La Mexicana Restaurant

I LOVE everything about La Mexicana… I love the Beautiful Emma, the Owner, who is always there to assist – whether to answer the phone to take your «to go» order, or to seat you as you walk in the door of her International Blvd Restaurant. Emma is not only beautiful but works hard to make sure her customers have enough food, water, soda or cerveza at all times. The Chicken Soup at La Mex (as I affectionately call it) has cured me of many ailments and their fresh, home made tortillas cannot be better. My standard Combo Plate is the Crispy Beef Taco/​Cheese Enchilada. At La Mex, the Taco is Crispier and Beefier and more delicious than any other Taco I’ve had in the Bay Area. The Cheese Enchilada is Cheesier! Convenient parking in the rear of the Restaurant makes To Go pickups a breeze. So why, you might ask, have I only bestowed four stars rather than five on Le Mex? Only because Le Mex serves only Cerveza, Wine and Sangria and no Tequila or Margaritas which is what I love to drink when eating Mexican Food. But really – I’ll have to give this a bit more thought and change the rating to 5 Stars because this is the Mexican Restaurant all you Southern California people are looking for.
BEVERAGES – 4−½STARS (No Margaritas)
FOOD — — — -5 STARS FOR SURE!!!
GRACIAS, MI AMIGOS, TODOS ES BIEN – Margaritas o sin Margaritas!
Vaya a La Mexicana – the BEST Mexian food in Oakland, for sure!

I would say 3.5 stars but that wasn’t an option. Came here due to their appearance on Check Please Bay Area. Portions are huge. Homemade tortillas are very good. Chips are great. House salsa is pretty hot. They give a small plate of refried beans and chicken mole (clearly pushing the mole) as a free appetizer. Mole is spicier than I’m used to. Guacamole is very good (add salt). Rice/​beans very good (add salt). Chile relleno is pretty good (they are easy to mess up). The sauce is a bit thin but has a good flavor. The pepper was a bit too crunchy for my preference though. The green enchiladas are good but the verde sauce is uncharacteristically sweet. Rather odd. Again, huge portions. Tamales are fine. Don’t come for the atmosphere as there isn’t much. Beers are $ 5 a pop. I’d return but it’s not the best Mexican food in the USA. Service was fine. Emma was very nice. Don’t forget to park in the back. For free.

The tortillas here are on the list of my top five favorite foods.
I’ve been eating them since I was a little girl… over thirty years… yikes
If you are into handmade corn tortillas, try these… They are awesome!

Legit menudo with hominy the way it’s supposed to be made! I finally found a place in NorCal that makes it the way my abuelita used to make it. And there’s Parking?! It’s my new favorite Mexican food place. Nice service as well & family friendly.

Just had lunch at one of our favorite places. My family has been enjoying the food at this restaurant for over 60 years, It’s A small neighborhood place that serves great food. IT’s been featured on Check Please Bay Area on PBS, When a relativel visits from out of State, La Mexicans is a must. Their chillaquiles are the best!

My wife and i were in the area so we decided ro give this place another try. I didnt want to but went along with my wife. The lady that works there not sure if shes the owner was not friendly at all, at least not to us. No hello or greeting we had to seat ourselves. I ordered the menudo which did not taste fresh. Tripe was to slimy, watery with no flavor. My wife ordered the huevos rancheros i have never seen them prepared drowing in a watery sauce. My wife asked about buying tortillas which they are known for, and get this they were out of them. We were like, what. Place is also in DIRE need of a remodel. Please fix your sign and place is just not clean enough… pretty gross!

Well, really torn to provide such a great review. If I tell you the hand-​made tortillas are unbelievably good, I risk that the next time I want a table, there won’t be any room! On the other hand, the owner Emma and her employees deserve the best. So here goes… don’t take my word for it… try it yourself. They treated us like family. The kitchen is incredibly clean. I parked on the street and at 7pm, kind of sketchy. But, apparently they have secured parking in the back… good to know. Really, really authentic. I travel to Mexico and I can tell you it is hard to find hand made tortillas there… so imagine my delight to find it just 20 minutes from home!

