La Parrilla Restaurant

Pros: Has good food, especially mojaras, oysters… Pretty close to home. price reasonable.
Cons: Not enough sitting space, I dont think they have parking available

The green chili pork burrito is the best. The sangria is also very good.

wow. this place. there is shit all over the walls, ceiling, bathroom, corners… everywhere. There is a mexican elvis that serenades the entire restaurant. This place is huge compared to alot of dining places in silver lake. I would say its the best sit down mexican restaurant.
Pretty decent selection of veggie friendly foods… they typical potato tacos, veggie burrito etc. and all very good.
chips and salsa that is tasty and unlimited are also a plus.
cheap beer and decent variety.
but did i mention mexican elvis? Ya– hes worth a visit to this place for sure!
oh & parking sucks (but when doesnt parking suck in LA?)

This place is FUN. The décor is gaudy, and they have a mexican elvis. When it comes down to it though, the food is great. They make and prepare everything from scratch. It is a family owned restaurant. I am a huge fan of family owned restaurants cause they put their life and passion into it. Everyone who works here is related. We sat down, ordered margaritas and the waitress said, «oh my dad makes the best margaritas». You can tell she was proud and was taught to be proud of this family business.
They also have café de la hoya, a traditional way of making coffee with cinnamon.
This place is perfect for getting an authentic vibe, taste and entertainment when it comes to eating Mexican in LA.

Mexican Elvis? I’m sold. That was basically how my dining partner brought this restaurant to my attention. And it was an important part of my dinner to turn beet red in my booth while Mexican Elvis serenaded me… awkward…
After an order of (semi weak) margaritas I felt a pull towards the vegetarian section of the menu. Oh how my tummy loves when I keep animals out of it. So I weighed my options heavily between the corn tamale and nopalitos. Since I typically order the corn goodness I felt like I would get a little crazy and order nopalitos.
Our food came up fast but in the meantime we were happily occupied with the standard chips and salsa. The staff was pretty consistent with plate clearing and water refilling. Our waitress was very pleasant.
My nopalitos (cactus por mis amigos gringos) came in a big bowl of stewed tomatoes. On the side there was rice, beans and tortillas. While everything was pretty good I didn’t like that I ended up with more tomatoes than nopalitos. I don’t know if I missed that part of the recipe on the menu but I’m not typically a fan of cooked tomatoes. If I had known I would have gotten the corn. Alas, I still ate most of my food and it was pretty good. Gotta love some good ol’ fashioned cactus!
For both of our plates the bill was roughly $ 25. It was a very reasonably priced dinner (especially considering there was two margaritas). Kick in $ 5 for Mexican Elvis and you have a decent evening!

This used to be a place I used to recommend to people for some sit-​down Mexican food neat Silver Lake. However, my most recent visit was atrocious and it bums me out that a place I used to really like a few years ago has gone so far down hill. Chips were stale and salsa was rancid/​bland tasting. There was no red in the salsa… just a very watery, pink hue in the tomatoes. My beef enchilladas w/​beans and rice were far below average (my former fave dish here), and the horchata tasted like the kind you get from the fountain section at 7 – 11.
I came in during lunch time on a weekday and it was totally empty. I’d rather walk over to El Siete Mares instead. Back in the day, the funky/​cheese fiesta décor and random knick knacks were charming, but now, in this inferior place, they just make it all seem even tackier. I’d have considered 2.5 stars, but service was very slow… even though there were 3 people working in the dining room and I was one of two people eating at the time. Lunch on a Tuesday in an empty place shouldn’t take 1 hour and 40 minutes…

This is my second time at this restaurant. The thing that first attracted me to it was the guacamole plate; which did not disappoint. The (Veggie) Super Burrito was to die for. It had loads of vegetables and flavors. Jam packed, it lived to it’s name. It’s huge. I only managed to eat half of it and save the rest for later. Worth it.
Very Mexican authentic. Super chill. Great location.
p. s. For a tip, a Mexican Elvis will sing to you. Awesome.
Will definitely eat here again and recommend it to friends & family.

you know what? for a mexican restaurant filled with white people, their food wasnt so bad the margaritas were tasty, not strong, but tasty. and their queso fundido was the best cheesiest thing i have ever tasted! all cheese all the time!
what killed the experience was that the stupid waiter seemed to be avoiding us towards the end of our meal, he would not come to check on us, and we were waiting for out bill for about 20 minutes. that little jerk was hiding from us!..

