Memo’s Mexican Food Restaurant

So disappointed.. My first and last time eating here. For starters, the lines in the soda machine must need to be cleaned out or something because I could almost taste the mildew in the diet coke. That however pales in comparison to the nasty, literally dripping with grease burrito.. I ordered the chicken fajita burrito, add guacamole, to go… At 4 am so it wasn’t busy.. Got back to work and when I opened the wrapper the burrito was soaking wet… Orange. I cut into it and orange grease started oozing out. I unfolded the smaller piece to see if I could just eat some of the meat inside and there was so much oil the tortilla became completely saturated. I ended up throwing the whole thing away. Not just a waste of $ 9 but a waste of my time and even gas from downtown.

Haven’t been here in a minute but it used to be my groups favorite place for drunken tacos at 2am– low standards but delicious none the less. For that reason I’ll give it 4 stars. I’ll change it to five next time I’m in if it holds up: D

I’ve probably lopped 2 years off my life expectancy eating Washington burritos and carne asada fries from this place but it’s well worth it. Swell food, swell folks running the place, swell your belly and give them your money now. Your face will be appreciate it.

Memo’s is the spot after you’ve had a few or so drinks with your friends down at like Earl’s or Finn’s. The only problem might be the place itself and it’s because it is in the sketchier part of the Ave. But it’s open ²⁴⁄₇ and the food is pretty awesome priced. You can get a full burrito for like $ 5-​$ 6. That being said, it’s definitely not the best Mexican food I’ve ever had. They fill with lots of meat in their carne asada and «Washington» burritos but it’s also a lot of sour cream, guacamole, and salsa. It’ll fulfill those late night drunchies and by the end you’ll be ready to knock out on a full stomach. Will definitely be coming back after more fun nights on the Ave.

Finally found a Mexican place with carne asada fries!
It was $ 7.75 and $ 8.49 with tax. It came with carne asada, cheese, and guacamole on a bed of fries. Also came with 2 different hot sauces. It didn’t taste bad and it did remind me of home, Los Angeles that is!
I wish it came with pico de gallo and crema. These fries weren’t as exciting, also they weren’t piping hot. I need my fries fresh! It was also a little more expensive than what I usually pay. Other than that it was pretty decent and I’ll probably come back to Memo’s to try other things.
One thing I definitely don’t like about Memo’s is how dirty is it! When you walk in don’t open your mouth because there are soooo many damn flies swarming at the entrance!!! Gross!!!

Finally! Juicy, shredded beef tacos with actual fried tortillas! Not the dry, brittle stuff at most places. A real tortilla, fried to perfection, glistening with oil. Dripping. Filled with delicious shredded beef, much like I remember from my East Bakersfield childhood. These things are deadly, but delicious. As are the breakfast burritos.
Just know what you’re getting yourself into. This is the gut-​bomb, greasy goodness kind of Mexican food. Tastes good, but it will kill you. I swear my chest felt heavy afterward. But it’s like a comfort food drug. So, moderation and stuff, right? Yeah, right…
Ambiance is kind of an unbefitting term for the location. It’s gritty, to say the least. No attempt at décor. The tabletops are covered with graffiti carvings. One of the sinks in the men’s restroom is hanging an inch off the wall. That kind of place. Definitely illustrates that old negative correlation between ambiance and authenticity.
If you’re grossed out by grease and graffiti, you’ll hate this place. Otherwise, give it a shot. Get a crispy, shredded beef taco. And a cardiologist.

The food is fantastic. Prices are unbelievably cheap. Portions are huge. Not much atmosphere, but everything else so great, who cares.

Usually only drop by during drinking escapades with old friends. The Washington burrito is the go to and will satisfy most cravings. Probably wouldn’t be my go to for Mexican food, but hey it’s open 24 hours a day!

