Mercedes Hair of the Dog Cantina

Super nice people. A little bit off the main streets (which I appreciate). Cute festive atmosphere, fun little place. Both the rojo and verde are yummy enchiladas! Rice is fluffy and fresh. Both salsas are Muy Bueno! I dig the beans, and the chips hot and crisp, perfectly salted to my taste. Water glass has ice and never empty. Coming back. Yes.

It’s a beautiful restaurant on a cool side street. Folks comparing it to Chipotle are being unfare. The wait staff is very friendly. Nice hostess. The food is definitely better than some of my old Mission faves that have gone downhill & upscale since the techies arrived. It’s true though that Chevys has better salsa. The salsa is pretty weak here. I had the Top Dog margarita which was good. The shredded beef enchiladas were fine – even though the «kick» in the salsa ranchero that the waitress promised was missing. Guacamole was very good. But, maybe I need to go back & give La Rondalla another try. My buddies have told me it’s good again.

I’ve only had take out from this place and drinks at their bar. Their service is great as our office orders are always correct, on time for pick up and individually labeled. I enjoy their Soft Fish Tacos which come with a side of beans and rice which I think can be substituted with a small salad. The Fajita Salad with Chicken is also good and their soup is prepared with fresh veggies though it is nothing special. Their menu is pretty basic with Burritos and other typical Mexican fare like Quesadillas which my colleagues like a lot. Their Guacamole is tasty without any spiciness at all (some of my office peeps can’t take any heat and enjoy this guac) and their chips are thin and delicate. We’ve had Sam, the manager, help us create a Taco Bar party in the office and it was a huge success. You won’t be wowed by their food but their service and efficiency makes it a worthwhile take out place for us.

This is the best mexican food outside of Mexico, from the moment you walk in you feel like you have been whisked away to south of the border everything from the décor to the staff my favorite is papas tacos which are potato tacos but if you go now you can get the Christmas tamales so worth the trip

Beyond bland. I feel sorry for anybody who is truly hungry that stumbles in here. The place should be called BLANDIE’s Mexican food. The salsa isn’t spicy whatsoever and they give it to you in 2 oz little cups that you can’t even get a chip into. When you ask for the spicy (mas picante) salsa, they look at you and say «That’s hot… that is picante». Dont order the fish of any kind… you’re better off eating canned tuna out of the can. I can keep going, but… bleh.

Where do I start just had an amazing lunch with great service and just love the whole feel of the place just great energy u can always feel when the people who work at the restaurant love the place can’t wait to go back. Thanks Kathy

This place always delivers, not to mention their off-​site catering prowess.
Marc C

Favorite Mexican food spot in FiDi! It has outdoor seating in a sunny alley, great service and all the right items on the menu. Ingredients are fresh and the food is authentic Mexican, which is a tough balance to find!

Great food and drinks! Couldn’t ask for more from a Mexican restaurant in FiDi.

Great Mexican food in FiDi! We were intrigued when we saw a sign on a street with a dog saying to «do it in the alley» — who doesn’t enjoy good humor? We’re from out of town and game to try something new.
The menu is pretty expansive and the prices are right. We were greeted as soon as we walked in and had great service during our visit. Make sure to try the verde salsa. You will not be disappointed! In a city filled with over priced food, this restaurant is a breath of tasty fresh air. It’s only open for lunch so keep that in mind.

I’m generally pretty indifferent to Mexican food in general and don’t usually enjoy it that much because it makes me feel heavy and unhealthy, but good Mexican food will still be good to me and I always love good food. The food here isn’t bad, but tastes like pretty generic Mexican food and wasn’t particularly memorable.
I’ve had their catered food a few times. Usually it’s trays of meat, salad, veggies, rice, beans, salsa, guac and sour cream to make your own tacos. The meat is actually cooked pretty well in terms of texture, but flavor, again, doesn’t stand out. The veggies usually consist of broccoli, zucchini, onions and peppers. Sometimes it’s on the greasy side, sometimes it’s not, but again, nothing special.
I’ve also had their chile relleno (fresh roasted anaheim pepper dipped in egg, filled with cheese, topped with salsa ranchera). Not too cheesy, but again, just average.
Their chips, guac and salsa are very standard as well, though the chips are more on the fried/​oily side and the guac doesn’t always taste very fresh.
Overall, the food is honestly pretty bland and I think even I, with very little culinary skill, could make a better guac and salsa at home. I guess if you’re in the FiDi area and really really want Mexican food, this place will work, but otherwise I’d pass.

Northern California generally, and San Francisco in particular, suffers from a dearth of good Mexican food. We live in a city with two types of Mexican restaurants:
1) Holes in walls where you pay $ 10 for a burrito the size of a football and consume 3,000 calories worth of stale beans and dry rice in one meal. This type is generally frequented by stoned hipster techies.
2) «Upscale» places where Mexican cuisine is made ridiculously expensive via the pretense of organic natural sustainable farm-​to-​table bullshit, with tiny portions served on oversized plates.
Mercedes is a FiDi lunch place that serves a wide assortment of Mexican classics and is pretty true to form. You’ll see stuff here you don’t find on most menus. It’s not the best Mexican food I’ve had, but is generally good and consistent at a fair price.
During a recent lunch we found out the place has been in operation as a Mexican restaurant since 1972. Wow. In a transient city like SF, where the latest thing is already old news, that’s pretty amazing. 4 stars for the food and service, the extra star the staying power in a city plagued by culinary fads.

