wonderful salsa. It is perfect! PERFECT! I have since gone back and ordered two tubs of salsa for my own bbq's.
I love this place! The service was great, the food was fresh and delicious, the atmosphere is great....Forget about the beans, I'm giving five stars!
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My cousins and I came here this week on a Wednesday night, and there was a wait! A wait is generally indicative of good food.
I've never been a big fan of Mexican food, but this place really changed my mind. First off, the salsa is fantastic. Very tomatoey (yes, I make up words as I go), and flavorful. I ordered the Carnitas with broccoli (sorry, beans you are not my friend) and rice. Ok, even the rice alone I could eat a big bowl of. Nom nom nom. Me gusta mi carnitas.
The service was fast and friendly, just the way I like it. And when I walked out the restaurant, and we were already driving on PCH, I realized I had forgotten my leftovers. I said they probably already threw it away, but my cousins insisted we go back to get 'em. Low and behold, they still had it... way to keep staying on a customer's good side. :)
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This place is located in one of the least likely places you'd expect to find great mexican food - hidden in the back of a boring strip mall off PCH. if a friend of mine hadn't recommended it we probably would never have tried it....but good thing we did because it is awesome.
first of all the homemade salsa alone is worth the trip....i could just sit here and eat chips and salsa and drink negra modelos all day! if you are in the mood for carne this is the place - carne asada or carne en su jugo, take your pick they are both great. the fish tacos are one of my favorites just because i love the guacamole....and they put on plety of it!
don't forget to save room for the bread pudding...i've never tried any of the other desserts here, i have to get this every time! i am not a fan of bread pudding to begin with so i was hesitant to try it....but it is now one of my favorite desserts anywhere. try it and you'll see!
i suggest getting here early if you go on the weekend.....or be prepared for a long wait. fortunately the wait is worth it.
I love Enriques! I wish we had a place like this in Irvine. The carne asada burrito with chile verde sauce is my favorite and the portion is huge. Even I usually have to pack some food to go at the end of the meal. Did I mention that their salsa and chips are freeflowing and addicting!?
The service is very friendly and the food is authentic.
Do not miss this place when in town.
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I went with me fellow Yelper Ty D. and Anita and his review is right on. I, too, was influenced by the fab reviews of the pork shank -- it was delicious! And after I'd finished my meal, it was still piping hot! haha...BLOW.
The wait was worth it and the staff was wonderful. They have wine margaritas (our waiter said they were like wine coolers), but I'll have to try that next time. Or you can try it and I'll read your review!! :)
Enjoy!
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I am writing this review for two reasons...
1- Enrique's is nothing to shake a stick at. It is very, very good, high quality, yummy Mexican food. On top of all that, our server was absolutely adorable and totally on it and the salsa was really tasty. The food and the service were good enough that I hardly minded the semi-longish wait and the fact that we were seated at the very back table, near the bathroom and that my sister and I kept catching wiffs of something undesirable.
2- In my world, Enrique's does not stand a chance at a steel cage match against Los Compadres. If it were not for my knowledge of a more authentic, more interesting, higher quality Mexican joint with deeper flavors and hand-made tortillas; I would probably go back to Enrique's. The fact that I have tasted the apple however, means I will probably never go back. Sorry guys. I'm stickin' with the real deal.
I love love love Enriques! Nonetheless, I am subtracting one star because it is a tiny restaurant with limited seating and there is always a wait.
Otherwise, the service is good and the food is outstanding! Best paella ever! The mahe mahe tacos were the only disappointment I've ever experienced here.
Enriques is a great choice, just don't come too hungry because you might have to wait a bit.
Their chips and salsa is gooooood!! The salsa is very fresh and the chips are thin and crispy.
I ordered the veggie burrito and asked the waiter to drench my burrito in enchilada sauce. It came out the way I wanted. The burritos are HUGE!! I barely finished half (probably because I inhaled the chips and salsa). Another reviewer said that the burrito grossed them out because the lettuce inside the burrito is wilted and looks rotten. It does look wilted....but only because the burrito is hot!!!!! Whatever, I still think the burrito was delish!!!! And it's sooo cheap!!!
