The Gardens of Taxco — Restaurant in West Hollywood

I have been coming to this family owned restaurant since 1983. Back then it was the patriarch of the family that greeted you at your table and presented you with the menu options (more about that in a moment). Today it is his children and grand children that carry on this tradition in a loving manner.

To say that this is a Mexican restaurant can be a little misleading. This is food in the tradition of Mexico city and not your standard taco/burrito faire. You will not be presented with a menu here. Instead, one of the children or grand children of the family patriarch will ask you if you are interested in dishes prepared with beef, chicken or pork and will then tell you the main course they have for that evening for the meat you have selected. I have never had a main course that I did not love here but the Chicken Molle or the Beef Bandelier's (roasted beef and vegetables on skewers) are stand out dishes in my opinion. You will be given fresh tortilla chips and salsa but what you don't realize (if it is your first visit) is this is a five course meal you will be getting along with your main course order. Soon after placing your main course order the soup and different appetizers will start arriving one at a time. These can vary from night to night but hopefully you will be there on a night where the mini quesadilla with dollop of guacamole on top is one of the appetizers (simply delicious). After you have finished your main course there is still the desert course and that will consist of sliced bananas in cream with a shot of sherry. These two items go together perfectly and while it may sound like a simple desert, it is the perfect desert after a meal that consisted of four courses before the desert. They also make their margaritas here differently but they are sinfully delicious so be sure to get several pitchers if you have a large party. This restaurant is not just about the food (although the food is amazing). This is an overall experience that few restaurants in the Los Angeles area can match. As such, they are very popular and reservations for parties over two people are a must. If you really want to impress some out if town visitors or just someone special in your life, this...

Saturday 5/31/25 We chose to try this new place as a birthday dinner from my daughter. I ordered the chicken mole enchiladas and my daughter ordered the cheese quesadilla. We placed the order after we called the restaurant to ask what type of cheese they used as it didn’t notate it anywhere in Uber Easts menu, and we prefer Mexican white cheeses in Mexican cuisine.

A very nice spoken gentleman answered the phone and told us the cheese was a mix of Jack and Cheddar. We asked if it was possible to only use white cheese but he said it came packaged mixed so there was no way. We were not going to order because we don’t like yellow cheese but the nice man said “try it, you’re going to love it!” So we placed the order.

I was surprised to see how small the quesadilla package was. The tortilla folded in half was pretty flat, and very oily from the melted American Jack & cheddar cheese. My meal was the enchiladas. The sauce was very bitter and tasted a lot like enchilada sauce rather than mole sauce. The American Jack & Cheddar cheese didn’t make it any better. The beans were the best although a bit salty. The rice was ok. I was so hungry so I ate my birthday dinner and I also didn’t want to seem ungrateful for the food.

By 2am I woke up with the worst pounding headache I’ve ever had. Soon after, I felt nauseous and threw up everything that was in my stomach. The worst colic pains too. My stomach has been upset since. I ate once on Sunday and threw it all up again. Today is Monday and I’m still having stomach problems.

I thought the food was going to be authentic Mexican cuisine as the name suggests and like you will find all over Mexico. But it is not. It is totally Tex-Mex.

The little Canel’s chewing gum packet was...

I have been going to this place for years, mainly for special occasions because they are a little out of my price range (2 people eating and drinking will drop at least $60 bucks on food and drinks, but honestly the quality is exceptional.) The food looks and tastes like what you would enjoy for a homemade dinner. It's a full 5 course meal that has 2 appetizers, main entree and finally dessert (*if your 21 and up you may enjoy the sherry they pair with it.) If you don't like to read menus YOU MUST TRY THIS PLACE... the waiters will tell you the food selections in a sing-song way. I will spoil the fun slightly with a heads up; beef, chicken or seafood is your main protein choices, but there are MANY variations to choose from with those three.

Enough with the food, lets talk about drinks!! They make their margaritas with WINE. So tasty, especially with the food choices, everything goes really well with the margaritas. Seriously. They also have wine by itself or bottled beers that range from American to typical Mexican beers.

The parking is mainly valet (less than $5 including tip), but if you are patient you can find some hidden street parking around. FYI, Just be careful about parking time limits or...