Mexican Festival Restaurant
“They also have a mariachi band that comes around and plays music for everyone (you can even request a song).”
“Off the bat, unlike Maria Bonita, they opened with a liquor license in tact.”
“We had fajitas that came sizzling to our table and fresh made to order guacamole.”
Mexican Festival Restaurant
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Could be a real gem. Unfortunately the service was uneven, inattentive, and odd. They've been open 3 months but seemed like 3 days.
We arrived at 7 on a sat evening. There were just a few tables but it took 10 minutes to get a glass of wine and a club soda. The chips and salsa were good. Our appetizer was calamari. There were about 20. Yes I know you shouldn't be able to count calamari…
Main courses were chicken poblano, fajitas and a burrito. The burrito was nothing like what was ordered and the sides were wrong. The fajitas were missing tortillas, cheese, sour cream etc.
Mexican food should be fresh, simple, reasonably priced and spicy. This was none the above. But there is still time to make this an UWS star. And a good, clean consistent Mexican restaurant with a great big bar is sorely needed. With some focus on service and value I could see 4 stars.
We loved mama mexico and were disappointed with Bonita. Festival needs to simplify.
sooo expensive. the steak is really good. chicken mole is awesome, and the drinks are huge. the mariachi band is just too loud for me. great for a twenty-something birthday celebration. good food. pricey.
This is an awesome Mexican spot on the Upper West, definitely somewhere to seek out if you're in the Manhattan Valley area. It's perfect for lunch, dinner, or to grab a few drinks at their bar. The atmosphere is energetic and very well decorated. Their food is great too – I got the enchiladas and they hit the spot. I believe they are working on getting a permit for outdoor seating during the summer, which would make this place absolutely perfect.
It took some effort from deep inside for me to walk into Mexican Festival after the bitter taste left in my mouth from its predecessors. But I came in on a Friday evening with an open mind. I left…. uncertain.
The good:
The enjoyed the decor of the place. Nice colors, random Mexican knickknacks, (the same) open kitchen. The service also improved greatly from its predecessors. I know I know.. it's a new place! It should have a clean slate, right? Actually, I'd be lying if I didn't tell you that some of the staff here go back to the Mama Mexico days. Fortunately, time seems to have scraped away the more abrasive, more arrogant staff members and left a more professional and…somewhat…friendlier staff.
The in-betweens:
The food menu. It is practically recycled from Mama Mexico; Mexican dishes you can find at Chipotle and some that Mama and Taco Bell made famous. (My dinner companion, a former Mama employee, actually pointed out that even the flatware and silverware were from the Mama days.) We were ambitious at first about giving the place a try but ended up sharing one dish: The steak and shrimp fajitas where we even a choice between flour and corn tortillas.
For $25, the amount of protein that arrived was disappointing. It was about 3 pieces of steak and 4 shrimp. The rest of the dish included the hot plate with a mix of seared veggies and a tiny side of sour cream and guac.
The bad:
The chips and salsa. I swear the salsa tasted more like it belonged on a Papa John's pizza than with tortillas.
The guacamole. Oh, thank heavens, they offer table-side-prepared guacamole! Spicy? i Sí, por favor ! Worth the $11? Nope. The avocado wasn't so hot, there was too much salt, and it tasted as spicy as a pack of spicy Cheetos. We actually asked our waiter for a side of chopped jalapeños to compliment it but to no avail. It just didn't work and we ended up leaving half of the guac behind.
The drinks. We both stopped at one. Now, we're not lightweights or that picky, but damn. The pomegranate margarita was so sour it resembled a liquid lemonhead. I had the classic margarita, rocks and salt. I got a decent margarita with some super sour, red sugar, crystallized salt. I said "classic" damnit!
I'm really in between a 2 and a 3 for MF. I will err on the side of 3 for now because it is new to the neighborhood (technically) and still has room to grow.
After reading Allison C's review below.. I am shouting out to all you Yelpers to try this place and break "The Curse"! I am not from New York but stayed at the Broadway Hotel about a block away, and with Mexican food being my favorite – I just have to check out Mexican Festival. Boy, was I glad I did! The food is phenomenal. If you're a fan of stellar guacamole, this is the place to be. They make it fresh before your very eyes, at your table and to your own "spice" and "flavor" level. I think this was the first time I ever got my boyfriend to actually enjoy and practically eat half the bowl of my beloved guacamole. Yay – on the fact that he ate it, Nay – on the fact that I missed out on getting my usually large portion of it. The food was also prepared extremely quickly and was delectable as well.
Let's just say we stayed in NY for a weekend and I stopped into this place, once for food and once because the first time I was there – they served a dessert on fire. LITERALLY ON FIRE! So, in my infinite wisdom.. I knew it would be delicious and I stopped back the following night for my ON FIRE FRIED ICE CREAM. Nom Nom. You are most definitely missing out if you don't 'stop in and try this place. Come on people, give the small businesses a chance to survive in such a tough economy. Let's break "the curse" together!
This is the only bar I'll go to when I'm craving a happy hour in the area.
They have one of the best happy hours around here. When I first started going it was $5 for a margarita but they recently changed it to $6, but I don't really care because it's still cheap and you definitely get your money's worth. The mariachi band is fun and keeps the place feeling authentic. Also, the female bartenders are always really sweet and gave us a free shot for my friend's birthday.
Only complaint is that if you don't come early enough sometimes all of the seats at the bar are taken and the happy hour isn't for table seating.
But still, whenever I go here I know I'm going to have a good time.
Guacamole!!! Amazing! They come and make it fresh at your table or the bar and will put fruit into it. They have floor to ceiling windows that will open on nice day. I have been here a couple times and never let down by the margaritas! I loved thier quesadillas and queso! During dinner they have a real mariachi band.
Had such a fun time here celebrating a friends birthday over brunch. We had a very large party, 12 of us and the restaurant was very accommodating and flexible.
They have a brunch special where you order your entree and can add $11.50 (or something in that price range) to have unlimited sangria, mimosas, bloody Mary's or margs for 1.5 hours which is an awesome deal as their menu items are reasonable as well.
We ordered guacamole for the table and it was amazing. Some of the best guac I've had in awhile! The chips were also good, not too salty and not too plain just perfect. As my entree I ordered Huevos rancheros which were delicious as well, but I ate too much guacamole and chips to enjoy it!
A word to the wise if you're planning a big group here, bring cash because they don't split checks easily (we all brought cash) and order the same drinks because we found it took them a very very long time to get our drink orders in and flowing. Will be back for another brunch or dinner at Mexican festival in the near future!