My friend had the carne asada plate and asked for an extra serving of rice instead of beans. Wow. They piled on the rice. I didn't try the carne asada but I will mention that the portions were generous.
Because if was my friend's bday, the waiter brought us a free creme brulee with candles! How nice. =P The creme brulee had a nice crust on top. The inside however, wasn't the best that I tasted. Don't get me wrong, it didn't taste bad....but it wasn't the best.
Overall, I liked Enrique's a lot!!! We came here because my friend teaches the owner's kids. Said that the owner and his wife are very nice, friendly, and always helps out at their kid's school. That is AWESOME!!!!
I'll be back!
(see pictures)
I've only been here once but I tried a bunch of stuff and it may be the est Mexican restaurant since Super Mex. The salsa is fresh and perfect, the fish tacos are superb and they have quail!!!
I ordered a plate with chorizo, carne asada, a bbq'd quail, beans and soem tasty corn. Quail is my favorite food and they prepared it so well it reminde me of my childhood hunting with my step dad in Mexico. That sound creepy but if you were there, you know nothing weird happened.
The downside is this place is always crowded. There's also some room for improvement in the tortilla department. Order a beer here. I like the tiny beer glass and for some reason it makes me think it tastes better
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If you live in Long Beach and want good Mexican food you should definitely go to Enrique's. It's a somewhat small space, and in a strip mall of all places but the food is amazing. The staff is nice and place is clean. You might have to wait a little bit to get seated but it's worth the wait. The chips and salsa here are some of the best I have ever had...no joke. The food is great, the prices are reasonable and they serve beer so that's always good. I've had a variety of items on the menu and they were all fantastic. Their Spanish rice is also some of the best I've ever had. The tacos, enchiladas, burritos...great. They also have daily specials like a Rib Eye Steak, Pork Chops, and sometimes RIbs. I tried the Rib Eye and it was delicious...kinda pricey but very good. I would also recommend the Chicken Diablo and the Chicken Vera Cruz, both were great. You really can't go wrong at this place...however, you'll probably need to go to the gym for a week or two to recover.
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I just don't like when restaurants are in strip malls. No matter how good the food is, it just doesn't feel right.
So this restaurant came highly recommended, especially the Pork Shank which is "not on the menu."
I had a trio combination of a cheese enchilada, beef soft taco and a chili verde tamale, with rice (I don't like beans). The enchilada was typical. The taco came in two corn tortillas (not fried) which isn't my favorite thing. They're just like dry and tasteless that way. The beef inside was a wad of stringy beef with some kind of red sauce, topped with a shitload of onions and cilantro, neither of which I like, and then a big dollop of dark brown salsa, which looked unappealing. I had to remove about 1/2 of the meat, it was just too stuck together and glutenous. The salsa turned out to be pretty tasteless and I scraped out all the onions. I like my tacos with lettuce and tomato, but the lettuce was a few strings underneath the hot food which was soggy by the time I needed to put it on the taco. The tamale was pretty good, covered in green chili verde which seemed tasty, BUT, I don't like when they don't carefully cut the fat off the meat and you get a big chunk with a big piece of blubberous fat on it.
One person in our party ordered the pork shank. It was an enormous pork bone with pretty nice looking meat all over it covered in a sauce of some kind. It was actually pretty tasty, but not appealing at all to look at. A little too Flintstones for me.
The waiter was very nice and very attentive. He brought us HOTTER salsa at our request and it was indeed HOT! The first salsa they brought was the fresh chopped up kind which I don't prefer and it wasn't hot in the least. Prices are good to slightly high. The trio was $10.25 I think. Mexican food is cheap to make, so I think that's too high for food like that. The specialties like the shank or steaks can go for more without a problem. But a tortilla rolled up with cheese and sauce, come on...$8.25 is more like it.
These guys rule! The food, staff and decor is everything i want in an authentic mexican restaurant. Try the Trio of Taquitos! Thinking about it now and knowing they're not going to open till 11 makes me angry! anyone who says different is a damned fool- one of those constant yelpers who now fancies themselves a food critic.
My friends (Gurl W. and Anita S) and I finally made it to Enrique's for our periodic Supper Club Outing. We went on a Thurs night. Got there around 7:30p, and had to wait about 20 min. The wait was worth it.
