Plaza Jalisco

Although the ambiance is lacking, and the parking lot is small, the food was good, the portions large, and the staff friendly and fast. I’m giving them 4 stars because the Mexican restaurant across the street has 3 stars and I’d recommend this place over their next door competitor.

My husband and I have been coming here since 2000! This is our «go to» Mexican restaurant. I always order the chicken fajitas which actually have lots of chicken! My husband and our boys like the chicken mole and the carne Asada. Again the meat portions are really plentiful. Once in a while I like to go to other Mexican restaurants just to change it up a bit, but the amount of meat you get is disappointing compared to Plaza Jalisco. Also plaza Jalisco has the best pico de gaio!

I would recommend this to locals who want Americanized Mexican food. The portions were large and cheap, but the food was without flavor. I struggled to eat the meal, and had to add hot sauce which was not spicy at all. The flavors in the food made me feel like I had a cold and couldn’t taste and was just chewing. Anyhow I’d skip this unless you want large portions, cheap.

Stopped in on a Wednesday night. Service was seriously fast, food is very tasty. The wait staff is seriously on point and my water glass never went empty. The environment is small by comparison so the volume level is much quieter than I’m used to. The price for our meal wasn’t out of line. The bathrooms are clean and well lit. If there was one downside it’d be I felt rushed… My wife hadn’t finished eating and the bill was on the table. Also, once the bill hit the table my water glass wasn’t refilled. Not a bad meal and if I hadn’t felt rushed they’d have got that 5^th star from me.

How anyone could give this place any less than 4 or 5 stars amazes the hell out of me! This place is great! Very large portions, fair prices, great service and good food. My water was kept full the entire time, this is actually fairly remarkable feat because I drink a lot of water. My wife and I went here with our two kids, a 4 and a 5 year old and even they loved it! Kids meals are 5 bucks and 3 bucks on Sunday. They also had large portions.
We were all very happy with this place.

It was so terrible. Everything tasted like it was from a can. My son had the child’s quesadilla and it had a piece of hair in it. I took one bite of my nachos and sent them back it was so nasty and the server didn’t even ask if something was wrong with the food or why I was sending it back. He never asked me if I wanted another drink. The buss boy was great but the server was terrible. After talking to the manager about all of the problems she gave me a 5 $ gift card. I almost just laughed and handed it back to her. It was an all around terrible experience. I will never come back.

Go to this place often, it’s good food for fair prices, nice size portions. it’s not amazing but it gets the job done. I really like their fajitas. Service is decent. If your in the mood for Mexican food this will do the trick although there are better places in the area.

My favorite place for Mexican in the Tumwater, Olympia, Lacey area. Maybe I just like the spice mix of their sauce, maybe I have a preference for their style of shredded beef, or maybe I have gotten lucky on all 3 of my visits, but I prefer Plaza Jalisco over the nearby store, over the popular trucks, just barely over Don Garcia’s and Mi Pueblo, and by a large margin over the other old school Mexican restaurants in town. I have not tried the new place on the westside so maybe that will take over the top rank in my mind.
The restaurant is rather hidden away back from the street but worth the effort. Lunch specials are good value and service has always been friendly if not a bit slow at times. Chicken enchiladas had lots of good meat and anything with shredded beef is great in my book.

Came for lunch. Got the special. IMO, it was totally worth the $. 7.50 for special. Two enchiladas with rice and beans. Chip and salsa were free and delicious. The enchiladas were good, especially the chicken, which was super delicious. The rice and beans were great.
I would much rather spend my dinero here than el sarape or that place in tenino. is it called don Juan’s? Get your Mexi on here for a good price with yummy flavors. YAH

Came into Plaza expecting good Mexican food, and I got great Mexican food. Hot, fresh, delicious, and huge portions. Highly recommended.

Poor service from check-​in to table. Drinks never reordered and water never refilled. I believe they are short staffed. The menu does not describe spicy or mild so be careful and ask before you order.

