Lunch on Taco Tuesday in Temple City, Los Angeles, California... My friend, Rosemarie, highly recommended El Ruizeñor Grill because she had been there in the past for a Yelp event. She described the food, the prizes, and the fun - wow! Let's go! Parking on the street was easy. We arrived before the lunch crowd, so several tables were available. Afterwards, the place was packed in the colorfully decorated and festive atmosphere! Service was attentive, friendly, and helpful! The Taco Tuesday deal was great! We got pollo, papa, al pastor, and carnitas tacos for $1.56 each, and a carne asada taco for $2.56! Everything was tasty and beautiful! I also enjoyed a generous, refreshing horchata! Thanks, Rose for the fun foodie adventure! I appreciated the complementary crunchy chips and non-spicy salsa! Yum! read more

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There was a Yelp event held at El Ruizenor Grill in Temple City. I didn't get confirmed in for the event. All good. I never worry. After reading some great reviews, I came here to support this biz. Luckily, I got free street parking. I'm not sure if they have their own parking though. They do have tables and chairs outdoor and indoor for dining. It's small space was a bit dark due to the dark furniture. They weren't super busy with only a handful of tables preoccupied. Staff was friendly and amicable. I did take-out instead of dine-in. Menu had good selections of different authentic Oaxacan cuisine, including dishes like tlayudas, mole, and chilaquiles, alongside traditional Mexican entrees. Since mole with chicken was a highlight dish at the event, I decided to get it with one Iced Jamaica drink. Wait time was a bit long which I find odd because they weren't super busy. Maybe they make their chicken mole to order. Chicken was super moist! Mole sauce was not overpowering with spices which I enjoyed very much. Rice could have been fluffier. Black beans was a bit plain... wished it had more flavor. Jamaica drink was very light in taste unfortunately... I should have gotten it with no ice. I may return to give them another chance to WOW. Maybe I'll dine-in next time. Best of success El Ruizenor Grill! read more

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I was introduced to this restaurant in May 2026 at a private event. My friend, Nadine C., is visiting from Hawaii, she wanted authentic Mexican food. I knew this would be the perfect spot. The recipes are from Oaxaca Mexico, the owner, Debbie, was working and greeted us. We took advantage of the Taco Tuesday deal. We ordered Carnitas, Al Pastor, and Chicken tacos from the $1.56 list and Carne Asada, Lengua from the $2.56 list, plus Tortila Chips topped with Mole sauce and cheese to share. I'm loving the mole, which is usually made with chicken. This is the first time having it served as Nacho Chips. It's a little on the spicy side and sweet at the same time, so savory! The restaurant has nice decor, murals on the interior walls, and ceramic dishes. Cafe de Olla is a specialty coffee made with a cinnamon stick, it was served in a beautiful clay mug. This is not offered in many restaurants, be sure to give it a try. It's available hot or iced. There are approximately indoor seating for 40 to 50 guests (in my estimation), and 4 to 5 outdoor tables by the entrance. Please note that handmade tortillas are available on the weekends, you know I will be back again and again! Sincerely, Rosemary read more

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My third time enjoying El Ruizeñor Grill, they have the most delicious chicken mole, chili rellenos,, and chilaquiles. A cozy family run business, serving authentic Oaxacan dishes. Staff are very sweet and accommodating, parking is a breeze, and menu is a taste from home. Looking forward to my next dine in experience. read more

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Great food. Nice chill little spot. My favorite dish was the strawberry chimichanga. I've never had anything like it. Very delicious!!! The staff is super friendly. I will definitely be back. read more

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If you love authentic regional Mexican food, El Ruizenor Grill is an absolute gem. This is the kind of small business you feel good supporting--deeply rooted in tradition, made with care, and run with heart. Deborah, the owner, is incredible and truly passionate about sharing Oaxacan cuisine the right way. You can feel that intention in every dish. The guacamole is fresh, vibrant, and beautifully balanced--simple ingredients, done right. Their Oaxacan horchata deserves special recognition: lighter, more nuanced, and less cloying than the typical version, with a flavor profile that feels thoughtful and refreshing rather than overly sweet. This was also my first time trying chapulines, and it couldn't have been a better introduction. Knowing they're sourced directly from Oaxaca adds so much meaning to the experience. Earthy, savory, and surprisingly approachable--an authentic taste of regional tradition that you don't find easily. El Ruizenor Grill isn't just a restaurant--it's a cultural experience. If you appreciate food with history, integrity, and soul, this spot in Temple City is a must-visit. I'll absolutely be back. read more

