Fernando’s Restaurant

Fernando’s last day in business was on Cinco de Mayo …
They are now closed.

Closed/​permanent.

Closed? Sign on the door said Thank you Novato. Too bad :(

Great chicken enchilada plate (red sauce or green)
chips salsa are bomb cool little setting they have a bar with TV if you wanna watch
sports! family enviorment overall clean!

I have been here a handful of times and the food is always great! I’ve had their chili verde, their burrito, steak plate and others and they were all fantastic! The establishment is clean and has a rustic look which is typical of Mexican restaurants but its fun! They have a separate bar area for drinks/​cocktails and TV’s to watch the games but easily accessible from the main dining area. The waiters are friendly and they make sure you don’t run out of chips and salsa. I definitely recommend Fernando’s!

KITCHEN NIGHTMARE!!! FERNANDO’S SHOULD BE CITED FOR INSANITARY CONDITIONS. THEY SERVED MY WIFE AND 2 YEAR OLD SON ROTTEN CHICKEN. You could smell that this chicken was in the refrigerator for a couple weeks too long and when I took it to the waiting staff they promptly took the plate away. The only problem WAS THAT MY CHILD ALREADY ATE SOME OF IT AND THIS COULD HAVE KILLED HIM! To make it worse, the replacement meal (cheese enchiladas) came cold on the inside!
To add insult to injury they tried to charge us for the replacement meal that was cold!
I still had to pay for everyone else’s meal even though we were all grossed out and scared to eat the rest of the food out of fear for getting sick.
DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND PASS FERNANDO’S UP.

The décor and restaurant layout is great. I had the Gudalajara Tostado. Good with lots of chicken. We will definitely be going back.
Friendly staff, inexpensive wines, good food.

A more authentic Mexican restaurant, pleasant atmosphere, excellent chips and salsa.
Update: Saw a hand-​written sign on their door yesterday that said, «Thank You, Novato.»
Really sad to see them go.

My go-​to restaurant when I am in the need for some Mexican food. This is a very nice place. always clean, and the layout of the restaurant is great, there are little sections here and there that prevent it from being loud.
The staff is always helpful and very friendly. The menu options are not huge, but there’s an «a la carte» section where you can create your own dish. The portions vary but they tend to be on the large side, I never finish an entire plate.
They have a dedicated bar section with any kind of margarita you can imagine and TVs to catch up on the latest sporting event.
Great place to hang out or have diner with friends.

I have eaten here many times in the past and enjoyed it. I got take out for the first time and when I got home they had completely messed up my order. I drove back and they told me they had given me someone else’s food. They gave me the correct food but instead of cooking up a new meal they gave me what had been sitting around because I had to drive back. The food was cold and mushy. Too bad I think I’ll be going else where for my mexican food.

Meh — nothing great. We ordered the Grande Combination (chile verde, burrito, taco, enchilada — one of each) and the Crab Enchiladas. Nothing really tasted that great. The flavors were just wrong.
We tried Saturday’s happy hour fro 6−8pm. The only deal is $ 1 off drinks. Wow.
Maybe we’ll return for M-​F happy hour (free appetizers with a drink purchase) but really, the food is not very good. I’d be OK with never returning.

This place is a dump. I gave it a full lifetime ban. Food is bland, management staff is rude and aloof to customer concerns.
Do I sound bitter? I am.
Pass on this place, Taco bell is a better choice.
If you are looking for something else in Novato go the Mi Pueblo or El Palamar.

Not a single veg dish.
Margaritas are not very good either, must avoid. Wasn’t strong enough.
Overall a disappointment

I’ve been here a couple times, and it’s a go to mexican restaurant other than mi pueblo.
The chips and salsa are fresh and tasty.
The margaritas are pretty good… not las guitarras good, but better than chevy’s because fernando’s has way better food for the same price!
My favorite is this rice dish with seafood mixed into it. I forgot what it’s called but it is oh so delicious! I almost cried when I forgot my leftovers on the table…

Wow! Why didn’t anyone tell me about Fernando’s earlier? I enjoy the atmosphere and the food. Giant portions and tasty, too.
Hey, by the way: are they related to Celia’s, in San Rafael? Because they seem really similar.

