Oh my gosh I cannot say enough good things about this place…read more My mom and I were here visiting from out of town the other day and we had the best time. Salsa served when you are seated. I got the birria tacos and they were delicious. They were STUFFED with birria meat and each taco had a juicy lime wedge. It came with consommé as well. Quite possibly the best birria I've ever had (and I have a lot lol). Service here was quick, informative, and attentive. Our server was very kind. The restaurant was quiet when we were there, but we ate early around 4. Something I saw was they have a new item that caught my eye: horchata iced coffee. YUM. It was too late in the day for me to grab some at the time but if I'm back, I have to try. If you are wondering where this is, it's right next to Target! So, lots of parking! They have a couple spots over there by the restaurant too.

It has its ups and downs. The food is always consistent though. And I enjoy their happy hour…read more I also like that they use Toast to pay which is nice. There are some new wait staff who are really friendly and attentive.

The atmosphere here was amazing! We sat on the patio and the weather was very nice…read more Service was okay. It was kind of fast with the drinks, but ordering and getting boxes and bills required a bit of waiting. I got the taco salad with shredded beef, which was so much better than I expected. Not that I thought it would be bad, but the seasoning was so tasty, definitely not a basic salad thrown together.

I moved to the Des Moines area recently and have been on the hunt for a good Mexican restaurant,…read morebecause the one right by where I used to live was AMAZING. After trying many places, this is the best. The margarita (lime on the rocks, no salt on the rim) was strong but sweet. The chips are good (crisp, not stale). The salsa had a delightful heat that wasn't too hot. Their chicken fajitas were tender and flavorful with a good amount of veg. The service was attentive, but not overbearing. The music wasn't too loud when I went around 5:15 on a Monday, and about half the tables were full. Truly a delight. Definitely my go to place for a margarita in Des Moines!

We visited for the first time and the food was amazing! Hubby had ceviche, we shared an order of…read moreempanadas. I ordered 2 appetizers instead of an entree. I had yuca patties filled with cheese, and ensalada. Also potato patties filled with cheese, on a peanut sauce. Service was great too. And prices were very reasonable.

I enjoyed getting to try a new to me place. My husband and I shared an order of the empanadas to…read morestart with. The cheese ones with a sprinkle of sugar, as recommended, was definitely my favorite! I enjoyed the beef one and did not care as much for the chicken one. I asked the waiter what I should get as I was torn. Of course I don't recall what it was, but I enjoyed it. I'm not usually a plantains person, but I really enjoyed them with this dish. It was very filling and flavorful. My husband ordered a spicy dish and enjoyed it as well. Our waiter did a great job with our large group. He was friendly and provided a ton of recommendations we were all happy with. The bathrooms were clean, as was the rest of the restaurant. I will go back, especially for the cheese empanadas.

We stopped at El Mariachi in Johnston around 6:30 and sat out on the patio, where a house swallow…read moreloudly judged us the entire time. Honestly, the patio ambiance is always pretty good here, bird commentary included. Service was a little slow, and we had to work harder than we should have just to get water, but our waiter was fine overall. Nothing bad, just nothing exceptional either. The complimentary chips and salsa were very good, and I love that they have El Yucateco sauces on the table if you want to spice things up a bit. I had the Chipotle Tacos with chicken for $13, which came with rice and beans. Kim had the #7 combo for $11, with one burrito, one enchilada, and one taco. Both meals were good, but the chicken in my tacos and Kim's burrito was seriously excellent. Tender, flavorful, and probably the best part of the meal. Kim had a small frozen raspberry house margarita for $6.25, and I had a jumbo house margarita on the rocks for $8. The house margaritas were the one thing I would probably upgrade next time. They were very sweet and not quite the stronger margarita flavor I usually prefer. They do offer several premium margarita options, so I suspect that is probably the better route if the drink is a big part of the visit. But they definitely ask premium prices! Our total bill with tip was about $54, which felt fair for two meals, chips and salsa, and two margaritas. Overall, good food, great chicken, nice patio vibe, and a solid casual stop -- just maybe spring for the upgraded margaritas if you have the cash.

