Villa Del Mar Restaurant, a Coastal inspired fish restaurant has established its business roots and patronage in juarez, Mexico. They moved to El Paso more than ten years ago and had immediately a big following from its Mexican clients. The restaurant is a small fish oasis in our desert offering great fish dishes. I had a Grilled Salmon with salad that was perfectly cooked. Some popular dishes are the Seafood Paella, The service was attentive and friendly. The atmosphere is of a Mediterranean coastal pub with yellow walls and a lot of lights. Some fish murals and three great fish small aquarium at the entry. Ask for the Day's Catch and Lunch Special. read more

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This is our first visit to the Villa Del Mar on North Mesa, and it was worth the trip! The service and food were great! The restaurant is comfortable, clean, and inviting. It brought back great memories of the many times my parents and grandparents would eat at the Juarez, Mexico location. Recommended! 5/5 read more

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Horrible "seafood" I asked for a filet of fish and they served me the silly tilapia I cook at home! It was soggy and the fish soup was like water with one nugget of fish!, c'mon! Never coming back this please went down already read more

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I wish there was a ".5" option on Yelp, if so I'd give my experience at Villa Del Mar a 3.5 and not a 3. I'm very familiar with this restaurant as I grew up going to it, but in Juarez, MX. I wasn't sure what to expect going to the EP location and also didn't want to look at all of the posted reviews before checking it out for myself. We dined in on a Monday in the early evening, around 5 PM or so. It was fairly busy, but not busy enough that there was a wait. We got sat right away by the hostess. We were greeted quickly by our server and throughout our meal she was very attentive to our needs. The restaurant is a good size, great for parties of all sizes. It's spacious and there are booth and table options. The chips and salsa at the beginning weren't our favorite--unfortunately the salsas lacked flavor, no spice, salt or anything. They tasted very bland. We placed our order and were told that all of our plates came with a salad and fish soup to start. The fish soup was good--the broth full of flavor and the vegetables were super soft, but there were barely any pieces of fish in it. The salad is a good size--I had it with ranch dressing. My only critique would be to drain the water from the bowl after washing the lettuce. There was a layer of water under my salad. For my entree I ordered the "Normandi"--fish (I believe tilapia) stuffed with shrimp and pieces of octopus, smothered in a creamy cheese sauce with a side of rice and mashed potatoes. The fish was layered, one fillet on top of the other with shrimp in-between and the octopus was spread throughout the plate under the sauce. It was okay! Not amazing, not great, just okay. It will definitely fill you up--it's a good amount of food for the price, however I wouldn't say there was anything special about it. Would I come back? If I had to, but it wouldn't be in my top choices for seafood in El Paso at this point. read more

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Ambiance was very good. Service was amazing, our waiter was extremely attentive and nice. We were very excited to get out entrees because we loved our appetizers. We ordered a Red Snapper and Marinera rice, they were both tasteless, the Red Snapper was very bland but the Marinera Rice was honestly unbeatable, maybe we should've ordered something different. Only giving 2 stars because of the great service and the appetizers. read more

After reading some of the recent reviews, we were apprehensive about Villa del Mar. However, we were pleasantly surprised . The food and the service was fine. I had the Fillet Tapaqueno and it was served with salad and soup. The fish was a generous portion with a flavorful topping along with an nice enchilada and beans. The guacamole was on the hot side which I like. While the atmosphere may be on the dated side, it was not dirty or run down. In fact they were sweeping up very dutifully even while we were there. Some places we go could learn from that. Passing by this place for decades, it was nice to finally try it and it was a pleasant experience. read more

The salsa was so yummy and totally a spicy treat. We ordered the whole fish with vegetables. It was super. Great food. Great value. Cute and clean setting. Friendly service. I will return! read more

Spring 2021 - Villa Del Mar on Mesa Street. Along the years I have had Villa del Mar. Their food is not top notch but I personally like them lots. They provide generous servings and real good costumer service. Also their cocktails are tasty. Yes, I agree the place looks ran down, and most of the waitresses/waiters don't speak much English, yes those are issues. So, thats why they get a 4 vs a 5 out of 5. I too have a nostalgic feeling about this place because many many years ago I use to eat at their restaurant in Juarez. I recommend that when you order .. think.. 1 order is plenty for two. So, one appetizer and one entree is plenty for two people. read more

