La Piñata

My coworker took me here for lunch a couple of months ago and it’s now my favorite Mexican restaurant in the area. I absolutely love the enchilada sauce that they have. I’ve only gone for lunch, but the portions are large for a lunch menu– I cannot clear my plate.

Excellent food, chips and salsa. My favorite is the Carnitas Burro, best I have every had. I would give them 5 Stars but they are not offering take out. Hard to go out and eat with the little ones. I have been going to this place for over 20 years, new location is very nice.

The staff is very friendly and the food was fantastic. The shredded beef tacos, rice and beans were really good. I’ll be back with the family for sure.

Went there on Mothers Day, the chicken fajitas were great! The portion size was big enough to split between two but we did not know that so we we took the leftovers home; a nice bonus! The chicken tamale my daughter ordered was huge too and very good. My other daughter ordered the taco plate with rice and beans, it looked fabulous. I did not taste it but she said it was great. We ordered the fried ice cream for desert and it was great too! The waitress was very pleasant and she made sure our drinks were always full, asked if we wanted additional salsa without us having to ask for it.
We will go back!!!

Excellent food! Stopped here in a whim. Best Mexican food I’ve had in a long time. I had the Chimichanga with shredded beef. Excellent flavor. Great salsa, guacamole. Ilene was an awesome server, every time I thought to even ask for something it appeared on my table before I asked. Truly great lunch.

Some of the best Mexican food I’ve had in a long time. The pork carnitas and the shredded beef are astounding. So are the tacos and the enchiladas. We loved every bite! The guacamole is thick and fresh and plentiful along with the house made salsa and black beans. Can’t wait to come back!
Even though it was busy the service was quick and kind and we had everything within moments.

Mexican done right!!!
First time here and a great experience with our server and the food.
The frozen margaritas are phenomenal and a must do in my book!
I had the chicken chimichanga with green sauce!
Yum

I ordered the Mexican tortilla stack thing on my next visit. It was awesome. Highly recommend. Didn’t leave room for friend ice cream though. Still regretting it because it looks so good.
Read my original review for more info.

Chicken Tortilla Soup, to die for! Also best Chicken enchilada! Has a neighborhood feel with very excellent food.

La Piñata has moved and it’s for the better! Their new location is so much nicer than the old location! Not that I minded the old location, it’s just that this new location rocks. The interior is nice, and they have an even nicer patio to enjoy the last of the remaining temperate days.
The menu is just as good as the old menu; I might have noticed a few changes, but not a lot. The food is still spot on, just in a more appealing environment.
Check them out, you won’t be disappointed! JM

Really good and LOTS of food for the price. The staff was wonderful and very timely. Pork was a little dry but the salsa is great and very spicy. They have a good happy hour to.

Yum. Try the steak fajitas.
They charge for any extras. Our fajitas came out with hardly any peppers and onions at all. I asked if we could have some more, and when the check came I was charged $ 4 for a side of grilled onions (didn’t even have any peppers) So I felt a little ripped off, but I still love the steak fajitas and I also love the rice and beans. I will be back and nextime not order any extras to be safe.

La Piñata has some of the best tacos in town. These are not the ever so trendy street tacos, these are your big fat loaded crispy tacos. The shredded beef is my favorite.
I’ve also tried the carne quesadilla and it was packed full of flavor and dripping with cheese.
Parking can be a pain, but it is worth circling the parking lot for the salsa and hot sauce!

Well was very disappointed to see out favorite ice cream parlor closed but delightfully surprised at how much we like this spot!
Service was FANTASTIC TOP notch!
Taco was great lots of cheese. Freshly deep fried shell not like SO MANY Phoenix mex restaurants use! Enchilada was very good. My wife really enjoyed her chimichanga. My moms chilli reanno was great too. Everything we had so far was great. We will return. Highly recommended.

Sopa pillas… And Mi Chilladas! Cool spot for Mexican food and cold beer! We stopped by after biking around the area on a gorgeous day. The wait can be crazy for dinner during the weekend. The Carnitas are a flavor explosion and the rice is a flaky yet tender surprise.

Decided to take my dad here for a late lunch Friday afternoon. When we were seated they gave us chips and salsa and they were delicious!!! My dad had the Chili Rellenos, I had the bean and cheese burrito with the queso on top, my brother’s gf had a combo plate and my brother had the taco in my burrito. It was all OUTSTANDING!!! The service was great too!!!
So nice that this is also only a few minutes from my parents house too! I cannot wait to go back again!

