Acapulco

I used to come here with my family for years. This was my parents favorite place to eat mexican food. My parents went to highschool with one of the family members from the old Acapulco owners. We came here last year and I was surprised that they changed ownership. The ambiance was still the same, but the food was not. Everything tasted bland and the prices went up. Bad combo. The old Acapulco would get 4 stars from me. This current Acapulco only gets 2. This was the last time I ever stepped foot in that place again. RIP Acapulco.

I went here last night for a light supper & to watch the end of game 7 of the NBA Finals Warriors game. Unfortunately the Warriors lost & the Cavs won the title. The Cavs played a solid game in the final few minutes & LeBron deserves the glory along w/​being the MVP.
I’m proud of the Warriors season even if they didn’t win the title this year they played with a lot of heart making Oakland proud again this year. I arrived at Acapulco in the 4^th quarter as the game was finishing. I found a seat at the bar & the bartender brought me a water w/​o ice with a slice of fresh lime. This is one of my favorite beverages lime water w/​o ice.
It was after 7pm & I had missed the Happy Hour that happens 3−6pm. I decided to enjoy some complimentary chips & salsa. I ordered a simple side dish of vegetarian Frijoles negro literally «black beans» for $ 3. It is a nutritious dish prepared in Mexico & other nations in Latin America. A few minutes after ordering a big plate of the black beans arrived piping hot yet was covered with cheese even though no mention of being topped with cheese was on the menu.
I returned the dish to the bartender & she said I should have asked for no cheese. She sent back my order & it returned back to me a few minutes latter again piping hot this time w/​o cheese. I poured the remaining fresh salsa over the beans & added a few hits of hot sauce to the dish. I used some of the corn chips to scoop up the black beans. It was a tasty simple meal & I was a happy vegan. I watched the rest of the game as the Cavs secured their lead over the Warriors & watched LeBron become emotional after winning the title. I had my own tupperware on hand so took the remaining half of the black beans home for another meal the next day. I paid my tab & was ghost. Great experience here & would like to come back another time to explore more of the menu along with the overall kind hospitality I experienced.

The food here is very refined. The carne asada is high quality steak. Their red sauce is better than the green sauce but that’s all personal preference. I was referred here by a Lyft driver and it didn’t disappoint. A lot of attention to detail and presentation with the food.

I just love this place Bill, Bethony, Roberto and the rest of the staff that I don’t know the names for yet are very welcoming and warm
the prices are low for what you get in service, always fast and quick to refill cups
chips and salsa are so good and are house made infact all the food is house made, this has become a place I will go a lot

Have been coming here for years food used to be Very good. Now I’m sorry to say it Sucks and is Expensive. I guess they changed ownership? I ordered a steak burrito $ 10 it was very dry and bland meat tasted old had no sour cream or guacamole? on or inside burrito it was mostly Rice Horrible.

Acapulco was bomb back in the day. It’s no longer family owned. The service is horrible and slow. They don’t make accommodations or subs. The vibe is nothing like it used to be. :(

Really good food, very thorough and authentic. Great, friendly service. Will definition be returning! Chili verde was fantastic, as was the carne asada and pollo asado.

What a great family, neighborhood joint. Good food, friendly folks, easy atmosphere. Hands down the best chicken soup — made to order wth all the accoutrements: rice, avocado, lime all that.
My son loves picking from the lollipop jar on the way out.

Best Mexican on the island. Everyone is super friendly and the food is superior to the other bigger named Mexican restaurant on park.

I love this place! I came with my family for my mothers birthday Friday and had a wonderful time! I love the décor in this restaurant! The food was amazing! Our waiter was so nice and very interactive with us, he was funny and very kind! I hope he waits on us during our next visit!

I have been coming here for eons it seems and nothing changes. For me and for this joint that is a great thing because their food is pretty stellar. I always order chile rellenos with beans and rice and I always order one for the road.
The salsa is great, they have a divey atmosphere but that is all a part of it’s charm. I hope it continues for many years to come.

Great atmosphere. The lights are usually dim for dinner. The service is good. My absolute favorite is their dessert — flan. Sometimes they have the special menu for dinner and I recommend the fried fish or the lamb shanks. Unlimited free chips and salsa before appetizers.

We had a group outing last night and went to Acapulco, because we heard rumours that they’ve acquired Mama Roses Recipe book.
Turns out they don’t.
Anyway, we were seated and greeted by a «we are pretty busy today, the kitchen is backed up». Not a good sign. The place wasn’t super crowded.
The waiter kept ignoring me and neglected to refill drinks.
Overall, the food was a-​ok. Nothing really stood out, my side of rice and beans came out at $ 7 I believe, which is crazy for what it is. Overall this was very expensive. It came out to $ 44 per person (6 people — 6 margaritas $ 12 each + food).
Overall not the best experience and I won’t be back.

The service is good and so is the food. It is in my neighborhood so I like to support it.

