Sonrisa

We came here to grab a bite to eat and were very pleased with everything. The chips and salsa that came out was nice and freshly fried, the salsa was different than your usual salsa you get at authentic restaurants but it was definitely homemade and fresh. Our server was awesome from the whole experience.
We ordered my son the Mexican Kids Mac n Cheese meal which includes a drink and Ice cream. We got him pineapple juice and strawberry ice cream.
I ordered their cuban sandwich with a salad that had pickled veggies on it and a zesty dressing which WOWed me! Loved the dressing and the salad. The Cuban sandwich is more of a mexican pulled pork sandwich with some sliced ham and cheese, so I didnt enjoy it much because I expected it all to be sliced, BUT, it was still good.
My husband had a burrito, I forgot the name but it was a dry burrito drizzled with sour cream. It had steak in it and it was plentiful and filled with beans and rice and such. My husband said it was spicy but I didnt think it was spicy at all. The steak tasted great in the burrito, it had a nice smoky grilled taste to it.
For drinks, I had a Red Sangria, I liked it a lot, it wasnt too sweet, just nice and suttle how I like my wine.
Overall, we really enjoyed our visit, the food was good, but it didn’t taste too authentic at all, its more of a super americanized tex mex restaurant, but it was still good. My son killed his mac n cheese so its a good sign! Great service, good food, we will return again when we are in the area and craving tex mex food!

I don’t know about any one else but when a waiter offers me something (guacomole in this case) and doesn’t mention the cost (which turned out to be $ 8 when we saw the bill) it is just bad form. The chips are thicker than I’m used to and perhaps as a result, much oiler. The frying oil may have just started to turn by the time we got there so not the freshest tasting.
We were there on a Saturday evening. The place was about half full. The guacomole was on the tasteless side of things, same goes for the rest of the meal which consisted of a salad and a pork entrée. Service was good, ambience, not bad. I would have given this place an A-​Ok rating but the guac experience took it down a notch.

Came here for happy hour with a friend and we ordered the loaded tater tots, tacos, a sangria for me and a perfect pearl plum margarita for her. The drinks were pretty good actually and the tater tots were yummy. The taco were a bit dry unfortunately and not too flavorful. We had salsa and chips on the house though so that was nice. Service was iffy and I would have expected better but considering everything– this place was okay.

The chips and salsa (when the oil isn’t getting old… which is usually about Happy Hour time!) are AMAZING! Margaritas are strong and of decent quality.
I had the Happy Hour Nachos which were a great price point and decent. I have and will eat here again for the Happy Hour menu. I probably wouldn’t spring for a full dinner here unless it was after a full day of shopping, and I had a full time job :)

I came here a few times years ago and mostly remembered the food being OK and the portions ginormous. A recent return visit confirmed that my memory was fairly accurate. I generally avoid UVillage, but this is a decent place for a meal if I happen to be in the area. My lemon drop was not the best I’ve ever had, but was well made, the chips are not your standard tortilla chips, and my enchiladas were fine. The prices are a little high but since the portions are so big, it works out. Our server was good, although the hostesses got a little carried away at their station and we could hear them from the other side of the restaurant. All in all, A-​OK.

My family and I went on 2÷6÷13 and were pleasantly surprised. We just moved here and have not been able to enjoy good Mexican food. The service was GOOD! I rarely tip but I was glad to do so for our server.
The Guacamole was super good, fresh chips, and good salsa. The best thing was the Seafood Enchiladas, WOW! The child tacos had very little meat but it was well cooked. The fish in the tacos was under seasoned but the chicken enchiladas were very good. I was a bit surprised how they were half green and half red sauce but it was good. My husband had the Steak tacos and I found them to be bland as well but with salt and salsa they were good.
Overall this is going under a family fave. It was a bit pricey a party of 6 it was $ 95, that’s with a special and no drinks other than a Margarita that wasn’t too good. But I would still go again: D

I enjoyed my meal. I did read the reviews before we went so maybe I was expecting it to be awful and was pleasantly surprised?
Busy but not crowded
Very polite and attentive waitress
Good food
I had enchilada’s and they were good. The margarita was tasty. I liked the salsa that came with the chips!

Did I read the previous reviews before I ate here? No. Should I have? Yes, and I wouldn’t have had the unappetizing experience I just had.
Maybe the word «Modern» means bland and fast-​foodish, since that’s what my Baja Fish Tacos tasted like — large portions of deep fried fish (almost like fish and chips) thrown on top of some shredded cabbage on a flour tortilla with a smattering of some kind of sauce, not good. The Queso Fundido had nothing fun about it, it was grainy and bland and the salsa was orange-​y and stuck to the chips like ketchup, very odd.
The service was sub-​par as well — the waitress kept forgetting about us, even though there were hardly any people in sight, and when she brought our order, it was wrong, when she brought my margarita, it was wrong too.
I see that some of the reviewers say they love this place, and I can only guess that they’ve never tried actual Mexican food. For goodness sake, the taco trucks surpass this place in presentation and taste, what a sad waste of restaurant space in U Village.

