Gallo Blanco

I love this place! Everything I’ve ever had here is so yummy! And the overall vibe of the restaurant is very cool and hip. The last time we went, we told the waitress that were were there for our anniversary and she gave us a free dessert (tres leches) as an «anniversary gift.» So sweet! You can also order your drinks in to-​go cups and take it up the roof. So awesome!

Don’t go to the new place here. Go to Otro Café or Joyride.
I know its closed now. I had to write a review of my final meal here.
It was the worst experience I’ve ever had. Sure, they were closing in 2 nights. That does not excuse terrible service. We waited 20 minutes for a drink. Once we got the drinks we waited 20 minutes to order our appetizers. Once the appetizers came out, we never saw our server again. He purposely avoided us. He was the guy with the ponytail. We literally watched him move around waiting to catch his eye. He wouldn’t even look at us! Finally we got up and asked for our check. We wanted to stay to get tacos but obviously they didn’t want the business. We paid our bill and left to Joyride. I won’t even entertain the idea of going to the new place here. Gallo Blanco and The Clarendon went from the top of my list to ‘I’ll never set foot in here again’.

Love this place. The rock fish tacos and the guacamole/​fresh chips are a must. The chips are airy, crisp, and not oily. Come during their happy hour to get tacos for a steal.

This place was amazing! What happened?

Went here a couple weeks back and have to say one of the best places I have found for Mexican food. Corn tortillas were homemade and delicious. The chicken tacos were my favorite. I rated a 4 star because they were short staffed and I had to get my own refills a few times and wait a bit for my beers but for how delicious the food was id do it again. I just called them and they said otro café is their other restaurant and they are relocating Gallo Blanco. Looking forward to checking out their new spot!

Went here with a friend last year. We were told there would be a wait for a table, despite the fact that a perfectly set table that was situated almost directly in front of us. We waited for quite a while, browsing the art and looking around the pool, and were eventfully seated… at the EXACT same table we had been staring at earlier. Are they trying to do the «fake wait» thing to seem more popular or raise their bar’s business? I find that very tacky.
Anyway, I had been craving chorizo, so I ordered the dos huevos (2 eggs and chorizo with corn tortillas). It was okay. Not mine blowing, and the portion was definitely really skimpy, especially for the price. At least it was cooked well.
They did give my buddy a free dessert for his birthday, so that was nice. The service was alright, but this place definitely had the feel of «you eat here because it’s cool and thus you look cool» and not «you’re here because the food/​service is amazing.»
I’d go back if a friend wanted to try it, but I won’t venture here again on my volition.

I arranged a group dinner for approximately 20 people for a local conference and we had a great time. The food was outstanding and my team of all out of towners really enjoyed everything. The staff was super attentive and was able to accommodate people who came later. We took advantage of a private room immediately off the main restaurant which was much quieter than the main space. The only reason I’m not leaving five stars is that I wish the ambiance of the private room was less like a conference room and more like a restaurant.
All in all, a very successful dinner with good memories for all.

It’s definitely not authentic Mexican food here but it was decent. The place was spacious. They have a great no sugar added milkshake but I found it to be a bit overpriced when I saw the small size. They even told me it’s just strawberries and milk… I also didn’t like that I had to ask for straws for my water but the guy was nice and didn’t offer up attitude when asked. They have good salads. Also had a nice variety of foods for happy hour. It was nothing memorable but I would come back again.

