Manuel’s Mexican Restaurant & Cantina – 28th St

3 stars sums it up well enough. Decent, not great.
Acceptable chips. Decent salsa. Really very good hot sauce.
I had Tampiqueña which is a skirt steak and cheese enchilada. The steak was a bit over cooked and was seasoned with too much pepper. The enchilada was OK. nothing special. The guac was straight forward and good, just pretty skimpy. The carne machaca was disappointing. The menu says, «special seasoning.» more like «no» seasoning.
The service was polite and friendly. The place was clean throughout.
No complaints. Just nothing to call attention to this place that begs for a repeat visit.

Had the spinach enchilada… excellent chips are fresh and service is good. Avoided the margaritas because of taquila choices but if you bot particular go for it.

Love the food here it’s the first time for us here since the remodel. I still love this place and free fried ice cream tonight.

Great staff and super delicious food. Don’t forget to check out the Margaritas.. great find for an out of town tourist

This is the best Mexican restaurant in the vicinity. Their food is always excellent. I love their chunky salsa, not spicy. Their other salsa is spicy! I LOVE the green corn tamales! Also love the sopapillas, but wish they would fill them with whipped cream! I’ve tried Tee Pee Mexican restaurant and it is boring and the food is mediocre. Forget Garcia’s! Come here for the real deal!

I’ve been going to Manuel’s for over 25 years. They have the very best chips and salsa. Everything on the menu is AWESOME!!! I am native, born and raised in Phoenix and will tell you that this is the BEST Mexican Food in town. My favorite place.

My boyfriend who was visiting from San Diego took me out for an early Valentines Dinner at your restaurant on Friday evening of Feb.12^th. This was the very 1^st time eating at a Manuel’s Restaurant and we went to the one on Indian School Road located in the Sprouts parking lot.
Our whole experience was really GREAT… from the hostess who greeted us and sat us in a large comfy booth in the back of the restaurant, to our waitress that was super friendly and very attentive. (I cant remember her name, but I remember complimenting her on her long beautifully manicured nails) The food was very tasty, we liked the Chips & Salsa and we shared the Taquitos & Tortilla Soup for our appetizers and then we had Chicken Chimichanga’s for our main meal. Yummy!
We will definitely be going back there, keep up the good work and we will see ya real soon to try out your Margarita’s…

The service was terrible and the food was as well. Only positive thing about this place was the margaritas.
I came with 5 people, I had to ask for my drinks to be refilled, every plate but one was not made right. The manager barely helped. Seemed more upset that we wanted to leave than our orders being messed up.

Ordered their Mexican pizza. It was bland the shredded beef was overcooked. The chips were decent but the hot sauce had too much tomatoes and was not spicy. Service was average

Very disappointed in this place. One guy was running around doing everything and there were 5 servers sitting by the front door not doing anything, the guy took the order of the older ppl behind us and never got back to us, so we left. First time going and we probably won’t be back.

October Menu of Taco The Town is great, offering a variety to meet everyone’s tastes. I love the dessert idea of Pumpkin Mini Chimis!
Manuel’s is a long standing face representing the face of quality Mexican food in the valley. Since their restaurant on 32^nd & Indian School, they have provided us with the level of food and friendly service we’ve all grown to love. Thanks!

The BEST salsa, hot sauce and chips hands down! Isn’t that why we go out for Mexican food? They also serve delicious calabasitas but just call it their steamed vegetable.

Authentic Mexican food. Good prices, fast, and always consistent. The recent remodel including a great outdoor patio space was done really nicely. All in all a very good experience.

Went here with a large group. I got the greens salad and it came in a dish the size of a child’s bath tub. They mixed it at the table and I could barely make a dent in it. Everyone got tacos, enchiladas and chicken dishes and all were pleased. Service was excellent and they did not complain about splitting the bill eight ways. Beer, cold. Check. Good salsa, too.

