Elena's Mexican Restaurant

Great ambiance and service! They just need to address the saltiness. The food can be really delicious if they added less, especially in the beans, chips, and rice. I'll give this place another chance in a year or so--maybe it's just the opening madness and they'll work out the kinks.

We got very lucky in finding a reservation for a friday night. We originally saw only 9p, but I kept refreshing for a bit and viola! Some earlier times popped up! Whoo!It did take a minute to get seated since our table wasn't ready but you could order a drink from the bar, so that was fun.This place does not look like it belongs in west portal, it's so lush and fancy. WOW so pretty.Our waitress (I think Natasha?) was fantastic. She was SO nice, mostly attentive (forgot our shots) but so sweet. Great customer service.I honestly can't remember every single dish, we did family style and our dear friends paid for dinner, but I'm sure it was pricier than need be for Mexican food. But it was solid. The fajitas stood out as tasty, a little salty on the meat, but if you eat everything together, you don't notice it. The guacamole and queso was yummy.since it was my birthday, they brought out a dessert and candle and it was lovely. We were so full, but that churro with chocolate was YUM.very fun place to come with friends, make sure you snag reservations for dinner!

Charming decor, good service and solid food (3 to 3.5) at Elena's in West Portal. Elena's is newer and it's popular, particularly at dinner (but it's far easier to get table at lunch.)Run by the people that run Original Joes, they've found a formula that works for many. We had carne asada steak tacos, seafood enchiladas and a generous helping of complimentary chips and salsa, and churros with a chocolate sauce for dessert.It's a busy, solid spot for a sit down business lunch, or margaritas & dinner with friends, if you can get a reservation. Food is average to good, with an extensive drinks menu.Be warned there are several big screens playing sports in the bar, which face the dining room, if you find that sort of thing distracting.

This was a lovely establishment! I enjoyed the ambiance and the service! Our server Natasha was absolutely incredible 10/10!The food was so flavorful except the crab enchiladas and calamari, it was a little better with salt. But everything else was great!Definitely will go back, it was worth the drive.

Elena's is so so good! I've visited twice now and really enjoyed the food and ambiance both times. The only downside is the wait if you don't have a reservation!The complimentary chips and salsa is the best starter! The chips are thin and crispy and the salsa is delicious. I've also tried the esquites (so good with the chips BUT is pretty spicy imo), crab enchiladas (FULL of dungeness crab and perfect when you want to splurge a little), steak enchiladas (steak was cooked perfectly medium rare and is so flavorful), shrimp tacos, and fish tacos. For the tacos, I preferred the fried/baja fish tacos over the shrimp. And don't forget about dessert!! The churros with chocolate sauce are to die for, and I know they also have Zanze's cheesecake here!The restaurant is beautiful and service is great. You can also eat at the bar (first come, first served) if the wait for a table is too long. Definitely make a reservation if you are trying to go during peak hours, because i've waited an hour for a table on a Monday night at 6pm before!! D: I thought Monday night would be a safe bet but it was not lol.

WOWOWOW! We walked in during lunch time on a Sunday and the wait for two was unavailable and first available was 4:45 so definitely try to make a reservation if you can! We decided to sit by the bar and only waited about 10 minutes for a spot to clear up.The service was great, the overall ambiance of the restaurant was lively (loved the open concept kitchen), and the food was just amazing.We ordered the Elena's Chopped (perfect amount of spice) & chile relleno. We are pretty picky about our chile relleno's but the amount of cheese was !!! The drink menu was also diversely curated and I went for the seasonal spritz for a mid day drink!Cannot wait to come back with girl friends or on a night out!!

This is apparently the hot ticket in West Portal - and for good reason! I loved everything about our lunch at Elena's. Beginning at the beginning, the chips were fresh and the salsa was smooth and flavorful (neither spicy nor sweet). The coconut margarita is an absolute triumph (and my wife had two of them - again: we went for lunch). For apps, we ordered the queso dip, which had a nice green chili flavor and a bit kick, and the chicken tinga empanadas, which was an excellent expression of our go-to chicken preparation. For entrees I got the carnitas tacos (2 per order) and a tamale on the side. The carnitas were crispy (and the avocado salsa complemented it well) and the tortillas they came on had a nice, warm flavor. The tamale was on the sweet side (papaya?), which was an interesting twist. I also snuck some of our friend's refried beans, which were flavorful, had a nice texture (not just slop), and were overall lovely. For dinner we (my wife) ordered the churros, which can with two flayed strawberries and some hot chocolate sauce. The chocolate sauce and churros paired perfectly, which is not something I usually go for (but in this case I had seconds). Also, they had a full tequila list. But, again, we came for lunch (and unfortunately I had to get back to work after we were done).

The four of us came here for lunch today. We had reservations for 1:00pm on a Wednesday. We were seated immediately. The chips and salsa wereDelicious. The Elena's chopped salad was huge and flavorful and I finished almost all of it. My husband had the pozole and he didn't know it was served in a soup bowl with a lot of broth. It wasn't that spicy but there was a lot of pork. He couldn't finish it all. My friend had a side of chili relleno and I had a taste. It was delicious. .

I'll start off by saying the ambiance was beautiful. The high ceilings, greenery, and open kitchen were really stunning. The complimentary chips and salsa were great too. The chips were light and crispy, and the salsa was unique too. However our main entree felt pretty average considering the price and it didn't feel that special to other Mexican spots I've tried. I ordered the beef enchilada and the meat was pretty tough to chew on.

Good food, fresh ingredients, but overpriced and was overcharged for both of our enchilada combo plates so check your bill. We were charged $33 for each enchilada combo plate when the menu showed enchilada combo plate for $28. No apology for the mistake either and had to go back and forth on the bill as they made the same mistake not once, but twice. It wasn't the waiter's fault for the overcharge. The waiter did however mistakenly place one enchilada combo plate order into the kitchen instead of two so I had to wait longer for my food, but that was an honest mistake so wasn't a big deal to me. The waiter also wanted to help us box our food, but that wasn't ideal as my mom and I ordered the exact same thing and had similar leftovers so was worried I had the wrong box of leftovers, but hopefully it's correct. I don't expect a waiter to box my leftovers unless it's a 3-Star Michelin restaurant, but understand he may view it as trying to offer better service. Water, salsa and chip refills were fine. Tables are too close to each other too. I had to listen to the annoying conversation of four abnoxiously loud people seated next to us as we were seated in the row of tables, so round booths are probably better for seating. There are better Mexican food places in the city at lower prices. Not worth the hype with the bad service (overcharging is where the service was really disappointing), overpriced food and ambience (too noisy and table seating too close). No plans to return.