Gallo Blanco is a Mexican restaurant in Phoenix that serves up some quality Mexican cuisine. No Tex Mex here, instead you can find street style tacos, a creative elote, and some pretty good happy hour specials.
My Overall Rating — 4 Stars (Atmosphere, Service, Food, Return)
Atmosphere — Gallo Blanco is adjacent to the Clarenden hotel, so if it’s your first time you might miss it. Inside you’ll find an open and modern space that matches the food perfectly. There’s also plenty of outdoor seating and bright colors everywhere and a bar if you’re looking for more than tacos. 1 Star.
Service — Our servers were great. Even though the food took some time to come out, they checked in often. We sat outside on a cold fall afternoon, but our outdoor heater was out of fuel. They were kind enough to move a working lamp to accommodate us. 1 Star.
Food — Get the elote. Gallo Blanco serves this up on a whole corn, placing the sour cream and spices on top. You then strip the corn off directly. It looks amazing, tastes great, and was a really creative way to serve elote. I liked it more because it limited the amount of sour cream. The guacamole was also great. Fresh, and with pineapples mixed in. They used big chunks too, and I thought it was great. They tacos were good not great. The beef reminds me of Korean bugolgi marinated beef. It was sweet (which is ok with me). Shrimp and fish tacos while fresh, weren’t any more memorable that other places I’ve been too. So while the appetizers were great, our tacos weren’t as good. 1 Star.
Will I Return? — Yes. Kids eat free, and they have great happy hour specials. I’d return for those reasons and the elote/​guac. Gallo Blanco is solid, cool, and definitely worth a return visit. 1 Star.
My Unilocal Rating Scale (Sum of all parts):
1 Star — Atmosphere — Is it a cool dive? Perhaps an upscale place? No matter the type, atmosphere plays a big part and I’ll give a star if I like it or thinks it has great charm.
1 Star — Service — You can have a great meal with bad service. But that’s also what can make a five star joint drop to four. It’s important to the dining experience that service is great and on point.
2 Stars — Food — I’ll award up to two stars for the food, since this is the main reason we dine out. Sometimes the extra star is given for value, but it’s really all about the food.
1 Star — Will I come back? — If I know for a fact I’ll return, I’ll give this a star. A place has to make an impression for me to return.
Each Category can be given up to 1 star except food (2 stars) because I consider all these categories important to the overall dining experience. I will sum them up to provide my final Unilocal score.

I love this place! They have delicious Mexican food, amazing micheladas, and they know how to make a delicious salad. I’m a vegetarian and they have lots for me here. Not just beans and rice.
The first thing I notice is everyone eating Verne Asada burritos and micheladas. So we follow suit. The tortas are my favorite! The ambiance is pretty cool too. So car this place is part of the clarendon, they have a nice pool area. I would love to stay here one night. Lots of art on the wall that’s for sale too. Great place for drinks and hanging with the girls.

Gallio Blanco is retro, trendy, upbeat, local, delicious, authentic, and for a while the Tuesday date night spot for hubby and I.
Their guacamole is one of the best I have had. Different or maybe creative is the right word… with bits of oranges and fresh avocados. You can taste that it was made in the house.
The tacos are authentic street taco style, on small corn tortillas. They don’t have the option of flour and I’m unfortunately not a fan of corn tortillas so its more of a personal problem, but that’s one star off for me because I usually end up leaving out the bread. Just one of those things. I keep trying it every time hoping I’d like it but I end up not liking it even more.
My personal favorite is the beef burrito. The beef is flavorful and cooked to perfection.
If you order chips and salsa, it comes with delicious fresh chips and choice of their regular salsa or 4 different salsas. My favorite is the smokey chipotle.
I keep telling myself that next time I need to try something new on the menu but so far I haven’t been brave enough. Seems like another visit is in order and I promise to update this review if I really make that step.

Modern Mexican style spot: Friday happy hour time… If you order tacos on the patio be prepared to be attacked by flies.
The weather is perfect so we decide to be seated outside. We start with a margarita pitcher and guacamole which the highlight of it all was the 2 table sauces. Thank goodness for the spicy green & red sauces to dress everything up.
We get a tray of tacos: 2 fish, carne asada, veggie, shrimp, and pork. It looks great once it arrives but 7 FLIES start aggressively bombarding us. Thankfully the busboys must know about this and we put our tacos on our plate and they whisk the wooden & metal tray. I cannot stand eating something a fly has landed on so I was waving my hand over my 3 tacos and shoveled them in as fast as possible. As for the taste– the tortilla is homemade but very thick. The carne asada was my favorite– love the marinaded flavor. My veggie taco was lacking punch. Fish tacos were very yummy. My companion has the pork and shrimp which he seemed to enjoy.
We ended with the lime tart at the recommendation of our sweet & server. It was absolutely delicious with a nice serving of real whipped cream. No flies at this time!

