El Fenix Mexican Restaurants

My Fitbit chirped 10,000 steps quite a while back and I’m still walking. So I opted to make a stop here in El Fenix for a cold and frosty pain killer. Sitting in the bar area with my beer and chips & salsa, being just a bit ignored by the staff. The chips were good, the salsa was more wet than I like because it’s drippy.
If they had a free wifi, I couldn’t make it work.
My experience at El Fenix was A-​OK.

I took my family here before a night at the Perot and I was so embarrassed because the food was disgusting. My sister’s kids wouldn’t eat their Mac and cheese and after I tried it, I could see why. We ordered queso but it looked (and tasted) worse than a box of velveeta cheese. It was chalky and tasteless. My sister ordered a chicken tortilla soup and added salt and pepper because it was so bland. Our fajitas looked equally sad, with dry beef and skinny, oily vegetables. Would never recommend this place.

The food is great its something that you dont forget, i love the queso, salad and
family love to stay for hours. i love it too. The beverages was so tasty, not sour and not too sweet, its quietly different, people who doesnt love bubbly wine, its there choice. I love the place its a authentic and nice wall painting/décor.the staff are quietly active in every detail of their chores, every corner of the place are very cleaned. The ambiance are cool, fresh casual place. The service and crew are very discipline.

2 stars because the service was nice and professional but the food is just really bad. Undercooked fish, scramble eggs that are badly cook and greasy, rice that taste the same as instant rice. I would not recommend it at all!

I liked my puffy tacos with Piccadillo meat. The service was slow and we ran out of chips for about 15 minutes. The beans were fair but the rice is good. The guacamole was tasty. The roasted queso tasted a little plain to me.

Tex Mex… It’s a thing. Where I’m from we don’t have Tex Mex, but I have hear tell of it. We have white-​washed Mexican from half a century ago, and from what I can tell we are talking about similar things. It’s important to keep in mind that this type of food is just as valid and culturally necessary as authentic Mexican food. I hate pretentious food opinions, and I enjoyed experiencing another version of this type of Mexican American cuisine.
I have nothing bad to say. The chips and salsa were amazing and I don’t are that the salsa could have been grocery store bottled. The margaritas did the job and the price was right. Hell, the price of it all was right to be honest. It was interesting to get mini tamales with chili con carne in them. The puffy taco was unusual, and I enjoyed it’s novelty. Rice and beans were what you’d expect. Our server was a gracious host, and made our experience a joy. Oh, and the bathroom was very clean.
Highly recommended!

House Margarita (Frozen, no salt)
Appetizer Combo
Veggie and Avocado Enchiladas
Baja Shrimp Tacos
Food: 7
Beverage: 10
Cleanliness: 8
Ambiance/​Décor: 9
Service: 10
Operations: 8
Food: The food was good. The queso/​guan combo was delicious. The guacamole tasted made to order and the queso is some of the best I’ve had. Their house salsa tastes a little «commercial». The food was good, but did show signs of being left under a heat lamps (the beans and rice had dried tips and tops, and the sheik were not glossy and fresh looking but rather dry and dull. The sauce served on the side of the Baja tacos helped though.
Beverage: $ 4.49 house margaritas, on the rocks or frozen… Yes please! Frozen it was. Great flavor, well balanced (not too sour or sweet), and the perfect consistency.
Cleanliness: The bathroom was clean and stocked. The floor was as to be expected in a busy restaurant open all day. No clean, but certainly not dirty.
Ambiance/​Décor: Think Chili’s with a little less «big Corp» feel and a little more authenticity. It is a Texas chain, however maintains a local vibe. See servers and managers greeting regulars and lots of friendly smiles.
Service: Our server was excellent. This is something I rarely get to say. He was attentive, friendly, and professional. He always kept, our chips, salsas and waters full. Checked on us regularly to ensure we were having a great experience. Thank you Mingo for a great experience.
Operations: Well done again. We walked in to a friendly smile and friendly greeting. During my experience, I found myself wandering around looking for the bathroom and within seconds someone noticed and helped me. Exceptional service. The deduction comes from an annoyingly wobbly table. Simple fix.
Total: 52
4.3 stars!

