Casa Baez

Pretty sure the mole is Doña Maria or the commercial equivalent. Beyond disappointing. This place is definitely for gringos who don’t know any better. So far, I haven’t been able to discover Mexican that can hold a candle to Los Dos Hermanos, where the Salvadoran food tops the excellent Mexican menu.

Best Mexican restaurant-​ever!!! My family has gone here for as long as I can remember, and there really is no where better than this place. The fresh salsa and chips, the home made tortillas!!! The rice, the enchiladas, pretty much everything on this menu is fantastic! Oh and the beans are amazing too. It didn’t take me long to convince my husband that this place topped his old favorite Mexican food, it’s always a stop for us when we are in the area.

Fantastic service but the food was Not tasty. We looked past the ho hum 3 star rating and believed a personal friends rave review… what was he thinking! Bland would be the nicest thing I could say about the food. Seriously, it would have been a 1 star except the promptness and sweetness of our server. Also my husband liked his Negro Modello, but beer in a bottle is tough to get wrong.

The staff was great and the food came out quickly. However, most of the time you don’t go to a restaurant for the employees you go for the food. I went with a group of 4 and all of us (by the way we’re college students with not that high of standards) were very disappointed with the food. We got four separate things all of which were over priced and tasted terrible. Do not go to Casa Baez I promise you will regret it and it’s a waste of your money.

Food — amazing! We’ve been enjoying the Baez family food for years — when they were on Pacific Highway in Tigard next to Bannings, the location that was briefly in the Belmont area, Ignacio’s in Corvallis… Casa Baez (prev Los Baez) on Lancaster has been the main location that we’ve traveled down to from the Portland area. The food is always a 5; service particularly tonight, is or has been frustrating at times… ordered 8 dinners to go, extra chips and 2 dozen extra flour tortillas! Got home — missing one of the kids dinner! Called, got it straightened out, let them know we would like to pick up. I guess you almost expect to be shorted a taco in a drive through, but from a full service restaurant that confirmed the number of dinners when I placed the order this really is irritating. When I called back, we set a time we’d be there to pick up the missing dinner. When we arrived we had to wait a few minutes… eh, their food is worth waiting for… but since this was the second 30+mile one (60+ roundtrip) trip to pick up dinner– the additional 5 – 7 minutes was a little frustrating. A little salt and lime in the wound… not so much as an acknowledgement regarding the inconvenience or their oversight when I called or when I arrived to pick up the dinner. This definitely galled me.
Again their meals/​cooking has never disappointed — the lack of customer service can range usually from a 2−4…tonight — 1.5 out of 5.

My husband I moved to 4 corners area a little over a year ago after living in S Commercial area for over 20 years. About 6 months ago we decided to try Casa Baez. We were really impressed. The food is high quality and large portions. Service is excellent. The chips and salsa are the best I have had. The salsa is awesome. Anyways we went again last week and I had the carne asada burrito which ended up being 2 burritos. I had plenty to save for another meal. The reason I didn’t give it a 5 is the prices are kind of high but I don’t mind paying more for great quality. We will be back!

We remember this place or I should say we remember its predecessor Los Baez, from the 1970s when I was in law school and broke. Of course, I also remember the $ 1.95 lunch specials and dinners being $ 2.95 or maybe a little more. One of the family corporations still owns this store though the one I remember best is gone. Tonight we returned after a few years. The salsa is the same, the chips less salty, the beans with less lard but the food still good. The waitress was helpful though water refills were hard to get. There is a small wine list but the first two I ordered were out. Unfortunately food was slow to arrive. It was good when we got it. There was a $ 14 shortage on the check but I got it corrected. I didn’t want the waitress to pay for my drinks. I hoped for better but thanks for the memories.

Now, I visit Salem a lot and have spent plenty of time driving down Lancaster. But I’ve never stopped at Casa Baez. Never even considered it. Maybe is was the non-​descript brick façade. Maybe it was the lack of windows that suggested that interior would feel like a seedy Mexican bar. Or maybe, Casa Baez simply gets lost in the sea of restaurants along this busy North Salem drive (There’s an Olive Garden right across the street! Yikes…)
Well all that changed today when I decided to give them a try, lured in by the promise of handmade tortillas on the restaurant marquee. And I’m glad I did.
The interior is rather unexpected — very nice décor, open and bright. It’s also very clean. I took my seat at one of the booths and surveyed the menu. Pretty standard fare. Before I could get through half of it, my waiter presented me with a basket of hot, tortilla chips. Crisp and delicious. The house salsa looked like a watery tomato purée, but it proved to be very flavorful with a nice burn.
I ended up ordering the Grande Wally Burrito: a huge homemade tortilla packed with chicken, pork, beef, rice, beans, and all the fixings. It is served covered in their signature sauce with sides of rice, beans, and veggies. Oh, and its also served with a pair of their fresh flour tortillas — not really necessary, but I’ll take ‘em!
The burrito is a bit of a mess, so this was a fork and knife affair. Every bite was bliss. The different meats, blended with the rice and beans, the sour cream and avocado, all mixed so nicely within the wrap of the flour tortilla. This is an authentic Mexican burrito. And probably enough food for two.
I do have to take one whole paragraph to talk about the refried beans. They may have been the best refried beans I’ve had in a very long time. Smooth, silky and topped with cheese. I savored each bite as I scooped it up with my chips and tortilla in between bites of my burrito.
Overall, a great dining experience. The staff was very friendly and efficient. I wouldn’t hesitate to come back to Casa Baez on future trips to Salem.
Enjoy!

