El Mexicali Cafe II

Great authentic dishes at a good price. Great service!
They also make a mean mojito and shrimp stuffed peppers! Yum!

One of my favorite restaurants! Excellent service and delicious food. I always bring my friends and family from out of town to eat here, they always leave happy and full. What I always get is the Mangoneada, Chile Gueritos, and the shrimp ceviche. Love this place!

The best chavela’s in town great Cadillac margaritas awesome food very nice restaurant

A pleasant surprise! And then a letdown.
My buddy and I dined here recently. I had the combo fajitas (shrimp, chicken, steak) and he had one of the three item plates. We started out with the shrimp stuffed peppers (signature app/​dish). The appetizer was delicious, but probably not worth the entrée price. The chips and salsa were more than enough of a starter.
The ambience was a surprise, as we weren’t expecting such a festively decorated establishment. There was a live harpist playing different melodies. Seats were comfortable. Bathrooms were about what’d you’d expect from a strip mall Mexican food place.
They do not make their own tortillas. :(
Waitress was very beautiful and friendly. Excellent service.
Overall the food was a little bland, even for my palate. I’m not quite sure what was missing. The shrimp was a little rubbery. The fajita vegetable mix did not quite have enough variety compared to other places.
I would eat here again, simply because it was a pleasant dining experience and everything else on the menu looked fantastic. The place was pretty crowded when we went, so they must be getting repeat customers. Half the restaurants out there are empty this time of year, even on the weekend.
They have an extensive sea food menu, and I think that is what they are known for. It was a bit pricey for me to make a habit. There are so many Mexi options out there, price is a huge factor for me. Cardenas deli takeout is about where my standard is for tacos and burritos. If I’m tipping, I want fajitas, ceviche or something exotic.
This is probably one of the Mexican restaurants that I would be willing to take my wife to, but not on a Saturday night. More like a week night, last minute thing.
We are in Mexican food Mecca here in the Coachella Valley, so competition for my dollar is steep.

Can’t say one bad thing about this place. Great food and great service! Stuffed peppers with shrimp topped with mayo and soy sauce –the bomb. Margaritas are tasty too. Salsa has a nice bite to it. Hot but not too hot. Rice and beansyummmm. Ambiance was very nice and relaxing. Menu choices were very good too. Seafood cocktail was wonderful!!! Can’t wait to try this restaurant for breakfast.

Antonio our waiter was excellent in handling all my gluten free questions.
Had wonderful black beans and rice with a beef taco. My husband had a wet burrito and we both loved our food. Including the fried ice cream that my husband scarfed down. Will go again.

Great place to have nice lunch or dinner or sit at the bar and watch the big game. I always wanted to come here but never decide to make the trip untill tonight… I live closer to la quinta but a good friend of mine recommended the Mexicali Café 2 on monroe in Indio and it was a great choice… Very good atmosphere, incredible food, variety of choice in drinks and food. Plus an awesome musican playing classic mexican music on a harp. Very classy!!! Oh and Pablo are server was polite and friendly as was the host and everyone their… Great chavelas, I had the fountain of seafood which was surprisingly delicious. Will be my wife and I and family’s place too go.

Love this place and I always crave the Chile Guerritos. Chile Rellenos are always so fluffy and fresh. Can’t go wrong there ordering anything off of the menu and make sure to try the «La Morena» cocktail.

This place was fantastic… Super clean and open, the staff was amazing. I had the papas de chorizo and a fantabulous michelada… Hubby had huevos rancheros and I could hear him give a little moan of pleasure after each bite, lol. So — totally ignore the eyebrow-​raising strip-​mall location because this is a stop worth making.

Surprised by a couple of the reviews… I have to say that it is quite the contrary to the negative reviews that have been posted.
Excellent Service, Awesome Food and very clean establishment. This is probably one of the best Mexican restaurants that I have ever eaten at and highly recommend this place to everyone. The price is fair and not any more expensive than your average restaurant.

This is the dirtiest restaurant I’ve eaten at in years. With only two $$, signs you might think it was inexpensive but it wasn’t. For example is cost $ 13.99 for a dinner with two chile rellenos which weren’t great. An appetizer plate of six shrimp stuffed chiles for $ 13.99 which was quite good but over priced. Service was good, the harp music was nice but everything, everywhere on every surface is dirty. I always give restaurants two or three tries but nothing has improved and I won’t be back.

