Mexican Radio

Tasty food, themed drinks. Great after work hangout spot.

Sorry Mexican Radio — you’ve been my my go-​to spot for Mexican food the last 6+ years, and it took me this long to write a review. The food is great, ambiance feels like you stepped into a joint in Tijuana, and the service has been good — though once in a while you get a curt/​inattentive waiter — but give them a pass, because the food makes up for it!
The goat cheese croquettes are a must. We always get the chili rellenos, and a custom ordered burrito /​chimichanga with Seitan, portobello mushrooms and the works. The chips & guac is always solid, drinks are sometimes beyond strong, and they have an amazing assortment of hot sauces you can try. I’m surprised at the lack of press this place gets, but I’m fine keeping Mexican radio on my secret list of hidden gems in NYC.

Went there last night for dinner and drinks. This place is a hole in the wall with actual holes in the walls. It did remind me of Tijuana because its was run down like most places there. I ordered a margarita straight up with salt. It came with no salt and no liquor and tasted like sour mix and lime. I had the steak fajitas and the small amount of steak in it was over cooked and chewy. The vegetables were oily and flavorless. There were 6 of us and only 1 of us actually ate their food. The tap beer tasted of dirty lines and the bottled beer was not cold if I weren’t there with friends I would have left after the margarita. Don’t waste your time or money. Would give zero stars if it were an option.

This place is a really cool place if you want to just go out and have a drink with your girlfriends, the 6 $ cinco de mayo margaritas are really great ! The charming bar tender makes you feel really comfortable. The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars was because for a place called Mexican radio you would think the music would be really good.

You shouldn’t be coming here if you’re on a diet. EVERYTHING is smothered in melted cheese, sprinkled cheese and sour cream. Really, really grosses me out.

This is our favorite Mexican restaurant in all of NYC. Best beef burrito I’ve ever had — the sauces that they put on top are incredible! Start with the jalapeño margarita and their amazing homemade salsa which they give you a HUGE portion of, and get the beef burrito — you won’t be disappointed!

Went last night as with 5 friends. Not very busy for a Saturday night, so the noise factor described in other reviews wasn’t an issue. Food exceedingly mediocre. Nothing fancy, innovative, or «authentic.» Guac, salsa — nothing special. Other apps followed the typical approach of «smother it in cheese and voila!, it’s Mexican.
I decided to play it safe and get a salad with shredded chicken, which was 100% awful. The dressing was so completely flavorless, I’d speculate that they intended for it to turn out that way and were brilliantly successful. Clearly someone in the kitchen grabbed the dried mint instead of the cilantro while preparing the chicken; mint was the only flavor it had — was visibly LOADED with the stuff.
Service? Non-​existent. Waitress a regular expert at the disappearing act. Waited 15 minutes for drinks every time we ordered (I left the table to track her down at one point), and we only had beer & wine; not a single mixed drink that might have justified a delay.
There’s so much better in this town. Seek and ye shall find …

Giving this place a solid 4. Tristan and I went in without much expectations (except that it was recommended in the area). We thought it was pretty dope cause of the dark ambiance for our dinner. It’s a bit loud because of the bar. The service is pretty good except our entrees took awhile to come.
Food:
— chips and guac (GUAC WAS AMAZING) we so recommend getting it ($ 16)
— BBQ pork and plantain burrito {I ordered this but was pretty let down, it was smothered in sauce so i couldn’t even pick it up to eat it, and the pork was shredded carnitas, not actual thick slices of pork}
— Chimichanga (grilled steak) — Tristan loved it and thought it was delicious, but it will give you serious itis.