Worst place ever!!! They are RUDE!!! Treat you like garbage and nobody seems to care! I will never come back to this place again! Save your money and eat somewhere else. I will be giving the health inspection a call!

Oh man, my boss brought me here. I loved it! I loved the salsa and chips we got when we came in (even though the salsa was a bit spicy, my boss said it normally isn’t that hot).
I ordered the Nacho’s and it wasn’t really a normal Nacho. The plate wasn’t stacked real high with chips and then everything underneath was naked.
Instead they made a nice single layer of chips and loaded the toppings onto those chips including huge chunks of delicious Steak (Beef).
My boss got the burrito, that looked really good too! I’m coming back real soon!

Have to go middle of the road on rating this oldest of the Mexican food Establishments in Salem. Only due to their consistency of being inconsistent, that is their only consistency? Sometimes good, other times not so much. But when they are on, this food is the bomb diggity ticket! Their house salsa is the freshest in the area, coupled with great on site made chips «I think? I mean they sure do appear to be.» My favorite dish is the pork carnitas. They are hard to find in town, so your options are limited. But they are good here if you love your pork like I do. The frijoles are dry and salty, almost like they were overcooked. Definitely worth a try if you are a gambler.
On a final note, I got a case of Montezuma’s revenge after my last visit, I mean bad! But, this can happen anywhere at any given time. Hey, shit happens right?

I have driven by this restaurant many times so I thought I would give it a try.
Well​.it was very disappointing. We were. promptly seated and asked if we wanted. something to
that was good since it semed.a.problem in some reviews. The waiter was very nice and service was good. Chips and salsa were brought out quickly… Our order came out in reasonable time and was accompanied by flour tortillas. It was a surprise since in most Mexicans restaurants in Salem you have to order tortillas. Okay. so far so good
My order of a chicken enchilada. and pork tamale. with rice and beans. was a nice portion of food however. the chef must have forgotten about
seasoning because it was very bland
I used some of the salsa but the salsa didn’t have much flavor… if it was fresh then the tomatoes were not ripe and it was very mild. no hot sauce available on the table. the mild orange colored. sauce that covered the enchilada. and tamale didn’t help. the flavor of the dish. the chef does not have a good palate. The people who think this food is good authentic Mexican food don’t know what good authentic Mexican food tastes.like.
If you want good Mexican food don’t bother coming here. They really need a new chef.
I gave the rating of two stars for the service and the music on the radio in the background… not for the food.

Loved my meal, had the chimi changa and it was great, my wife got the carne asada, and it was awesome. Service was great, salsa was not as spicy as I wanted and they made some that was spicier. Great experience!

We have been coming here for years and years. Now that we live in Bend we don’t get to come as often as we’d like. But we always make a point to stop when we are on this side of the mountains. Their homemade flour tortillas are sooo good. And there is something sooo delicious about their salsa we always end up going through at least 3 bowls. So fresh… not like the typical restaurant salsa. The food is great, and we always take a couple of pints of salsa a bag of their tortilla chips and at least a dozen of their flour tortillas. We get them uncooked and cook them up at home on a pan or griddle til they are a little brown. You can get their «gravy» on the side to pour over a burrito or on your tostada! Delish!

Can I give it 0 stars? Do not EVER eat here. The salsa has no taste, the guacamole is from Safeway, the waitress didn’t ask if we wanted drinks, and does not talk to the customers except to ask their order, the décor is tacky, no offer to refill chips, and this $ 6.50 margarita has about $ 2.00 worth of tequila in it.
This is mexican food? No. This is an insult to real mexican food.

It’s a bummer that their prices just keep going up, up, up. Their salsa is wonderful. Their food is consistent — the beef chimichangas, beef tacos, and beef fajitas are yummy. The chile rellenos are awful. Their tamales are all masa. I can’t detect any booze in their margaritas. Their service isn’t anything to write home about, but it’s passable. We would go more often, but its just gotten too expensive for what it is — not spectacular, but consistent and good depending on what you order.

I love going to Casa Baez. They make the Wally burrito that is incredible. It is everything you could ever want all rolled up in a soft delicious tortilla. The guacamole is terrific and flavorful. I enjoy seeing Gerardo’s smiling face every time I walk through the double wooden doors. I can’t get enough of Salem Oregon’s Casa Baez!

My family has been coming here for over 30 years. I have yet to be disappointed with the food and service.

We stopped in for dinner last week. The seats are roomy, and we got seated right away.
We ordered a three meat burrito, and a variety plate which was supposed to have a chicken tamale. They gave me a pork tamale, with a spoonful of chicken on top of it. The tortilla chips smelled stale, and they charge way too much for add ons for your meal. For example, sour cream. A dollup is 1.75… really? The food came pretty quickly, less then 5 minutes. Which tells me that most of it was premade, and just warmed up. The enchilada sauce tastes like it was in a can, it has the whole chef boyarrdie, pack full of preservatives flavor to it. Hubby said his food tasted pretty plain, but had to stop eating it when he found a moldy piece in his burrito. We won’t be back. Ever.

My daughter and I stopped in for dinner on a weeknight. Once seated, we sat and waited for 10 minutes for someone to take our order. I noticed the owner and a waiter talking up front, totally ignoring us. I waved them over. The waiter came and took our order. We had to ask for drinks as there was no offer.
We ordered the steak fajitas to share. Once they came out, the looked very fresh and tasted great. The only problem is that they only bought two tortillas. Now we usually tear ours in half when we eat anyways, but I had to order some additional totillas. Again, I had to get someones attention by waving them over.
When were were finished we sat for another 15 minutes before my daughter went up and asked for our check and a box.
All in all I was not impressed with the service, or lack of, and I probably will not return.