La Golondrina Mexican Cafe

Love coming here before a Dodger game… it’s a must! Food is pretty pricey though we usually just grab a drink.

My wife and I recently stopped in as we haven’t been to this particular restaurant at Olvera Street in probably 10 years. El Paseo used to be our spot but we have had very mediocre experiences the last couple times we have gone so we thought we would stop across the alley. We were pleasantly surprised! The food was actually very good and the margaritas were blended well and delicious. Our waitress was very friendly and did a great job serving us so I left a nice tip. We don’t go to Olvera Street often as we have been there many times but it can still be a fun afternoon.

Located in the historic Olvera street, it is one of many Mexican restaurants that you can choose from. Were ordered chicken nachos, the chimichanga burrito, and the fajita plate. It was way too much food for 2 people, especially with the complimentary chips. The nachos were okay. I thought the Chimichanga Burrito was pretty good, but my friend loved it. Maybe because it was deep fried. The Steak Fajitas, had no steak… just a few pieces. Quite disappointing. I’m not sure if they have other types of salsas to choose from or not, but the standard one they brought to the table was not great.
It was a busy Friday night, and the service wasn’t the best. It took forever for our server to show up. Even our waters took a while to be brought to our table. We had to wave down the hostess, who had to go grab someone but only came back to tell us that our server will be over. ‘
We were unable to find parking because the metro station parking lot was blocked off due to some event. I had to park my car somewhere for $ 10, just for the hour that we were there. The lot closed at 8:45pm so we had to hurry up with out meal.

Good food friendly staff. Fajitas were very good. Drinks were wonderful, lots of alcohol. Enjoyed the restaurant

Ok, imma keep it real. Good was good at the time, service was nice. But they offered free flan if we gave them a 5 star review, which I did. I’m sorry, but I’m weak for flan and the flan was good so I caved. BUT if I were to give my TRUE rating at the time it would have been a 4 bc they lack good options for chile and that they were offering free food for good ratings. To me, that doesn’t sit too well. What also didn’t sit well was the food my friend ordered bc she ended up getting food poisoning. So this quickly dropped to one. Just needed to be honest abt it.

One of the oldest resturants in Los Angeles. The food isn’t great at all. It’s all typical mexican american food that relies more on history than exceptional food. Come here if you want to say you’ve been there and done that.

This is a run of the mill tourist Mexican restaurant. Service is good but the food wasn’t the greatest in my mind. The salsa was to mild. For the price the portions could be larger. The annoying thing is the musicians going from table to table pimping their tunes for tips. I’ll look somewhere else besides Olvera Street for Mexican food when I’m in L.A.

This restaurant is located on Olvera Street along with many other restaurants. Yet, the reason why I decided to go to this place was because of the way the restaurant was looked like. It looked pretty clean and I liked the decorations. The staff is really friendly and will joke around with you so it makes the whole environment very playful.
As for the food, the portions are pretty large for the price you pay. However, when we received the food, it was not hot. The soup was barely warm so I did not find the tortilla soup to be satisfying. They give you a good amount of avocados and chicken in the soup, but you can tell the soup is not fresh because the tortilla chips are soggy.
The shrimp fajita dish was good. Yet, I wish they had put more shrimp in the dish than bell peppers/​onions.
Overall, this restaurant is a good place to stop at if you are hungry while you are shopping but don’t expect the highest quality food. They have happy hour Mon-​Fri from 3 – 6 so you can stop by for some drinks!

One of my favorite Mexican Restaurants located here in Olvera st. I believe there’s about 5 full service restaurants and many fast food establishments and all serve pretty good mexican food.
Depending on what day or night you visit, they do have live entertainment. Always a bonus to here live music and most of all they do require to tip them.
As we walked up are table was already ready for us. I think a family member made the reservation, anyways was greeted right away and most of seated.
The server was very attentive to all our needs and most of all very pleasant during my visit.
Must be patience for this location tho, it gets very busy on the Weekends and Holidays.
Overall visit was very nice, especially it was my Grandma’s 92 birthday and all the employees made her fill very special.
⁰³⁷⁄₁₀₀ Unilocal Challenge.(2016)

Came in during happy hour got a Cadillac and the waiter Michael was amazing, check out the play when you are on Olvera street.

