The bad reviews are real! First off service is terrible and the food is just straight out nasty and expensive for no reason. Even with a reservation there was a wait. I really regret coming here since it was for my brother's Birthday! I should have took him to Houston's instead! Don't waste your money!!! Stay clear of the place. Don't say I didn't warn you. I'm always a big tipper; however, I just couldn't do it this time. read more

Javiers - Here's the price for some basic nasty beans and rice.... - New Mexican Cuisine Near Me - Pasadena, California

Absolutely ridiculous. Took them 1.5 hours after our reservation time to finally reach out to us for seating. Needless to say, at the 1 hour mark we were already looking for another restaurant. Otherwise, food is good here, but not amazing and definitely not worth the long wait. Also, it's a cheap vibe with the music blasting and everyone congregated at the front entrance door - why spend so much to elevate the interior design if you can even see or experience it! Also, unreliable management, approaching you, promising to get back to you with a seat in few minutes, but not seeing their face again. The are talk and no walk. We will NEVER return to this location, unless by some miracle we hear of actual positive changes. read more

Fantastic service and food! 1st time at Javier's in Pasadena. We came on a Sunday during a holiday weekend. Service was phenomenal! We were seated right on time with our reservation. I know there were reviews that stated they had to wait to be seated even with a reservation. We didn't have that issue at all. Also, both the Manager and server helped us when we needed it. As for the food , it was fantastic! No, it's not your hole in the wall Mexican food but it was still really good. And yes! I had hole-in-the-wall Mexican food many times before. Each restaurant has a different experience. As for the food, we had the following: Guacamole - 3 out of 5 stars. Good but I think there is room for improvement. Salsa - this came with the chips for free. I thought it was great! Not too spicy and not too watery. Lobster enchiladas - very good! There were enough lobster in it that I think justified the cost. Chile verde - good! I would order again. The only negative thing about this location is the noise level. It was extremely loud. As in, I felt I was yelling at my boyfriend who sat across from me just so that he can hear me. But it's a beautiful restaurant, great service and great food. It is expensive for Mexican food. If you don't want to pay more than $20 enchiladas, then this place isn't for you. I still think the entire experience is worth it. read more

Second chance at Javier's... After a disappointing first experience, I honestly didn't think I'd be back -- but my husband received a gift card for his birthday, so we decided to give Javier's a second chance. We walked in on a Friday 2/6/26 around 5:00 PM and asked if we could sit at the bar. Once again, we were told it was open seating -- but this time, there were actually a couple of open seats. We grabbed them, slightly nervous based on our past experience. One of the bartenders immediately came over, warmly welcomed us, and asked whether we'd be having drinks or dinner. That simple question was a huge relief, as we still had a bit of PTSD from the first visit when we were made to feel unwelcome and told seats were reserved for "friends and family." This visit could not have been more different -- in the best way possible. We ordered drinks, the aguachile, and the steak fajitas, and everything was absolutely delicious. Even more important than the food, though, was the service. The bartenders -- who appeared to be new faces -- were attentive, accommodating, and genuinely kind. There was a female bartender in particular who went above and beyond, checking in on us and making sure we felt taken care of. We truly appreciated her and the rest of the team. This experience restored my hope that Javier's can actually be the dining experience people rave about. It made me feel comfortable enough to consider making a reservation and returning for a full dinner. I wanted to post this update not only because sometimes a second chance is deserved, but because there are many hardworking people behind the scenes who absolutely do not deserve bad reviews due to poor front-of-house decisions. Credit where credit is due -- this visit was a complete turnaround. We'll be back. read more

This was my first visit to this Javier's location, and the food was excellent as always. The quality and consistency are exactly what I've come to expect. The service was also a standout. I didn't get his name, but the server assisting us by the bar area on Friday night delivered exceptional service.. attentive, efficient, and genuinely committed to making sure everything was handled at a high standard. That level of care is rare, and it made a real difference. The only challenge was the wait time. The volume of guests with reservations was overwhelming. Our reservation was for 8:30 PM, but we weren't seated until close to 9:30 PM. The staff was working hard to manage the crowd, but the delay was significant. The layout of the restaurant is very open and the music is loud, so there aren't quieter sections like other locations offer. Aside from the wait, the overall experience was awesome, and I would return. read more

