El Palenque

Happiness be the start of Sw Detroit restaurant week, ten whole days of unique menu items at 20 eating spots. The very first day this special dish gonna be very hard to beat. Very Best Mole Sauce ever Green Chicken Mole will tickle your taste buds I assure you. Old school hidden Gem for 40 years. Only Ma n Pa run the place both got mad skills, Grandma's kitchen only place in Metro Detroit that operates from the home they live at. We been regular customers long time the feeling of home each visit. Not a place for you hipster looking for really bad Mexican smothered in Cheese, that's on Bagley. This couple has cornered the market for old timers from Mexico that live around town. I've had Mole many places the traditional style, nothing ever like this, explosion of marvolus flavor each bite. Ma made this from scratch, nope will not find this any other place in Michigan. She had Guacamole and a Botona spot on delicious. RIP my friend they son passed away this year. Got to meet daughter and son in law, great friendly folks. Open 7 days per week 10am till 7pm , traditional Mexican food nothing outrageous fancy you will enjoy. #palenquerestaurant #swdetroit #swdetroitrestaurantweek @swdetroitrestaurantweek #greenchickenmole #botona #guacamole #oldschoolcool #eatswdetroit

Southwest Detroit is known for its great selection of Mexican restaurants. Generally speaking you can't go wrong at any of the fine, family owned establishments that call this area home. I wanted to try a new place that recently opened for business after being closed for some time, and they offered dine-in service which was a breath of fresh air since the state wide lockdowns started. My cousins and I came to have lunch here, and it was completely empty so we had the place to ourselves which was nice. The menu had a large selection of items and was a little hard to read, but we all tried going the safe route to minimize risk. I got a plate of classic Mexican items which included a beef taco and cheese enchilada with chunks of seasoned beef. The other members of my party only wanted tacos, and that's where we encountered some problems. I could tell there was a communication error because the lady who took our orders was not understanding what were were asking for. 3 members of my party wanted beef and chicken tacos in corn tortilla, but when they got their orders they only received beef tacos with no chicken and they were in flour tortillas. It wouldn't be a bad thing if the tacos were good, but the sad thing is they weren't. The beef was kinda dry, didn't have much of a unique flavor to it, and the flour tortilla was a little stale. While not spectacular I did enjoy my lunch, which was more than I could say for the rest of my lunch party. To summarize this place is okay, but there are far superior options for Mexican food in and around Vernor Hwy

Great Authentic Mexican food you will ever taste! My favorite dishes are their enchiladas, tacos al carbon(steak tacos), milaneza(breaded steak), camarones rancheros(shrimp in ranchero sauce), and their beef tacos are delicious. If you haven't been...you're missing out!

Thought the food was good. Felt like I was sitting in their own personal kitchen and being served a meal.

Don't be fooled by the reviews like I was. This place is a nightmare when it comes to quality of product. My chicken chimichanga tasted cobwebs, and they served my date beans wrapped in cold tortillas. They didn't have guacamole or any avocados. Cash only.

Thick-cut chips, xx-spicy salsa, OK food, endearing/quirky service.This rating should probably be best understood as a 2.75... It was better than "Meh" but even "A-OK" might be just a gentle push in the "overly generous" direction.I've been passing El Palenque for quite awhile now, trying to ascertain why it hadn't yet been reviewed despite being right in the middle of Vernor, and also keeping a keen eye out for people exiting or (through the grated windows) people dining in. It was a tough mission, and only on rare occasions did I spy fellow diners crossing its threshold. After many months of this experiment, I decided to give it a go today, despite never seeing enough evidence that the restaurant was indeed lively and functional.Well, it was a mixed experience. First thing I noticed was that it was empty, and the owners looked momentarily surprised to see me, as if they were expecting a random public bathroom request. On the inside, the decor is fascinating, though because the place was totally empty, looking around at length felt kind of like being nosey rather than curious. The walls are covered in knick-knacks, and many photos of perhaps local celebrities (?) or people of importance dining in with the owners standing in the shot. There are booths, small tables, and a row of leather-topped spinning chairs along the register countertop that gives the place an almost diner-y impression. There's also an AMAZING juke box from the early 70s that looks disco-antique, and there are polished mirrors adorning at least 1/3 of all the wall surfaces - giving the place an aura of livelier times in years past.The service was friendly. Felt very ma & pop in nature. I ordered the sopes (yeah! another menu with sopes!) and two pork tacos. The chips and salsa served were excellent. The chips were quite unique, super thick-cut and slightly salted, and I wolfed them down quickly. The one accompanying salsa had a ton of great heat... had me sweating and crying by the bottom of it. Tasty too!The tacos were ok. Served with cilantro, onions, and TOMATO (i'd almost forgotten that I like tomato in my tacos sometimes), the meat was flavorful but slightly chewy. The sopes were ok. Now that I know of a handful of places serving sopes, I'd say the sopes here are nothing special. Minced beef, tons of shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes and shredded cheese - it was basic but missing a good house gravy or sauce.As I was the only one there, and with no reading material, I took an interest in watching the Spanish-language TV channel that was playing above my head - gave me something to engage with while I ate. Half way through my meal, the owner came over and turned off the TV! XD Not sure why, and made the environment stone cold and quiet. I admit I started chewing a bit faster so I could head out a bit quicker. On the other hand, as I was paying, both owners asked how everything was and sent me out with smiles and hand waves. So, service was mostly friendly, but, um, strange TV maneuver. Food was ok, but really cheaply priced (my meal was under $5). The chips and salsa are greatly recommended, as is popping in to see the decor. If you pride yourself on trying EVERYTHING that SW has to offer, then it's worth giving El Palenque a go, but, unless there are hours when the business picks up and normalizes, it's a slightly austere and silent place to eat.i THINK it's CASH ONLY here. [also, this is NOT the taco truck by the same name, fyi]

If you want delicious authentic Mexican food at a low cost this place is fantastic. They have been there over 40 years. The food is so fresh and good you won't mind the modest atmosphere. Service was top notch! They only accept cash, so plan ahead!

the service was great and i loved the atmosphere! the food tasted amazing and had an authentic mexican taste to it. the guacamole was fresh and the salsa and nachos were very good! 10/10

Worst food I have ever had. Seriously, this place is awful. We ordered Carne Asada, three very sad tough pieces of beef, maybe a TBS of onion, no peppers. Cheese enchiladas had hardly any cheese on them, and the rice and beans looked and tasted like they were at least a week old. This place had a high recommendation in Hour Detroit, a family member must be on the magazine staff. Mad because we drove by several great places to get there.

El Palenque is like eating in your grandparents' basement. Its definitely retro in a quirky but good way. We went on Saturday evening and were the only guests eating in the entire restaurant. Nobody else came in while we were there either. An elderly couple run the place and they were very nice. The chips(thick) and salsa were good but unfortunately they had no avocados so could not serve anything with guacamole. We had dinners which come with rice and beans. Both the cheese quesadillas and the beef chimichangas were pretty good. Maybe not the best you'll ever eat, but good nonetheless and the portion size was large. Everything is also extremely cheap so not a bad option if you want to try something different in SW Detroit.