Came during a late Sunday wasn’t packed at all service was awesome food was ok. not exactly sure what I was expecting I’ve been to a El Fenix before just not this one the original. I expected something more for it to be the first tho. Wasn’t late but they were already out of Dos XX Amber. I ordered the Chimichanga it was good everything was more of a Tex Mex feel cheese on everything even the rice. My fiancé had the Mexican plate she said she enjoyed it. So in all nothing too fancy I think Chuys is alittle better but it’s not awful.

This place is funny… during the busy Sunday brunch hour, there was a line, but it kept moving along quite well. This place is huge and the décor is over the top.
We were immediately given a big bowl of chips and salsa and found plenty of yummy looking items from the ample menu. I settled on brisket tacos (because hello, TexMex!) and my friend had the huevos rancheros.
I wasn’t in the mood to drink, but the margaritas looked great.
Not the most amazing food I had, but it was solid and the waiter was great.

This place is perfect for a quick lunch during the work week and I’ve also been a couple times for dinner. Food is pretty good and the prices are reasonable. But I’m not sure how they’ve won so many awards for their margaritas-they’re pretty average to me and have a weird aftertaste.

DH and I were on the way to the Majestic for a concert and we stopped in here for dinner at my suggestion. I’d been here one other time and wasn’t too impressed, but this visit really turned it around! DH used to come here for years with his family when he was a kid, so he was glad to get to come again.
We arrived around 5:30 (concert at 7pm) and were seated immediately. The server was really nice and attentive without being obtrusive and waited as we decided what to get from the big regular menu in addition to the special pull-​out menu. I decided on shrimp quesadillas and DH had the chile relleno.
Loved the chips and salsa. Just wish the chips would have been whole chips instead of the bits and pieces that came. Some were big enough, though, to scoop up the wonderful salsa. Just like I like it with a little kick.
I loved the shrimp quesadillas — four good-​sized wedges stuffed with cheddar cheese, spiced sauteed shrimp and I think a pico de gallo. Slathered some guacamole and salsa on them and they were really good. Couldn’t finish them, so picked out those really good shrimp! Didn’t care much for the sauce that came in a little cup with them, but that’s just my preference. DH liked the traditional Tex-​Mex chile relleno smothered in cheese and ordered extra (wonderful, fresh) flour tortillas to fold the leftover beans and rice into.
We didn’t have alcoholic drinks, but the prices on the margaritas looked right and they had a variety to choose from. We were out in plenty of time to get lost in downtown looking for the Majestic.
They have an extensive Tex-​Mex menu — from the standards to new stuff — and I look forward to visiting again!

Love this place every time I go. I don’t care how long the line is they seat you fast and the chips and salsa are the best in town

Sometimes you have to go back to the basics to understand a cuisine. Yes, the skyline has changed dramatically around this historic restaurant, but the formula of good food and great service have remained the same.
It’s not often that I get out in the downtown Big D area, but recently when I was visiting the Perot Natural History museum across the street from El Fenix, we decided to stop for lunch. Luckily, we were there early (11:30) because by the time we left, there was a line to the door. Don’t worry it is worth it!
First off, the chips deserve special mention. Ask anyone who frequents mexican restaurants and they will tell you there favorite places based on chips: thin vs thick, etc. El Fenix’s chips are thin, crispy and made with coarsely ground corn.
The salsa was full of tomatoes — not too spicy and not too thick. A perfect compliment to the chips. These could be a meal of themselves.
I ordered the #7 two enchilada lunch plate, with rice and beans. The shredded chicken was perfect. The rojo (red) sauce was a bit spicy. The sour cream sauce was nicely topped with sliced pickled jalapenos. As opposed to some restaurants that go for quantity of quality, this was a perfect sized lunch plate.
My young daughter enjoyed a crispy beef taco and my wife has the same but in adult size. The server was nice to accommodate their requests for double-​rice/​no-​beans (wife) and double-​beans/​no-​rice (daughter). LOL
Seriously, the service here was wonderful. Juan GG was quick to offer refills of iced tea or my daughters waters. He offered to-​go cups. A perfect gentleman!
Sadly, we did not partake of any alcohol. We did splurge for a praline at the checkout register.

