El Fenix Mexican Restaurant - Grapevine

Reviews 7

SC

SCOTT DOYLE

My wife and I were pretty disappointed with our last visit. We have been here once, and other El Fenix locations several times and have always enjoyed it. This time unfortunately made us not wanna come back ever again. We came in a were seated immediately. First thing I noticed is the dirty table and seats where they put us at. I had to go find a cloth myself to clean my seat with wet, salsa, and chips left over from previous guest. Second our server Alejandro P. came and saw me cleaning the seat and said nothing. This guy was the most unfriendly and non-personable server we have had in a very long time. If you dont like your job, or you dont like people, this isnt the job for you. I ordered a beerita with a dos xx, instead of the corona it normally comes with, fine Ill pay the extra fee for wanting the dos xx beer. But they were out of dos xx. So I ordered a margarita swirl instead, my wife got a skinny margarita because they dont have skinny mojitos. I love margarita swirls, but this one was awful. It was way too sweet, and way too sour. My wifes skinny margarita tasted horrible. It had this weird flavor to it, maybe the organic tequila they use, but either way neither of us could finish our drinks. Lastly the food was fairly good. Cheese enchiladas and street tacos. My cheese enchiladas presentation was not great. Two cheese enchiladas slapped on the plate with beans and rice, no garnish to dress it up. Looked pretty plain Jane, but what was I expecting it was cheese enchiladas. I am no foody guy, but that stuck out to me for some reason. Street tacos were good. We are not the complaining type, but when we were leaving the manager asked how our dinner was, which I replied,"it was alright." He asked why it was just alright and then took the skinny margarita off our bill, which was nice of him. I never sit down and write a review unless Im very disappointed. Get your people proud to work there. Put at least a little effort in your food and drinks, and this could be the great place it was when we last visited. Express the importance of having a clean restaurant. Let the servers know how much the customers mean to El Fenix and to show some enthusiasm and welcome them. I cant believe I noticed this, but garnish your food and make it look exciting and appetizing, and make the customer feel they are getting something nice for their money.

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T Zimmerman

My family and I ate here tonight... or at least tried to. When we walked in, there was no one to be found and when a young kid finally came up to seat us he was just about to seat us when the phone rang and he proceeded to answer the phone and start taking an over the phone order.. a long and detailed one. .....Leaving us and several others waiting in line behind us to be seated. When we finally were seated it took forever to get any chips or drinks. When they finally came with those we were ready to order and did so. When approximately 25 minutes had passed (without a single drink refill or chip refill) half of us were served (there are 8 of us...2 adults, 6 kids) ... the server said she would be RIGHT BACK with the other tray of food... (the food that was brought to the table was room temperature at best).... after TEN more minutes went by (by this point we were timing it) I got up and went to the kitchen and our server was no where to be found. Since those who did get food at our table were waiting for the others to get their food and 10 minutes had passed, our already luckwarm food was now cold, our server was no where to be found and several at our table had not been served... so we got up and left. We were walking out the front door when the server stopped us and apologized and said the order had gotten mixed up... but at this point it had been around 15 minutes since she left the table saying she would be "right back" with the rest of the food. So we told her we were leaving because we didnt feel like eating and paying for cold food. She understood and we left. This whole thing makes me so sad because my family has been going to this El Fenix since I was in high school 20 years ago. Now I bring my own family here... this place is nothing like it used to be with prompt service and great food! I realize this could have been a fluke but this was literally the worst restaurant experience Ive ever had. Probably wont be back here... ever!

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Brian Bacher

I know theyre free, but why were 50 percent of the tortilla chips 1/2" or smaller? I think we got other peoples leftovers. The fork had a bit of food on it. Food was tasty & hot. Very hot. Had to let it cool a minute before my mouth could safely eat it. Margurita was just okay. Didnt taste much alcohol. Sat there with empty iced tea for almost 4 minutes. After the folks sitting next to us left, the table was dirty when we left. It may still be dirty. The manager stopped by twice to check on us. We sat there for just under 5 minutes after we did the universal napkin on the table means were finished thing. The check was delivered in a folder, but you pay on your way out.

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Angelo Abendan

I havent tried other El Fenix branches, but the one that we went to (twice) was okay but not very good. For the price, the food was mediocre and no standout dish to glaze over. I doubt if this is how good, "authentic" Mexican food should taste like. Ive been to other places were the food was better (and cheaper). The chips, though, was decent. My other concern was the service. Im not sure if it was a bad day for them or something else, but they lack warmth. Overall it was alright, but with the number of Mexican restaurants to choose from here in DFW, El Fenix needs to step it up.

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Pat Nelson

Go here lots and I only have two complaints! They are always SLOW to get you seated. It happened again today. Same thing when leaving.You have to stand there and wait to pay.....ALWAYS! The lady that is supposed to seat us was busy yaking.Finally an older man came and seated us. He apparently read my mind...because I just told my granddaughter lets leave and go to On the Border. The cashier and hosts are the worst!

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Luci Salazar

We had dinner on Friday. We both had different kinds of enchiladas with Borracho beans & rice. They were all very tasty & the service was very good. We didnt wait too long for our food to be served. My only complaint is the price. We paid $9.00 per plate for only 2 enchiladas, beans & rice. Other Mexican restaurants serve the same plate for less or at least give u 3 enchiladas.

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Amy Torres

I came here today and I ordered the combination fajita nachos. The meat had no flavor at all. The beef was dry and burned. The chicken was ok, again no flavor at all. I kept having to put salt on the nachos. (Which didnt help) I usually love their chips and salsa, but today even the salsa was just like eating crushed tomatoes. Very disappointed in the food today..

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