Underwhelming. Forgot to take pics of my food but it wasn't great. I ordered the tacos dorados. All three tacos were cold and chicken was over fried that it was very hard / dry to bite into with a very soggy hardshell tortilla. Rice & beans were also cold and bland (sold separately) . I ordered a pineapple margarita, I left more than half. Way too sweet and that was not fresh pineapple. The staff also seemed confused as we had about 5 different people serving us. This made it very confusing anytime we asked for something as we weren't sure who to ask and they took forever to bring anything the table. It's cute I guess for pics but mehhh. read more

One of the worst experiences I've had in a long time. I made a reservation to host my family of 8 for an early Mother's Day lunch and we had to wait an over an HOUR and a half to be seated. That's WITH a reservation. Such a disappointment considering we planned this ahead of time since we had a baby with us. We then were informed that our table was ready so the whole group went to the front desk just for them to say we had to wait another 15 minutes so we lost our seating in the lobby. Then they finally called us 40 minutes later. I really had high hopes since I've been to the Javier's in Newport, but completely disappointed. Do not come here with a large party and if you have a reservation, plan on waiting another hour read more

I have been attempting to reserve a room at this restaurant for a small party for 2 weeks now. I get promised a call back and it has not happened. Very frustrating! Either they are incompetent or arrogant. Terrible restaurant. read more

Waitress - service was AWESOME. she was super nice. Seating - 7 of us with a reservation and they seated us in a booth. We were all touching Elvis sitting down. Terrible. Quality of food -Terrible. I order a NY Steak, medium well. WHat I got was WELL DONE extra crispy steak. Tasted terrible. My buddy ordered Medium and he got medium well also on the well side. Terrible. Fish Plates - good. The rest of the group enjoyed their meals. Overall, the meals were not tasty at all. I been to other locations and received better tasting food. read more

I hate a place that makes you wait until your entire party has arrived to seat you. That makes no sense. Seat the people there, get them a drink. That immediately left a bad first impression. But our server, Jaime, was quite nice and attentive. It is loud, you can't get around that. If you dislike a noisy restaurant, this is not the place for you. The place is beautiful but the food is average and significantly overpriced. Mojo de Ajo should be more than shrimp in butter, but that's is what was served, semi cold and costing &55. Also everything is à la carte... not even rice and beans! Salsa is great as is the guacamole. Proceed at your own risk ... read more

The food was soooo bad . The steak was salty , the place way tooo loud. The drinks were good , the bus boys/men were amazing ... but the actual host and waiters ..not great underwhelming experience . read more

If you're in the area and want to have a drink I recommend it. The bar area is beautiful and the service is great read more

Javiers - Margarita - New Mexican Cuisine Near Me - Pasadena, California

Food was extremely salty. so so loud you can not even hear. Your ears hurt. Had to ask for water 4 times. read more

The Lobster Enchiladas are fantastic. High quality lobster with great flavor and texture, the cheese is yummy and the tomatillo sauce is great. Also got a Virgin Piña Margarita. The highlight of the meal was DESSERT. The flan was fantastic and the Mexican Corn Cake with ice cream was insane. Dont skimp on the sweets! Service was fabulous. We sat at the bar as some seats opened up as soon as we walked in. Kayla and Ernesto were very attentive and while the restaurant was very busy they made sure to take excellent care of us. read more

Javiers - Flan and Mexican Corn Cake with Ice Cream - New Mexican Cuisine Near Me - Pasadena, California

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came here on their second day of opening! had a reservation so it was easier to get a table for at least 10. food was so yommy and drinks were stronggg lov it the service was awesome too read more

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Food is overpriced for what it is Service/Management - Omar & Maytee need to go get trained Ambiance too loud All of the above Time management on reservations - overbooked and with reservations you still have to wait 30-90 minutes read more

