Elote Cafe

Passing through Sedona we were searching for a good independent restaurant and Elote fit the bill. The entrance is s little odd and it was 835 and it closes at 9 so we were concerned we would be given the bum’s rush. Not so! Delightful greeting and wonderful service. I had the shrimp which has a magnificent sauce. Came with plentiful rice and beans on the side my nephew had carnitas special and there was not a drop left on his plate. The atmosphere is casual and warm. Loved the bottle of water on the table as I needed it for spice management! Would definitely go here again!

Elote café is a must try in Sedona! There is a wonderful patio while you wait for table which is necessary since there is always a long wait, but they make it vary comfortable since they have cantina open where you can order cocktails and get a free popcorn dish that has their own seasoning on it and is really yummy. They allow you to enjoy endless popcorn while you wait and the cocktails are so good! There are two rooms. One is more family friendly and the other is more romantic with torches of flames outside the window which add to the very nice atmosphere!
This is the restaurant that I tried seared scallops for the first time and have fallen in love with them. They were cooked perfectly! The other dishes are amazing as well. On a separate visit I tried the chile rellenos and they were made with really large chiles and were stuffed with corn, cheese, onion, and more delicious ingredients! Loaded with flavor and very satisfying and went very well with a mojito from the cantina which was one of the best I’ve ever had!

Man, Sedona is beautiful. We were on there for our summer vacation. One place you must visit is the elote café. We were out shopping when someone told us that the hotel we were staying had the 2^nd best Mexican restaurant in the country. I was pleasantly surprised. The hotel was just about ok. So we decided to give this place a try. Man. Just beautiful. The ambience the crowd just beautiful. Fantastic service: I hear the wait is long, fortunately we got seated pretty quickly. The salsa and chip came in quick and the salsa was excellent. Fresh tomatoes, garlic, cilantro and some amazing Mexican spices… This was one of the best salsa I have had. The menu is short and sweet. I ordered the lamb adobo their signature dish. Just beautiful. The spices, the lamb the flavor was just perfect. Undeniably The best in Sedona.

I can count the 5 star meals I’ve had in my life on my fingers. This was the best meal I’ve had in a while.
We stayed at a B&B this past weekend in Sedona for our anniversary and the owner suggested Elote Café but told us to get their early because a line forms.
«Yeah sure» I thought, knowing that in Sedona anything worthwhile takes a reservation. It just so happens around 4:30pm we’re driving by going from Sedona toward Bell Rock.
«Let’s just drive through the lot and see if there’s a line» my wife suggested. When we saw there was a sizable one forming, we decide dto get in it. Although we got there at 4:30pm we didn;t get seated in the dining room. We got a table in an annex that the adjoining hotel uses as a breakfast room. Instead of gazing at the red rocks, I had a pristine view of the parking lot.
It didn’t matter.
The namesake dish, the elote, is a must. After trying it, I pretty much decided to buy the cookbook on the spot (it’s actually more expensive on Amazon, weird). I suspect we’ll be seeing that on July 4.
My wife meant to order guacamole (I absolutely hate avocados) but instead ordered the botanas, avocado sections «breaded» in ground roasted pepitas. It looked and smelled so good, I actually ate some of it.
My pork cheeks and my wife’s snapper were perfect too.
On this trip, we had a couple of great meals, and a couple of really horrible ones, but I would go back to Sedona specifically to go to Elote Café again.

Best Mexican food in Sedona!
Go early, Repeat, go early (really) Reservation system not always consistent.
Good place to go if you are not on a deadline. Food is worth the wait.
Have had 5+ meals here and have nothing but praise from the group.
You always meet interesting people while waiting.
It has become a fixture on the go to place for great Mexican food.

The food here leaves me with an issue. Do I inhale it faster than a Hoover because I can’t help myself? Or do I slowly and happily savor every incredible bite?
We got the guacamole, the elote, los camarones en chipotle, and something else. It was way too much food. But we ate every last bite as if it were a challenge. But it wasn’t. It was just that good.
You guys, the wait sucks. It sucks balls. You have to get there super early if it’s a Friday or Saturday and start waiting in that shaded outdoor walkway. Wave at the people in the pool. The other option is to come on a weekday. btw, they aren’t open on Sunday or Monday. Once you get your little buzzer, you’re left to your own devices at the outdoor patio with chips and salsa.
Do I think it’s worth the wait? I’d say so. The servers are fantastic, the food is quick to be delivered, and the table turnover is swift.