Good food! Great atmosphere! Great patio. Staff was super friendly and accommodating! We will definately return!

Excellent food and excellent service! Excellent ambiance! I would recommend this place to all my friends

I didn’t know there was an old La Piñata so when I saw this place pop up in the previous Mary Coyle spot, we put it on our ‘must try’ list. We have driven by on many evenings to see the patio full and alive. We were in need of an early dinner on a Friday night so we stopped by to give it a try.
Parking was relatively easy since it was early, but be warned, the lot fills up. The restaurant was incredibly clean and I love the décor. There is a descent size curved bar off to the left when you walk in that looks like it fills up easily. Good sized patios and sun shades for the interior dining room. If you visit around sunset, be prepared for that sun to sneak in even if the shades are drawn.
Our server was super bubbly and attentive. When my girlfriend and I try new places, she will usually ask what the best or most popular item on the menu is. Our server hadn’t been working there long so she was happy to grab one of the others who has been working for the restaurant for 7 years. He answered all of our questions and made some recommendations.
I had the pollo con queso and my dinner date ordered the yucutan with the machaca. Apparently hers was better than mine, I didn’t try it but I was happy with mine. Both came deep fried, mine covered in a jalapeño cream cheese and she had the same on the side. Rice and beans were both excellent.
I ordered a glass of wine that I didn’t care for and our server took it back and replaced it with the sangria. I honestly didn’t care for that much either… I must not have been in a drinking mood since I never send anything back, let alone alcohol. She did a great job of expressing that they just want their guests to be happy with everything.
We will definitely be returning. There are some other good looking items on the menu (some sort of Mexican tortilla stack thing… looks amazing. The woman next to us ordered it.) and hopefully I’ll leave room for the fried ice cream.

Love the new location. Has a modern hip vibe, but yet still retained their authentic Mexican food. Great combination!

Outstanding place! Wife had the spinach enchiladas I had the carnitas dish and they were both excellent! Great atmosphere and we loved it. We will be back.

Visited there new location for the first time love the new look and plenty of staff to make sure you are well taken care of. The food is great, the location near, the atmosphere friendly and easy going. Will definitely come back

I never went to the old location but I am a fan of the new place! I have been to dinner there twice now and have had good meals and service both times. The blood orange margarita is delish! Service is pretty quick and efficient and the wait time both times I went wasn’t that long.

Solid food, generally good flavor. They kick the food out the kitchen in a very timely manner! The pollo con queso Chimi is very good. Stay away from the chile relleno if you grew up in NM like me, you’ll be disappointed! Not a real green Chile. It’s a stuffed Anaheim Pepper, that’s far from stellar! Otherwise, excellent service, like the new location on 7^th Ave! Will go back and stick with what I know to be good.

Our family has been enjoying eating at La Piñata for more than 40 years. The new location is wonderful, and the food is, as usual, fabulous. From the thin, warm chips with the incomparable salsas, to the delicately delicious house-​made green corn tamales, the machacadilla, the savory fajitas, and the more common cheese enchiladas, it is always outstanding. There is just no comparison. Thank you, Bugarin Family, for continuing to serve the standard for Mexican food in the Valley!

I love the new location! They made the move from their old location on 19^th Avenue and Osborn to the old Mary Coyle building on 7^th Avenue and Missouri recently. Glad they moved, the old one had great food but the location was getting a little sketchy. They did a complete renovation of the inside. Nice modern Mexican theme.
Same great food here at the new one. Excellent service. It was packed when I was here.
Great chips and salsa to start out.
I had the green chili quesadilla and albondigas soup for my entrée. Both really good. The green chili was hot! My friends had beef chimichangas and said they were excellent.
I am looking forward to going back here.
Check out the new location!
Enjoy!

I can’t get enough of this place. This is the same La Piñata from years before, but the new location is gorgeous. I’m one of those people who always orders the same thing when I go out, but when I try something here, it’s always a winner… the Machacadilla is my new religion.
The bar here is worth the trip alone. The 3330 is the best margarita I’ve ever had. Honestly. And the Mis Padres margarita swirled with chambord is also aces.

The food was most excellent, my first time here with some friends on a birthday. We got sat in a corner, five of us, waitress took our orders and we got served our drinks and didn’t come back until we got served our food. I actually had to get up and go find an employee to get us more water.
I think we got full on ice, chips and salsa by the time we got our food, but it’s all good, we got full all over again.
We didn’t see our server again until we got our checks, next time I’m gonna ask we sit in the middle of the restaurant.
Again food was excellent, the service could use some improving. Pay attention, it’s not a very big place.