I read so much about the pork shank on this site, I just had to try it.
First the salsa is great, however the chips looked promising, but every now and then I got a chip that was way undercoooked (chewy, not crisp). So that was a big lit down since I love chips and salsa.
When the pork shank arrived, my jaw dropped. It was a huge piecs of shank! This dish did not disappoint and lived up to all the fellow Yelpersters recommendations. The meat was so tender, juicy and tasty. Loved the tomatillo sauce that surrounded the huge piece of shank. The dish came pipping hot. It was the most delish pork shank I've ever had. It definitely lived up to all the great reviews I read on this site. The dish is so huge and filling, you'll definitely have leftovers to go. And it's even better the next day since the yummy tomatillo sauce blends and melds even more so with the meat and rice. YUMMMO!
Our waiter was very nice and attentive.
I gave this place 4 stars. One star deducted from the disappointing chips.
Everything you've heard about the pork shank is true: it is an awesome thing to behold. Practically melting off the bone, slathered in a cascade of tomatillo sauce, pooling its juice onto the bed of fluffy rice--I have never been happier to have the same restaurant leftovers for three different meals. Eat it. Now.
I came in tonight for a Carne Asada burrito. It was pretty packed at 7:45PM. I had to wait for twenty minutes on one of the two benches outside before I was called in. Everyone was friendly and polite.
I ordered the Carne Asada burrito with guacamole and letuce. Inside the burrito there's beans, rice, and medium-rare done steak with a very smoky flavor. I thought it was all right. The steak was sweet and smoky and juicy. But there was a general lack of zing.
It's premium Mexican food, but not the best. I was partially impressed.
$10.50 for Carne Asada Burrito (very big)
+ $2 tips
________
$12.50
I come here for their paella. it is the best i've ever had, could ever want. the seating is very limited, but the staff is always friendly and consistent. all their food is just amazing, presentation and quality!
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Oh man, parking sucked here for me when I came!! But once I tasted the food, all was good with the world!
The salsa they bring to the table was pretty mild for us, so we asked if they had anything hotter. Our waitress asked if we wanted hot or REALLY hot, and duh, we asked for really hot!
HOT DANG that salsa had some kick and flavor to it! And I mean it kicked my ass!
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I'm really not sure where I stand on Enrique's. My wife loves the place and it's close, so it's pretty much the restaurant of choice when it comes to Mexican food.
I enjoy their salsa, it's got good flavor without being too spicy. Last time I got a burrito and was not very impressed. It had way too much cheese on top of it which really overpowered the other flavors. I made a huge mistake by forgetting to tell the waiter I did not want lettuce in the burrito. Lettuce turns into wilty, nasty slime and is disgusting in burritos if you ask me. The shredded beef was stringy, dry and a bit too salty. The thing was the size of the LA Times Sunday paper and I was only able to make a small dent in it. My wife and daughter enjoyed what they got at least. In the future, I think I'll stick with their tacos.
The service here is always great and the staff is always friendly. I guess the prices are ok for what you get. I really want to like this place more, but I still have yet to be blown away.
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Dan was in the mood for some good mexican food...and having been to Enrique's (about 5 years ago), I suggested for us to go check it out.
The wait for a table on a Wednesday night was kinda long...about 20-25 minutes. So, we were excited and thought that was definitely a good sign of yummy food in our future. By the time our order was taken, we were starvin! We both ordered burritos...Chicken for me and Pork Chili Verde for Dan. Let me tell ya, those burritos were HUUUGGGGE!!!! Unfortunately, I wasn't that impressed and I must agree with my friend Leslie below....I also like my mexican with some uupmph to it...but my burrito was sort of bland and dry. There seemed to be alot of beans and lettuce in it, with not alot of enchilada sauce. The pork pieces in Dan's burrito were delicious...but he also said his was a bit dry too. :(
Overall, 3 stars...the service was great, atmosphere nice...and they get some props for the yummy guacamole!!! I'll go there again I'm sure...and next time I think I'll try one of their house specials instead.
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Dear Enrique,
Why did you let me ignore you all that time? I lived in Long Beach for 3 years and never had the chance to enjoy you. Why? Because I was annoyed by the fact that you lived in a strip mall. That's like the food equivalent of a guy who still lives with his mother.
