Alfonso’s

I’ve eaten here at least once every two years when I visit for the past 10 years. This is an update for a previous review. To be honest the food has improved. The spicy chicken is excellent. The Fajitas are always good. They are improving and I hope they keep it up.
I took them a can of real Refried Beans (the beans are like canned chili here), Chorizo and and Mole seasoning from Mexico. Hopefully their chef will be able to work with them and bring all the dishes to the great taste level of their chicken.
The remaining problems are the ground beef needs to be drained before placing them in Taco shells but the flavor is very good. Just eat your Taco fast before it gets soggy. They need to remove the cinnamon from there stewed beef, it could be the best in Europe. It taste more Middle-​Eastern and just doesn’t fit with the Mexican Flavor Palette the rest of the world is use to.

Not authentic Mexican. Don’t come expecting real Mexican. The food wasn’t terrible, just not Mexican.
Service was friendly, but owner was not very customer friendly.
Would never go back.

This place was one of the first restaurants I ate at since I moved here. It’s on the north end of Utrechtstraat (one of my favorite streets in ams btw). I think most people know that the NL is not known for good mexican food and understandably so. This place is not super authentic but it’s quite good and close enough to appease your craving for mexican food. They also have a lot of nice tropical type drinks, of course margaritas and beer and wine. They have a full bar and it’s the first thing you see when you walk in. The owner of the restaurant is very pleasant. Always greets you with a smile. Great customer service every time I come here. The food is nothing like Rose’s Cantina. ie: modern mexican and I appreciate that, although I also appreciate a modern twist on mexican but good old fashion Mexican food is my fav.
They have lots of plates to choose from. I always seem to get the combination of one taco, one enchilada and one burrito. unfortunately their tacos are hard shell and I prefer corn soft tortillas but that’s ok because they’re still good. The one thing that stands out for me and one of the main reasons I continue to come back is that their meats are soo well marinated and flavorful. Recently I had the stewed beef in my burrito and it was sooo good. It had a subtle cinnamon flavor to it and i enjoyed every bit. Their spicy chicken filling is also very flavorful but hardly spicy, for me at least. Peter always gets the fajitas. They come sizzling on a plate with all the flour tortillas and toppings to match. He finishes it everytime minus one bite I always steal from him. They also have a nice selection of vegetarian plates. Our friends had the veggie fajitas and the sizzling plate came out with all of these beautifully grilled veggies. I didn’t try their veggies but it sure looked good sizzling on that platter and not over done/​wilted at all. Another friend had the sizzling steak fajitas and i tried a piece of his steak and it was again, very flavorful and perfectly cooked. The décor is also very nice with a cozy mexican theme.
oh and i forgot to add… not only are the meats well seasoned but I can tell they use high quality meats here. Again, I recommend the stewed beef option for a filling.
Visitors to Amsterdam, especially from the States or South American. do not compare the food to the type of mexican food your use to having. It’s not a fair comparison… just sayin’

I’m shocked to see other Western/​Southwestern Americans say anything nice about the food here. We didn’t come in expecting the world. My companion and I both live in San Francisco, so the bar was high, and we lowered it appropriately. Alfonso’s managed to crawl underneath without a touch.
Chips and salsa were from a bag and can (though the latter was OK). The food was a bizarre stoner-​esque interpretation of Mexican. My «tacos» had shells just like those pre-​made Taco Bell deals you can buy in grocery stores in the US, yet somehow managed to be both soggy and burnt at the same time. Tasteless iceberg lettuce and unripe tomatoes sat atop. Rice was plain and undercooked; several grains were actually crunchy. My dining companion couldn’t take more than three bites of the enchiladas.
The «beans» served with the meal were – I kid you not – unmistakably Hormel CHILI from a can (watch out, vegetarians!).
Everything in this place tasted like it was bought from the Carrefour down the street, except the pork, which was competently done. Suspicious, I wondered down to the tiny kitchen at the end, where a single chef was preparing every meal with just a grill and a work table. Voila.

