El Sombrero Reviews

Stop by randomly while staying overnight in Portland. We were blown away! Amazing service and delicious authentic mexican cuisine! Highly recommend it!!

The menu is basically Tex-Mex.We ordered the chimichanga off of the lunch menu. The size of the chimi was closer to a tater tot, than a regular-sized chimi, but was good.The fajitas were ok.

Good mexican food reasonable priced. The place is adorned in your tradional mexican decorations. Fresh salsa and chips... reasonably priced and large portion sizes. Very clean bathrooms too!

My husband and I visit Portland every summer, and we always stop by and eat here. The portions are huge and we always get multiple servings out of one meal. Some people may find it kitschy and stereotype-ish, but it's run by a very nice family, and usually the kids are out playing in the courtyard, if they're not inside waiting tables. Alberto and his little sisters are very sweet and helpful. Yeah, they call you "amigo" all the time, but again, the people are nice and I wasn't bothered by it. The food is your standard Mexican fare, lots of cheese and grease and extremely unhealthy (but we love it!) We've had most of the menu and I haven't found anything I didn't like. My favorites are chimichangas and enchiladas de carne. We especially liked the xangos for dessert. The prices are excellent and it's definitely worth checking out if you like cheesey Mexican food and big portions.

Stopped at this venue by chance. Exterior quite shabby. No greeter. Did not feel welcome. Found a booth and seated myself. I attempted to order a small dish of queso. Was informed there is only one size - large ($5.50). When I tried to explain my justification for desiring a small size, the server said "I would be punished if I served a smaller container!" Naturally, the restaurant's revenue suffered as I passed on appetizers. I ordered huevos con chorizo. It was marginally acceptable - but bathing in oil. The interior, especially tiled floors, are chipped and constitute a trip hazard for guests and staff. Prices are disappointedly high, particularly for the quality of food. Highly unlikely I'll return. Management clearly is insensitive to solo diners!

We stopped in for a late lunch. The place was a little run down outside. Inside was clean and had a good feel. The service was spot on and very friendly. The food was good, hot and plenty of it. Would go again.

This is a hidden gem in Portland. The portions were decent and the Margaritas were good but the real draw should be the food. The combo #2 beef enchilada, pork tamales and chicken taco was amazing......get in here and eat!!!

We ordered food to go....just a tostado with extra rice on the side, but it was fast and very friendly service. The food tasted good and was plentiful and a great price. The staff had knowledge of what is gluten free as well.

This was a great restaurant. We went for a little bit of an earlier dinner, got seated quickly and order came fast. I ordered enchiladas and mentioned that the last place we ate at brought me greasy enchiladas. After I had eaten some of my meal, the waitress asked if they were too greasy. They weren't. She mentioned that she asked the cook too cut back on the grease during cooking. What service. The prices were good, atmosphere comfortable, great for kids, and if you know someone in a wheelchair they have lots of floor space. We will add this to our Portland list.

Thought this was a great little place to catch a meal. Was traveling to Portland for work and my local team suggested it. It is exactly what expected, small locally owned and run. Good food and very reasonably priced. I read the negative comments on this location and believe their expectations may have been to high, you can't chose a small place like this in a questionable neighborhood and expect Ritz type service. There was one server working approximately 8 tables. Did she gush over us and make us feel like we were the only guests? No, but she took our order (with a good recommendation) and it was served promptly. Bottom Line: If you are looking for an upscale dinning experience, go somewhere else if you are looking for good food, cold Beer, reasonable service, and fair a price. This is your place.

A standard Family Mexican Restaurant. Lunch combinations were modestly priced (8-9$). Chips and salsa were better than many FMRs out there. No complaints. Dinner items are a little more spendy.

We went there to try the enchiladas and were not disappointed. They have an option for a 3rd enchilada with beans and rice instead of only 2... just say NO! too much good food to eat that way if you get 3. I will only get 2 next time. But really really good. and the Pacifico and Dos XX we got were nice and cold as well.

We had errands to do in Portland before picking a visitor up from the airport. El Sombrero is only about 10 minutes away from the airport, so we decided to take a chance on fitting it into the remaining hour we had. I was apprehensive when we walked in because most tables were filled. But it worked out well. The chips and salsa and beverages arrived quickly. (Start small on that salsa -- it packs a wallop.) We ordered a chicken mole enchilada plate and a verde burrito plate. Both were ample and tasty. The mole sauce is the kind I'm used to and have missed since moving to Oregon. They offer a choice of refried or black beans. Our meal was finished and the bill paid within 45 minutes, and we made it to the airport on time. Also -- street parking is limited, but there is a large parking lot behind the restaurant.

