Elena's Mexican Restaurant

Great ambiance and service. Reasonable prices and killer food and drinks. Plus the kids love it.

My family and I had an incredible dining experience here and a big part of that was thanks to our amazing waitress, Natasha. She was incredibly attentive, her knowledge of the menu was impressive, and her recommendations were spot-on.

Natasha handled everything with grace and a smile. Her outstanding service truly elevated our dining experience, and we left the restaurant not only satisfied with the food but delighted with the service.

I highly recommend requesting Natasha if you visit. She will make sure you have a wonderful dining experience. Thank you, Natasha.

It takes a few months to get reservations for this place! Luckily, my sis made a reservation for 4 and we were lucky enough to be free that evening to try Elena's out! Without reservations, there is a long wait. So we bypassed it with reservations and were thrilled to get booth seating too!

Very, nice interiors and lively atmosphere! Lots of large plants, greenery, high ceilings and beautiful decor. Way cool on the ambiance! They did a fantastic job renovating!

***COCKTAILS***

THE COCONUT ~ Herradura silver tequila, siglo cero pox, rum, coconut, triple sec, lime, agave. Very nice coconut flavor and it's boozy, but not so much that it overpowers the whole drink. 5/5

FROZEN APEROL MARGARITA ~ Pueblo Viejo blanco tequila, aperol, hibiscus, triple sec, lime, orange, agave. This drink was like a spiked slushy. Very refreshing and cool with enough alcohol to make you happy! (my drink) 5/5

PASSION FRUIT MOCKTAIL ~ Passion fruit, pineapple, orgeat, lime, topo chico. My daughter enjoyed this fruity fizzy drink. 5/5

PALOMA ~ 21 seeds grapefruit hibiscus tequila, grapefruit, lime, squirt. Great citrus zing! 5/5

All the drinks are worth getting. One drink was enough for me to get a buzz, which doesn't happen often at a restaurant! Thankfully, we had appetizers as well to balance my floating head!

***APPETIZERS***

CALAMARI FRITOS ~ rock shrimp, shishito peppers, spicy arbol aioli
Lots to go around with this dish, so if you're with a group, it's a great one to get! Tasty and lightly battered with a great spicy aioli! Loved it! 5/5

TOSTADA CEVICHE ~ halibut, avocado, tomato, cucumber, white onion, cilantro, mayonnaise. Tart and zesty, but you only get 3 small tostadas and it's not enough to share. Though they were tasty! 4/5

HOUSE-MADE GUACAMOLE ~ lime, serrano, cotija cheese, pickled red onion, cilantro. This was great on everything, especially with the comp chips and salsa! And enough for a large party to share. 5/5

***MAIN DISHES***

SKIRT STEAK CARNE ASADA & SAUTEED SHRIMP FAJITAS (2 ITEM COMBO) ~ Sauteed peppers and onions with rice, refried pinto beans, salsa, sour cream, 1/2 corn and 1/2 flour tortillas (2 of each) ~ this was my dish! I love that the meat comes medium/medium rare! I enjoyed eating this dish, but was getting full from the 3 appetizers. I shared this with my daughter and took the rest home. 5/5

DUNGENESS CRAB AND CHICKEN ENCHILADAS (2 ITEM COMBO) ~ The crab filling was creamy and the chicken was flavorful! My sis ordered this and really liked it. 5/5

BURRITO MOJADO DIVORCIADO ~ Guajillo and creamy tomatillo sauce, rice, beans, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, & carnitas (as the protein). Beautiful presentation with the split sauces on top! My bf got this dish and enjoyed it. 5/5

***DESSERT***

TRES LECHE CAKE ~ Sponge cake, whipped cream, cinnamon.

It was my birthday a few days ago. Little did I know, my sis had the waitress, put a candle on our Tres Leche cake! It was a LARGE sparkler!! It definitely made it a surprise, celebratory dinner! 5/5

Throughout our meal, we had great service from Lilliana C., our waitress! She was attentive, professional, and personable. Like the restaurant, she was top-notch, 5 stars all around!

So I've now been to Elena's Mexican Restaurant 3 times and enough time to give it my review.

Elena's comes from the Original Joe's group. This Mexican restaurant serves the typical good tasting Mexcian food and of course with many California elements.

What I enjoy about this place is the ambience along with the food. With regard to the ambience what I enjoy about this place is the size and footprint. That is its a full build-out with plenty natural light and area to move around and sit. The bar seating is plentiful but always busy and space to stand when the seats are taken.

There are many delicious options on their menu, but I variety so I usually end up choosing smaller shareables, soups, and/or tacos. One item which they provide before any dishes arrive is their chips and salsa. So good and yummy! Items I could recommend TOSTADA DUNGENESS CRAB · avocado, grapefruit segments. Very yummy and pretty too. I could also recommend their CLASSIC TORTILLA SOUP · crispy tortilla strips, avocado, queso fresco, crema, fried guajillo peppers, cilantro. Another satisfying order. Since I'm big into tacos's their SKIRT STEAK CARNE ASADA onions, salsa morita, cilantro is very fresh and tasty.