This place has moved near the top of my favorite Mexican restaurants in Amsterdam.
As an expat from the American southwest, I’ve been looking for great Mexican places and this place is great. Unlike places like Los Pilones, this restaurant is bigger in every way — more seating, more menu options and more food on each plate, therefore: more bang for your buck, and the bang is good!
I always get the combo platter, which comes with a burrito, enchilada and tacos and I never leave unsatisfied. The quality of the food is good, but not as good as some other places, but the options and portion size are great. This place is also good for groups to come, have some cervesa and munch on some great Mexican food — a great place to introduce newbies to this style of cuisine.
Location is good, in a not-​too-​touristy location, but it is popular so it’s wise to call ahead. The food itself is pretty good but it’s not going to blow you away or remind you of home if you’re from Mexico or the American southwest. But for Amsterdam, it’s very good! If you’d rather have better quality food try Los Pilones, but if you don’t like small menus and small portions, go to Alfonso’s!

Sometimes I’m shocked by food in Amsterdam. This is one of those times. I saw from other reviews that it wasn’t too great and not up to California’s standards, but still I had to try.
The best part about the meal is the guacamole was good size for the money. I also got the vegetarian burrito, which came with a side of rice and beans. By beans I mean canned chili with tomato paste. The flavor of everything was really just slacking and it felt like I was just eating to eat and not to enjoy.
The staff was nice and very attentive, but the interior felt a little like someone’s house to me rather than a restaurant.
There are plenty of other Mexican food places in Amsterdam to go rather than this. Okay, so there’s not plenty, but there are enough to satisfy you more than this.

If you’re European this might pass for Mexican, if you’re American, just lower your standards right now, if you’ve ever eaten Mexican food in California, don’t even bother. Okay, now that expectations are set — this is a decent place for what NL has to offer for Mexican.
The service is friendly, although there have been a couple nights where one completely clueless blond is our server and she is right moody and unable to answer ANY questions about the menu, whether we ask her in English or Dutch. This isn’t a translation issue, but more of a «I don’t give a f— about my job or your evening» issue. The menu has a good selection of offerings and the owner seems to be a pleasant chap, plenty of good mexican themed cocktails and beers as well.
However, the whole point of mexican food is that it’s DELICIOUS and CHEAP! This place charges a hefty fee for a decent size plate of food which in the States would be about 2x the size, 50x as good, and 30% of the price. But, if you live in blissful ignorance where you think 3 little enchiladas are worth about $ 25 USD, than go ahead and eat here.
Rather spend my cash at Los Pilones, to be honest.

I was on vacation in Amsterdam and after a few days got a bit of a hankering for some Mexican food. Alfonso’s was conveniently located close to the Flying Pancake B&B where I was staying, so I popped over for some dinner one evening. It was one of the «coziest» restaurants I can remember, and it reminded me a bit of some of the NYC restaurants I’ve been to, except the restrooms in NYC restaurants in NYC are often downstairs, and the ones in Amsterdam are often upstairs, as is the case in Alfonso’s. The food was delicious, and the atmosphere was cordial and quaint. I would recommend this pace to anyone visiting A-​Dam who has an appetite for Mexican.

Well, let me begin by saying that the place was awesome because of many more things than just the food. So, we step in and the whole place has this amazing appetizing fragrance of delicious food — I was very tempted to gon in ahead and get a table — so we did. The ambience is cozy, a lil rustic and nice. We started with tequila shots — nobody can get then wrong so lets discuss other things :) the margarita was not amazing — just okay. I wasnt a fan that they were frozen but not on the rocks — also the glass was a lil non-margarita’ish. The salsa was not amazing but okay. The chips were warm and fresh. The guacamole was the best that I have had in amsterdam — so the standard is pretty low — but you know what — it was not that bad — okay. We had seafood and steak fajitas and we loved em. The service was very good and friendly. The price was reasonable. The only inconvenience I had was that I had to climb some really steep stairs to get to the restroom.
So, the bottom line — would i go here again? Yes, I would.

At this point, I have accepted that Mexican food in Amsterdam is no where near what it is in Southern California. Go into it with this mindset. It’s okay, nothing remotely «authentic» but it is alright. Strange to see baby corn in the fajitas, basmati rice, and the beans are a dead ringer for your mom’s chili. That said, if you set the bar low, which, if you are eating in this city you must, then its acceptable. Service was friendlier than most, which again, means that they weren’t outright rude as seems to be common. Nothing to die for it’s alright.