Consistently great food and service. Wonderful for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Good atmosphere open airy and artful. We love their flapjacks and tuna tacos!
Bring the family there is something for everyone here

Spectacular food! Pork belie and Ahi Tuna Tacos with guacamole need I say more?
Awesome atmosphere, great selection for kids as well.
Oh and coffee, yeah they serve Lux coffee great roaster!

Nothing wrong with hotel restetaunts, but they normally are not my cup of tea. Gallo Blanco, however, breaks the mold. Greeted warmly by the hostess we were seated directly below a large fan. We asked to move, no problem, we were moved to our table of choice with a smile.
Our server (?Dre) was very good, offering suggestions when asked, otherwise non intrusive and allowed us to enjoy our food. (see my photos). After drinks (an ok yet refreshing Sangria and a well mixed Henricks G & T with lime) we ordered an Ahi appetizer with guac and chips– very light, thin slices of the tuna. Then we enjoyed a salad, the name I cant recall, which had corn nuts and again, a light vinaigrette dressing. Finally, we ordered a spread of tacos wanting to try a wide variety. The moist, flavorful carna asade taco was my favorite, with the fish and veggie tacos on hand made corn tortillas a close second place. The special, a seared tuna taco, was my least favorable. While it was well made and the fish tender and fresh, it was too large of a chunk and really should have been diced or sliced.
We ordered the Street Corn as a suggestion from our server, and wow was it good, spiced up, well cooked (steamed??) with perhaps cheese on top. A great addition and actually should come automatically with any meal. It really is that good.
Feeling thoroughly stuffed, we split the orange cake along with fresh brewed decaf. The cake was full of orange flavor, zest, and the right amount of sweetness.
The ENTIRE bill for two was 73 bucks. Well worth it and frankly a great deal– alcohol drinks, sodas, appetizer, salad, five tacos, desert, coffee x 2.
Finally, kids below the age of 10 eat free.

We came here last evening to celebrate our anniversary and we had a great time.
Sure, it was 106 and we had to sit outside, but the food as always, was great, outstanding and delicious. Now where’s my Roget’s? Just read my original review from last year.
And, who would sit through a cool Arizona evening (LOL) as we did, on our anniversary, if the food wasn’t delicious?
We have tried almost everything on the menu, the fish taco, the shrimp, the Carne and everything is good. But we comeback for the Carne Asada. You’ve got to try it! Their tacos are very good, but we much prefer the Burritos and highly recommend their white sangria.
Expect to spend about $ 25 each for a three course meal including drinks, excluding tip. BTW, those are Happy Hour prices, which run until 6 pm including on Saturdays. Most items on their menu are $ 1 – 3 off.
So Four and a Half Stars, up from Four.
Enjoy!

It certainly doesn’t have a Mexican restaurant look, but the food was superb. Gallo Blanco, located inside the Clarendon, is more focused on being a classy date night type of restaurant than a cliché multicolored gimmicky thing, and I’m fine with that. Plus, the live flamenco dancers on Wednesday nights is a nice touch.
We ordered a variety of their tacos, carne asada being my favorite. We also tried an assortment of salsas and guacamole. No complaints there either, but the green salsa was addictively good and by far my favorite.
As you wait to be seated, check out the beautiful rooftop view of the Clarendon, overlooking central Phoenix, and dip your toes in their awesomely conceived pool. Overall, this was a very good experience, and I’d love to return to try more items.

