El Encanto

One thing I love about El Encanto is the ambiance. Absolutely a great place with a little lake, open air location to enjoy the great weather. El encanto does also bring our pretty solid food with good service. I wouldn't say it was the best Mexican food I've had but there were some good highlights like the mole enchiladas. Probably some of the best mole I've had in Arizona and the enchiladas were stuffed with Chicken or cheese. Good food for the area, great environment and even had live music being played in the restaurant. I enjoyed my experience there and is a good place to enjoy Mexican food while in Cave Creek

I remember going here in the past and telling everyone I knew how good the food is. I'm not sure what happened here but the main attraction is for sure now the fish pond.I asked for a side of tortillas with my Pollo Asado Ranchero style and I swear the tortillas were not cooked. They were still white and curved stiff from the packaging they were pulled from. My dish consisted mostly of beans and rice. Trashy move for a 20+ dollar dish.Really though, what happened??

We have visited this establishment on several occasions and have noticed a decline in the quality of the food. The flavors are bland, and the salsas lack any noticeable heat. Even their hottest salsa would likely be considered mild at most other restaurants.On the positive side, our waitress was fantastic. She has provided excellent service on multiple occasions and has helped to make up for the shortcomings of the food.We hope that the owners of this establishment will take our concerns seriously. There are several other Mexican restaurants in the North Scottsdale area that we used to love, but we stopped going to them because of food quality and their reviews have declined over the past few years.We believe that this establishment has the potential to be great, but it needs to improve the quality of its food. We do not want to see it decline and eventually close down.

I have been here a few times and I always love coming here because the restaurant is unique and old world style with a large pond in the center of the restaurant with an indoor/outdoor feel. They have great food and chips with a few different salsa flavors! The parking lot is a bit cramped and they do tend to get pretty busy during dinner time.

The best carne burrito hands down. The food also comes out fast. Worth the drive for me.

We followed recommendations and came to this lovely open air restaurant with its beautiful little lake, waterfowl and turtles, beautiful palms and foliage all creating an oasis in the desert. Menu has lots of options for Mexican dishes. The flavors are good. The portions are generous. The jalapeño cream sauce was delicious! Our server was helpful and attentive.

I had never heard of this place and we were doing touristy time in Cave Creek with family visiting from out of town. I haven't eaten at too many spots in CC so I had to look up some options. El Encanto is rated fairly well on Google and for some reason only rated "ok- 3.5" on Yelp. Seemed worth a try. Heads up this place is busy on the weekend. Sunday was packed. They had football game playing in the bar area and waiting area. Our wait was about 35 minutes. Overall, loved it. The ambiance is really great. I enjoyed the big water feature with birds, koi fish, and ducks. We sat on the patio on a sunny day with great weather. The patio is shaded. Our server was friendly and attentive. Everything came out as ordered and all the dishes tasted great. I liked mine the best- the pollo fundido. It has a very rich and creamy sauce, basically on a chicken chimichanga. I thought the flavors were good, nothing was bland. And for some extra heat , the appetizer - jalapeño rellenos did the trick. The server warned us before ordering that sometimes the peppers are very spicy. We got a "hot" batch which was great for us. I had one margarita that was fine, nothing spectacular but not bad in any way. Beers on tap are good deal at $5.50/pint. Great little spot in Cave Creek for Mexican food. I would hands down go back, to sit on the patio and enjoy the pleasant atmosphere.

I came here for dinner, but I think it would be especially pretty during the day. The ambiance is definitely what people come here for...and beans and rice, since that takes up like 50% of most plates here.I ordered the chicken tacos, but sadly really only liked the beans and rice! The rest, while a huge portion, was very bland for Mexican food. Similar comments came from the rest of the table.The kids quesadilla with chicken added includes a lot of random veggies/non-spicy peppers inside so it isn't the best for picky kids. Still tasty, but just a warning as veggies are not listed when you add chicken. Great service, fun salsa options, and a cool pond in the middle of everything. This restaurant is huge.

Food was awesome and it was a great vibe overall. Will definitely be coming back when in the area!

I have been here several times but came recently so my friend could check out the patio areas for a large dinner party he's looking to host in the spring. We went around 1pm on a Sunday afternoon and it wasn't as busy as the original location (which we've waited an hour and half to be seated there before). I think there was miscommunication about who was taking our order because we were sat for a while and staff kept walking past us, but no one offered to help. We finally asked one of the servers for assistance and they got someone to help take our drink orders and bring out chips for the table. She was apologetic about the wait and attentive the rest of the time. I ordered the taquitos, which are technically an appetizer but it works great as an entree (especially after eating your weight in chips, salsa and queso). My friend got the fajitas and they came out sizzling and smelling delicious! The plate might have been a little hot because some of the meat was stuck to it but it was easy to pry up and there was a good meat to veggie ratio. Our other friend went for the pollo fundido (at the server's recommendation) and it was enjoyable but hefty! There was no skimping on the smothering of jalapeño cheese sauce. After our meal we went and walked through the patio area. It's a really nice place for dinner when the sun goes down. They have heaters, blankets and fire pits to keep you warm or nice cold drinks when it's warmer out. There is also a private outdoor venue space for things like wedding receptions. It is a really pretty property. It isn't as expansive with the same features as the original location, but if you want the same good food with a more relaxed atmosphere, this is a solid bet.