I found perfection here! (Cochinita Pibil) The Mayan gods have blessed Los Angeles with La Golondrina Mexican Café. The whole ambiance is cool. Located in historic Olvera street nestled in-​between some of the coolest novelty shops on cobble stone filled with: colorful shirts, blankets, tons of trinkets, Mexican candy, tiny toys, shirts, post cards, guitars, and sandals which, are fun to look at or buy. This place reminds me of the pubelo in my home state of Colima Mexico.
Now La Golondrina Mexican Café is cool featuring a Wood patio, wood tables with seating inside an out. I personally love sitting outside because of the fresh air, people watching, and the hanging plants that have a beautiful scent. The amazing Mariachis that play for a small donation take me back to old Mexico love them.
APPETIZER: I order some avocado dip and chips and the price was 13:00 $$ The avocado was fresh and tasty with a mixture of lemon, tomatoes, and onion a bit expensive however it was good.
DRINKS: I also order a Margarita that tasted really good cost was 9:00 $$
FOOD: Now I’m in search of of the perfect Pibil so, I ordered one thing an one thing only and that is, COCHINITA PIBIL (Slow roasted pork). It was one of thee best prepared dishes I have ever had this side of the Yucatan.
The mixture and taste of the marinade is perfection. They must use and grind real achiote seeds mixed with fresh oregano, black pepper, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, salt, garlic, lime juice plus orange juice and they may use a splash of tequila but, I doubt it because, kids may eat this. You can taste the smokiness of the roasted Habanero chiles and garlic. The texture of the meat is gritty and fork tender with mouth watering flavors that fills your mouth with tandalizing pleasure! The meat comes in a small dish wrapped in some banana leaves with a side of delicious pickle onion, Spanish rice, and black beans. Love the beans as it’s topped with Mexican graded cheese yummy!
This dish made me tear up as it reminded me of my abulita’s (Grandmother) cooking back in Mexico. They say food are memories and they’re right because, this particular dish reminded me of good thoughts! I personally suggest you try it, it was top notch.
This dish is simple but yet can be very different depending on ingredients and the way it’s prepared as, is anything.
La Golondrina Mexican Café is one of thee best for this particular dish and since it took me back I give it a perfect 5.
PS: Come out and support my Raza (Mexican people) by purchasing items thank you!

I always enjoy eating at LA Golodrina… the atmosphere is great, the happy hour terrific, and the wait staff are both attentive and friendly — especially Michael

I was really impressed by this place. I expected a tourist spot with blasé food and got a quality meal and great service.
Two friends and I took the Metro to Union Station and walked across the street. We were seated immediately, at about 12:20 PM, on a Thursday. We were greeted right away by our server and provided with drinks. She kept them filled up throughout our visit, along with offers for tequila shots…
I had the crispy tortillas with carnitas. The price was about $ 14, so I expected a good meal for that price and I got one. One guy got a burrito and the other a salad and both were happy.
I would have preferred a pico de gallo salsa with my free chips, but that was about the worst thing I could say about La Golondrina.

What an awesome stop after work… We missed our train and wanted a margarita so we walked over to Olvera street. What a gem! The happy hour is great — $ 5 margaritas, sangria, beer, you name it. To eat, we had the La Golondrina special and the chilacas platter, also $ 5-​$ 6. Happy hour is 3:30 — 6:30 M-​F.