Sonrisa is me and my wife’s favorite mexican restaurant. They aleays have fresh local ingredients. Their happy hour offers some great deals. They offer a great selection of delicious margaritas. When its sunny, sitting out on the sidewalk is great to people watch and have some great homemade chips and salsa in the sun. The atmosphere inside and out is great and the staff is always friendly.
The only downside, our favorite item om the menu, mexican caprese salad is off the menu.

Service was great, but the food was so blah! We had there lunch specials, which for Mexican lunch specials were not on the cheap end so I was expecting something tastier. My enchiladas were ok, edible but not that tasty. The sauce was lackluster. I also had the green chile soup which was so salty and bland I couldn’t finish it.
I’m sure there are more edible things on the menu, but overall this place was a bust.
** On a positive note, the margarita was delicious.

I love coming here whenever I go to U-​Village!
PROS:
1. Free chips and salsa. And lots of it. And it’s really yummy, deep-​fried, crunchy, crispy, etc. Better texture than other chips. I think they use flour tortillas instead of corn. And chips and salsa refills.
2. Great ambiance. Lots of outdoor seating for sunny days. And plenty of indoor seating for cooler days.
3. Delicious food with excellent presentation.
4. Tres leches cake. $ 8 and it’s enough for FOUR people to share. A little dense and not as moist as others, but yummy nonetheless.
5. Happy hour on Saturday!
CONS:
1. Maybe a tad bit pricey.

It looks like people don’t like this place too much?
They have great happy hour hours and food/​drinks though! I like to come here and sit outside in the summer especially. We order house margaritas, sometimes other food too. I noticed they added shrimp and veggie options to their tacos so that is exciting. I ordered their house jalapenos once but unfortunately, I didn’t realize there was bacon. It was totally my fault so I ended up just picking it off. They also give you a nice basket of chips and you walk out without feeling like you were robbed.
Fun happy hour times!

I’ve been here a number of times whenever we’re at U Village and are all, «where do we go for lunch, no, not there, no, not there… uh, Sonrisa? Sure».
I decided to round up since I’m in a generous mood, but like some others I’d like to give this place 3.5 stars. It’s better than a lot of the places in U Village (although that’s changing with some of the recent additions). Perhaps I round up because they’re always accommodating when I come in with my kid who was apparently raised by non-​restaurant attending wolves.
The ambiance is nice, the service is always good, but the food is sometimes a little more bland than I’d like for a mexican place. I even went here for brunch and ordered a breakfast burrito with chorizo and it was decidedly non-​spicy. I’m a spice-​wimp, so if I say it wasn’t spicy, you can believe me.
Good for large groups (esp. if you make a reservation) and good happy hour specials, with plenty of seating in the bar and a bunch o’ TVs. So I’d say recommended, but not jumping out of my seat.

i like the chips here today. warm and seems like they make it at the restaurant. I would recommend that they use regular salsa for the chips… Im not a huge fan of the sweet yellowish salsa.
The specials of the week and happy hour are great deals but the regular menu is a bit pricey for the appetizers. I wish happy hour started at 7 – 8 since uvillage closes around 9 and i usually head out at this time. just a suggestion?!

I have been here a few times and was pleased with my visits.
Nice chips and salsa for starters. Thick tortilla chips and a variety of salsas to wet the appetite! I tried two entrees:
Carnitas Platter ($ 14) which has roasted pork with borracho beans guacamole and pico de gallo. Pretty darn tasty!
Baja fish tacos ($ 13) beer battered cod on three tacos. The fillings are good and fairly filling.
Overall food is decent with prices on the moderate side. Service has always been very good and friendly. Located conveniently in the U. Village so ample parking is available. A viable option if you are in the area.

I’m updating my review from three to four stars on the basis of happy hour. The first time we went, we had an average experience at dinner, but I’ve been back since several times for happy hour. The bar area is comfortable, you always get quick, friendly service, and the happy hour specials are great. A $ 4 margarita (OK, two $ 4 margaritas), the $ 4 taco plate (2 small but «authentic» tacos) and complimentary chips really hit the spot after work or shopping.
Happy hour starts at 3 and I think goes to 6:30 now, and again at late night (but you want to check with them). They also have daily specials in the bar, and today I saw a sign for $ 10 lunches from 11 – 4 (but did not review the $ 10 lunch menu). So I’m now thinking of Sonrisa in a much more favorable light, but skipping the «dinner» and dining room altogether in favor of the bar.

