Dona Juanas Tamales

Found this little gem on Unilocal while visiting family for Thanksgiving. Growing up in Arizona, I’m used to authentic Mexcian food, so I’d say I’m a pretty good judge. This family-​run joint was excellent – from the moment I walked through the door to when I finished my last bite. Two of my favorite details, aside from the great food: mom/​grandma (who doesn’t speak much english) in the kitchen cooking up her Mexicano treasures and the DIY salsa/​pickled condiment bar to enhance your meal. We had a cheese quesadilla and a bean/​cheese burrito. I wish we’d ventured out a little more, but both were delicious!

Sergio greeted & served us the best tamales & mole. Opened by his mom 12 years ago, family owned & family made authentic Mexican food. Very friendly!

Amazing, authentic, unique food. SO so good. Just stopped in for lunch on our way through town and now we’re going to have to come back on our way home. There’s so much more I have to try! Gorgeous flavorful tamales, surprisingly delicious home made tamarind water, and the most glorious deep fried quesadilla I could imagine. Can’t wait to go back and try more things!

Lo mejor de la Autentica Cocina Mexicana en toda esta hermosa zona del estado de Washington, cada platillo un sabor y toque único de la escala de 1 al 10 este lugar saca un 11, pues rebasa el estándar del sabor y calidad, además de un fino trato de amabilidad que se siente uno en familia… Felicidades y sigan con esta traducido de sabor.

We have been here several times and recommended it to friends. Service is good and helpful. Food is very good and prices very reasonable! The Tamales are very good. I enjoyed the goat tacos, you cant go wrong!

*Super friendly gentleman served us, very kind and knew his stuff
*Pork Mole was one of the best I have ever had, and their home made tortillas! Insanely good
*Down home authentic awesome food

thank you internet, we were visiting Wenatchee and would never have thought to go here if not the Unilocal and Trip Advisor — what a treat! It’s a classic hole-​in-​the-​wall in a bleah neighborhood, but inside the service was outstanding and super-​friendly, the food was authentic (goat cheese, birria, menudo, sesos, cabeza, lengua, horchata, tamarindo, etc.), and the ingredients were very fresh.

Wonderful! Authentic, good service, and great homemade tortillas. I love finding these little gems. Yum!
I came back a couple years later and can confirm they’re still the best in town. The son comes in on the weekend to wait tables and is so so so sweet. Mom is still back making amazing food and her tortillas are delicious. They’re making updates to their dining area and it’s much lighter and more inviting.

Mexican food for naïve white folks, amigos. The only authentic thing about this place is Doña Juana’s staff and employees. Personally, I’d rather have tasty Mexican-​American, than authentic garbage. The Horchata is inexpensive powdered mix, so that summarizes everything. On a scale of one to America, how free are the refills? I don’t know, I was too embarrassed to ask.
What I do know is, «You can lead a horse to Doña Juana’s, but you can’t make him eat there.» I know, because they only allow people. Who’s the racist now?

I’m an American who’s not a big fan of spicy food. But reading the reviews of Dona Juanas I decided that it would be fun to have some real Mexican food.
I ordered two tamales, normal, and one one tamale deep fried. I’ve never heard of deep fried tamales and loved it. All of them were excellent I also had their Carne con Chili. I assume that is what I’d call chili. It was delicious.
OK, on to the hard part (for me). The lovely waitress brought two bottles of home made sauces (not what other Mexican places call salsa). I put the green (mild) sauce on my food. Within minutes I was sweating and tears were coming. Now this was their mild sauce. I have to admit that it was delicious.
The service was excellent. The waitress when out of her way to be helpful.
My only real complaint is they close at 5:00 PM. So if you want dinner, go very early. They locked the door and had to let me out but there was no pressure for me to leave quickly after they closed (I got there about 4:45).
If I head to Wenatchee again, I’ll certainly have lunch there. Great place and I had a good time.

Dona Juana cures my menudo cravings! Second visit to DJ in Wenatchee. Thiis time I got carne asada, tacos and tamales and couldn’t be more happy.
Service is very friendly and has a family restaurant feel. Horchata isn’t the best but they have Coke in a bottle and Jarritos.
One outdoor table and they allow us to have our dog with us.

This place is becoming a favorite! So far, everything has been yummy!

The tamales are sheer perfection.