4.6* (out of 5) Food: 5* Atmosphere: 4* Value: 4*…read more Service: 5* Would I go back / Recommend?: 5* (Definitely) Total check/person: $31 04/18/2026 This place has been on my Want to Go list for a while after seeing a recommendation in a publication. The first time we stopped by a number of years ago, we decided against going in due to there not being many cars in the parking lot. That was definitely not the case last night - the parking lot was nearly full and we had to wait about 15 minutes for a table, as they were quite busy. Needless to say, we left quite happy to have stopped - as we really enjoyed the experience. Our initial indicators of a good Mexican restaurant starts with their margaritas and then their chips and salsa. They passed it both areas - as both were above average. We started with a Spicy Jalapeno Margarita (see picture) from the bar while we waited for our table. It was good, but wasn't very spicy. The chips and salsa (see picture) were very good - tasty, fresh salsa that was thick enough to stay on your chips and crispy tortilla chips with enough oil to indicate they were fried fresh. For our meals, my wife ordered the Tacos Carne Asada (see picture), while I opted for the Tacos Carne Asada (see picture) - both based on our waiter Omar's recommendation. Omar was great - loved his recommendations, had a great sense of humor and was quite attentive to our needs! As stated, both my wife and I loved our plates - and yes, we shared with each other as always to both confirm. The only change I made to my plate was requesting corn tortillas - as I much prefer them to flour. I just can't say enough about both plates - not only did we REALLY like them, but there was plenty to bring home for another meal. If you found this review helpful, please show your appreciation with a Like or a Follow. Photos copyright: happyhourdesmoines.com & thefoodanddrinkguy.com

The servers was really good and the food was excellent well prepared and cooked to satisfactoryread more

Malo was a cool experience at first on Cinco de mayo! Good vibe in the restaurant! Of course tons…read moreof people but my group didn't have to wait long so that's nice. I got the pick three tacos because they were out of carnitas which was very disappointing . The pork tenderloin taco was very average, the pork belly was kind of tough but had decent taste. Then the chicken taco was good. We also were given a bottom of the bag of chips at first with our salsa and queso. Overall pretty average food experience at malo nothing very impressing for upscale Mexican.

Friendly staff and really good food. The pupusas and tamales were wonderful!read more

Great customer service, great food. Hidden gem No pictures…read morebecause we devoured our food

If you're in this neighborhood and looking for good Latin American food, please skip the nearby…read moreTasty Tacos and come here instead. The free chips and salsa (with two types of salsas and ceviche included) are phenomenal and the seafood dishes are unique. One dish, that I've yet to try, is served inside a halved pineapple! But don't worry if you're not into seafood; there are a lot of other options as well, including chicken, fish, and steak tacos that I come for at least once a week. What I love about this place is that they don't cut corners on flavorful toppings. Normally when I order fajitas somewhere, the plate is 90% meat and maybe 10% veggies (because, in our weird food economy, meat is actually cheaper to source than fresh veggies). But as my family sat to eat here on a Saturday afternoon, we watched multiple staff cart in crates of fresh onions and tomatoes from the nearby market, and our orders were loaded not just with wonderfully-seasoned meats but lots of beautifully cooked veggies too. The corn tortillas, too, are fresh and have a satisfying texture, and they are always served piping hot. That they do all of this at such a low price point is really impressive.

This place is such a hit or miss situation. The food is the same as well. The service could be more…read moreattentive, as people maybe needing to go back to work. I wasn't impressed with the tacos either. The ceviche was prolly the best thing.

The pupusas ARE BOMB my personal favorites are 1. Cheese…read morewith Spinach 2. Revueltas 3. Cheese with Loroco Get them!

Yes the service takes some time most of the time, but when you get your food you can tell it was…read moremade to order and its super fresh