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Had the most delicious dinner here recently and I can not wait to come back and bring my family even though it's a little out of the way for us. The food was PHENOMENAL. It's hard to find authentic, delicious, and fresh tasting Oaxacan food so I feel like I hit the jackpot. I'm a mole connesseuer and even have tried making my own and I could never find or get it right. The one here is out of this world perfect. I'm dreaming of when I should return just for the mole! Was also blown away by their Oaxacan horchata which is a creamy horchata with bits of melon and walnut. May sound a bit odd but trust me it was so delish. Their potato tacos were perfect, their tslayuda (spelling?) was something unique I've never heard before. The owner explained they get their tostada masa direct from Oaxaca! How special is that! Also said many of their ingredients, spices, and herbs come direct from Oaxaca as well. Please give this place a try, I promise you'll be adding it to your fave restaurant rotation! read more

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I have used El Ruizeñor Grill to cater multiple parties I've thrown over the past year and they have been superb in every way. The food and service have been amazing. Debbie has been so accommodating to our needs and the communication has been great. They arrive on time, set up and serve efficiently and professionally with a smile, and most importantly, the food is always delicious. Everyone loves it and asks for their information. The more guests you have, the better the value, but the price per guest is very reasonable for what you get every time. I would recommend them for any event you need catering for. Best Mexican food around! read more

El Ruizeñor Grill - Catering - Mexican Near Me - Temple City, California

First time ordering here through Uber Eats , it was amazing. I am recovering from surgery and the Caldo de pollo was perfection . Arrived warm and delicious will definitely order from them again .. had to leave a review read more

El Ruizeñor Grill - Caldo De Pollo - Mexican Near Me - Temple City, California

Stop by because we were trying to find something we hadn't tried before. We, was my son and I. So we wanted to try a little bit of everything some new and familiar dishes. We tried the house made Horchata, my son was not a fan because it was a little too sweet and watery for him. He liked the taquito, and left when it got hollowed out. He said it was really tasty and salty that fits his palette. The salsa for the chips was not spicy for my taste. I think it's good for people who can't handle spice and kids. However, they did offer some great spicy sauces for their plates. The dark red sauce and the green sauce both packed heat and great flavor. The Menudo I ordered was rich and tasty. Ordered the Oaxaca taco, it was different, but it was so well seasoned overall my son and I both like splitting it. The one item that I don't have picture posted was the grasshoppers, yes, I do mean grasshoppers. My husband and I are both adventurous eaters, and when we went to Japan, the ones we tried were sweet and salty, this one was not our favorite because it was a little too salty and tangy from the lemon juice. However, overall, the service was great. I love the fact that the ladies were very helpful and their recommendations. The place was clean and did not have a lot of loud music, so we were able to have good conversation and enjoy our time together. We will definitely be coming again to try some other dishes as well. I would recommend try and get at least once. We always like to try new things, so we would suggest trying something you know and something different. read more

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Cuisine is Mexican and Oaxaca and nicely prepared. Complimentary basket of tortilla chips with a mild-sweet salsa are delivered to the table as we settled in to order our beverages . Server gave us time to peruse the menu to decide what to order. Our choices were filling and flavorful: horchata, margarita, quesadilla, caldo de res, grilled fish plate. We dined-in and enjoyed the pleasant, cheerful decor and the background music. Street parking in front of the restaurant was available on a Sunday evening. The rear parking lot is somewhat dark and the back entrance is locked. read more

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Absolutely a must try place . They have regular Horchata or Oaxaca's Horchata ,ask for a sample. Service was excellent the girls are so helpful and sweet and very patient since I was new to the restaurant and menu. Had the Mole plate ,10/10 and the Tlayuada w/2 meats another 10/10 this plate to traditional and fun to eat. I've had it at other restaurants and this is by far super delicious and great flavor ,the steak meat nice and soft and the chorizo great flavor. The best thing about this restaurant is their Chips ....... 100/100 so perfectly crispy and addicting! Salsa is great perfect balance of flavor. Can't wait to come back for breakfast. Ambiance is inviting. read more

El Ruizeñor Grill - Mole plate - Mexican Near Me - Temple City, California

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First time eating at this place. I was looking for some good Mexican breakfast. Nice quiet place. I ordered green chili chilequiles with a chumparado. The gave me chips and red salsa. The only bad thing was that it tasted more like a can of tomato sauce. It wasnt spicy at all. Very bland. The chilequiles with rice and beans were good except that the cook made my eggs well done instead of sunny side up. They looked like pancakes on the bottom of the egg. Anyways, loved tge chumpurado. The best I've had in a long time. They serve it in a cute coffee mug. Overall, not bad. I may go back for the presentation and price read more

