Caliente

Caliente has become my home away from home. The food is off the charts fresh. You can eat the cheese enchiladas with Texas beef topping (my fav, beats Pappasitos cheese enchiladas by a long shot and half the price) or if you want to stay slim, all the salads rock! The queso is the best I have EVER had and I have it every time I go. The quesadillas are Devine, stuffed with fresh cheese and tons of meat in every bite. Now let’s talk about the service. Chris, the owner is always there with a smile and hello to me. So nice., Travis is a professional, but had such a kind and nurturing way about his service. He treats you like a friend and everyone just loves him! Chris and Matthew are also excellent, helpful and energetic. Matti makes the best enchiladas in the land! When I walk into this restaurant I know I will get the freshest, most delicious food and have a great time with everyone who works there. If I could give 6 stars I would.

Delicious Tex Mex food and even more amazing service! This place is going to become a regular spot for us. Sour cream pork enchiladas are so so good!

It’s like an upscale of chipotle. Not in a good way just prices I mean.
Costumer service wasn’t so good, not to sure if the waitress was hitting on my boyfriend or had an incredible itch to scratch on her ass. She keep leaning and squirming closer and closer.
Let’s move on the food was okay at best, the tres leches was only good because it was mostly super sweet with cinnamon which topped it.
The food was okay, room temp at best.
Its very odd feeling when we walked in,
The drive wasn’t worth it.

They have THE BEST picadillo in town. Not greasy at all so you can eat a taco without getting the juice all over you! Also, the portions are very generous and they are great about all the condiments you need for your meal. Staff is really friendly and the owner is so nice! Also, they NOW deliver!

Staff was nice, food was fresh. The cilantro rice was the best! and they didn’t charge me for an extra side. I had the combo plate which came with one taco and one enchilada.
Only suggestion: since the enchiladas are cheesy and juicy, maybe put them on the other side of the plate instead of right next to the taco which made the tortilla soggy.

I was craving Mexican and this place looked really good from the pictures. I wanted delivery & had to use Door Dash because the restaurant was understaffed that night and couldn’t deliver. I ordered the chicken enchiladas and chips with guacamole. After receiving my order, I realized I only had the enchiladas w/​a side of guacamole, no chips. I called the restaurant and the manager said he’d refund me. It’s been several weeks, and I have not received a refund. So I spent $ 25 for some enchiladas and guacamole. Won’t be eating here again.

My wife and I dine here often for lunch and/​or dinner. Food is always top notch! The fajitas are the best in town but if it’s enchiladas you are looking for they have many to choose from and they’re always served fresh and HOT! The owner is always front and center and very involved with his guests and very friendly and attentive staff. I can’t wait for my next visit.
Caliente gets five stars for sure!

Breakfast tacos are weak. Service leaves a lot to be desired. If you like store bought tortillas come here.

Eat here if you like Chipotle. Do not eat here if you like Mexican, or New Mexican, food.
Service was good. Chips and salsa were good, except the salsa was incredibly thin, and with an almost oily texture.
Enchiladas were not enchiladas. An enchilada is served on a corn tortilla. That is what an enchilada is. These were on flour tortillas, wrapped in circles. That is not an enchilada. That is a burrito. Google it.
I made the mistake of ordering it with «roasted New Mexico green sauce,» which I took to mean what New Mexicans call «green chile,» which I love and which is hard to find outside of New Mexico and Colorado. It was nothing resembling the sort, except possibly containing some canned green chiles, with a lot of lime juice. That’s not how «New Mexican green sauce» is made. I’m not sure if there is anywhere in Texas that has good New Mexican food, what USA Today named «America’s best iconic food,» but this was not it.
They serve three kinds of beans: black, refried, and frijoles — «beans» in Spanish, and yes, that makes no sense. They were charro beans, and were OK. The rice on the side was bland lime rice like the kind you find in a Chipotle and not in a Mexican, New Mexican, or Tex-​Mex restaurant.
Considering this place has 4.5 stars on Unilocal,and it was my second drive out after my last was spoiled because the place was closed for a «private party,» I was sorely disappointed. Also, parking is crap. There have to be 500 better Mexican restaurants in Houston… just probably not New Mexican.

After checking off my long list of errand running, I stopped by one of my favorite places Caliente to grab some lunch. This restaurant is in City Centre near numerous restaurant choices. This is not the first time I have been to this establishment, typically service is fast and the employees are pleasant. However, this day was different. Typical Caliente style for ordering is you walk up to the counter, order your meal if it is to go, and pay. When I walked in, the female chef who was behind the counter did not greet me and she hurried off to the back without asking me for my order. Two employees who were sitting down at a bench yelled across the restaurant to a young man who was rolling up silverware to assist me. He finally gets up and I ask him for a menu. He hands it to me and returns to silverware wrapping and texting on his phone. 10 minutes in, I still have not placed my order and the female chef did not return to the counter. The only patrons of the restaurant were a family of four and myself so they were not their usual busy Caliente. In walks Travis, another Caliente employee, who was so kind to ask me if I had placed my order. I ordered the «Cowboy Taco with black beans» which are amazing. 7 minutes top and I had my order and I received a complimentary drink for my trouble.
I gave Caliente 4 stars based on the customer service I received today. However, everyone is entitled to a bad day, but don’t make it a habit Caliente you have the potential to grow. I would recommend this restaurant for anyone who would like a fresh taste and alternative style to Mexican food.