So here’s another place where the food is excellent, but the front-​of-​house is seriously lacking.
We’ve just had a baby, so dining out has (temporarily) been replaced by taking out. We still enjoy the food we used to, only we now get to pause eating when the little bundle of joy decides he’s hungry or needs changing, or if the wind blows in the wrong direction. Because he is quite vocal in letting us know. We could, of course, become «those people» who really don’t care about the tranquility of others when dining out, but we chose not to be.
Gallo Blanco has a great website with the menu items listed in detail, they offer quite the selection with reasonable prices. They support to-​go orders and even offer curbside pickup! That is of course IF you can get through to them.
I called the number listed on their website at about 4pm and the call goes straight to voicemail. «Leave a message if you want to make a reservation». Hmmm, thinking I’d mistakenly called the reservations number, I checked their website and the to-​go number is the same as the reservations number which is the same as the main number — it is THE number. I tried a few more times, but it would always go directly to voicemail with nairy a ring. I even tried to call the hotel main number, which was answered, and asked to be transferred to the restaurant, but again I got the dreaded voicemail of death. I called the hotel back and told them my dilemma, but they were all out of options. Hmmmm…
We had our hearts set on the menu items we had chosen that I decided to drive there and have a happy-​hour beer while I waited. Inside is a bit odd. I entered through the To-​Go Door. They have a counter where you can sit, which at first glance could be mistaken for a bar, but it isn’t. There was an open seat, so I sat at the pseudo-​bar and waited, and waited, and waited some more. The problem with it not being a bar is that there is no-​one permanently stationed there. Sure, plenty of people came back and forth because it is right in front of the kitchen, but no-​one came to take my order. Directly to the left is a host station with two greeters (but no phone!) The place was busy, but these two were just standing around making high-​school chat.
Finally I was able to flag someone down, not the first four or five people as they just ignored me and kept on trucking, but someone who was able to take my order and no, they couldn’t explain why the phone went directly to voicemail, nor did they really care.
So, in summary — the food is great, if you can get it.

So here’s another place where I had a night and day difference between my first two visits. My sister and I came here in August for my birthday. It was taco Tuesday so we were able to chow down on some tasty discounted tacos (veg for me, chicken and fish for her). We also had some great cocktails including a delicous spiked melon agua fresca. The only disappointing item on that visit was the the elote which definitely didn’t live up to its reputation.
I came here again last Saturday with my husband and neighbors after a play. I was happy we happened to be there just in time for the end of happy hour. This time, I had to try their much-​lauded chilaquiles. I was initially disappointed with my first few bites. The veggies didn’t really go with the dish, and the sauce was way too tame. Then my disappointment turned to disgust as I realized I was eating chicken! I think the kitchen realized at the last minute they put chicken in my vegetarian dish and tried to get most of it out, but there were some chunks left behind. At the same time, I was drinking a horrible spiked watermelon agua fresca that I also had to send back. At least the blood orange margarita was good.
I am giving GB two stars because my husband loved his tacos, more so than our neighborhood joint, Joyride. I don’t think I will return, however.

Nos hospedamos en el Clarendon anoche por lo que necesitábamos algo para no dormir con el estómago vacío.
Pedi el elote callejero, tenía ganas desde hace meses de un «esquite» como le decimos Mexico. La verdad creo que la combinación queso, crema y paprika son excelente y el elote muy suave y lechoso.
La hamburguesa esta muy rica y se ve que la carne esta hecha por ellos (cuando menos eso sentí).
El dueño es del Distrito Federal así que hay que felicitarlo por el menú tan mexicano con los toques internacionales.

I’ve been here twice, both times at breakfast. The coffee is delicious, the food is delicious, and it was an accommodating place to bring my 5 month old. I ordered the vegetable chilaquiles each time I’ve come here and I also had an order of pancakes. It was all amazing. The service was great, although be warned that this place isn’t a regular restaurant it’s a ~cool~ restaurant.
All in all great place for breakfast. I’d love to come at dinner & try their cocktails.

Todos los platillos que ordenamos estaban deliciosos y puedo decir que, al menos para y hasta ahora, es el unico restaurante en Phoenix, Az, donde sirven comida mexicana con sabor realmente mexicano. Probamos el pozole, la torta de carne asada, la torta de cochinita, el burrito de carne asada y un corte de carne delicioso. En una ocasion anterior probe una de sus ensaladas (con kale) y ademas de realmente fresca estaba deliciosa.