Don't let the name fool you, the food is definitely Mex but it's service is far from Super.... After being in the hospital for a week (long story) I was stoked to be able to eat solid foods and drink! Luckily my friend was free and we decided, "Hey it's Tuesday right? Let's hit up a Taco Tuesday." My buddy had to deposit his paycheck at the new Chase branch right on Culver and we decided since we we're already here to have our Taco Tuesday @ Super Mex..... Yea bad call on our part, we came in and asked the server if there was any specials for Taco Tuesday, she told us that there was only a margarita special for $3.50....but taco's were full price Being lazy alcoholics we decided to just stay, as we were standing there awkwardly the host told us to seat ourselves. ummm ok sure. The service was pretty awful, every time we needed something...like you know...menu's, silverware, and refills we had to wave down a server, not a single person checked up on us The margarita's came out quickly, however my buddy and I were ready to order a 2nd round before our food came out (mind you we got them blended so it wasn't like we were pounding them) and the chips and salsa we had were really weird, the chips were like giant plates you had to snap into smaller pieces in order to dip into the watery salsa Finally about 30 minutes later our food comes out my buddy ordered the Chicken Nacho's and my #22 (a platter with your choice of meat in 1 taco, choice of meat in 1 enchilada, rice and beans) Not gonna lie the beans were really good! I could feel my arteries clogging up with each greasy, cheesy bite, but it's the holiday's damnit I'm going to indulge a little. The taco was pretty decent, and the enchilada saved the night, great flavor on that bad boy After stuffing our faces we got our bill and it came out a little pricey for what we got in my opinion but either way I was just happy to have something other than hospital food Will I come back? Well, maybe if they jump on the bandwagon and have a Taco Tuesday I will read more

I wish there was a zero star option. this places menu items should be titled 1. Clogged arteries 2. Complete obesity 3. Heart attack special. The food is tasteless and drenched in oil. It took an hour and a half to get our food and was cold when it came. I don't know how this place has stayed in business for so long. Our server, Jose truilio, was awesome. Its too bad he works at such a crappy restaurant. If irvine had a couple more Mexican dining places then this place would be shut down in a heartbeat. Don't waste your time or money. read more

Um. Wtf? I sometimes forget why I don't come here and end up coming because I work in the area. Well here I am- got here at 3, one elderly couple here finishing up their meal, no one else here. I'm just now receiving my quesadilla. A full 20 min for them to make a quesadilla. A lackluster quesadilla. A greasy, nearly tasteless quesadilla. Well there goes my break. Food doesn't rock, would be acceptable if we lived further from Mexico. Hella mediocre to be in California. I also don't like the tostada shell chips- guess they want to give you the task if making your own chips to distract you from the wait. read more

While I don't find the food so fantastic, it hits-the-spot and satisfies my craving for fairly-quick (step above fast-food) and casual Mexican food. The atmosphere is pleasant (except, I don't care to be seated in the back next to the entrance into the kitchen or bathroom), cozy, and sit-down-restaurant-casual, making for a festive outing. The margaritas are inconsistent -- sometimes good, sometimes strong, sometimes bland. While I'm not a fruity-drink type, I was eager to have someone taste their when-I've-had-them-sweet-fruity-and-smoothie-like mango margaritas; however, when served, they tasted so strong of tequila. Disappointing. When I'd ordered a mango vodka and soda, I was served mango juice (with, I think, some vodka added). Service, for the most part, has been pretty friendly. I do find their take-out family meal quite the deal at $15.99, offering a generous (1 pound) of carnitas, beans, Mexican rice, large-tortilla-size chips, and their tasty salsa! read more

Called to make an order at 3pm to be ready at 5:10pm. They were an hour late to finish our order. All they said was, "we've been busy all day". Didn't do anything to give us partial compensation to our order, or offer anything else. Poor way of handling the situation and won't be ordering from them again. read more