We were looking for a Mexican place near to the airport so we could have lunch between checking out of our hotel and catching our flight home. We decided to give El Sombrero a try and we were not disappointed! It was early afternoon (post-lunch time) and the place was practically empty. I think there were 2 other tables occupied when we arrived. Chips and salsa were delivered quickly (chips were nice and warm), drinks came fast, and once we finally decided on our food from the large menu, it came quickly too. The fajitas were pretty good, the rice and beans were tasty, and the kids meals were large portions and to our daughters' liking. The prices were very reasonable (I believe we paid just $20 for the fajitas for 2, and we couldn't eat it all) and the portions generous. Our waitress (seemed like the proprietor, but I'm not 100% sure) spoke a great mix of English and Spanish, very easy to understand and friendly. Overall, it was a shot in the dark that totally paid off.

We showed up with a party of 7 shortly before closing time. They told us to come on in anyway and we enjoyed an excellent and authentic meal. The inside decor is very colorful. The prices were reasonable and we all enjoyed it thooroughly

Let me just say that my wife and I really love to eat Mexican food so we tend to eat it a lot. We have eaten at a lot of Mexican restaurants both near where we live and as we travel and I would have to say this is probably the best....it's really that good! Don't let the appearance of the place fool you....it's not fancy at all but it is clean, the service is good, the prices are reasonable and the food is excellent!!! The next time we get to Portland it will be our first stop.

Don't be fooled: the "adults only" sign refers to the bar next door. El Sombrero is a typical Mexican family restaurant. Good value and good food, with a great waiter. (Children welcome.)

First time in Portland, OR. Hotel close to the airport, was looking for a restaurant nearby. Found several of them with Google Maps, read reviews online and decided to go for this one. Turns out it was a great evening. The food was great, the atmosphere very friendly, and the prices very reasonable. I had Fajitas chicken and steak for 14$. The margarita was huge and strong (more Tequila than they usually give you!) I mean, I have tried a lot of Mexican restaurants in the US, and I rank this one at the top. Given that I picked it (almost) randomly, this was my lucky day :-)

The food was delicious- the beer was cold- the service was muy excellent! I'm full, I'm satisfied, and I'm happy! You will be to if you eat here!

The service was outstanding, everyone working the floor greeted me and made sure I was well cared for. The food was fresh and quickly prepared. I enjoy spicy salsa and their's did not disappoint. I enjoyed dining in a neighborhood restaurant that obviously was frequented by many 'regulars'.

I was a little leery about the neighborhood, but the kids wanted Mexican food before we headed out. The inside was inviting and the workers were friendly. Most importantly it was clean and the food was delicious. There were five in our party and everyone was satisfied.

We have come to El Sombrero weekly for easily 7 years. We have enjoyed warm greetings by staff.. The menu choices are plentiful and the servings generous. Our selections are served hot and delicious. The decor is colorful and has been updated the last couple of years to give the feel of a Mexican village.

We were in town from Tennessee visiting family and friends and needed to get some lunch. I put mexican restaurant's in my GPS and it sent me to this dive looking place so I looked up reviews through trip advisor and found that this place came with great reviews. We went in and found that the food and service was great. The place was clean and the prices were reasonable. If your looking for good Mexican food this is a good place to go. Also on a side note there is more parking in the back.

After reading other Trip Advisor reviews I was looking forward to a nice Mexican dinner at a family owned neighborhood restaurant. I was on a date with a dapper guy and we were looking forward to margaritas and yummy authentic Mexican food. The only great thing about this evening was my date. We arrived, I spoke Spanish (perhaps that was the problem) and seated at the table... where we waited.... and waited... and waited 45 more minutes for our drink order to be taken. No water was brought to the table. One menu was slapped down and we were told to share. One menu. For the two of us. Other menus were brought to tables of multiple parties. Tables around us were ordering, had eaten and left by the time our dinner order was taken. The girl who brought our drinks said she wasn't the waitress and couldn't take our order. We waited and waited some more. After about an hour, our food order was taken. The food was OK at best. Prawns were terribly overcooked and tough It was clear we were not welcome, but darn, this couple actually stayed through our attempts to ignore them! For some reason, we left a 20 percent tip, even though a fraction of that was deserved. Nothing special and nothing to go back for. I'm surprised they're still in business.

The food was hot and tasty, the restaurant clean and the staff was wonderful!! Great experience! Would definitely recommend.

Please don’t pass by this restaurant because of its less-than-perfect exterior; inside, it is very nice and the service is superb. The main entrance is in the back near the parking lot. If you walk in from the front, then proceed to the back left to the hostess station. I had chicken fajitas with sangria and both were excellent. Chips and salsa (a little spicier than most) comes with the meal. I will return.

