Tried this place last night, really nice setup for the palate and for the eye, cool restaurant appearance. First thing first ... the most dangerous thing at El Fenix is their chips and salsa.. absolutely addictive. Got chicken&steak combo fajitas which were pretty good and tilapia plate. Good food and decent portions. Big beers on tap too!! The staff was helpful and kind. read more

1/2 Honestly, this place was a bit of a disappointment. I'll give it 2 1/2 stars. The restaurant itself feels pretty outdated and could definitely use some updating. The staff was decent, and I will say that our food came out fairly quickly--but honestly, it may have been too quick, because the food didn't taste like it had the quality or freshness I was expecting. For my taste, the food was very Tex-Mex/Americanized rather than authentic, and overall it felt pretty average. Nothing really stood out or made me want to come back. The one thing I genuinely enjoyed was the chips. They were light, fresh, and not overly heavy like some restaurant chips. They actually tasted like they were made in-house rather than coming straight out of a bag, which was probably the highlight of the meal. Unfortunately, with the food being so average and the overall atmosphere feeling outdated, I left feeling pretty disappointed. There are definitely better options out there for the price. read more

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Even though this place is a chain here in Dallas, we had a good experience in one and a terrible experience here. The host wasn't friendly , the waiter wasn't friendly , or helpful at all and in a rush, tried to order shredded chicken chimi like from the other restaurant but got one filled with fajita chicken. Waiter didn't offer choices of chicken or choices of sauces or anything helpful. So didn't have remotely the same meal and didn't like it this time. Woman's bathroom was flat out disgusting and disturbing. read more

It's been some years since I've been to El Fenix and palate wise this is not what I remember. The food was awful. Super bland. Not tasting any real flavors. Even the soda was all carbonation and the tea watered down. Served crumbs for chips. The only thing I "liked" was the tamale, queso and a little bit of the cheese enchilada. The corn tortilla was so thick and chewy just horrible. Even the beans were stale -- the beans that were fully smaller were still hard! Just ugh! read more

El Fenix has been my families' favorite tex-mex restaurant for years! The service is fantastic-- we always joke about how fast the food comes out. The food is not the highest quality Mexican food I've ever had, but is equal parts delicious and nostalgic. If you're near an El Fenix location, definitely give it a try!! read more

El Fenix - Sopapillas - Mexican Near Me - Irving, Texas

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I can't remember the last time I've been to an El Fenix. I used to go by there and get their chips and salsa to snack on whenever I had a road trip. I like their chips more than anything. I stopped by and ordered them, as well as, a chimichanga to go. Because foodies don't go to restaurants and not get food. With that being said, their food isn't the most seasoned in my opinion, but it gets the job done and the prices are reasonable. read more

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If I could give it 0 I would. Nasty food. Nasty restroom. Server inattentive. We didn't get acknowledged until we asked for our check. Then he went to several tables with their stuff and did not remember our check. Then spoke perfect English to the YT ppl and acted as if he didn't understand when I asked him his name. He said George eventually but who knows. Never again!!! That's after it took 20 minutes to get seated in an almost empty restaurant with many servers. He made the dinner not enjoyable because we were looking for him for our needs. The ambiance was messed up. read more

El Fenix - Mexican Near Me - Irving, Texas

I love the food but every time I've been there I cringe looking at the cleanliness or lack of. First thing that should raise a red flag is how disgusting the bathrooms are. Men's and women's. Then watching the busboy wipe all the tables with the same nasty rag. The windows in the closed in patio are broken and dangerous in my opinion. This manager or owner only cares about the bottom line and not whether or not people return again. The food is still awesome but I judge the cleanliness of the kitchen by the cleanliness of the bathrooms. Big fail if you ask me. I'll never be back. read more

El Fenix is one of our favorite Tex Mex restaurants. This Irving location is nice, it's spacious and has a large upstairs party room that overlooks the lower dining adorned with black wrought iron banister. For being a Friday night it was quiet which surprised me. We were seated promptly. Our server was great, very friendly and attentive. We ordered sweet tea which was delicious and refreshing along with complimentary chips and salsa. The chips and salsa were so good we ordered some to go with a pint of queso. I ordered the combination fajita salad; the meat was very tender and flavorful the mixed greens were crisp and fresh, the only thing that would make it better would be in house made ranch dressing; it's outsourced. My husband ordered beef enchiladas, not spectacular but it was good. Their prices are great except the queso they charged us $13.99 for a pint! That's more than my salad. Other than that we had a great dining experience. read more

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This place is a real classic Mexican restaurant with a nice decor. Chips and salsa were good. We had the Wednesday enchilada specials. We had the cheese and onion enchiladas with chili con carne on top and the chicken sour cream enchiladas! They were both very good! Our waitress was so prompt about getting our food out fast and hot. She kept our tea glasses full and checked on us to make sure we didn't needed anything else. We'll be back soon! read more

Food and service is usually pretty dependable at this location. Chips are really good. read more

