Sabor Mexicano Restaurant Bar & Grill | Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Disappointed and Underwhelmed – Not the “Sabor” I Expected

First and foremost, based on the hype and social media presence, I had high expectations walking into Sabor Mexican Restaurant in Van Nuys. Sadly, expectations quickly turned into disappointment.

Let’s start with the positives: the decor is beautiful. The murals, the black floors and tables, the lighting, the layout of the bar, and the TVs throughout the space all give off a trendy, polished vibe. The physical space had promise — unfortunately, that’s where the positives ended.

Now to the real experience — the service and food:

As soon as we walked in, the hostess was more engaged with her phone than with us. No greeting, no warmth, no direction. We ended up seating ourselves. I asked for a high chair for my toddler — rather than helping, she casually pointed in the direction, expecting us to grab it ourselves. That already set the tone.

We weren’t offered water. My menu was sticky and greasy. I asked for a “Sabrosita” (the flight of margaritas shown on their own menu and Instagram). The server seemed confused and had no idea what I was talking about. When she brought one tiny margarita, I asked about the rest of the flight, and she claimed that was the whole thing — for $20! I questioned her because the pricing and presentation clearly didn’t add up. A full-sized flavored margarita is $8-$11, so why would one mini cup cost nearly double? The back-and-forth was frustrating. I finally gave up and just asked for a regular-sized drink. Apparently, at Sabor, the customer isn’t always right.

We ordered guacamole that could have been excellent — but someone in the kitchen decided to drown it in salt. It was almost inedible. Our entrees? Chicken fajitas and steak & eggs with rice, beans, plantains. Let’s break it down: • Rice was undercooked. • Beans were bland and tasted like they were straight from a can. • Meat was dry and lacked flavor or care in preparation.

The restaurant was basically empty (just one other table), yet we weren’t checked on once during our entire meal. No offer of more napkins, water, or “how’s everything going?” – especially important when you have a child dining with you. To make things worse, it took effort just to flag someone down for the bill, and even then, no thank you, no goodbye, no basic decency.

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Overall Thoughts & Recommendations:

Sabor needs to seriously invest in customer service training, better quality control in the kitchen, and more attentive management. Hospitality is just as important as ambiance — and right now, the soul is missing.

Here’s what I suggest if this restaurant wants to live up to its name and reputation: • Train staff to greet guests warmly and proactively assist with seating, high chairs, and water — the bare minimum. • Educate servers on the menu. Don’t advertise items you’re not prepared to serve or explain. • Re-evaluate pricing and presentation of specialty drinks like the Sabrosita — and honor what’s on your menu. • Taste your food before sending it out. Balance your seasoning and ensure basics like rice and beans are properly prepared. • Improve guest check-ins and table attention, even when the place is slow. Especially when families with young kids are dining. • Clean your menus and create an overall more professional, thoughtful experience.

Unfortunately, this visit left a bad taste — and not from the seasoning. With better leadership and a stronger commitment to hospitality, Sabor could become something special. But until then, I can’t...

The food here is delicious and beautifully presented. Its like a 4 star restaurant trying to be a 5 star restaurant. The chef/Owner is a really nice guy and serves higher-end quality dishes that are prepared very well. But the prices are very reasonable.. We're excited to go back.

The restaurant is immaculate. Although the esthetics have not caught up with the quality of the food. Ie: the food is so good you might expect white table cloths and a candle. It's minimal atmosphere, but we were completely comfortable and so delighted by the food.

We had Margarita and chips- served with a side of delicious refried bean dip. And taquitos and aquachille.

I wish this chef well and I'm excited to go back and try his food again.

A note about my service grade - the server was lovely and wanted to do well by us. We could feel that but language barrier was tough and i think they were understaffed when we were there and I'm guessing this was not a permanent situation.

Ps: pro rip :) there is parking behind the restaurant. Pull into the first driveway on Vanowen just west of the restaurant. There is no rear entrance so you have to walk back out to...

We came in around 6:20 on a Sunday night and found the place empty with football playing on the TVs and mexican music playing on the speakers. The inside is very cute with Dia de los Muertos spray painted murals in vibrant colors. The only disappointment was the chips in the tables, which are wallpaper wrapped and torn in places. Our server was very accommodating and the food arrived in about 30 minutes.

We ordered the Bistec en Salsa de Molcajete and the Chicken Enchiladas en Salsa Verde. The sauces here are very tasty! The Molcajete was smoky and spicy, whereas the salsa verde was tangy and warm against the cool questo crema on top. Very well balanced!

I loved that the rice had vegetables in it and the beans were decent. The side salad was a refreshing change form the spicy sauce and had mangoes. It was a delight to discover the tortillas are made in-house and it makes a difference.

Unfortunately both the steak and shredded chicken were dry and the tortilla chips were stale. It seemed like both were reheated. If they made these fresh, I would have easily given this place a 5...