Living in southern CA I can’t ever remember sitting inside a Mexican restaurant and «dine» with friends. When I say dine I mean every inch of that word if you know what I mean. I think most Angelenos take for granted the beauty and taste behind mexican cuisine. There’s always the «taco truck» or convenient mexican fast food chains. Those are what we resort to but why should we? When has anyone actually sat down in a mexican restaurant, ordered from a waiter (ress), and ordered a mexican dish that wasn’t a taco or burrito? Instead of tequila or margaritas why not try champurrado or horchata? Expand your horizons!
Let me start by saying that I specifically came here to try their mole poblano. I came to La Parilla with a close friend that recommended this place when I told her what I wanted to eat. She’s been coming here for years with her family and loves this place. The interior was heavily decorated for Easter and looked amazing. Complimentary chips and salsa was a plus! Our waiter was very nice and friendly. We both ordered pollito en mole. The dark mole was very delicious and I ate the chicken with corn tortillas. The tortillas were warm and homemade. I remember eating mole for the first time at my friend’s birthday years ago and it tasted exactly how I remembered it: YUMMY! It brought me back to that first thought at her birthday: I WANT MORE! The beans were very flavorful and the rice portion was excellent. The only thing I regret is not trying their guacamole :(
Ditch the lines and order numbers for once and sit down at La Parilla and share the experience with family and friends.
NOTE: Not dissing the taco trucks… trust me, I love them too. However, I can’t say the same thing for taco bell… eek!

One star for the warm homemade corn tortillas.
Worst mexican food i have ever eaten.
I live a few blocks away, intrigued by the exterior and feeling adventurous, my boyfriend and i decided to try it out instead of the Phở Place we usually go to which is fresh fast and delicious.
La Parrilla is possibly the most overpriced fast-​food quality mexican food in Silver Lake (possibly in LA) $ 12.99 for a fish soup with cheap fish chunks with bones and badly cut vegetables. No refills on any of the drinks (Alegria gives free refils on their most delicious café de oya) but nope, no refils here, which is just as well cause the soda was flat.
No contest with Tarrascos, within a block away and yet La Parrilla is surprisingly more expensive!
I asked for fish (a la parrilla) which is the name of the restaurant so you would think it would be a specialty, instead it came deep fried and breaded, soggy on my plate from the watery vegetables on top of it. My boyfriend ordered enchiladas rancheras (how can a Mexican restaurant mess up enchiladas… you are probably asking yourselves…)they were mushy and tasteless and the rice on his plate looked like it was a week old.
The food here is sad, maybe thats why there are so many lights and colors inside the restaurant … To hide the sadness and the poor quality of the food.
My boyfriend summed it up best, after our fish soup we waited for our main course and he said: i feel like an inmate on death row waiting on my execution.
After ordering the check my boyfriend had such a stomach ache that he excused himself to go to the restroom, to make matters worse he comes back to the table a few minutes later to inform me there was a big turd overflowing the mens restroom and he’d like to use the restroom at home.
If you think we’re exaggerating come try it for yourself!
I’d have rather eaten at McDonalds, its just as bad as La Parrilla but a fourth of the price!

I’m on of those girls that once Mexican Food pops into my mind … game over. I’ve got my favorites but was feeling something new and stumbled upon La Parrilla and I can say it safely satisfied my urge.
There’s a lot of Mexican places along Sunset, but honestly parking caught my attention. I was in heels, and as any girl knows hiking down the street or not was the decisive situation to chips and salsa. Upon walking in, it was like a Mexican Alice In Wonderland. Every inch of wall is covered with décor, and even more trinkets hanging from the ceiling all adorned with christmas lights. Festive not tacky and clean. We grabbed a booth and I noticed all other diners were Mexican. Solid.
They give you pico de-​gallo which is pleasently spicey and a smokey sauce to dip your chips in. It’s decent but a small portion, being I’m a fiend when it comes to chips and salsa. Service was kind of slow but I wasn’t in a hurry. The food came and my boyfriend ordered enchilladas suiza, and I ordered a beef taco and a chili reyno (sp??). His enchilladas were killer and full of flavor! My taco was delicately flavored shredded beef loaded with guacamole, queso fresco and lettuce which ranks high on my taco goodness scale. The chili reyeno (again. sp??/) was hot cheezy and not mushy like most. Rice and beans were what you’d expect.
I also noticed they do table side guacamole and make their own torillas. Our check for two was around 20 $, a good amount for the generous portions they serve. All and all I was happy and will come back.
Enjoy!

The sangria is AMAZING! Again, I must say that the sangria is AMAZING!!!
The asada plate is also really good. The fresh guacamole is also quite delicious.