This review is on service and management only, we did not stay for dinner.
5:30pm last Saturday night, so not exactly busy (we came early since we dine with a one-​year-​old these days). Once brought to our table, my wife was left holding our daughter waiting for a high chair, while the waiter kept momentarily forgetting our need, chatting with other guests. After a few minutes of this, I searched for one myself, and found four in the back. Unfortunately, none of them had a full set of working straps.
Maybe they don’t get families with small children much, or perhaps they don’t understand that wriggly kids are good at finding the weakness in any confinement. In any case, they were slow and unapologetic.
We politely informed them that we were leaving since no chair could be used. Three steps out the door, some other guy (I assumed the manager, though he did not annouce himself), wanted to know what happened. He seemed put off that we didn’t ask for a manager, but it was pretty obvious that there was no quick fix here.
The man claimed he did not know that the chairs were broken. If he was the manager, that’s pretty weak managing to not know the state of your restaurant… He also claimed he could have fixed it (without seeing the problem, mind you). I hope he understands after this review that a high chair is also a safety device, not just furniture.
If anyone wants to let me know they fixed at least one of the chairs, I’ll add a star back to this review. At least it will give other families a chance to try the place. Sadly, it won’t be us.

This place has changed a lot from the way it used to be before it closed.
The thing I used to love about this place was the rice and beans — today the rice and beans tasted SO bland! I couldn’t believe that this was the same restaurant that I used to love.
The chicken enchiladas had NO seasoning and looked totally white, they also tasted very bland! I’ve never tasted enchiladas this bland.
The ground beef enchilada was decent/​. Didn’t taste bad, just wasn’t ANYTHING special about it.
Crunchy taco with shredded chicken — AWFUL.
Soft taco carne asada — NOT BAD.
I don’t EVER need to go back to this place again. I’m sad that they have changed SO much!
The old Acapulco’s is DEAD and GONE!!!

I went to Acapulco last night night for happy hour around 5pm. It was amazing!!! The staff was incredibly friendly, the happy hour margaritas were strong and the food was delicious!
I would recommend the shredded beef crispy taco and enchilada plate! The shredded beef was full of flavor and tender!
Bill, the owner came by our table several times to check on us and our food. You can tell that he really cared about our experience.
I will definitely be back… soon!

I was looking for good places to eat now that I’ve moved back to Alameda. I asked one of my UBER customers and she suggested the fish tacos at ACAPULCO. While I understand that I’ll never know for sure unless I try a p k ace my self… I wish I had read Unilocal first and stayed away.
1) Bartender asked at least 3 times what I would like to drink… the answer was always lemonade.
2) The first basket of chips was cold, and they don’t seem to be freshly made. (2^nd basket was warm, which helped a lot)
3) Guacamole was made from avocados that weren’t ripe, there just was no flavor… and there were large chunks that were still hard.
4) Fish tacos looked great, but there was no crunch… it all felt soft. (Also the cabbage was bitter)
If you try this place for yourself, try another dish… and taste the Guacamole before ordering it. : — (

I’d say 4 Stars**** for sure! Went for the lunch menu and was very pleased! Portions, price and service were spot on. Now there just missing the original owner that used to pass out gum ropes some 50 years ago!

Really good Mexican. Had shrimp fried taco special and husband had carnitas. Both were exceptional. Easily one of the better restaurants in the island. Good cheap Mexican and strong margaritas. Good customer service too.

Only been there for lunch, but I love their fish tacos. They are only $ 8 – 9 and are awesome. Lightly fried and delicious!

I never recommend Alameda restaurants because I really haven’t found any that good, except here. I highly recommend the vegetable soup (Caldo De Vegetales) here. The soup has yellow squash, zucchini, potato, tomato, corn and carrot and they are huge portions of veggies. Yay!
Make sure to request the extras that the chicken soup gets. The extras are avocado, onions, cilantro, lime, rice and chile’s on the side. I thought the rice was excellent. Not the traditional red mushy mexican rice but a nice garlicky cilantro rice.
I just ordered it to go and it was totally worth it. They added chips and salsa no extra cost. Total cost was only 8 something so I added a 3 dollar tip. Customer service was excellent! Very satisfied customer! :-)

This place was great. They had this one chicken dish that apparently my husband loves (I didn’t know that because it’s never on menus anywhere) — oh, I just remembered the name! Cochinita pibil. He said it was very good. I don’t remember what I got (I want to say fish tacos), but I remember liking it. The service was fantastic, they were very nice. I know I got some bean dip (or something like that) and ended up taking it home, it was just too much food along with my entrée. It was yummy to eat later though :) Good prices, good food, good service, good atmosphere. Check it out.

I am amazed by this place!
The owner greets the guests at most tables & makes sure everything is well taken care of.
Bethany, one of the waitresses is very nice & helpful. She was very good service to me & my boyfriend.
Great happy hour selections & prices. I had chicken flautas & 3 tacos. I got to mix & match different meats w/​the 3 tacos. The grill chicken one was amazing. Pork, not so much, in my opinion. I had a taste of my boyfriend’s burrito & it was also yummy!
The decorations are very amazing as well.
I can’t wait to go back w/​friends next time & try other foodies. This is definitely my go to Mexican restaurant in Alameda. Very satisfied.