We arrived at 8pm for dinner and drinks and were told to return at 10-10:30pm. When we came back at 10pm, we were told 10:30, then at 10:30 were told 10:45, and then "another 30 minutes." A multi-hour wait for dinner and drinks is completely UNACCEPTABLE, and the way we were strung along was unprofessional. They should be ashamed of themselves. We could have eaten elsewhere instead of being misled. I've never heard of a "dinner" way past 11pm. My friend initially expressed frustration calmly, but the hostess/manager responded in a CONDESCENDING, dismissive way instead of acknowledging the mistake. At that point, I stepped in and escalated our assertiveness because her tone was RUDE and dismissive. Rather than de‑escalating, she doubled down, acting pretentiously "calm" and superior, positioning herself as the reasonable one while continuing to talk down to us. For an establishment with this reputation and price point, the INCOMPETENCE and dismissive attitude at the host stand was SHOCKING. If walk‑ins can't realistically be seated at night, be honest about it instead of moving the goalposts and talking down to guests who are understandably annoyed. We left and will NOT be returning. read more

After reading quite a few negative reviews about long wait times (30-45 minutes) even with a reservation, I'll admit I was a little nervous. I even called ahead to confirm, and they were upfront that there could still be a wait. Because this was a large party of 15, canceling last minute and finding another place wasn't realistic, so we decided to move forward. I'm really glad we did. Not only were we seated on time -- we were actually seated about five minutes early, even though our entire party hadn't arrived yet. They took us to a private room, which gave us our own space and made the night feel like a true company event rather than just another dinner reservation. Service was prompt, attentive, and professional from start to finish. The servers were excellent, and everything flowed smoothly. Considering the size of our party and the overall experience, the cost felt well worth it. We had a great time, no rushing, no chaos -- just solid food, great service, and a memorable evening. I eat out a lot, and this experience completely exceeded expectations. I would absolutely choose Javier's again for a future company dinner or group event. Highly recommend. read more

Extremely disappointing experience. Despite having a reservation made well in advance, we were forced to wait 45 minutes to be seated. The hostess was unprofessional and dismissive, offering no clear explanation or apology--just attitude. Once seated, the food did not come close to justifying the hype or the wait. Quality was mediocre at best, especially for a restaurant that positions itself as upscale. Between the excessive wait time, poor service at the front, and underwhelming food, this was a frustrating experience from start to finish. Never coming back. read more

The ambiance is cool and the food was good (for the price I expected better). We made reservations and still had to wait an hour. I didn't feel it was worth the wait. I'd like to think we just happened to be there on a night where they were either overbooked or understaffed. read more

The space is beautiful and cavernous and the service is excellent. However, there are enough downsides that I probably wouldn't go back. First, it is incredibly loud and noisy. It was a little hard to hear my companions talking. The food is meh. My friend needed salt for her steak picado. I had the crab and shrimp enchiladas and they were bland. The tuna ceviche was more like Hawaiian poke. On top of that, everything is à la carte. Rice and beans are ordered separately and the food is really expensive. With tip, for just myself, we paid $120 EACH for one shared appetizer, one cocktail, a main, and a shared dessert. definitely not worth the money for going again, but go once to see the place and say you've been there. read more

An overpriced and underwhelming experience--that's the most accurate way to summarize all Javier's restaurants. This chain continues to slide downhill, consistently trading quality for quantity while raising prices at an alarming pace. The food is mediocre at best: not bad enough to complain to the manager, but nowhere near good enough to justify the cost. Portions are decent, but that hardly matters when the ingredients and execution feel cheap. Service is consistently poor across locations, which at this point feels less like an exception and more like the brand standard. What you're really paying for is ambiance. It's a place for people-watching and conspicuous spending, not for memorable food. Strip away the aesthetics, and what's left is a low-quality, overpriced dining experience that fails on fundamentals. You can find far better Mexican food almost anywhere else, for a fraction of the price. read more

Amazing. Food, service, vibes. Welcome to Pasadena Javier's. Much excitement to the area read more

Javiers - New Mexican Cuisine Near Me - Pasadena, California

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Overall experience is subpar to other locations, food was good and portion was generous. Service was lacking and bartender did not do a good job on there drinks. The atmosphere was nice, not as Dina dm dark as the others. read more

