I've gotten takeout from this restaurant 3 times. Every time I've been, the staff has been accommodating, friendly, and more than gracious with their portions! The ambiance is very comfortable temperature wise and when it has been busy, it's not abnormally loud like some places can be. We also have allergies and food intolerances in our family. They've made sure to specify what we need and make things avoiding cross contamination. I also appreciate that their food is very reasonably priced in comparison to others. read more

Portales - Dining area - Mexican Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

Take out twice: always good and the portions are appropriate. The restaurant has been mostly empty but I don't see why since it's nice and clean. I need to make it a more regular stop before the frustration of Lowe's. read more

Been two years since my last review, but we enjoy it so much we had to come back while in town. The service is still friendly with a festive atmosphere and not bad with noise. If we lived locally we would be here regularly. Wife and daughter split the fajitas easily. I tried the burrito hawaino. That was very nice with chorizo and chicken and pineapple! I loved the sweet citrus of the pineapple with the mild heat of the chorizo. The chicken is still wonderfully spiced and I enjoy their salsa. Once again another wonderful dinner here. read more

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This place is decorated beautifully. I'd eat here again just to enjoy it! I came once with coworkers and sat in the back and once with my husband and sat in the front. It's pretty and comfy everywhere. Both times I got queso, it was cold and lumpy. I am guessing that's just how they do it. I did ask them the second time if they could zap it and the waitress was fine with doing that. But it was meh so I'll just skip queso next time. The Pollo Tapatio was much better this second visit. However, the salsa was really sour and tasted like it had gone bad. I'll have to keep trying it to see but I was really sad. The Burrito Hawaiiano tastes good but I worry the chorizo in it would upset my stomach so I wouldn't get it as my meal. The chorizo was tasty so I did steal a bite or two from hubby's plate. Loved: - Side: Refried Beans Liked: - Chicken: Pollo Tapatio - Side: Salsa Verde Ok: - Appetizer: Queso - Side: Rice Nope: - Salsa read more

We have been here before but I didn't remember it. But we were in the area so we decided to come back again. Sadly, the salsa was tasteless and the cheese dip was just ok. My wife also said the green salsa was too sour when last time it was really good. Not a great start. Food ended up being good though. The rice was fluffy and good. The beans were some of the best. The Burrito Hawaiiano was really good. I got mine without the pineapple because I don't like sweet food but I liked the rest of the stuff in the burrito. The chorizo was higher quality than I usually see at restaurants. Not greasy and very flavorful. Decor here is nice, too. We would come back. read more

Lawdamercy... if I'd had more room in my belly I would've ordered more! These Birria Tacos were so good. The beef was tender and the flavors hit just right. The service was REALLY good too. Everyone was super friendly. I'll 100% go back and I'm super sad I never went sooner. read more

Portales - Birria Tacos - Mexican Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

I have been back to Portales twice since my first review. Each time, I get something that is my new favorite!!! I've gotten the burrito hawaiano, pollo tapatio, and the pollo fundido. All were extremely excellent! I wanted some veggies with the burrito to add a little crunch, so I ate some from my moms plate, and next time I will just ask them to add some. But the tastes were all exquisite. I'm trying not to get the same thing every time so that I can keep trying new things, but it's hard not to go back to these delicious dishes! The waiters are always so attentive and everything comes out fast and just as requested! This is definitely our new absolute favorite Mexican restaurant. I can't believe we slept on it for so long!! read more

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Good spicy salsa and fajitas. I did take my own hot sauce though. Apparently no bottled hot sauce. Oh and guacamole was really good

I've been getting food to go from here for the last seven years. I don't know what's changed in the last year, but the last couple times I've ordered from here, the quality of the food has decreased significantly and prices have increased significantly. Very disappointing. read more

This is wildly popular with the healthy-eating wing of my family, so now that we've experienced the restaurant, we understand why. Their food is great, authentic, with very fresh ingredients, the service excellent and very fair prices. As soon as we sat down, plentiful salsa and chips were presented. Our party of five had fish tacos, a Taco Salad and 3 different Quesadillas. My wife's Taco salad was appraised as the best she's ever had - chicken done perfectly, and the shell wasn't greasy (and may have had some vegetable content). Drinks and food arrived promptly and our waitress checked on our satisfaction several times. The atmosphere was pleasant. read more