Wow! Wow! Wow! Order the Elote appetizer. Yum! I ordered the Sea Bass Asada and my sister ordered the flat iron Asada plate. You won’t be disappointed.

Yeah, as amazing as the reviews say. Pork cheek was outstanding! Enchiladas were good. Elote dip was to die for! Jalapeño Margarita, heaven! Our waiter was so great! We got there early and were seated quickly. Great way to celebrate our anniversary!

The brisket tacos were outstanding! Service was amazing! So glad we stopped on a whim to eat dinner here.

Highly recommended! Maybe the best Mexican food we’ve ever had. I got the Camerones en Chipotle (grilled shrimp) and wife got the smoked chicken enchiladas. Both great, really good flavor and good portion size considering the high quality. Even the chips and salsa were amazing. Entrees are in the $ 20-​$ 30 range but we thought it was reasonable for the quality and quantity that you get.
To top it off, we had good service from our waiter Sky.
Really can’t recommend this place enough. The only downside is the wait (about 50 minutes for us on a Friday night but also a holiday weekend).
Anyway totally worth it IMO. You can also get drinks and popcorn while you wait.

Wow wow wow! We had an incredible dining experience here while in Sedona. We thought maybe Elote would be too high brow for us but decided to trust the other Unilocalers and their glowing reviews. Boy are we glad we did. From the service to the incredible food, it was top notch without being stuffy.
We started with their signature elote corn dip as I imagine most other first timers do. While it was good and unique, it’s not the star of the show so save room for the main course! We moved on to the Pork Cheeks (OMG) and Camerones Chipotle (perfection). These dishes are so well balanced that every bite is a sensation of flavours.
I loved the pork cheeks so much that I was tempted to leave the restaurant chanting «pork cheeks, pork cheeks» to everyone in the waiting area.
Seriously just go and expect to be wowed. It is not hype!

After a very disappointing dinner at L’Auberge’s Cress Restaurant the night before, I was looking for an amazing place to eat in Sedona because it was our last night here and thanks to my fellow foodie Santi T who lives in Arizona via Hawaii threw out a bone and told me about Elote Café and after reading all the glowing reviews on Unilocal,this had to be the place to make up for that disastrous dinner we experienced last night and let’s just say after our dining experience here at Elote Café, everything was stellar from start to finish.
This was by far, a dining experience of a lifetime because for one, it’s not a fine dining restaurant and two, it takes no reservations, so my advice to you is come early or else expect to wait.
What I love about Elote Café is the buzz that surrounds this place. As soon as you walk up the restaurant, you can hear the noise level erupt but in a good way because to me busy is good and that’s a great sign.
It also helps that the Hostesses are very friendly and not stuffy. They hand you a buzzer if you are waiting for a table. But while you are waiting for a table, you get a Margarita or Cocktail from the bar and let’s just say you have to get yourself a Margarita while you wait because they know how to make a Margarita. They even have flights of Tequila as if you are at a Winery or something.
While we were waiting for our table, you could see the constant flow of people coming in to eat here. I know it’s difficult to just go by reviews but we knew we hit the jackpot on this one.
As for the menu, I wouldn’t call this authentic Mexican, but Mexican with a twist. The owner/​chef sure has a wonderful looking menu without the prices that would scream tourist trap.
As soon as you are seated, your are served complimentary Chips and Salsa. I had a Guava Jalapeño Mezcal~Rita which was really strong and tasty. My wife had the Non Alcoholic Cucumber Limeade which she raved about.
For starters we had two items:
Duck Flautas $ 12.00: Two Crispy Rolled Taco’s of shredded Duck Abodabo… Delicious
Elote: $ 7.50: Now people, this is an absolute must order because the restaurant is named after this. Elote means Corn on the Cob and the way they prepare this Elote is simply orgasmic and out of this world amazing. You will never look at corn the same way ever again. This dish is made with Fire Roasted Corn with Spicy Mayo, Lime, and Cotija Cheese. It comes with Corn Chips I believe and I had Corngasm afterwards.
For the Main Course we had
Lamb Adobo: $ 26.50 Another well executed dish. If you are a big fan of Osso Bucco or any meat that falls right off the bone, you really have to order this dish, I seriously mean you have to order this dish because the Lamb literally fell right off the bone and the meat was so soft and not as gamey as Lamb usually is. It was served with a Sweet and Spicy Ancho Chile Sauce. Perfection at its best.
Camarones en Chipotle: $ 24.00: Grilled Wild Mexican Shrimp with Honey lime grilled corn, tomato chipotle sauce and crema chipotle which should be served on the side unless you love heat. These Shrimps were absolutely delicious and not overcooked. The Sauce on the other hand was a tad too spicy if you ask me but it was still an amazing dish.
Dessert: There is only one thing you have to order and its…
Pastel de Elote: It’s a sweet corn cake served with homemade Dulce de Leche and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. One bite of the piping hot corn cake and vanilla ice cream together a game over.
It was a dinner for the ages. This is a place you have to at least try while in Sedona and if you don’t, then it’s your loss and don’t say k told you so.
Being from Hawaii, we don’t have any Mexican Food that even comes this close when it comes to taste, flavor, and an overall home run of a dinner.
Big thanks to Sky our server who made this dining experience even better than it already was. He nailed everything he recommended to us and that was a deal breaker for me. Always trust a server who know his stuff and Sky definitely is in top of his game.
I’ll say it once again. When in Sedona, Elote Café is a place you have to try.