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If could give zero stars I would. I opened up my sour cream enchiladas and my husband immediately saw a bug of unknown origin sitting right on top of the enchilada, embedded in the sour cream sauce. My whole meal was ruined. My husband lost his appetite. The whole meal was trash. I contacted Instacart and was told the only was to make a complaint was through the app. I filed the complaint and the app actually said my order was not eligible for refund. I am so mad and so hungry. I will never eat from thus restaurant again and I will never order restaurant food again through this app. Tge food was disgusting and the customer service was appalling read more

El Fenix - This is the bug found in my food order! - Mexican Near Me - Irving, Texas

I'm a big El Fenix fan. The food was a solid 4 (fajitas were good) and Gabriela H was a wonderful server - kind and attentive. The restaurant itself needs some attention- ripped seats, slick floor, TERRIBLE bathrooms. The bathroom was / is my biggest complaint. It was warm and humid, and the smell was just unpleasant. I said nothing to my husband who also went to the bathroom and his comment was "the bathrooms are like camp bathrooms." With a little love they could easily be a 5 star Mexican place because their food is really good. read more

Food was excellent service great! Definitely recommend giving this place a try. Long tradition of atmosphere and service. read more

Starting with the 20 something hostess. Several people just shaking heads. No clue what she was doing. Acted like all of us were an inconvenience . Finally a 40 something lady came over. Very nice, very efficient. I grew up on the Mexican border. I know Mexican food. Seems like enchiladas were covered one in Velveeta and one in Wolf Brand Chili. Salsa was weak. Used to love this place. Hadn't been able to go for several years and was looking forward to it. I won't be back. read more

Food came out room temperature at best. Margarita was weak. Chips taste store bought.

The worst ever! I door dashed my food and was given literally 16 chips. I called the store manager and he wanted to send me extra chips and free dessert with my next order!!! There will never be a next order! If i wanted a dessert I would have ordered one! And I don't n ed extra chips next time u need them now with $12.00 hot sauces paid for! This El Finex SUCKS!!!!! read more

Very good. Waiter was great. The food taste really good and hot. It may be older but soo CLEAN. I was amazed how there was no dust. Id go back. read more

My happy place. I love the Irving location. Our server was painfully slow and inattentive on this visit but that is very rare so I didn't hold it against them in my review. Would love to go upstairs one day and see what it looks like up there. God was delicious and the restaurant it clean. read more

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I came here on vacation with my kids. After a stressful mall venture, we were hungry and thirsty. I got a margarita, chips and queso with beef, and pie. We tore the chips up. We were meeting a friend for dinner later so I didn't want to spoil my dinner but I did ask for a second margarita. I was told that because I wasn't ordering a meal, I couldn't have a margarita. My tolerance is very high. So I know that I was not acting silly. I hadn't even finished the first margarita. Seems like it was prejudice. I've never been more embarrassed or ever had anything like that happen in my life. read more

I had to wait for a friend, so I thought I would go in early for about 2 drinks. They don't have a bar, so I was happy to sit at a table. I ordered the Spicy Margarita, and I thought it was okay. Definitely not worth the $14, specially when they are located in Irving where you can get amazing drinks for $8-$10. Then it was 3pm and happy hour started. I thought I'd get a house margarita, and save a few bucks on mediocre drinks, but I was told my the server that I can't order any more drinks until I order food. The end. Doubt I'll be going back. No comment on food as I didn't have any. But basic drinks for $14 is definitely not worth it! read more

I was introduced to EL Fenix back in 1972, the food has always been good for the price and i have to say I have eaten at all locations and the service has always been consistent until my visit last night at the Irving location. Our waiter was slow, inattentive and he seemed to be confused? We were served cold food, we had to remind him to refill chips and salsa etc. I dont know if he had to many tables or he was new but as we waited i took stock his other tables and the other waitstaff and none seemed to be experiencing the same issues? i am hoping our waiter was just having a bad night. Oh the food was hot and on point after we asked a manager to remake the plates. read more

This was my first time in Texas and we heard that El Fenix was a good place to try. My experience here was overwhelming as there was no communication between the servers. We had two servers clean our tables, two servers ask us what we would like to drink, and they didn't even sound genuine about it. I ordered the Chalupa thinking it was going to be top notch. No. When it came out, I felt like I was in Taco Bell. Literally tasted like taco bell food. And honestly, I think I would have been better off buying from taco bell than the food here. This may be for some people, but I know it's not for me. I'm glad I tried this restaurant to say that I would not go again. read more

El Fenix - Two Chalupas - Mexican Near Me - Irving, Texas

I brought my friend here after picking her up from the airport- it's always one of my favorite happy hour places for a margarita!!!! I believe the day we went they had an enchilada special, which was very reasonable, nothing to write home about though. I always recommend the frozen margs regardless of which location you're at! read more