When you order guacamole at La Mexicana, the next thing you’ll hear is the chopping of fresh avocado and onions, etc… they make it fresh every time for you. If you order something with tortillas, you hear the slap slap slap of skilled hands making them by hand just for your meal, and they come out hot from the kitchen. The refried beans and rice are delicious, so good, and made without lard, so they’re great for vegetarians. I always order the carnitas, it’s simple and tender and falls apart on your fork– this place is the real deal. Try to get there early though, because they really do close at 8 pm…

Excellent! Best Mexican Food I have had. I have been going there for over 40 years! Chilli Rellano’s are the best! Tortilla’s are great!

If you like Americanized «Mexican» food, do NOT come here.
This is the classic, hole in the wall, authentic, GEM of a Mexican restaurant!!!
It’s been there since the 1930’s!!! How many other FAMILY owned restaurants in the Bay Area, or anywhere can say THAT!!?
Emma has worked there for OVER 30 years and now she OWNS it!!! How AWESOME is that!
She is SUPER sweet and VERY welcoming!!!
The décor is dated, however I like it because it’s AUTHENTIC!!!
They have actual HOUSE MADE tortillas! Made from SCRATCH!!!
These days this is IMPOSSIBLE to find!
Their salsa’s, mole, AND guacamole are SCRATCH made to order!!!
Their chicken enchilada and refried beans are TREMENDOUS!!!
GIANT portions and prices are VVVVERY reasonable!!!
It’s a 30 minute drive for me each way, but TOTALLY worth it!!!
It simply does NOT get any better than THIS!!!

The two stars are for the complimentary chips, the tortillas and service. Overall disappointing experience. Ordered a plate of carnitas, they smelled funky and majority was cartilage and fat that looked extremely unappetizing. Took a couple bites and regretted it. Also got the chile relleno that looked more like can tomato soup and tasted only like tomato. This was surprising because of all the good reviews. Our food was not good and the building needs love and care.

I don’t think I took one breath while I was eating — — The shrimp diablo are crazy good. And the chicken mole, oy! I can’t wait to go back and get more… and those tortillas… oy veh!
We took the food to go due to them closing in 5 minutes (when we got there) — — I’m actually happy we ate at home. I would have been embarrassed due to the way I was eating.
Authentic, spicy, and all around amazing.

Great food! My family grew up around here and has been coming here for years and I have been here a number of times myself… it’s a great place if you want a great mexican meal, definitely recommended

I have been coming to La Mexicana since I was 12! They’re food has been consistently amazing! The service is great and the people are like family! I love coming here, any time I am in the vicinity I make my way here to grab something delicious! The tortillas are handmade and everything is super fresh. I would recommend this place to anyone who wants some authentic scrumptious food!

I am not very kind to restaurants. But this one, is really good. Tortillas are as fresh as fresh can be. Home made. The dishes are extreamly well prepared. They are not loaded with grated cheese like the average mexican restaurants. The sauces are really well prepared. I really would recommend this restaurants.
The only thing I would like to warn about is the fact that it is located in the seedy part of this crime infested town. So be careful about that.

Have eaten here many times, a semi hole in the wall, even though the service is not stellar the food comes out quickly and with no attitude.
Great tortillas always served hot and fresh with butter.
A creature of habit I always get the 2 way combo Chile rellano and a hard shell chicken taco, even though its not as listed combo they always hook me up.
The waitress is also one of the owners and she has been there 35 plus years.
Although she seems a little gruff at first, she is very nice and hospitable.
Not fancy, a little funky but always solid consistent food, service and priced right.

Don’t eat the chips!
Not because they’re bad. They’re actually yummy. But the more chips you eat, the less amazing homemade tortilla you’ll have room for and, let’s face it: chips you can get anywhere. Warm from the griddle, fresh tortilla? Unless you’ve got a generous Mexican grandma for a roommate, these are hard to come by.
More things you should know…
* The combo plate will make you feel skinny. Because you can only eat ¼ of it, giving the (in my case, mistaken) impression that you’ve got portion control by the maracas. The enchiladas are particularly hefty, but anything made with the super amazing huge tortillas will likely take you two meals to polish off. (Bonus, you’ll get a nice arm workout as you lug your leftovers to the car.)
* The red sauce here is the best I’ve ever, ever had. Smoky, round flavor explosion of amazing. Get anything with red sauce on it, and you will be deliriously happy.
* The tortillas come with butter. (Add a cup of coffee and that’s Mexican like my grandpa used to do. Dig it.)
* The prices are a bargain. Especially since you’re having the rest of whatever you ordered for lunch tomorrow.
* There’s a parking lot behind the building. Pretty handy if you’re lunching with the elderly– but even a young sprite will appreciate parking so close as they roll out rubbing their happy belly after their meal, trying not to siesta right on the sidewalk.
* This is not the place for Fresh Mex or fajitas or chimichangas (grrr). Here you’ll find the traditional favorites like enchiladas, tacos, tamales, chile relleno… olé skool.
* The people are super nice, the atmosphere is casual but clean, they accept credit cards– and don’t be fooled by the address. The neighborhood is not scary at all. (Think Mission Street 10 years ago, in the pre-​valet parking and pop-​up restaurant era. Actually made me a little sentimental.)
* You can get 6 or 12 tortillas to go. And then, no matter your culinary skill level, whatever you put inside will be transformed into the best taco EVER.

