El Amanecer — Restaurant in South Carolina

This place will officially be in my rotation from now on. Clean, bright, cheerful atmosphere with vibrant decor. The food is from scratch and you can tell it's prepared with love and pride. To start the meal they offer a bowl of noodle soup, not the typical chips and salsa. I understood why when we ordered the Ursula's dip as an appetizer. Friends, their chips are homemade and utterly delicious. The dip was a complete game changer! I have never had anything like it in my travels and it was amazing. I ordered a variety of tacos; cecina, pastor and lengua. My husband had the enchiladas with red sauce and a chicken tinga tostada. My tacos came undressed with street style sides of onion, cilantro and lime which I appreciate so much. The corn tortillas are homemade and beautifully toasted. The Al Pastor taco is the best I've had in the USA. So packed with flavor and tender, it was just incredible. My husbands enchiladas dish was huge, the sauce was homemade and they used those beautiful tortillas to make the dish. The chicken tinga is FABULOUS. Our waitress was attentive, kind and informed us of the weekly special upon arrival. When we were finishing our meal a member of the staff came to speak with us to make sure we were satisfied with the service and quality. He informed us that the specials change weekly and that they offer drink specials as well. Overall, I love this place. The whole experience was like getting a big hug from your Tia. Go...

So the building is clearly a day care center with mostly folding tables, a very odd setup. The chairs and tables are incorrect in height, either your head is level with the table or you are uncomfortably towering above the table. The drinks were good but no chips and salsa. Also no burritos! Weird. They brought out a very tasteless soup with noodles, no flavor. The food was ok but no spicy flavor, very bland. I think they try to offer authentic Mexican food. I guess they don't realize that many Americans have been to Mexico, it's not a distant exotic country and the food there is much better. I don't see this place making it, bad location, unusual food and no chips and salsa. I might go back for a drink and and an appetizer but that's about it. My advice for the owners is to embrace what your customers want, who cares if its authentic Mexican, Tex-Mex or American version of Mexican cuisine, you obviously have an investment, sorry to say you...

If you love Mexican food like we’re accustomed to in Lexington, you will not get it here. The servers were very nice but seemed very new and unsure. They do not serve chips and salsa (bummer!) they serve 6 crackers and a white sauce dip. (I’m allergic to wheat so there was nothing to munch on while I waited) I ordered enchiladas and they arrived looking nothing like what was pictured. (I’m even wondering if I was served what I ordered) They looked like small soft tacos laying on their side. I ordered a side salad and they forgot to bring it. When it arrived it was covered with croutons after I explained I had a wheat allergy. My food didn’t ’t have much color, it looked very bland. Even the red sauce and green sauce were kinda clear with just a hint of color. It tasted good but I’m not sure I would go back. It’s called authentic Mexican food but I definitely prefer the...