Even after hearing the girls in my book club rave about you. About how you had changed their worlds. About how their booty calls to you were so deliciously anticipated. And how you always came through.
Why did you hide there behind that crappy internet coffee/bobba tea place, parked between a children's store and a bad Italian restaurant? I drove right past the lines of people who would wait to see you on the weekends, thinking: No worries, El Torito will welcome me in. His home is larger, and more prominently located right there on PCH. Mr. Torito has a corporate gig, and he just wants our love to be out in the open like that.
But you...you have hid your passion from mine eyes. Maybe you didn't feel good enough. Maybe it was the lack of liquor license. Maybe you thought I couldn't subsist on beer alone.
Either way, you have been found. And you continue to support my nagging Chicken Enchilada habit.
Enrique, you will always be an itch that I just can't scratch.
Because now I live in the O.C. near "Mi Casa". They just don't do me like you do, Henry. Or do you prefer "Hank"?
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Since discovered (due to yelp), Enrique's has been the Go-To for Mexican food for myself and fellow foodie friends. There is almost always a half hour wait, but even if I'm starving and grumpy I am always ok with it because I know the payoff is well worth it. While I have had not had anything bad, let me highlight individual dishes:
Sides:
The Refried Beans are heaven on earth.
The Black Beans are much less spectacular.
I much prefer the white rice over the Spanish rice.
The roasted salsa is amazing, while I find their chips to be sort of lackluster.
The do not make their own tortillas, which I can forgive because if they did my mind would implode and suck all of Long Beach into a supermassive Black Hole from the over exertion of awesomeness. We can't have that.
There is a soup with shredded chicken in a light broth with rice and avocado. It's not the most flavorful dish, but for anyone in your party who has a Mom's comfort food type of tummy, this dish is a great home-made chicken and rice soup. If you want to spice it up a bit, you can plop in some of their roasted salsa.
Main Dishes:
Carne Asada - probably the best I have ever had. The meat is grilled with a slight char taste that compliments the lime juice that is splashed over it.
Carnitas - Super tender and flavorful. A great thing to try the first time.
Chicken Veracruz - Boneless chicken breast grilled and topped with melted cheese, avocado, salsa and black olives. Fantastic.
Chile Verde - Slow Roasted Pork that is tender and delicious in a tomatillo sauce. Highly recommended.
Misc:
Much less crowded on Sunday nights and weeknights.
They only serve beer as far as alcohol.
You can do really awesome upper-body dances at your table to the tune of their upbeat and festive music.
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I went to Enriques's for the first time with a fellow vegetarian and vegan. We were blown away when after the vegan asked the waitress for a vegetarian burrito without cheese on it the waitress asked if she was vegan and suggested changing the beans in the burrito from pinto to black and further changing the rice from Spanish rice to white rice because the Spanish rice had chicken stock in it. The attention to detail and willingness to tweak the orders blew us away. The only thing more amazing than the service was how great the food was. We'll definitely be going back... often!
Just one side note, I was disappointed that they had wine based blended margarita's only, no real margaritas... certainly not a deal breaker for me though.
went to
Enrique's is just OK. Friends kept telling me, "It is the best" and "You must go there" and it being right down the street from our house, we kept trying, but Friday and Saturday evenings it was always PACKED so we always opted to go elsewhere. But yesterday afternoon, I had a hankering for some good Mexican food, so we wandered over there. It was OK, not gross and not good, but just OK. We both had the house specials: roasted chicken tacos for me and shrimp enchiladas for Dusty. Everything was pretty bland; I like spiciness and kick in my Mexican food. Even their salsa barely had any taste or spice. Maybe it was what we got, but I much prefer Hole Mole and Hole Mole is much cheaper!
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Oh, I love this place! Tried it a few days ago and I've been thinking about going back ever since.
My friend turned me onto the Pork Shank that's not listed in the menu. It was delicious! I noticed she ordered extra green sauce on it and it came out fabulous. YUMMY*** Delish.
The salsa and chips were super addicting. Service was consistent. Enrique's definitely a new love of mine.
