El Paraiso

Ate here this past weekend and it was absolutely delicious. A little on the pricy side in my opinion but the food was authentic and made fresh. I had the taco salad and loved it. The beef has a great flavor. I will definitely be back in the future when I’m in the mood for some good fresh authentic Mexican.

Excellent (and huge) tacos al pastor, with a great selection of soft drinks. Definitely a fan and will be back. A bunch of the other menu items looked really good.

Woah, what a steal for a great food deal! The restaurant is tucked in with a mini grocery store and meat market (first time I have seen chicken feet in a meat case, kind of wanted to fry some up and gnaw on them, not sure how you cook the things). It has a great local look and feel to it. The guy behind the counter who took my order clearly spoke no English which is fine, I do well talking to folks with hand signs and pointing to menu items. The menu was even completely in Spanish, again, this was fine. I checked out their menu online which has most everything translated so good to go.
I had the #6, Jalisco Especial… I would eat this for dinner 1 day a week… SOOO GOOOD!!! I love this type of flat, grilled steak and chicken. Whatever it was marinated it was amazing. The dish was served with refried beans, yellow rice, a nice salad with avocado and tomato, and half a dozen corn tortillas just in case you want to roll some stuff together. There was a small cup of queso /​sour cream and another small cup of this heavenly spicy sauce (I could drink it) that I dipped everything in… even the lettuce. I had a sweet Horchata to wash it all down with.
There were about 6 tables in the eating area. The fun part was paying… they don’t take credit cards in the restaurant area so I had to take my receipt over to the convenient /​grocery store, pay with a card, get a big «PAID» stamped on the receipt, then take it back over to the restaurant to show I paid for it. Not a big deal at all, the fun part was the guy trying to explain to me what to do.
I had a great time and will be back every time I travel back to Richmond. This place is the real deal, the folks were friendly, and the food was delicious and very inexpensive. I got out for just over $ 10.00 and someone had to roll me out of there, almost literally.

I stopped by El Paraiso for a quick lunch during the week. I ordered a chorizo burrito (chorizo, rice, beans, cheese).The burritos are huge. My burrito was filled with a lot of meat, which I appreciated. The ingredients inside of the burrito blended well together (delicious). The staff was friendly. El Paraiso is attached to a small convenience store. It’s cash only in the restaurant but you can go into the convenience store side to pay with your debit card (your receipt is stamped showing you paid). The restaurant is located in a small strip mall near Staple Mill Rd. El Paraiso is a good choice for authentic burritos.

Tried this place yesterday based on location & Unilocal reviews. Very tasty and huge portions. Extremely authentic, at least on terms of environment. Everyone in the place was speaking Spanish & seemed to know each other (except me:) but very friendly. Will definitely go again.

This is still the best al pastor in Richmond. I am so grateful this place exists…

First of all, thank you Robbie A. for bringing El Paraiso to Unilocal!I doubt I would have found it otherwise. It’s a little far for a lunch run for me but works perfectly for an occasional burrito on the way home from work, and I’ll begin this ritual soon.
I was raised on burritos like these in California and I’ve missed them for the past 9 years since moving to Virginia. It’s good to be home!
For those who don’t know what I mean, a burrito is a wonderful thing when done right: large flour tortilla, meat of choice (carne asada is my test burrito), rice, beans (whole beans are preferred but refried as served here will do in a pinch), a little cheese, and that’s about it. My El Paraiso burrito had those elements plus a little grilled onion, which wasn’t bad, and it was delicious! The point in keeping the ingredient list to just these more dense items is so you can set it down on its end while eating it to take a break (see my picture) without everything tumbling out. Under no circumstances should a burrito include lettuce… that’s just wrong. Hot sauce should be added as you’re eating it. I’m sure others have their methods but these is mine. If anyone is interested in lessons, I’ll meet you there!
These guys are very friendly too.