El Venado

This restaurant has the most relaxing vibes I've experienced while dining. It is perfect for a casual bite with family/ friends but is cute enough for a little date + plenty of photo ops.All of our drinks were tasty & packed a good punch, but the Cóctel De Mango was my favorite.Chips & Salsa were interesting, not spicy as I was expecting. Tacos-- I got Grilled Chicken, Birria and Al Pastor... they were okay. Not mind blowing. The chicken was cooked well but lacked flavor, so did the Birria but it was juicy at the least and a squeeze of lime goes a long way sometimes. The Al Pastor was the best of the 3 meats I tried.Their Churros are a must try.. so fresh and the chocolate dipping sauce is just perfection. Overall a good place and I'd come back again.

Went for a quick happy hour on a Tuesday and had a great time! We got there right after 5:00 so it was still pretty empty, but that gave us our choice of all the great patio seating. We only did drinks and queso so I can't speak much to the food, but service was great! Staff was very friendly and checked on us regularly. I believe they do live music on the weekends, so I really want to come back for some brunch and day drinking. Their happy hour goes until 7:00 on weekdays which I'm a huge fan of! Their frozen margarita was great, a little on the smaller side, but it made up for it in the flavor. Will for sure be back while the weather is nice!

Going to this place on a Sunday at noon and it not being packed was a pleasant surprise! Now for the actual review:Cleanliness to me is important, when we were sat we noticed a few of the tables were not cleaned up. The table we were sat on, was also not clean. Table was dirty, seats were also dirty. I always carry sanitizer wipes, so it wasn't a big deal I just cleaned up our table. The restrooms were also a bit questionable when it came to cleanliness. Food was good, the chilaquiles were great. The sauce specifically is the star of the dish. They do have two options for chilaquiles (soft/crunchy) I tried the crunchy option and I did not regret it. Drinks were a bit weak, a bit too watered down for my liking but still decent. Overall I had a decent experience, and I will give them another try.

December 29, 2023Paloma cocktail... YUCK! It's definitely NOT worth $9 [and that's the HH price!!] We drove in from Galveston to go to the Botanical garden, and this was where I wanted to eatwe weren't that hungry, so I got the Blanco cheese dip and Mahi Mahi cerviche-- both delicious friend got the queso flameado, and it was a total rip-off. it was small... like a 4 inch round skillet with 1/2 inch of cheese in it. the bottom of the cheese was burnt... and stuck to the skillet! Tragic!WE ALL KNOW how gooey and delicious queso flameado is... so this was a huge letdown.

I'm only giving this place two stars because the food was honestly incredible. Amazing flavor in every single dish - even if the food did give me the worst heart burn and acid reflux I've ever experienced... not sure what that was about but that experience paired with the below will keep me from returning, unfortunately. It was my friend's birthday so, days before I set a reservation via OpenTable for a standard (non hightop) indoor table, because I knew it would be chilly that evening. Upon arrival, we were told to sit wherever we wanted - it wasn't super crowded: one large party inside and two tables in use outside. Seeing they had heaters, we tried an outdoor option - even though it was quite chilly and windy out. We were sure the heater would make it ok. Well - of the two heaters available in their very large outdoor seating area, only one was working and the other was already being utilized. This issue was met with "well nothing we can really do - want to sit inside?" We go inside and sit at a corner table only to be told that table and the one next to it were broken so the only indoor option was a high top (which I hate and why I book at standard indoor table). All other indoor tables were in use. Ok. We head back outside and try to get a table near the working heater with no luck, the wind was too much. As we try to find another restaurant nearby without an epic wait time on a Saturday night at 8pm... the large party indoors leaves and we finally get an indoor, standard table (WHICH I ORIGINALLY BOOKED AHEAD OF TIME!!) I get it. Things happen - heater broken, tables broken (?) - ok fine. The frustrating part was the lack of care and solution from the staff. We were not thrilled. So finally we sit and order drinks and apps. The apps arrive well ahead of our drinks. For whatever reason, this was an on going issue that evening. The drinks - which were made at the bar exactly 5 feet away - took FOREVER to come. And the restaurant wasn't even busy! My friend's final beer - A BEER - took at least 20 minutes. It was wild. Apart from that the waitstaff were fine - nice enough. It was just pretty frustrating throughout with one thing after another. Again the food was great - super tasty. However, to end the night - and I caveat this with the fact that this is an open indoor/outdoor restaurant - a MOUSE ran up the corner of the restaurant and across one of the walls. Thank God we were already paying by this time - I would have been terrified to eat or use the bathroom after seeing that. Should I downgrade this to a 1??? This experience was pretty awful. There were also zero paper towels in the bathroom dispensers. They do have a parking lot with free parking.

Looking for nice patio with this lovely weather then maybe this will be your place.They have a spacious patio and nice decor ambiance inside.We were here on Tuesday when all their tacos are 1/2 off. Surely can't beat that price and so many options to choose.1st we were skeptical due to the low prices but it turned out to be good.Our server (sorry didn't remember his name but a nice young Asian guy) was very courteous.

Absolutely lovely experience! We can NOT wait to come back soon to try the lunch special and happy hour. Went for Sunday brunch (11-3) and it was just the best vibes. There's beautiful and comfortable seating both inside and outside, you'll want to stay longer than you anticipated especially when the weather is nice. We were surprised at how quiet and rather empty it was for brunch time, which is a plus if you're trying to stay away from boisterous brunch crowds or a line to wait in. We ordered two chilaquiles verdes (huge portions!), crab cocktail, and side rice and beans not pictured. All were so delicious and super fresh. Bartender made their refreshing and sweet version of a Mexican 75, I loved the hint of lemon and the muddled raspberries on the bottom, I recommend ordering first so you can sip on it while waiting, it's almost an appetizer in itself ;)Elisabeth was an attentive and friendly server, I appreciated her recommendation of subbing chicken Tinga (so good!) for my chilaquiles instead of the regular chorizo or bistec options since I was in a white meat mood.

I came here for a birthday dinner. Overall I thought the food was okay. It was priced fairly, but I thought it was lacking in breadth. The strong points were definitely service, value, and location / parking. I do think that the table size didn't align with the reservation party size, but fortunately some people did not show up so we were able to squeeze everyone around the table. They advertised having live music outside, which was a nice touch. I was expecting a band, but it was actually just a guy on a keyboard. He was enthusiastic and decently entertaining though, so I'll give him that. The drinks were pretty tasty, and our server was good. I ordered the nachos with bistek and they were decent--the order was massive, so definitely good value there. They actually had a parking lot without valet, so I appreciated that too. Overall I felt like the experience was okay. I would definitely pick other places for Mexican.

The food was good, and the watermelon margarita was on point. The bananas foster pudding is delicious. Cute and cozy spot! 8/10

My new QUESABIRRIA place for sure! Highly recommended.Authentic Mexican food . Drinks in point I like the Michelada and ceviche looks delicious, I did not order ceviche, quesabirrias did the work