Sylvia’s Enchilada Kitchen

BEWARE!!! Came here with a large group. Had a reservation for 11:30 on a Friday. Got there, the table wasn’t ready. The hostess first claimed we didn’t have a reservation. When the hostess finally checked and saw the reservation, which there was only one for the entire day, would only say «we have to get your table ready». No apology. Plus the restaurant wasn’t even full so I couldn’t understand the big issue to begin with. Food arrived extremely late. When the late orders arrived it was cold… every plate!!! 4 people in my group sent their plates back because they were cold… the others were afraid of the possible ramifications for sending back horrible food. I WILL NEVER COME BACK THIS RESTAURANT OR ANY OF THEIR AFFILIATES. If you enjoy bland cold\off temperature food then this is the place for you.

Just amazing … Great service, great margaritas and delicious fajitas. I loved it!!!

Food was not that good and prices were to high. The tables are so close together I can hear everything my neighbor says. They sat me in front of the kitchen and that was so not fun.

Might be one of the best beef fajitas I’ve ever had. Will go back for more. Service was slow and they weren’t even busy but that’s not a deal breaker.

My enchilada was good, but sadly I must give two stars for initially refusing to accept our gift card.
Selling gift cards and not accepting them is a big no-​no in business ethics.
They wanted us to use the gift card at the location where it was purchased and initially returned it to us with instructions to go to the other location some other time. That was messed up and impractical since we don’t eat Mexican food all the time.
We skipped over at least four other Mexican restaurants to redeem our gift.
That’s Escalantes, Guadalajara, La Fiesta and Cyclone Anaya’s, all legit Mexican restaurants that we have skipped over to come here because of the gift card.
It’s a local chain. They are promoting their gift cards heavily and they say nothing about being limited to one location. Nada.
At the end of dinner, I had to insist we be allowed to redeem our gift because the giver specifically told us we could use it at this location, indicating he was also unaware of the bizarre attempted restriction on gift card usage and also indicating that thought had been put into the gift. So, obviously we wanted to redeem a gift where thought has been put into it.
So, we finally did get to redeem our gift, but not after a huge hassle.

I went on a Saturday afternoon recently and the place was packed. Clearly this is a popular restaurant. That being said, I’m not sure why. Don’t get me wrong, the food is decent as are the margaritas but decent is the best I can say about them. I had the beef enchiladas (Donna) and they were fine as were the beans. The rice was just bland. Very good and friendly service though and the prices are good.

Take can be a bitch. Tortilla soup is supposed to have chicken in it. Did not. Waited and waited for my order. Investiged. Order just sitting there. The waiter says where did you go. I was waiting at the host stand. No tip. No return.

Our server was very attentive, he was very nice, I ordered the Mexico City enchiladas with the goat cheese and they were to die for!!! Definitely will be back and will keep recommending!
Also the chips and salsa, their salsa is amazing!
The place is very pretty as well!

I’m a vegetarian so I appreciated that vegetarian dishes were made easy to find on the menu.
Service was excellent. I didn’t have to wait for a refill or for ordering. Waiters were polite, smiling, and service was fast.
Food was good. Dessert was good. I’ll go back for sure.

I quite enjoyed this place. The décor, service and ambiance was all very nice. Although our server disappeared often, the bartender and manager stopped by to refill drinks and clear our table.
The salsa is awesome !! Flavorful, fresh and not too spicy. The chips were too thick for my taste but not terrible.
The enchiladas were fantastic. The sauce was especially perfect and I loved how soft and fresh the tortillas were for the enchiladas. Nothing was dry or burnt and everything just right. My favorite has to be the Spanish rice. It was very delicious and normally the rice is an afterthought and not worth even tasting but here it was just superior.
The queso was on point, could have used a kick but not bad but I didn’t care for the guacamole!
My hubby ordered carnitas soft tacos and he very much enjoyed them.
I can say for sure we will be back !!

Regular Tex-​Mex. Nice décor, and the service is good. I think the enchilada plates are their strong suit, but they are not extraordinary. Prices are okay — not cheap, but the location is in an upscale area.
I don’t understand why this place gets such raves. It is good, but not much different than dozens of other Mexican restaurants in Houston.

My coworkers and I go here constantly. It’s convenient to the office and can get in and out in under and hour. The servers are very attentive and genuine. This is not a recommendation — this is an order — YOU MUST try the queso flameado — it is AMAZING. Overall nice place to go, unfortunately I cannot comment on their alcohol selection since I am always working when we go but the food is spot on every time!

Called ahead to reserve a table because I needed room for a stroller and high chair. Time is of the essence when eating with an infant and toddler. Hostess told me she would set table up before I arrived. Upon my arrival, hostess said there would be a wait. Then, the manager became heated and stated that they don’t do call aheads, etc. He then began running in a frenzy all over the restaurant trying to figure out what to do. Additionally, he began yelling at the hostess. Unprofessional and embarrassing to watch.
After being seated, we ordered and the food came almost immediately. The enchiladas were average. Price is fair, parking is easy, and service is quick. I would go back again if in the area but would not drive out of my way to get there.

Today I went to Sylvia’s enchilada kitchen for brunch. It was a fantastic brunch. They had several types of enchiladas including Spinach. They also had bottomless mimosas. I enjoyed this so much. The service was great, the atmosphere was great and the food was AMAZING!!! This is a place I want to go again and again and again. I recommend this place to anyone.

