Elena's Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in San Francisco

Updating previous review: still 3.5 ⭐️stars.

Came here again, on a Wednesday for lunch, and waited 30 minutes for a table. Was able to order a drink from the bar and sit at the all stools across from the bar while we waited. We ordered different items and drinks this time.

Service - was inconsistent and we had periods of waiting to order, to pay and to ask for things. Not a lot of checking in with us either. From what I observed, the slow and choppy service wasn’t didn’t seem to be due to volume, but it just seemed a little disorganized. Our servers were nice when we interacted either them and the host was very friendly and welcoming. This experience not as positive as the first time.

Food: We tried the branzino ($38) and were given the option to have it crispy (of course we chose crispy). It was a small fish but had a decent amount of meat and came deboned. The cilantro/radish “salad” served alongside it was a nice contrast. I’d order this again - they should consider offering some tortillas

Pork tamale: it was ok. It had flavor but nothing special

Quesabirria taco: this was ok too. A little too salty but portioned well (2 decent sized tacos).

Chocolate flan: I didn’t like this. It was flan with a chocolate cake as a base. Not chocolate flan per se.

Chips and salsa are solid.

Mezcal Negroni: made well and tasty

Paloma: really refreshing, made well

It’s a nice space and almost hits the mark for food. Service has room for improvement. Some of my friends really like Elena’s, and it’s always filled with people . See original review below for more details.

A solid 3.5 Stars⭐️ :

The space and decor is lovely. Warm, verdant and large expansive bar and open kitchen. A great and very keen addition to West Portal and the surrounding neighborhoods. The fact that this is the only restaurant like this in the area, I think it will do well. Drinks and apps after work at the bar anyone?! If you can get in, that is.

3.5 stars for service. Jordan answered our questions and was pretty attentive. It was busy so I feel like things were a bit harried at times.

Two ⭐️⭐️ for Food: it's not bad but it's not great. Warm tortilla chips and salsa for the table-chips were good, salsa OK. We had the ceviche tostadas- the comes with three bites and we were asked if we wanted a fourth to even it out since there were two of us-we said yes and weren't impressed. Not enough acid and the ceviche was made in a more Peruvian style with milk. It was pretty juicy- not my favorite kind of ceviche.

My friend had two chicken enchiladas. It was a large plate that came with rice, pico de gallo refried beans and some kind of salsa Verde. It was a healthy generous portion, but lacking in any special flavors. It was something I definitely have eaten at my favorite Taqueria only it wasn't as flavorful as the one at my local taqueria. And it was more expensive. it wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. The flavors are almost there, but not quite.

I had the chopped salad. It wasn't good and I couldn't finish eating it. Nothing special about it at all. It reminded me of a packaged salad kit.

drinks: I'm giving this three stars for my Mezcal Paloma but my friend probably would tell you her mezcal bloody Mary was about two stars, only because it has alcohol in it! bloody Mary mix lacked flavor and spice.

Price: IF the food were better I'd be fine with the price point.

There are a lot of food and beverage choices on the menu so if I came again and the wait was no more 15 - 20 minutes, I would give some of the other items a try.

But seeing as this place has a lot of hype about it right now, I will probably wait a while until the buzz settles. We came on a Wednesday at 12:30 and waited 20 minutes for a table for two.

I wanted to like this restaurant a lot. It is a great space and a very smart and needed addition to the area as I've said. We were disappointed at the food and the cost.

I recommend you give it a try if you're willing to take a chance on waiting and decide for yourself.

FYI, I hear waiting on the weekend upwards of...

Looks Upscale, Feels Like Fast Food:

I live in the West Portal area and was really excited to take my family out to dinner at Elena’s. I had been there once before with my wife; we sat at the bar, the service was decent, though we did wait over 10 minutes just to get tortillas with our fajitas. Still, I wanted to give it another shot with my family.

To be fair, the receptionist and hostess are great: very communicative and willing to do their best to get you a reservation at the time you request. Unfortunately, once you’re seated, that’s where the good ends.

Our server clearly needed more training. He started with our drink order, which was fine, but while we were reviewing the menu, a busser dropped off chips and salsa and, strangely, took one of our menus. When the waiter came back for our meal order, he noticed one menu missing and immediately got upset, assuming we had taken it, which was almost hilarious. We explained a busser picked it up, but his attitude set the wrong tone. We brushed it off and tried to enjoy our evening.

As we were sipping drinks and enjoying appetizers, the server and busser returned to announce our meals would be out in 5 minutes, even though we weren’t close to finished. Then they took our appetizers away while we rushed to eat, only to bring out 3 of the 4 meals. The last plate didn’t arrive for nearly 15 minutes. My family eats together, so everything sat on the table getting cold, and I completely lost my appetite.

When we finally asked for the manager, instead of apologizing and fixing the issue, he wanted specific names of the staff members involved and pressed us to discuss the situation right then and there, while our food was sitting in front of us. That made the whole situation worse. Yes, he comped some drinks and a few items, but the damage was done. The entire dinner was uncomfortable and frustrating.

Elena’s markets itself as fine dining, but in reality it feels like a dressed-up Chevys, except Chevys had better service. The food is just “American Mexican,” nothing special, and very overpriced for the quality and service. I’ve since heard from neighbors and local business owners that this rushed, dismissive treatment is common here, sometimes even being handed the check halfway through the meal.

I really wanted to like this place, but the service was absolutely terrible, the food underwhelming, and the overall experience one of the worst I’ve had in a long time.

I truly hope they get better because our neighborhood could really use a restaurant like this done right. A well-run Elena’s could be something special and might even inspire more great restaurants to come to...

Brand new Mexican restaurant in San Francisco specializing in high quality cocktails and excellent thoughtful food preparation with wonderful service to accentuate the experience. Clearly deserving of being one of the top ten Mexican restaurants in the greater area which is enriched by flavors inspired by the vibrant Mexican community in the California Bay Area.

As you walk in, the restaurant immediately opens up to a beautifully imposing bar on the left and ample seating throughout the entire restaurant . This restaurant is new and highly popular so be prepared to wait 30+ minutes in high time. The tables and seats are lush leather and the bar counter is beautifully marbled. Everything here screams quality and beauty but also had a really welcoming vibe. Feel free to wear what you’d like in other words. It’s also very very clean.

The cocktails were amazing and the bartenders ultra friendly. The standard margarita was excellent and didn’t contain fillers or artificial ingredients - it tasted real. I’d highly recommend the “coconut” based margarita. One of the best drinks I’ve had. They are not watered down either, 1 or 2 and you’re going to feel it. They had a good variety of offerings and in my hour of watching them make drinks, they used real ingredients and didn’t water them down.

First impressions of the food were fantastic. Free chips and salsa are standard which felt like they were made within minutes of us sitting down. Super crispy and the salsa felt fresh and delicious. The food wasn’t overly salty or relied on strong spices to make it stand out. The food speaks to you based on the quality of the ingredients and the care put into its preparation. The Mexican rice was fluffy, the creamy tomatillo salsa on the enchiladas had just the amount of spice and cream needed to augment the flavors of the chicken. Really excellent dishes here and I can’t wait to come back and try others.

The service and location are also hard to beat. Everyone was really friendly despite how packed they were. Our bartender/server “Barbara” was incredibly helpful and the service was fast. It took 10 minutes from ordering to get our food, and 5 minutes to get drinks despite being very packed. The location has plenty of street parking but you might need to walk a tad. I’ll tell you now, it’s worth the walk.

If you’re looking for a top location for Mexican food in between San Jose and San Francisco, this is it....