Thanks, Yelp! for showing me this place. Wait, what? Mexican in the Penobscot? Good food at good price ($5 taco combo deal, for one). Reminded me a lot of a well-reviewed taqueria I went to in Studio City CA last year. Will return next time I'm downtown. read more

Fresh Mex Grille - Order, pickup counter & salsa bar - Mexican Near Me - Detroit, Michigan

Came here for a quick lunch. Loved everything I got. Asked them to choose for me and they set me up perfectly. Everything was so good besides the chorizo one but great service great food and will come back again. read more

Fresh Mex Grille - Mexican Near Me - Detroit, Michigan

Awesome quick Mexican place (they are also now known as "Fresh Mex Grille") that serves a wide assortment of fare like tacos, burritos, soups, quesadillas, nachos, bowls, salads and fries. Their street taco ($9) is pretty nice and is meat and veggies thrown into a Doritos bag with the Doritos. Nice variety of beverages as well like the carbonated Apple juice know. As Sidral Mundet. Service also very prompt (you get the food from the counter) and inside is very spacious with many tables. Highly recommended! read more

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Despite the below-average temperatures, a few of us decided to venture out for lunch. Another colleague had recommended this location for an inexpensive lunch. The line was already forming despite the earlier hour. However, it allowed us to consider the menu behind the counter. Both my friend and I had the avocado bowl with tilapia. I thought the latter would be grilled. Instead, it was fried, so less healthy than I would have liked. But still good. We also had the guacamole with homemade chips, both of which were quite good. Since there was significant take-out business, our lunch came out much slower than I would have liked. All of us kept an eye on the counter, as we traded fun stories. read more

Fresh Mex Grille - Chunky, flavorful guacamole. - Mexican Near Me - Detroit, Michigan

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Love the food here! The California bowl is amazing as well as their burritos! The staff is super friendly and help you if your indecisive! Cute little hidden spot with good food! read more

Terrible food. I believe the only reason they are open because of the location. The food doesn't look good nor taste good. The chicken tacos are made with canned chicken. Like, how cheap can you be? The rice is dry and the beans are terrible. I can't believe this place is still in business. Now I know why I walked passed this place for the last few years. The don't have any curb appeal that inviting either. I'll never come back nor do I recommend this place to anyone else. read more

Fresh Mex Grille - "Chicken" taco meal, horrible, do not recommend - Mexican Near Me - Detroit, Michigan

Good food, good service, reasonable prices for downtown. Have been a regular for a couple years. Recommend the California bowl or burrito.

This place rocks! They are wonderful people, give you fast and good service, the food is great! And at a great price! One of my fave spots in the city. read more

Usually busy at lunch always moving fast. Nice cashiers. Same cook since I've been going for 2 years now. It's small about 6 tables clean though. The food is made to order fresh never just being scooped on to a plate always made fresh. Lunch special is my favorite 2 tacos beans and rice $6.99 can't beat it. read more

I thought I was getting some Mexican corn. I got canned corn! I thought there would be some spices and cheese. 4 tablespoons of rice and 2 small sad tacos for $6.03 with tax. It's their everyday special...never ever going here again. Could have gotten a nice $6 sandwich from Potbelly, and for $1 more one from Jimmy John's. read more

Fresh Mex Grille - Sad lunch...still hungry - Mexican Near Me - Detroit, Michigan

I've never had Mexican food be this cheap with the fillings. The ends were only lettuce, so I waited to take a pic of the middle. Overpriced and minimal flavor. The main person taking the orders was rude to everyone who worked there and was not pleasant to deal with. I will not be back. read more

Fresh Mex Grille - Not really much to say about this lettuce burrito, with a side of steak. - Mexican Near Me - Detroit, Michigan

This is my go to quick meal and fast. I appreciate the service and humour from the owner and his workers. Get the tortilla chips and salsa. I always get the Nachos and or 2 tacos meal. Meat of choice carne asada. read more

Not even close to authentic mexican food. Tastes like fast food. Makes you feel like a blob after. I ordered the avocado burrito bowl and he majority of it was unsavory orange rice. There was a small portion of yellow looking chicken and refried beans to accompany the vast amount of rice. The salsas are self serve, which is gross considering it's an open salsa bar and you never know who sneezed it/coughed over it. So I decided to go salsa-less. I had to stop eating 5 minutes in due to my stomach feeling like I had a bowling ball in it. Overall I regret ordering from here. The staff overall was friendly, polite and prepared and gave me my meal quickly. The star rating does not involve the staff. read more

Fresh made Guacamole and chips - $1.99... Two blocks from my office... Did I mention lots of afternoon meetings crying out for snacktion?.. I'm a fan! read more

The California fish tacos are killer! This is the best Mexican in downtown/midtown. I'd say they even rival places in Mexicotown. The salsa bar is really good. Normally I could take or leave refried beans, but the ones here are delicious and creamy. read more

Fresh Mex Grille - Mexican Near Me - Detroit, Michigan

I love this place! If you are looking for no non-sense, delicious, greasy, Mexican food this is the place. I alway get the chorizo breakfast burrito. For best experience call a head for a to-go order and add 'spicy' to the burrito. read more