Since moving to Houston in February, Sylvia’s has become one of my regular spots. I love both of there enchilada sampler platters, it’s great if you are feeling indecisive.
I recently went and wasn’t in the mood for enchiladas and tried their rancheros tacos, they were so good with perfectly balanced flavors.
If you want quality mex/​tex-​mex this is a wonderful restaurant. The spices in all of the sauces are just really spot on and made very well. The menu is quite big and will have something for everyone.
Also, there is a premium margarita I always get and am now totally spacing on the name… It is spot on with just the right (slight) amount of sweetness. I’m going to guess all of them are probably excellent.
Do yourself a favor and start of your meal with the Queso Flameado!
It’s an all around great restaurant. I have never had a long wait for food and my service has always been thoughtful and attentive, which is unfortunately a rarity these days.

Last Friday one of my girlfriends and I met up for dinner at Sylvia’s Enchilada Kitchen on Woodway and Voss. The brightly colored restaurant was packed and full of energy. We sat at a high, corner table in the bar area where it seemed like most of the action was. Our lively server Jorge was friendly and incredibly attentive.
Since I don’t like margaritas (WHO EVEN AM I.) I ordered their «Mexican martini». It was ri-​darn-​delicious, and so smooth it was dangerous. Made with tequila, it had a slight hint of the tartness that comes with a margarita, but not so much that I was turned off by it. I was a definite fan. My friend ordered a mojito, and she was also singing its praises.
To start, we ordered a side of chile con queso to accompany our chips and salsa. The salsa came out tongue-​burningly piping hot. Conversely, the queso fell on the barely warm side of the temperature spectrum. Taste-​wise, the salsa was unlike any salsa I had ever had. My friend and I agreed that the pureed, tomato-​heavy sauce tasted more like a marinara than a salsa. It was not bad, just different.
And the despite the temperature, the queso was delicious. It was gooey, creamy, salty, and what you would hope for in the flavor of a queso. But the barely warm temperature was a bit of a turnoff.
Sylvia’s serves non-​enchilada main courses, but given that «Enchilada Kitchen» is in the name, I felt it was my duty to order enchiladas for my entrée. Each enchilada on the menu is named after a different city in Mexico or Texas. At Jorge’s recommendation, I ordered the Crystal City Enchiladas, which are stuffed with fresh sauteed spinach and covered with a tomatillo sauce.
I had never had enchiladas filled with spinach before, and I was a big fan of its inclusion. The tomatillo sauce was tart and fresh, but I think I would have preferred a slightly more muted red sauce. It was almost a little too tangy with the spinach. Overall though, I did enjoy them. But I would probably try different enchiladas next time so I could sample some other creative concoctions.
As a general rule, I love rice and beans, and the rice and beans that came with my enchiladas were no exception. I combined the black beans with the rice, and the result was hearty, flavorful, and satisfying.
My girlfriend ordered the «Mexico City» chicken enchiladas, topped with goat cheese, and she was completely floored by how awesome they were. Based on her reaction, I would definitely add goat cheese next time!
Sylvia’s provides a fun environment, and their menu offerings are a unique departure from the standard Mexican fare. While the food wasn’t consistent across the board, I would be willing to go back to try some more of their interesting fare.

Such good «homey» Mexican food! First place I can say this about in Houston so far. Hence my 5 stars.
Place: a bit cold when we walked in.
Staff: super friendly and helpful. Always smiling.
Pre-​appetizer: chips and salsa. The salsa is amazing and they bring it warm. The flavor is a perfect mix of spicy and tomatoey. They also never let us run out by bringing us lots of it.
Appetizer: grilled panela cheese. It’s a healthier cheese option and it tastes amazing on the tortillas they bring you which are huge! Haven’t seen a place with such big tortillas in Houston yet.
Also had a cup of sopa de fideos. First place ever outside your own house that offers this that I’ve been to. The flavor wasn’t as tomatoey as I’d like but it was ok. Maybe this was the worst of everything I tried.
Main dish: trampiquena was awesome, and the size of dish is huge. The enchilada on the side was the best enchilada I think I’ve had in a while. It makes sense as their specialty is enchiladas. I’ll have to come back on a workout day to try out more of these as they have so many options. Steak was cooked perfectly and the rajas were also a good sweeter combination to the stronger flavors.
If you want a more typical Mexican place and not so much tex mex you can find everywhere I highly recommend this place. I will be coming back with my Mexican mom to see what she thinks. That’s when the real test of this place will be ;)

My mother and I ate here on NYE and our experience was perfect. The service was outstanding. Multiple servers constantly checked on our table. I had the steak fajitas. There was a slight smoked taste that i typically never experience with TexMex steak fajitas but I loved it! It’s served a little pink (which is my preferred style) but if your sensitive to a pink center, I’d ask for it well-​done. I think this is the standard because our server did not ask how I’d like my fajitas prepared.
I also had the skinny margarita. Very delicious and my taste buds couldn’t tell it was ‘skinny.’ I do feel $ 12 is a little overpriced given the size.
Bottom line: all the awards displayed on the front of the menu are relevant because these were the best fajitas I’ve ever had… and I’ve eaten MANY fajitas.

Pretty good margaritas, and salsa. I had the fajitas and a bite of an enchilada– I liked the fajitas better. However, I live very close to the place and want to try their Cabrito!

Somehow, I’ve never been to either location of Sylvia’s. Finally took the time to check it out and it was quite delicious. The North/​South of the Border plates were just the thing I was looking for. A way to try a bunch of enchiladas without getting uncomfortably full. It was a great variety and they were all very tasty. Some flavors were familiar and some were nice new introductions. Just the right amount of food for 2 (along with some micheladas) after the chips and yummy warm salsa.