Reading «Modern Mexican» in a restaurant’s name doesn’t give me a lot of hope, but Sonrisa surprised me. The seafood enchiladas I had were tasty and not overpriced. Modern = nicely plated, which is an appreciated touch. The enchiladas had a creamy sauce, and the filling included bay scallops, fish, and shrimp, and they all were fresh and flavorful — the taste of each item was distinguishable. One weird glitch with service… another table near us ordered similar items, and they put their food in front of us before figuring out it was the wrong table and taking it away.

This past Saturday — we headed down to U-​Village to get some brunch before the Huskies football game. Surprise surprise… The Ram was packed. We put our names down, it looked like we were about #10 down on the list… then we asked the hostess about an estimated wait time — she just looked at me and said ‘honestly, there’s no estimate — no one is moving”. Ok. I was starving. Next place please!
It was a little before 10, so I wasn’t sure what else would be open. We called Sonrisa and they said they were… so we walked to the other side of U-​village. It was somewhat empty when we got there — a few football fans were already at the bar though. Our waitress came by and let us know about a drink special they were running for the day — Husky-​rita, basically a ton of alcohol mixed together then thrown into a bucket for our sipping pleasure. Done, 2 please!
I had been here once before just for drinks — but was weary of all the bad reviews they got here on Unilocal.Didn’t matter though cause like I said, I was huuuuuungry! I got the breakfast burrito and the bf got steak/​chicken combo fajitas.
The Husky-​ritas and chips/​salsa were brought out first. Both were good! The chips and salsa were unlike any I had tried before — the chips were a little thicker and the salsa was really smoky, I liked it!
My burrito was huge and I enjoyed every single bite of it. Filled w/​eggs and potatoes — yum yum! The fajitas were good too… but how can one really mess up on fajitas?
I liked my experience at Sonrisa. The service was good. The food was good. The drinks were good. I’d go back!

This review is for the happy hour only.
I’ve heard nothing but bad about the Mexican food at this place, so I’ve been leery of trying it. However, I just discovered they have a really good happy hour deal from 3:30 to 6:30, so a friend and I tried it out one day this week after work.
She said her sangria was on the sweet side, and the fruity margaritas (between the two of us we tried raspberry and mango) were good and huge, but very weak. The chips and salsa were quite tasty as well. My queso reminded me a lot of QDoba’s and came with tortillas, salsa, and guacamole, so not exactly gourmet but no complaints, either. She liked the quesadilla. On another trip I tried out the stuffed jalapenos, and they were gooey and spicy and wrapped in bacon and overall calorie-​laden delicious.
Overall we spent less than $ 15 a person to fill up on food and have two drinks apiece, so while I wouldn’t go here for dinner, I’m definitely a fan of the Happy Hour.

Sometimes I get it wrong. Really, really wrong…
My parents and I, running errands in the teeming wilds of U-​Village (the day before UW graduation), needed a spot to eat. Instead of sticking with tried-​and-​true Village standby Piatti’s, we opted to test out something new: Sonrisa.
I already knew this wasn’t authentic anything (other than fresh-​mex), but the menu looked promising enough: they have a nice lunch special plate, with choices of either a cup of soup or salad plus tacos, quesadillas, or enchiladas for $ 10. Outdoor seating too, although not in use on that more overcast afternoon, but nevertheless a possible plus for the future.
I opted for the tomatillo chicken tortilla soup and the carne asada tacos. The pre-​lunch chips were quite good, I’ll say, and the salsa smoky and satisfying. Lunch arrived, and looked tempting, arrayed on the tray: nice small soup cup sprinkled with tortilla strips, two corn soft tacos filled with steak and pico de gallo, and a salsa/​topping platter for the table to share (guacamole, Spanish rice, black beans, and more pico de gallo).
But…I took one spoonful of the soup. Now, I love wine, and I have an adventurous palate, and usually can pick out almost any flavor note to identify. But this soup… A bit reminiscent of some sort of citrus cleaner. Not the tang of tomatillo, serrano, or jalapeño, but sharper, slightly bitter, and incredibly odd.
And unappetizing. I had several more bites, wondering if something was off with me, but it never got any more palatable. In fact, a similar flavor lurked in the black beans. It’s rare that I pronounce something inedible, but this soup was as close to that as I’ve been in a long time. Additionally, the tacos were disappointing: the corn tortilla was tasty and warm, but there was very little flavor despite the tempting appearance of the salsa.
Service was very friendly, and the chips were great, so perhaps this is a better happy hour or drink spot (I didn’t try any margaritas or tequilas). The guacamole, which we didn’t order, comes with plantain chips (a fave of mine), so maybe on a hot afternoon I’ll check out their deck if I’m running errands in the Village. Until then, I’m sticking with Piatti’s as the go-​to dining destination around the corner.