Best Mexican restaurants in Munich

Afternoon all,

I have to organise a company night out this Thursday. Mexican has been agreed by all involved, and i was all set to book a table at Joe Penas until reading the reviews on here...mixed to say the least! Is there such a thing as "Munich's best Mexican restaurant?".

Any help appreciated.

Ta

The best Mexican completely depends on your personal likes and dislikes. Then you'll get the argument about what is Mexican, TexMex, CaliMex etc. Then someone is bound to say, "there is no such thing as good Mexican in Munich" and so on and so forth.

For my money at the moment it's El Gordo Loco. I also quite like Enchilada's.

I'll second El Gordo Loco. The fajitas I've had there rival those I've had in the States. Mmmmmmm...fajitas...

El Patio by far the best, but not huge inside.

El Patio is also good, I agree. They don't have a huge selection, however, and the cramped insides are enough to put you off. More of a bar than a restaurant.

I wasn't thrilled with El Patio last wednesday, seemed they are slowly becoming a bit avant gard with their salads and the tortillas for the fajitas were, well, teeny tiny.

Still love Tacos y Tequillas - but that's probably because they always make my margaritas very very strong...

We've had some excellent nights at Joe Pena's and the only reason next weeks Mexican dinner has been moved from there is because they allow smoking, and most of the people going don't, so if you don't mind the smoking then I would say it's good.

I also would recommend El Patio. I had my birthday dinner there with 12 people and it worked out great in the back area. Was plenty of room for all - but was very cozy - not sure if would work for a business dinner set up.

Joe Pena's is also great in my opinion, I just dont like the idea of them stating a "smokers club" - but if you dont mind, they can take huge groups (we had 40 last time we were there).

Vote number three for El Gordo Loco. Food is stellar, drinks are good, service can take awhile when it gets busy but the servers are all very friendly and helpful. Non-smoking, so you'll have to go outside (there's a table set up out front with ashtrays).

Just be aware that it's smallish so not ideal for groups of over about twenty people. It could be done, but you'd essentially have to book out the entire restaurant. Go scope it out for yourself first; if the size works, I would recommend it without hesitation.

Alrighty, cheers for the advice. We'll take our little party to El Gordo Loco then!!

Tell them the red-headed American girl sent you.

Hope you have a great time!

I vote for Tacos y Taquila. Its a great atmosphere and the owner is really friendly and welcomes big or small groups. Its real mexican food prepared by real mexican cooks, none of that fake mexican stuff that ive had at some other places in town. Definitely worth a try!

Enchilada's used to be my favourite, until a Mexican friend introduced me to Tacos y Taquila - now I always go there when I fancy Mexican food.

As a naturalized Texan*, I'm required by law to remind y'all that you've got no idea what you're talking about. No offense meant, you just don't ask a Frenchman for tips on the best Japanese restaurant now do you?

The litmus test: If the "Mexican" restaurant has branded itself as a cocktail bar, don't bother.

El Patio is far and above my favorite**. Tacos y Tequila is expensive but good but with El Patio across the street I haven't been in a while. I've tried almost all the rest and found them to be sub-par. The worst, bar-none, is Los Bandidos where they seem to think that beef should be boiled and fajitas are served as a stew.

* I'm also required to remind you that Texas was once part of Mexico, and while Tex-Mex and Mexican aren't interchangeable terms, both abound in Texas due to history and demographics.

** Go for the Chicken Mole enchiladas and the queso flamedo con chorizo if it's on the daily menu. Also don't hesitate to ask as the owner/chef will happily tell you what's best that day.

Sorry to disappoint, but went to El Gordo Loco last night and was not impressed. Nachos were okay although a bit greasy, but the steak was really very poor quality. Husband was also not very happy with his veggie burger. Service was slow and I wasn't even presented with a bill at the end, just the waiter at the table telling me how much we owed. Only good thing was the cocktails - very nice strawberry margheritas! But all in all, a very disappointing experience, they won't be getting any more of our money any time soon.

But surely if you wanted TexMex food, you wouldn't order a vegie burger and steak...? At least I wouldn`t...

Haven't been there yet, but sorry to hear the nachos were greasy though.

Mexicanos in Deisenhofen is pretty good but its quite a ways out of town and the seating arrangement is crap..pretty much tables and benches like at a beer gardena nd if you are on the inside ou need to bother the other people on the table to get up for you to get out.

El Patio is still the best one in my opinion.
They have a buffet on Wednesdays, 10 Euro and you eat as much as you want from several dishes.

Tacos y Tequila is the best one in my opppinion. El Patio is too small, the food is good but there are not a lot of dishes to choose from and DDBug is right.. the portions seem to be getting smaller.
The owner of Tacos y Tequila is very friendly and the place itself is really cool.

I always go to El Gordo Loco when I come to Munich. its not great Mexican, but its by far the best I have had in Germany.

Jalapenos is Ottobrunn is nice, food is great - as is the service.

I'm a Southern Californian new to Munich and I've got to say I'm extremely disappointed in these reviews. I was really hoping to hear more about the food. Most comments are about the atmosphere, the staff, or making general comments on things like "steak." There are plenty of places with great atmosphere in Munich, I'm looking for great Mexican food.