So… this place is like a Tex-​Mex restaurant theme park. That’s the only way to describe it. It was a weird, wild ride from start to finish.
We have lived right across the street from this location for two years, and yet we had never eaten here (or any El Fenix location, for that matter) mostly because we’re such huge fans of Meso Maya and La Ventana that if we felt like Mexican food, that’s where we’d go. But we figured, hey, why not give El Fenix a try. We came in on a Sunday afternoon to an incredibly busy restaurant. Clearly this place is popular. And the décor was… overwhelming. Incredibly high ceilings. Stucco arches. Faux red tile roofs everywhere to give the appearance of a Spanish courtyard. Big, colorful murals on the walls. Mariachi music on the speakers. We stood at the hostess stand for a good five minutes before anyone noticed us, and then we were hurriedly shown to a booth in the back.
I have to say, the price is right. Their margaritas, which are exactly the same size as the margaritas at Meso Maya next door, are only $ 4.49 (while Meso Maya charges $ 8). I had one on the rocks and my boyfriend got his frozen, both were darn good. A basket of chips and three little cups of salsa were set on our table, and they were… okay. Nothing special. Kind of boring. Which is funny, because the chips and salsa at Meso Maya and La Ventana are really fantastic. If I were running El Fenix, I’d just go next door and grab those. I ordered the veggie + avocado enchiladas and my boyfriend ordered the pan-​seared fish tacos. Both were featured specials, and we liked the way the photos looked in the menu. We were excited to try them.
When the plates arrived they were less than stellar in presentation. My enchiladas were tiny (probably four inches long?) and smothered in a white sauce, served on a giant plate with a scoop of black refried beans and scoop of rice. It tasted fine, but the lackluster presentation was almost hilarious, given how different it looked from the menu photo. My boyfriend’s fish tacos looked better, but they were bland even with the thousand island sauce they came with.
We were about six or seven bites into our food when our server returned with the check.‌“Would you guys like any dessert?” he asked, as we were mid-​bite. We both looked down at our still full plates. No, no dessert. Thanks. «You don’t have to eat it here, you can take it home!» he added hopefully. Again, no thank you. So he set the check down and we never saw him again. When we finished eating (about a half an hour later, because again, we had just started eating when he dropped the check) we waited around a while for someone to come take our money before we eventually took our check and our money to the front counter, where apparently we were supposed to pay (no one had mentioned that, ever).
Again, the price is right. We had two drinks and two entrees for a little under $ 35 including tax and tip, once everything was said and done. And it certainly is a festive atmosphere, and one that seems great for families with kids and big groups (that was the majority of the clientele). It’s not a great date place. It’s not a place for an intimate meal. It’s not a place for quality food or stellar service. For those things, hit up Meso Maya next door. But it’s definitely an experience.

We had been warned against eating at the Perot Museum restaurant, so we walked across the street to El Fenix for lunch. We walked in and were quickly greeted and seated. They brought tortilla chips and salsa to the table right away, which was the highlight of the meal. Their salsa was fantastic. I noticed that they bottle the salsa as well, so it looks like other people agree that it is amazing salsa.
Their kids’ menu had numerous options, so the littles were happy. I ordered the sour cream enchiladas. They were very enjoyable. I was with a large party. I don’t recall what everyone else ordered, but they all said they liked their food too. Our only problem was probably a language barrier with the waiter. My dad ordered a particular been, when the waiter brought it out, my dad said, «is this (whatever beer he ordered)?». And the waiter said, «it’s (completely different beer),» and smiled and walked away without offering to switch it or do anything else. The waiter was very nice otherwise.
The restaurant was loud but clean. I’d be interested in returning to try other specialties, and getting some more of their fantastic salsa!

Felt super packed in, and the place was kinda loud. However our server was SUCH a sweetheart and my street tacos were pretty awesome. The Guac was also good…
I would say this is a good average Mexican place to go if you are in a bigger party.

El Fenix is one of the original Tex-​Mex restaurants in Dallas, if not the state of Texas. The good news is that El Fenix hasn’t changed much since the early days. Tradition pays off. This is the original location and among the most traditional shrines to Tex-​Mex right up there with Matt’s and El Patio in Austin.
The chips and salsa are first rate. The enchiladas are good. (Although to be honest, I thought parts had onions in them and other parts didn’t.) But the lemon ice box pie is now one of my favorite desserts. Combine that with efficient, friendly service that doesn’t let the iced tea or chips go empty and you can see why these people have been around for around 100 years.

