Olamendi’s Mexican Grill

— Family owned. Nice family!
— Fantastic chips and salsa. Salsa changes every time we come. Still love it every time.
— Taco Tuesday has El Pastor Tacos… Best taco Tuesday ever!
— Best Tortilla soup. Real, Mexican style here. Not that commercial Mexican restaurant stuff. Real, Mexican style Tortilla soup. Best in SoCal.
— Never really busy. I’ve always been able to find a table.

Came here for dinner with the fam since we had a coupon and I wanted to try a new mexican restaurant nice ambience, clean, but empty (maybe the location?) was my first impression when we walked in.
Rundown–
I ordered the special– suizas enchiladas with beans and rice– very large portion I ate one enchilada and took one to go the green sauce was a little spicy and had good flavor. I really liked the rice — nice and fluffy not so much the beans. I would definitely order this again just get all rice instead. For drink I ordered the hibiscus iced tea — highly recommend this — even the hubby liked it.
hubby got the machaca — he was disappointed he said it tasted like it was dipped in some kind of sauce poor hubby he is not a fan of mole like I am. And he wanted to order a salad however the only dressing they have is a house (he likes thousand island) now if it had been me I would have gladly tried the house– next time.
My little guy-​all he wanted was chicken and rice, he kept saying «delicious» so i think its fair to say he liked it.
I thought the chips and salsa were excellent — the chips were fresh and not overly greasy and the salsa had a kick & was roasted — reminded me of my mom’s that’s always a plus.
Service — I thought the waitress was nice however we were the only ones dining and hubby was constantly out of drink — with his soda plus 2 waters sigh — I will say this — he is a fast drinker one time a waitress at a Red Lobster restaurant grew tire of refilling his drink and simply left a whole water pitcher at our table. So I won’t dock points for that since my drink was refilled fine. I enjoyed the food, hubby did not — as he is is not a fan of mole. I’ll have to come back with my parents when they visit, I think they would enjoy it here, as it’s hard to find a good tasting mexican restaurant in South County.
If you are a fan of mole sauces and are opened minded about trying a new mexican restaurant then I recommend you try this place out!

We have been going to Olamendi’s consistently for over a year and always experience incredible food, excellent customer service and a wonderful atmosphere. Sergio Sr. and his family have taken such excellence care of us that to go elsewhere feels like we’re cheating on them. From the moment you walk in you know that this place is going to be good.
My favorite dish is the carne asada burrito with green sauce, my wife gets the mole enchiladas, and the rest of my family loves the chile verde… best in town. We’ve been on the search for good Mexican cuisine at a good price and Olamendi’s meets the bill. Stephanie and Sergio Jr. (both children of Sergio the owner) offer incredible customer service as they wait your table… they both independently remembered my order after my first time eating there!
Here’s the bottom line: if you excellent Mexican food; if you want a fun atmosphere with personal attention for your table; and if you value local, family owned businesses then this is the place for you. Without a doubt A+ quality.

3 ½ stars…
I grew up on Olamendi’s Mexican food and they have never let me down. While my family always ate at the original on PCH this location is close to my house and certainly more convenient. I have eaten here a couple times and have been satisfied with the meal. Service has also been great, although we have never been there when they were particularly busy either. Nice to support a small, family owned business.

This place has solid Mexican food. Sit down family owned, totally over decorated in that ultra cheesy way that hole in the wall Mexican places tend to do. Still I like it.
Best things here are the chimichangas and the horchata.

Just the greatest Mexican restaurant in Orange County. Owners run the restaurant and take a keen interest in what people think of their food. Their food is great and I know a thing or two about Mexican food. I’m an older guy who has eaten Mexican food in Mexico, California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and several other states. My favorite meal is their combination of crisp beef taco, chicken enchilada, green sauce, rice and beans. WOW! I have also tried several other dishes and enjoyed those too. I am not a fish lover but I did try fish here on a few occasions and surprisingly I really enjoyed it. My Vegeterian friends eat here and they have nothing but praise for the food. Yes — I have tried all of the other restaurants in the area and they just don’t compare with Olamendis, Lake Forest. I notice where one reviewer was comparing it with Chronic Tacos — please God no!

Good food, good margaritas! This place is never busy, which seems a shame considering their awesome carnitas and salsa. Other menu highlights are the flautas, and the enchiladas. Every thing I’ve ordered has been very good.
Not the best location, but the folks are always nice when we come in, and the place is clean and inviting. They have an outdoor patio as well though there are only a couple tables out there.

What time is it?!? It’s bulletpoint time!
*Wonderfully festive ambiance
*Good service
*I’ve had better nachos in Vancouver, Canada
*Why is your happy hour from 2 – 5? Those are the sad hours for people still at work!
*If your salsa was a donkey, he had no kick
Honestly though, I would come back here because of my first point (the bar looked hypnotizing as well). I’ve been looking for a hole in the wall like this since I’ve been in South County even though this hole is quite visible from the El Toro exit.
I mean, everyone has a place they go to and say, «I don’t know why we come here.»

