El Encanto de la Fuente

Attentive, friendly and efficient staff. The chicken mole had the least flavor and spice of any mole I have had. The mole at the supermarket has much more taste. Two of the three salsas offerred were equally nondesdript.

Good Mexican food at reasonable prices. Had an afternoon snack of Baked Chili Rellenos. Chips and three salsas was served promptly soon after seating. Excellent service. The Rellenos were spicy and filling. Servers were pleasant and at tentative!!!

I had the shrimp dinner. 5 nice sized shrimp, cooked and frozen in Indonesia and warmed up in Fountain Hills. They tasted like water
The grilled vegetables were an overcooked mix of onions, green peppers and 3 slices of squash.
My wife had the $ 12.99 Pollo Asado Con Salsa, a Small piece of a chicken breast with grilled vegetables. Vegetables consisted of fried onions, green peppers and a couple slices of squash, all over cooked. The vegetables were a substitution for rice and beans, the ¼ cup of mushy vegetables didn’t measure up.
NEVER AGAIN!
If you want Mexican food in Fountain Hills, this isn’t it. There are other Mexican restaurants in Fountain Hills that are far better.
VERY VERY disappointing,
Filbertos drive thru puts them to shame.
NEVER AGAIN!

We were in town and stopped in for dinner? Fantastic service, reasonable prices! The Enchiladas De Pollo Con Mole is amazing! Yummy salsa, good experience all around! Andy was excellent, knowledgeable and a great server!

We visited the restaurant today for lunch. We all had excellent meals. I had the special which was the best chicken I have ever had. It had a spinach queso sauce that made the whole dish. Andy was our waiter & as always is the best!

Had a wonderful first time experience dining here tonight. Our server, CC, was such a sweetheart and was great! She checked on us thoroughly and made sure we were happy and all set with everything we had ordered. I had the Pollo Fundido, and let me tell you… When it comes to PF, I am picky. This was the BEST Pollo Fundido I have ever had. I will definitely be back and hope CC is our server again :)

My fiancé and I were SO excited to try this restaurant. When we moved down here during the summer it was closed for construction, so the anticipation of this restaurant built up.
1. We we got there we were seated very quickly. We were greeted at our table very quickly with chips and salsa (very nice display). The salsa was terrible. It’s sad when you go to a Mexican restaurant and look forward to the chips and salsa and they can’t even get that right.
2. After we were greeted with our waters, chips and salsa, the waiter came fairly quickly to greet us again. By this time we have mentioned two times that this was our first time there. The waiter told us he would give us a couple minutes to look over the menu and he would be back to help if needed. We sat there and decided what we wanted and then we sat there, and sat there, and sat there… 20 minutes went by since the last time our server came to greet us. We watched him bus a table right behind us. We watched him talk to multiple tables. We watched him greet guests at the front, seat them, and give them menus. We finally decided to get up and leave and even then he STILL didn’t notice us.
We let the hostess know and then we left. Very, very disappointing.

This restaurant has no idea what they are doing. We came here for dinner at 6:10 PM and they said they could not seat us because of reservations at 6 and it was a 1 hour wait. Ironically, they had 3 empty tables. What restaurant lets customers walk away when the claimed reservations have not showed up. They need to learn how to run a restaurant. I’m tired of poorly managed restaurants. The owners should go to NYC or LA to learn how to do things! Don’t come here!

Poor service and they have ruined the El Encanto brand! No one here eating beside us outside on the patio and it took a half hour to get our order on a Saturday! Seems like this place has hiked up the original prices Vs Cave Creek restraunt, I won’t come back to this one again, but I’ll give Cave Creek one more shot, if you come here block out an hour of your time to eat… even if your literally the only customer in the restraunt with 5 employees on hand! At least one server gave us water… terrible way to conduct business especially to loyal customers

Great food. Maybe best around. Unfortunately the wait staff treat you like an inmate. At Guantanamo. I’ll keep coming back for the food but I’m sneaking in water and salsa.