This place is really good for the price. They have a nice clean atmosphere and friendly staff. I’d pretty picky about my fajitas and id rather spend more to get the best.

Caliente provided a fun and exciting lunch for my wife and I. While in the area we used Google reviews (since they don’t have so called «Elites» which tend to slant results in large cities) and it was correct.
Started with the white cheese queso free with a Facebook check in. Server didn’t ask for me to prove the check in which was nice. He went and got it right away.
We split two plates of Crawfish Enchiladas and Chicken Enchiladas with New Mexico green sauce. Now, one sad fact about most Tex-​Mex places is that they use green tomatoes as the base of the green sauce due to the fact that tomatillos are so expensive and more difficult to work with. I asked before ordering and our server did confirm that the green sauce base was tomatillo. Nice. That’s how it should be or it’s not real Tex-​Mex which did originate as Mexican food.
As far as the Caliente (which means «hot») yep, the spice was there. Impressive heat level indeed.
When I showed a photo on Unilocal to our server that has him in it (not mentioning his name cause that’s like creepy stalker like stuff) he said that his Dad uploaded it. LOL! Cool.
That server was great and made our experience fun. He did apologize for the lunch orders taking longer than normal by telling us the truth that some of the main kitchen staff has just quit suddenly and that was fine as we were not in a hurry.
I would go here again for sure as this is a unique twist on Tex-​Mex in a not so pleasant city to be in where some of the time you just want comfort food that the area is famous for. It’s canon Tex-​Mex and unique. The «Taco Monster» of the US seal of approval is firmly stamped down.
And interesting fact is that while we ate lunch here at 11:30 or so, neither my wife nor I were hungry again for the rest of the day as it was so filling. We didn’t eat again the same day until around 10 pm and even then it was a light snack. Very rich filling food and just an overall great experience.
Thank you Caliente! Here’s the 5 stars you deserve from a Unilocal reviewer that was recently mentioned on South Park. ;)

check the Unilocal reviews — there are negative reviews as far as a year back with similar complaints.
My husband and I went tonight and the place is filthy. I was scared to even use the restroom there. The floor is covered in chips and other food. I watched the waitress at the table next to us wipe that table off and just wipe all of the food crumbs — meat, rice, and all — to the floor. This was never swept up from the floor.
Our food took forever, even though most tables were empty (and dirty). Got the chicken enchiladas, which had dry chicken inside of dry and thick flour tortillas. my husband got mixed fajitas which weren’t good either. I see that other posters say in their reviews that they got chips and salsa which we did not.
Servers are nice sweet girls but honestly they all seem pretty clueless.

Man oh man. If I lived closer to this area, I’d be here every. single. day! We came here for breakfast on a Sunday morning, which is a bit limited but they have build your own breakfast tacos and breakfast quesadillas.
I got 2 breakfast tacos — on one I put: ground beef, egg, potato, cheese, guacamole, cilantro, salsa, and pico de gallo. On the other I put: pork, queso fresco, tomatillo salsa, cilantro, fresh lime wedges, and pico de gallo. Needless to say, the tacos are HUGE. I also got a side of fresh fruit. Guess how much this all cost? $ 6.50!!!
Service was great — the guy at the counter was very patient with us when we were building our tacos. They don’t have any fresh juice or agua frescas which would’ve made this place an A+, but whatever.
Apparently on Tuesdays they have fajitas for 4 people for $ 30. CRAZY.

Great food! Great prices!
I love the Cabo Combo, the 7 layer dip and the 3 leches dessert!

It looks a little like a fancy restaurant on the outside but it’s actually really casual. What used to be called «Hugo Caliente» is now just «Caliente.» Why? Well I’ve read past reviews and they said that the business was sued by Hugo’s.
Before walking in, I took a glance at the inside of the restaurant and immediately thought that it looked like a Five Guys or Chipotle. I thought we would be ordering upfront since there was a huge chalkboard menu displayed up front as well as clear windows to see the food like at Chipotle. But it is nothing like that. Upon walking in, I was seated by my hostess. They have a couple TVs hanging on some walls.
It’s a very clean and new restaurant. That’s what I noticed. The staff all looked similar. Maybe a couple of them are related? Family owned business? Cool. I’m all up for local.
Chips and salsa arrived at our table. The dip was a little bland. My party and I were then asked for drinks by our server. He was very nice and attentive.
I also read that they do not have a freezer in the back, meaning everything is fresh. Double cool.
Our food came in large portions. Prices were for the most part $ 15 and under. We ordered:
Nachos– This was our appetizer. I didn’t eat much because it came as the same time all of our entrees came so… I guess we didn’t really need an appetizer. Overall it tasted okay. Could use more flavor.
Shrimp enchiladas– I was expecting shrimp in the enchilada and not just cheese. It was basically 2 cheese enchiladas with 4 large grilled shrimp on top. The cheese in enchilada was kind of overwhelming. Also, the tortilla that the enchilada was for was kind of I don’t know how to explain it– maybe too thick and chewy? It didn’t taste like what I normally get, which is thin and almost crispy. I could only finished about ²⁄₃ of one enchilada. I got black beans with my order. The beans tasted good.
Chicken enchiladas– My parents shared this. They had the same problem with the texture of the tortillas in the enchiladas. They got refried beans.
Chicken fajitas– It came in a sizzling plate but nothing was really sizzling. I think the meat was precooked. The chicken was bland, almost to the point where I thought it was a little bitter. Could use more flavor.
Overall everything is great about this place. Just needs some minor adjustments to the recipes that are used.

