El Meño’s Restaurant

People of Salt Lake, Listen up… This place is fantastic!!! Wonderful.Authentic.Fresh. What are you waiting for? I am from Southern Cali, where one can get wonderful Mexican food anywhere. In Salt Lake you all are wasting your tasted buds at places like the «Pink Lizard» (ha ha) and other crowded places, that get their salsa out a can. Ifvyou v care about the taste OF YOUR FOOD. Try THIS PLACE the food won’t disappoint you. Ask for Hortensia. Wonderful people. The food is fantastic. No lie

I wish they had half stars, because Menos is really better than 4 but not quite 5. The restaurant is clean, the service prompt and cheerful and their food is some of the best tasting Mexican in town. Cheap in price but not in quality. They have a seriously awesome salsa/​condiment bar. If you’re ever near this little gem and need a bite (flautas and pastor burritos recommended) don’t hesitate to stop in.

This place is I have tried their tortas, burritos and lime watermy friend Maria and I love to go there all the time during our lunch… The portions are big so the price makes sense. Try it out

If you are looking for authentic Mexican this is the place! Upon walking in I knew I was in for a treat. It appears to be a family owned establishment and the food is classically Mexican-​American (real Mexican food is nearly impossible to replicate here due to Americans’ fear of chile and lard). Having spend a significant amount of time in Mexico and having grown up in the kitchen of a Mexican restaurant I feel I can speak to these things with some authority.
When I stepped in I was warmly greeted. Since I was placing an order to go, I was encouraged to sit at a table and chips and salsa were brought to me while I waited. Here’s where I have to fight to be unbiased as the food of my childhood is, in my mind, the epitome of Mexican food in the United States. The red salsa has a great kick to it and is well-​seasoned; they did a solid job with available ingredients (you just can’t make salsa from fresh tomatoes in SLC in December). The chips were fried in house — and in the same fryer as everything else. I could taste that, and have to dock a star for not cleaning the oil out frequently enough to prevent chips from tasting like breading and a faint hint of seafood. Honestly, it wasn’t a bad taste but if cross contamination is of any concern for you this is not going to be a place to eat (and those of you whom it concerns probably know that already).
My order was prepared quickly enough that I knew a lot of the work was being done after the order was taken. I had shrimp fajitas, ordered the grilled chicken for my son, and hubby was to enjoy a smothered burrito verde with al pastor. After setting the bag of food on the table the server went back to bring me more salsa — 3 different kinds as well as two containers of guacamole (about 4 oz total). The green salsa is the best of the three, IMO. She also brought out a baggie of chips for my son when I asked to bring the leftovers with me. She thanked me for coming in and it was all I could do not to hug her; I missed Mexico so badly.
Hubby says his burrito is great. The pastor is very tasty. The burrito was a good size and came with a salad. The ingredients were well distributed throughout.
My son’s chicken came with rice, french fries and cucumber slices. The cucumbers were a wonderful touch and appreciated, even though my son won’t touch them. Our preparer remembered to pack up ketchup for his fries — a critical part of any take-​out with fries!
My fajitas were cooked appropriately (no soggy veggies!) and came with refried beans, rice, and homemade corn tortillas (if you are not a purist you can order flour ones). Here’s the kicker — the shrimp was tail-​off and NOT overcooked! I hate interrupting my meal to de-​tail shrimp!!!
I personally did not care for the rice (a little red salsa made it better) and would have preferred whole beans to refried, but that’s a personal thing. The tortillas were thick and soft and so excellent. Also noteworthy: a whole grilled scallion and grilled jalepeño in my fajitas. This is rare to find in the States.
I would definitely return when in the mood for an authentic Mexican experience. Since I do not live in SLC it will be awhile, but El Meños is top of mind when I do!

It’s a freaking travesty that this place doesn’t get the traffic that other «mexican» restaurants like Lone Star or Red Iguana gets. I have yet to get anything that was less than awesome. The chilaquiles. The sopes. Burritos. Tacos. Molcajete. All on point. This is the spot. Very friendly staff too. This is where you get good mexican food.

Good authentic Mexican food! A hidden gem with great salsa, fast service, and quality ingredients. It’s a little more pricey than some places, but the portions are worth it. Definitely my new go-​to Mexican place in SLC proper.

Great food, and very authentic. The service was really good, and the waitress was friendly. Nothing like enjoying dinner and a novela. We will be back!