Was craving a tortilla soup and I came over to Olvera St. My mom always said a good tortilla soup is a marker for an excellent Mexican restaurant. I agree and add that some well made rice and beans are, too, but I get what she was saying regarding the quality of the broth and the mixture of the textures.
I’m looking for freshness, broth flavor and viscosity, and a balance between ingredients. Unfortunately the broth is too salty, though the flavor is good and it’s just brothy enough. Maybe someone slipped on the salt? I’d give it another chance.
The chicken was soft, not over cooked, but couldn’t taste much more than the salty broth. I know I said it tasted good even though the broth is salty, and well I can imagine that a few steps down on the sodium scale the broth is has a warm flavor and smooth finish.
Okay also, the happy hour guacamole is $ 6 and I swear there’s like 4 avocados in it. Get it while it lasts! Margaritas are $ 5. One of the Better value happy hours downtown I think.

Michael was amazing… food and drinks is on point.
Great place
My mole. was yummy.

This is the place to eat when you’re visiting Olvera Street.
La Golondrina is a giant restaurant located in the middle of Olvera Street in DTLA.
When in Olvera Street, do what the locals do, find some great eats.
My husband and I were looking for somewhere that didn’t have long lines and had great service. Note: All eateries in Olvera Street has long lines.
La Golondrina had a long line, but I decided to walk in and look around and I noticed a little bar area that had open seating. I called my husband and we sat down.
Karla helped us right away. We ordered a Horchata Margarita and House Margarita. Both of them were so good! The House Margarita was perfectly made. Not too limey or tart. The Horchata Margarita had the great flavor of horchata with a hint of tequilla. I was truly shocked of how good it was. Karla also brought out chips and yummy salsa.
We decided to order 2 appetizers. We ordered Chicharrones (new item) and taquitos. Oh yeah, a Mango Margarita and Modelo too. :)
The chicharrones were amazing. Crunchy little bite size pieces. The perfect proportion of fat and meat in one little bite. It came with sauces, but you didn’t need any for these yummy morsels. The taquitos were so good. Served with guacamole and sour cream. This is the way a taquito should taste like.
The Mango Margarita was made very simple and yet, very delish. Just fresh mangos blended with tequilla. That’s it! And that’s all it needed. So fresh. And when you drink it, you get little pieces of mango. Nice!
I highly recommend sitting at the bar at La Golondrina. Normally, no wait for bar sitting and they serve food there.
Server Karla and bartender Hugo will give you stellar customer service, so make sure you ask for them at the bar.

Great Mexican restaurant here in Olvera Street in Downtown LA. There’s several eateries here, but this place not only cranks our amazing Mexican food and margaritas, but excels in customer service!
Karla, our server and bartender, was super nice and professional. We took her recommendations on margaritas and they were spot on!
When we visit Olvera Street again, La Golondrina will be a definite stop.

Perfect spot for a celebration. Roberto was our waiter for my dad’s 67^th Bday and he made it very special. We will definitely be coming back and it’s all thanks to the excellent service. Fantastico!

Food not bad.
Service was as bad as it gets.
Waitress takes your order and that’s as much interaction with wait staff.
Runner delivers your food.

My first experience here was overall OK.
The overall ambiance is good. Personally, the mariachi band is too much for me. It’s very hard to hear anything and gave me a slight headache. But, I can imagine it’s a big plus for others.
The table I sat at was wobbly and old and had to be propped on one end to be stable. Our server was good, but it took over 30 minutes for our food to come out. She disappeared for the time being, and once our food arrived she asked a few times how our food was.
I ordered the fish tacos and tried the green mole pork my friends ordered. My fish tacos were delicious, the jalapeño cream sauce was incredible. I had an horchata that was so great I had a refill before my meal had arrived.
Because its location right in the shops is convenient I would probably go again. But I wouldn’t go out of my way to go here.

La Golondrina is right opposite El Pueblo on Olvera street. Cool little restaurant. Felix, our server was kind, attentive and was very patient! If you come here, you’ll be glad to have Felix as your server!

