Fernando’s Hideaway

Met some friends here around 6pm or so on Dec 23 – 15, thinking it would be the same as Hernando’s Hideaway down on Wellington (with just the first letter being changed to distinguish between the two). So I just checked their website and it says they are formerly known as Hernando’s on Yonge. Hmm. All I can say is that this Fernando’s with an F, is not near as good as the Hernando’s on Wellington, however their names/​businesses are set up. The atmosphere is cute with bright colors, simple Mexican décor, a fair number of tables. The menu looks the same, but the visit here on Xmas Eve Eve was not good. We did feel bad for the female server, who was stuck alone in the restaurant and really trying to do all she could. But management needed to be there to help, if someone else called off sick. It took forever to get our food and most of our plates were dried out from sitting under a heat lamp it seemed. They had already run out of white wine, and then after two of us had a glass of red each, they ran out of that. The small Super Nachos (onion, tomatoes, green peppers, and mushrooms 8.99) weren’t bad. My Enchilada del Norte (13.99 with veggie chilli) was okay. Two friends split a platter which I don’t see online that included Mexican spring rolls and a few other items, which they said was decent. One in our party tried the ‘Big as your Head’ Burrito (16.99 A large flour tortilla loaded with rice and beans with your choice of chicken Vera Cruz, burrito beef, or choice of chili. Topped with Monterey Jack and Fernando’s Red Sauce.) which was again ‘okay’ and edible, but not memorable. Overall, there was nothing to make me want to come back here.

Cute restaurant décor and friendly service, but very likely the worst Mexican food I’ve ever eaten.
I occasionally ate at Fernandos when it was down the street in a basement, and food then was unremarkable but decent. No longer. Fernandos now serves decidedly stale chips, and both my partner and I’s meals were bland, overcooked, a little bit burned and decidedly unfresh despite there being no other customers at the restaurant. The prices are also too high considering the sadness of the burrito situation.
Mexican food is almost impossible to screw up. I am sad to admit Fernandos has succeeded.

Food is terrible. I mean just god awful. Worst Mexican food I ever had. There’s a weird host/​chef/​security guard/​customer/​manager/​owner named myooran who is the strangest man you will ever meet; doesn’t know about personal boundaries and sits with his customers (not to mention he asks extremely personal/​homophobic questions which is weird because this store is located in the gaybourhood). The only thing that made this experience worth it was this waitress I had. Great service, really friendly, kind and hard working girl named Kat.

Seriously don’t waste your money here! Food is just not worth the price! Super flavourless food :(! Like where is the flavour it’s a Mexican restaurant!
¹⁄₅ — food
³⁄₅ — atmosphere
²⁄₅ — presentation

Place lured me in with some nice décor/​atmosphere (made it feel like an authentic mexican joint, which there are VERY few of in Toronto, if any). The place was a ghost town, I was literally the only one there (and it was lunch time in a busy area of Toronto). The service was attentive and fast (hard not to be with me being the only one there).
Food quality was okay, not great/​good by any means. Somewhat bland.
Overall, would not come back here again.

There are very few Mexican restaurants in Toronto that get it right. Fernando’s Hideway provides what I would call a fair facsimile of Mexican food, but it just doesn’t quite capture the flavor. When I recently dined there alone, I was served some tortilla chips in what looked like a thimble. The refried beans looked somewhat lumpy, as if they were not fully cooked. It’s not the worst place for Mexican food – but it is eclipsed by even Taco Bell. And Taco Bell is a lot less expensive!

I don’t know if was the time or the day, but the food was actually pretty good! I had the veggie combo and I need to say I had nothing to complain about it. To drink I ordered an amazing sangria. The staff was very kind and friendly too. I loved the decoration and the colorful environment.

This restaurant recently moved from the downstairs location at 545 Yonge Street, below Wellesley, to its current street level location at 591 Yonge, in the space previously occupied by SHUSHI Hanna, concurrent with its name change to «Fernando’s».
I had not been in this place in a few years, so decided to take chance on it and check out the new location. The restaurant’s décor is kitchy and charming, in a run-​down sort of way. What happened next was a series of unfortunate events. I began by ordering a Margarita that made my mouth pucker because it was so tart and improperly mixed. I asked the indifferent waitress to fix it, however her disingenuous reply was simply that the Margaritas are prepared in bulk every day, — a «non reply, reply»…
The meal I ordered later emerged with the plate at around 350 degrees F … When I ended up burning myself on the plate and decided to complain, the owner./manager/chef/bouncer invited himself to sit down across from me at my table and proceed give me a gratuitous lecture about how he «has been doing it this way for 20 years, etc, etc.» I was astounded.
Everything about this place screams that they are «phoning it in»: from the dried out rice they served me, the meat that was dried out and tough (like it came out of a can) to the poor quality of the hurried paint job on the walls.
Stay away, stay FAR FAR away !