Great Place. Amazingly, there were numerous dishes to select from, I kid you not. My wife ordered a Salmon and Inorder a Black Bass (fried). Both were 'finger licking good! While we waited they served 2 different sauces along with chips and both were also delicious. The environment was very pleasant and our waiter also; very courteous, attentive and always alert to any requests. We enjoyed it a lot. I might add, the Bohemia and Sol beers were very cold and delicious. read more

Villa Del Mar Restaurant - The restaurant. - Seafood Near Me - El Paso, Texas

Food wasn't good, service is slow doesn't seem to be staffed accordingly older gentleman had taken our order but didn't write it down it come out wrong. The ambiance is that of the 90s dining room in every home across America. I'm sorry. Would not return read more

This restaurant is so outstanding, the service is impeccable, and the food is delicious!! it is somewhat deceiving because it doesn't appear to be luxurious, but if you're looking for just good food and ambience, this is the place to go. The specialty is basics, really good fish fillet, and really good shrimp cocktail. I would really is overwhelming for me is the service. The staff could not be nicer and would do anything to make certain that your visit is worthwhile. read more

Four of us had lunch on this date. Food was good. Service was the worst I have had we have had in El Paso. Our server literally avoided our table; she would not even look in our direction. We wanted to order dessert, but finally asked another server for our checks and left. read more

From begining to end; everything was amazing. It began with us being seated immediately. It's a beautiful building outside and inside; spacious and modern. The server was attentive and professional. I can't wait to go back!! read more

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Good calm and clean environment. I ordered the pablano fish. It was extremely bland and the steamed vegetables were frozen vegetables. read more

Villa Del Mar Restaurant - Salad woth fish soup and chips and salsa - Seafood Near Me - El Paso, Texas

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The food lacked flavor....my wife ordered the fish fillet with garlic and the garlic was over cooked to the point where it was crispy and had no flavor. The fillets had literally zero seasoning. When my wife told them she wasn't going to eat her fish, they kindly told that she would still have to pay for the salad and the soup. When we told the waitress she brought the wrong dressing, she informed us that the manager told her to substitute it for ranch without asking us. Not a very good experience and I wish we would have read reviews before as they are spot on. I definitely do not recommend this place... read more

This place is great if you like to eat Mexican Style seafood! The Shrimp Cocktails and Fried Garlic Jumbo Shrimp are my favorites! Can't forget the awesome appetizers-Shrimp Negroni and their Guacamole is the bomb! The wait staff is amazing and the atmosphere is great! We've had both dine-in and take-out...check it out!!!! read more

Overly expensive for a shrimp cocktail. Served with 3 very small slices of Avocado, cilantro and a bit of onions.

Supremely disappointing food experience. Long review below, but bottom line... try it for yourself if you want, but dont go out of your way. Staff was extremely attentive and polite the entire meal shared between my fiance and I, and their engaging nature and positive attitude earned this joint a second star. When chips and salsa is the highlight of your meal at a seafood restaurant you know there are problems in the kitchen. We ordered the Shrimp and Octopus Negroni as an appetizer. We were told that it was a soup... it was shrimp and Octopus in soy sauce with some cilantro. Soy sauce dominated the dish, and it was impossible to appreciate, let alone notice, the quality of the seafood. For mains we went with the Whole Grilled Black Bass and the Fish Diabla. We are both trying to eat healthier so we swapped the baked potato and rice (which both seem odd to pair with lite fish dishes) for the mixed vegetables. Each main comes with a seafood soup and a salad. Food came out extremely quickly, so I guess that was a little positive. Salad was edible, but clearly from a bag. Carrots weren't freshly grated either. Not the end of the world, but didn't feel as luxury as the outside of the restaurant bespoke. Only thing that was freshly prepared were the diced cucumbers which were nice and refreshing. There were a lot of dressing options, which was nice. The soup was tomato forward, but super unflavorful; it had one piece of celery floating in it (was otherwise devoid of vegetables) and had some bits of fish on the bottom of the cup. It felt like the soup had been made well in advance, probably a few days, as the fish had completely lost any texture or flavor to the broth. Unremarkable in pretty much every way. The vegetables served with the mains were very obviously steamed vegetables from a bag in a freezer section. At least throw them in the oven to give them some char flavor or wake them up with a sauce or something... they were just unseasoned, steamed frozen vegetables. I did eat them all, to be fair. Again, not the end of the world, but save yourself the trouble and throw a bag of frozen veggies in the microwave at home. And while your at it, preheat your broiler and you could easily one up this side dish. On to the fish--my fish Diabla, which was a fish coated in a "house chipotle sauce" was a couple of small tilapia filets drenched in La Costeña canned chipotle sauce. It may be another brand... but I love chipotle and I think I am nailing this one. The issue is... La Costeña is not super pleasant straight out of the can. Very vinegary and a lot of the chipotle spice and Adobo smoke is masked by the vinegar and tomatoes that are added. They did nothing to zhuzh it up. Couldn't find it in me to finish this one or even take it home. Bummer. Last dish was the whole fish. That poor thing lived a nice life just to be extremely dried out. No sauce to help it out. No seasoning other than the outer skin. The skin was the highlight because of the textural curveball... but we had to be heavy handed with the salt and pepper at the table to help the kitchen out. Cheers! read more