I’ll preface this with yet another reference to my racial orientation.
Mexican. Chicano. Latino. Hispanic. All that shit. I’m familiar with how tamales, beans, and menudo are made. When I was a child, I awoke on numerous mornings to the sound of my grandmother hand making flour tortillas, the smell filling up the two story house like my own personal bakery was in full effect. I also know the feeling of walking into my aunts kitchens during gatherings or visits. The smell of spices and chorizo weighing in the air. I’m trained in this shit. No culinary snob could down play my first hand education.
With that said. This place is what it is. The molè is off the hook. The menudo is western style with hominy in it, and spiced perfectly. If you don’t know the difference, you shouldn’t be reading this. Proper honey comb on the choice of tripe as well. Very important. Their corn tortillas are fluffy like flour! Crazy to me!!!
We tend to go on Sundays, when they are open at 11, and there is practically no one there. Service is always served with Spanish and smiles, and the juke box songs playing remind me of riding in the car with my pa pa. If you listen, you can hear the slapping of the hand made tortillas being prepped for cooking.
Long story short: prices are excellent, servings are excellent, food is a bit above average, but simple. Service is heart warming, and it reminds me of being in someone’s kitchen. And all the best experiences of a place are had when you don’t feel alienated by the establishment or it’s customer base.
Avoid this place… It’s my own little slice of nostalgia and you can go to Chipotle for all I care!

We found out about La Mexicana on «Check Please Bay Area“and were so excited to try the homemade tortillas. They are absolutely huge and delicious corn tortillas, and for these I’d give 5 stars. The chips and salsa are also excellent.
I ordered the chili verde, which came with rice and beans. The pork was plentiful, and the sauce was okay, but I didn’t find myself licking the plate clean (as I have done at Picante in Berkeley). I’d give this dish 4 stars. My companion ordered the combination of tamale (pork) and cheese enchilada. They were both covered in a dark red sauce, seemed uninspired. Not much meat in the tamale… I’ve definitly had better. I’d give these dishes 3 stars.
I think I’ve said before that I tend to judge a Mexican restaurant’s base level on their refried beans. I was expecting some really delicious frijoles refritos based on other Unilocaler reviews, but these were bland and almost flavorless. The rice was also bland. I’d give these just 2 stars, sadly. Which averaging everything out, leads me to give 3 stars for the whole experience.
Service was prompt and friendly. Prices were kind of on the high side for a formica-​table small place — I think that La Piñata (in Hayward) or Picante (in Berkeley) are much better choices, and better values, and both serve homemade corn tortillas.
We parked on the street right in front of the restaurant, but I understand there is parking in the rear. There were a lot of other diners from all over the Bay Area, and many were long-​time return visitors, a sign that this is a family favorite.
I guess if I were in the neighborhood and wanted a tortilla fix, Id visit again, but I don’t think I’d go out of my way.

Mole! Wow. And the tortillas — I can still hear the ‘slap, slap, slap’ of them being hand-​made in the kitchen mere steps from my table.
As a recent LA transplant, I’ve been looking for good Mexican food for some time and found it today.
Mole was scrumptuous — flavorful, rich — perfectly paired with the chicken that swam in it. And it was a generous portion. Good thing, too, because both my kids and my spouse couldn’t keep their mitts off of my plate ;)
The tortillas are the best I’ve had in quite a while. Tip: try the a Strawberry or Grapefruit Soda (made in Mexico) — the subtle sweetness pairs perfectly with the savory selections here.
Give them a try if you’re out this way. This little hole-​in-​the wall gem won’t disappoint. We are definitely coming back for more.