Ferrrrrnando’s
Ever since I was an under-​aged, long haired Smart Ass, we would come here after work. I wasn’t of age, but I got by. When I turned 21 finally, my sister brought me here for lunch, yes we both had to go to work after, but fuck, I was 21 and I was having a drank.
This is the place to meet up for the drinking, for the eating and the socializing. It’s big, it accommodates crowds easily and the food’s the best Mexican that you can get in Novato — not saying much, I know, so maybe I’ll give it all of Terra Linda and Petaluma too.
Get your co-​workers together, drink too much, tell stories that seem totally on the up & up — at the time, perhaps flirt a little, or a lot and go home. See how crunchy it is come Monday.
Wouldn’t be anything I wouldn’t do.

Just have to agree with some of the points mentioned in other reviews:
— Margaritas are «weak tart fuel clearly meade with some corn syrupy mix». Yup
— Plates are «difficult to tell where one item started and the other stopped». Uh huh
— It’s a scary labryth. Yeah, I’m gonna have nightmares
Would be 2 stars, but I did find a menu gem — the shrimp quesadilla. It was loaded with large shrimps, and nice red sauce, and light jack cheese. Not at all what I was expecting, but yum.

Ever have a cherished childhood memory that, 20 or 30 years later, when experienced as an adult, ends up being a total disappointment? I’ve been there, and no doubt you have, too. That’s why I have a certain sort of misplaced loyalty to Fernando’s, since I grew up going here and to their sister restaurant, Celia’s, in San Rafael. So to me, the statement, «Hey, let’s go out to dinner» brings to mind this place. The food isn’t necessarily that good, but it’s familiar and, I swear, absolutely unchanged in quality and style since the 1970s. And that’s a good thing. Really.
(A point of clarification: Fernando’s has been here since some point in the ‘80s. Celia’s, on Vivian Way in San Rafael, has been around since time immemorial, and at least at one time served exactly the same food, being owned by the same family.)
The high points: crispy, hot homemade tortilla chips greasy and fresh from the deep fryer (alone worth 5 stars), pleasantly spicy salsa with green onions and dried chile bits floating in it, creamy refried beans topped with gooey/​crispy melted cheese of unknown origin, old favorites that haven’t changed since you were 5, good service, full bar.
Low points: old favorites that haven’t changed since you were 5, high prices for what is essentially mediocre Americanized Mexican comfort food, inconsistency in the food quality, especially when it’s busy.
I’ll acknowledge that Fernando’s probably doesn’t have good Mexican food – go to El Encanto a short distance away for that, so I’ll dock it one star. As one of those childhood memories that’s still exactly the same as it was after 30 years, the quality doesn’t really matter.

Their margarita is good, thats about the best I can say. Oh, and I guess I can say after 30+ years on this earth I’ve been there.
I had a crispy taco and verde enchilada combo. When the plate arrived it was really difficult to tell where one item started and the other stopped. Everything was just sort of beige in color and covered in melted cheese. The taco shell was so stale I thought I broke a tooth. And the enchilada verde threw me off. Yes, it had verde sauce on the outside but the inside was the «traditional’ red shredded chicken. Not really a welcomed surprise.
BFF gets one star for making me go here. Liz, you suck. Xoxo

Fernando’s. Lost in the middle somewhere. The food is decent, but there are many better Mexican places to eat in town.
Higher end: El Encanto is better, more authentic Mexican food (see my review). Prices are simliar at both places.
Taqueria end: any of these are better for simpler Mexican food
Taqueria Del Pueblo on Grant
Taqueria Palmar on Grant (so damn good, and so damn inexpensive)!
my secret place that I don’t let the guerros know about.