Descanso

I have been going to Descanso's for several years now. Every time my fiance and I go the food and service is amazing. We have never had a bad experience. We have gone for anniversaries, birthdays, Mother's day, Valentine's Day, friends birthdays and many more occasions.When ever some ones looking to host an event I always mention Descanso's. Descanso's is truly top notch.The last time we went was for Valentine's Day. We did the dinner for two. You got to pick a soup or a salad for each person. Then you split the main course steak and shrimp. Next you got to split a Mexican cinnamon cheesecake. The flavors at Descanso's are like no other. Each mouthful is bursting with flavor. My fiance and I have nick named Descanso's Mexican Restaurant flavor town.I also like going for Taco Tuesday. Taco Tuesday starts about 4p and goes to close. You get to sit at the plancha tables and order tacos and quesadillas ala cart. It's dinner and a show without spending alot. The plancha table come to life as they cook with fire. I like the quesadillas. They are open face and the cheese is fried the the meat is placed on the cheese. Descanso's fried cheese is delicious.I also like going to dinner or weekend brunch and have the plancha meal. This experience is one of a kind think of Bennihannas but Mexican. Plancha are small grill like tables that some cities in Mexico people cook with in the middle of the street. I highly recommend the Plancha experience.I also like going to Descanso's for my birthday. They have the most amazing yummy birthday treats. The treat comes with a candle that looks like a firework which adds a fun touch to your birthday celebration. They also turn off their regular music and turn on a birthday song, which make you feel special. The waiters and waitresses sing happy birthday. The treat is vanilla ice cream, tortilla chips with cinnamon and sugar and chocolate syrup on top.I love their chips and salsa with red and grean sause. I also love the fideo soup.I also love the plancha show.My favorite entree off the brunch regular and brunch plancha menu is the Chilaquiles. They serve brunch Saturday and Sunday 11:30 till 3p.I have included some pictures of different entrees I have tried throughout the years.If you haven't been to Descanso's Mexican Restaurant I highly suggest it.

Probably one of the worst Mexican restaurants I've ever been to...1. It's such a tiny place that they just put as many tables as they could and it feels so crowded, I had everyone walk by behind me and bump into my chair. So annoying2. As a Mexican the Mexican food here is bad! The only good thing was the Jamaica 3. It's so so loud can't even have a conversation 3. The only good thing about this place was the waitress, she was very nice.

Anthony Bourdain once called Mexican cuisine the most undervalued and underappreciated cuisines in the world and this is without a doubt true. Descanso is actually two, maybe three restaurants in one. There is a standard sit down restaurant, a taco bar, and the plancha dinner experience. As I have only experienced the plancha dinner, that is all I can speak to. Although the plancha grill dates back to 19th century Mexico and Central America, most people think of the Japanese teppanyaki experience that Benihana popularized in the US. Descanso brings the traditional plancha from outside and adds a teppanyaki flair. You will have to make separate reservations specifically for the plancha section of the restaurant. There is a different menu from the standard restaurant that includes a multi course menu that you are told at the start will be a two hour experience. The place looks great on the inside, with a full bar, a single plancha grill near the front that serves as the taco bar, and four more in the back that seat 8 people each. The standard restaurant also has a large outside seating area. The drinks from the bar are very good, with my favorite being the el jefe. Try it. Most drinks run from 15-17 bucks with specials during the week. The dinner starts with a server explaining what will happen and then takes your orders. I ordered the carne asada with the add on queso frito ( a must) and shrimp. My wife had the pork loin, and my friends had the sea bass and chile relleno. There is a ribeye option for 72 bucks and a rajas option as well. Prices start around 35 and top out at the ribeye. Everyone loved everything they ordered. Jose was our chef and like many Teppanyaki experiences he told jokes and made fire, but Jose talked about how the owner of Descanso started his restaurant and added some personal touches about his own family and love for cooking. You start with either a salad or a fideo (noodle) soup. Both are fine, but nothing to write home about. Your chef will then start with your fried rice before he gets to the main courses. The rice is also fine, but the food is excellent. The carne asada came on a bed of potatoes with sliced poblanos and onions. Others came with veggies and potatoes. I recommend getting it topped with queso frito if you like cheese because it just put it over the top. It is also served with two sauces and either flour or blue corn tortillas. I will definitely be back. If it were closer, I would try the specials during the week. I commend the owner or owners for what they are doing- bringing something different in areas not traditionally known for upscale Mexican cuisine. They have a location in Costa Mesa and West LA (next to LACMA). Go there for special occasions, or just go there. It's worth it.

My bf got an add on Facebook and really wanted to try this place. We made a reservation without really knowing what to expect. It is conveniently located in a strip mall with plenty of parking. My first impression of the tables was Benihana. I really liked the way they setup the table. We decided to try some of the drinks. I had the mango margarita and he had the corazón margarita (blood orange, passion fruit, etc). They were both good, but I liked his a bit better than mine.The salad was fresh and had a really good dressing. The ceviche was really good and the fish was tender (not over cooked). The Mexican fried rice was DELICIOUS. The entrees were both really good with nice presentations, but the chile relleno is a must have! The Al pastor was really tasty, but the chile relleno itself was the best! The moment he placed it over the potatoes, it started oozing cheese. Everyone at the table was in awe and some said they are trying that next time because it looked so good. Our cook was really good and super friendly. We had a few people in our table that had modifications to their entrees, plates and rice, but he was able to keep up with all the requests and maintain a very cheerful attitude. This is a little of a drive for us, but it was 100% worth and we will be back!