Skip this location if you can! They are not as good as they used to be. Due to the location of big events, near the American Airlines Center, Downton Dallas, the Perot Museum, etc… they are always busy. Therefore, they don’t have to try to please the customer. Or at least that is what it felt like. Our waiter made us feel like we were imposing on his evening.
We decided that our party of 6 (4 adults and 2 kids ages 4 and under) would eat here at 6pm before the 7:30 Stars game. Big mistake. It wasn’t busy when we arrived, meaning we were sat right away.
We ordered drinks and an order of guacamole. We had to flag down waiters to get refills on drinks for everyone. If they were not our waiter, they ignored us. We were literally raising our hands, like we were in school. We never got drink refills until our food was brought out and we had to ask.
I ordered the veggie and avocado enchiladas without cheese. Fail. There was no avocado in it and they put cheese. I opened up the enchilada and ate the 3 bite sized pieces of squash and was done. Ridiculous for a $ 10 meal. Very disappointed. So much in fact the whole party decided it’s a waste of money to go to this location again.
Stick to your local neighborhood El Fenix. The food and service are way better. The only reason I’m giving two stars is for the chips and salsa. That was the only thing on point.

TEX-​MEX FOOD YOU CAN MAKE AT HOME. El Fenix has an outstanding interior décor ranging from matador bathroom signs and Latin-​inspired walls, but you cannot tell from their flavors. Upon entering, you feel like you’ve stumbled upon the fanciest of fancy cantinas that inspires you to say, olé. But the food wakes you up from a beautiful Latin dream into your 9 – 5 desk job. Well, back to work.
The Food: Chips & Salsa, Sour Cream Enchiladas with Beef, and The Original Margarita
Chips&Salsa: TOO MUCH SALT. TOO LITTLE SALSA. The chips were plain tasting but oversalted, such that you tasted the light corn flavor followed by a salt-​grain trap that sets off every salt-​taste-​receptor on your tongue (–1 star). Bland chip along with strong salt that you can taste. No bueno.
Sour Cream Enchiladas with Beef: 2 Beef enchiladas covered in sour cream sauce and cheddar cheese, with a side of rice, refried beans, and chipotle sauce. The beef filling was flavorless, no meaty flavor (–1 star), could’ve been clever tofu for all I know. The sour cream sauce that heads the entrée name just tastes like sour cream without any modification (–1 star). Sour Cream Enchiladas… no additional spices or flavorings to make it distinct or distinguishable from sour cream? WHY? Did I miss something? The rice, refried beans, and chipotle sauce were typical Tex-​Mex fair. All in all, I should’ve went for the steak fajitas, and you should too.
The Original Margarita:
Had high expectations for the award winning Margarita, but ended up with frozen Margarita Mix/​lime gatorade (–1 star). It was refreshing, but lacked the accolades that they claim.
The Verdict:
Great interior décor. The chips & salsa appetizer was not good, so I knew there couldn’t have been to much to expect. The food was mostly bland and did not take me on a journey into the history of Tex-​Mex. Maybe it was the dishes that I had picked and how they were paired. Overall, most of the food tasted like it can be recreated easily at home. But I have to say, aside from the food, this place looked beautiful and radiant.

This a huge El Fenix location situated in the heart of downtown Dallas. Directly across from the Perot Meusem. Upon arrival my friend and I were immediately greeted and sat at our table. Our waiter was very attentive and helped us with food and drink options from the menu.
Chips and salsa were awesome. I love the flakiness of the chips and the salsa is really mild. I can’t handle hot salsa so it was perfect for me.
Ordered the fish tacos that came with 3 tacos, rice and beans. I have to admit they were very saucy and wet. I think it is a mixture of the greesy fish with the creamy cole slaw that’s piled onto the fish. Either way I still enjoyed them but I began picking out the fish to eat because it was too hard to pick up. Messy taco. Rice and beans were ok.
Overall the ambiance is what you can expect from a Tex mex restaurant. Lots of colors and decorations. When you go to pay, pick up a praline on the way out. For less than $ 2 it’s a great dessert.