El Gran Palenque

It’s a very nice place, good it’s not that good but it’s not that bad :)
Ceviche it’s the best and beers. Waitresses are very friendly.

To start the chips are stale, my food was cold and the service was really slow. They did not bring all our meals at the same time. Half of us had finished our meal before they brought the other meals. The worst place i have ever been to.

Stale chips. Not very good food. Margaritas are ok. Very fast service. Salsa was great. Most likely won’t go back.

I went there the last Saturday with my husband and friends, and we spent more than 1 hour and half waiting for our meal that never came. Horrible customer service, lady bathroom nasty!!! After this time waiting we decided leave and find another place to dinner. They don’t have enough waitress to attend their customers. Beers warm!!!

Unfortunately there was no heat in the restaurant. The service is extremely slow. It took an hour before they took our orders. The ladies were very nice however. The inside is shabby and the outside even shabbier.

If I could give negative stars I would. Service was terrible. An authentic Mexican restaurant that doesn’t make tamales!!! I don’t really want anything else but decided to order a taco. I ordered one and I got two burnt tacos with a sliver of cheese and sodium filled meat. After taking a few bites, I left never to return.

Arrived at 7:20 on a Thursday night, Halloween. Got a parking spot right and front and walked in to discover I was the only customer here.
Chips and salsa — chips were a bit old, had a somewhat greasy taste to them. Salsa was average. Too much «green» in it for my liking.
I ordered everything at once, which I’ll use as the reason for the delay in getting my drinks — a sweet classic margarita on the rocks and a glass of water.
I asked about a veggie quesadilla, then changed my mind when I saw the shrimp fajita. I ordered the fajita and a side of guacamole. I received the fajita, side of guacamole, and a veggie quesadilla. All were average. Fajita had shrimp, green pepper, onion, and tomato. Quesadilla wad overflowing with cheese. Guacamole was chunky and tasty. The side dish of beans were awful — runny and no flavor. Plain white rice — bleh.
The quesadilla was the tastiest, I’ll chalk it up to the cheese. While I was there, one person came in for carry out and a mom and her 2 kids came in for dinner.
My advice: come hungry (the food will taste better) and don’t be in a hurry.

This is a fantastic mariachi band playing, Mexican dive bar/​restaurant — totally weird interior, with booths that sit too low, and décor straight out of WKRP in Cincinnati, if that radio station were a Mexican restaurant… Anyway this place has good Mexican food — especially the Chile Colorado. It’s spicy, like REALLY spicy but so very delicious. One time I ordered the tamales, and that was a fail, but El Gran Palenque serves up great enchiladas and flavorful margarita’s~
It’s a great place to take a date if you are having an affair… the chances of running into someone you know are slim to none.

So the blacked out windows scared you off? Okay, so you got past those but didn’t want to risk the car in the sketchy parking rear parking lot? Now that you’re ready to dine, welcome to El Gran Palenque, which our waitress kindly informed us translates to the ‘Mexican Cockfighting Arena’.
As we walk in we are expectedly the only white-​Americans, but unexpectedly encounter a birthday party in the back room with blasting central american dance music. Our initial resistance soon dissipated and if anything complemented our meal in the local central american hangout. We began with the complimentary chips and salsa and Long (and strong) Island ice teas. The salsa was clearly homemade and especially liquidy with freshly chopped cilantro and spring onion surfacing begging to get on my chip. It was delish but hard a balancing act to keep from escaping off my salsa vehicle.
We were both craving chile relleno so she ordered the full dish and I ordered a combo platter with a chalupa and burrito. This was one of the better I’ve eaten since returning from my two-​week buffet in the southwest this summer. The fried breading lacked crisp but overcompensated with the larger and thicker peppers accompanied by the soft but firm sweet cheese. The black beans served with were mashed into a side gravy that complemented the rice and chile relleno well.
My combo platter included the relleno, chalupa, and burrito. Good, but very basic. The oozy cheese-​covered burrito only consisted of ground beef, and the chalupa came with guac, lettuce and tomato. Simple ingredients, but the hard dough for chalupa was totally flat, which only exacerbated my seemingly incoherent clumsiness so I resorted to the fork and knife.
The portion sizes were plenty enough for leftovers, and the prices were mo-​cheap! Each of the dishes were $ 7.50 — for dinner mind you. I don’t recall an item on the menu for over $ 13. The drinks were made muy fuerte, although I had a tough time swallowing that my mixed drink cost more than my meal (which I thoroughly enjoyed and took home). Next time you’re feeling adventurous and need to work out that second language, drop in at the Palenque for a good meal.