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Delicious lunch! Enjoyed a wonderful breakfast burrito with chorizo. My dining partners enjoyed a tostada salad and something vegetarian that looked amazing . Excellent service, no crowd, convenient location, very, very clean! read more

Updating my review. Not only does this place have delicious food, the workers here are so kind and went out of their way to help when we had an incident during the visit. No Taco Tuesday today as today is Thursday. I took home 3 tacos after my meal even at regular price because they are so worth the price! I took a pic of their Happy Hours specials (see attached) so may be back soon for their other yummy items at discount! read more

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The food at El Ruizeñor Grill is absolutely delicious! They provided fantastic food service which made our meal here even more special. It was the perfect evening set in a fun and festive ambiance. Definitely will be coming back! read more

Decided to have dinner after work and came to el ruizeñor Grill..it's a mom a pops Mexican restaurant .. the inside is pretty big they have a lot of seating available inside and out. They have so many options in their meñu to choose from.. we went ahead and started with a guacamole for appetizer and they served us chips and salsa while we wait.. the salsa was so good.. and I'm not a fan of table salsa like that. The ingredients in the salsa tasted like it was made at home. Afterwards the guac came and oof ! The first thing I noticed was how huge the serving size was... the second thing I noticed was how delicious it was and well salted . I ordered the chille relleno and 2 tacos d asada since it was taco Tuesday they were $1.50 so I decided to dump my meat on top of my chille relleno.. it did not disappoint. Chile relleno was nicely made, my boyfriend ordered a torta d asada and it was served with fries. His torta was so huge! It had lettuce tomato cheese and avocado served on a real torta bread . We both tried the horchata .. and it was definitely different .. it had a fruity yet milky taste to it not bad at all ..the ladies working there were so nice and polite they were very attentive and made the experience great and also they took the time To explain how the horchata was made ... it's actually the fruit of the cactus we're drinking.. plot twisted me lol ... definitely give them a try! read more

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The food was awesome and the staff super nice so it is a win win. Try it, you won't be disappointed!! read more

Cute little family owned restaurant, the ambiance was nice with nice music at a right volume (some other places have very loud music, glad this was not like that). The ladies serving were very friendly and attentive, we enjoyed our meal. Their restrooms were very cleaned. We'll be back to try other dishes! read more

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Excellent service very attentive. The food was delicious and love the presentation. This is a hidden gem . My favorite was the cafe de olla not overwhelming sweet but just right . I had the trio chilaquiles and my husband had enchiladas. read more

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So much better than Cafe de Olla and any other new joint around. Food taste so delicious and worker is so sweet. It is a smaller joint but def worth it read more

El Ruizeñor Grill - Mole chilaquiles hot chocolate and chips - Mexican Near Me - Temple City, California

Wow, I didn't know that there was such a delicious Mexican restaurant so close to home! My dad has been wanting to try this restaurant ever since he saw someone eating a HUGE BURRITO here in passing. The interior is decorated with Mexican art and famous people painted on the walls. We came during Christmas time so they also had a tree and other nativity scenes displayed. The waitress was super nice as my family wanted to practice our Spanish with her. We ordered the following items: 1) Big Daddy Burrito - 10/10 This was SOOOO HUGE and so cheap. It was $20 and very delicious! There were three of us and we were so full after eating this. The inside was filled with ground beef, rice, beans, potatoes, and cheese. We decided to get both the red and green sauce on top. 2) Oaxacan Tortilla - 8/10 First time trying oaxacan meat and it tasted quite good! I liked how they made the tortilla fresh for you which was a treat 2) Horchata - 6/10 This was SOO big. I didn't expect them to serve it in a huge "wine" cup. However I think there was more ice than actual horchata, and the flavor wasn't too strong. Overall, I'd come back to try the other foods here. Due to the proximity and price, I enjoyed my time! The service was also great. read more

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Delicious Mexican food! Everything was soo flavorful and cooked perfectly. I'll definitely be back! read more

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Service was a little slow, since they are understaffed but the food was amazing. I would HIGHLY recommend anything with their mole. The mole they have is delicious and just amazing. Would definitely be back read more

Although the food was good, the service is severely laking, if I am paying $4.00 I shouldn't have to beg or even ask for refills. Listening to the server tell us how busy she was with only 4 tables in use. Very disappointing read more

I went to visit this restaurant because one friend recommended and I love it. The service is great, the food delicious and the ambience cozy and nice. I will coming back read more

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Food was amazing and service was great. The portions are large. We ordered menudo and enmoladas. Highly recommend!

