Hacienda Isabel

I’ve been coming here for months now and have eaten at other location off kuykendahl.
Love the food and drinks and have great prices.

My wife and I used to go here often back when it was Dima’s — so sad. It was some of the best Mexican food in North Houston. But after it was closed, we did not return for a long time. Unfortunately, Dima’s atmosphere had a lot to do with that and that was reflected in my review way back when. However, Hacienda Isabel has turned that around. What was once a spartan warehouse with strange, primitive paintings on the walls (not to mention the odd framed painting of Notre Dame in Paris) has now turned into a cleaner, brighter more updated look complete with heavy wooden chairs with the restaurant’s name brandished on them. Bear in mind that this is a fair improvement, not a knock you socks off improvement. So on that front, good job Isabel, whomever you may be!
The food was another story. The salsa was good. The verde salsa was watery and lacked flavor. One thing I might mention before I proceed is that I am on a low sodium diet, so bland has to be pretty dang bland for me to comment. Onward! My wife ordered a taco plate. She said the tacos were average and the beans… well, my wife is on a crusade for the best borracho beans and these were far from acceptable. She said there was hardly any beans in the bowl (maybe 2 tablespoons?), the rest was liquid that she said was absolutely flavorless. So, a thin bean soup, if you will.
My daughter, who is only 6 years old, got the regular kids non-​mexican meal of a corn dog. Yeah, she barely counts here but wait! Should be pretty much a no-​brainer after being in business for over half a year, right? Nope. Came out as hard as a rock and hot enough to melt her face off.
My meal should have been pretty easy. I really wanted fajitas but didn’t want all the stuff that came with it. Just the meat, really. Chicken, too — should be pretty safe. So, I got the fajita chicken salad. It was a $ 10.5 salad, but hey! For that price it should be awesome. Mine came out and it had about an inch at the peaks of lettuce and ½ inch of lettuce otherwise. But what was so scary was the fact that a portion of the lettuce was rotten and slimy. The avocado had already started to turn brown and just looked like they should have thrown it away instead. The menu’s description of the meal claimed to have cheese — I think I found some on the west end of the plate’s shoe — maybe a teaspoon? The chicken (let’s get to the chase here) was thin and overcooked like leather. The spice was amazingly bland, as well. And then to top it all off, they brought the dressing out in those ketchup-​esque packets, like the ones you get on an airplane meal. They brought one packet of 1000 islands and one of Italian. Caesar from Tijuana who invented the Caesar salad would have been rolling in his grave. Word of advice here to Isabel, don’t offer a $ 10.5 salad if you don’t know how to make one of the simplest things in the world. As far as the produce, um… quality check. I mean, really? I did send it back and let them know if you are wondering.
I would have liked to try one of their traditional plates (one reviewer mentioned the chicken wings? Huh??) but with 3 strikes agains them with 3 hungry people, the outcome did not look good at all. Too bad about Dima’s. We will hold a memorial for you next weekend at a more capable restaurant. Maybe we shall meet again in Heaven one day.

Placed a To Go order for a Monday office lunch and they did a great job. Food was yummy. Authentic tortillas. Staff was accommodating. Placed order day before for cheese enchiladas and combo fajitas with all the fixings and sides. Only thing lacking was service wear but I brought my own. Will use again!

Decided to try this place, as we saw it was new, and was not a chain restaurant. We were the only customers in the restaurant for the entire time (8pm on a Tuesday night).
Lets talk about their food. First off, the salsa was pretty good. The green sauce however, was water. I’m a huge fan of green sauce, and this was the wateriest green sauce i’ve ever experienced. I ordered the deluxe fajitas and an a la cart cheese enchilada, my girlfriend ordered the Austin dinner. My fajitas were very tender and tasty, and I enjoyed the cheese enchilada. My girlfriend’s food was not as satisfying, some bites of the ground beef had good flavor, other bites didnt even seem like the same batch of meat. The queso was OK, very standard. I gave the food a 4 star, my gf gave it a 2 star. We had the jumbo margaritas… very good. They surprised me actually.
Now the service. Mind you, We’re the only customers. They forgot my tortillas for the fajitas, and the side of sour cream my gf ordered. They also forgot about my enchilada, and had to remind them. To their credit, when we reminded them they remedied the issues quickly, but those are mistakes i’d expect from a busy restaurant, but not when we are the only thing the staff has to deal with.
The restaurant was clean, the décor was restrained and tasteful. The bar didnt have the lghts on, so that seemed a little odd.
I’ll probably continue trying other restaurants in the area, rather than come back here.