The food was tasty and the servings were quite generous. I had the fish topped with strips of long green chilies. It came with a vegetable soup, and it would've been better without the chicken in the bottom. My dinner also included a salad made with iceberg lettuce. Those two things done a bit better would have raised my rating. read more

Food was delicious, staff was gracious and attentive. Social distancing guidelines were respected. We will be back to visit Villa Del Mar again. read more

Location on Mesa St. Lunch special large shrimp cocktail tasted like soap. Only got one 1/2 inch wedge of avocado on the side. Waitress did not speak ANY English and was not much of a waitress-did not come around except to take order and bring the food - took over 30 minutes to get our food. read more

Amazing food, good service and great prices. The staff is friendly and the selections are plentiful. I will bereturning. I was impressed. Yummy!! read more

Villa Del Mar Restaurant - Seafood Near Me - El Paso, Texas

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These folks have NEVER heard of seasoning. Passed this place quite a few times and decided to stop in with family for a late lunch, a mistake I will not be repeating in the future. The most flavorful thing we ordered was the beer, seriously. The steak, shrimp, fish, potatoes, shrimp cocktails... all completely devoid of flavor. Such a waste of time and money. read more

Service was horrible. Ordered for picked up. Was told on-line menu prices are wrong. Manager not willing to correct or negotiate. Ended up leaving all orders except a combo. They have lost a customer and everyone that I know. read more

Last time I ate here was over 20 years ago in Juarez. Not much had changed. Caldo de pescado was still delicious. Camaron Villa Del Mar looked the same, but shrimp was seriously over cooked. Server was very nice but forgot my shrimp cocktail. At least he didn't charge me for it. Salsa was the bomb, too bad the chips weren't warmed up a little bit. Clean and bright Atmosphere. read more

Villa Del Mar Restaurant - Seafood Near Me - El Paso, Texas

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Food is good. The employees try. Portions are huge. This place always has such a long wait for average food. We come here because my mom loves it here. The things we do for love. They do not tell how long the wait is. They always say 15-20 mins and it is really 30-45 mins. read more

not so delicious, unfortunately I had a hair on my food plate, but service was good waitress was kind

no tenian gente y la persona de recepción después de esperar mas de 15 minutos me dijo de muy mala maneraque tenía que esperar 10 minutos mas para que me diera mesa para una persona porque los meseros estaban ocupados. No habia mas de tres mesas ocupadas. Realmente para no regresar read more

This place has all new waitresses that don't know the menu! The place is old and dirty, food was semi-ok Wouldn't recommend it to anyone! read more

Horrible. My food was cold. The waitress was slow and inattentive. they use margarine Instead of real butter. The rolls are flavorless. Will never eat there again. read more

If you enjoy frozen fish and terrible ambience, look no further. They should spend more money on serving quality food as opposed to oversized billboards and advertising. read more

Came here for Fathers Day thinking we were going to get a great meal...wrong! They didn't bring boyfriends shrimp, his T-bone was so dry and my salmon was dry and had no marinade at all! Baked potato wasn't that good either! Serves wasn't horrible but not fantastic either! Never again!! read more