Javiers - Tablita to share - New Mexican Cuisine Near Me - Pasadena, California

Very good restaurant. First time there. It's beauitiful. The server he was amazing. We didn't like the salty chips so he went and got us unsalted and they came out super warm. My mom got white fish and I got salmon. Both were very good plates and good size/ amount of food. Restrooms are clean also with a lady openning the door and handing you napkins. Overall I was worried since some people in the reviews said their experience was not good. The food is expensive so if that happened to us we would not return but we had a good time so will be returning! read more

What a joke of an establishment! We had 8:30pm reservations, kept being told they are "running behind". Our table wasn't ready till 10:15pm! Manager was simply trained to "apologize" did not even offer an alternative or even a simple chips and salsa while we waited 2 hours past the reservation time. Thankfully, we were eating steak at Arroyo chophouse when we got the text for our table being ready, Javier couldn't care less about you or your family eating at a proper time. read more

My husband and I ordered the trio enchilada and a crab enchilada. Food was good but when we got home, we realized we were charged incorrectly. The receipt shows 2 orders of Trio De Enchiladas Del Mar with 2 different prices. Spoke to the manager and she explained there was a miscommunication. One of the entree was a crab trio enchiladas. So the server decided to up charge without telling us?? Manager said they could not do anything about it because it was consumed and will "talk" to the server. WTF The hostess was also very rude to my husband. read more

Javiers - Up charged without telling us. Supposed to be an order of trio enchiladas and crab enchiladas - New Mexican Cuisine Near Me - Pasadena, California

So I know they only recently opened so there's much that needs improvement however customer service shouldn't be the first thing lacking. Had reservations at 7:30. Didn't get seated til 815. Atmosphere was so incredibly loud in the dinning room we had to shout our order to our server several times. Could never never flag him down for basic requests like more water or salsa for that same reason. Food was very underseasoned. I ordered the steak picado and traditionally it comes with a sauce. No sauce was added to plate which caused it to be a bit tough and dry. The other plate was vegitarian enchiladas which were so-so. And the only thing that stood out was the salsa chips and guacamole. If you're into a club ambience " seen and be seen" with overpriced underseasonded food, this is your place. If not my recommendation is to skip this place until the reviews confirm alot of improvements. read more

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2-star reviews for Javier's often overpriced, mediocre food and poor service, despite a great atmosphere. bland entrees, long waits, $20 watered-down margaritas, and automatic gratuity. Gratuity is not mandatory. Gratuity is earned. read more

We ordered carnitas and chicken enchilada. The food looks better than what it tastes, definitely overpriced. The carnitas presentation was ok. The meat was dry, the beans had no taste and the small portion of guacamole on the side was whiteish, the green sauce on the side was watery and with big chunks of onionI I do not recommend for$40. The enchilada sauce was on the sweet side, almost no chicken... not the best, sorry... for $36. The ambience is loud Mexican music, more like a night club not a restaurant. Most customers are very young. Very hard to carry a conversation. Friday night the place was packed! Do understand the hype read more

I had a reservation on May 9th at 7:30pm from open table app , i was there 15 months ago before the reservation as it was mentioned from multiple texts that they send for the rules and regulations which we abide by, and the receptionist tells that there is an 60 min wait , then what is the reservation is for plus next day when I complained to the management they acted that as if it is normal . If you are not gonna honor reservations then do not take it . Sorry you lost us read more

Only nice thing about this place is the atmosphere. I've had enchiladas that are twice as good for less than half the price. $40 dollars for an enchilada? What planet is this? I'd get it if the enchiladas were somehow gourmet but they're not. They're actually worse than pretty much every single enchilada I've ever had. So I paid $40 for bad enchiladas and then guess what.... You have to pay extra for the sides! This place is ridiculous. 2 enchiladas and rice and beans cost like $55... this is crazy. The wait staff was really nice and, again, the architecture is cool but I really can't recommend this place because the food quality and prices were more than underwhelming. read more

The ambiance is nice, but unfortunately the food doesn't match the price. Dishes are average, and for the cost, I'd rather go somewhere else for better quality at a more reasonable price. read more