We were staying at an Airport Hotel & my Wife needed a Mexican Food Fix. Finding good Mexican Food Restaurants isn't an easy task. My Wife found this Restaurant which was 5 minutes from our Hotel. The exterior is not attractive and we almost left, but decided to go inside and make our decision. You would not have expected the interior to me so nice. The Staff was friendly, helpful & the service was good. My Wife had a Smothered Burrito and I had a Chicken Soft Shell Taco - with a Marg. The chips and dip were good while we waited for our order. The food was above average for Portland Mexican Food. We will return on our next stay.

I needed a decent meal while staying in a hotel near the Portland airport - and Portland traffic sucks. El Sombrero was open for an early dinner. I ordered the Carne Asada, one of my mainstays as I travel around the country. The steak was perfectly prepared and a generous portion. The beans were very good, the rice was OK, and there was a nice portion of Guac. During happy hour, I got a Negro Modelo for $3. Total meal with tip was $20. Service was OK, only one server and she was busy so I never received a water refill or the offer of another beer. I will go back the next time I am staying nearby. I wish I would have walked the 5 blocks, it took over 30 minutes to get back to the hotel during rush hour; these people are idiots on the road.

One of my favorite places near the PDX airport. Not fancy. Somewhat 'shopworn'. Staff is always friendly. Food is good and Margaritas are wonderful.

We've been coming here since 2007, when we were traveling to Portland from out of state. It's conveniently located close to the airport and hotels. Now we live about an hour away up on Mount Hood. Whenever we need to run errands down in the Portland area or travel to or from the airport, this is our "Must have!" spot for lunch or dinner. The wait staff are wonderful. The food is delicious and hot. The margaritas are muy bueno! We just can't say enough good things about this restaurant. It never disappoints us.

I loved the food. Wish the salsa was more tomato like.. too much chile in it. Other than that, carne asada plate was bomb. You wont regret it ;)

My husband and I come here WAY too often. It is comfort food- we both grew up in Southern California and took delicious Mexican food for granted. We have searched extensively in the Portland area and this is the BEST restaurant type Mexi you'll get. We always get Cadillac Margaritas with Hornitos and pretty much any menu item will more that satisfy. And the service! It is run by a family and they treat you like family. The sweetest amigos in the North West. Our usual server forces me to use my Spanish- pretty funny sometimes. All around wonderful experience to keep you coming back for mucho mas...

This place serves your food fast and piping hot!!! A delicious meal every time we dine here and thats usually 2 to 3 times a month with our family. Servers are polite, and attentive, while the food just keeps getting better with time. Parking in the rear is ample, and there isn't much bling here either. JUST GREAT FOOD! Any enchilada combo plate or the mexican pizza with rice... Mmmmm yummy!

The Pacific Northwest does do "do" Mexican well. I guess the farther north you go the fewer Mexicans also go, so what passes for Mexican food north of California is "best guess" by non-Mexicans, or franchises that are the same everywhere (i.e., boring). This is my last night in this area and I'd noticed an increase of hispanics in the region - this prompted me to check out local Mexican Restaurants. I chose El Sombrero based on proximity and TA reviews. It was a good choice. I walked into the bar and was instantly taken back to all the kitsch I remember when growing up in Berkeley in the 70's. Huge, inflated beer bottles and soccer balls hanging from the ceiling, the over-the-top wall paintings - all screamed "Mexico" - as seen by a US tourist. Waitresses were all hispanic, were extremely friendly and helpful. The selections on the menu were awesome - pages of stuff to choose from. I selected the Chile Verde dinner rather than one of the standard combination plates. I hadn't had authentic chili verde since the '80s, Add flour tortillas, a chile relleno a la carte, and a margarita, and I was in heaven. The food arrived quickly - I remember that the old restaurants used to put the entire plate in the oven for 5 or 10 minutes to melt the cheese - I don't know if they still do this in the day of the microwave, but the waitress brought my food holding it with a potholder and warning me of a hot plate. Everything was absolutely delicious: well prepared and quickly served. Waitresses came by periodically to check my progress and ask if I needed anything without hovering. I absolutely stuffed myself. Probably should not have ordered the relleno on the side. Finished with a cup of coffee "on the house," which I suspect because it tasted like it may have been sitting there a little long, but even that didn't spoil the meal.

We're on vacation from San Diego, and wanted Mexican food that wasn't too spicy. Cadillac margarita was generous, menu huge, dinner served hot, waitresses friendly, and restrooms were clean. Very happy with this choice. Before ordering Cadillac margarita, you might want to ask the price. Mine was huge and very good, but $12.50 (no price for it was on menu). Everything else was very reasonable.