Went for lunch, and as a start theye had stale chips. And the other reviews are spot on about holy cumin salsa! Weird atmosphere.
Got the lunch speedy gonzales $ 6.50, beef soft taco, cheese enchilada, rice and beans. Enchiladas had a bit of cinnamon or nutmeg taste, the refried beans had a bit of coffe taste? Interesting… The tacos weren’t so good. Note to self, next time get rice, beans and 2 cheese enchiladas.

Over the past six months I’ve been coming here at least once every other week when I don’t feel like cooking. I like the service here and the waitresses are friendly and the food is decent, not great but decent. However, if you’re looking for a quick bite to eat for lunch or dinner I would recommend this place, oh and their margaritas are really cheap too!

I had a really good lunch here. The chile relleano was delicious and the rice and beans were tasty. The service was prompt and friendly. It was pretty dead when I was there, for a late weekday lunch so I can’t speak to the atmosphere. But, I can speak to the awesome murals in the back room – one of cock fighting and two others of some sexy ladies. If you’re sensitive and would lose your appetite because of the comical cock fighting mural, request to sit elsewhere, but I wouldn’t pass this place up because of it.

We had driven by the place a million times and decided to finally give it a try. They didn’t have the Mexican beer my husband ordered, and the piña colada I got had about an inch of whipped cream on the top. I wanted a drink, not dessert. The container of free salsa was tiny but the chips were good. Most of the food was quite salty. The worst offense of all, however, was that they had no guacamole! I don’t think I’ve ever been to a Mexican restaurant that didn’t have guacamole. I agree with another poster that the beans were flavorless, and the «Spanish» rice was nothing more than dry-​ish white rice with a few bits of something (peppers?) tossed in. Also, instead of shredded cheese, the cook put sour cream on everything — the tacos, the beans, the side of lettuce. It was too much and it just didn’t seem right. When we asked for more salsa (since they were out of guacamole) the waitress brought more but didn’t bring more chips. I also asked if «we» could have water, but she brought only one glass to the table. The noise from the TV at the bar was too loud. They had the sound system hooked into the speakers in the open back room, so it bombarded the dining area, as well. We weren’t impressed and we won’t be back.

I’m not sure what’s going on with this place. Instead of calling themselves El Gran Palenque, I’d go with «el gran cumin». I’d been here before and sorta fallen in love, so i returned expecting the same sort of insane deliciousness. Alas, this not to be found. My food was still yummy, and yes, the plate was still cleared, but whoever was spicing things in the kitchen was in the midst of a super love affair with the cumin. It overpowered the salsa, and was the heaviest taste in my friend’s chile colorado. She loved her dish, but it made it extra yuck to me. Cumin overkill hurts. It’s like eating some dusty moldy thing… ugh.
So the salsa was sorta ruined, and needed salt and a little more cilantro, but it was still totally edible, and we did mindlessly consume the entire basket of chips and salsa.
I had the carnitas, which was a huge potion, tender, but a wee bit dry and very subtly seasoned. I was able to doctor it up with a little lime. Everything else on the plate… beans, rice… yum. They gave me a little smear of guacamole… and OMG… it was delicious. They really shouldn’t hold back with that.
This place wasn’t what I remembered it to be, but I would go back. Be warned: they add the tip on at the end and don’t tell you. Not cool.
oh…these reviews about needing Spanish? No. I barely speak English, and Spanish is truly beyond my scope… and I had no problems. None.

So I’m giving them 3 stars because I didnt think the good as all that but I still enjoyed it. I went with a few Guatemalan friends of mine to this place and I ordered some kind of chicken that has onions on top of it (it was really long to spell out so I dont remember what it was called). You do have be prepared to speak Spanish or as Chris said point to your menu when you order. Luckily my friends were able to help me out because obviously they speak Spanish. I havent been back here since then which was almost 2 years ago even though I pass by it all the time since its on Columbia Pike. I probably would want to come back here sometime though.

My Mexican friend took me to El Gran Palenque for a quick bite to eat. We were in the neighborhood and starving.
There’s ample seating. Lots of colorful murals on the walls. The wait staff was sweet.
I ordered the chile colorado. My beef was perfectly cooked and tender. The sauce was a beautiful blend of chilies and tomatoes — tart & spicy the way I like it. The rice and beans were bland and flavorless (worthless carbs).
I would never drive out of my way for this place. If I was in the hood, starving and jonsing for Mexican food — maybe I’d grab a bite to eat. But I don’t think that’s saying much…
[I’m rounding my 2.5 up to a 3]

I love this place. I went to this place a couple times a few years ago. Then I went to this place a couple weeks ago and it was still great food. Prepare to speak some spanish or look and point really well.
Margaritas are VERY good. Fajitas are amazing! It’s a little salty, but it’s flavorful salty.
If the mariachi band is there, I’d slip them a $ 5 or $ 10 and enjoy the evening listening to good music.