Met some friends at this place… our first time but they had been here before. We had a reservation at 6:30 & our table was ready.
There were 6 adults and 5 kids… put us at a nice table near the tv so we could watch the basketball game!
Our waitress Yadira, was extremely nice, friendly and made great suggestions from the menu. We ordered drinks which were generously poured and the chips & salsa were very good!
I like to judge a Mexican restaurant by their chips, salsa, beans & rice and they ALL passed the test!
We all ordered different items from tacos to enchiladas & burritos… all were excellent!
I’d like to mention again how FANTASTIC our SERVICE was. From the hostess, waitress & bus boys, all were top notch!
What topped it all off was when it was time for dessert. Yadira brought out ice cream for the kids. She also had chocolate topping, whipped cream & sprinkles and did EACH DESSERT to the kids liking.
She went above & beyond and we’ll definitely be back again!!!

One of the best authentic Mexican restaurants, around. Always happend to pass this location on my way to work. I have always wanted to try this place since a few of my friends like it on their Facebook page. I took my parents out to dinner. I ordered the Combination #5, my dad ordered the Steak Ranchero and my mom ordered the chicken taco salad. The service was very curteous, very friendly staff and great customer service. The food was really good. My dad enjoyed his Steak Ranchero. My mom enjoyed the salad. I enjoyed the combination plate. Everything we ordered, was made with fresh ingredients and had real good flavor. Will return to try the other items.

Nice little spot in Indio. I have a timeshare that I frequent and I have been lucky enough to find this spot. Hard to find a good spot to find good food with a full bar. The stuffed peppers is a unique dining experience after you add the mayo lemon and soy sauce. I’m typing this as i am waiting for my second order. Hmmm.
— — –
Jan 2016
Had to come back for those shrimp stuffed peppers. They are amazing.

Absolutely love this place! Their staff is always great! They’re friendly, always checking on you & make sure you’re taking care of.
Their food & drinks are delicious! Our top plates are the Mexicali Especial, Chile Verde & of course their Chiles Gueritos!
Definitely recommend to enjoy if you’re looking for good Mexican food.

This place is the BOMB! You have to stop by if you are in the area and have to order the fresh guacamole! Made with fresh ingredients in front of you!
Also get the shrimp stuff green chili peppers. Those are so juicy and flavorful. Put some mayo on top and top it off with some fresh guacamole and squeeze some lime juice=perfect! An order comes with 6 i think. We always order those when we come.

The food and service takes me back to Mexico. The food is authentic. The cocktail seafood dishes are an excellent variety. A great place for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The service is friendly and timely. A definite thumbs up. A must experience…

Es el mejor Lugar de comida Mexicana en el valle. Vengan y disfruten !!! Una esperiencia unica !!! Acompañado de las mejores MARGARITAS Y CHABELAS del Mundo .***.I love Mexicali café 2 ***

ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS.
The Caldo Siete Mares was the best I’ve ever had. My husbands Chicharrones with Eggs and Beans was «to die for»!
Service was as excellent as the food!
We’ll be coming again.

Against my better judgement I returned here with the wife at her request… cough, cough DEMAND!
The food here is overpriced and taste is hit and miss unfortunately it seems to be more miss than hit! BUT if you’re still going to come here, get the Ceviche and Chili Gueritos!
Chilis Gueritos Rellenos de Camaron (6-​pcs) ($ 13.99)
Chili’s filled with Shrimp
the plate of 6 and a Caguama of Tecate and you’re set…
Especial del Mexicali ($ 13.99)
Yet another bland dish, strips of grilled steak
a little tough (probably why it’s pre-​cut in strips) and no flavor, ensalada de nopales
was pretty good, Frijoles
not well seasoned but was good AFTER I added a bit of salt. (would NOT recommend this dish)
Chile Verde ($ 12.99)
Chunks of pork in salsa verde/​green
the pork was OK but the salsa was a bit sour. needed more chili’s!, the refritos were bland
(would NOT recommend this dish)
Flan ($ 4.99)
Yeah it was good!

While visiting clients in the Coachella Valley I stopped in for breakfast since they open at 700 am weekdays. Parking was ample since it was early.
Located in a strip center, the restaurant is large and there’s a large bar located on the north side of the restaurant and another large dinning room on the south end. Even though it was early the waitress still served me chips and homemade chili sauce.
My breakfast entrée I chose — the machaca and eggs which was served with beans and potatoes. The machaca — shredded beef, eggs and sliced bell peppers was hearty tasting when made tacos with the corn tortillas and chili sauce.
Coachella Valley has a good selection of authentic Mexican restaurants and El Mexicali makes the list. BTW, they also have 2 sister locations in Indio.