If Chipoltle and Pappasitos had a love child, this would be it. We sat down and quickly were brought warm salsa and chips and the waitress took our drink order. I went with the crawfish enchiladas which had a nice cheesy sauce on them. They were delicious! It came with rice and a choice of beans. I went with the black beans which had a nice seasoning but were nothing amazing. The rice on the other hand was really nice with like a cilantro lime flavor that you could actually taste (not just a slightly green hue). I left quite satisfied and most dishes are $ 15 or less.
I look forward to coming back.

Regardless of my 4 stars, you have to try this casual Mexican restaurant.
It is THE freshest Mexican food I have ever even come close to having. They don’t even have a freezer to keep frozen food! The food is FRESH FRESH FRESH!!! I had the quesadillas because the other pictures of fellow Unilocalers looked delicious and they were EVERYTHING. I also had the dip trio and each dip was perfect. I wished I had a gallon of each.
They are only short one star because the service was a little slow. If I drank, I wouldn’t have even noticed and would have just enjoyed! Great happy hour and fajita specials!

Had a Groupon deal at Caliente (formerly Hugo’s Caliente before being sued by Hugo’s) so got some takeout. I’ve dined in once before so I won’t touch on service here and focus on the food instead. Caliente is a weird hybrid between a quick service Mexican restaurant like Chipotle and a sit-​down restaurant. They’re having an identity of crisis here but the food is fresh.
Went with the Caribbean shrimp which comes in a pineapple sauce with cilantro rice, tortillas, and beans. This is all accompanied by free chips and salsa. The salsa has a smoky flavor and is quite tasty while the tortilla chips are great! I’m a huge fan of tortilla chips and always appreciate a restaurant that does it right. The food was good and made a nice meal. The sweet pineapple sauce which I forgot to mention also includes pineapple chunks are great if you’re a fan of sweet sauces. My only complaint is that there wasn’t a lot of shrimp so wish the portion size was bigger with this entrée.

This is my first time visiting restaurant, and I considered it a real find thanks to Groupon. We had an extremely polite, attentive waitress, LaDonna, and our dining experience started there.
After identifying ourselves as Groupon and first time visitors, our waitress was actually excited that this was our first time visit instead of looking down on us for using a Groupon. She then proceeded to explain to us that this is a chef driven restaurant and the concept of farm to fork. She indicated that the place does not even have a freezer, and that the food was fresh. Based upon the dishes that we had, I felt like that it was made by a personal chef living at the house.
The chips were thin and crispy and served with a smoky chipotle sauce. It was medium, but I understand that there are other sauces available such as a sweet Habanero (maybe next time). We started with the appetizer trio with a seven layer dip, white queso, and fresh guacamole. It was obviously made with fresh ingredients as the guacamole had small chunks of avocado as proof that it is not bagged avocado. The queso was thick and cheesy and the seven layer dip was seasoned properly and topped with fresh sour cream. My only recommendation is that the thin chips were not able to hold up to the queso and dip, so they may consider using thicker chips for the appetizers and possiby warm corn tortillas for the queso.
I ordered beef fajitas julianne with onions and bell pepper with Monterey Jack melted on top. The beef was beautifully seasoned and was delicious. The cilantro rice and refried beans were homemade and awesome. My wife ordered the Enchiladas Verde, which were made with all white chicken and used a wonderful cilantro cream sauce instead of a tomatillo sauce. The cilantro cream sauce was probably the best I’ve ever had. Enchiladas were made with flour tortillas, so if you prefer corn, then you should probably indicate this at the time of ordering.
We fnished our meal with a tres leches, which was a special on this PI (3,1415) day. Fresh made cake with fresh creams. One of the best I have had. Service was great and the food was exceptional. I am not going to deduct a star for ambiance as another reviewer had done. The food and service were excellent, and it is obviously before you walk into this restaurant that it is more of café-​style restaurant. They had table service in the ambience was fresh and clean so I find no fault in that.
I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone who appreciates a CHEF that believes in fresh ingredients and putting out quality food without the premium price of other restaurants with the farm to fork philosophy.