Amazing experience with authentic food! I truly appreciate Mayra she is amazing!!! Nice and clean atmosphere also!! read more

Portales - Chicken tortilla soup - Mexican Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

Great food, staff is always nice, seating is quick. Food is always hot and delicious, never had any issues here. Always coming back for more. Just wish it stayed up a tad bit later on the weekends but other than that it's always my go to Mexican resteraunt. read more

Locally owned--we were greeted by the owner and enjoyed chimichangas, quesadillas and enchiladas suiza. Chips were hot and served with a medium salsa and we ordered queso for an appetizer. Wish I lived nearby because I'd come back to this place. The service was good and it was busy for a Thursday night. read more

I wish I would've found this place sooner it's my new favorite. I've never had rice and beans have so much flavor at a restaurant before and the fact that the refried beans aren't a grey paste they have texture and color and flavor. My first time here I had the chili verde and wow it was so good my husband ordered it next time we came and he usually only eats one thing. So my favorite thing of all time to eat is chili relleno and it did not disappoint I like it better without the batter like they make it. I can't wait to go back and try more! I will be back every time we come to town. Thank you for delicious Mexican . I was too excited for the chili verde and didn't get a picture read more

Portales - #4. Poblano Peppers 2, Stuffed with Cheese, Roosted and Baked - Mexican Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

Service is not good at all ,food is horrible I got sick eating this crap I hope this company will do better please !!!!!!!

not a good place, went in with 4 guest and were all charged 18 percent on our tabs, place was completely empty.horrable food and warm beer not the place Togo for Mexican anything read more

Went here with a best friend. Ordered a classic chicken cheese and rice kind of deal called the Pollo Loco with added veggies for a dollar and a pitch of on the rocks margaritas. The waitress said the pitch was a better deal than just two margaritas but I think she was just trying to get us drunk. The drinks were strong and we couldn't finish the whole pitcher, but they let us have the rest To Go!!! The food was great, slightly smaller portions than I imagined but oh well. Salsa was spicy.. I liked it but my friend couldn't handle the heat! Service was great. Overall, will return. Closest Mexican restaurant to my house. read more

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First time here and we absolutely loved it! Service was perfect, food was excellent, drinks outstanding! This is our new Mexico Place!!!!

LOVED!!! can't recommend this place enough! My husband and I hadn't had a date night in forever and or reservations got cancelled so we looked up places and found Portales reviews were good so we decided to try it out keep in mind I AM A VERY HARSH CRITIC, being Mexican I have high standards for Mexican restaurants and this place did not fail. Customer service great Food delicious Prices perfect Will definitely be coming back and telling friends read more

Not quality food. Looks like it came out of a can. Plenty better Mexican places to choose from nearby.

Excellent service and excellent food! What a nice gem in the neighborhood! The salsa is made fresh from peppers shipped from Mexico! Myra, my server was an absolute delight! read more

Terrible. I didn't even get to have lunch at all today. I was already short of time. Figured I'd get a quick meal at a Mexican restaurant. There's plenty of Mexican places around, and I've never been here, but most can bring food to your table fast. These guys took about 20 minutes to bring me some enchiladas, and when they did, the food was soaking in water and I refused to even try one bite. I offered to pay for my chips and tea, but they said I didn't owe anything. I sure was hungry but I didn't have time to wait for anything else. The chips had lots of color, but lacked flavor. The salsa had flavor and spice though. I ordered enchiladas supremes with 4 enchiladas. This thing was so drenched in water that the server bringing my plate was spilling water all over the floor. When he sat my plate down, it looked as if my enchiladas were boiled and then they put the plate under the sink to fill it up with water. I like enchilada soup, but when I order enchiladas, I don't expect them to be completely soggy and saturated. You may ask yourself how much more soggy can these enchiladas be, and the answer is none. None more soggy. That's because after being completely soaked and drenched, and being brought to my table with half the water being spilled out on the floor, there was still a lot of water in that plate with those enchiladas swimming around. I refused to take one taste. There were only three tables with a total of five people eating during my lunch visit. There were 3 crew members just sitting at the bar during most of that time. After I took pictures of my food, they blamed all that water on the tomatoes. They said it's just wet from the tomatoes. I did eat a few chips and offered to pay $4-5, but they didn't ask me to pay anything. I'll never come back. read more