This place is friendly and comfy and the food is great. They are very patient with our trying out our budding spanish.

This place was down the street from our hotel, there was convenient parking in the back and the inside is nicely decorated. Server was good, food was fine, not to say it was bad but I've had better. Comparing it to other Mexican restaurants I've eaten at the portions were small for what we paid.

Very good, just came in from Az and this place matches anyplace back home. I had the fish tacos and they were great. Service was every bit as good as the food--- muy rico

We went there because it was in walking distance to our airport motel. The outside was looking shabby but that doesn't necessarily tell something about the restaurant. We went in and our gut-feeling immediately told us to turn around but we stayed. We were told we could take any table because there was only one couple sitting in the restaurant at around 5pm. The woman who waited our table seemed in a bad mood, I can't remember a single smile and she was pushy and we needed to tell her that we can't decide just within one minute of looking at the menu. So, it started bad and went downhill. The food we ordered was on the table within may be 5-10 minutes. She said the plates were super hot. Normally a good thing in a restaurant, but here it seemed the reason was that the dishes came out of the microwave? Can't prove that but the beans on my plate were dry on the top and moist on the bottom, and all were laid out in a single layer which tells me that was due to have them heat up better in the microwave. We all know, I guess, how food looks when it is reheated in the microwave. We had enchiladas but they did not taste fresh, either. We should have trusted our initial gut-feeling, this was one of the worst experiences I had in a restaurant. Not going into details, but on top of that I had stomach issues later. We went to that restaurant because the reviews were pretty good (but actually only very few reviews altogether) and people were pointing out the great food. Not sure, if they experienced a good day in the restaurant or we did hit a bad day. To keep things fair, there were two other ladies working that evening and they were friendly and smiling. I would not recommend that place.

We fell in love with this place from day one. Hard to believe that it was right around the corner, and we had no idea until just recently. My wife had had an incident that required medical attention, and I was left to take care of the kids while she recuperated. I grabbed a couple of the Mexican pizza appetizers as a quick dinner solution, and we were so blown away that we came back the very next day! The matronly owner (I'm assuming, but I have a good feeling about it) is so warm and welcoming, on every visit, that she feels like a member of your family. Having forgotten that dine-in service was restricted (again!) the day after our previous visit due to COVID restrictions, we were forced to take today's order to go, but that did not detract from the wonderful service we received, once again. The food itself? Phenomenal. Mexican cuisine seems to be resilient to incompetence, but El Sombrero is something else. I think they have taken the top spot and are now my absolute favorite. The carne asade burrito I had today was mind-blowingly fabulous! My wife had the tortilla soup, which did wonders for her recuperation, and the kids, having eaten their school lunches, snacked on luxurious queso and chips, thick and rich and wonderful. We snuck a couple bites ourselves! And to top it all off, two watermelon habanero margaritas (to go) that hit every single note of spicy, sweet and salty, with a helluva punch. That cocktail alone is worth the price of admission! I'd read previous reviews from out of town travelers that confessed they never leave Portland without a visit to El Sombrero, and now I understand why. This is the best Mexican restaurant in Portland, hands down.

I worked in Central America for almost a decade, so I'm pretty picky about Latin American food. This is one of my favorite spots over near the airport. Some items have been Americanized, but they also have some really good ones, like camarones con crema (shrimp in cream sauce) or chile verde (green pork chili). Very friendly staff, and real family atmosphere.

We stopped to eat at this place near the PDX airport. As the titles states the service was outstanding. However the two dishes we had Arroz con Pollo and Chili Colorado Burrito left something to be desired. The chicken dish seem to be made with some not quite rancid oil, Maybe this was a bad day in the kitchen.

While the decor looks like it did thirty years ago the menu has changed. The wonderful cactus salad is gone and the menu looks like any other North American Mexican Restaurant. That said, the food is better than most, in fact the best of the last three of this type we have tasted in the past 4 months. The lunch special of the day, chicken enchilada and chicken taco was quite good and the pork tostada was even better. Our wait for service was quite long as we arrived just after a work crew of 10 and another party of six, but the hard working waitress was very efficient under the circumstances. Years ago when we lived in east portland this was our favorite Mexican restaurant, now as we reside on Portland's west side it is is too far for regular visits, but if we are in the area again at meal time, we will return.

This place is just so warm and friendly! The staff always makes us feel like family. The food is great! I love the shrimp enchiladas! Great margaritas too! Very reasonably priced.

Our family has been eating here for over 30 years. We are remembered and always greeted with smiles. The authentic food is fresh.and delicious, great variety and newly furnished. Fast service for 2 or 10.