This place is amazing. Period.
Attractive servers. Friendly. Owner greats customers at tables.
Food is off the chain.
I’ve heard hipsters rave about other Mexican places. Their stupid. Whereas they have watered down sour cream and dried out chicken and beef.
Not here, everything has flavor and is marinated.
So delicious, I always end my meal with an mmmm mmmmm mmmm!

Again, the vegetarian enchiladas were a dream. The service great. The welcome warm and sincere. I’ll keep coming back.
Oh, forgot to mention that I also popped in for lunch one day and had a PERFECT omelette. It is not easy to cook such a supposedly simple dish as good as they do in France (soft, fluffy and above all not overlooked), but the chef at Acapulco knows his stuff.

Have now been here twice and the same experience both times, meat over cooked to portions almost burnt. The rice and beans are the usual flavor, bland. BUT! GOOD bartender! Makes GREAT Mango Margaritas! Will be back for more, margaritas that is and may try some other dish or appetizer.

Wow el restaurante muy bonito y la comida es de primera pero el complemento perfecto del del restaurante es Luis un gran persona es el número #1

Love this place! 5 stars!
Fresh ingredients, premium meats, huge sides and great prices.
Can’t wait to come back again.

The amazing aroma that wafted from their doors was very misleading. The smells were wonderful and I thought I was going to be having a most excellent dinner. Alas my nose has failed me.
We ordered our drinks and as we waited we glanced over the menu. Several options sounded delicious to us both including: Ceviche (changes daily), and empanada’s. What these two have in common is that they were both sold out that night. We ended up skipping the appetizer and just ordered our entrée’s
I ordered the Carnitas plate that comes with sour cream, guacamole, rice, and refried beans. You also get a choice between corn or flour tortillas; however they highly recommend you try their homemade corn tortillas. The carnitas’s were awesome. Great flavor, easily shredded, still had a little fat on them which kept it moist, and you get a generous portion. The rice was OK but not really worth talking about. The beans were extremely disappointing. They lacked any kind of flavor what so ever. Even after adding pepper, salt, left over salsa from the chips, and hot sauce the soupy beans never got any better.
The chips and salsa at the beginning of the meal were good, except some of them were very stale. The salsa was pretty good though. Our server was very nice but very slow and seemed nervous almost the entire time. The bathroom ventilation fan needs to be cleaned very badly. It has dust that looks like it’s been there for weeks upon weeks.
In the end the drinks were the only redeeming quality about this place, and that is not enough to make us want to come back.

1 ½ STARS
I used to eat at the old one all the time. This is the first time I tried the new Acapulco. Words cannot express my disappointment. The most bland Mexican food I have ever ingested. The refried beans had absolutely no flavor. I tried salt and pepper, to no avail. They were gross. The rice tasted like Rice-​a-​roni rice pilaf. Actually Rice-​a-​roni has more flavor. They were out of 3 things we tried to order. No ceviche, no empanadas, and no fried calamari.
If you want a quiet place to eat, I do not recommend here. The tables are very close together. While I cannot blame the restaurant for customers, we were seated next to the most annoying loud girl ever, and she was completely sober. Maybe she needed alcohol.
The only reason I gave Acapulco 1 ½ stars is because the margarita was amazing and the Chile Colorado had some good flavor. I will not be back.

Chile Colorado was made unpleasant by gristle and fat. Chile relleno was OK but not great. Burrito was good but not worth $ 14.
We arrived half an hour before closing and got seated in a neglected area. Took a long time to get someone to take the order. Food arrived quickly but with wrong side dishes. We were so hungry we didn’t complain.
Bathrooms were in terrible condition.
We loved the old Acapulco but this is disappointing.

Hearty & Substantial Mexican Fare
SITREP
Sometimes you just want to have a nice basic Mexican meal without all the fancy Tex-​Mex garnishings or Noveau Cuisine (Scanty-)Presentation.
If so, then Acapulco in Alameda is your hole-​in-​the-​wall go-​to place.
THE SETUP
Having done trainings in the area these past years, I was actually hoping to find La Piñata in Alameda. But apparently it is gone (at least from Alameda). But guess what site we’re on? Yep. Unilocal. So a quick search popped up this soon-​to-​be-​discovered-​gem by me.
THE LUNCH SPECIALS
A nice variety. And when I hit a new spot for myself, I also go with my litmus test of a 3-​item Combo: a Chile Relleno, and two cheese enchiladas — one with green sauce and one with red sauce.
From this $ 15 platter I get a pretty good idea about the restaurants food metrics off the bat. And here Acapulco was firing on all pistons. In fact, even with a big platter, they still had to bring out one of the enchiladas on it’s own plate cause the other items, with substantial servings of both rice and beans, I guess didn’t leave any room! Rockin!
HANDMADE CORN TORTILLAS
What was really impressive was watching and getting an order of their freshly made corn tortillas. These were totally legit — not the Costco variety in the 50 count bag merely all dossied up with their local oil.
THE LOWDOWN
Acapulco will get you a hearty of Mexican Fare that won’t break your bank!