First timer. Dine-​in for two. 8PM. Was actually intended to go to the burrito place (take a fat wild guess) just across the street but this place had esthetic appeal with colourful and whimsical décor with the menu conveniently largely posted outside. So we tried it out with one of us haven’t eaten all day but both VERY hungry. The place got us at «Mexican Challenge»; the burrito platter as big as your head. Drool.
Inside had seldom customers and music played a mix of mexican and 1980 – 1990 ballad songs. Very quaint with playful, classic, vibrant colourful mexican décor. Digged the framed old-​timey Western wanted posters and beer-​bottled salt and pepper shakers. Booths were spacious and clean. So far I’m impressed and excited for the atmosphere to manifest in food.
Menu was extensive and screamed flavor and a variety of alcoholic drinks but we were set on for the head-​sized burrito. Right away you’re served with an adorable basket of tortilla chips and salsa. Went south immediately as the chips reminded me of those no-​name-​brand-​chips that sat in the back of your cupboard for a year or more. Salsa looked home-​made with inconsistent chunks of onion and green pepper but tasted blande so after a few munches it turnes into a sad attempt of a salsa.
Then lo’ and behold the «Mexican Challenge» wasn’t much of a challenge at all, kinda. Looked delicious but after bites of it you find yourself dragging your taste buds to a one-​dimensional mexican cliché. Very cheesy, which was great, and plenty of sauce to eat through easily. But lacked freshness in spices and texture. The side salad was squares of lettuce and shredded carrots with a vinaigrette; looked out of place but gave the crunch and freshness the platter needed. I actually poured the sad salsa unto the burrito to give depth. Or something. The challenge was starting to feel how a kid can’t/doesn’t want to finish leftover meatloaf for dinner towards the end of the meal. Immense hunger carried me through well enough to finish.
Overall this place got me in esthetics. Friendly front of the house look and service but not sure about the back of the house. I would go back because it has potential. But I’ll have to either go back by myself or another friend because like 50% of fellow Unilocalers they were thoroughly disappointed and have no plans to go back.

Ive never been so disappointed with a Mexican food in my life. Not even real Mexican food, its really crapy texan!

It’s a hideaway for a reason… the food was just ok. I got the salad and my friend got the fajitas. This place had by far the least herb, spices or flavour that you expect from mexican food. Como en Casa next door is MUCH better. I would probably not return. It was also overpriced.
Food: 1/​5, no flavour and just romain lettuce with stale chip bowl.
Service: 2/​5, just ok
Ambience: 3/​5, nice place but knowing how we were the only customers at 6:30pm, that should have been a sign.
Price: 1/​5, really overpriced. That salad with drink was well over $ 20…

The.worst.“Mexican”.food…ever.
There are some bad ones in Toronto but this one deserves some type of award.
No hard feelings… but shame on us for living in Toronto and ending up going there.
Go to the burrito place across the street, it’s probably more authentic.
The food was uninspired tourist style. The whole plate was baked under some type of grill which basically melted everything on it.
We had tacos and enchiladas … Mistake.
Keep walking.

Ive walked by this place plenty of times and always wanted to try it. Me and my friend were downtown and decided to give it a try.
Walked in and everyone who worked there was super friendly! The atmosphere was nice and seemed cozy and authentic. I sat down and checked in on Unilocal the place only had one other review and it was bad, i normally just look past it when a place has 1 bad review and think it was someone who just had 1 shitty meal (it happens at the best of places)
Ordered the flouritos with chicken as an appetizer they were amazing! The chicken was sort of like pulled pork texture and the tortilla shell was perfectly crispy. The sauce it comes with tasted fresh.
As my main i order the beef taco and burrito combo and I asked for extra rice instead of the beans since im not a fan of beans.
The rice was typical spanish style rice and tasty. The taco was amazing the beef was extremely favourable. The chicken in the burrito was as well. The portion was HUGE! I couldnt finish everything.
Overall, I highly recommend this place the food is cheap and great! I’ll return for sure! Dont let the bad review stop you!

Let me start off by saying this place advertises itself as the oldest Mexican restaurant in Toronto. There are plaques and awards for best Mexican in Toronto covering the walls of the breezeway. The service was excellent and it was very cozy inside. I really appreciate the late hours, too, as a long night out is great topped off with a fresh taco.
Canada, I love you. But what happened? Maybe I’m spoiled after spending so many years in Southern California and Texas. Hell even Colorado had very respectable Mountain Mex, rich in mole and verde.
This is the worst Mexican food I’ve ever had, short of a discount frozen enchilada tv dinner I ate once in a moment of hunger-​driven weakness. I ordered a standard bean burrito with chili sauce. Simple. The sides were flavorless. No taste at all in the rice. The beans had chunks of dried up whole pinto bean and appeared to only have been fried once. Also flavorless. The salsa tasted like canned chopped tomatoes with a sprinkle of chili powder. The tortilla chips were stale.
The burrito itself was baked, for some unknown reason. The tortilla, fresh from its plastic packaging, was resultingly dry on top and mushy on the bottom. It was covered in barbecue sauce masquerading as mole. Inside were overcooked vegetables. One was green bell pepper, the other was so mushy I’m not certain if it was a carrot or a sweet potato, neither of which have any business in a bean burrito. There were a couple small blobs of mozzarella snuck in to random areas of the plate pretending to be cotija. They were like the leftover bolts from an IKEA furniture assembly. Unsure of where to put them, they hid them in random places hoping we wouldn’t notice they weren’t supposed to be there. We noticed. In spite of the distractingly bland flavor and the hunt for even a single jalapeño, we noticed.
Messing up Mexican is like messing up toast. It’s so basic as to be impossible to ruin. But they somehow managed it Olympically. I’d be upset if I wasn’t so impressed.