Our go-to place for fast casual Mexican food is Jalapenos, however, we settled for Super Mex as it was rather late at night and we couldn't make it all the way to a Jalapenos. First off, the service here is terrible. They had a sign for us to seat ourselves, which is fine, but it took a number of minutes to get menus and orders in, even though they clearly spotted us. Many of the tables around us were dirty, as though the dishes were cleared but no one bothered to come back to wipe them down. The other problem is that the plastic tumblers are red, so it's hard for the servers to tell when they're running low. I do like the chips, which are literally whole fried tortillas. The salsa that came with it has a hint of smoke, probably from chipotle peppers. The menu is not vegetarian-friendly, as a warning to you vegetarians out there. Your options are pretty much limited to veggie burritos, veggie fajitas or cheese enchiladas. The tacos are all meat-based and the tamales and the refried beans have lard. As such, if you want beans, be sure to order the pinto beans. I got a veggie burrito which was fine, but the red sauce on top had a weird pumpkin-spice-like flavor which I was not a fan of. All in all, unless this is your only option, I wouldn't bother coming here. Drive a little further down and get Jalapenos instead. read more

Lived here in Irvine for 4+ years and have never been here. Finally stopped by last week. Had the street tacos. 3 for $5.25. I got all 3 Al Pastor (my favorite) 3 little tacos were the perfect amount of food for me. They're served with a tomatillo salsa. I got it on the side and really liked it. It had good flavor. Haven't had anything else. I like this place for a quick/inexpensive bite. read more

Super Mex is super mixed up. Several of my coworkers wanted to come here for lunch so I agreed to tag along. I had a carnitas burrito here. It's not bad and not great. I'm not a huge fan of sauce all over my burrito. However, the carnitas was a bit dry. Also, I was there with 5 other coworkers for lunch and they got our orders mixed up and ended up taking an extra 10 minutes before they untangled the mix-up. By the time we all got the right food, my burrito was no longer hot out of the oven. It was lukewarm at best. I can't say that I am anxious to return to this place anytime soon. They seem to be very "cheap" about everything. With the mix-up, they could have just made us a new plate of food rather than taking it back to the kitchen to try and rearrange the food. It really showed their lack of customer service when they seem to refuse to just make a new order and insisted on plopping the wrong burrito with the wrong side and trying to rectify the issue by taking food from one plate and placing it on another. Now, I might do this if I were home but in a restaurant, the more you mess with the food, the uglier it begins to look. In this case, the burrito began to lose its original shape. To me, once you plate something, it's not OK to surgically remove the main entree item and swap it with another plate just because the "sides" were mixed up. Instead, you just make another plate. Also, I am always not a happy customer when I order a soda and the soda tastes funny due to the taste of the water or the ice. They get 3 stars for food but they lose 1/2 star for screwing up our order and they lose another 1/2 star for the bad tasting soda. With so many Mexican restaurants in Southern California, I don't think I'll be coming back here anytime soon. read more

-2 stars for service. -1 star for - The waiter took down our order incorrectly and then showed contempt towards us when we corrected him (multiple times). Just to make it worse he didn't even repeat our order back to us so I wasn't sure if he ultimately got our order correctly. -1 star for - our order was taken after another group who were seated after us (right next to us). To be fair it was a different waiter who took their order and maybe that table was part of his "zone/area." But I believe the overall experience is part of the service and I was disturbed to see a table next to us get service first when we were waiting and looking around for service. Maybe they should restructure their zoning? read more

I know that Super Mex is not a fancy place to begin with. However, my rating is not based so much on their food (which did not meet my burrito standards, which aren't that high to begin with). We had ordered an enchilada and buritto. My carne asada burrito came without guacamole, even though the menu stated that it would have guacamole. I had to order guacamole on the side. This was not the bad part. The bad part was, after we were seated, it took the waiter about 20 minutes to come by and ask if we wanted something to drink. After we were served an iced water & iced tea, it took another 25 minutes for us to get our food. The burrito wasn't that good. The carne asada was overcooked, and rather dry. It came without the guacamole. The beef enchilada was okay; nothing to really gloat about here. After we ate, it took another 20 minutes for us to receive our check. Overall, I must say, the service was simply, horrible. I highly doubt we will be going here again, for fast Mexican food. I hate to say this, but Del Taco or Taco Bell would have been 10x better than this. read more

