Los Pilones

It has taken me a lot of experimenting with this and the chain’s other locations to decide that it’s just not for me. I get that most of it is because there’s only so much you could do with salsa and veggies if you don’t eat meat at a Mexican restaurant. But, there has to be something!
The vegetables have a weird flavor/​smell that gets stronger as your food gets colder. The chips aren’t fresh, almost too salty, and somewhat expensive. The black sauce in some of their dishes is almost too pungent to smell, much less eat. In fact, even though we packed up a ‘mistake dish’ to try again at home, we couldn’t.
It is a wonderful place to chat with friends, provided you can get a table. Yes, it gets crowded. But food, maybe not.

No. No. No. Lo siento, but this is not authentic Mexican food — or anything close to it. I feel bad giving two stars to a restaurant with friendly and responsive wait staff (which this place has), but I was so annoyed with the experience that my boyfriend and I got in a fight and he vowed to never go to Mexican food with me in Amsterdam ever again.
First, they serve cold, dry, store bought corn tortilla chips and a little tiny mini pitcher of pico de gallo upon arrival. The chips are gross and the pico is difficult to reach because the pitcher’s opening is small. They have a mini spoon to dish it out, but that really only makes sense when you have a salsa, not a chunky pico It was also flavorless and could use a dash of salt. We had the chile relleno quesadilla and guac appetizers — the chile itself was pretty good, as was the cheese, but the tortilla of the quesadilla was really dry. The guac was fresh, so that was good.
I was craving tacos, so I got the chicken tacos (street tacos style with onions and cilantro) and they were absurdly expensive — in Mexico and California you can get tacos for a buck or two each. This plate was 18 euros for four — no side of beans — which I would have happily paid if they were good. The portion was huge but the chicken seasoning tasted more like curry to me than Mexican spice. My boyfriend got the gringo food flautas, which were actually fine, but that was because they were fried and its hard to mess up something fried and covered in sour cream and cheese. The prices are highway robbery. I am in total disbelief of all the people who claim to be from Mexico saying this is authentic and tasty food. Maybe they are drunk on tequila.

This is a small chain of Mexican restaurants in Amsterdam. It has consistently good food and GREAT COCKTAILS! Even been told by a friend from Mexico it’s quite authentic.

This place has a hip bar/​lounge vibe with it’s low lighting, metallic/​pink décor and wall murals. Cool they make their own tequila, which is also showcased on the walls.
It’s a nice place to get a frozen margarita and maybe some appetizers… BUT… unfortunately, this is where my compliments come to an end.
This is not the best Mexican food, even for Amsterdam standards. I have to question whether the reviewers that called this authentic have actually been to Mexico, because it’s just not the same. However, I will give them credit for having Mole on the menu.
The house chips come from a bag, and the small pico de gallo they serve in a tiny creamer is such a tease. It’s like playing with a miniature doll house tea set.
The food is alright, but I can’t justify the price for the taste. Especially if you order vegetarian, it just doesn’t seem worth it. I would describe the food more as good bar food than fresh dining. That said, I do like their fish tacos which uses seared tuna.

After living in California and being spolit with great mexican food… I was not expecting anything close in Amsterdam. But just when I was starting to think that there is no way I could enjoy mexican food in Amsterdam, I was introduced to this place by a friend. The ambience is cozy and casual. Love it.
The costs are reasonable.
The margaritas are delicious and the servings are generous. (They graciously place the extra drink-​margarita on your table as well without extra charge if you have ordered one.)
The food is great. To start with I would recommend the spicy tuna dip along with the obvious guacamole to go along with the nachos.
The tacos, enchiladas are to die for and my fav is the pibil.
The portions are quite big and heavy — both for drinks and food — which makes me like them even more — but good to keep this in mind when ordering.

I think I’d give this 4.5 stars, but since it’s by far the best I’ve tried in Amsterdam, it gets the 5 stars for being the best Mexican in the city until now :)
I wasn’t sure what to expect of an authentic Mexican place in Amsterdam, but I was pleasantly surprised! We ordered nachos and quesidillas for appetizers followed by some spicy shrimp tacos, tomatillo enchiladas, and chicken mole enchiladas. I had tried Mole once before and it was so awful that I thought I’d never try it again… but what do you know, this tasted VERY good! I thought the green enchiladas with the tomatillo sauce were flavorful, but it was a little too acidic for me. The spicy shrimps were my favorite though! We also ordered a dessert to share at the end it reminded me of tres leches cake… delicious!
This is definitely not a tex-​mex place, but real Mexican flavors.
Before we left, we ended up chatting with our real life Mexican waiter and he explained the concept and food to us, which was a nice touch.
By the way… you’ll find some very interested décor throughout the restaurant :)

Etwas versteckt in unserem liebsten Stadtteil «Jordaan». Das Restaurant ist ziemlich winzig aber hat ein originelles Design: die Wände sind mit Malereinen und mit handgemachten Loch-​Blech-​Arbeiten geschmückt.
Ich kann mich dem vorigen Beitrag anschliessen: das Essen ist sehr gut!
Unserer Bedienung war zu unserer Überraschung eine Deutsche, mit der wir uns sehr nett unterhalten haben.
Ein ideales Restaurant für ein gemütliches Essen zu zweit!