Next time you come to Sedona you must eat here! Only open for dinner and it was an almost hour wait BUT it was WORTH IT! Starting from the margaritas & free popcorn to every dish we had!
GET THE ELOTE! The chile relleno was O-​M-​G I had a side of veggies instead of the beans & rice. The carnitas my friend got were delicious too! And our Skyler was knowledgeable, quick & friendly.

If it’s good enough for Bernie it’s good enough for me! My boyfriend and I stopped here during our Sedona visit and it didn’t disappoint. Expect a wait though for sure if you’re going to come here, I’m not sure if they take reservations but it definitely gets packed. We sat at the bar because eh, we were hungry. I wanted to try their margaritas but because we were driving, we originally planned to just get one margarita but our bartender was overly generous and made two. I wound up making my boyfriend drink most of the margaritas so I could drive. They were very good though!
We tried the elote, which is what they’re famous for. I still think about the elote here on a fairly regular basis. The corn was perfectly roasted and had just the right amount of smokiness in it. The cheese made everything a little bit savory and creamy. It was perfection on a plate. I’ve added elote to the list of dishes I’ll be trying my hand at over the summer.
We also tried the pork cheeks and they were really terrific as well! The buttermilk dressing was my favorite. It honestly just tasted like more intense ranch dressing but I like ranch dressing so I’m not complaining.
Expect to pay a fair bit here though, it’s definitely not your average hole-​in-​the-​wall Tex-​Mex spot! Worth though, in my opinion.

It takes quite a bit for me to rate a 5 — but this is one of them. Probably as much for the food as for our grand experience when the Chef invited us into the kitchen to see how he makes his Elote — how fun!
No reservations — but we got in line at perfect timing around 445pm so we got the first seating.
Ambiance is nothing special but the food is quite grand.
Of course we had the Elote — signature dish — fabulous!
Margarita and sangria were yum
Service right on target.
Yums were — roasted corn soup, jicama salad, Sea Bass and some fabulous chocolate cake/​pie for desert.
The Chef is super friendly — while cooking he’s also out and about greeting customers and signing his cookbook — a great experience overall!

Ahhh, Elote Café. Upon doing research for our upcoming trip to Sedona, I made it a point to visit Elote. 1) I love elote and 2) I love elote, so it was a no brainer. We knew we had to be there pretty early from other reviews, so we got there about 30 minutes before opening — we thought this should be enough time, especially because it’s the middle of the week. BOY WERE WE WRONG! We were at the end of the queue at the start of the platform up to the restaurant, and we unfortunately didn’t make the first wave of guests to be served. We essentially wait about an hour a half to be seated.
Pro tip: come at least an hour early.
While waiting, we were able to order drinks, we had the prickly pear margarita — delicious! and complimentary tortilla chips. That helped the wait go by quicker. They also allowed us to wait in the near by seating area that’s connected to the hotel near by. So we weren’t just standing around.
Onto the food: of course we had to order the elote appetizer — came out very quickly, and was so fresh. The grilled corn makes such a difference and everything was delicious. Boyfriend had the Smoked Pork Cheeks — this is served with cascabel chile sauce, grandma’s corn cake and buttermilk cumin drizzle ($ 20). I on the other hand, had the camarones en chipotle — this was grilled wild mexican shrimp with honey-​lime grilled corn, roasted tomato-​chipotle sauce and chipotle crema ($ 24). We honestly thought we didn’t order enough, but BOY WERE WE WRONG, AGAIN. Boyfriend said he literally couldn’t breathe after eating all of this, and that doesn’t happen often. The serving sizes look like they aren’t enough, but honestly we were so stuffed, we couldn’t even order the dessert that was highly coveted.
I definitely will go back to Elote café the next time I visit Sedona. Yo quiero Elote!