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Don't waste your time. We came here because it had better reviews than other local establishments. That was a mistake as most were probably written by friends or family. My margarita had zero flavor. It tasted like water and tequila. That's it. The food was edible... that's about it. I had fajitas and my wife had shrimp quesadillas. The flavor was ok, but the shrimp and steak were over cooked and there was some strange mystery meat mixed into my fajitas. Service was sub par as well. No refills, took 10 minutes to run my credit card. They weren't busy and had plenty of people standing around, but no one wanted to help with anything. Definitely won't be back. read more

Portales - Mexican Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

Menu changed. Used to be good. Street tacos tasted like grease. Salsa dip will burn the skin off your tongue. Server was very nice but would only substitute. read more

I just returned from an exceptional dining experience at Portales in Cordova, located in front of the LOWE'S Hardware, and in the NE corner of a small strip plaza with a Liquor Store, Crumpy's Chicken Wings, Jody's Donuts (the VERY BEST donuts in the entire area), facing Germantown Road. I hope that wasn't too confusing...! I was with a party of 3, and upon entering, we were pleasantly surprised by the size and atmosphere of the restaurant. It looks much tinier from the street! Next, was our first encounter with our server, "Shawn". Shawn was friendly, perky, and simply adorable! But talk about service....Shawn was above and beyond "excellent"! The kind of attention she showed us, her desire to accommodate us, even while the restaurant was packed, is just the kind of service all diners hope for. What also stood out to me was that Shawn seemed to genuinely like being there and doing her job! How many waitresses/waiters give you that kind of "vibe" these days? And then, the star of the show - the FOOD! Two of us said it was the BEST Mexican food we've ever had. The other one gave it 5-Stars as well. I ordered Chicken Fajitas, which was absolutely Divine! The menu described how their meats are marinated in Portale's own seasonings. All I can say is, "YUM"! Another one ordered the "Enchiladas Supreme" that came with a heaping 4 enchiladas, rice, refried beans, and salad. The flavor of the rice, as well as the refried beans, was fantastic!! My friend said she had enough leftovers for two more meals! In other words, the servings are El Muey Humongous! My other friend ordered Street Tacos and he too, said it was Mucho Delicioso (excuse my Spanish)! All-in-all, Portales is my new "go-to" place for Mexican cuisine. Ask for Shawn when you get there! She'll take good care of you! read more

Ordered delivery tonight and it was not as good as I have received in the past. Half as many chips as usual and meal had less chicken as usual. i hope this was a one time disapointment. read more

Ordered Portales through DoorDash. Never heard of them so we figured we'd try someplace new to add to our repertoire. Plus, the two of us each wanted something specific and this was one of the only restaurants on DD that provided both options: quesadilla and ceviche. One and done for both of us. Ceviche was just shrimp, which is fine, but it was flavorless and I had to add lime juice and salt to make it palatable. I also ordered a tamale and churros because that's how I tend to judge my Mexican restaurants. Both were meh. The tamale was all masa with very little chili on top. No pork or anything on the inside. Not sure if that was just an oversight on that particular one but I've had better tamales at BBQ joints. The churros were decent. Crunchy on the outside, but liquidy and gummy on the inside - almost like raw dough. Since they were listed as "caramel churros" I assumed they were stuffed with caramel and the "goo" in the center was just the melted caramel. Either way, it was my favorite thing I ate from the evening. My friend got a chicken quesadilla and was less than impressed. Unseasoned chicken and cheese barely grilled. He did receive quac, pico and sour cream to accompany the pieces but he was pretty much over it after the first triangle. We will stick with our preferred Mexican restaurants in the future. read more

We go here about twice a month for several months. We are not friends and not family as I have read other comments claiming this is where the good reviews come from. It's not perfect every time but pretty darn great and solid Mexican food. Even have authentic sauces for the meals. Home made. I get the California burrito often. Love it and getting it for take out tonight. Try it out. You will like it. read more