I met folks for lunch here hoping we had another TexMex winner in the area. The restaurant is in a tough location which means the food and experience need to be special… by my meal today, the aren’t special. I will come back to try one more house special. The special I tried today was Carnitas and they were gamie or spoiled. Call me a traditionalist, but Carnitas are specially prepared, deep fried pork loin chunks with a crispness and served with several condiments to roll up in tortilla. These weren’t carnitas. I’d be ok if it were named anything but carnitas which was a specialty dish by famed Mama Ninfa Lorenzo and still made by her kids and grand kids. Fail.
On positive note, the Décor inside and out is ample and pleasant. The salsa seemed roasted and was delicious. Others at my table ordered enchilada and chalupa and were quite satisfied. Also, my margarita was very good too. I REALLY WANT TO RETURN AND GIVE THEM A FIVE! Maybe next time.

I have been here a couple of times, and my favorite dish is actually the appetizer Guacamole Hacienda style. Both times, we received fresh chopped avocados gently folded with a pico de gallo with the proper amount of seasoning including a touch of lime for the right amount of acidity ($ 8.95 for a large) — 5 stars.
We had the enchiladas, crispy and soft tacos, tamales, and smothered burrito. It is the standard fare, except they use American cheese in quite a few dishes. I recommend asking for another cheese (I think they used Monterey Jack when I told the waiter I did not want the American). The heat level of the food is mild, and I can see where other reviewers thought the food was bland. I personally liked the fresh salsa (very mild) and chips, but I focused on the guacamole instead. The guacamole served as part off your plate is the standard fare using mostly if not all processed avocado pulp so don’t rely on this as an example of the appetizer. .
I gave it four stars for the handmade fresh guacamole salad, but this restaurant can elevate itself by getting rid of the American cheese and start using Mexican or cheddar cheeses. Also, a more personal touch in the preparation of the dishes would also help. For instance, in the three tacos contained in the taco plate there were different amounts of cheese and filling. No need as both times that we went, it was not busy so the cook should have spent more time on the quality and presentation instead of the speed in filling the order.

This building has held several Mexican restaurants since i moved here. When the latest incarnation opened named Hacienda Isabel a few weeks ago I stopped after church on a Sunday for lunch.
Upon entering I noticed that the interior looked nicer than I have seen the other establishments have. For example the table chairs were wood engraved with the name of the restaurant which looked classy. The restaurant was clean and looked inviting. Upon looking at the menu I ordered my standard: the chicken fajitas withe charro beans on the side. First the chips and salsa arrived and I was unimpressed. I thought the red salsa was bland and the green blander. Chips and salsa are important to me in deciding if I want to go eat Mexican food and this wasn’t a good start. 10 – 15 minutes later the fajitas arrived. The charro beans were barely warm. The amount of chicken and vegetables on the skillet was barely adequate… in other words it should have been more. It was a mainly blasé meal. I will say my service was very good though and the manager came by to say hello as I was ordering. However overall my evaluation of the meal was a 2. I have had better…
Being a new restaurant and expecting better (along with the fact that it is located in an area I frequent) I decided to try it one more time before I wrote a review.
This time I tried the pollo a la parilla which is a chicken dish with cheese sauce with onions, bell peppers over it. This meal was better in taste and quantity and I gave it a 3. Same chips and salsa. Again my service was very good. I also liked the background Mexican music playing.
Overall I am barely going to give it a score of 3 because of the second meal, very good service and attractive interior however I doubt that I will return.