We've been coming here for years and we love this place because of the good food and great service. We'll usually get the beef taco plates (#7), nachos, or carnitas Super Mex (which is what I had tonight), yum! Placing a take out order is usually a boring, straight forward, easy task. What made this take out order so unusual was the fellow taking my order. His name is Carlos. I walked in and was welcomed with a big smile. I walked up to the counter, the phone rang and he picked it up. As soon as he was done, he thanked me for waiting (no one ever does that). As soon as I completed my order, he told me that it would take about 10 minutes (no big deal since I was planning to run next door for something anyway). What he said next blew me away.... He asked if he could offer me a cup of water while I waited for my order. What??? Who does that?? I have never been asked that, even at higher end establishments! How can such a simple question blow me away? Not only do they have good food; they have awesome service! When my order was ready, he called my name, thanked me, offered another big smile and said that he looked forward to seeing me again next time. Customer service is a crucial part of any business, regardless of the title or position one holds. I hope they realize how fortunate they are to have Carlos as their front line representative. A great customer experience is important no matter where you are in the restaurant - more so because of the high visibility area he is managing. I am certain that Carlos will have people coming back! It is solely because of that one question that even compelled me to write this. Keep up the great work, Carlos! I know you will go far! = ) read more

Average food. Disappointing since I use to love the location in Long Beach. My SuperMex burrito was not bad, but the tacos and taquitos were soggy and much too greasy. read more

They have cheap pitchers and really big burritos which is why we came here on a Thursday night.. but the beer seemed watered down, the place was empty, and they started to clean up at 8 even though they close at 9. The food was pretty good though, large portions... but I guess you wouldn't want to come here for something festive. read more

Super Mex - Mexican Near Me - Irvine, California

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We go here quite often, especially when family is in town (for sports season), since the food is good, reasonably priced and we all like Mexican food. The crispy shredded beef tacos are real good. The chicken are ok. They have recently improved the red sauce for enchiladas which was a very welcome change. The machaca burrito is pretty good and they will make it with chicken if you ask. Tamales are fair at best. The chile rellenos are pretty good. The red rice tends to be salty on occasion, but the refried beans are usually pretty good. The chips and the salsa are hit and miss (sometimes greasy and the salsa is sometimes watery - I must go here too often). In this price range, I think this is one of the better Mexican restaurants. You just need to stick to the stuff they do well. read more

This is my family's go to Mexican restaurant. The margaritas are tasty, they have a decent selection of Mexican beers on tap. The lsalsa is homemade and exceptional and the chips are freshly fried tortillas. Yum! I've never had a bad meal here. The service has always been friendly and good. read more

Came in and ordered at the counter, didn't know I was suppose to sit down and order since the restaurant seems to be set up like a fast food joint. I ordered a three item combo, beef crispy taco, chicken enchilada, and beef tamale. Food tasted like I bought it from Trader Joe's, which I like but would rather get restaurant quality food. Whole chip and salsa were great though. Overall, if you want Mexican food made for non-Mexicans, this place is good. If you want authentic, go to Tustin or Santa Ana. They have been around for a reason, so give them a try if you want. read more

Probably the best "HARD" shell tacos in Orange County. Shell is fried so belly of taco stays soft and juicy.. Grab the taco 5 pack $12 (Huge deal) and ask for no lettuce or salsa on tacos. You pretty much have a taco-dilla. Add house salsa to kick up. Super-Mex chicken burrito (Wet) with no beans is a win. read more

My wife and I used to go to their Long Beach locations when we lived there. I can't remember ever having an issue. Went to this location last week for some take-out. All my wife wanted was albondigas soup. She was absolutely craving it. Ordered that and a couple other items. Get home and she opens the soup and it was HALF FULL. Almost as if someone already ate half of it. Already too expensive if you ask me @ $7 a pop, it was pathetic seeing this. Was the cook high? Plenty of other quality Mexican restaurants around. No mas Super Mex Irvine. read more