Hello fellow helpers !! I'm going to rate in list form. Brunch time, grill seating area :1.) hostess was very sweet and informative 2.) server was sweet but not on point, she forgot our shrimp and also forgot the rice order for couple that sat across from us . Also , it was my late birthday celebration and she asked if I wanted a sweet treat , I declined and said thank you , she then said I'll bring you out a birthday treat ( when the check was already signed and paid for ) .... We were ready to leave .... Waited a bit and dipped out . 3.) food was a bit pricey for what your getting 4.) chef was awesome with a great personality 5.) ambiance was a bit loud but understandableI will say the chips and salsa were the star Overall won't be coming back

The carne asada was SO RICH AND DELICIOUS. I absolutely love the cream colored sauce & he even gave me extra (so nice!). The meat was super tender and I loved the pickled onions. The salad and fried rice were also really nice and flavorful. I will say the fried rice the next day wasn't as good. Our chef was so funny and helpful. I wish he did speak up a little more but I loved his jokes that I could hear. He put on a great show and served some really amazing food. Parking is ample but it was super crowded when I came on a Monday night for some reason so I had to park in a compact spot. Not impossible but definitely a little stressful. Overall, this is a great spot for special occasions for the plancha menu. However I want to come back for the regular menu next time!

Mexican Benihana, whats not to love. I came here with my boyfriend and his family for my birthday. The chef was super nice and informative throughout our meal, everything was cooked to perfection. The ceviche was super tender not overcooked. The entrees were all really good with nice presentation. I highly reccomend and I'll be back.

They have Happy Hour weekdays before 6pm. The regular house Margarita you can't taste any alcohol in. The Cadillac Margarita is much better. The default salsa is smoky and I don't care for it. They have 2 secret menu salas. One is a creamy Habanero salsa. It was alright. The other is a green salsa which I prefer.The ChoriQueso appetizer seems like they changed the recipe. It was alright. The new Bean Dip is actually a layer of Refried Beans, layer of Carnitas, later of melted cheese. It was alright.Thankfully the Shrimp Alambre is still awesome.

So, I made reservations for 8 to celebrate my birthday, for 9p on Saturday. I wanted to experience the Plancha show and they were very accommodating with booking the reservation. On the night of, my husband and daughters accompanied me inside and it was nicely decorated with a very cool vibe. It would make for either a nice date night, cool family dinner or ladies night! I loved the ambiance. I informed the staff that the other party of 4 had just notified me that they had Covid and wouldn't be joining us. Since it was near closing, they were perfectly fine with the change. We were sat at the plancha and our server immediately came. She was not very welcoming, didn't seem happy, didn't bother to explain the menu. But we ordered anyway:Kids chicken tacosKids quesadillas Two Ribeye dinnersSide of beansEsquite (elote in a cup)Guacamole and chipsJamaica vodka drinkCoronaMy kids really liked their food. The guac was good but needed salt and pepper. The refried beans tasted and looked like they came straight from the can. No added seasoning! The esquite was great with the added squeeze of lime. The ribeyes were ok. They had no flavor and were tough. Seemed like a very cheap quality of ribeye, which was beyond upsetting because it was $70+! The Mexican Caesar salad was not good. It was a cheap iceberg blend of pale lettuce that was soggy. I was expecting a Mexican salad dressing like El Torito or El pollo loco, but it was oddly mayonnaise based with no Mexican flavors. I got the fried cheese skirt on my dinner and it added some enjoyment to the dish. The roasted veggies were great! The fried rice was ok. Another bland dish, which had potential but it fell short. The sauces they use have an odd oregano base (green sauce) and a heavy mayonnaise taste (chipotle)... I understand the base of the sauce is mayonnaise but it should have flavor layers. One thing that struck us as odd is that some foods are precooked and warmed up on the plancha... chicken and potatoes. The potatoes are horrible because they aren't fresh! They were stale and just nasty. The chicken in my opinion was a tad rubbery but my daughter enjoyed it.Our cook had a great attitude and made good conversation. His name is Jose and he was relatively new, but he had outstanding customer service.This place has good overall characteristics but it needs work. Make fresh beans, make the chicken fresh to order, have the potatoes cooked fresh to order, invest in higher quality meats that match the price you charge, work with a chef to improve the flavor profiles and train the chefs to layer the seasonings not just add small pinches of salt and pepper. 5 stars for chef and decor2.5 stars taken away for the bland food and unfriendly server.

I was so excited to check out Descanso specifically for the plancha! The chef was great and always checked in to make sure if we were okay with sauces, and other ingredients on our food. Also, the environment was nice loved the decor.The one down side, ordered the carne asada and added shrimp but only came with 4 shrimps for $10 is not worth it in my opinion.Besides that the food was delicious and drinks were great! I would come back to enjoy the regular dinner service.