Tried to get in here several times and couldn’t. Now I see why. It’s excellent. I had the salad carbon with marinated steak. My wife had the machada burrito and mh daughter had the black bean tostada. We all loved it. Plenty of food as well. Good atmosphere and service. A new favorite. You won’t be disappointed unless you can’t get in.

Steak fajitas are amazing and by far the best in town! I am definitely a fan of the old location, loved the old school feel to it.

My favorite chimichanga at a sit-​down restaurant.
Many years ago I used to hit up La Piñata about once a week in its old location. It’s one of the best casual Mexican restaurants I’ve ever been to. I recently got to sneak in before the lunch rush at their new location. It used to be Mary Coyle ice cream *sad face*.
The chimichanga is big. It’s lightly crisped all around in deep fried goodness. The beef has an option of either machaca (really just shredded beef, no eggs in it) or ground beef. I prefer the machaca — tons of seasoned shredded meat that has never been dry or burned. Lots of red sauce but not quite drowned in it and a bit of cheese, lettuce, chopped tomato. The lunch special I had comes with rice, which was fluffy and good, and beans, which were very creamy topped with a bit of 2 different cheeses.
I’ve tried their tacos (good), tamales (average), enchiladas (good), «There’s a taco in my burro!» burro (interesting but okay), albondigas soup (very good), chicken tortilla soup (okay, was always salty), Piñata Chimi (very good), machadilla (great), fajitas (average)…almost half their menu but at their old location. I’ll have to come back with an update and try some of these again.
Their complementary chips are above average. The salsa is very chunky and tasty. The hot sauce is really good — hot in heat and lots of chili flavor.
The new interior is all windows towards the street with a front patio that can seat quite a few. Plenty of space between tables and booths. The bar is off to the side with about a dozen seats. They still have a couple of pinatas a the entrance but not nearly as many as before. It’s nice. Parking could be an issue — they have about 20 spaces and when I left around noon, not a single spot was open.

I’ve always loved this place, love their new location on 7^th, food is always good. Guacamole is freshly made, try crispy cheese crisp, always a good choice. Flautas seem to be handmade. My boyfriend had ranchero machaca burrito, sucker was huge!
Service was good, Friday night the place was packed.
I heard one family balk at the 20 min wait and said they were going to Sylvia’s across the street! Don’t do it, this place worth the wait! I would not eat Sylvia’s, not worth it!

I, along with my family ate at the old location earlier this year. The old location had a funky smell when entering, but the food and service was great. The smell at the entrance could have been easily fixed with a good steam cleaning for the carpet. Their salsa tasted like the kind sold at Costco. The chips were just okay, they tasted store bought not house made. I forget what we all ordered, but it tasted great.
We were very excited to go to the new location. The very first Friday the new site opened we were there. We had to wait about 30 minutes for a table. The new place is very small when compared to a lot of other sit down restaurants. We sat in the patio area outside. A quaint, small fire in the fireplace would have been excellent.
I ordered a blood orange margarita, and it was absolutely awful. It tasted like Kool-​Aid without sugar added in it. I could not taste any spirits in the drink. I think a blind bartender could have made a better drink. All the other Margaritas being served were in big mugs. My blood orange margarita was in a high ball glass. I did not complain about my drink to the server. The salsa once again tasted like Costco’s best. The chips were still blah with no rah rah.
Our food arrived, cant recall specifically what we had, but the beans tasted fresh from a can. I did not finish my dinner plate. The rice was good.
The interior is so-​so, reminded me of a restaurant with an unknown identity. The sconces on the wall screamed ‘Tuesday Morning’ or ‘Fingerhut.’ There was a cool looking mural that had a spotlight or two on it. I understand this location has a paranormal past. I would have loved seeing this mentioned on the menu or somewhere inside the restaurant. There were not many tables, and there was a community table — SERIOUSLY??? The bar had lots of folks sitting around it, but it appeared extra dark.
The patio was nice, but noisy from street noise. The patio has no ambience except for the darkened fireplace. The patio is a bit claustrophobic because it has a high fence around it. The fence is camouflaged by artifical turf.
On this second visit i was so hoping the food would have tasted good like the first visit. During this dinner my family reached a consensus that this restaurant lost its pride and glory. Must have left the ambiance and good food at the former location.
My final thought…
This restaurant only serves up a big taste of consistent complacency. Adiós!

