As a 1st generation mexican from southern california (aka I know authentic mexican food), this…read moreplace is as legit as it gets around here. DELICIOUS. worth the trip. the only place you'll find in WNY with street tacos. I've had everything on the menu except the specialty tacos and every single thing is spectacular, including the desserts. go here.

Small restaurant with great tacos and such quick service! The birria tacos were so rich and tender!…read moreThe chicken taco although disheveled in the photo (my fault lol) was good and the carnitas were tender and flavorful!! Love the counter with extra toppings and sauces you can take! I got the queso too with homemade chips, delicious! I will be back :)

I have searched high and low for good Mexican food in western NY, and I was thrilled to finally…read morefind it! I've gone to all of the places people have recommended, but when you grow up in an area that is known for it nothing compares. THIS Mexican food was finally on the same level. Not to mention the staff was super nice, and the vibe inside was cool. Will absolutely make a point to go back!

Food was okay, but service was terrible. I've been a few times and the staff is amicable. The man…read morewho worked as a waiter alone on 7/6/ 26 gave an attitude, cut us off before we could order, and was rude to me and all the guest nearby. The whole experience was ruined because of his attitude. Hire a new person he does not know how to give customers and it's mad at life. La comida estuvo bien, pero el servicio fue terrible. He ido varias veces y el personal es amable. El hombre que trabajó solo como mesero el 7/6/26 tuvo una actitud grosera, nos interrumpió antes de que pudiéramos ordenar, y fue descortés conmigo y con todos los clientes cercanos. Toda la experiencia se arruinó por su actitud. Contraten a otra persona, él no sabe atender a los clientes y es una pésima experiencia

I'm still trying to figure out what they put in that food because I have never left a Mexican…read morerestaurant feeling quite like that. The food was so ridiculously good that it genuinely put me in a different state of mind. Every bite was flavorful, rich, and satisfying. And the funniest part? I only had one margarita. ONE. I wasn't stumbling around drunk or anything -- I was just sitting there completely overwhelmed by how good everything tasted and suddenly feeling way more flirtatious and sexually charged than any normal person should after dinner. The combination of that margarita, the incredible food, and whatever kind of culinary magic was happening in that kitchen had me leaving the restaurant feeling hot, confident, and extremely ready to make some questionable romantic decisions. Usually I leave a restaurant thinking, "Wow, that was delicious." This time I left thinking, "Wow... I need to go home and figure out what just happened to me." 10/10 food. 10/10 margarita. 100/10 inexplicable horny aftermath. I came hungry and left very satisfied in more ways than one.

This restaurant was a pleasant surprise. We discovered it while traveling through Buffalo on the…read moreinterstate - it's very close to the exit and worth the detour if you're looking for fast but not fast food. The tacos were amazing - I recommend the chicken birria and the pork with pineapple. There is a little condiment bar to add onions, peppers, and salsa. Free chips and salsa. An extensive lunch menu. There is much more than tacos, and the burritos also looked good. There are some non traditional filling options including beef tongue, cactus, and tripe. We also had a shredded chicken and cheese quesadilla which was large and the chicken was nicely seasoned. Service was friendly and got us in and out in less than an hour. Fun Mexican restaurant vibes.

Really fun little taco joint in a quiet town. Dive bar vibes on one side and take out counter on…read morethe other. The staff were all super friendly, including the gentleman running the counter who may have been the owner? My friends and I all got burritos - carnitas for me and steak and al pastor for them. They were well-portioned for the price (13.60) and very tasty. There's a bevy of toppings and sauces at the side bar for use. I opted for the hot sauce, which had some zip but used in moderation was excellent. The fillings of the burritos were a bit juicy and the bottoms did start falling apart a little by the end, but it sure beats them being dry all day. They had a great selection of drinks, including a number of Jarritos options, and some really delicious looking desserts, including flan and tres leches cake. Next time for sure!