I’ve been looking for Mexican food since I arrived at school and have been missing my families cooking. This place is by far the most legit!!! Their menu has so many options and the customer service was amazing!
I got two enchiladas with traditional rice and beans! It was delicious and affordable.

Really hard to find authentic Mexican food in Seattle, but this place hits the spot! I’m Mexican myself, so I can easily tell apart the fake from the real. Staff is friendly (and bilingual!) and they have mariachi music playing which immediately sets the mood.
I ordered the Torta de asada, and it was a pretty big serving for only 5.25! Would definitely recommend :) The guy even threw in some «papitas» for free!

Worst service ever. I understand if you’re open late and hate your job. But seriously? Just close and repaint all the gang tatted walls. The kid at the front was rude and yelling. We were as clear as we could be when we were ordering and he was still having trouble understanding. The only reason why this please is staying open is because people are desperate late at night. Next time I’ll eat cup of noodles.

Been coming here for months and enjoying it but today was over the line. It’s obviously not the nicest place, there’s often broken glass on the floor and drug dealers hanging out. But today I asked for the bathroom key and was appalled by what I found. In the bathroom there are no doors on the stalls, pubes all over their seats, no toilet paper, paper towels, or soap. But here’s the real kicker: there was a pile of dry shit in the toilet that looks like more than five people had contributed to. It was missing, had obviously been there for days. I mean a HUGE pile of shit. I don’t feel comfortable eating from a place like that anymore.

Yummy and cheap ! And super convenient. They open 24 hours so whenever I feel hungry I can go anytime!
I always get chips with salsa

Horrible, I went in today to order a large side rice, bean, & guac… they game me small instead of the large sides that I paid for and when I went back to ask for a refund/​replacement they hung up on me and yelling at me! Horrible Horrible people!

Haven’t eaten here and have little ambition to ever eat here, but my friend Connor says and I quote, «Tasted good but now I feel like a donkey’s b hole.»

Can’t understand why this place is so polarizing for the Unilocal crowd. My wife and I love the burritos. (We’ve ordered the Fajita and the Cane Asada, and maybe the Washington.) Their combination plates aren’t bad, either, and the salsa verde is really tasty. I could understand some arguing that their recipes aren’t strictly authentic — but few Mexican places in the Northwest are. So what, I grew up on Azteca and Taco Time and like potatoes better than black beans in my burritos. And the prices are dirt cheap for Seattle in 2015.
The restaurant ambiance isn’t exactly a beacon of gentrification, but, hey, at least it’s a step above the Jack in the Box down the street. And it’s not like Chipotle is getting high marks for food quality these days…

Four stars for being locally owned, employing native Spanish speakers, and for the banter from the shirtless man who stood next to me shaving his beard while I washed my hands at the sinks in the women’s bathroom.

Pollo asada tots! I was originally surprised at the idea of tots instead of fries, but it was a great combination. The hot, light, fluffy, crunchy texture of the tots with the delicious pollo asada made for a great meal.
Additionally, they accidently made carne asada tots instead of the pollo asada tots and gave it to me for free :] I left a tip as a small thank you for them for being generous.

Memo’s has a setting promising an excellent Mission Burrito experience: Drug dealers out in front of the store, inside a male protitute ordering tacos without any money. In the air, the lingering scent of disinfectant. Spartan seating. Sticky floors and cheerful counter staff. Zero sarcasm here. If you know what I’m talking about, then you know a good burrito.
Unfortunately the Carne Asade burrito was strange. And not just due to being wrapped in paper, not foil. This burrito was stuffed almost exclusively with meat. And a strange meat that was greasy beyond anything Taco Bell would serve while at the same time being tough & chewy. No amount of mouthwash could cut the greasy coating it left in my mouth. Yuk.
Beyond the meat there was a trace amount of quacamole. No rice. No beans. I don’t think any cheese. A touch of pica de gallo. And, on request, pickled jalapeños (rationed sparingly). At least they did not commit the mortal sin of lettucing the burrito.
To top it off, the charge for chips. Chips come warm (yah) but covered in a bland pico de gallo salsa. Nothing wrong with breaking the norms here, but you shouldn’t sleep with your siblings either. A castup bottle of mild red hot sauce is also provided on request.
Despite an ambiance promising excellence, delivered was worse than below average.