Why is this place busy?? ?
We stopped because of all the cars. A lot of cars must be good right? I don’t know what the attraction was. The food wasn’t bad… it just wasn’t anything special. I have had better many, many times. And all the cars? Really?

First impression was great thanks to the man that welcomed us into the restaurant, we got seated immediately. They have a very fun environment and modern fixtures. LOVE the outside patio lighting. Atmosphere is extremely pleasant. Booth seat isn’t too worn in and still bouncy!
Got the #1– Enchiladas were delicious and served on a hot plate, had enough for leftovers, and would order again.
Margarita was 95% tequila-​AKA fantastic and forced me to take an über home. One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, über… Ya feel? ;)
One negative experience was the waitress. she was not very friendly and never asked if we wanted drinks or appetizers. Ran away to the back with our IDs when we ordered a drink. Had to request through other employees to make orders and get her to the table. Never introduced herself.
In short, I enjoyed the atmosphere and food, we will be back again! Thank you!
PS please make taco Tuesday deals all day versus during happy hour times.

After having been regulars at the old location on 19^th avenue for years (and having reviewed it a couple of times), we were excited to visit the restaurant’s new home. We had great expectations, and we can honestly say that we were not disappointed whatsoever.
The new site, which was once the old Mary Coyle’s ice cream parlor, has been transformed into this superb Mexican food restaurant. Every aspect of the new place is simply head and shoulders above their old locale. The parking is more spacious and less scary, the bathrooms are modern and expansive, and the whole interior was well laid out and just evoked an upscale bistro look.
The food, which was the highlight of visiting the old location, was even better — if that was even possible. My wife commented that her chimichanga was really crispy on the bottom, and the meat was very well cooked and seasoned. And my #4 (Taco, Burro, and Tostada) was simply scrumptious. And the flan I had was simply superb. It tasted like it was even more freshly made than normal, just for us.
Even though I have rated them 4 stars in previous reviews, I had to give them 5 stars for the astounding service. Marleen, our server, was just amazingly efficient, friendly and courteous.
All the supporting wait staff, including the lady that saw my glass empty from all the way across the room and came over to provide me a refill, were just simply astounding in their attention to detail. I had never complained about their service before in the smaller locale, but they really did elevate their performance here at the new place.
Although we had to wait for about 25 minutes, even though we didn’t have to really wait before at the old location, that did not detract whatsoever from our experience. However other regulars were complaining about having to wait. They obviously haven’t been to eat in downtown Gilbert on Fridays and Saturdays and wait for an arduously long period for a table — anywhere there! That will certainly get you to appreciate the diminutive time spent waiting at this restaurant.
The location, the food, the environment and décor, and most especially the service deservedly receives 5 stars from us!
We are now truly unabashed fans of the sensational new location.

Trying the new location out and still great service, menu has many to choose from, and food… Delicious! The staff are very attentive, and yummy chips and salsa never run out. I would def want to come back and try something else on their menu. So far my fave Mexican restaurant in the valley! Highly recommend!

My uncle worked at la piñata while he was going to ASU. about 20 years ago. So I’ve been coming here for years. Not my go to Mexican place usually. but with their new location it could be.
It’s super cute! They needed the upgrade.
I sat at the bar — ordered a michilada. The bartender made up their own. It was pretty good.
The menu design is a headache. Stuff all over — confusing. I didn’t see a enchilada, taco, tostada, bean and rice combo. So I went with the relleno, taco and tostada. Chips and salsa was delivered promptly. The chips — a little stale the salsa — well it wasn’t ketchup thankfully. But s jalapeño wasn’t in the top 8 ingredients.
The food was okay. For all the white people in the area. This place will be off the cha. ughh it will be busy and do well. I’ll stick to tacos atoyac. I need some spice to my life.

viva la piñata! I suppose I have to thank the Spanish conquering of the Aztec empire which paved the way for this Gem of a restaurant. These brave restauranteurs have started a revolution in my mouth!
Go here and you won’t be disappointed!
Service: 10
Food: 10
Ambiance: 10

Wow. This placed just opened and I will definitely be back.
The waiters were so friendly and eager to please.
The décor was beautifully done and fresh feeling with a traditional Mexican vibe.
Now… Let’s talk food. Absolutely classic and authentic Mexican food. It was fresh and high quality. And… delicious. The tamales were the best I’ve ever tasted. Everyone at our table enjoyed their food. My husband had the chile relleno and loved it. They have a great bar too! The margarita was the perfect addition to my dinner.
Keep it up, La Piñata! Can’t wait for my next visit!