I used to be a regular at Fiesta Guadalajara on Irvington, it has always been my favorite location! Since moving out toward Tomball, I honestly thought I'd have to give up one of my favorite comfort food spots. Then I stumbled across this location, and I couldn't have been happier! Same amazing chain, same delicious food, and the same friendly service I've always loved. It truly felt like finding a little piece of home. I ordered my go-to, the chicken soup with an extra side of rice and plenty of fresh limes. It's one of my all time favorite meals, and it was just as flavorful and comforting as I remembered. I'm beyond excited to know I can enjoy one of my favorite restaurants anytime without making the drive across town. If you're in the area, definitely give this place a try! read more

El Palenque Mexican Restaurant Tomball - Chicken soup with a side of rice added in. - Mexican Near Me - Houston, Texas

Food is excellent. Service was good. Drinks were very good. Take home help was appreciated.

Amazing, amazing service!! Our waiter, the runners were tremendously kind and speedy with our order from start to finish. You will every waiter hustling and attentive to their table Their politeness makes us want to come back soon. The environment is very peaceful with no loud music, colorful decor and tv sports for those that like to watch. This would have been a 5 star review if it weren't for the Fajitas we ate. The beef fajitas were not from premium quality as they were very chewy and hard to eat/swallow. The enchiladas were great in taste but actually lacked in sufficient cheese that makes them enchiladas. Beans and rice were good as well as the salsa they give. I have to say that their soda fountain was also good (many small Tex-Méx restaurants do not have quality soft drinks). The cherry on top is that you can get free ice cream on the way out. Overall it is a great place to eat if you find the right plate and are looking for polite people to serve your table! This place beats the Lupe Tortilla by a large margin that's down by road! read more

Great spot for big parties. Very friendly and quick service. Good, flavorful, and plentiful dishes. I love a brothy, not thick, cheesy tortilla soup. I was shocked though that rice did not come on the side but it didn't kill it for since it was flavored well. Complimentary chips, salsa and ice cream. read more

See all

The best Mexican Restaurant on the Northside of town. The chili relleno was suburb! I highly recommend! read more

See all

I ate here for a work lunch with some high expectations since this place is well-liked by my colleagues. I ordered the Tacos A La Plancha, but even though the tortillas were pan-fried, they were already soggy as soon as they were served. The fillings were fresh, but it was otherwise overpriced for what I got. I would have been happier either ordering something else or getting tacos elsewhere. The servers were very friendly and personable, but a few of my coworkers' food came out very late, and another coworker got bumped on the head and water spilled on. The food was fine, but I'm not interested in coming back. Food: 3.5/5 Service: 3.5/5 Ambiance: 3/5 read more

El Palenque Mexican Restaurant Tomball - Tacos A La Plancha - Mexican Near Me - Houston, Texas

Good food... Good service.. but all of our food orders were wrong.. mixed dishes for sure.. none get what we ordered.. even our drinks were off ..other than that, could be a good visit.. just my opinion.. read more

El Palenque Mexican Restaurant Tomball - Menus and chips. - Mexican Near Me - Houston, Texas

See all

Pésimo servicio.! Tener que levantarme eh ir a buscar a alguien para a que traiga mi cuenta.! Es hora del almuerzo muchos tienen que regresar a trabajar.! Muy decepcionado.! La comida increíble read more

El Palenque Mexican Restaurant Tomball - Mexican Near Me - Houston, Texas

A favorite of my father in laws, so we went there tonight and I must say the food was excellent! I shared the Garden Fajita plate with my husband (had plenty of leftovers) and he had the chile relleno. Everything was very tasty . The chips and salsa were very fresh. Great servers and atmosphere! read more

Delicious food wonderful service and good price love it recommended... Definitely coming back... read more

Very welcoming as you enter the restaurant. They have a bar area for sports and drinks. Their decor is what you would expect. When it comes to fajitas, they lead the way and their price is really good. They come with sour cream and cheese. I'm a fajita lover. Can't go wrong here. read more

El Palenque Mexican Restaurant Tomball - Cheese enchiladas. One missing because I couldn't wait. - Mexican Near Me - Houston, Texas

See all

They serve a warm salsa that had a good flavor and it not really spicy. The queso comes with pickled jalapeños which is a nice touch. I ordered the pechuga diabla and it was very good! Get the home made corn tortillas. The atmosphere is family friendly and loud. I think our waiter had too many tables because he took forever to get out orders and needed reminders to bring our check. But he was nice and help when ordering. read more

El Palenque Mexican Restaurant Tomball - Pechuga Diabla - Mexican Near Me - Houston, Texas

See all

El Palenque is by far the best Mexican restaurant around Tomball/Cypress area. I mean, just look at this Chili Relleno! The best I've ever had!!! read more

El Palenque Mexican Restaurant Tomball - Chili Relleno with fajita beef. - Mexican Near Me - Houston, Texas

Had a lovely long lunch with a Bestie today. The service was fabulous, the food was wonderful and the ambiance was perfect and just what we wanted today. El Palenque has been a favorite for nearly 30 years. We will be back and we will be spreading the good news to all who will stand still long enough to listen! read more