Absolute worst service ever!!! Had to get our own napkins after waiting 20 minutes while on outside Patio, only one other table with customers outside. Rice was burnt and food was horrible.
Even our children noticed the difference.
Been going to the cave creek location for over 20 years. I’ll never come back here again.

My wife is a Mexican dining snob who loved the food at El Encanto de la Fuente. We had outstanding house Margarita’s to start off the night. I must say the chips and salsa was great! I couldn’t stop nibbling on them. Our waitress, Alysha, did an outstanding job of explaining the dinner specials and was extremely attentive to our table of six.
Each of our party of six ordered something different and everyone rant and raved about how good it was. I had the salmon and shrimp dinner. The fish was cooked perfect…

Husband and I just moved to Fountain Hills from Chandler a couple of months ago… youngish professionals.
LOVE El Encanto!!! Here’s the scoop:
1. The… no, I mean THE best bean dip we’ve ever had… and If you’ve been to Chandler then you know the high caliber of Mexican food in that area so we have high expectations
2. Rustic festive décor… raw wood ceilings, leather Mexican chairs, new patio, fun bar area
3. Friendly service
4. Great Sonoran style Mexican food. awesome shredded beef tacos, yummy queso, love the red chili enchiladas, asada great too… and 4 different types of salsas… fajitas are delicious
5. And their organic margaritas are so so good
For the reviewers who didn’t like this place because of the pollo fundido, I judge them and not the restaurant… unless you really really love creamy dishes, I wounldnt order that. they have to have some items on the menu for the gringos :-)

Absolutely the most delicious chicken & cheese enchiladas I have ever tasted in my life.
Great, timely service and nice atmosphere. My friends and I like to grab a margarita at the bar, and we’ve never been able to make ourselves leave without ordering food as well.

I’ve been to El Encanto many times with many local friends. The food is always ok enough to keep me coming back. However the service has always left something to be desired for, but after what happened this afternoon I can safely I (nor my friends, since I’ve called and shared my story) will never be back.
Yesterday my friends and I split our bill three ways. I was the only one paying with a card. So my friends paid their share in cash. The total of the bill was 62.86 before tip. My friends added their shares plus tip all in cash. The waiter took the check without asking how we’d like it split, and so he charged my card the full amount even though there was a wad of cash. I politely explained only $ 30 was meant to be charged to my card. He took the bill away and returned with a check for the correct amount which I happily signed.
Usually when something like this happens they fix it and it’s nothing to worry about. However, I just so happened to check my account this morning and I was shocked to see TWO charges. One for the full amount $ 62.86 and one for my correct $ 30.00 charge. I live in the area so I simply drove over figuring it would be a simple fix.
Nope. The «manager» is either a thief or just really really stupid. I’m not sure which is worse, but he refused to simply cancel the incorrect charge. First he asked for my paper receipt which I never keep, but the same waiter from the day before was there and he remembered me and the situation. Also, I had my Wells Fargo app open and could show him the charges. I also had my debit card on me. Proof enough. He kept claiming he had «adjusted» the amount, to which I said you’ve made a mistake, look at tge charges. A good half hour of arguing back and forth I finally just walked out, and I am literally stunned by the stupidity.
Why wouldn’t he just void the incorrect charge???
I have paid them $ 92.86 PLUS whatever cash my friends shelled out for their portion of the check and tip. I’ll certainly be in touch with upper management with my bank statements handy but I will never be back.
How could they treat regular paying customers like this? :(

