Hector’s

I grew up and spent my entire life in Bay View and this has always been a peculiar location for businesses. This has hurt Hector’s. In fact, it even closed down for a month before deciding to reopen. Once you find the business you will have plenty of street parking choices. If you have to walk more than a block I’d be shocked.
The hours were odd an unpredictable. They even changed weekly. Since reopening they have established hours.
The waitress that is almost always there is very friendly and a bit quirky. I will say there have been times that she was not there and the servers I had ranged from mediocre to non– existent. It is possible to show up at the right time and get the right server and essentially get no service.
The interior is open and has lots of seating. The design of the place is basic and will be nothing to remark upon. It is clean in the dining room but you can see the restrooms no matter where you sit because you share a room with them.
Underneath all the cheese and sauces lies a middling meal. The various meat fillings are all equally fine. Nothing is a stand-​out for good or bad. The shells are fresh and the food is well prepared. This is the kind of Mexican establishment that I would have adored as a child. Everything is just loaded with cheese and sauce. As an adult you learn to appreciate the food you eat and you learn to see through cheese laden veils. They just use the toppings to hide the lack of skill buried beneath.
The prices are pretty good. The servings are huge. The amazing amount of cheese and sauce does cover up the middling middles. The fact that they cook the food correctly and have proper meat to shell ratios is a big plus. I’ve been to places where the meat is so prevalent the shell becomes a mystery in the meal.
You can find better Mexican restaurants in Milwaukee with better prices. But, Hector’s is not something you’d regret, especially if you love absurd amounts of cheese on your Mexican food.

We returned last week for dinner. Safe to say that the food was worse than our previous visit but the bartender was much more attentive.

Can I just start off by saying that this was the worst service I have ever had! We sat down at the bar and within a few minutes was greeted by a bartender (whom was not wearing a name tag and never bothered to introduce himself) started out by saying (with an annoyed look on his face) «just so you know you’re not getting any chips and salsa cuz we’re all out, and you have to order within 7 minutes cuz the kitchen closes at 9.» I proceeded to ask him what time the bar closed at and he responded by saying, «I don’t know, whenever I want, here’s some menus I’ll come back to take your drink orders.» I wanted to leave right then and there, but we stayed. We ordered jalepeno margaritas which were by far the saltiest and most awful tasting margarita I’ve ever had. When my boyfriend asked a question about an item on the menu, the bartender responded by rolling his eyes and answered the question, but was clearly annoyed. The food was decent. It took awhile to get the bartenders attention to ask for some hot sauce, he was clearly far too busy on his phone or cleaning the bar. We asked him to put the bulls game on, and he asked «if you know what channel its on.» He put that channel on, but it wasn’t the game, but didn’t bother trying a different channel. We ate our food, payed and got out of there as soon as we could. Talk about a buzz kill. I’ve worked in the service industry for 5 years, worst service I’ve ever gotten!

The BEST maragritas this side of the MIssissippi River! April as your bartender you can not go wrong– she by far makes the BEST margaritas. Their food is very good as well– with dishes one may not have heard of– but is so worth trying… The atmosphere is a bar /​restaurant– I believe it is one of the «best kept secrets» in the area. Highly recommend trying it out if you haven’t already…

$ 2 Taco Tuesday… really you just cannot go wrong with that. And the tacos were packed with meat (your choice of chicken, pork, bean, ground beef, or shredded beef) and lettuce/​tomato/​onion/​cheese. Not the wimpy tacos you usually see on taco Tuesday at other restaurants, these were plump.
I had one chicken, one shredded beef, both were flour tortillas (you have a choice of soft corn, flour, or hard corn shell). They were very good, both the chicken and beef were seasoned nicely. Downed them with several (shared) pitchers of Margarita’s and we were all pretty full. In fact, I probably would have been ok with just one taco since I have no self control when it comes to chips and salsa (both of which were quite good). I did order a side of guacamole which was kind of bland and in desperate need of salt and maybe a little garlic.
Maybe not the best Mexican food, but all in all a nice place. Our server was great, especially considering we had a large party and were probably a pain in the you know what with all our specific requests. Like Bestie who ordered 2 tacos but with her soft bean taco wrapped around the outside of her hard shell chicken taco. Yep, we were THOSE kind of people. But we were accommodated with a smile and that is what counts.

It is sad that I live in the neighborhood but can’t recall the last time we ate here. Part of the problem was we used to come in for lunch and then they were open sporadically. So we stopped coming all together. We ate here tonight with a coupon. The major problem here is the atmosphere. There has been some water damage and there is no decoration whatsoever. The walls need a coat of paint at the very least. It needs some love. I hate to say it but I think the location is hurting the business. It needs to be on the main drag of K.K. rather than tucked in on Delaware. It was rush time at supper and we were the family in there beside two other tables.
The food is awesome! We always order the combo tres that comes with a chimichanga (shredded beef) it appears to gotten smaller) a tosada, and a chicken enchilada with rice and beans. We have never gone away hungry. The food is delicious. The cost was well worth it with the coupon we had.

Fun staff! I am what I would consider a «regular».
Wings? Yum
Enchiladas? Yes please
Pastor? Mmm
Margaritas? My FAVORITE ever
Guarantee, if you’re there, I’m there. Enjoy!

The food was okay, nothing memorable. However, the margaritas were below par. The blended margaritas were all chunky and not the usual restaurant quality. They didn’t even put the margaritas in a margarita glass.

The people here are so nice and they are great with kids (ask for the coloring books and for kids quesadilla). The portions are big, but the food just isn’t great. I am not sure how they make refried beans taste bad but somehow they achieve it. The spices in the meat are also overpowering. I will probably return because it is so close to my mom’s house, but I will order cautiously.

