El Fenix

Horrible food! A Mexican frozen dinner from the grocery store is better than this crap. Service wasn’t good either. Prices are too high for what you get.

This place is mmm mmm good! The staff were very friendly, attentive, and kept our drinks and chips full. The chips were warm and melted in my mouth, salsa was good not the best I’ve had, but certainly not the worst either, and the fish tacos were a great recommendation from our waiter. You can even buy their chips, salsa, chili con queso and other yummy treats at the restaurant. Will definitely be back!

5 stars to all the the staff that works here. Came for dinner after training on a business trip, and everyone I encountered so very pleasant and genuinely interested in being friendly. They have the faster service I have ever experienced at a sit down restaurant, faster than most «fast food» places. I highly recommend coming here!

Loved the food, the quick and fast service. The chicken enchiladas were good and the tomatillo sauce a bit spicy. Which I was not expecting. Loved the homemade chips and salsa! I could drink it by the gallon. When back in Dallas I will be back at one of their locations.

Bad service and gross food. Being latino food there sucks. So if you want better quality don’t even try to eat here

I score for food and value only, not service, but if I did give grades for service I’m not sure entirely what I’d do. More of this at the end.
I returned to El Fenix for the first time in years because I had fond memories of their chips and salsa. These were swiftly delivered to my bar seat, but what a disappointment — the chips lacked the the warmth and puffiness of last time and the salsa, paradoxically, lagged miles behind the El Fenix brand jar version you can get in the supermarket.
Mexican Dinner at $ 9 consists of refried beans, Mexi-​rice, and two beef tamales and a cheese enchilada under chili con carne. The chili completely lacks spice but is otherwise excellent, having real beefy richness to it. The cheese enchilada is exactly as it sounds, the tamales are tasteless, and the accompaniments are nothing you couldn’t get from Sam’s Club.
At $ 8.99 for the entrée, with free chips and salsa, a value dinner is definitely on the agenda at El Fenix. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good dinner. It will probably be another few years before I return.
Anyway, the service. Again, I don’t grade for this, but I feel it worth sharing:
I arrived around 5:30pm on a Sunday, having been walking all day and ready for an early dinner and a cold beer. The guy behind the host stand looked, sounded, and acted as someone carrying the entire earthly burden of existential sadness on his shoulders. I asked if I could sit at the (empty) bar — he said ‘yeah, it’s there’ and walked away in the opposite direction.
The friendly bartender took my order of Coors Light before developing a look of real panic. He poured it into a small glass — the kind you get an OJ in at three star hotel breakfasts — before turning to me and saying ‘it’s not like this, is it?’ Before I could reply a slightly older staff member was at my shoulder with the chips and salsa, before he went behind the bar to show his apprentice where the beer glasses were held. My miniature beer was decanted into its larger cousin, an extra salsa was produced, presumably by way of compensation for this harrowing 20-​second ordeal, and all was well. These two guys were very friendly and I wish them well in their bartending odyssey.
My dinner order was delivered around six seconds after I ordered it, and I was left alone at the bar for a while as I ate. Twice, towards the end of the meal, new staff members appeared at my shoulder with a skeptical ‘do you need something?‘
The bill was brought, unrequested, and I stood at the counter (why do they have a payment counter?) for a few minutes with some mystified tourists as we waited for someone to come and let us out.
97 years, El Fenix has been in Dallas. They’ll struggle to make another nine like this. Put it this way — from my fortress of solitude at the bar by the door, I heard two parties come in during my 45 minutes, and one of them was clearly a family of lost tourists, to be greeted by Droopy of the Eternal Sadness.
Oh, and by the way, I wrote 50% of this review on my phone while waiting for someone to arrive so I could pay at the counter.

I am in town from San Diego and these are the best seared fish tacos I have ever had! The margaritas are on point. It is kinda sleepy on the inside… but I am here for a late lunch… so I hate to hold that against them. Great kids menu and the presentation and taste of the chicken tortilla soup was the best I have had. I can’t wait to bring my hubby here. Great kids menu with non-​Mexican selections.

If there were 6 I’d give ‘em! Best dad blabbin’ Mexican food I ever had. Chips and salsa… bangin’, fajitas with margaritas… ultra mega bangin’, special dessert hand delivered by best restaurant manager on planet earth… freakin’ bangin’. Get some gerbronis!!!