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After reading all the glowing reviews of Enrique's on Yelp, my boyfriend was begging me to go here with him. He mentioned that they had potato tacos and taquitos, which piqued my interest being that I'm not a big meat eater. We went on a Friday night around 5:30pm and got in without any wait. I ordered combination #10, two potato taquitos and a cheese quesadilla, with rice and black beans. He ordered a #15, a chicken taco, cheese enchilada, and beef tamale with rice and refried beans. We agreed that it was good we had ordered a good selection of different things so we could try each other's food.
The chips and salsa that were brought to the table were really hard to stop eating. The salsa is how salsa should be: fresh and full of cilantro and other tasty tidbits. Obviously freshly made that day, not from a can. It was so good that I dipped all of my food into it!
The potato taquitos were really good. Nice and crispy fried with mashed potato-y goodness inside. I think if the potatoes were more sliced instead of mashed it would be better, but I can't complain because the concept of potato taquitos is just too cool. Reminds me of tofu tacos at another Long Beach dining establishment! My quesadilla was out of this world. I don't know how they did it, but it was probably the best I've had. The rice and beans were just okay, nothing special at all.
I really enjoyed my dinner here. I will return to try some more options, but I don't think I could wait 40 minutes to eat here. It's really good, but it's not THAT good.
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Go take a look in the kitchen and you will see Enrique himself back there. He puts his own blood, sweat, and tears into the food and you can taste it, in a non gross way. Their food is so yummy and I think that their salsa is one of the best, so fresh. Try their bread pudding its so good. And their flan. Enrique's quesadilla is yummy too. Guac is always a plus. I love Enrique and his wife Michelle, so nice and I love that it is a family owned business, you can always tell.
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Our first visit was motivated by my nonagenarian grandmother-in-law. She'd read a review in the paper and insisted we give Enrique's a try.
1. I've enjoyed the tacos, carnitas, and carne asada.
2. These 4 stars for Enrique's are relative to what else is in the area for Mexican food. You've got El Torito and Acapulco within a stone's throw and they can't hold a candle to this place. By comparison, Enrique's food tastes unique and has a firmer, fresher texture.
(Speaking of texture, I lost a temporary crown while enjoying my tamale on my first visit.)
3. That "yo no se que" that reviewer gabadab m. mentioned is common at non-chain hole-in-the-wall places. I cannot be certain, but I attribute it to the actual use of and experimentation with fresh, authentic ingredients.
Sadly, I'm usually too hungry, tired, and crabby to put up with the wait at Enrique's. We usually only go out on Fridays and it's a drag to drive by the front of this place and realize we're too lazy to wait it out.
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Okay, this place is a not-well-kept secret in Long Beach - and about the only restaurant I'm willing to wait 30 minutes for a table to open up. The salsa is terrific, but if they offer the apple crisp for desert, reserve it in advance. I've tried lots of different items, and haven't come across anything to avoid. The cheese enchiladas are my personal favorite (and far superior to Pancho's, the other Long-Beach-Mexican standard restaurant in this part of town) , but I've liked everything I've tried. Yes, it is in a strip mall (just think of it as providing options for parking your car), but deal with that fact. The tables are rather close together, and I'm not a big fan of families with lots of kids in crowded restaurants, but I'm willing to ignore those surrounding me to eat at this place.
So much has already been said in prior reviews. Overall Enrique's is a great restaurant with many unique dishes. The biggest problem is that it is just way too small for the amount of business it does. Most of the time your meal will be just great but when they mess up, it can be really bad and very disappointing because this is the type of place you want to take your friends and family to. The service is usually great too, but that can also be inconsistent. It deserves the 4 and 5 star ratings it has received.
This place is close to perfect.
The burritos are freaking monstrous, and come with great enchilada sauce. The pork shank is fall-off the bone tender. The enchiladas are BOMB.
The only downside is waiting for an hour in a stripmall on a Tuesday night. Move to a bigger place, yo.
Got it.
i really have to give this place 3 stars. wish i could give it 4......there's a few things that prevent me from giving it 4.
first of all, you gotta generally wait for this place. it's not that big. second of all, the wait staff......they don't look that happy. i've never been impressed w/ the service here. i think they need to bump up the pay or something to get the staff to look alive.
food-wise, the portions are pretty good. i think it's your standard mexican food. pretty good, definitely above average.