My family and I have been going to supermex for years. It's definitely the best Mexican food in the Irvine area. I have ordered both take out and dine in. Xiomara and Juan are the best! They both are very good at making sure we have everything we need. I strongly recommend dining in their sections. As for take out, Carlos and Gilly are the most friendly and helpful upfront. Carlos is very good with the menu and very kind. I've recently been ordering for the past few weeks with Gilly and she has consistently been very sweet and accurate with our order (which isn't always the case with the other employees). She is the sweetest cashier that I've had at supermex and she always double checks my order. One of the complaints I have about supermex is that their service is always inconsistent. Some of their employees are great and some of their employees (including the supervisor) come off as rude and not genuine. Another complaint is that with both take out and dine in, the food tends to take a while. Other than that, I hope supermex hires more great employees and keeps up on the great food! read more

What happened to this place? This is the only reason my husband and I drive to Irvine, after yesterday i don't know if we will be back. A bus boy was taking orders, orders were lost and they were behind in the kitchen because not enough staff. We had to flag people down to have your drinks and chips refilled, some customer even brought their empty cups and chip bowls up to the bar counter because no one was being waited on. The food is still good, i just hope they go back to the service they use to have. read more

Amazing food, amazing service from Jose! I will for sure be coming back to this restaurant. The atmosphere is fun, clean yet quite and again the food was amazing! read more

Super Mex - Mexican Near Me - Irvine, California

I've been to this place several times. The food has never matched the quality of either the Huntington Beach or Belmont Shores Supermex, but hey this one's closer to the office and one can hope that they would improve. Hopes dashed tonight. Was told that a to-go order would take 15 minutes and it ended up taking longer than 35 minutes while I waited. Wasn't that busy for a Friday night so it's evident they forgot to place the order. When I mentioned that the order took longer than twice what they had said, they offered extra chips and salsa. Pffffft. Bland salsa and stale chips to go with my 35 minute wait? No, thanks. I don't recommend unless lousy front service is your thing. Will absolutely spread the word about this place to my colleagues. read more

We have always had great experiences at Super Mex. Their prices are very reasonable, and the portions are large. Crispy taco shells are done just right, browned just a little with crispy edges. Chile Rellano is very good, with the right amount of cheese. Their light menu has some great items such as a chicken burrito and chicken quesadilla in whole wheat tortillas. They come with a yummy cilantro rice which you can also get on combos from the regular menu. Their chips are actually whole fried tortillas which you break apart yourself. They are always fresh - always! Service has always been quick and attentive, with refills on drinks without even having to ask. We look forward to many more visits to Super Mex! read more

So it is rare for me that find a place this awful. First the service is very slow. My husband was raving about this Mexican restaurant and said the location in hb is so good and wanted me to try it. He was excited to see we had one by our house.... well this one is not like the other. The service is so slow and the two waitresses were too busy talking to deal with the 10 people in the entire restaurant. We finally get our food and the taquitos were half cooks. As if they were put in cold oil and just sat there. The meet inside tasted like canned chicken (which waitress didn't deny). It was horrible. My husband does swear the other one in hb is good but this one he agreed he would never return to. Please don't waste your money. My stomachs is still upset from lunch. read more

I dont even know why I keep coming back. There is always something wrong. Its either the poor quality or the super small portions sizes. Sometimes the service is bad. Tonight for instance. 12$ for a crap ton of rice, a few pieces of beef and literally a spoon full of beans. The food is cold. The rice is hard and the meat is tuff. I don't know how this even qualifies as Mexican food. They screwed up my wife's meal just like they screw up their office express catering orders. This place has been a sore on the community for too long. Its time for them to shut their doors...for good! read more

Food is ok. Mexican-american style. Food seems prepackaged and not fresh. Mexican food usually has a little more flavor. Wet burrito red sauce tastes similar to the one from taco bell and so do the beens. read more

