El Delfin

Don’t walk into this place thinking it’s a taqueria. Ask for nachos and you will get the smackdown and deservedly so! Seafood is the star here. Grilled fish in garlic sauce is decadent and comforting. The shrimp! The steak fajitas smelled so good too! Service is awesome. If you have any questions about the food, they’re happy to explain in a way that doesn’t make you feel stupid. You got a last minute reservation for 8? No problem! You wanna close the house down, they won’t kick you out, well, as long as you’re not toooooo late. I will go back for more.

LATIN-​AMERICAN FOOD CRAWL IN THE MISSION: Camarones al Mojo de Ajo with a side of «extremely hot» sauce
I think something must have been lost in translation because the «extremely hot» sauce that we requested to go with our garlic shrimp had about as much kick as a tadpole. Nevertheless, the dish itself was delicious. The shrimp were plump and juicy, the sauce was creamy and loaded with garlicky goodness, the rice was fluffy and soft, and the accompanying sauces were all thick and tasty.
As with everywhere else we went, the staff were really, really nice (I’m noticing a theme here…). The restaurant is a really fun spot to grab a meal with its bright, colorful murals.

I’ve walked past this place enough times that I finally decided I needed to have dinner here.
I ordered the taco salad, which is an «appetizer» but really big enough for two or three meals. Everything tasted great and went together nicely and the deep-​fried bowl was the best I’ve tasted. Unfortunately, I could not finish it as it was just too much food — and taco bowls are awkward to pack up.
My friend got a plate of garlicky shrimp and said it was phenomenal. Our waitress was super sweet although she did take forever to bring us the check, even after she had taken our plates away.
The next time I come here, I’ll make sure I’m hungrier. I don’t see a reason why I won’t be back though.

The quality of your margarita depends on your bartender. First one was tasty. Next few were so-​so, but at this point I didn’t care that much :) I wish they were more consistent with quality of their drinks, but overall positive experience.

Salad was fresh, raspberry and thousand island dressing. I despise thousand island, so went with the raspberry. Pretty good.
Chips were hit or miss in terms of crunchy versus tough. Salsa spicy and derrrlicious.
Had the camarones al mojo de ajo, and they were indeed delicious. Wish they had a lunch special, as it was a lot of food and I could have gone with less for a cheaper price, but it was definitely worth trying.
Service was nice and spoke English. Heard Spanish in the back so you’ll be happy to know they are authentic mexicans cooking your food and not… Germans?

Tacos is to Mexican food as sushi is to Japanese food.
There’s plenty of taco places in The Mission but you shouldn’t stop there for a mex fix. Take a ride on THE DOLPHIN. She is friendly, she is smart, she brings a frosted glass with a very well priced beer to the table.
The art in this place is out of control and the music is «eclectic.» I add the quotes for emphasis. One moment you’ll be listening to growling world music and the next moment you’ll be hearing «Santa Baby» when it’s November 3^rd.
Explore the dolphin’s white shame mural of conquistadors killing natives with small pox as the bubbling peppery sauce of THE VOLCANO wafts to your face and dominates you. It reminded me of the Kanye West sample, «FREE DOOM FREE DOOM, THE BUBBLING BUBBLING BUBBLING.» The taste reminded me of — — — –, no Mexican sauce I have ever tasted in my life. I guess it’s similar to mole but has no chocolate. You’ll have to try it and it is priced so well you will not be disappointed.
We also got the camarons mojo de ajo— it was as advertised, creamy and garlicky. I liked it but thought it was too salty, however, it was nothing that couldn’t be mollified by a tortilla and a swig of cerveza.
We really had a great time and see ourselves going back. Our server was super nice, but not so attentive when it got busy. No matter, that was easy to shrug off because the food was amazing and they took extra little steps (like chilling a beer mug in the fridge) to make us feel welcome.

Delicious, fresh ingredients, complex flavors. Incredibly friendly and helpful service. Large servings. Affordable. Colorful.
Highly recommend!

I came in for lunch while wandering around 24^th st. I wasn’t that hungry so I just asked for something light, and the waitress brought the perfect thing: Ceviche on a tostada and a mango juice. Yummy refreshing and well prepared.
Was pretty dead at lunchtime on a weekday, but I’ll definitely come back in the evening to try the full dishes. I’m always impressed when I can simply say «bring me something I’ll like» and the right thing appears.