The chicken mole was excellent and I LOVE their homemade tortillas. Service is excellent! read more

El Ruizeñor Grill - Chicken mole - Mexican Near Me - Temple City, California

Their Oaxaca food is excellent. Their servers ask too many questions. But their service is the best.

My parents retired so they closed their restaurant after 30 years so I've been looking for a New Mexican food spot. This place is AMAZING. Had the huevos divorciados and upgraded to a mole enchilada (iykyk) and dang was it tasty. Refried beans also delicious. My friend got the arrachera chilaquiles huge serving and great food. Service amazing and friendly. cafe de olla to die for. Will definitely be coming back read more

I actually ordered the food from Uber Eats for delivery instead of going to the restaurant itself, and it was just as good!!! I love that this place doesn't skimp out on any of the ingredients. There was just enough guac, salsa, carne asada, and other ingredients for the fries. Also, the fries were so crispy and seasoned so well. I loved the sampler tray since I'm an indecisive person and can't choose for my life what I want to eat-- because I want to eat everything!!! Since I ordered these two very big dishes for myself, I couldn't finish them and it took me 3 days to finish. It's so easy to warm up, I just use a pan and some heat and they tasted just as good as the first day (maybe even better). I will definitely go again once I'm in the area. I love!!! read more

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This place takes pride in their food. You can tell everything is homemade and made with love. I ordered the 3 item combo ... chicken flauta, beef taquito, and cheese enchilada... came with rice and beans side of guacamole and sour cream... everything was excellent.! Hubby ordered the pescado de mojo de ajo... very fresh and fabulous. The agua de guava was the best I have EVER had!! I could have drank a gallon. The chips and salsa were addictive. The service was outstanding and the ambiance was perfect... background music but enjoyable. The staff looks like they love being here. Handmade tortillas. Will definitely be back!!! read more

El Ruizeñor Grill - Combo plate.. pescado de mojo de ajo and complimentary chips and salsa.. everything fantastic!!! - Mexican Near Me - Temple City, California

I haven't been here in a quite a while. We went to dinner with a group of friends. Where the service was adequate this is more of a commentary about food. I had the El Roger burrito and a fish taco. The burrito portion was as I remembered but the filling wasn't the meats were dry and chewy and the beans were salty. I had the red sauce and it tasted different as I remembered, if I was to comment it would be that the sauce may have been a little off. The fish taco was adequate the sauce was very traditional Ensenada Style, the fried fish was a little dark in color maybe the oil was at its last use? My partner had the enchiladas a comment was that the portions were small and the same red sauce as the burrito not to her liking. Another issue was the food temperature maybe they will a little busy the food was not as hot as it should have been. The salsa for the chips was different than I remember not flavorful I asked for something hotter but the didn't have anything much more. If it was the same dining as I remember I would have definitely give at least four stars this trip not so much. read more

This is our favorite Mexican restaurant and we usually get the same thing since we really love it. The chicken floutas are excellent as is the carnitas tacos. Toss in a couple of churros and we're all set. Very nice people who work there also. Excellent service. read more

Nice service once again!!! I definitely will be coming back again very soon!!!! Much love and support as always!!!!!!! Xoxo read more

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Chicken and Asada Nachos were very good as was everything else that we ordered. Big Daddy burrito was a monster. read more

El Ruizeñor Grill - Chicken and Asada Nachos. - Mexican Near Me - Temple City, California

My wife and I love this place! Great service! We come here all the time!!!! This is our go to Mexican restaurant when we are craving Mexican food!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! read more

Small space with friendly and attentive service. Small outdoor seating area with street view. Dog and kid friendly. Food was good, the molcagete was good and saucy, everything was well seasoned. The salsa verde pork was good, the tampiqueña steak was thin lacking seasoning. The Tlayuda was too dry and the tazajo meat it came with was just ok. read more

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This spot is a great little gem in Temple City, with great food and great service. From the tacos to taquitos everything we have tried was very tastey and the salsa's are bomb, you try it and you be the judge, I highly recommend this place. read more

This is a great mom and pop restaurant, great atmosphere and service. Food is pretty good, I've never had a bad experience here and of course bonus points for making their own fresh salsa. The servers are always polite and frequently top up your drink . My favoritite dish is the enchilada plate read more