Manito Taco Shop is an unexpected find in Lockport. We arrived shortly after opening and were lucky…read morethe timing worked out because this place was packed by noon. The man working at the register is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet and the service here is absolutely fantastic. We ordered a handful of tacos including vegetation, chorizo, carnitas, birria and two others I can't remember. Since it was our first time here I also wanted to try some of the sides to compare to my favorite Mexican spots and we ended up with chips, queso, beans, and chocolate tres leches cake. The toppings bar is absolutely the best in Western, NY with anything that you can imagine (except for radish slices). Our food was ready in just a few short minutes and all was to our liking. My husband felt that the birria was a little bland and I thought the beans were a little too soupy, but considering the spread we ordered and the excellent service that can be forgiven. Great spot if you're willing to make the drive.

This place is centrally located, bright, cheerful and the food is fantastic!…read more The waitress was very attentive without hovering, and brought us more chips as needed. The spice level was perfect, the plates were so hot from the kitchen the waitress needed mitts, and the quantities are just huge! The aguas frescas were strawberry, coconut, mango, and lime; there's horchata, Pepsi products, and a full bar. On the weekends, there's caldo de res, menudo, and posole.

Food was mediocre at best. Also a rip off. Their horchata…read morewas $8 with no refills but it was all ice... Service was horrible. Got the wrong meat in my food. But being it took 23 minutes to get my tacos and I didn't see my server ever again I just ate it. Never got a refill on my water (I wasn't paying another $8 for an horchata. I didn't see the price of it till after I got my menu). I had to go up to the Bar to get my check.

interesting atmosphere. Food was great and service was excellent. Would highly recommend!read more

If I could give it 3.5 stars I would but I was pretty disappointed in my experience. It started out…read morewhen we were told a 20-30 minute wait. We finally went inside and were told another 10 mins after waiting almost 45. So all told it was about an hour wait. I get they're busy but they were not honest about the wait time. Then we were sat in the bar area and it was just very loud and rowdy thanks to what we found out was a rehearsal dinner, seriously it went down about 10 octaves after they left. Our server seemed very frazzled. When we first sat down we were given a smaller dinner menu and told the regular menu was only for drinks. Our server explained they are training a new kitchen. So we go to order and our appetizer came before our drinks. We ordered the guac and it was tasty. When we finally got our margaritas they were good. Then they delivered a queso to the table that wasn't ours, but let us keep it anyway. Then dinner arrived. I ordered shrimp tacos- and chicken came. I had to wait while they made me the correct tacos, according to the bill the server had put them in wrong. I also felt $20 for three taco shells with 3-4 shrimp each was a lot. You can not mix and match taco types. The only toppings provided are a very spicy sauce, cilantro, and onion. I ended up putting the queso on them which was good. Just never had tacos with that limited toppings for the price and no toppings bar. We repeatedly asked for more water during the meal and never got any so my friend had to go up to the bar. We ordered a soft serve margarita (the real reason we were here!) for desert to share as the flavor was chocolate and raspberry twist. It was really good! Very rich and definitely a sweet treat type of drink. The server said the flavors aren't usually like that or as thick as ours was. All this to say I honestly feel they are trying to figure some things out right now. The food itself and drinks were very good. I enjoyed the soft serve margarita and would love to try some other flavors that aren't as rich in the future. Would I go back? Yes but not for a few months. The service piece of this place is not it right now. I wouldn't order the tacos again either as I don't feel the value is there. My friend has been here dozens of times and she said it's never like this. So I hope to give them another try!

I've heard wonderful things about this place from my friends so I've been dying to try this place…read moreout!! The inside is decorated beautifully & the colors are super vibrant. I truly felt like I wasn't in Buffalo but more so on a vacation in Mexico. It was jam packed on a Friday night so my friend and I sat at the bar. It is full service so we were able to order our food & drinks there. Highly recommend sitting at the bar because the vibes were absolutely immaculate!! I ordered a strawberry mojito which was super refreshing and not too sweet. I also ordered the Baja tacos which came with fried fish as well as a side of rice and beans. Portions were huge so I took some of my food home. I would definitely recommend and can't wait to come back.