Here ye, here ye, here ye! All spectators, foodies, lovers of Mexican food and patrons of the former Dimas; Please come to order. We hereby announce that the new Hacienda Isabel is now open in the place of Dimas and a verdict has been entered of their current faring until they get things together for the official grand opening.
First let me say. The former Dimas had perhaps the very best quality Mexican food you could find in all of NW Houston. But with poor marketing… they failed. Their ratings were always high. All who visited was saddened on their departure as the sign continued to say.remodeling. So when this new spot opened, most thought it was simply a name change.
Well​.it was not. It’s an entirely different business which did a great job at the remodeling of the entire dinning room as well as the very large outside patio.
When we drove by and saw that it was opened, we were extremely anxious to go inside. We were pleased with all the changes and we were greeted with a very impressive staff. We were so anticipating the opening of this new spot, that we ordered a number of dishes on the menu with hopes, to fall in love again with some great Mexican flavors at one of our once favorite hang outs.
As we waited for our order to arrive, the new owner came by the table and introduced himself. He was very pleasant and told us about all the remodeling that they have done. We also shared with him how the food at the former Dimas was so delicious and we hoped the same for them. We let him know this ‘use’ to be our go to spot for Mexican food in this area.
And then the food came! (A moment of silence here.)
Sorry let’s take one more moment of silence here.
…
…
I stared at the fajitas… I sighed… I stared closer. It looked good. I inspected it even closer as I always have to check to make sure it’s real beef and not this fake beef that’s very popular these days (pink slime.) Before tasting it, I gave it the squeeze test. Real beef bounces back into form… it doesn’t stay smashed like ground beef. Well… it stayed smashed.
I was hurt. It looked so good. I tasted it. The seasoning was… meh. It needed just a few more sprinkles. It was clear that the flavor was far from Dimas as well as the texture. (Sorry I have to compare it to them but. that’s what made me come back.) The quality of the meat was a fail. Never… ever…sacrifice quality.
I tried the baby back ribs. They looked so, so very good. I was even shocked to see them on the menu of a Mexican restaurant. They were tender… but… lacked seasoning. Just a few more sprinkles away from good.
I tried the quail. They had a sweet taste. Simply put. I didn’t like it. When I eat quail, I need to have the grill flavor there… not sweet meat. And… it lacked a few more sprinkles of seasoning.
I tried the bacon wrapped shrimp. Yeah… they got it right. That saved them a star. I would try again for sure.
I tried the wings. YES I SAID IT! They had buffalo wings on the menu. So I asked them to make me some and make them very spicy. They did. They were AMAZING! Of everything on the entire menu at a Mexican restaurant, this was the best. Wait… Of EVERYTHING. on the entire menu at a Mexican restaurant the WINGS are the BEST? … YES! Added a star… they didn’t have blue cheese… took it back. (Am I being a little too picky… No. You bold enough to put em on the menu… be bold enough to offer blue cheese to go with it. (Okay okay okay… half a star.) Be warned also that some of the wings were big. I prefer smaller wings. One of the drummets were so huge, I refused to eat it. (Yukky for fat wings.)
Okay this is getting a bit long so let me just sum the rest. The salsa is tasty and served warm. Roasted I believe. Needs more sprinkles of seasoning. The tortillas are made in house. They are good. Half star back.
The margaritas are just ‘right there’ to say they are good. Could be better. but I will fly with that. Great prices at $ 6.50 for jumbo. If it wasn’t for that. I would pass on it. But the Jack and Coke was great!
I’m hoping the best for this place and hopefully they heed my words of wisdom and FIRE the meat vendor and upgrade to better beef. Season the food more as it’s Mexican food… not Luby’s. And finally… get some Blue Cheese as those wings are the bomb! You could just transition to a wing spot if you ever think of abandoning the Mexican idea.
Sprinkle and Prosper!

The employees and very nice and the good is pretty good. My boyfriend liked the shrimp enchiladas. I got the Acapulco dinner. It was pretty good, except I couldn’t really tell the difference in the chicken enchilada and the chicken burrito. They tasted exactly the same. Maybe it was because it had that chili con carne enchilada type sauce over everything. Speaking of the chili con carne enchilada type sauce– I’m not sure it was homemade. The meat in it kinda tasted like it came from a can.
Would I go back? Sure. The prices are good and the frozen lime margarita isn’t bad either.

Great service and food was right on ! Staff friendly and attentive. good luck to new owners !