El Fenix - Margarita Frozen, & chips - Mexican Near Me - Irving, Texas

What a beautiful restaurant, lovely decoration and even more gorgeous structure in the inside. When we arrived we were told it was a happy hour. We were a party of nine, they welcomed us with chips and salsa and also iced water. Each of us had our own little salsa on the side. The chips were hot and fresh and the salsa was really good. Our server was very nice and attentive, the food arrived promptly. Looking hot and delicious. I ordered the Carne asada (medium well) and it was served well done a little hard for my taste but everything else in my dish had great flavor. The beans were great and the guacamole tasted fantastic. I requested salsa picante for the table but i was told that wasn't any. I ended up asking if they had Tabasco sauce and they brought to us. This is the first Mexican restaurant that I visit that doesn't have their own salsa. Something to consider for improvement. We order regular and frozen margaritas and the drinks were excellent. Good quality tequila, lime flavor and very little salt. read more

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Sunday was awful. One waitress did her best. Chips and salsa...no water.....long wait time to give order to waitress. Gosh, we were so hungry by the time our food got to the table. The two sour cream enchilada dishes were good, however, the crispy taco dinner and the Chalupa dinner were not good. The taco shells and the Chalupa shells were wet and soggy, and could not be picked up and had to be eaten with a fork. We waited so long to get the food that we did not want to send it back. The taco filling fell out of the wet and soggy shells, and the same thing happened when the fajita chicken and toppings fell off of a wet Chalupa What a disappointment. This is the third time we've tried to eat at El Fenix, and not sure what has happened with the quality. New ownership? Chef problems? If I could give zero stars, I would. read more

For a place to be called El Fenix - I expect it to BE the fenix of Mexican food but it was disappointing. The waiters and waitresses are amazing and very attentive but the food is meh I ordered the chicken enchilada plate and it comes with 2 enchiladas. It only had 3 pieces of meat. Which is sad. The chicken was not shredded. Anyone who likes enchiladas knows the chicken has to be shredded. They don't have white queso. The black beans don't taste good. The chips are airy and very good though. The salsa doesn't taste homemade - I had to add salt and pepper on there read more

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This is a great restaurant. Great customer service and the food came out in a very timely manner.

Huge fan and I always Uber Eats this place! Hands down the salsa and chips are super perfect! The tortilla soup is banging and love the enchiladas and fajitas! You will love it!!! Perfectly packed every time' big shout out to the staff that always gets it right!!! Portions too are perfect! Eat Up!! read more

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We loved it! We are vegetarian, so it's so exciting to find a restaurant with so many yummy choices! We had the chips with guacamole and cheese to start. So fresh! We also tried the margaritas. They were good, but not my favorite part. The veggie burrito was outstanding! So good... we also ordered veggie enchiladas and they tasted like homemade. The black beans were good too. Overall, we loved this place! the service was so good too! A great meal and a fair price. Highly recommend! read more

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I come here often to eat, the food is good. Came here today to order to go. So I asked if I could sit to order a drink while I waited. She told me she would have to check as they have a no drink policy unless you order food. Which I was. Then she told me she would go check. Comes back and says I can only order margaritas. I was pretty upset as I just wanted one small beer while I waited. I don't understand this weird policy but maybe it should be reevaluated. Needless to say I decided to take my dinner order elsewhere. read more

El Fenix is good Tex Mex, their hot sauce is really good. Their enchiladas are light and they use real cheese.

El Fenix is the old-school classic of the Tex-Mex world. Built exactly like a Spanish hacienda; we always expect a beautiful 15-yr old girl to walk to the rail on the upstairs balcony, to show off her quinceneara dress! Full bar, but don't order anything but a margarita or beer. Gravious service in general, but drink refills may be slower than desired. Full menu, but it is focused on basic TexMex fare. Nothing trendy or new, but that is what makes El Fenix good - they are the stalwart icons of days gone by. We keep coming back. That says it all. read more

El Fenix - Best chips and salsa in Irving! - Mexican Near Me - Irving, Texas

Need to step up the food Quality I also noticed there was mold growing on the air conditioning vents not good read more

El Fenix - Mold ! - Mexican Near Me - Irving, Texas

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Highly recommend Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas Guacamole Chips Salsa Pico Fajitas Nachos read more

El Fenix will forever be my favorite. The chips and queso is my favorite. Great service as well

This is the best place to come for their famous tortilla soup. I always ask to have chicken placed in it. So delicious. A small bowl is large enough for me. read more

El Fenix - Tortilla soup with chicken. - Mexican Near Me - Irving, Texas

1st time here service was nice...food delicious excuse the pics I was to hungry to get the before read more

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I'll give this place a solid 3 stars. The food didn't wow me, and neither did the service. I ordered brisket nachos and they were on the dry side. The brisket was moist though. The free tortilla chips and salsa were bomb. They were thin and warm just be I like them. We ordered queso con chile and that was also very good. I ended up drizzling some on my dry nachos. Both my brother and sister's orders came out wrong. My sis kept hers, but brother sent his back for the right entree. I would honestly return and eat her again with the same expectations of mediocrity. read more

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Best Mexican in my life. The chips and salsa are to die for. I ate too many. Everything was delicious and it's cheap. Service was quick and polite. They got everything right plus it's cute cozy place. Way to go! read more