A Review of Mexican Radio:
We were a party of 9 on 12/​19, a Saturday night. There were 2 other parties (4 – 5 people) and 2 two tops in the restaurant. We waited several minutes for a waitress to appear, but we also were waiting to complete our party, so that’s all fine.
Our waitress brought us the incorrect number of glasses of water and never re-​appeared. I went to the bar and asked for more water, and also bottles of water so that my fellow party goers wouldn’t get anxious. As I’ve mentioned in other reviews, I am a waitress, so when I go out with a large group of people who are not in the service industry, I have no problem taking it upon myself to make sure I anticipate the table’s needs.
We ordered a pitcher of margaritas, to split between 6 people. Mexican Radio’s menu says a pitcher, which costs 54 dollars, will serve 7 drinks. Sounds ideal.
The pitcher shows up, and it is ONLY ICE. There are also very small (8 oz at most) tumblers, FILLED WITH ICE, into which we will pour our margaritas. By the time we got to the 4^th person, me, there was nothing left in the pitcher, except ice.
This is a scam and not acceptable. We call over the waitress, who is immediately defensive and tells us we can talk to the manager. I tell him to come right over, as I’m feeling particularly sassy (and quite frankly exhausted and already over this place) and I tell him what’s going on. The manager, whose name I unfortunately don’t know, but is no asset to this place, immediately gets defensive and rude, telling me that «that’s how they make them here» and asking me «what do I want him to do? Give me free drinks?» To which I reply that I don’t want any free drinks, just the number of drinks HIS MENU SAYS I SHOULD BE RECEIVING. He then proceeds to ask me why I am complaining about the amount of alcohol in the drinks, and I tell him that we haven’t even gotten there yet, because we can’t actually pour enough drinks, to find out if there is an appropriate amount of alcohol in them (spoiler alert: they are completely non alcoholic). He says to me, «do I want to be brought more lime juice?» He ends up bringing 2 margaritas that are weak to the people who didn’t get a drink from the pitcher that was promised to serve them.
Since when is it acceptable for anyone in the service industry to speak to customers like this? It’s not your private stash of Sauza gold dude… pour me the drinks YOUR MENU SAYS WE SHOULD BE RECEIVING. If you said a pitcher served 3, we would have bought 2. We weren’t being cheap. The check was 300 dollars. We left a 20% tip. The waitress even asked how many glasses to bring, and didn’t tell us that we were going to run out of liquid halfway through.
Then the food arrives. Mine is cold. Most everyone ordered an entrée that comes with a side, and for whatever reason, the waitress doesn’t do any kind of starting point of service when she takes orders, so she’s unable to remember who has salad or rice and beans and reaches over us and interrupts us way more time than necessary. Also, we had several vegans at the table. One of them asked if the cheese on their entrée was vegan-​because she didn’t think that it was (based on her familiarity with the consistency of vegan cheese). The waitress’s response? «I’m pretty sure». LOL.
The food was completely mediocre. There are SO many better Mexican restaurants in NYC. I don’t get how these places get away with treating tourist parties and people on dates like shit all over the Soho/​LES neighborhood. Again, I’m NOT a tourist, I’m a resident, and I’m not impressed. Do a little more research and find a better place to eat.

Despite what the website and menus say, this is not a gluten-​free restaurant. How they can get away with this is unknown. They blame shared menus for the lies. That should tell you everything you need to know. Everything is over priced and the guacamole is lacking in flavor.

Way too expensive for what you’re getting — average Mexican food with average ambiance and generally poor service.
Chips and guac? That’ll run you $ 16.
Sure, you’re going to pay a premium to eat in this area, but go somewhere that deserves a splurge.

Got the enchilada plate to go for lunch one day. Just a Cali girl needing an enchilada fix every now and then and my oh my I think I found the place.
Sooo many choices of hot sauce +1
Sauce was on point +1
Staff was friendly and accommodating +1
The size was perfect +1!
Overall really good experience and will definitely be back. They are also vegan friendly.
Only downfall was it was $ 17 but what can ya do, soho prices.