Mexican cuisine has a huge variety: Jalisco, Yucatan, Baja, CaliMex, TexMex, New Mexican, etc. Saying you like the steak is like saying, "Europe has great food, I really liked the soup." So let's be specific.

I'm really jonesing for some Mexican food, but I really don't want to spend the money and be disappointed. So I thought I'd throw out some ideas on things to comment on to get the conversation going in the right direction.

Mexican Meats: Carne Asada, Al Pastor, Lingua, Chile Verde, Machaca, Picadillo, Tripas, Barbacoa, Carnitas, Pollo, Pollo Asado, Birria, Chorizo, etc.

Mexican Dishes: Enchiladas, Burritos, Tacos, Chile Relleno, Cochinito Pibil, Tamales, Fajitas, Menudo, Ceviche, Chile Colorado, etc.

Sauces: Mole, Guacamole, Pico de Gallo, Chimichurri, etc.

I know I haven't even touched on huge aspects of all the joyous sabor Mexican food has to offer, but I thought I'd get the ball rolling. Let's hear how these places rate on specific dishes!!!

Of course I'm hoping and praying that even some of these things exist out here. I'm normally put off by any place claiming to serve Mexican food and offering chicken, beef, and pork on the menu instead of naming the preparation/marinade. But I was pleasantly surprised in Berlin, so I'm optimistic about Munich.

Oh, and let's all agree that Tabasco sauce has nothing to do with Mexican food or Mexico.

This thread (or maybe just the last post) is just about as stuffy as it gets. Check out the search function, it works great! For instance here, you'll find infos about El Patio, including their website where you can read the menu and find out if all your requirements will be met.

try Mexico? or Texas? What you get here is a watered down version of semimexican as people think it should be. Just like Chinese here is different than in China! go figure!

Where exactly?

And how long were you there? I haven't seen anything in particular about the Berlin food scene that would give me hope for Münich - if anything I would say it was the other way round.

Some responses:

MoiLV - Thanks. I checked out the individual Toytown pages and did find some helpful comments. My favorite being the Mexican guy who posted a recipe so that you could make your own Mexican food and not have to eat crappy food at the restaurant. Still surprisingly unspecific for the most part. Lots of comments on margaritas and drinks. Lots of places in the world serve great German beer, but they don't know a damn thing about a bratwurst.

Carm - Your cheeky comment hinted at dickishness. I know authentic cuisine is best found in the country of origin. My hope is that living in a fairly cosmopolitan world city, there would be decent approximations of most popular world cuisines- including Mexican food. Optimism is different from naiveté.

Kommentarlos - Cafe Paz in Berlin. My wife and I stumbled upon this place and were extremely impressed (as we've been by pretty much every restaurant we've eaten at in Berlin). The crazy thing is that the dishes tasted nothing like dishes of the same name I've eaten anywhere in Mexico or the Southwestern US. Flavor profile was definitely as authentic as you could expect, but the preparations were all a little different. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for real Mexican food in Germany and I'd love to find out what part of Mexico the cuisine hails from.

Rubabdub - the problem is that some people DO expect the cuisine to taste the same as in Mexico and then are bitterly disappointed and complain on here when they find out that it is quite different. Carm doesn't know you (I presume), so how is she to know that you actually have common sense, unlike many other posters out there?

Anyway, Joe Penas serve pico de gallo quite well. I haven't found anywhere that does tamales in Munich.

There are about 3 threads about mexican in Germany and specifically Munich, and everyone has made comments - like not back home. Tastes are a very fickle thing.... as you see on this thread. Some like the food at some places thinking its authentic because they ate at Taco bell once, others expect more. Those that expect more will be greatly dissappointed in Germany with the taste of Mexican food.
I am to be cheeky! Glad I could serve.

You and anyone else can only find out where food tastes like you expect if you try it out yourself. Your taste will never be like someone else's and what some people may consider great food (mexican or not) is different from what I may like.

So, best advice don't come here expecting someone to tell you where is "the best" and "most authentic". Go out and try.

I personally find El Patio to be very authentic, but again I ain't even mexican. Try cooking at home, go to mercado de mexico and buy your ingredients there and sort it out as you like it.

There are things you won't definitely find here because it's just too difficult to make them or there isn't enough "authentic" people to eat them, among those: tamales, lengua, tripas, ceviche (at least I've never seen it here), chorizo (mexicano). I've seen chimichurri at Maredo, but to be honest it could have well been called tomato sauce or sour cream because it was far away from being chimichurri.

go figure. I thought you just named yourself after your favourite head gear.

I don't see anything about the buffet on their website, Panama. I only see 2fer Schnapps and happy hour. Is this every Wed.?

Thanks,
ff

I agree with many of the posters here that El Patio is the best. They not only have the most authentic food, but the best selection of Tequila. The oogiest, nastiest 'Mexican' restaurant in Munich is Los Amigos on Rosenheimers str. The 'chicken' fajitas I ordered had all sorts of canned peas and carrots in it the meat was so miniscule I couldn't find it. I kid you not, less than 1g of meat shaved into ultra this pieces. I thought they'd sent me the vegetarian by mistake and complained.

@ff, I think they don't do that anymore.