Fresh Mex Grille - Chorizo breakfast burrito with jalapeños and medium salsa. - Mexican Near Me - Detroit, Michigan

I live downtown, and this is my favorite place to grab lunch. Prices are some of the best downtown (most places down here are overpriced), and the food is excellent. I usually get the fish tacos with rice and beans. read more

Always such great food and affordable! Food always comes out very quick too, good for a lunch break

The food here is complete trash. The only thing here that is kind of a deal is the 5 dollar lunch deal but that's relative. It's still garbage food not remotely worth what they charge. The meats are flavorless, don't taste fresh nor are seasoned well. Not very clean in here either. I'm sure they're just reheating frozen bulk food they buy in southwest. They're pretty much just capitalizing on the lunch crowds on the weekdays downtown. Came here 2 off 3 times on lunch, and I swear, every single time I've been here, a guy i assume is the owner was tearing down his staff, and not in a playful or joking manner, but in an aggressive and insulting manner. As a customer it was embarrassing to watch how incessantly rude and disrespectful this guy was to his workers, let alone be so crass as to do it in front of the customers, just no respect. I can't imagine what kind of obligations these women have to tolerate that kind of abuse. After seeing it several times I refuse to patronize such a place again for this reason alone. I really don't understand how this dump is even holding on to the 3 stars it has. Somebody needs to put this place on Kitchen Nightmares. read more

An absolutely fantastic catering order experience during the holidays when they were busier than ever. My team decided to order a somewhat large order about an hour before we wanted it. The staff was happy to take our catering order and had it ready on time (which is the most important). The cashier even treated us to free pop since we waited a few minutes (which wasn't notable or bad at all). Now, on to the food... everything was packed so well, was hot, fresh and absolutely delicious. It was definitely comparable to the fare in San Diego. They provide corn and flour street sized tortillas, two meats if you'd like, lettuce, beans, sour cream, guacamole upon request, cheese, mild and hot salsa, onions and cilantro upon request. It was fantastic and we had almost zero leftovers. At a price of $7.95/pp, we ordered for 12 and maybe had enough for 20 (good thing we have big eaters on our team). read more

I got the California burrito, which was enormous and loaded with tasty ingredients. It came with a dab of refried beans and a thimbleful of rice, both of which were kind of basic. My order was carry out, which may explain why the sides were so skimpy. Still, it was plenty to eat, service was friendly and reasonably fast, and the restaurant was spotlessly clean. The order came to $9, which felt like a good deal. read more

Food is good. The General Manager or whoever is running the place around lunch time is a hard worker, but he is abusive to his staff. I had to step in and tell him to stop verbally assaulting one of his workers. It's pitiful. I won't be going back here despite how good the food is because I don't need to see adults accosted publicly by their manager on my lunch break. read more

Don't come to this establishment unless you support an owner/manager who is disrespectful to his employees. I was in the restaurant 3 times in the past month, and Monday was the last. Each time, the owner/manager was aggressive, yelling and belittling his staff. This last time, I walked out after being deeply offended when he called his employee a "retard". I feel bad for the employee he called names. I wrote a private message to give the feedback to the business owner but received no response. Give respect, get respect. read more

My wait during the lunch rush was about 25 minutes... for a single burrito. Also, if you order a "vegetarian burrito grande," be aware that they're just going to give you a tortilla with vegetables in it. No rice, no beans. Not exactly worth $6. read more

It was decent. Had lunch for about $7 w 3 Steak Tacos and a darn good Chicken Tostada. The salsa bar is nice. Plenty to choose from. The atmosphere is generic and service is a tad slow but friendly. It is fairly clean but the girl wiping things down looked like she did not care. We will go back but hope they realize they have a chance to be really good w some tweaks. read more

I have gone for take out twice and both times the food was solid. Maybe nothing too special, but by far one of the quickest pickups in this part of downtown. Service is friendly and the food was fresh. They have a salsa bar and if you are getting takeout, they give you two sauce cups to select what you want. read more

So because i just moved back home to Michigan after spending about two years in Dallas, i now know what real Mexican food taste like! People who think this is good, you guys need to get out more travel the world because these people need to be ashamed of what they are selling! I had the 5.00 combo meal, two tacos, beans and rice I'll admit even tho i know those beans came from a can it was still good and better than the whole meal. My tacos which were beef had so much salt in it i had to take a blood pressure pill before leaving so nobody finds me laid out on a side walk all in the way! They have a salsa bar which is staple in Dallas so i was impressed but the salsa are not that great tasting but seems fresh tho. The tacos are very greasy and they shouldn't be, all it takes is a little extra try to strain your meat so you dont serve greasy food to people. Maybe some of the other stuff is better i may try them again but get something different i dont know yet. I watched a worker clean a table that obviously had children sitting there, at least i hope that was kids who made that mess but i watched her clean the table but she didnt clean the sides where food was caked on the sides of the table this young lady left that food on the sides of that table like she didnt give a darn about it i guess she really didnt! She also left food all on the seats and all on the floor i was there for a little while she never came back to reclean it. I think they need better management this is how a place gets ran down, just trifling, i bet her own home is nasty too! The person who took my order she was wonderful and very understanding of my hearing problem i am partially deaf she accommodated me very well i appreciated that! read more