This is a really funny place to rate. I mean, it has all of the marks of a 2-​star establishment: college area, cheap, smells really bad, open 24 hours. I work nights so I’m always eyeing places to eat. My favorite is the Metropolitan Market on Sand Point, but you know, I’ve sampled all of their prepared foods many times over and I just wanted something different.
So here’s Memo’s, which is the place I walk by on the way to the ATM when I visit the farmer’s market on Saturday. The first thing I notice is that the place smells like I’m cuddling up with a homeless guy on the floor of a dirty men’s bathroom. I mean, it’s so horrible that I don’t see how this scent is not mentioned in EVERY review! So I go in there and notice the menu is really cheap. Nowadays, the $ 9.95 burrito and the $ 3 taco is commonplace, but here the burritos are all still sub-​$ 6 with a few sub-​$ 5 options and even a sub $ 4 option. The taquitos are $ 3 for three of them with cheese and guac and the tacos are $ 1.50 each. I think we can agree that in 2015, that’s damn cheap.
But still, while I’m walking out with my food, the thing that went through my mind was «Well! This is the last time I’m going in there! I wonder if I’m going to write a 1 or 2 star review…» So I get home and… you know, it’s a pretty good burrito. They grill tortilla here like they do in Southern California and it’s actually quite nice! As an aside, I’m not sure why they don’t do that out here more often. If you go to even a chain burrito place in Southern California, the tortilla has been grilled while at the exact same chain here in the Seattle area, they don’t. Anyway, the taquitos were crispy and were pretty tasty as well. I mean, I’m sitting here at 3:41am rather shocked that a place like this serves passable gringo-​style Mexican food.
The space looks fairly clean and nice on the inside, but given the scent, I’d never take a friend or family member there. Still… a month from now, I can see myself making another 3am burrito run…

I’m sorry but anyone that has rated Memo’s higher than 3 stars has just delegitimized their taste in food and any restaurant review they’ve ever written.
I’ve been here one time sober (craving a taco in the UD before I had found out about Guanaco’s) and it was probably the biggest mistake I made that year. Even when I’m hammered this place just ends up being another regret for the next morning.
It’s all just a sloppy sad excuse for Mexican food. Their burritos are literally just heaps of meat wrapped in a tortilla with none or very little else that makes a burrito. And honestly this wouldn’t be that bad if their meats weren’t terrible quality.
There really isn’t much of a reason to eat here. If you’re drunk and its late hit up Ragazzi’s or Aladdin’s both within a few blocks from this very subpar Mexican joint.
And if you’re saying there are no other legit Mexican spots in the U district, unfortunately you are right to a certain extent. There is however, Rancho Bravos taco truck right by Dick’s in Wallingford and Guanaco’s (although they are technically Salvadorian they definitely have the best burrito/​tacos I’ve had in the U district). Honestly though I would prefer certain things from Taco Bell over paying 10 bucks for a plate of carne asada fries that you probably won’t finish and if you do you are definitely fucked up and getting the shits the next morning.
That being said if you’ve never been here before it’s definitely something worth trying at least once mainly because your drinking experience at the UD probably isn’t complete without it and although I talk all this shit, it is still at its bare minimum edible Mexican food.

Sober: Two stars
Drunk off my ass waiting to be saved: Four stars
Usually I’m split between the middle, so…
Light 3 outta 5

This is a Jekyl and Hyde type establishment. If it’s during the day and everywhere is open, I wouldn’t list Memos in my top 20 places to eat on the Ave. Their food is just a bit south of mediocre and all of the Ave’s finest weirdos use it as their meeting place. However, when it’s 1 am and you’re in a certain mood, Memos gets promoted to decent. Their quesadillas are pretty good, as are their taquitos, and everything is cheaper than you would find elsewhere.