In a town full of great burritos, you occasionally have a hankering for sit-​down Mexican with complex sauces and such. When we asked a foodie friend of ours where we should get a burrito, she gently directed us to El Delfin instead, and am I glad that she did.
We ordered chilaquiles and the fish in garlic sauce (ajo de mojo). The chilaquiles were spicy and authentic (real corn tortillas fried and smothered in delicious sauce) and the ajo de mojo sauce being crack-​like in its addictiveness.
Servings are meant for an extremely hungry burly man, but I ate up all of the fish with gusto. Lovely fresh salads came with the meal and the owner was really hospitable. Highly recommended!

We have eaten here twice and enjoyed it both times. I’m no expert on mexican food but here goes…
Tostada de ceviche (something like that) was super yummy and for the amount you get well worth it.
We also had the pozole (which was huge — mexican style soup) and the milanesa and both were also very tasty. It wasn’t as busy as I expected it to be but sometimes that’s nice.
I’d recommend this place for a hearty Mexican fix. And I am sure we will return!

The only thing I sampled here was a spicy Mexican rib taco ($ 2) served up from a front-​of-​the-​shop stand they’d opened during the San Francisco Street Food Festival.
The price was right, the guy who was making them was gorgeous and friendly, and the taco had a lot of good spices that got my nose a-​runnin’. My only criticism is that the rib meat seemed to have lots of inedible components (they don’t actually serve the beef on the rib, but there were some gristly parts that I could’ve done without). Still, they could pour that sauce over cement and I’d be licking it off.
Plus, I like dolphins.

I’m at work so I have to be quick:
Ordered the prawns al ajillo and they were incredible! Great buttery sauce with lots of garlic and plenty of spice — almost reminded me of a curry dish. My gf ordered the chicken mole enchiledes, which were also very good.
The walls of the place are covered with Inca and conquistador paintings that were pretty cool, though these kind of confused me as to whether this was a Mexican restaurant or from a bit further south.
Oh, and they even grilled some serrano peppers for me!
Great place, will go again.

I’m going to be succinct with this one because I wasted all my creative energy on the other review I just wrote.
Service was decent (we were ignored at first and then treated attentively). Camarones de mojo de ajo were awesome. The garlic cream sauce had enough of the garlic going on without being overpowering. The shrimp were big and plentiful. The sides were a little lacking and hence, the four stars. Rice was mediocre, but when covered in the garlic sauce, delicious. I got fries instead of beans (I had consumed many beans for lunch that day) and they were fair. Once again, the sauce helped. The initial salad was pretty standard. My date got a volcano of spice and meat. What I tried of his was impressive.
Strangely, there were so few people here. Not sure why. Their main dishes are pretty dynamite and you get a ton of food for 13 bucks.

I read the reviews and im a little disappointed.
I came in with my boyfriend who ordered the tequila prawns and I ordered the Caldo de Pescado (Fish soup).
Although the service is good and the staff were very friendly, the taste of our meal was below satisfactory. The «tequila» prawns tasted bland, along with the rice and my soup had more bones than a dinosaur displayed at the California Academy of Sciences.
I realize that majority of the people that live in the Mission have no clue what real Mexican food tastes like (…yes you! Who orders a Tofu Burrito??) but there should be no reason for any ranting and raving over this place.
I give this place 2 stars and 1 additional star for the friendly service.
I’m sorry but I love food and I know good food.

The food is good, the service is pretty good, but the locale leaves to be desired. I had the shrimp cocktail and it was pretty darn good!

There’ve been many experiences in which I overstuffed myself to the point where my stomach felt like a piece of laundry being folded. However, there have been only one or two or three or maximum five experiences when I called a meal I had just consumed one of the best things I’ve ever had.
El Delfin was one of them.
It was around 3:30 pm after a mural tour and we were really hungry. Delfin seemed like a very nice place, and there were about five other groups inside. We were sat down by the hostess/​waitress – super-​nice old friendly lady who knows her stuff very well – and immediately ordered guaco. We weren’t impressed with the chips (stale-​y kind of cruncy), but the salsa was perfect. The guaco came a little late, and was a little on the salty side, but presentation-​wise and tasting-​wise it was superb.
However, if you come here, PLEASE, I beg you, don’t fill yourself up with chips. There are around six reasons for this.
–the tequila prawns. Thick, tangy, savory sauce, fresh shrimp, party in the mouth goodness.
–garlic prawns. Mmm – just think garlic fries, taken to the next level, more natural, higher-​quality, you just wanna scoop it all up.
(A TIP: prawn plates get these secret sauces wiped on the side of the plate. USE THEM! They are so good and refreshing!)
–We also got some beef bone soup, which I was told was the best thing on the table, but which I only had some broth of, and also some bone marrow forced into my mouth.
–Chicken enchilada. The mole sauce was so sweet and delicious. I could drink it from a cup. Though it’s even better lathering sweet, sweet enchiladas.
–Red snapper… how I wish I could’ve stolen some more of that from its owner. It was tomato-​ey, olive-​y, tangy, flaky, melt-​in-​your-​mouth please-don’t-ever-end type of thing.
The only other meal that rivals this one that comes to my mind at this moment is this Yemenite restaurant on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. I think I will go review that one now.
Also, not expensive at all, family-​friendly, the whole shabang.