We used to love to walk over to Hector’s and went fairly often. The food is pretty good. Then they started to nickel and dime on things like charging if you wanted more salsa.
Their prices were already a bit higher than most, and their service has never been all that great. It’s basically a bar that happens to serve tex mex. Very good food, but not that special.
The BBQ veggie burritos are good. This place just leaves a bad taste in my mouth these days. I haven’t been back since they jacked the prices.

This place has no heart. There is nothing about this place that says, «I am a Mexican restaurant» or «I have such a lovely atmosphere that you should come back» or «Sorry my athmosphere sucks, but you should come back because my food was great». Nope — none of that.
We had reservations and still had to wait 20 minutes. The restaurant wasn’t busy, but they had people scattered around so they could not push tables together for our group of 10.
We could not tell who was a server and who was a guest, for the waitstaff were in grubby street clothes. I would definately recommend a uniform or simple black shirt for the guests to know who is working.
Every single person I was with was lacking something on their plate. For me it was enchilada sauce. I ordered ground beef enchiladas and was brought out 4 beef tacos rolls with cheese melted over them. Very plain! For my husband, it was that they didn’t give him any cheese on his tacos. For my friend sitting next to me, his sour cream was forgotten (that he requested). I could go on, but I won’t.
The menu isn’t necessairly pricey, but I felt that it was too pricey for what you got — average food and average service.
I won’t be back.

Pretty good! We got the BBQ burritos and chicken enchiladas, and both were good, but the rice and beans were just okay. Be warned – the enchiladas come with a lot of cheese. I mean, A LOT of cheese. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing, but holy cow. The dining room got pretty loud as more tables filled up, so it was difficult to hold a conversation, but overall it was a nice meal.

Love Hector’s. Used to go to the location in Wauwatosa a lot but now that there’s one in Bay View we go here because it’s local. It’s a bar, so don’t expect much in the way of ambiance, that said their food is better than the mexican food in the «Latin Quarter» like La Perla and Botana’s. I far prefer Hector’s.
They have some really interesting dishes like Artichoke. Good vegetarian options here besides a bean toastada, which is about the best you can do elsewhere. Excellent salsa that’s made from fresh tomatoes and is not too spicy, nor too mild.
We’ve never had a bad experience there with food or service. I did notice the other day in fine print at the bottom of the menu that they are now charging $ 2.50 if you need a second helping of chips and salsa– that’s way lame, I hope that is short lived. Come to think of it, our chips were somewhat stale that day too, but we told them so hopefully next time that will be fixed :)

Wandered into Hector’s on a whim and was very pleased that we did. Great service (if at times a bit overzealous), and the food was delicious. I had the portabella and asparagus enchilada and it was really quite good. My partner had the artichoke enchilada, which was also quite tasty. I was very impressed by how ambitious the menu was, and how many of the dishes were vegetarian. The portions were really big as well. All around, it was a great dining experience. If you’re looking for authentic Mexican, this isn’t the place, but if you’re in the neighborhood it’d serve you well to stop in for dinner some time.

Wait staff was great but this was still my worst dinner experience ever.
Cook/​owner needs hygiene tips and a nail clipper. Yikes!
Food was terrible. I was sick for the rest of the night.
My friend ordered the steak tacos without onions and they came out piled with onions. She mentioned it to the waitress who apologized and took them back to the kitchen right away. They were returned with MOST of the onions picked out but not all.
I ordered the fish tacos; one of my favs. They came to the table with an awful stench. My friends were even put off by the smell. I took a bite anyway… BAD IDEA! It tasted as bad as the smell. I also noticed that all of the fish was minced up and blended with the raw onions and lettuce. That was a little weird as normally the fish is in whole, larger pieces.
Because we had already send one plate back, I was hesitant to send another but my friend was not. :-) She spoke up for me so I exchanged the fish tacos for the steak and they were better, but I can’t say they were very good. The cook/​owner came out and blamed the foul tasting fish on the capers — stating that I’m probably not used to the taste of capers. Um… I love capers, so that was NOT the problem. That’s also when we noticed his super long, gnarly and dirty finger nails.
Needless to say, I will not be going there again.

Hector’s is one of the greatest kept secrets in the Bay View area! My wife and I stumbled across it because it is located near our home. Loving Mexican food, we decided to give it a try.
First, I tend to rate the quality of a Mexican restaurant by its salsa. Hands-​down, Hectors salsa is one of the best I’ve ever had and it gets better. I like hot spicy salsa and they have a second salsa you can request that is superb!
On to the menu, the prices range from just over $ 5.00 to around $ 15.00 so our price range was covered. The plates vary from vegetarian (my preference) to meat such as chicken (my wife’s favorite) and beef. The servings we received are large enough we sometimes as for a box to take food home with us. We have never gone away hungry. Our chip bowl is never empty and they bring us salsa regularly!
The staff is excellent. They are always friendly and courteous. Their work face is always positive. They check on you regularly, almost seeming to read your mind when you need something!
This is the best though, and the one reason I almost hate to write this review… we have never waited more than ten minutes to get our food! They bring it to us steaming hot and it is delicious! As more people discover this little jewel, the wait time is almost certain to increase, but the food and experience of Hectors will be worth the wait!

This is the same business as Hector’s on State Street in Wauwatosa. It opened about two years ago. It’s a gringo owned place, as much a bar as it is a restaurant. Service is good. They have an ambitious menu, with innovative dishes but it can be a bit spotty in execution. My favorite dish is the vegetarian fajitas. Far better than most versions I’ve had with squash, eggplant, onions, etc in large slices, nicely marinated and grilled. As of today they do not have outside tables but I think they are trying to get this.