Good food, friendly service and moderate prices make a good night out. I had a cactus salad for the first time ever and it was pretty good. It had the bit of a well cooked green bean and the taste of a pickled green pepper. I also had their carnitas tamale (a la cart) which was moist, fluffy and amazing. Did I mention the salsa? We went though two baskets of chips and salsa. We’ll be back for sure.
Happy Eating

I was really looking forward to eating at this location, being that they closed the one in Aliso Viejo/​Laguna Niguel and was thoroughly disappointed.
The waitress was really rude when we asked questions regarding what we were ordering. We also had a buy an entrée get one free and that’s when she became really rude. The food was ok, nothing special like it used to be and the portions were so small that I finished my dinner which I always take home half.
When we received the bill after asking for it several times they took off my daughter’s #3 ala carte taco, when I questioned why wasn’t the $ 10.95 entrée taken off she got mad and said fine I”ll do it, but we always take off the lower price. Great then take off the entrée which the coupon stated!
Bottom line overpriced, food satisfactory, rude waitress… WILL NOT EVER GO BACK!

For the past five years, I’ve needed to visit this area about once every 5 – 6 weeks. We discovered Olamendi’s a few years ago (and it takes «discovering» to find the place) and I’ve been there every visit since. The mole is the best I’ve ever had, the family is a delight. I wish they could have a location that gave them more traffic — they deserve it!

Came here for dinner on a Thursday night. Whoever thought that it was a good idea to put a restaurant under an Arthur Murray dance studio was sorely mistaken. The food was actually quite good, but it’s easy to get distracted by all of the loud thumping coming from the ceiling. Just mention their Unilocal margarita special, and have 2 of them so the thumping becomes bearable. :)

I wish I could rate this place higher because it does seem to have potential. The ambiance is nice with candlelit tables and a fun Mexican décor. The food however was all just ok.
The complimentary chips and salsa were a little less tasty than average. The veggie bowl was just okay and would have been better with fajita style veggies. The carne asada burrito was just okay. I ordered an original margarita after the server said it was a generous size. My husband and I had to chuckle when it was delivered in one of the smalled margarita glasses I have ever seen. It was definitely not worth $ 6 and it did not taste good.
We stopped here because we happened to be in the area and noticed it was in the Entertainment book. I can’t say we would come back even if one entrée was free.

So happy we found this place. Family owned, which we love. Sergio, the owner, is very friendly. The food is outstanding. We especially loved the mole enchiladas (homemade mole!) and ceviche.
The patio is very cozy. We can’t wait to take our family! We would definitely recommend it!

Great food. Especially the Mole Chicken.
Lots of tequila at the bar.
Great service.
Great salsa & the chips are warm.

I came in at 11:45am today during my lunch break because I was craving Mexican food. Was looking at their lunch specials that are served daily from 11am-​3pm for ~$ 6 a platter. The pictures didn’t look appealing, but hey, I’m willing to try.
Waited, waited, waited. No one is in the joint, but me. Do I sit down, do I wait for a hoistess or server? I’m confused. «Hello?!» Wait, wait, wait.
Ok, I’m not in the mood for this, and 5 minutes later, I leave without talking to a soul.
Maybe I’ll be back to try out this place for reals another time. But, today, the service just didn’t cut it.

Excellent food and drinks and superb service! A must visit, behind USA Gas. Our family is always embraced and remembered including out eating and drinking habits. P. S. the lunch specials are awesome.

The hubby and I went here for Taco Tuesday a few weeks ago when all the normal places were super packed. Their 99 cent tacos aren’t all that but what do you expect from a 99 cent taco? They also have drink specials. I ordered a Taco Salad and it was really tasty. I love the big shell. Their salsa is also pretty good, still not as good as Trader Joes Salsa Authentic in my humble opinion but good none the less. It is tucked away in right off the 5 and it’s pretty easy to miss if you’re not looking for it. I guess this was why it’s possible to get a table right away at 7:30 on Tuesdays. Love it.

Unique tasting Mexican food. I would definitely give it another go. This trip was my first. I went on a Sunday around 2 or 3pm. Not too busy, and the service was quick.

This place is tucked away in a forgotten shopping plaza just next to the El Toro exit off the 5. It’s been there about a year and I had no idea it was there, but it was worth the visit.
The waitress was very friendly. She even comped us a small order of nachos when she heard it was our first time there. She truly knows the path to this Unilocaler’s heart: free shit that’s covered in cheese. The house salsa that comes with the free chips was quite nice as well.
My boss is pretty nuts about Olamendi’s albondigas soup, so she got that and seemed pretty satisfied. Also, she got a chile relleno ‘on the side’, but it was friggin’ huge and basically an entrée unto itself. Once again, these guys know how to impress this particular fatass.
My co-​worker got a chicken dish (tostada?) and was satisfied. They serve breakfast all day here (damn, they really do know all my weaknesses), so I went for the huevos rancheros. They were good. It’s hard to go too far in one direction or the other with huevos rancheros, so that is a natch.
All in all, it has a nice open atmosphere, a friendly staff, and good food. They hit all the right notes with me, which basically means that they remembered to melt cheese on everything.