La Estrella Restaurant & Bar

Raw chicken turned our experience from mediocre to awful. We were hopeful this place truly was a hidden gem, after reading the other reviews. When we arrived at 7p on a Saturday night, we were the only people in the place (and nobody else came while we were there). We started with frozen margaritas, which were green (like neon green — I guess from some margarita mix they used?). They were sour and watery. We opted for the daily special (cheese enchiladas w/​rice and beans), because we figured those would be the freshest thing available, and how could you go wrong with cheese enchiladas. We ordered chicken strips and fries for our kids. The enchiladas were pretty bad — too salty, and the tortillas were really hard. I think they were previously frozen. The rice and beans were fine.
But the kids chicken strips were undercooked! We noticed this after one kid had eaten an almost entire strip, and the other kid was struggling through the first one. It was bad enough the strips had come from the freezer (my wife saw them come out of the freezer), but the fact they were undercooked was unacceptable. They remade them for us to go (because we had young kids, it was late, and we needed to get home). But they didn’t take anything off the bill. I politely suggested we shouldn’t have to pay for the chicken strips, since they were raw. The waitress then politely said she had to call her boss. After 10 minutes she came back and said her boss would only take off one of the strips since they remade them. I was a bit shocked. They served raw chicken to my two young kids, and they wanted to quibble over a $ 5 comp?!? If it were my restaurant, I would have comped the entire meal. (They also charged us $ 1 for each glass of tap water). We got home and opened the to-​go containers, and the chicken inside was almost burnt. I understand they were trying to make sure the chicken got cooked thoroughly, but really? Can’t properly cook frozen chicken tenders without under or over-​cooking them? Not good.
Bad drinks, bad food, lonely ambience, and health hazards make this a 1-​star restaurant. I hope nobody else makes the same mistake we did.
The bright spot was the waitress, who was very nice.

La Estrella gets the job done. My first visit with them impressed me enough to give them another try. I had the beef fajitas with rice and beans. The portion was not huge, but it was enough to fill me up. Everything was fresh and tasty. Their salsa was flavorful and very heavy with tomato flavor; an interesting mix.
I will return to La Estrella to try their other dishes.

If you really like the flavors of home-​style Mexican food, prepared to order, this is where you will find it.
This restaurant is a classic «hidden gem». It is between the Design District and the Medical Center District, on Harry Hines Blvd, right across from a train station.
The exterior fits the definition of «hole in the wall». The left side of the building is the cantina, and the right side is the restaurant.
Alfonso was our server, and I hope they don’t lose him to a more upscale place, because he was really excellent. In fact, we closed the menus and told him to bring two entrees that he felt we would enjoy — and that is exactly what happened.
One entrée was gorditas with 3 different meats — since there there are 3 to an order.
We also had chile verde — small chunks of pork in a wonderfully tasty green sauce.
Of course the meat was accompanied by rice, beans, fresh tortillas, and mild or hot (arbol) salsa.
Everything seemed to be totally fresh, so I suspect that they make it all on site.

The portion size was perfect, we just about licked our plates clean and were pleasantly full. Since we sat around chatting for a while, two of us split one Flan, which was an excellent finish.
Oh, and it was very inexpensive. It was very quiet for a Saturday night, so I hope they do a booming lunch business with all the surrounding offices.
I will return, and I recommend trying it out if you are in the area.
They had several beers to choose from, and I suggest that the owner should consider expanding the list and put a few of them on tap. That is not a criticism, rather its just an improvement opportunity.

Seafood Soup was excellent. Rice was awesome. Tortillas homemade and light great taste. Very nice waitress. I recommend highly.

YES YES YES, I have been here many times and finally took a moment to draft a review. This place is hidden gem. The food is delicious and seems homemade. Good portions and the best prices in town! No kidding. Most entrees are in $ 6 range in the quality is top notch. They dont seem to be busy often and I hope more people discover this place. I would hate to see them close. Thanks!

Huge portions. Cheap (the meal in the photo was less than $ 7). Super-​quick. Friendly. Good location (right next to Market St DART). GET IN HERE.