I have to say but my meal wasn't good at all. I ordered guacamole, the young server forgot to bring that out. I had ordered shrimp with garlic sauce, instead I received some sort of fish covered in mushrooms and peppers. I didn't want to wait longer so I plowed my way through the fish. It didn't look appetizing and it was not at all. The meal came with a side of mash and rice, weird combo. The place looks nice from the outside but once you go in it's nothing but a dated diner.. read more

I haven't been here in a while and I ordering what I loved last time-Large Shrimp Cocktail served in the Mexican Restaurant style - with Avacado, Cilantro and fresh onion-yum! The service has been good from being seated to the efficiency of my server. I am here a little early for lunch-11:30 and it isn't too busy yet. My meal came out and was as good as I remember. The shrimp were as good as anyone could expect in land-locked EP. the veggies were fresh cut and the cocktail sauce was tangy with a little spiciness. Now I'm stingy with my stars. 4 -star is a great for me for my first review. I'd have to go deeper into the menu and get consistently great food & service to move up. And I loved the music being played - just heard Harry Chapin "Taxi" and a cut from Todd Rungren. Followed up by Dan Fogelberg "Leader of the Band". The person picking the music must be an old codger, too. When I come back I'll wish for a fish dish. I hope it's delish! read more

Villa Del Mar Restaurant - This is the pre-meal spread. - Seafood Near Me - El Paso, Texas

I'm a happy loyal customer at the West side location of Villa Del Mar for a few reasons: 1. The quality of the seafood is great for being out in the middle of the desert. Looking at some of the other reviews, people complain about the quality. I can only attest to the fish fillets and shrimp, but both of those are always terrific. It's not the same as being right on the coast, but always well prepared in my experience. 2. The prices. Wow, the PRICES! Eating seafood, having a couple glasses of wine and getting out the door for under $40 for two people? Yeah, that's impressive. It's economical, but doesn't have the feel of a cheap place. That brings me to my next point, the surroundings. 3. When you see it from the road it looks cheesy. A lighthouse in the middle of N. Mesa Street? Yeah, that's them. Come inside though and they have well maintained fish tanks, well dressed wait staff, and a nicely decorated interior. It's not "fine dining" level or anything (see above comment on prices), but they do well to create a clean, fun, and friendly atmosphere. The only thing keeping me from rating Villa Del Mar at 5 stars is the service. On some occasions, I've had excellent service. Additionally, the service is always polite and respectful, which is why it didn't hurt my review further. The only negative thing about the service is that, on occasion, you'll get a server who disapears for 20 minutes at a time. This can get annoying if you just need something simple, but have to wait. I've noticed that if you flag down another server, they don't seem to have an issue covering for each other. I just don't feel I should need to do that. Again, this doesn't happen every time, nor even the majority of the time. I have run into this issue more than once though. read more

I had nothing but fond memories of Villa Del Mar growing up and going to Juarez. Those memories were not relived on a recent trip to this location. The shrimp cocktail sauce is still very good, definitely hasn't changed in 20 years, which is a good thing. The actual quality of the food, however is subpar. The shrimp in the cocktail were very small, some the size of a nickel. Our table ordered: a whole fried fish- literally served swimming in oil and very under-seasoned, camarones al mojo de ajo-very overcooked and again, small shrimp (there is an option for "jumbo" shrimp on the menu for more $, but I ordered regular and not "tiny"), grilled chicken breast with rice and vegetables (a.k.a. mashed potatoes)-very dry chicken, and a kid's chicken nuggets and fries-standard kid's menu fare, nothing special. After paying $63, we left a bit disappointed. read more

So Villa Del Mar used to be in Juarez back in the early 70s and my family used to dine there back when you would go to Juarez for wonderful dining and shopping and not be worried about dying; and then at some point they moved across the border into Texas. I am glad they did. They have this soup, caldo de nieto, which is like caldo de res, but with spicy red sauce that will kill anything bad in your system and leaving you with an endorphin rush that calms like no other. The soup comes with the option for beef tenderloin. Chose this option, it is the best. They do a super sweet kiddie chicken nugget plate and offer sides of fish filet if you don't want to do too much food. What we found the most amusing though, was the excellent and well-cared for fish tanks out front that have these eels in them that look like bald toothy men saying "bwah bwah bwah" endlessly. iBuen Provecho! at a food oasis in the desert. read more

Best fish in Town. Customer service was great. It was a little bit crowded. I understand why . The food is delicious.