As you walk in, the bar invites you, so we pulled up a couple of bar stools and were immediately greeted by a very friendly tender with a smile – eagle to serve. I had the Modelo Especial on tap and my wife had a house Chardonnay (generous pour) and was good for a house wine.
We were waiting for our party to show up, and I mean that literally, we had a niece, grandniece and great-​grandniece who was celebrating her (1) year on the planet.
Once seated, we ordered a pitcher of Margaritas for the table and I will preface by saying, I make the best margs on the planet (one fresh squeezed lime, Familia Camarana Gold Tequila, Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, Triple sec, splash of Roses Lime juice, topped with a cover of Sprite, over ice, stirred not shaken.) so I am bias on all other recipes. I will mention that I thought the house margarita mix was too sweet and that if you held your glass up to your ear you could hear your dentist… but at least it packs a punch, but I am not a fan of mixes. To be fair, they might have other hand crafted margs but that needs to be explored.
As for the food… I will say it’s fair… I am not a fan of combos where the entire plate is covered in sauces and you can’t tell what is what until you take a mouth full or that the sauce takes the spotlight. That is just a rushed kitchen putting out food. I do not recall anyone at the table raving about their meal, either during or after, but equally, no one complained. Our niece has been here before and loves it. The appetizers, although nicely presented, seemed to leave my food senses expressionless. Just note, they do not offer flour tortillas here, only corn. We found that out after the order, even though my wife specified a soft, flour tortilla for her tacos and our server nodded and took the order. All in all the food is okay, we have certainly had finer tastes at other Mexican or Tex-​Mex restaurants ($$$) throughout the city, but the atmosphere and friendliness of the staff makes it a decent gathering place to catch a bite when you don’t really have an agenda in mind.
The service was terrific and the staff was very, very accommodating, especially at a table with a one-​year-​old. Thumbs up.

Good came out fast. Calamari was average but the special burrito, steak fajitas and baja tacos were great! The whole group was satisfied. Our waiter forgot our guacamole order but in the end we had more than enough food. Will be back for a friendly low key meal super quick.

Best vegan/​veggie Mexican options in Manhattan (carne asada fries, fried avocados, seitan and tofu substitutions for virtually everything). Fairly authentic in terms of typical NYC Mexican options. Chill/​casual atmosphere. Every table has a totally random assortment of unique hot sauces, so that’s cool. Most important — everything’s delicious! Generous portions as well. You can get a very filling lunch here for about $ 15 incl. tip.
Dinner can be a bit chaotic and the waitstaff is meh (young/​inexperienced) but I’m nitpicking here. There is a Billy Idol-​doppelgänger bartender dude who works lunch and is always kind/​helpful/​on point.
Modelo (Negra & Especial), Pacifico, and some others on draft… cans of Tecate, etc. as well. Oh, and pretty bang on frozen margaritas with variety of flavors (jalapeño, for example). Prices are mid-​range but very fair considering quality/​portion size. I live nearby and eat here on a whim often because my stomach tells me to.

Sooooooo our food was continually messed up all night long… Not that the food was bad. Actually the food was GREAT! But the fact that we kept getting different food from what we ordered was no good.
Let me explain.
This spot was a spur of the moment choice because we had a hankering for a good margarita. The place wasn’t too packed and the decorations/​mood lighting were just what we wanted on a Friday evening. It was a bit loud in there, but it was the vibe we wanted and the menu looked refreshing.
We were able to be seated right away and immediately ordered some margs and chips/​salsa for the table. We were in a happy place. Nothing says happy like an extra shot of tequila in your drink! I do wish the chips and salsa were part of dinner not an additional extra. but oh well.
I ordered the spicy shrimp tacos and my lovely date ordered the steak fajitas. When the food finally came they had brought him chicken fajitas! At this point we were both too hungry to send it back. Looking back I regret that now, but in the moment he was so hungry he wanted to make it work and didn’t want me to have to wait either. The food itself tasted great! However, for a $ 20 entrée, he should have gotten what he ordered.
About halfway through our meal we decided to order another margarita, this time I decided on a frozen flavored one, while my boyfriend opted to stick with his original choice. Well, they brought us two frozen flavored ones! I felt so bad! He looked miserable as he sucked down his raspberry and tart cherry marg… Again, we didn’t speak up since we were trying to keep the mood light, which was our only silly mistake. We should have sent it back but we felt like we were too far down the rabbit hole.
Ultimately, this is a decent spot if you want a little adventure in the fact that you may not get what you order! But the food was tasty regardless! I’m not sure if I’ll be back since the cost was way overpriced for the service.