For the record, I do not like Mexican food. It’s something about the Mexican food that I had made me stay away from it for all this time. Maybe it’s the lack of meat in burritos, or maybe it’s the bad fish tacos. Bottom line, I would usually say no to Mexican food.
On Saturday afternoon, I was reading Unilocal reviews trying to find a place for lunch. Since my boyfriend asked my numerous times to eat Mexican food before, I decided to finally give in on Saturday.
El Delfin started off us off with complimentary homemade chips&salsa, and salad. The chips weren’t fresh like just-​made fresh, but fresh enough for the crunchy crisp texture, love it. The salsa is a tad bit spicy with a kick to it.
Salad had a big juicy tomato, cucumber, romaine lettuce, and lettuce iceberg. You get to pick from two dressing, sorry forgot the names!
I ordered the garlic prawns $ 12 (I think #13?). It came with prawns in creamy garlic sauce, rice, fries (or beans), and tortilla (refer to pix). OMG, this is delicious. I was either going to pick this dish or the tequila prawns, but this dish will do because I am a garlic lover. Prawns were big. Garlic was banging. Fries were crisp but soft in the inside. Rice went well mixed inside the tortilla. Did I saw the sauce was freaking awesome?
Garlic Prawn dish is a MUST TRY!
Boyfriend ordered some fillet fish $ 12 (#11 maybe?). Fillet fish is awesome, but not as awesome as my dish! He ordered the beans instead of the fries, big no-​no. We prefer fries!
Horchata $ 1.50
The lady that served us was really nice. She’s the host, waitress, and food runner, so her hands are tied most of the time.
Feel free to ask her for recommendations. She really knows what’s super popular there.
Also, I did not like the fruit flies there. They kept attacking my food =(but hey, at least they got good taste!
If I ever crave for Mexican food, this is my to go place!

Amongst all the taquerias and up-​and-​coming dining establishments in the Mission, El Delfin is truly a hidden gem. It is my standby restaurant for when I’m not craving burritos or tacos, for when I want a satisfying meal without having to wait an hour for a table, and for when I want to have lengthy uninterrupted catch-​up conversations with my friends without having to worry about the line out the door or waiters subtly handing you your check before you’ve even finished your meal as a cue to hurry your a$$ up.
The service and food are outstanding. Owned by a husband and wife duo, the husband mans the kitchen while the super sweet wife covers the front. She epitomizes «service with a smile,» no matter how slammed she is – oftentimes she is the only one taking orders, serving drinks and food, busing tables (i.e., everything short of cooking).
My favorite dishes include Camarones Borrachos (tequila prawns), Filete De Pescado Al Mojo De Ajo (fish filet in creamy garlic sauce), Crab Enchiladas with their amazing mole sauce, and Pozole (served only on Saturdays and Sundays). Every meal includes a side salad and upon getting seated, you’re also served chips with their homemade salsa. And almost all of their dishes come with their homemade tortillas, which come out hot, fresh and plain delicious on their own. I love sopping up all of their tasty sauces with the tortillas.
El Delfin is truly a fine Mission dining establishment. From the beautiful murals that adorn the walls to the tasty food and refreshing agua frescas (and sangria, if available), I have absolutely nothing bad to say about this place. Hands down, my favorite restaurant in the Mission.

Delicioso!
This is one of the best mexican restaurants in the mission. It is not a taqueria and most of the dishes are plates — seafood plates. They have amazing seafood dishes. The service is good, it feels very homey. Sometimes they can be slow but it’s quality food so it’s worth it. They give you chips and salsa to pass the time. I love the shrimp dishes — soooo good! The other fish dishes are really good too. I haven’t had anything here that I disliked but I would say that definitely go for a seafood dish!

Mole sauce was yummy, but the chicken enchiladas were average. I heard such good things about this place, that I have to come back and try something else, like a shrimp dish.
Waitress was super nice but we waited for a while for them to pick up our bill.