Super Mex reminds me of the touristy Mexican restaurants in Cabo San Lucas that serve the food the gringos want to eat, not the food that is actually a good representation of the country. It's all SO greasy with gargantuan portions that encourage you to throw back thousands of calories in a single sitting. And everything is so smothered in sauce and cheese that you can't even appreciate the food you actually ordered beneath it. At best, have some chips and a drink here while you decide where you should for dinner. (I admit, they have a decent selection of beer on tap and their margaritas are palatable). read more

Just A-OK and nothing more... Food was average... but what can you really expect from buying mexican food in irvine yanno?? if you want real mexican food u know where u need to go haha... The prices were a little high for mexican food, but again, nothing in Irvine is cheap... The one positive i found with this place is they have a "lite" menu for fat ppl like me who want to eat healthier... I got the lite whole wheat chicken burrito... it comes with a whole wheat tortilla instead of corn or flour.... it coes with grilled chicken, rice, beans, lettuce, salsa and guacamole on the side... i know cheese and sour creme is probably the best part of having mexican food... but i'm watching my figure! lol read more

It's all about the beef taquitos! The taquitos are the epitome of the perfect taquitos! Also, if you're a chips and salsa person, you'll be one happy camper! read more

As far as I can tell, not all Super Mex locations have the same quality of food. I'd really like to try the food at the original location in Downtown Long Beach for comparison. The service at the Irvine location is very good. The servers are friendly, and the food always comes out very quickly. I've only eaten here on week nights, and there has never been a wait. Often I've come with a large group, and they can easily accommodate us by putting several tables together. The chips are whole fried corn tortillas, so they are thicker than the chips served at most Mexican restaurants. The salsa is very good with a nice spice. I usually stick with the burritos. The Junior Mex is just the right size for me if I'm pretty hungry, and if I get the Super Mex size, I can eat half and take the rest home for lunch the next day. I like the shredded chicken or veggie (really the ground beef burrito without the meat). The red sauce the burrito is smothered in is awesome! Very tangy and keeps the burrito nice and moist. They are good about holding the cheese and sour cream for lil' old lactose-intolerant me, and you can have them add tomatoes or any other ingredient to your burrito if you want. They also come with guacamole on top. Even though I really like their burritos, I can only give Super Mex 3 stars because I have not liked their other menu items. I tried their fish tacos and they were very greasy. I've had better at Rubio's. I also tried their chicken Caesar salad, and the "grilled" chicken tasted fried in oil and was very dry. Stick with the burritos and you'll have a great meal! read more

My go-to Mexican restaurant in Irvine. Salsa 10/10, cheese enchiladas 10/10, mini chimis 10/10. I love you SuperMex .

I like Super Mex and I always have. In fact, I don't think I go there enough. I've never eaten inside. I usually get it to go because I know how I like to eat my Mexican food. Unladylike, classless, and void of manners. I don't have time to pinky up my burritos. I go in. Every time I go in to pick up my order, the staff at the counter is pretty friendly. I think the food is pretty good, although I wish the salsa was a wee bit hotter. I'm definitely no stranger to spice. For Irvine, I think this is pretty good Mexican food. read more

I reccommend the shredded beef tacos, old school fried tacos! The SuperMex Margarita is great, comes with a shot of Grand Marnier. Chips and salsa are good (tortillas are fried whole, so you break them yourself). Service is good at this location, order come out of the kitchen quickly. read more

My office has served Super Mex take-out appetizers for some of our happy hours in the office and every time I've had their food at work, the appetizers (mini chimichangas & pepper poppers) been really tasty. So, I decided to give it a try for dinner. I was gravely disappointed. I had the carne asada tacos and my bf had the two enchilada combo. The meat was super greasy and not tasty at all. The rice and beans were SO uneventful and tasted liked day old food (BLAND). The enchiladas were mainly cheese and oil on top of the tortillas...so hardly any meat! The chips were decent but the salsa was runny and not spicy at all. The service was really good and the waiter was very helpful. Unfortunately, we won't be coming back here for their food! read more

second try. worse than the first. both carnitas and shredded beef were dry and tasteless. food served cold.