Cinco De Mayo At Its Worst:
I love Cinco De Mayo because no one can argue with me what to eat for dinner that night. This Cinco De Mayo us and all of the gringos on this side of town tried to go to the same five restaurants. The other gringos beat us to the punch causing two hour waits at every place. I have had my eye on La Parilla for awhile so I threw it out as an option. I was intrigued by the idea of a menu full of grilled Mexican meats. They had a table for eight available for immediately so we made our way over.
I got to dinner late and found pitchers of margaritas and chips on the table. Danny Masterson was already halfway through his parillada. He was the wise one on That 70’s Show. I should have followed his lead. Instead I got Huesos Botanas House Specialty. It was described on the menu as «sliced spare ribs in a delicious barbecue sauce». It was the worst dish I have had in as long as I can remember. The boiled chunks of spare rib floated in a barbecue sauce broth with a makeshift aluminum bowl. At first I thought it was my fault for ordering wrong but then everyone else said there food was bad. Turns out La Parilla was not the blue chip prospect I was expecting. Don’t go here unless you trust Mr. Masterson. He might know something we didn’t.

As any foodie who grew up in a Latino household knows, there are few things as satisfying as a Mexican breakfast on the weekend. Tortillas hecho a mano, jugos frescos, guacamole that you KNOW was just made… I mean come on. Heaven right?
So, finally with a weekend with nothing but homie chores and Dodger baseball to watch (and lament) I decided to try out my neighborhood La Parilla restaurant.
FAQs NOTE: La Parilla restaurants can be confusing, since not all La Pailla’s are part of a chain (even if they all kind’a look the same), so dig this: food cooked «a la parrilla» means it was cooked on a grill over burning ashes. That’s why the meats and the like are excellent and clean tasting.
This particular La Parilla is quaint with its «ala parilla» — esque gaudy décor that is more like Mexican kitsch institution El Cholo, sans the festively costumed waitresses and roving mariachis working harmonies ala «Trio» for tips.
I was greeted me by a curmudgeonly abuela (disculpa me señor — but would’a hurt ya to smile and say good morning?) who spoke in a mumbled whispers; which was made more annoying considering that they had the piped in mariachi music blasting at last night’s happy hour levels. I knew I was in trouble right there, but I decided that not everyone needs to be sunshine that early and the food might really be good.
NOTE: The breakfast menu there is what you would expect. Huevos Rancheros, Chilaquiles, Machaca con Huevo… tu sabes… Mexican Breakfast stuff. Me? I like a typical Mexican plate (e.g. Two Tacos or Asada or Chile Verde or Tampiqueño plate) with rice and beans and I add an over easy egg (or two). Pretty meat and potatoes guy when it comes to Mexican food. And that’s what I ordered con agua y café, por favor.
So I get my coffee, cream, pico de gallo (not salsa) but no water and I wait.
NOTE: You gotta wait for ala parilla… its grilled com’on.
Tick tock tick tock tick tock… my coffee is empty… my chips are gone… and no water.
Tick tock tick tock… café por favor? Hello?
I look around and I am the ONLY person in the joint… I mean I HEAR people cooking and talking in the back, but I don’t see uhm.
20 minutes later (what you would expect for carne ala parilla) an until now unseen younger waitress brings me my food and the portion is what I would except from a stand at the farmers market or cafeteria… AND no huevo. She put down my plate, asks me in her mealy mouthed mumble something I didn’t comprehend and practically runs off like she’s sayin’ in her head, «Oh I better cheese it before this pochito asks for more coffee or something»…I caught her though. Mas café, por favor. She nods and scurries away.
My curmudgeonly «Oliver Hardy» abuela comes back with a look on her face as if I had been rude to her Stan Laurel counter part, and with an attitude and tone that was verbalized in an terse «SI!?». Uhm, mas café por favor… she tries to go… and I say and… She rolls her eyes… you forgot my egg (blank stare)…el huevo? …off she went. A moment later the younger waitress comes back with my water (sin huebo).
Ok that was the bad part. After the food was complete (huevo y todo), I loved the taste. I mean it was really ala parilla. It had that grilled outside taste, but not overly cooked and the beans (de la olla — or from the pot) were pretty ok.
THIS La Parilla offers homemade tortillas and queso fundido (molten cheeses with chipotle peppers or crumbled chorizo) Camarones Costa Azul (bacon-​wrapped, cheese-​stuffed shrimp) which I will absolutely come back to try as wewll as molcajete azteca, a bowlful of panela cheese, cactus and any combination of grilled steak, chicken or shrimp, all in tomato-​chili salsa. Also they have Sope De Res (a hearty chunky beef stew like soup — or better known as levanta muerte or raise the dead soup)…which I will for sure try next time I «need a remedy’.
Food: 4 stars
Service: 1 star
Parking: 0 stars
RATING NOTE: The food was really tasty but the service was totally awful and the music was too loud for 9 am in the morning. The portions are perfect if you are on Jenny Craig. I got one glass of water, no chip re fill and I had to ask 4 times for more coffee (which was good diner coffee). So While I think this La Parilla might have gotten 4 stars, averaging out the poor service, small portions and ZERO parking, I had to bump uhm down to a 3. Which is too bad. It really was tasty.
Overall rating: 3 stars.
I guess that’s why it was that empty when they clearly open at 9am and WANT that breakfast traffic. I mean the food IS tasty, but its not like Zankou tasty whee you PUT UP with the rude cuz’ its so good, sabes?
Stay tuned for at least 2 more visits to try the Camarones Costa Azul and the Sope De Res which, being a souper, could change the whole thing for me if its amazing).