My family tried here after horribly striking out at another restaurant. We were placed in the back and forgotten about. It took them quite a while to bring drinks and take our orders.
We asked for guacamole for our chips — and that took a good 20 minutes to arrive. My wife and I split a verde burrito that was exceptionally salty — so bad my wife couldn’t finish it. My wife asked for sour cream which didn’t arrive until the check did… and in a to-​go box. The rice was bland — Rice-​a-​Roni tastes better than that did. We were asked twice for refills — and the second time it took a good 10 minutes to get our refills.
I normally have liked this place, but I will never be going back to this particular location ever again.

Awful awful awful. First time there and will never go back. Awful service, awful food awful margaritas. Husband ordered deep fried jalapeños never got them.

Urgh. Maybe I’m spoiled? Everything was OK but nothing great. From the wait for someone to seat me, the Spanish language TV conflicting with the otherwise pleasant Mexican music, chips that tasted just a bit overdone or maybe burned, and a burrito that was good but despite the chef’s good effort overshadowed by the general lack of atmosphere.. If really hungry I might eat here but really, only if I had to. At least they have free WiFi.

Nice clean atmosphere with Mexican décor from entrance to dining room to bathroom. It’s typical Tex-​Mex with dishes heavy in the cheese but the staff is efficient & friendly. I like the painted murals and paintings with images from the owner’s province. You can extend your enjoyment with libations from the bar!

We tried a variety of dishes, including the special and no one was happy. The drinks were powdered Lipton tea, the bad kind and the raspberry lemonade was so bad our kids wouldn’t drink it. They said it tasted like cough syrup. The salsa tasted like chlorine and watered down. Stay away from shredded beef, unless you like shoe leather. Even the guacamole was horrible. No homemade tortillas? We were very disappointed and will not be back.
And the guy was too busy watching the soccer game to let us pay our tab. I’m so astonished this place is in business. The worse Mexican food in olympia area.

I had a traveling job in the Imperial Valley in 1973. In each town we’d seek out the Mexican restaurant, and every night I’d order Chile Rellenos, and wow, every night I’d get a different dish! red sauce, green sauce, brown sauce, with eggs, without eggs, and since relleno means «stuffed» — always a surprise — cheese? pork? chicken?.
I’d stopped buying Chile Rellenos because lately it’s the same dish, taken out of the freezer, mass produced. So I was pleased to find out that at Plaza Jalisco a REAL cook makes a handmade Relleno on site.
Know why else I love this place? the décor. Arches with tiles, hand carved calla lillies on the booth, dark green table tops that contrast so nicely with Mexican Food, a feast for the eyes, too.

Chicken was dry with little flavor. The rice was good though.

Hungry and tired I made a split decision to try this restaurant without too much research.
Immediately I could tell this would be a night of misses. It took a while to be seated as we waited for someone to pay their bill first with only one staff member doing both jobs. After being seated the impression of the interior I saw was very «tired» looking. The carpet was worn out and the paint job looked untouched for 10 plus years.
After A look at the menu I felt the choices were unimpressive and I chose the dinner special which was chicken fajitas. The meat seemed not that fresh and precut in strips long ago, possibly previously frozen. I found myself craving for more vegtables and I new this was a low density food decision I had made, bummer. $ 15 for lots of rice and beans is a bust in my opinion.
The staff was friendly but you can tell they lack management as they hang out in the bar and joke around rather then focus first on patrons.
In conclusion, it’s not that this place is bad, but it is so average. And average doesn’t cut it in a world of so many choices. Choices both with Mexican and non Mexican food. For those searching for Mexican food done right try Mi Pueblo in Lacey or the nearby hole in the wall Ramirez Mexican for a real taste bud experience!

Good food, reasonable prices, classic décor, mediocre service.
I had the veggie enchiladas and was pleased with the plethora of fresh veggies in there! It even made for wonderful leftovers.
Great prices on their specials, drinks too!