Chicanos

Disappointing of late. The salsa is no longer fresh and the enchilada sauce seems to be canned. Not sure if it has changed ownership/​chefs or what is going on. It used to be my favorite Mexican place in Venice.

Fresh chips — good garlicky salsa –2^nd time here — not as good as first. Grill was obviously dirty as reflected in food and tortillas. I’ll try one more to see if today was a bad day.

Excellent cuisine… Not your usual, very flavorful! You can tell they put a lot of love into their cooking!!! Plus their homemade habanero salsa is the best! Fresh chips … homemade taste! Very attentive staff and clean. More flavor than the popular place down the street!

first time, won’t be the last. Excellent food, full menu, great service. monday Margaritas were a pleasant plus.
could use brighter outside lighting to catch people’s eye from the highway

Menu is OUTSTANDING! Service sometimes is slow, at lunch with one person working tables. I love the shrimp cocktail and the Molcajete beyond amazing! The Patron margaritas 2 for $ 11.00 is perfection x2! Only other complaint is sometimes the chips taste like old oil. Other than that I love this place. Nothing like Mi Pubelo, where everyone knows your name…

I would give Chicanos 4 stars except for one thing… while I was still eating the waitress asked if we cared for dessert. I shook my head as I was chewing my fajita. She then presented the check while I was still eating… not cool!!! I don’t understand how a business does not train their wait staff how to be waiters and waitresses!!! She was a lovely girl and friendly but please do not drop off my check while I’m still eating. The food is fresh and delicious. I usually would go to Mi Pueblo across the street but they are way too busy and I’m not into waiting ½ hour for Mexican food. Chicanos food is very good and their menu is extensive. It feels clean, bright and cheerful.

Food was great, portions ample, staff was professional, had the special that was served in a giant hot lava rock pestle super cool presentation and sampled chicken, beef, shrimp, chorizo, cactus, beef tongue, had a party of 8 plus a 2 yearold staff was on it and the meal was great all around for everyone in attendance. a few slip ups with orders but it happens and was corrected no problem. was not super busy so that was disconcerting but it was a rainy tuesday sooo. all good in my opinion only reason not 5 stars is because it needed a little more flavor then again i like spice and most retires seem to not in our area. was given a properly grilled and bag steamed jalapeño that was great mixed in my soft shell taco diy meal. also was taco tuesday so the tongue was a special cheap treat

Great spot! We have lived in Venice for a few months now and have been disappointed with the Mexican choices locally. Both of the big Mexican names here use store bought stale chips and plain salsa. In my opinion– you can’t survive as a Mexican joint without stellar chips and salsa! I mean — come on!
When we walked into Chicanos we were treated by a very friendly gentleman who made a few new year jokes and ushered us to the bar. He quickly brought snacks and menus while taking our drink order.
Chicanos has wonderful home made salsa that is loaded with garlic and cilantro, they’re chips aren’t home made but they warm them so they’re nice and crispy. Our bartender was awesome and very accommodating. He never tried to update anything, which I always appreciate. I prefer higher end margaritas, but always try the house to compare. Their house margarita is excellent, with a smoky tequila as their base. It has a very unique taste unlike the typical too sweet and too sour house margaritas im used to having elsewhere. We also had a top shelf margarita that was to die for. The tacos were excellent and very filling. Prices were very reasonable. It is safe to say we have found our New Mexican spot in town :) We will definitely be back soon!

I can not recommend this restaurant at all. The food was just OK and was not true authentic mexican food. Very disappointed. If you are looking for fair or OK «mexican» food and an extremely unprofessional manager then this is the place for you!!! I can see now why the place was empty. That should have been a dead giveaway.

Food and service is great! We have been looking for a new mexican place since our regular place has gone down hill. Will definatly be coming back! Our server Carlos was awesome, top shelf margaritas were great! Chili verde especial is a must; melts in your mouth.

This place used to be better! It had been about a year since we had been there until yesterday! We have 2 small kids and it’s hard to always go to a sit down restaurant. The service is always good! Irene is great! BUT the food leaves a lot to be desired! The chips were stale right off the bat. We ordered the queso dip as an appetizer and it was so watered down there was barely any point in dipping your chip in it. In talking with Irene we found out they changed the way they do taco Tuesday. They no longer offer a variety of tacos just beef, chicken and pork as they were losing money on the deal. It sounded like the owner was nickel and diming a lot which became even more apparent when my father in law asked for a hotter salsa and they charged us for it. Really it’s free chips and salsa!!! The food was mediocre. The presentation was nice but the food itself cold, bland, and the meat in the tacos looked over cooked and probably microwaved. The food looked like something you would see on bar rescue where the host would say this food is garbage! Luckily we all had a few drinks and were starving from being out with the kids all day so we could eat it but we likely won’t be back!

This place is just a sad knock off of Mi Pueblo down the road– and they treat their employees terribly I’ve heard

After two good visits here, we decided to return. Bad mistake.
1 — my husband ordered a drink, which was served in a pineapple… which seemed fun, until it leaked all over the table, and our server didn’t even offer to help us clean it up.
2 — I asked if they served any non-​alcoholic beverages (since I didn’t see any on the menu) — server said yes, that they could make anything non-​alcoholic, so I got her recommendation of a piña colada. It tasted pretty good but I was SHOCKED when the bill came! $ 11! The same price if it had had alcohol in it! We asked if this was correct and our server didn’t seem to think it was a big deal at all, citing that it was about the size of the cup, not the contents of it.
We asked to speak to a manager, but had to wait more than 15 minutes before our server returned and said «he was busy cooking in the back.»
Unacceptable.
We had previously recommended this location to friends, but no more, and we do not plan to return.

First of all excellent service wait staff was impeccable. Our waitress was kind fast service and always there when we needed her to be so that was a major plus. Also amazing entrees very well prepared very tasty not too much salt just right specially for my wife so she can have a lot of salt it was excellent I give it four stars they treated us fairly and with respect will definitely go again.

Mediocre at best. Chicken is dry and you can definitely taste the fryer oil on the chips.

I feel bad only giving 2 stars. However, this review is for two visits.
The first visit was excellent. Attentive service, fresh chips, fresh salsa, excellent meal, decent marg’s…
Tonight’s visit… Awful.
Service was awful and the server rushed us to order and then was barely around once our food was delivered. The chips were stale and the salsa was not fresh. It tasted as if it were a week old. It had a fermentation flavor. Anyone that has made their own salsa understands what I’m talking about.
And our meals were very bland at best.
A total disappointment. We probably won’t go back. Which is sad because there aren’t many options for mexican food.
We won’t be back.

Food was out of this world good! I ordered the Chicken Chimichanga and I enjoyed every bite. I got there right at the time they had a Mariachi band and the crowd was plenty, so I bad to wait about 30 minutes. I’m glad I did. The Mariachi band is every Wednesday at this place, so I’d like to plan my next trip on another Wednesday. What a fun place!
Small building, so plan on a wait.
Wait staff could be a little more enthusiastic, but I really can’t complain. ;)

Everything here reminds me
of my trip to Cancun. Pretty authentic for Venice, FL.

Nice restaurant. The Pineapple cherry margarita was a good size but the favoring was lacking. They have a long list will have to try another one next time. Alcohol content was good.
The food made up for it. Had the Sopes and they were seasoned very well. Wait staff was very well informed and attentive. Will return when I am in the area.

Not a bad option if you’re jonesing for Mexican in Venice.
Really good: pork taco, guacamole
Average: flautas, chicken chimi, salsa
Blah: chicken empanada (no flavor)