It’s Spanish food…

Two different fountain hills professionals recommended this place to us. Please understand I was raised on Mexican food so this may seem harsh.
First the chips and salsa. Chips nice and warm and perfectly fine. The salsas not so much. The mild is reminiscent of generic tomato paste. The hot is the same as the mild but a little spice added. The tomatillo I don’t even know what to say. It was green. We ordered a side of guacamole and it was not what we were expecting. It was just mashed avocados. No seasoning. Not traditional.
The main dishes.
I had the pollo fundido everyone raves about. First, I’m not even sure it qualifies as «Mexican» food, but that’s beside the point. From what I gather, this dish is grilled chicken breast wrapped in a tortilla and deep fried a la chimichanga style topped with the fundido sauce and shredded cheddar cheese. The «fundido» sauce (cream cheese and jalapeños) was very rich, creamy, and flavorful. It was quite good. The cheddar cheese they might as well have just skipped it due to how little cheddar cheese was on it. The biggest problem I had with this dish however, was the chicken itself. To say it was «dry» would be an understatement. It was super dry. Tough. And stringy. The side of rice was ok but nothing worth writing about.
The other entrée we had was the cheese enchiladas in red chile sauce. Not much to write about here either. Canned red enchilada sauce over melted cheese in a tortilla, rice as in the other dish, and beans.
The service and atmosphere were outstanding and the only reason I give 3 stars. The service was 4+ star. The prices for what we got? Not.
I’ll definitely try again and hope for better results.
Edits: see pics.
Jalapeño rellenos? There was no chicken and really nothing worth mentioning. I won’t order this again and that is a disappointment to me because I love jalapeño poppers, rellenos (if you want to call them that), etc.
The «tacos» I had were of the carne asada variety. Two things: I’ve never had carne asada tacos with cabbage. And I’ve never been served a dish in restaurant wrapped in aluminum foil.
That «sopapilla» I won’t even discuss. It should be removed from the menu. Oh. Wait. I don’t think it’s on the menu.
Lastly, one of our party asked for gluten free options and was told they didn’t have any. So. Just be aware of that.

Super!
We’ve been a few times and I keep forgetting to review. The location is easy to find on Saguaro from Fountain Hills or off of Shea.
Their salsa are fabulous — I’m gonna guess homemade because I swear it had a little kick to it today that I don’t remember.
My favorite dish us the Chicken Fondido (or something like that). It comes in 2 sizes, the small portion us perfectly sized. I. Love. This. Dish!
Today the hubs had Chile Relleno con Pollo — he said he thoroughly enjoyed it.
The wait staff is always polite and attentive. Indoor and patio seating available. Bar and the have a TV behind the bar, Cuz sometimes you want to get away for a Dos XX’S and the game!
We love this place! Will go back again and again!

After being so impressed with the Cave Creek location, we decided to try the Fountain Hills spot as well.
I have to say I was pretty disappointed… I decided to venture away from my old standby (chile relleno) & try something new. I had the Pollo Asado con Salsa Autentica, which sounded mouth-​watering on the menu. I got what appeared to be a boiled, rubbery chicken breast covered in salsa. It was supposed to come with black beans & rice, but there was no rice & the beans tasted like they were straight from a can. Yuck.
The chips & salsa were good, and almost exactly the same as the Cave Creek’s location.
My mango margarita was delicious, but had barely ANY alcohol in it.
The only saving grace was our server, who was attentive, personable & quite funny! Unfortunately, we never got her name… (A noteworthy detail: the manager on the lunch shift Wed ⁴⁄₂₅ was the LEAST involved manager I’ve ever seen in a restaurant! She passed us several times during our hour+ there & didn’t even acknowledge our presence.)
Granted, we were there for an early lunch, but after having read the mission statement on the back of the menu, I would have to say it was a let-​down compared to the Cave Creek location.
When my husband & I move to Phoenix next year, we will be making the drive to the Cave Creek location when we want excellent Mexican food & an enjoyable dining experience.

When we are in the area of Fountain Hills, we Always eat here. They have gluten free red sauce enchiladas, I love them. We have been to the other location as well in Cave Creek. The food here is so good and many things to choose from that is gluten free. We have never had bad service here. Chips are nice and thin and three different sauces are really tasty. They have outside seating and when its in the cooler days, they have space heaters all over. I especially liked it outside because there is a chef out there preparing all kinds of things on the grill. You know that smell, it just pulls you in. That’s pretty smart selling point, lol
I recommend trying one of El Encanto locations, the food is Delicioso!