Husband and I always enjoy dinning here! We love the served warm chips & Salsa! Food is always delicious and waitstaff is gracious and kind. We have been coming here for couple of years and I've met many of my friends here for Margaritas and Food! Ambiences here is great and custom to Mexican culture. They also have free Ice Cream cones for post eating!! Grab a cone on way out! read more

El Palenque Mexican Restaurant Tomball - tables and chairs - Mexican Near Me - Houston, Texas

See all

The food here is pretty great TexMex style. It's definitely not going to make me rethink how I rate Mexican food, but it's solid. Interior is what you'd expect, colorfully rustic Latin flare. Fajitas are fantastic, the meat is perfectly cooked and seasoned. You can ask for double the tortillas at no additional charge (they normally give 3 but I requested 6.) Servers are very nice! read more

Great service, killer house margaritas and plentiful, best-in-the-area Tex-Mex food makes this the go-to restaurant for my family.

Have wanted to try this restaurant but with so many others around we haven't tried until today for lunch. They have specials every day and today was Tacos Carbon. 3 large tacos with charro beans, rice, and guacamole and all the trimmings except cheese. I suppose I should have asked for cheese. The meat was so tender with nice thin flour tortillas. The beans needed a little more cooking but were tasty. The hot Saul was NOT hot. I will ask for jalapeños next time. It tasted good, but no heat. My husband had steak al Mexicana. He also had rice and refried beans. He said it was cooked very well, meat was tender. He had corn tortillas. We had beer served in ice cold mugs. Yum! The bar was full with folks watching soccer. Our waiter was awesome, Captain Adrian. We will go back. read more

El Palenque Mexican Restaurant Tomball - Mexican Near Me - Houston, Texas

See all

We visited this place for lunch recently and was positively over the moon about how good the food was. The server was also quite attentive. The food had plentiful for portions. The place was very clean and well kept up. I will definitely be back! read more

Do not care for el palenque. I came here with my family for my moms birthday against my will. Lol! Cause I already knew it wouldn't be good. Sure enough, the food was so bland. I could've made this stuff better at home. SERIOUSLY. I feel bad for leaving such a bad review, but it is what it is. I didn't have that usual feeling I have after eating at a Mexican restaurant-which is full & happy. The two stars is for the service I guess. read more

El Palenque Mexican Restaurant Tomball - Mexican Near Me - Houston, Texas

See all

I always recommend El Palenque!!! It is by far our favorite Tex-Mex restaurant locally. The service is great, and food is even better. We like their fajitas the best over every other restaurant, and the queso and margaritas are great! Tonight Last time I went out of my norm and ordered the Texas Burrito. It was so good!!! It's HUGE - definitely enough to share between 2-3 people! They have a self serve ice cream stand also! read more

El Palenque Mexican Restaurant Tomball - Texas Burrito - Mexican Near Me - Houston, Texas

Best Mexican food in the area. Excellent fajitas, enchiladas, tacos and queso. Awesome service

This was our last meal of the trip, before we returned home, the next morning. It was bittersweet; on one hand, we kicked ourselves for not finding it sooner. But on the other, it was an incredible last dinner. The staff was extremely accommodating and attentive. Our food was delicious and came out quickly, and the portions were so generous you had to take pictures just so someone would believe you. The enormous variety of margaritas are only surpassed by the flavor and quality. Worth the visit and will return on our next trip to Houston!! read more

El Palenque has been my family's "go-to" restaurant for many years. We moved from the Tomball area for about five years and made regular visits with intention to eat at their restaurant..... all the way from San Antonio... their salsa is the best salsa I have ever had.... The wait staff are very attentive (even the new ones who don't know our family).... They have two locations.... We frequent the one in Tomball but eat at the Spring location if we are ever in the area. The atmosphere is not overstimulating and the music is just right..... I was really excited when they added homemade churros to the dessert options as I have always enjoyed the free ice cream cone.... But can't pass up ordering the churros freshly made and served with whipped cream! I don't drink alcohol any more (rarely did in the past), but when I did, their margaritas, on the rocks, with salt and lime were outstanding and HUGE!- only took one to make me happy! Lol! Great family restaurant! read more

DISGUSTING. After Friday night, 06/21/24, we will never go back and I'm hoping that this place goes under. My granddaughter and I went there for dinner, not my favorite TexMex place but we went, had to open the pepper shaker to use it, came out in clumps, didn't look right. Got the peeper shaker from the next table it was worse. I emptied it out on a clean plate and it was full of bugs. Needless to say, I was upset. We walked out after being heard, my granddaughter gagging all the way. Pretty bad when you can see bugs in the black pepper. They were crawling everywhere. The place will be reported This is the El Palaque on 2920 and I45 in Spring read more

Emilio the bartender is such a cool guy and nice guy and took care of my father and myself. The food was delicious and the margaritas.