I love Mexican food, but this is a rather unpleasant place to be. Food and atmosphere wise. It doesn’t help either that I show up sober because I think this is one of those places where they make their businesses from being open 24 hours and taking advantage of drunk, hungry people that don’t know better. I don’t even want to sit down when my friends are getting food here because everything feels kind of dirty.
It’s located on the ave, next to the Jack in the Box where crimes are always happening. You can either take that as a dangerous hazard that crimes are always happening or feel humble that because there’s always crimes that are happening, there’s always cops. HAHA.

4 stars because they are 24 hours! The food is really not bad for tacos in the middle of the night. I think it’s super awesome that «sometimes» they will fry a jalopeno for you and sprinkle some salt on it if you ask lol it’s sooo darn good! They sometimes have the cart out that gives you all the side stuff like pickled carrots and jalopenos. I personally think that cart is a little gross lol from all the abuse from the college students but i eat it anyways.
I’ve always wanted to try the tongue but since i always go in the middle of the night, it’s always out.
This 4 start is actually based on late night eats, I don’t think i would want to come here during another time.
oh one more thing. this is is majorly affordable!

Drunk, high or sober this place is awesome. Well I wouldn’t really know cause I’ve only ordered the carne Asada fries. (I recommend them extremely highly) like seriously that’s the best thing here. $ 7.75
Open ²⁴⁄₇ & they usually deal with like drunks so I wouldn’t expect too much from a service standpoint but they get the food out fairly quickly &. Yeah carne Asada fries. That’s all you need to know about this place.
You could call ahead if you don’t like to wait.

Carne Asada Fries! Enough said! Oh and it’s ²⁴⁄₇? Get out of town!
Being a LA native, I have to search long and hard for decent Mexican food that also opens super late in Seattle. Behold, my friend told me about this place and it’s funny that I have never noticed this place being that I go to UW. Regardless, I guess it is in a sketchy part of U district that I do not venture much…
Needless to say the carne asada fries hit the spot! The price wasn’t too outrageous… there was a decent amount of meat and tons of cheese! Delicioso!
We also ordered a carnitas taco and a steak taco. now I see a lot of people complaining about the price, granted it is $ 2 each, these are larger than your average tacos elsewhere. So the price kind of balances out.
I took one star off for cleanliness… the floors were sticky and the bathroom was flooded (I don’t think they knew)
I suppose this place could be a hit or miss, but truth be told. I can’t wait to come back! Don’t forget to ask for the salsa verde!

I used to only eat Memo’s when I was buzzed.
Until I discovered… CARNE ASADA FRIES. It’s the best midnight snack and OMG they give you a ton. A little sketch at night if you’re by yourself, but take your friends, chill in a booth, and grub on those fries. The Washington breakfast burrito isn’t so bad either top it off with some Tabasco sauce and you’re good.

Memo’s is pretty much the only place you can get deep fried Southwestern style taco shop food. Pretty much everyone else in Seattle who does it does it wrong, or half assed.
The meat in Memos’ fried tacos is a bit bland, but the tradeoff of getting an honest to goodness oily Southwestern fried taco is worth the trouble. Ditto their taquitos.
They also do a disgustingly thick bacon and egg burrito that is bigger and more awesome than any other bullshit breakfast burrito you’ve ever had. It has french fries and cheese in it as well.
Here’s the big issue with Memo’s: It’s in a really sketchy part of the U District and even during the day I recommend you exercise caution while negotiating that area. I would not advise going through there at night unless it seems reasonably trafficked.
Also, even given they offer something the others don’t, the quality can be hit and miss (I’ve had dishes that occasionally smelled off), and the worn out staff isn’t always the nicest. But still it’s cheap and usually disgustingly good.