I really enjoy many aspects of Elena's I look forward to coming back again. Parking isn't too hard to find and the area is nice too. Give Elena's a try!

Everything was perfect! The vibe and atmosphere was also perfect. I really enjoyed the coconut margarita. It's probably one of the best I've ever had.
The chips and salsa are amazing. The salsa is packed with flavor.

I recently had the pleasure of dining at Elena's Mexican Restaurant, a new upscale Mexican restaurant. The moment I stepped inside, I was struck by the beautiful decor - lush plants and excellent lighting.

Although it's on the pricier side, I was excited to try their offerings. I visited on a Wednesday afternoon at 12 pm with a reservation and the restaurant was busy.

The steak quesadilla I ordered was absolutely delicious, cooked to perfection, and the meat was so tender. However, there was a noticeable delay in serving one of my friend's dishes, which arrived significantly later than everyone else's. This prevented us from enjoying our meals together, which was a bit disappointing.

I would love to return back for their happy hour someday!

Kudos to the interior designer of Elena's because wow, this place is stunning. Love trees inside restaurants as well as natural lighting and comfy booth seats. It goes up there with The Palm Court RH and Bar Sprezzanura for me in terms of ambiance accolades and IG worthy pictures. I just wish the food was better. Because we live in city full of amazing Mexican food, Elena's needs to be more innovative if it wants to compete with others.

I went on the weekend during brunch so the homemade pork tamale benedict ($20) caught my eye. Unfortunately, although it sounded good and unique, it really didn't have much flavor and I am not sure why it was called a benedict if it just had a rojo sauce with a fried egg on top. I'm not sure if it needed more salt but maybe i just feel like it lacked everything overall. The complimentary chips and salsa were great and the service was wonderful.

My friends and I were able to get reservations, so luckily I didn't need to wait as I have heard the line for walk-ins is quite long and there was a group of people waiting outside.

Elena's made it into my top 3 upscale Mexican restaurants ever! After seeing this place blow up online, I went for a spontaneous weekday lunch date, and although we were able to walk in without waiting, the space was pretty much full except for the bar.

Everything was so flavorful and yummy! For drinks, we got the refreshing agua fresca of the day and the frozen Aperol margarita, which was quite strong but still tasted nice. I liked that the blended ice wasn't too chunky. We started with the complimentary chips and red salsa and the calamari with shishito peppers and aioli dipping sauce. The batter was thin and crunchy, and the squid was perfectly cooked and not rubbery at all. For mains, I really enjoyed my enchilada combo (one chicken with tomatillo sauce and one shredded beef with guajillo sauce). This big plate also came with rice and the best refried beans I've ever had. While there were only two carne asada tacos, they came with a lot of tender meat. What a great addition to West Portal! I'll definitely be back.

I wanted to see what the hype was all about. We went to Elena's for Saturday brunch. I made a reservation, but really there wasn't a need to at opening (10:30am). The dining room is very large and spacious. However, at around 11:45am, it seemed full.

The brunch menu doesn't really differ from their lunch menu, but has a few additions like the benedict and huevos rancheros.

We got a couple of cocktails (both were great), the tinga empanadas to share, steak fajitas for me and breakfast burrito for hubby, and the carlota de limon for dessert.

It was a lot of food and quite delicious! Our server was wonderful.

This was my first visit to the hot new Mexican restaurant in West Portal since its opening earlier this year. Luckily they are now on OpenTable and I can avoid the 3 hour wait!

We went for lunch at 1:45pm on a Wednesday and it was packed with people. The hostess and servers were very attentive and friendly, and entrees and drinks were brought out promptly.

The first thing you notice upon entering are the high ceilings, skylights, and trees and greenery, offering a wonderful ambiance. The team from Original Joe's did a fab job, as they do with all remodels.

The complementary chips were light and salty, and red salsa had a nice punch but not too hot.

I ordered the chicken (green sauce) and shredded beef (red sauce) enchiladas, which come with rice and refried pinto beans ($26). The chicken enchiladas were the best I've had, flavorful with shredded white meat and a delicious tomatillo sauce. It had a good amount of cheese on both enchiladas and topped with cheese, crema, white onion, and cilantro. Delish!

My friend had the same meal plus the Chocoflan dessert ($13) - chocolate cake upon vanilla flan, and caramel. She really enjoyed it as well.

Lunch was a large portion so I took half home for dinner. Next time I will come for dinner so I can enjoy a margarita or two. Happy to have this excellent new restaurant 5 minutes from my house.