I am a Mexican Radio loyalist. I have been enjoying the one in my home town of Hudson for many years now and am happy to say the NYC one is also very good (and super easy to get to — 6 to Spring) They are known for their margaritas which are wonderful but I had some Michaleada with Tecate this time around which were great. I usually stick with the fish tacos but am a huge fan of their burritos and chimichangas.
Can get a little expensive if the drinks are flowing but it is well worth it and all their locations have very interesting and fun color schemes and decorations… Mexican Radio will always deliver a fun night out!

Horrible service (asked for my drink 3 times after being consistently ignored at the bar), but when I did finally get my «fresh» watermelon margarita — which had zero watermelon — it was so strong that I didn’t need another one all through dinner.
The food was pretty solid though! They’re super vegetarian and vegan friendly — though carnivores enjoyed themselves too :) The spring rolls were meh, but the ballpark nachos were perfect! The stuff of dreams! I also tried the portobello and plantain tacos — the plantain was too sweet and didn’t have much else, but the portobello was good. The nachos though. I still want them.

Yes, it’s overpriced, but it’s worth the splurge IMHO. Trust! The food is yummy and the drinks are delicious! In fact, you really can’t go wrong with any of the burritos or margaritas! They are all tasty. Btw, if you’re in the mood for a burrito, try the cajun burrito, which has a kick to it… it’s super tasty!
Note that you’re in the mood for nachos, be sure to get the ballpark ones – they are the ones that are piled high! Avoid the others, which are the single layer kind. You will NOT regret the ballpark variety! TASTY! Just do it!
The interior of Mexican Radio is nothing to write home about… it’s just like a typical shotgun bar. So, if you’re looking to have a romantic date, go somewhere else. If you wanna hang out with your friends and eat some good Tex Mex and drink margaritas, go here!

What in the fresh hell was this.
A friend and I came here for a quick dinner last week. We were pretty surprised by how pricey things were on the menu (two enchiladas for $ 16???) but the $ 5 drink specials sign outside drew us in. We sat at a table and were weirdly offered the vegetarian or regular menu. I’m a vegetarian but I don’t see why they can’t just put it all in one menu. ANYWAY. We proceeded to order our $ 5 margaritas when the waitress said that’s only at the bar. The whole place seemed like a loud dive bar so that was disappointing. Shamelessly pursuing $ 5 margaritas, I relocated us to the bar.
It was hard to get a seat at the bar because a bunch of toolbags were crowded in a semi circle around 80% of the bar, not sitting down. Moving on, we ordered two appetizers, the full plate of nachos ($ 8) and the «house wedge» (?) quesadillas ($ 10).
When our food arrived, I thought it was the wrong order. We did not receive nachos. We received EIGHT INDIVIDUAL CHIPS with black beans, cheese, and white/​red sauce (like the kind you get from a halal cart) surrounding the world’s saddest 4 leaves of lettuce and 7 jalapeño slices. Eight chips. That’s $ 1 per chip. This was the FULL ORDER. The beans were totally flavorless, not even salted and the sauces were completely bland. We rationed out the jalapeño slices to increase flavor/​try to make a meal out of this.
No complaints about the weirdly named quesadilla, it was pretty good. We should have had two of those instead of trying to eat the sad lettuce to try to fill ourselves up. Margaritas were small and the $ 5 deal ended at 7, despite the misleading «drink specials all night» sign outside. Seems like this place is trying to get you to pay $ 10 more than you should just because they have veggie, vegan, and gluten free options.
FOR SHAME, I know SoHo is pricey but this place is a disgrace to nachos.