I only gave the a 2 because past experience, thw food was good. I went today with my grand daughter and was totally egnored as we waited to be seated by several wait staff AND WORST OF ALL THE SAW US WAITING, I MADE EYE CONTACT AND SHE LOOKED RIGGT THROUGH US AND ALSO EGNORED US. We then sat at the bench next to the "please wait to be seated" sign and waited... and waited... finally we saw a guy at the hottest station and became hopeful, only to have our hopes dashed again as he looked right at us and left the ares. Ther were at least 3 waiters walking around, one of whom walked past within a foot and never acknowledged us. Enough is enough. We got up and walked out of this restaurant that was not busy at 1-30 pm, but clearly did not want our business. I am most amazed at at the female manager who completely egnored the lack of service rendered by her indifferent staff. ​​ read more

Do NOT go there if you have 1 LG margaritas and a small one , after you have had appetizers of quesideas, nachos, falutas, rice,etc. They will tell you that you are DRUNK!! Yes, right to your face!! To the management of El Plelenque: I hope you understand that when Los Cucos reopens, you will not have any or very few customers. Enjoy while it lasts You treated myself and my friend like crap! But it will be soon over for your little restaurant, my friends! read more

Servers all had great attitudes, the food is WAY over priced and has little flavor. My wife & I ordered a burrito and queso flamiado and 2 cokes. $66. We could have done a steak dinner @ a nice place for that! read more

If you want a really strong drink! This is the place for that. I got a skinny margarita and it was so strong i only needed one. The chicken caldo soup was really good too and they have free icecream cones ! read more

El Palenque Mexican Restaurant Tomball - Skinny margarita - Mexican Near Me - Houston, Texas

See all

This place is close to our house so we gave it two tries and both were terrible service and the food was nothing to write about.

The kitchen forgot my food. Everyone in my group of 6 got their food and started eating. During the hour that we waited, the waiter periodically came by to let me know that he was repeatedly telling the kitchen about my food. Eventually everyone finished eating so we asked for my burrito to go. They finally brought it long after everyone finished, and THEY DIDN'T EVEN COMP THE BURRITO. Will never go back. read more

Quite probably the best non-high-end Tex-mex joint around! Most certainly this place single handed my saved our sanity during covid. I take friends and guest from out of town here their fajitas are so so good! Great margaritas! The prices went up, but everywhere else did too and there's no reason to go pay any more at any other place this place is legit standard good!!! read more

Whewwww $19 for a pint of rice , beans, and 1/2 pint of pico!! Gzzzzz El palenque Talk about inflation! The lady up front was sweet as usual though. read more

See all

I ordered the Cameron Diablo, California Burrito, and Chile con Queso with chorizo. One problem with the Cameron Diablo was that I thought it was supposed to come with rice and beans, other than that there was a good amount of shrimp (not spicy) and guacamole. The California burrito was huge and delicious and the queso with the added chorizo was a great decision. I opted for curbside pickup and the process was quick and easy with their designated spots out front. read more

El Palenque Mexican Restaurant Tomball - Cameron Diablo and Chile con Queso - Mexican Near Me - Houston, Texas

See all

Hot damn! I have no idea why this place has such a low yelp rating... we went in for a late lunch and our food was really good. We loved the warm salsa but our waiter was great and brought us out two type of salsa Verde (upon request) from the kitchen that isn't normally offered. There is rotating daily specials that where a little pricey around 13-14$ but we ordered off the combo menu and it was great at $11/plate. I had steak quesadillas and the meat was so juicy and flavorful I joked that they must have marinated it in butter. The sides of guacamole, sour cream, and ensalada were good sized. I HATE tex-mex restaurants that give you a stupid teaspoon of guacamole with your full priced adult meal. So.. 5 stars from me for sure. Yall salty haters need to stop garbage rating good restaurants read more

The waiter was very nice and attentive but the food was terrible to start my wife ordered a chile relleno with shredded beef ,instead they put fajita which was all burnt and the margarita tasted auful I could have picked up something better at the dollar store I don't want to make this to long but all our food was terrible my wife ordered beef nachos for appetizer the beef was so dark that I thought it was black been nachos And the food is overpriced El tiempo restant is just across 249 on vintage park I have not tried it yet,any suggestions? read more

Food was bland and margaritas were full of indigestion. And when did smoking in restaurants become a thing, again? yuk!

Pretty good place to drop in and get your Tex-Mex fix. Their menu is the standard enchiladas, fajita platters, taco plates, etc. you find at most restaurants in the category. It's been here a while so it could use a little updating, but nothing too distracting. Service is ok most of the time. Only a few times of having long waits or incorrect orders. And I'm talking about over a few years. The food is good, but seems to be less flavorful as time passes. Portions aren't too bad, but even so their price points are a bit high. I find it odd that quite a few of their regular menu items are a better deal than the lunch menu. Now, I will say their margaritas are pretty darn good...like goood. Either frozen or on the rocks, the mixer they use is good. Pretty sure it's not all fresh limes bit, but still tasty. They pack a punch too! Good place for happy hour fun, quick lunch, or laid back diner. read more

El Palenque Mexican Restaurant Tomball - Mexican Near Me - Houston, Texas

Service is excellent. The waiter is attentive and never intrusive. The assistant is attentive, and we never want for anything. The food is quite good. The Papa Nachos are my favorite. Margaritas are always tasty. While the food and drinks are super, it is the excellent waitstaff that keeps us coming back. read more