If it was allowed I think that three-and-a-half stars would be more than appropriate. As a note: It is not at all fair to say that the food at Villa Del Mar is "probably frozen" when you have absolutely no idea whether that is true or not. That is a completely unfair and inaccurate accusation to make and shouldn't be part of a serious review unless there is proof of it actually occurring at the restaurant. Being a little crustacean obsessed we decided that this outing to Villa Del Mar would be shrimp-centric and so it was, with some exceptions the food was delectable. We'll start with the openers, we ordered exactly this 1. An order of "Shrimp Nachos" 2. An entree of shrimp "Villa Del Mar" style, more on this later. 3. An order of cream of shrimp soup. The reason I'd give Villa Del Mar three-and-a-half stars isn't really so much the food which we enjoyed for the most part, but because the waitress was just short of totally clueless on how a wait staff at a semi-premium priced seafood restaurant should behave. Every time both my wife and I had to ask for our drinks to be filled, they never got filled on their own, we had sat at the booth we were placed in for about ten minutes before she even got around to us. When she did it was fairly smooth sailing after choosing our dishes, which there is a great selection of - pretty much anything you want when it comes to seafood. Whether you want it fried or just grilled, you're pretty much going to get exactly what you want. Okay, so back to our meal; The first thing we got was a side of salad and a tomato and fish-stock soup. They were both good and I had nothing to complain about, there was even a generous enough amount of salad to split between two very hungry people. Then came the cream of shrimp soup, this was absolutely fantastic - it had an incredible texture and a variety of delicious and wonderful flavors and a generous helping of shrimp. I counted at least ten in the small bowl that was presented. Cilantro was a very plentiful and pleasant flavoring, absolutely smashing soup. That was my entree. Now unfortunately, this is where the bad service started to become a little more transparent; she brought the soup at the same time as the shrimp nacho starter, now I had told her that this soup was going to be my entree and to please bring it with my wife's shrimp entree, she didn't listen to that at all, apparently. The shrimp nachos were really the only unpleasant part of the meal, there was no indication on the menu at all that they were absolutely covered in fresh-cut jalapeños, from head to toe. There had to be at least forty slices of jalapeño on there... But do you know what there weren't any of? Yes, that's right shrimp. There were approximately two small cut-up pieces of shrimp and we almost couldn't tell that was what they were at first. I'm not a complainer but I said something to the waitress, the conversation went like this... Me: "Ma'am, I don't usually like to complain about these sorts of things but these 'shrimp nachos' don't have any shrimp..." Waitress: "Oh I know." Me: "Ok..." Waitress: "But there okay, right?" Me: "Uhh..." And she walked away, is that how you would have handled it? I guess I am lazy when it comes to complaining but I've eaten at a lot of restaurants with semi-premium prices and they'll usually fix or add things for you when you have a complaint. Next, came the Villa Del Mar shrimp, which were served with a sweet italian-style pasta sauce and cheese. They were absolutely delicious, a very different and yet exciting take on a dish. They were served with a mashed potato medley and Mexican-style rice which were both very good. I really had very little complaints about the food, we both really enjoyed it. So, then our check came and I noticed that the nachos were still on there, perhaps I should have said something but I was tired, it was late while we were eating there, so I let it go but I did not leave the lady a tip, she was incredibly rude when she handled our complaint in that matter. I left a comment on the receipt that I wasn't going to leave a tip "But it's okay, right?" Other than the service experience, the food was pretty good especially because it's hard to find seafood here, I'll be going again (Just hope we get a different waitress...) Let's hope I don't get another business owner to insult me on Yelp by complaining... (See my review of Adventure Zone...) read more

Don't know what these people are talking about, if you want authentic Mexican seafood this is definitely the place to be. The campechana with oasters and shrimp, the campechana with shrimp and octopus is great. The pescadilla is absolutely superb they actually made fish and cheese work. The great Gordon ramsay would say "genius!!!!" read more

Villa Del Mar Restaurant - The amazing pescadilla! - Seafood Near Me - El Paso, Texas

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