Fresh Mex Grille - 5.00 Combo Two Tacos, Rice ,Beans - Mexican Near Me - Detroit, Michigan

When you order a signature dish from a restaurant you'd expect it to be exactly that. I ordered the carnival bowl, small portion... barely any steak or chicken in it. Comparing this to bowls of any other Mexican restaurants (chipotle, pancheros, qdoba) this is subpar. I won't be back. read more

This place is perfect for the area and has a lot to offer. Once they speed up, I plan to head back and try it again. read more

Fresh Mex Grille - Mexican Near Me - Detroit, Michigan

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I'll never come here again. I walked in and stood at the counter for five mins before anyone even acknowledged me. When (who I assume is the manager) did finally he said "ready whenever you are". I've been ready! Then the food took for.ev.er and I was the only one in there. He up-charged me for every little thing so over $8 for three tacos. I feel so bad for all the people who work there. He was just so rude the way he to talked to them and to me. Just over all uncomfortable, unprofessional and in efficient how he made me wait to order and then wait to pay. Not worth it at all. read more

Good food. Busy around lunch, but that's to be expected. Was an issue with my order thru ritual and the manager fixed it with no complaint and was super nice ! read more

I really wanted to like Carnival Fresh Mex. If I could, I would eat Mexican every night. I ordered a marinated chicken burrito and a pork al pastor taco. The salsas were good but the meats (chicken and pork) were basically dry and bland. I'm going to keep going back to try other things but I've had better at Hot Taco, Los Altos, Chipolte, and at home. If you really love Mexican food give them a try. I'm very excited that they are open and looking forward to trying again. I would have given them two stars if I thought that my experience was the best they had to offer. read more

The idea that I have worked near this place for a year and just discovered the fresh, yummy food makes me so sad. A perfect takeout restaurant. Ordered a burrito bowl and all the ingredients ~ rice, beans, corn, guacamole ~ were balanced to achieve the best flavor. Portion was perfect and the salsa selection impressive. I added ground beef and it was seasoned just right. Frankly, it's the first dish I've had in Detroit that made me miss the awesome Mexican street food found in Central California. Line was long but moved quickly. Staff behind the cash register was incredibly friendly. It was, I think, the unassuming signage that never invited me in. At issue is not whether I'll return but how to pace myself in these coming months. My discovery of Carnival is like an early Christmas gift. Simple. Good. Reasonably priced. read more

Service is a little faster and they have added a breezeway blocker to the front door. Its not very effective but I am impressed that they have put some effort into correcting a problem that drains the entire store of heat every time someone opens the door. They also recently added a soda fountain, nice touch. As much as I like glass bottle coke, its a little expensive for my taste. The chicken (diced) taco meat is a little dry but still good. I enjoy the Chorizo tacos the most so far. read more

Really good. The taco's taste better on Tuesdays than on Monday . There seems to be more good grease on Tuesdays. read more

Fresh Mex Grille - Lots of sauces. - Mexican Near Me - Detroit, Michigan

This place has a lot of potential to be better. There is a serious need for street tacos in this area, i just have a few bones to pick with this place. 1. Cilantro is not lettuce so it should not be used in that way, every time i go here i have to remove a heaping portion of cilantro off all my tacos. 2. The meat they use seems very low quality. There salsa is delicious and the people running the place are always very kind and courteous. I wish i wanted to eat here more than i do. read more

A good, quick spot for Mexican if your DT Detroit. Outstanding quesadilla, soft corn tacos (chicken/spicy pork, onion & cilantro...just naming what Ive had). The tortilla soup is amazing! The prices are reasonable, especially for downtown. Lunch time is busy but worth it. Also, the salsa bar is great read more

Thought it was great! Filling and great value for the price. I had one of the bowls with lettuce instead of rice. My friend had nachos. Don't know why they have bad reviews....it's busy!! read more

First time here! Thought the food was pretty good. I got the carne asada taco, chorizo taco, and carnita rojo taco with chips salsa and guacamole. That's my usual three when trying a new place. I have to say my favorite was definitely the chorizo and second carne asada. The carnita was too wet, ruined my corn tortilla, no flavor, and definitely NOT SPICY at all. Avoid. I love the salsa bar. I got the hot green and hot red salsas, jalapeno, and limes. It's kinda cramped in here for lunch but was able to find a table. It didn't get 5 stars because the customer service wasn't helpful kinda had to figure it out myself, the carnita taco was disappointing & I also avoided the rice and beans. I would go again and I will try the carne asada nacho fries and tostadas. Seen someone with it on the way out. read more

I live like two blocks away and finally got to try it here last week, and I've had it twice since.I have tried so many different Mexican restaurants around downtown and this one is my favorite. All of the workers are the best so friendly and nice, especially the young girls who work here are awesome. And the food is soo good and also fast. I get the taco combo with steak tacos and they are seriously so good and another plus is they have a salsa bar so you can choose for yourself different salsas and limes. I also get chips and guacamole and the chips are homemade and SO good. And the caramel churro read more