I rarely leave reviews, but this experience was unacceptable. Our waitress, Victoria, was openly rude, dismissive, and rushed us the entire time. She avoided eye contact completely and treated us like we were an inconvenience just for being there. It genuinely felt like we were being looked down on. There was no friendliness, no basic courtesy, and we were made to feel uncomfortable asking for anything. We were even charged $3 for lime juice for a drink that still tasted terrible. Service like this completely ruins a meal. No one should be made to feel unwelcome or disrespected at a restaurant like this... especially for an $800 bill LOL. read more

Now this review might change since I did go the first week it opened. The food for the first time was not great. My rice was cold and hard, and my enchilada was also cold. The service was not the best and it took forever to get a refill. The location seemed very small and overly crowded it almost just felt like a regular bar. I went on the first Saturday that they had opened. This could be due to it being opening week however I will not recommend this place. Well, at least this location. Irvine & Newport still hold top locations for me. This location is also overwhelmingly packed with social media influencers so lots of selfies and recording. read more

We came to Javier's on Monday, 12/22 to celebrate my boyfriend's birthday and left extremely disappointed. We had a 6:30 PM reservation for a party of eight, yet we were not seated for over an hour. When we were finally seated, it was at a tiny booth that clearly could not accommodate eight people. We were completely cramped. After speaking up, we were moved to an appropriate table around 8:07 PM -- nearly an hour and a half after our reservation time. To make things worse, I brought a birthday cake and handed it to the host stand to be refrigerated. It took over 30 minutes for anyone to take it to the back, despite multiple reminders. For a restaurant of this caliber, that level of disorganization is unacceptable. Our food didn't arrive until 8:55 PM, meaning almost two and a half hours passed from our reservation time to actually being served. By that point, the celebration felt completely ruined. One of the managers we interacted with was rude and dismissive, and at no point did anyone offer a genuine apology for the delays, poor seating, or mishandling of the cake. We chose Javier's because of its reputation, but this experience did not reflect it at all. Poor service, lack of accountability, and zero effort to make things right. Unfortunately, we won't be returning. read more

Javiers - The table they tried squeezing our party of 8 people in. - New Mexican Cuisine Near Me - Pasadena, California

We booked a private room at Javier's for a birthday celebration and were told the minimum spend was $3,500. When we arrived, we were suddenly informed there was a 2-hour time limit, which had never been clearly explained in advance. We arrived at 6:00 pm, but were not seated until 6:30 pm. Food did not begin coming out until 7:30 pm, and even then, only half of the order arrived. To make matters worse, the appetizers came out after the main courses. The waiter later told us the ticket was lost in the kitchen. Because the food was coming out so slowly, I planned to order throughout the evening to meet the minimum. I raised the issue and was told the time limit would be waived, but when we still could not meet the minimum due to the delays, the manager refused to accommodate. The waiter suggested ordering food to go so we could meet the minimum, but when I asked the manager, she refused that option as well. As if that wasn't enough, the fire alarm went off and stayed on for about 20 minutes, forcing us to pack up and leave early. Despite all of this late seating, extremely delayed food, kitchen errors, alarm disruption, and poor communication--we were charged the full minimum, and the food itself was not worth the price. The need to get a better manager in there. Very disappointing experience, especially for a birthday celebration. I expected far better service and accountability for a restaurant at this price point. read more

Visited this location during opening month it was GREAT! Came Mother's Day with my parents and family. It was a first-time disappointment for my mom. The food took over an hour to arrive. It was brought out at different times. The plates were hot but the food was cold. The chile verde was tough and super salty, the enchiladas were hard. Over all the food was nasty. Nothing like Mexican food I have tasted. I would definitely not go back. read more

By far the worst Javier's I've experienced. Made a reservation for 6pm and was told a 45 min wait. I could've celebrated my mother at some other establishment. Working for a luxury hotel company, I will NEVER visit any of this establishments again. The response to my wait time from the manager was an absolute joke. read more

Absolutely amazing. We were there on a very busy night. We had 2 dedicated servers for our party of 8. Servers were professional, kind and attentive. Food and cocktails was awesome. Ambiance fantastic. Felt like we're on vacation in a tropical setting. read more