The prices are a little on the high side, IMO.
It's busy a lot of the time, and well, there aren't THAT many restaurants in the area, and this place beats acapulco (which is down in the marina area).
i'll probably continue to frequent this place in the future when i'm really not in the mood to cook, but i think all in all, i'd rather spend my money at los compadres.
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Definitely a faux Mexican restaurant for white people living in southeast Long Beach.
I was in Long Beach for the day and was craving some Mexican food so after pouring over the reviews found this place.. sounded awesome! Started with the Queso Fundido con Chorizo.. was very good though the flour tortillas were pretty stale and clearly store bought. Kind of lame having a good cheese dip and no good tortillas.
For lunch I ordered the Chile Rojo.. while the meat was very tender it all has connective tissue as well as loads of fat on the meat.. kind of a real turn off.. the sauce was so so, not spicy or interesting.. was also served with the lame flour tortillas.. such a disappointment.
The service is very good as well as the salsa. Verdict would not go back, ever. My local friends who came with me also felt there was nothing worth coming back too. Perhaps they were having an off day.. I always base a Mexican restaurant off of their red chile.. if they cant make that great then they probably cant do much else!
Disappointing!
1st time there last night was truly good and I see why so many have rated this very high.
I had the slow roasted pork shank special with what i think was the chile verde sauce. It was 'fall off the bone' tender and not dry at all.
My wife had the spicy chicken enchiladas which she said were outstanding.
The eggplant appetizer had great flavors but seemed fried which detracted from the eggplant flavor. I would prefer a grilled eggplant to enhance the eggplant flavor instead of frying. However, it was not a disappointment.
All-in-all, I think Enrique's biggest assets are their sauces which seemed to complement their dishes without under or overwhelming them.
A couple of things they need to fix are 1) they need to add margarita on the rocks. They only have a 'slurpee' style margarita. Looking around the restaurant, not one person had a margarita so i took that as a hint.
2) The tortilla chips had a glaze of oil on them.
Bottomline, I agree this is the best Mex in LB that I have tried.
Salut!
I hate to burst the 4.5 star bubble but my friend Anna and I ate here once at the recommendation of 2 friends and both of us had never felt like we didn't want to pay the check at any restaurant until then.
We went there for lunch on a Saturday, Anna ordered an enchillada plate and I ordered a carne asada plate. Before our lunches came, we picked at the chips and scowled at the runny guac. When our lunches arrived, we both took one bite, stared at each other in disgust, then labored to even look like we had any remote interest in finishing our meals. Now, if anyone knows my friend Anna, she will bite your hand off if you've got something on a fork that looks good. Me? I've eaten goat cooked in its own blood, pigeon soup in the depths of China, and shrimp dredged from the bottom of the dirtiest duck lake there as well. I eat anything! But I refused to eat this carne asada plate. Mexican food wise? I've laughed in the face of danger at those carts in T.J., I eat anything cooked up by my Mexican friend's grandmothers. Prawn skewers grilled up on the playas in Mazatlan, the best in the world.
But this place, I just couldn't do....no bueno for me! On the flip side, I did receive good friendly service at the height of lunch hour. So there's my star. Oh and btw, I had the leftovers in a box for my dog...I shit you not he didn't touch it!
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This restaurant's strengths are the specials such as the pork shank or filet mignon tips dinners. We have been here many times, and we always try to get here early to avoid the wait.
The salsa is also my favorite. Unlike other places, it seems freshly made with lots and lots of black pepper; so it goes great w/ chips or on your dish.
I suppose we need to try the paella on our next visit.
Enrique's is not your average Mexican restaurant. Enrique and his wife Michelle are lovely hosts and you'll feel like you're walking into their living room and eating a home cooked meal from their kitchen, which you are!! Carnivores should order the carne asada plate and fish eaters will love, love, love the fish tacos. Unlike most places, the fish tacos are made from grilled mahi mahi--and they're delicious. You won't miss the batter and oil one bit!! Vegetarians will love Enrique's grilled zucchini , creative salads, and he makes the best roasted tomato soup in the world. Be sure to leave room for the banana chocolate bread pudding---the best dessert in LB!!