If you like food, this is a must go to! There is a wait and at peak times it will be 1:30 — 1:45 minutes. There is really no getting around it. So if you are with a large group perhaps one of you can go ahead and wait for the group.
The food was prepared super well with seasoning and temperatures being spot on. The drinks flowed very nicely especially since my wife and I decided to eat at the bar.
We had the elote, tamales, pork cheeks and sea-​bass. The elote was well balanced with the corn and aoli sauce and did not feel heavy. The tamales was very good and flavorful, the pork cheeks was very tender and reminded me more of a BBQ pulled pork, the sea-​bass was my favorite as it popped with flavor and was prepared perfectly! We were stuffed but tried the house desert too. It was good but after such a large meal we couldn’t have but a couple of bits.
Elote, has its own Heradura double reposado tequila which was very tasty if you like tequila, a must try.

Just had the BEST meal we’ve had in awhile! After reading rave reviews we had to try Elote. It was worth the wait!
We arrive at 650p on a Saturday night. Approached the hostess stand to put our name on the waiting list. The hostesses were very friendly, efficient and knowledgeable. It was just my husband and I. She told us the wait would be 45 mins to an hr. Told us we can stand in the drinks line to get cocktails and popcorn while we wait.
After a 5 – 10 mins wait in line we got out 2 margaritas & complimentary popcorn and went to the patio to wait for our table. Surprisingly the total wait time was only 35 mins.
We were seated at the bar. There was water and chip & salsa at our seat waiting for us. Bartender Adrian greeted us shortly. He remembered us from earlier in the drink line and remembered our drinks. Nice fella. We already knew what we wanted to order from reading the menu on the patio while we waited. We ordered another round of out margaritas and our food. Blood Orange margarita & Cucumber lime margarita. For food we started w/​the house special Elote which is the fire roasted corn & Duck Flautas. Both appetizers were excellent. So flavorful and delicious. Our entrees were the pork cheeks and shrimp chipotle. The shrimp were amazing!
Overall we had a great experience. The wait was not that bad for a Saturday night. The service was impeccable. The food was the best Mexican we’ve ever had. Explosion of flavors in everything. Drinks were boozy also.
We were already stuffed but I had to try the flan. OMG! Must try! Bartender even gave us a sample shot of their house special almond tequila to go w/​the flan. Out of this world amazing!
We will definitely come back here every time we’re in Sedona :)

Please take this review with a grain of salt, as that’s how our margaritas came.
We went here on a Tuesday night (during spring break?) in March, we showed up at 8:15, and were told there was going to be about 1 hour and 15 min wait (which we completely expected from the reviews). We settled down with a couple of drinks to wait.
Let’s start with the drinks. I ordered the Jeffery (I think it was called) and he ordered a tequila/​ginger beer concoction. Both were completely delicious and the strongest marg I’ve ever had in my life– thank goodness for the bowls of salty popcorn!
We only ended up waiting about 45 mins, which was just enough time to finish our drinks. For dinner we split order of guac (good!!) and the elote (known for this– amazing!!!) and a strip steak dish.
The food was delicious but we were quite intoxicated and overate on the appetizers, we brought the steak back to the hotel.
It didn’t seem too crowded despite the wait, and by the time we sat down it felt empty and intimate. Would definitely come back here again!

Yum!
My friend and I were visiting Sedona for just a couple of days and we chose this place for dinner on our second night after reading the Unilocal reviews about lines out the door and all the praise of their namesake dish.
We had about a 30 minute wait, which we managed to patiently wait through with a drink and a bowl of popcorn. During our wait, we read the menus, which were conveniently printed onto aluminum cans set on the tables outside and decided on what we wanted so we could order immediately.
When our pager buzzed to let us know our table was ready, we basically ran inside and as soon as we sat down, we placed our order with the waiter. The elote was well worth the hype. Creamy, cheesy, lightly spicy, and made even better with a squeeze of lime, we gobbled it up as soon as it hit the table.
For my main, I got the cochinita, which was a slow-​roasted pork inside of a banana leaf. It was a huge portion size served with a giant bowl of rice and beans. It was a bit salty for my taste, but it was delicious.
My friend got the pork cheeks, and compared to my dish, the serving size seemed underwhelming. The pork was super tender and the corn cake was pretty good.
Overall, the service was great — attentive without being annoying — and we enjoyed our meal immensely.

Upscale Mexican!!!
Both the spicy mayo corn and the chile relleno were delicious!!!