Went here with high hopes after reading some of the positive reviews on here. Did not like very much at all. The food was bland, the salsa was nothing to write home about, and why go here when you can find much better Mexican at Mexico City and Mexican Village, both just a mile or two away.
This was just normal, middle of the road menu selection and nothing tasted all that well unfortunately.

I was driving around to find a good eats, when I see what seems like crayon colored sign outside the wall of this restaurant.
I can not stand chains and am always looking for a good find. This Mexican restaurant did not look as if it was going to give me 5 star service, and it wasn’t 5 star service I was looking for. Sometimes you just want to go to a good authentic place with good food and a relaxed ambiance.
I had the Pancho Villa Molcajete. It was pretty tasty. It comes with two coronitas, to wash down the hotness. There was a old school tv by where I was sitting playing Rocio Durcal VHS concert tapes. So far this is all I have tasted, and the melted cheese with Tortillas, Queso Fundido. My experience was great, the food was good and I even took the Mexican Elvis’ business card because his gear impressed me so much.
The décor is something out of a piñata party, busy, colorful, donkeys hanging off the roof. I was pretty much left alone the entire time which is appreciated, I hate interruptions at my time of consumption. I dig this place.

La Parilla has been downgraded because they did the unthinkable and changed their menu. They have moved into the realm of rice, beans, and main entrée and at the moment the quality is mediocre at best. Since the menu change I’ve given it two chances and both times I was disappointed. Didn’t anyone ever tell them «if it ain’t broke don’t fix it?» Why? Why?! Why? Why did they mess with it?! I’m so sad.
The only reason they’re now slightly above Acapulco is that they still have fresh hand made guacamole and tortillas. If it wasn’t for that I wouldn’t go back at all. They also stil have their molcajetes but they have changed the items they come with. They have included new cornish game hen entrees and sopes are now included on the main entrée but when you get the plate it just looks like a schizophrenic mess with the rainbow of items scattered on the plate. I probably will not go back until they repent from their wicked Americanized ways and go back to the delicious spot they once were.

I’m shocked by all the 5 star reviews. This is one of the worst Mexican restaurants I’ve experienced.
The shock came when we sat down and ordered Margaritas. The server said: «We don’t have Tequila» What ?? A Mexican restaurant with no tequila? That’s the equivalent of walking into an Italian restaurant and being told there’s no red wine ! Like a gay bar with no go go boys, like a sports bar with no TV’s ! The substitue ‘white wine margarita’ has some kick but tastes like a very tart lemonade.
The food is forgettable, bland and not appealing (we had the shrimp cocktails, enchilada suizas, tamales, etc) Very average to below average. The best thing was the basket of chips.
The staff was nice so its the only reason for the two stars. The décor is Denny’s meets El Conquistador (but not in a good way) Very disappointing since a friend just moved into a new apartment nearby.
Sorry but this gets an AVOID listing. There’s just so many better choices in this town for this type of food that also serve actual tequila Margaritas. I’m still in shock over the ‘no tequila’ announcement !

Woke up hungover, so i decided to call in sick. I received a call from my buddy, he said his friends flight was delayed 10 hours. He asked if i wanted to tag along and show them L. A, I agreed. So we headed to LAX and got the Australians.
We were deciding on what to have for lunch, Mexican Or Italian. We decided to go for the Mexican. My friend was raving about this joint, called La Parilla. He said it was the best Mexican place in town. I was very excited.
we got there and we were seated. we ordered our drinks & appetizers. we got the guacamole dip & queso fundido. They were delicious. The guacamole was orgasmic! the queso fundido was ok, it was like eating rubber.
I ordered the Enchilada Plate. two enchiladas with cheese, rice & beans. the plate was huge!!! the food was decent, i wasn’t impressed. the service was a bit slow! I’ll probably have to come here a couple more times to fully grasp the greatness of this joint! (according to my friend)
bottom line:
it was fairly cheap, and the portions were huge. i’d say check this out!!!

La Parilla?
More like La Whatevah!

molcajete