Today I got head for lunch, now before you misconstrue that statement — read on and let me explain. I had lunch here yesterday and quite frankly it surprised the hell out me.
I had gone to Unilocal to find a nearby local Mexican restaurant and this spot popped up. The reviews were decent so like that morman guy I decided «this is place».
I won’t lie, other reviews state the service was fast but I understand the business and «life» so a statement like that is conditional. My first visit, the service was awesome but it was slow as molasses. The second day, it was equally as friendly but far faster.
The first day it took about ten/​fifteen minutes for our drinks, the second time it was near instant. The first day our food took about 30 minutes and the second day under 15. So if you go here give yourself some time (it’s worth it). For myself the first visit/​time was limited.
My first visit I wasn’t feeling as adventurous. But the first thing I noticed was under the burrito selection I had an option for head. At first it was a WTF thought (WHAT THE HECK, for you religious types). But then seeing as how tongue and stomach were an option (for varios menu options) — I got it. But I went with asada. I guess I wasn’t feeling as adventureous.
Today however I was, and what a great opening conversation piece. «How was your day?» «I got head for lunch». Knowing how most people would take it as a «dirty/​obscene» statement but it was far from that. To me it was a funny. I had a hankering for a smothered burrito and the offerings were vast. All in all the head was good but I prefer asada. The head (beef head) was awesome but it’s comparable to a slow cooked beef roast so this added too much moisture and had given a watered down end result. But it was still awesome. The meat was great, the service was impeccable but it was just a personal pallet thing.
All in all this place is pretty damned good. Give it a shot, but only if you aren’t stingy with your $. After my first venture here and sharing my experience, others had given me advice on what to try. So I’ll definitely go back I like the business, the atmosphere, the feeling of family, etc. But they are consistent and my new favorite Mexican restaurant.

Best Mexican I have found in SLC. It is a little hole in the wall place but the food is great. If you go at lunch Monday — Thursday the price is cheaper than fast food. It is a little spicy but I like that. I have recommended this to about 10 other people that now go there on a regular basis as well.

The only thing I really enjoyed about this place is the waitress, she was very friendly. The chips were old and a little stale. The salsa was a bit acidic, makes me think it wasn’t very fresh. We ordered a carne asada burrito and the proportion wasn’t worth the price, plus some of the meat was chewy, veins or fat I guess.

I’m from Southern Ca so am kinda a Mexican food snob. This is the best Mexican food I have found in SLC. They have a good salsa bar with guac that you can help yourself to.

Good, spicy salsa. The menu offers tripe, tongue, pulpo. It’s a bit more authentic than this gringa comprehends. We split the chicken fajitas, which were only ok. Unsurprisingly, the margaritas were terrible. Had to ask if the margaritas even had alcohol.

Great food for a good price, what more can you ask for. The owners are a young family making some delicious food. Doesn’t hurt if you know Spanish. Absolutely love this place.

Food was ok nothing to special. Service was ok but she never came back after she brought our food. No margaritas we were told they were out of wine??? Not to sure about that. And finally we were over charged and when asked about why our bill was more she acted like it was an inconvenience to re-​add our bill.

The food at Meno’s is very authentic, but not super delicious. The beans and rice could’ve used more seasoning. The tamale was good, but not great. The meat just didn’t have enough flavor. The street taco (carne asada) was the highlight of my meal, even thought it was on the smallish side. My meal was huge, especially for the price.
I’d give them a solid 3 stars for the food. I’m adding an extra star for excellent salsa, low low prices and BEERS!

A great place for taco cart tacos without the cart. They have cabeza tacos!

I think this is my new favorite Mexican restaurant in Utah. Their salsa is the best I’ve had outside of Texas, just the right amount of kick, freshness, and chunkiness (but I did not care for the chips at all (too thick)). I would buy the salsa buy the bucket full if I could.
We got the seafood enchilada and carne asada burrito (we are bad vegetarians, but who could turn down the chance to try octopus in an enchilada? I’m only human). The food was TASTY!!! That’s all I can say.
Prices were decent, and while they weren’t ridiculously cheap, they were comparable with other well-​known Mexican restaurants and comparable with the quality/​amount of food served. Décor was Mexican-​themed, and the place was clean (though the bathrooms could have used some TLC). Our server was very nice but somewhat preoccupied with her cell phone (which was only annoying because I wanted a salsa refill lol). It was fun to watch Spanish soap operas while we waited for our food. We will be back again.

I went to Meno’s with two other people. I ordered the seafood soup, and the other two ordered a Chicken Enchilada and a Chimichanga. The soup was absolutely delicious and tasted muy autentico. It had fish, crab legs, octopus, oysters, calamari, shrimp, carrots, celery, and other vegetables. It took a while to eat because you have to peel the shrimp and crack the crab legs. I was full before I got to the crab legs, which was unfortunate.
The chicken enchilada looked fantastic and came out sizzling hot. I did not eat any of it, but the person who did said, «It had great seasoning.» It looked and smelled like something I would want to order.
The chimichanga was huge and looked really delicious. If I were not doing a slow-​carb diet at the moment, I would probably have ordered that. This is a place I will want to visit again.
The environment was cozy and simple. It’s right on the corner of West Temple and 1700 S, and is easy to miss if you’re not looking for it.

This is probably another «one of the best Mexican joints» around. Friendly service and priced well. The Soup was great. Octopus was a little over cooked but the soup was full of shrimp, crab meat and octopus. Hot sauces were fantastic too. A must try.

Cheap and authentically delicious.