Since my first review several months ago… this place has not gotten any better, and the service issues have insured that I will not be back. I have been back here I think 3 times since then, and its still the same, the SERVICE BLOWS. Out of those 3 times, only once was the service half way descent.
The staff seems overwhelmed and under motivated, like they are not happy to be there, you have to literally go out of your way to track down a server if you need a drink refill which is pretty sad considering most things on the menu have some sort of spice to them.
The only reason this place gets a review or any stars is because the only saving grace is the Chips and Salsa are pretty damn good, but even this last time the salsa seemed a bit watered down.
The rest of the food is just OK, and I have tried several items. It’s good but nothing to write home about, I think the poor service just ruins it. I went in the other night and asked to sit in the back section past the bar area since I had never been seated back there before. The girl told me it was already closed for the evening but as we were seated, I noticed that there were no less then 4 tables in that area being sat at, and 1 large party. So this miffed me right off the bat, everything else was down hill from here.
Next time I am craving Mexican food I am more apt to go to Julioberto’s down the street and get it to go then sit in this place and get treated like a second class citizen by the staff. Hey Owner… here’s a clue, have a manager on the floor, walking around helping out and meeting your customers before you lose them all.

We have had Manuel’s cater our office lunch twice in the last month and both times it was a hit. After years of falling back on pizzas we needed something new and Manuel’s has been a great change.
First time we ordered the chicken fajitas and the second we ordered tamales and both were very well received. Sides were great and the salad was fresh. Both times the food served more than stated in the menu.
To top it off from the hostess to the managers they were nothing but helpful and everything was packed well and very professional!
Manny’s will defiantly be a «go to» for us going forward.

Best salsa ever! I love that they give you two kinds, tastes great to mix them. *Awesome* crispy cheese crisps – I highly suggest getting one with green chilis & green onions on top, delicious beans, etc. If I were rating on food alone, they’d get 5 stars, hands down.
However, although the service is typically good, tonight my experience with that was initially very poor. I asked to sit on the patio, which was recently remodeled (pretty nice albeit too brightly lit & really loud being right on Indian School). One of the two hostesses sat me at a table of my choice, and brought silverware, a plate, and placemat right away. Chips & salsa arrived shortly thereafter, which are SO GOOD. Hot chips, best salsa (I drove 10 miles from my house just for it)! Here’s where my experience drastically went south: I sat for ten solid minutes with no acknowledgment. I *finished* my chips & salsa (quite voraciously & happily), and still had not been greeted, still had *no water,* etc. I was one of three tables outside. Servers/​bussers/​food runners went to the other 2 tables multiple times, and still I was ignored. Do not misunderstand: I do not believe anyone was doing this intentionally; rather it was that «someone else probably went there already» type situation. Bottom line, it was all due to a break down in communication. Neither hostess had told any servers that I was a new table. But the boy who brought my chips could have been proactive & alerted someone, just as the food runner could have, and the server. I finally had to go to the bar inside and ask politely if someone could come outside & bring me water, etc. Right away a server nearby offered to help & followed me outside. He was very kind and apologetic, wrote down my order, & brought my water right after that. **Melvin** is his name, and he turned my experience around! Thank you, Melvin.
Now, for margaritas: *worst* mix I have ever tasted. It made me think of the smell of a diaper pail or sewage, no joke. So I ordered the same marg, with Corralejo Blanco, & asked for just agave/​simple syrup and straight line juice (basically coin style). DRASTICALLY better. Only way to drink them here!

Very very good. Cheese enchiladas with a taco. Even the side taco was one of the best. But a lil pricy. I got 2 Chz ench. W taco beans and rice. $ 18.

Best chips, salsa and hot sauce! Perfect bean burritos. Friendly service and clean. I like the remodel. Cool bathroom sinks. You must check them out.

Manuel’s is consistent. Service is fast and friendly. Chips are warm and salsa is satisfying. When I worked closer, I’d come regularly for work lunch. We would time them bc food came out so quickly. Record time from server walking away with our order to returning with our food was 4min 53sec! Food is nothing that will wow you but if you’re looking for a filling, mediocre Mexican meal (which I often am), Manuel’s is a must.
Also, they just finished their remodel. Bigger bar and brighter atmosphere.