Los Moles Beer Garden — Restaurant in El Cerrito

Great place to get all-you-can-eat tacos 🌮! The cost for that is $19.99/person. They had a live DJ spinning electronically-remixed latin songs🎶. Beer 🍺 garden that features clean outdoor seating for couples or larger groups. Our party of 5 sat outside, and we enjoyed the experience.

The taco bar features four proteins in: chicken 🍗, pork 🐖, chicharrones (pigskin), and mixed (tripe). I was surprised that they were lacking the traditional carne asada. I prefer al pastor, so I was a little disappointed. The cook takes your order, dips street-sized tortillas in oil and heats it on the grill, and then puts the protein of your choice on the tortillas. You put the condiments such as red onion, cilantro, beans, radish, and salsa on your own. They had one green and one red salsa.

The reason for not giving 4 or 5 stars was due to limited protein selection (missing carne asada or al pastor). Also, the chicharrones had a chewy (hard to eat) texture, and the mixed had tripe and other things in it that I didn't prefer. The other thing that really turned me and some of us off, was the fact that the cook dipped the tortillas in the oils of the cooked proteins before placing it on the grill. We didn't prefer that because the tacos became too oily, and really messy to eat. The oil sits in your stomach, and doesn't feel good. It also prevents one from eating more tacos than you'd think you'd eat, because the oils fill up your belly. I'd suggest that they don't do that, and then I'd go back for the AYCE tacos. Otherwise, if I do go back, I'd order from the regular menu.

The waitress was helpful, and the ambiance was nice. The beer garden was spacious and clean. Going at night around 6:00pm, it gets cold outside, so highly recommend bringing a jacket 🧥.

Thank you Los Moles for a...

Los Moles is a local chain with outlets in Oakland, San Rafael, and their most recently opened location in El Cerrito. Their older locations have (generally) quite good reviews and I'd become especially interested after a nearby mexican restaurant (Trevinos) closed a few months ago.

Las Moles is known for their ... Moles (Duh!). But as I'd never focused on moles before, I made sure my first visit was on a weekend when all 8 of their moles are available through their weekend buffet. This was a good decision, as I was able to sample 4 of them (they serve them with chicken and other stuff - kinda of cross between a soup and a step - hence the other stuff that come with the moles filled me up too much to sample more than 4!)

All 4 that I sampled were good, but only 1 was, to my taste, exceptional. I'd not mention which as tastes may vary --- OK, of the four I tried, I really liked the Mole Poblano -- but don't take that as a ding on the others! The tastes vary widely enough that that is likely one or two moles that will satisfy your particular palette - even if what you like is significantly different that what I like!

Just looking at the weekend menu, it apparent that the $17 buffet is a great deal. And if you're there on a weekend, unless you have a very strong preference for a menu item that isn't part of the buffet, you should elect for the buffet.

Drinks? Margarita and Sangria were both excellent. When warmer weather comes, I look forward to eating outside in their Beer Garden. In the mean time, I'll go there at least twice more. Once for the buffet to sample the 4 moles I was too full to try on my (so far) one and only visit, then again to try my favorite Mole on a menu item (the quarter chicken - dark meat - I love chicken!...

Los Moles is the best Mexican food I have had in the Bay Area! Period. This is the kind of place that works with such dedication and attention to each detail of their food and what goes into it. Every sauce is made in-house, and the owner Lito and his family are absolutely wonderful.

My husband and I had Los Moles cater our wedding, and Lito personally invited us to his restaurant on a few different occasions to sample the food, get to know us, and to talk about the wedding afterwards! I truly felt like he was interested in us as people, and we maintain a positive relationship with him even now. Each time we have gone to the restaurant we have experienced nothing but amazing service and amazing food. We have gone for taco Tuesday, dinner (the mole is amazing!) and we will be going back for brunch.

In terms of catering, Los Moles really delivered! They brought so many things with them that I forgot to pack for the wedding day, so all the back ups were covered! The set-up was beautiful. Each person was so attentive, ready to help, and went above and beyond for us, even my family loved interacting with them! We had a selection of different Moles, and my signature drink was an Avocado Margarita (it was phenomenal!) At the end of the night, they packed up all the leftovers for us too. Truly wonderful service. Also, everyone told us this is the BEST food they have ever had at a wedding! Score! We couldn't agree more.

Do yourself a favor and immediately go to this place! Thank you Lito and Los Moles for such a...