This place came highly recommended, so unfortunately, I was pretty disappointed by the experience…read more Overall, it just wasn't very enjoyable. The chips were particularly disappointing, the prices felt high for what we received, and the service in general was poor. The one bright spot was when a staff member came out and shared some history about mezcal and explained its cultural importance. That was genuinely interesting and added a nice personal touch to the experience. Unfortunately, though, that wasn't enough to outweigh the rest of the visit. Based on my experience, I don't think I'll be coming back.

HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO…read more Always an amazing time at el jefe ! chroizo queso margaritas friendly staff we love el jefe

We procrastinated on giving El Jefe a try, glad we finally did. Staff were friendly and the food…read morewas served quick. And it was delicious! My husband had the chimichangas and I had el burrito ranchero (chicken burritos). The restaurant was clean and well lit. We have a lot of Mexican restaurants in WNY. This is now one of my favorites!

Awesome experience: Name at table for reservation…read moreWater was good (water lovers know what I mean lol) Complimentary chips and salsa A menu that works for anyone! Great service and atmosphere Bar, dining room, and patio Delicious food and a fantastic pina colada! Awesome birthday shot celebration that will have you grinning from ear to ear Couldn't ask for better! Will be back!

Generally speaking, one primary dinner plate is served per customer at a Mexican restaurant…read more Mexican cuisine is famous for the "combination platter" or "combo plate" format. Instead of serving courses on separate plates, a standard Mexican restaurant meal aggregates your main item (like an enchilada, taco, or chile relleno) along with all of your sides (typically Mexican rice and refried or charro beans) onto one single, large dinner plate or oval platter. La Catina is plate happy! For my order of 2 tacos, refried beans and rice I was presented with three large rectangular plates. As there were three of us a forest of crockery soon engulfed our booth table what with main course, sides and beverages. Foot placement was uncomfortable because of the crossed beams supporting the table causing one's feet to be tucked in limiting stretching. A specialty dip was a melange of lettuce, taco chips and beans which defied dipping and required a fork. The tacos were open faced and inadequate to the job of ingredient containment and needed a fork. The atmosphere is warm and the staff enthusiastic. My guess is that they have a serving station plan and each station has his own crockery. bottom line and cheerful atmosphere was not matched by the difficulties serving plan.

Normally, we love eating here. However, our last two visits have been less than stellar…read more When we ate here a month ago, our waiter was MIA for about 40 minutes at one point. We watched two tables get up and leave after they sat there with nothing but drinks and one basket of chips for god only knows how long. As I'm writing this review, we are currently sitting at our table, waiting for our food and the stereo is cranked so loud you're unable to hold a conversation without screaming at each other (see video, this was the regular, non-celebration related volume). Our waitress had to ask us to repeat ourselves TWICE trying to order because it's so incredibly loud. However, If there is ANY type of celebration, be it a birthday, someone orders shots, someone orders a margarita tower, hell, if someone walks through the damned door... they somehow turn the speakers up to a 25 out of 10 and blare the most obnoxious club style music at an earsplitting volume, with sparklers, light wands, LED club signs, and light up trays. They even have someone wear a creepy giant sugar skull mask. In the hour that we have been here there have been 22 "celebrations" including 3 separate ones at the table behind us, yes we counted. The real kicker? Every time there's a "celebration," the entire wait staff has to participate. My husbands beer took 20 minutes to get to our table, and our food took 40. If you ever want to feel like you're inside the speaker at a Bills game, then this is the place for you. They should really consider leaving an Excedrin with your check.

Met friends here at 1pm, had cocktails and lunch. The place is very clean and not overly busy at…read morelunchtime. Had the house frozen lime margaritas $13.00. Good size drink and very tasty. Chips and salsa were brought to our table. They brought 3 baskets and 3 salsa. They came back and replenished the salsa. On to lunch, I had the Lunch chimichanga $14.00. I chose the shredded chicken fried, it's covered with cheese sauce & I got the Mexican rice, beans and house sales. The house salad is lettuce, pico de gallo, sour cream and guacamole. Have been here before and will definitely come back. Our waitress Amanda A was very attentive and was also bi-lingual, she gave us the correct pronunciation of the restaurant and its meaning.