Food started out well - service was good. But in this take out era somebody has gotten sloppy. For second time in a month I ordered chicken fajitas and both times there wasn't much chicken and it looked like 5-6 trimmings. Old. Vegetables were inedible; old, overcooked and mushy. Would have shared wife's order but hers was mushy also. There's much better Tex-mex within a small radius in Germantown. read more

Portales - (Chicken) fajitas? - Mexican Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

I decided to go here based on some of the other reviews. I didn't have high expectations because all of the Mexican restaurants in Memphis are pretty much the same and all are below par when you're a Texan. They weren't overly busy for a Friday night but then again a storm was moving in. The salsa was actually really good and had a nice spice to it. The chips were extra hard which was odd and I didn't appreciate that. Like always I ordered a sweet tea and it wasn't very good. After reviewing the menu I was excited to see "California Burrito" on the menu and it actually had fries in it. I used to eat these all the time when I lived in San Diego so I had to order one and so did the wife. I had chicken and she had steak. We both asked for no lettuce but both received lettuce. The burritos were huge!! However, they were the worst California burritos we've ever had. It came stuffed with guac but it was all on one end of the burrito, you know, like Taco Bell style. The burrito was stuffed with ordinary chicken that they try to pass as chicken fajitas. The burrito tasted awful and we will not be back. If you want a California burrito in Memphis, go to Elenas taco shop. read more

Portales - Awful Californian burrito - Mexican Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

I get takeout here a lot. Very good Tex-Mex food; nothing earth shattering but always a good meal. The spicy Mexican cheeseburger is darn good. Staff at bar/register are super nice. read more

I did a to go order of nachos and they were delicious. I will be returning. The person greeting was great.

I highly recommend this place, The tacos will increase your libido, The nachos have some sort of aphrodisiac effect, The fajitas are basically saturated in pheromones. This is short because I have other things to go do.... read more

This is a really good place to eat. The food was fresh, hot and very tasty. They were a little short handed, but we didn't have any service issues. Shop local, this place will make you happy!! read more

Updated 7/2/17 Dropped from 5 to 4 stars. Poor service this time. Inexperienced waitress. See fish taco and black bean photo. ----------------------- This place is new, but doing a great job. I hope their customer base continues to grow so they're successful. We had beef/chicken fajitas and a shrimp salad. I had them customize my salad a bit but adding extra avocado and cilantro. I topped it with chipotle sauce. See pic. Only two issues - not my favorite chips as I'm more of a thin chip person and these are in the thicker side. Also, the beef on wife's fajitas was a tad tough. Everything else was great. We will return. read more

Portales - Guac was horrible, obviously. - Mexican Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

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This was one of, if not the best, Mexican meal I've had outside of Mexico. I had the carnitas and it was excellent... so tender, so well seasoned. Mayra and José were impeccable hosts, making sure we were happy and very well fed. We will be back whenever we are back in town, this is now a must go to place for us! read more

Decor is very cute - hand painted furniture. (I gave them an extra star based on the décor - it would be a place my grandkids would enjoy) Service was ok - nothing spectacular. The food was generally the same as most area Mexican Restaurants. My wife had a quesadilla and thought it was nothing special. To be honest, I really don't recall what I had - I do remember I liked their salsa was good. We both said we would come back but would not go out of our way to go there. I will treat my grandkids the next time they come over and will update my review then. read more

I loved their food! Great costumer service! The food tasted authentic. I will be returning for sure!

Received the incorrect order. The one taco that I did order was a carne asada taco. The meat was so overdone and tough I couldn't eat it.

Ordered take out fajitas and cheese dip after work. It was ready when promised and was an easy pick-up. The cheese dip had good flavor and wasn't too heavy, although it was a little runny or thin. The chips and salsa were pretty good, too although it would have been nice if there were more chips. The salsa had just the right amount of spice, a good bite to it, but not excessive. My wife wasn't a big fan of the steak fajitas, but my chicken fajitas were good, tender and moist with plenty of peppers and onions. There weren't enough tortillas, though and it would have been nice if the hot rice and beans, which were good, had come in a different container than the salad, guac and sour cream. Definitely worth a repeat visit! read more