Just a basic mexican restaurant in the Fidi. They do excel at serving large tables of worker bees quickly.
I got the fajita salad, it was okay, I am a bit spoiled b/​c there is an excellent mexican place by my house.
The highlight for me was the guacamole. Chips were light crisp and fresh fried but needed salt desperately.

It is either a hit or miss service and will be my last time eating at this place. It can’t be so busy to ignore customers waiting in line. So much so, even a larger party came in behind us got service first. I just walked out after that. And if you do ask about a table you will get a rude response.

Found my favorite Mexican beer here, Carta Blanca. I have yet to find this beer at any BevMo or grocery store :(
The carne asada quesadilla was very good. Easily my fave Mexican spot in SF.

If Chiptole and Taco Bell had a baby you’d get this place.
It just tastes so inauthentic.
And given the price, it should be better than your standard franchise.
Greasy ground beef taco, take a look at my picture, it’ soaked in grease.
Plain chile relleno, and boring enchilada.
Pretty much sums up this place.

I’m very sad to write this– I loved this place for years, have written positive Unilocal reviews in the past and have brought lots of friends and colleagues here. Great food, great location, great vibe. Unfortunately that was totally wrecked today by the rude hostess (owner?).
My party of six arrived at 11:45 knowing that this place is BUSY every lunchtime MON-​FRI. Her response: «NO». Literally– that’s all she said. I asked if we could wait and see if a table or two open up, she said «we’d be waiting all day». I asked for a guess of how long and she said 30 min. Hmmm… OK, that’s not «all day» and totally reasonable. I asked about splitting our party in to two groups in an effort to speed things up and she looked at me like I was crazy.
Bottom line– I think their success has gone to their heads.
She was so rude to me and my colleagues that my boss even looked at me like «what the heck?». No spirit of trying to work on a solution. Rude. Short. No apologies. The hostess was BURNED OUT and taking it out on customers.
We went across the street and had an amazing dim sum lunch instead. She lost the six of us and **we’re telling our friends to avoid this place going forward!**

I like this place because of the environment! It’s great for group lunches because it’s quiet enough to hear someone across the table but loud enough to make it feel like an authentic Mexican restaurant!
I ordered the Pollo con arroz which was okayyyyy! The sauce was pretty drenched all over my plate so I couldn’t taste much flavor besides that one sauce. I recommended asking for light sauce if you’re ordering that. My FAVORITE has to be the ceviche! WOW, AMAZING! I’ve never tasted ceviche with such fat pieces of fish! I love it!
However my friend ordered the salad bowl and it looks amazing! The bowl is a dome-​shaped chip! I have to try that next!

Meh — that describes my feelings pretty well. It’s a nice restaurant, sure. But is it quality? Not by my standards. Yes, there is complimentary chips and salsa, but this should be a given at Mexican restaurants! I didn’t think the salsas were that great, though the chips were good!
The wait staff was kind of slow. It took a while for the chips and salsa to come out and took an even longer time for the food to come out, and an extremely long time for us to get our check. I understand it was a weekday during lunch hour and this place seems popular for work lunches. BUT, either improve your serve time, or get more staff.
The menu was vast and had plenty of good choices. I was torn between a burrito and the carnitas plate. The waiter suggested the carnitas, so I went with that. Now looking back, I’m thinking maybe the burrito would have been a better (safer) choice!
Oh how it was disappointing! There was literally 2 chunks of carnitas and a lot of filler (onions, bell peppers, etc.). I can’t stand stingy restaurants! The rice and beans on the side were also sort of blah. Nothing special to comment on. The couple of bites of carnitas I did have were ok, not anything to rave on either.
Mercedes is not terribly expensive, but it’s also not quality Mexican cuisine. I’ve had far better Mexican food for around the same price. I can see how it’s a popular place for workers in the FiDi. It’s convenient, there’s outdoor seating, and it’s one of the few sit-​down, server restaurants around!
On a side note, I did have their ceviche on a different visit and found that much more satisfying than the carnitas plate. Perhaps their appetizers are a better choice than their entrees.

Came here for lunch with my coworkers. There were about 10 of us, and I’m pretty surprised that we got a table rather quickly. Service was prompt and friendly. The Giants game was casting live on the TV and I was tempted to order the giants burrito which was their special, but went with their fish tacos instead.
It was a great choice too. Fish was soft and well seasoned. Tortilla was warm and not too thick. Side of black beans and Mexican rice was yummy and flavorful.
We also shared nachos, salsa and guacamole while we waited for our food. The atmosphere is very lively, and it does seems like a great place to watch the game live! :)