El Nopal

Let’s face it, most if not all Mexican food it’s pretty much the same. This place stands out in service, good people, all smiles it’s really worth the trip. I never have had a bad meal here or bad service in the 30 or 40 times that I’ve been here. Tacos al-​carbon is my fave! And my kids love it, so that makes it a huge plus.

I have lived close by them a little over a year now and when I tried them the first time I love them! Became a frequent guest for them. But these last three times I’ve been here have been the worst. I don’t know if it’s because of the new employees they have working for them or new management but every time I order now, my to go orders are either missed up or missing items. First time I dealt with it, second time I went back in, told them what was wrong to be fixed and STILL gave me my order messed up. Went back one last time and bam, messed up again. This time, I told them I’m unhappy. The «manager» and the lady behind the counter rudely just started eating chips in my face as I’m explaining what happened over the past few times. Then cuts me off. I’ve never felt so disrespected. I work in customer service and I WOULD NEVER make someone feel like they aren’t important because the guest is! If you pay money to a restaurant you expect nothing but the best service you can give! Safe to say, they have lost my respect and my loyalty to them.

After a few disappointments on the Mexician food front, we gave this place a try since it is close to home. I am really glad we did! There were several workcrews having lunch, as speaking Spanish around us. so the atmosphere was fun and authentic.
Our server was VERY attentive. Granted, the restaurant wasn’t super busy the whole time, so we got a great deal of attention… but he could have just disappeared in the back, but didn’t.
The food was well-​prepared and tasted great. The salsa is fresh and has a hot afterburn that subsides quickly. Very nice.
The only hiccup was when we tried to pay with a «City Saver» coupon at the end and the server /​counter person did not know what it was or how to apply it. Luckily, the manager drove up just in time to show them!

The monster burrito is delicious and huge. (It looks like a baby in a blanket lol) The drinks are strong and the service is awesome. You really get your money’s worth

This is a fun place to have a quick enjoyable meal. I love the monster burrito it’s HUGE ! The have a great band on Sunday afternons. Service can be so so depends on the day. There salsa is ok

This place is good. Not outstanding but the price is right baby! The service is good and the quality is good as well. The place could use a tune-​up on interior for sure but hey, it is what it is. I had the chicken and steak fajitas. Nothing crazy with the flava. But hey for a quick lunch its ideal! Good bang for buck!

I eat here just about every week… Great food, service & frozen margaritas… Def. worth trying out…

Great Mexican restaurant. Service is blazing fast with chips and drinks to get you going. Great beer specials and they have the small, medium, and gargantuan sizes. Gotta get the large white queso sauce for the chips. Had the shrimp enchiladas and will continue to do so as they are that good.

I ordered the Steak Fajitas and enjoyed them. There are better Mexican restaurants in Memphis.

The El Nopal Cheese Steak lunch is very tasty. We sat outside in chairs that were obviously meant for lounging and not eating. Weather was great.

We are new to the area and love Mexican food. There are SO many Mexican restaurants around us that we decided to start by going to the one closest to our house-​enter El Nopal. We went at lunch, and were seated promptly. The salsa was flavorful, and the chips were light and crispy (really good, actually). I ordered a chicken taco salad, D ordered a steak torta, and we got some queso fundido to share. When the QF came out, it was a giant pile of really delicious chorizo on a sizzling skillet with melted cheese. (I had been expecting a bowl of cheese dip with a little bit of chorizo-​this was a pleasant surprise, but was also WAY more food than I needed at lunch!) D’s torta was good-​the steak was tasty, but just served on a regular sub roll. It came with fries covered in cheese sauce and jalapenos-​good but unnecessary-​TOO much food! The chicken on my taco salad was really good-​tender and seasoned really well. I want to try the mocajete next time-we’ll definitely go back!

This place has really improved since the first time I ate there. The shredded chicken nachos are excellent. Snow white chicken and plenty of it, just enough cheese (not too much) so that the chips were still crunchy.
The salsa is pretty good, chunks of onion and fresh cilantro which is how I like it. The chips are okay, a little grainy for my liking but they have a good flavor. The chips that came with the nachos seemed different, they were really good. Maybe it was just my imagination I don’t know.
Their prices are really reasonable. Chicken nachos were $ 4.99 and soda was $ 1.49. Free wi-​fi also. I will definitely be back for more nachos. They were really yummy, I ate every single bite.

Salsa is the first thing I look at when dining at a Mexican restaurant. If you can’t nail that, then it’s a sad forshadowing of what’s to come. The salsa at El Nopal is nothing spectacular. I would go so far as to guess that it comes from a food supplier or something as opposed to being made in-​house. The food was just like the salsa — nothing to write home about. The décor is awful and the booths are uncomfortable. The night we were there a rather large party was right by us with children that had no manners. That may have tainted my experience. Regardless, I will never go back.

I’d like to give this place more stars, but I am having a hard time justifying it. I’ve only been here once, so my knowledge of the place is limited to just that one time. I am not sure if it’s owned by the same people that have the El Nopal in Oakland, but I really like that place a lot. If it’s the same owners, I am not sure what the lack of consistency between the two places is. Maybe it was just the day I went.
The food was okay, but some of it was a little bland. I got the chicken enchiladas, which I usually love, but here they were just not all that flavorful and the filling was a little on the wimpy side. I did, however, very much enjoy the tacos that I also ordered. I got the beef, and it was stuffed to the brim with fresh meat and delicious grated cheese.
The salsa was so so, chips were plentiful and the server kept em coming for our group. Definitely no complaints on the service.
I might go back — but next time I’ll skip the enchiladas and try something different.

This is our favorite little local Mexican restaurant. I have tried much of the menu including the fajitas, enchiladas, burritos, and chimichangas. The honest truth is that most restaurants of this type are usually too similar to even review separately. El Nopal however, has a few differences that deserve a try. The faijita taco salad is larger, has more veggies, less grease, and a different shell than the usual places. I usually go for the fajitas for one, which are plenty large enough for two to share, and a shared pitcher of my favorite Mexican beer for a great bargain. I usually regard the quality of the salsa as a marker for the quality of the restaurant and I wll say that theirs is excellent, just hot enough without being overpowering, and the chips are always fresh and warm. We hardly ever spend more than $ 30 even on date night.