I love el Fenix, and it’s actually a great place to get food for pickup. They give you a large bag of chips and salsa in addition to your meal, which is nice. I’ve been going to el fenix my whole life, but I’ve really only ever gotten the enchilada combos so I can’t comment on fajitas and such. But I love all the enchilada sauces and fillings, and the rice is wonderfully simple. Great no-​frills tex mex joint. Free tip: I spent 20 years ignoring the chewy praline candies they have for sale by the register. Get one, they are fantastic

Marks off for cleanliness. Cold room. They did not adjust heat and everyone in main dining area kept coats on while eating. Brrr!
Flavor of food was good. Temperature also good. Tostada flavor excellent.
Chicken Tortilla soup flavor good. Less «stuff» in the soup than usual but tasty.
Soda mixed well and coffee was warm and plentiful.
Flan was more institutional product than in previous years. Taste was good but caramel sauce was runny and watered down, barely ok. Whipped crème on top looked like readi-​whip from can.
We teeter between 3 & 4 stars but since we have full bellies, it would feel hypocritical to give a 3.
(3.5 would be accurate)

I have heard many say that El Fenix is too pedestrian for their taste, but not for mine. I like the tradition that stands behind Dallas and El Fenix and that tradition is captured tastefully by the pictures on the wall as you enter this location.
The chips and salsa are always fresh and spot on and the service is quick and attentive. This place stays busy but I have never had my order wrong or felt rushed by my wait person.
Sure there are fancier and more trendy places for Mexican food in Dallas, but few can match the authenticity that El Fenix has for me.

Had enchiladas and they left a lot to be desired. They weren’t bad but c’mon, this is Texas.
I will add that the chips and salsa were good, our server was friendly and the place is pretty cheap.

Overall the food was great only changes I would make would be the tortillas not sure of everyone else’s opinion but they seem a bit in between homemade and store bought. Fajitas were great as was the Chicken tortillas soup. the broth wasn’t your typical type of broth had more of a tomatoes base and was seasoned just right.

Decent. Dallas has a ton of great Tex-​Mex so this place just feels average compared to some of the super stars in this city. But this place has been here forever. It has a long history. The enchiladas are really unhealthy but oh so good. The salsa is meh. But it isn’t too expensive.

I’ll go back!
The Lemmon Ave location is a mile from our new place. We found it to be pleasant; not too loud, very attentive waitstaff. Our chips and salsa were replenished. Water glasses kept full. The $ 2.95 margaritas were yummy. .. not over sugary sweet, and a unique combo of lemon and lime. Our entrees were VERY tasty. We even got desert. The whole bill was under $ 35 for 3 drinks, 2 entrees and a desert. Perfect!

I haven’t been to this particular El Fenix before. The place was a great surprise. We had a large group with excellent service. Food came promptly, hot and tasty. The thing to come for is the chips and salsa. WONDERFUL! And you can purchase them to take home!

I will never eat at this restaurant again. They have been pestering me to sign up for their emails, so one day, I relent. I received a coupon via email yesterday for a specific item. I go tonight to redeem it and they decide not to honor it. They tell me I am wrong and its my fault… The cashier was willing to redeem it for me, as a matter of customer service, but the «manager» said absolutely not. I was told to pay my bill in full. How dare they treat me like that. I have been eating at this location for over 35 years. Any good restaurant in Dallas would do anything to have my business and such a loyal customer as myself. I still know the family that once owned it.
This place has gone downhill since the family sold it. Nothing is prepared there. All shipped in. Microwaves cook the food. The sauce on the Wednesday enchilada special is wolf brand chili. The staff told me these things. If these arent true, then the staff should be treated better. The portions are smaller and the prices are higher. The food here isnt as good as it used to be. I can get better at Taco Cabana without the attitude that I should be lucky to be eating there… Cannot believe this… Oh well, they have lost yet another customer since they are more concerned with being right than offering customer service.

‘To go’ I told Ruth and gave her my order. ‘Large or small queso’ asked Ruth, ‘small’ I replied. ’15 minute wait’ said Ruth. 6 minutes later off I went with my order and guess what Ruth — no queso. And thank goodness I went straight home with it to my microwave because it was all not hot and needed to be warmed. Actually, 3 stars may be generous. Ruth, you specifically asked me about the queso, how the hell did it not make it into my order? So sloppy service and just okay food.

Excellent! Went on a Saturday afternoon at 3pm. place wasn’t very busy and the service was top notch. My glass never got below half full. We had time to kill since we were waiting on our car to be ready at a near-​by dealership and they were fine with us camping out at our table.
Food was delivered so hot I could barely eat it. Just the way it should be. Chips and Salsa were great as well.
everyone was friendly and the food was great. If I ever have to go back to Dallas again I will eat here.

I took a one day trip to Dallas for an interview so I only had one meal there which was at El Fenix. I got the Fajita Steak Nachos ($ 11) to-​go and it was subpar. It was pretty good with salsa, guacamole, steak, cheese, etc but the portions were pretty small. For $ 11 bucks I was expecting a mountain of steak, I only got a few pieces! They fall short compared to the Mexican nachos I’m used to in California! This place is fancy so you’re paying for the venue and service (which were both great) but I wouldn’t come back for just the food.