My husband decided to give this place another chance for a take out #8. It was quite good, with plenty of meat & just the right amount of seasoning... A meal we enjoyed. read more

UPDATE 2/22/19: after our last 4 secret dinners, we have decided as a family to start bringing it back into our Restaurant Lineup. The old management is gone and suspect they're doing well at least he Hemet location. They have finally given a promotion to the only person that kicked ass; newer to waiter. We were extremely happy to see this. He is very accommodating and polite. The front counter people are very welcoming and organized with to-go orders. I would saw the Phoenix has risen from a he ashes. The new manager must be well in place and creating an atmosphere and new ideology for staff to follow because it rocks. Congratulations on turning an upside down negative atmosphere into an inviting and respectful location. BRAVO!!!You should be proud of yourselves. UPDATE FROM ORIGINAL REVIEW IN 2015 I wanted to revisit my review I have for this location. My family and I have been here personally or ordered to-go and I'm extremely impressed to see how well the new management has done. It's like an entirely new restaurant. The first thing we noticed was in fact new employees except for two. The two who actually gave great service. Second, the older gentleman who use to be the buser is now a waiter and rightfully so. He always took pride in his work and took better care of us than the old waiters. We have gone into the restaurant a couple times and he's been our waiter. Outstanding service and respectful. Thank you! Third, We have ordered food to-go and ever time, since we have been back after noticing the change, our order is complete, correct, and ready per the time quoted. The servers who put the orders together are polite and welcoming. And as a reminder for those that order to-go, tip those people because they deserve it. Fourth, the manager who turned this restaurant around did something that was superhuman. It's like they turned the restaurant upside-down and shook out all the dirt. It sounds funny but there is a better energy you can feel when you go inside. It takes someone special to make this happen and whomever you are, well done! You just don't see that kind of recovery now-a-days. Thank you!!! Finally, I am happy to say we went from to-go orders to dining on location for a while but always believe in second chances. As I said, my wife and I use to be servers as well, over 17 years combined. I am more than happy to recommend this location. It has turned into a place of pride in workmanship, care for the customers, and great food. read more

First I'll say I did not eat anything here! I walked in around noon to order lunch Togo. Right when you walk in there's a Togo area. I walked up and there was a guy there with his back to me and he was talking with the kitchen staff. I stood there for around 5 mins (maybe little less) the guy continued to talk with staff. The staff looked directly at me a few times so I know they saw me. After no response I went to use the restroom. I came back out and stood at the window again for a minute (guy still standing there, staff looked at me again) and still I was not greeted. I didn't make a fuss because the place didn't seem very clean and the bathroom was dirty and smelled really bad. The menu I was looking at was sticky and it just didn't seem clean at all. I just left read more

Though I love (the very different) Taco Surf and (the very similar) El Burrito Jr, Super Mex is my favorite chain of cheap, casual Mexican restaurants. Love the tacos, burritos, chips and salsa and the Diet Coke refills. Of the four locations I frequent, Irvine is the nicest, and has frozen margaritas by the pitcher. read more

The chips and salsa really set this place a step above the rest. Super Mex serves fresh, whole-fried tortilla chips with a fantastic complement of salsa. The chips come as giant disks you have to break apart to eat - like a priest presiding over communion. If the prospect of a spicy Host doesn't excite you, the Super Mex burrito should. It is reasonably priced at $9 and guaranteed to fill you up. I prefer it with shredded beef, though the shredded chicken is also good. It can also be ordered with ground beef, chunked beef, carnitas, green chili pork, fish, steak, or no meat...if that's your thing. How good is the food? This place neighbors several other interesting looking restaurants. I've wanted to try them all for some time, but haven't yet. Whenever I'm nearby and wondering what to eat, Super Mex seems like the answer. I believe it offers the best value in that shopping center. How can I be so certain without trying the other places? Well, that's faith. Date Tip: If it's a nice day, get Super Mex to-go, hop a couple exits south on the 5, and enjoy your food as a picnic at Great Park. Pro Tip: You can call in your to-go orders ahead of time. read more