La Malinche

Greetings foodies,Visiting family in El Paso over the Mother's Day weekend. This morning we asked for breakfast recommendations. There were four of us who ordered a variety of dishes. I ordered the Machaca plate with corn tortillas. While I understand that Mexican food has different influences. I wasn't a fan of my dish. The machaca was loaded with cheese (odd for me), served with a watery cheese sauce, beans and hash browns. Also, my food was cold. We received our food retentively quickly. Overall, the restaurant was clean and family oriented.

How the mighty have fallen. This spot was my go to for milanesa for 30 years, but no longer. The seasoning is less flavorful, the fries bland, and the heat of the salsa has been diminished over the years. The service consisted of taking my order and dropping it off. No questions about the food or if I needed anything else.

Suggested by a local ...and this was spot on. I ordered chilaquiles and son ordered huevos rancheros. Service was fast and pleasant. Coffee was delicious. Enjoyed the music... traditional but not too loud. Tortillas were okay but the food was next level!! Rolled out of this place. Will be back when I make it back to El Paso.

Back in town and I was looking forward to eating here after many years.Ordered Huevos Rancheros for breakfast. The food came out lightning quick, probably because it's already pre-made. The eggs are smothered in a very watery Velveeta-like sauce and drowning in onions. On top of that, everything was cold; the eggs, the sauce, the beans, and the hash browns.I told the waitress the food was cold and she took my plate to be nuked. The egg yolks were nuked into a hockey puck and the tortilla was cracking it was so hard. And the beans and potatoes were still cold.Completely disappointed in the food here. Yet another place to scratch off my list unfortunately.

Definitely the food is 5 stars but the OLD glasses that are cut or broken and I don't use straws was horrible. The tea they make NEEDS a revamp! We went twice and both time it was horrible! Took my mom the second time and she was like the glasses are chipped and the plates they serve food on spin on the table and won't allow you to cut the steak she bought. It was funny cause I was watching her trying to eat it but she couldn't cut it! LoL Anyway, food is good and the service is kinda okay. The man is the best waiter there. He even got us our waitress cause who knew where she was. If they would have actually gave my mom a heavy plate for her steak she could have enjoyed it it at the restaurant instead of having to take it home to eat properly. Our waitress never came and checked on our food so we couldn't tell her. The atmosphere of the place is old school and enjoyable.

We wanted menudo so we ended up here. I don't have menu pics but I'll say that breakfast prices are a little high. Nothing less than $8 except the pancakes. A small menudo was $7.65 which honestly it doesn't come to par. I liked that I was able to order mine with just hominy but, yessss but, this menudo looked flavorful but it was everything but that. Very bland, not delectable or yummy. I judge places on their menudo so...I asked for some consome (buillon) but apparently they don't use it to cook here and it shows. I wouldn't come back but you come and try for yourself and be the judge...

I eat here a lot for breakfast. But this visit was a lunch one so that's the review. It's not great. They have about 6 or 7 specials daily on a dry erase board. I went for the the Mexican plate #1. Specials are $10.95. Basically by itself the Mexican plate #1 is $11.00. So the "special" is all you get tea and soup for DINE IN at no charge. Not togo. Ok that saves about $6-$7. The soup needed salt ... it was typical beef Caldo, You could also get chicken. But it was super watery tasting. It needed salt and pepper, which I added. It came with 3 warm corn tortillas and lemon wedges. The plate (sorry no pics) consists of supposedly 3 cheese enchiladas, two beef and potato tacos and obligatory Mexican rice and Refried beans. I wasn't asked for a sauce preference but it came with Red. I only got 2 enchiladas. Maybe that's also a lunch special difference? They were full of white Mexican style melting cheese and on top as well and plenty of sauce but I missed the egg on top I normally get at breakfast. Otherwise I'd have gotten beef enchiladas but it said NO SUBSTITUTIONS. So I got it how it came. The tacos... were a disappointment. I've had beef and potato tacos before. I don't like them ... if you're selling beef tacos SELL BEEF tacos.. or sell potato tacos. But I digress. Other places it's chunks of potatoes or even diced up fries mixed with the meat... no problem ... I can see see and taste differentiate the taco meat from the bland potatoes. Or i can remove the chunks or dices of fries if I want. This was something totally different ... this was mashed potatoes with some cooked ground beef mixed into it. It looked like dog poop on a taco shell with grass on it (the few lettuce strands) and some cheese strands. It was very potato taste forward, it had no taco spice, no meat texture, nothing to chew ... it was mostly mashed potatoes and meat secondary. The refried beans was a mix of whole and refried but also bland ... very water flavored ... maybe the were vegan or vegetarian refried beans? They had no flavor of lard. Or salt or even oil or butter ... just unflavored slightly mashed pintos. Added salt and pepper to them as well. The rice was way over cooked. It was mush you could have fed to a baby. It was gelatinous, stuck together. It was pinkish red... but had no flavor or spice... i salt and peppered it as well ... and put some of the salsa sent with the chips on it. As I said before I eat breakfast here quit a bit, several dishes they do well most days, chilaquillas, enchiladas Montados. I think they make an excellent club sandwich. At breakfast too. But lunch was a big miss this day... and I have had others tell me to only go there for breakfast, now I know why. 2 stars for the value of the lunch special ... but really, just have the soup next time or get the club sandwich ... this place still needs work for daily GOOD MEXICAN FOOD.

Great food! Authentic Mexican food and no nonsense. Don't pass this gem up. One of the very few spots with pre pandemic good service.

I love this restaurant for its straightforward menu, reasonable prices, good service and unpretentiousness. Make sure you come with a hearty appetite because the portion sizes are massive. Can't go wrong with any enchilada plate. There's even an excellent Chef Salad for those of us pretending to eat healthy.

Food quality is good, service is good considering that the lunch hour is rough because of the number of persons in the restaurant.Ambiance is acceptable and this is something one can create themselves.