We truly enjoyed our experience here! Despite having several other tables requesting assistance, our server, Felix, was attentive and friendly throughout the evening. I ordered the enchiladas de camarones which did not disappoint! You can also request modified margaritas (I ordered a cucumber margarita and added jalapenos… y’all need to try this!).
The cherry on top was the live mariachi musicians who will played romantic Spanish ballads for our table.
All in all, don’t pass this place up if you’re in Olvera Street!

I’ll make this short and sweet. I love Mexican food. This place is terrible. OVERPRICED food that was bland and looked like it came from El pollo Loco. Very disappointed.
The cherry on top? They don’t tell you they charge for refills on sodas which come in a small glass and wouldn’t even hold a can of coke. Really? Have you ever been to a «nice» restaurant that charged for a refill on a coke?
Avoid this place.

When I’m passing through Olvera Street, La Golondrina is a place I stop by all the time. The food here is as authentic Mexican as it can be in Southern California. La Golondrina has been serving since 1924, and you’ll find many unusual as well as typical dishes here.
Corn chips and a chunky salsa were served before the meal, so I like to take advantage of those. Last time I was here, I ordered the Enchiladas de Mole, which included a Chicken and a Cheese Enchilada with rice and a whole jalapeño. The enchiladas were served smothered in a delicious mole sauce. On the side was a dish of whipped beans. These were frijoles as I had never encountered them elsewhere: whipped to a fluffy and light consistency, like whipped potatoes. I had a slice of flan for dessert. There are many other interesting selections on the menu, so whenever you’re in the area, give this place a try!

I love this restaurant it’s located in historic Olvera street in downtown Los Angeles nestled in-​between some of the coolest and cutest shops anywhere. Olvera st has the feel of an old pubelo in old Mexico. The shops are rustic an old filled with colorful shirts, blankets, and tons of trinkets. You can buy real Mexican candy from the center specialty souvenirs stores along with hundreds of tiny toys, shirts, post cards, guitars, sandals, etc
Tip:If there is something you like take the walk and ask all the vendors on price$$ because, price vary’s.
Now La Golondrina Mexican Café has an old Mexican ranch style to it. Wood pillars, wood tables with sitting inside an out. I personally love sitting outside. They have hanging plants that are nice because you can smell the flowers scent. The workers are ok not the best but productive. They also have some amazing Mariachis that will play for you for a small donation.
APPETIZER: I order some avocado dip and chips and the price was 13:00 $$ The avocado was fresh and tasty with a mixured of lemon, tomatoes, and onion. Very good.
DRINKS: I also order a Margarita that tasted really good cost was 9:00 $$
FOOD:Now I have only tried one thing there and one thing only and that is COCHINITA PIBIL (Slow roasted pork) To me it is one of thee best prepared dishes I have ever had this side of the Yucatan.
The mixture and taste of the marinade is perfection. They must use and grind real achiote seeds mixed with fresh oregano, black pepper, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, salt, garlic, lime juice plus orange juice and they may use a splash of tequila but, I doubt it because, kids may eat this. You can taste the smokiness of the roasted Habanero chiles and garlic. The texture of the meat is gritty and fork tender with mouth watering flavors that can only be described as orgasmic. The meat comes in a small dish wrapped in some banana leaves with a side delicious pickle onion, Spanish rice, and black beans.
This dish is simple but yet can be very different depending on ingredients and cook.
La Golondrina Mexican Café is one of thee best for this particular dish so its tops in my book.

Buena comida, buen ambiente, las margaritas super buenisimas! La comida esta deliciosa! Traigan a su familia!

Pocas veces en la vida uno se topa con una carta de tapas tan variadas, creativa e interesante como la que tienen en este local sus productos son fresquisimos y los platos están preparados con tantos mínimo que resultan irresistibles.

Super mala comida, mal sabor nada de mexicano, precio para lo que te dan decepcionado por los paisanos. No lo recomiendo jamás regresaré y los tragos también igual de terribles…