Best Mexican food in town!!! Affordable, great service, great food! The carne asada is the best! I will definitely go back and tell my friends about it:) its very clean too… location is right downtown, so easy to get too!

Fantastic food and customer service. We ate lunch there 2 days in a row and had several different items off the menu. Absolutely get the tomales, and the freshly made salsa comes with a nice bit of heat. Sergio was awesome and we were happy to support this local family-​owned restaurant. I’m only giving 4 of 5 stars because the tortilla chips are store bought, according to our server. Make them fresh in-​house and I’d give them 5 stars.
Just ate the flan I got to go… yumm!!!

I finally tried their restaurant. So nice to finally get some real authentic Mexican cuisine in Wenatchee. Tamales and chicken enchiladas were so good. No Americanized Mexican food here, they will definitely be the answer to mexican cravings from now on.

Do not go anywhere else. The food, the service and the environment are top notch. Best eating establishment in Wenatchee.

Amazing authentic Mexican food. Tongue taco’s, beef sope’s, chicken tamale. The only reason I didn’t give it a 5 star is because management left only 1 girl taking orders, ringing up sales and delivering food. I would highly recommend if your in Wenatche WA to stop by. Good job

Uncompromisingly authentic Michoacan-​style Mexican food on South Wenatchee Avenue. This, my fellow Mexican food enthusiasts (Latino & gringo alike), isn’t anything like you’ll find back in Western Washington and is truly the best Mexican food I’ve ever had in Eastern Washington. The only city with better Mexican food that I’ve been to may be San Diego.
We went here several weeks ago and enjoyed the following:
— A variety of tamales
— Chicken and goat tacos
— Goat stew
— Chicken mole (the owner apologized for being out of pork mole; his take is that the chicken mole is good but the pork mole is even better).
Simply put, the quality you get for the relatively low price point is outstanding. The meat is of good quality. It clearly isn’t organic at the price point, but it’s a major step up from a «sour cream and cheddar cheese Mexican joint» like, say, La Fuente. The goat meat in the tacos was marinated in a smoky/​spicy marinade that had serious depth of flavor.
I hadn’t experienced a dark spicy mole before, as most of my go-​to Mexican restaurants go for the slightly sweet chocolate mole or occasionally a green mole. If you like mole and haven’t experienced the greatness that is a Michoacan style mole as served by Dona Juanas, go here.
I am not a huge fan of tamales, but from the way my dining companions attacked them, they clearly were more than acceptable.
The décor isn’t fancy, but other reviewers carping about the décor may need to revisit Dona Juana’s. They have some decorations which work pretty well with the ambience of the place, as well as a couple of flat-​screen TVs which are tuned to Univision.
If you want free chips and salsa with your Mexican food, don’t go here. There are plenty of other Mexican joints that will cater to that gringo desire. Some will even put a giant sombrero on your head for your birthday.
I’ll be back.

I’m not Mexcian, so I can’t say its authentic (though we were the only non-​Mexican people in the restaurant)… but I will say its the best Mexican food I have ever had. Period. And it almost makes me want to leave Seattle and move to Wenatchee. Almost ;)
Horchata — great, light, HUGE, free refills
Tamales — We got the beef and the chicken. The beef was a great, good seasoning and the masa was amazing. The chicken was a little bit dry, but I was too obsessed with masa to notice.
Goat taco — My boyfriend ordered this, so I can’t comment, but he said it was delicious.
Chicken mole — Again, my boyfriend’s dish, but I had a few bites — best mole I’ve ever had! Mole tastes different everywhere you go; some sweet, some spicy. This one was rich and spicy! Delicious!
Chicken enchiladas — My dish and I didn’t want to share. Beans, rice, salad and 3 of the best enchiladas I could ask for you… Sauce was great, handmade tortillas and juicy chicken… YUMMMMM. I’m literally drooling right now.
Just really, really perfect Mexican food. The cook (owner?) came out and asked us how our food was and I wish I could put into words how happy I was. Hopefully our empty plates told the story.

Authentic or not… This place is the Bomb! Why can’t I find a place like this in Seattle. The Goat taco is so delicious. Very friendly waitress.
Don’t walk away without ordering the tamales.
Food — 5 «Mucho Gracias»
Service — 5
Parking — No comment — street only
décor — 3