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Los Baez Mexican Restaurant - CLOSED
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good for:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
12 reviews for Los Baez Mexican Restaurant
I've been dining on the likes of Los Baez food since I was a teenager. When one of the family members opened a restaurant in my hometown, it quickly became my very favorite Mexican. When I moved to PDX after college?? I would drive to Salem specifically for Los Baez food. You can imagine how thrilled I was when I heard they had opened a restaurant in Portland...and on my side of town no less!!
There are several things that make Los Baez great.
1) Their tortilla chips (homemade and especially good when fresh) are awesome and well salted.
2) I LOVE their salsa and could easily eat it by the spoonful.
3) Homemade flour tortillas...need I say more?
4)Mmmmm, quesadillas.
And in the interest of full disclosure, I worked for a Los Baez restaurant for two years. Here are my "insider" tips...
a) Don't get creative...stick to the basics. And by basics I mean that LB does the following really well: tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas, Wally burritos, fajitas and refried beans. I cringe when people want tortilla soup or fish tacos...they never did that stuff so I would steer clear from them attempting it now. In fact, the first time I dined at the PDX location, I was sad to see that they were trying to throw arugula in with their quesadillas rather than just sticking with the iceburg that had been so good to them.
b) Did you know you can order flour tortillas to go (pre-cooked) and make them at home for your own Mexican home cooking? You can also order large containers of salsa to go.
c) You can ask for a side of "gravy" (which is their enchilada sauce) which is FANTASTIC for dipping your flour tortillas in.
I do wish it had a more cozy atmosphere. The building is a really cool one but they've got things way too spread out and cold feeling. They need more booths and the table seating needs something...I'm not sure what but it feels awkward.
And I do think the staff is super friendly.
Free wi-fi and $3.00 margaritas?
Now THAT's a dangerous combo for Laura N.
We've been through my healthy-eating obsessions before, so I'll spare you the details. Basically - I didn't want to face the guilt that the standard fare of cheese and guac and sour cream and lardy beans would have surely evoked, so I asked for a basic black bean burrito with salsa - and I must say - the tortilla was just as good as everyone is making it out to be. (We won't get into the nutrition facts of a delicious tortilla...um...yeah).
The rest of the food? Nothing that would send me running back to the place for seconds. A mediocre atmosphere doesn't bode well for this undoubtedly pricy piece of property.
To conclude: for $2.50 well drinks, $3.00 margaritas, and free wi-fi, how good does the food really need to be?
No...it just wasn't good. We wanted to go to Screen Door but the line was around the block. We walked across the street and Los Baez had a few people inside, which should have tipped us off that it wasn't going to be great.
Our waiter was pleasant, with a dry sense of humor. One star for service.
The chips and guacamole, and tortillas, were good. One more star.
The rest of the food was dismal. I had tortilla soup, which looked great with shredded chicken and tortilla strips, but was so salty it was barely edible. I ate the chicken and left all the broth. The shredded meat quesadilla was equally salty and a soggy mess on the bottom.
My sister's carne asada seriously looked like road kill. It was a tough, flat, gristly piece of gray meat. She couldn't eat it. My husband's chicken combo was the best of the bunch, but even he said it was too salty and rather bland. We all agreed the food reminded us of cruise food; bland to serve a wide palate and salty to make the old people taste something. The salsa had no taste. How that can be done, I have no idea, but it tasted like wet nothing.
Maybe margaritas or happy hour would be worth going just for booze and chips and salsa, but we will not be returning for lunch or dinner. I wish Gordon Ramsey would hit up this place for his Kitchen Nightmares show. Screen Door across the street is hopping, this place has enough food traffic to be really busy if the food was good. The fact that the place was almost empty attests to the fact it is not good.
The search for Mexican food in PDX continues.
One of the best stories I've ever heard involving my Sweet Baboo takes place in a taqueria in Northern California in which he is so upset with the lousy quality of a burrito that he punches it. Punches. It. And walks out of the restaurant. And then a good friend, known for his hobo inclinations, picks up said busted burrito and muses whether it would be okay for him to eat it.
I unfortunately did not get to witness the burrito punch, not to be confused with a donkey punch, because that would just make me uncomfortable. But last weekend? While at the fine dining establishment Los Baez Mexican Restaurant? I was a bit worried that I was in for busted fish taco all over my face. Because dude was not happy.
And it kind of makes me feel like a bad person for writing an unsavory review for this place, seeing as this is a nice restaurant with a heartwarming blurb written on the menu about its tender family connection and beloved ties to Michoacan, and a friendly wait staff, and a delightful mural of the Mexican countryside you can look at while the love of your life is getting increasingly angry over the quality of his dining experience. The food's just not good. Or worse: it felt half-assed. My chile relleno was depressingly lackluster. And watery. And dude's fish taco left something to be desired. I was hoping the saving grace would be the refried beans because personally I think I could survive happily on decent refried beans and timely refills of iced tea, but no. No. That's Spanish for no.
And another thing? There was this real bad awkward wait for service. We went at about 3:00 on a Sunday and sat. And sat. And considered maybe leaving in a passive-aggressive huff, and that was before the potential punching was even a gleam in my food bruiser's eye.
So.
I'm sorry. I feel really bad about this.
Also: I added a star to my initial solitary star because lord help me if I didn't thoroughly enjoy the huh-what out of the dreamy flour tortillas they brought with my food.
Key words:
*Happy hour
*margaritas
*nachos
I know that's only three, but its enough.
Los Baez has pretty much all that I need for a fine afternoon with pals. They have a happy hour that starts at 2 PM - YES! - that's 2 PM people! The HH menu consists of very inexpensive well drinks, PBR's and 3$ margys. The snacks on the HH menu are typical, but very generous. My pals tried nachos and a quesadilla - both of which were about twice the size we actually expected.
The bar service was attentive, but the place was pretty empty. Oh and they have a few flat screens in the bar and when I asked if they could change it to tennis (what?) they happily agreed.
I can't say I was wowed enough by the food to want to go back for dinner, but the happy hour was great and I will certainly go back for that!
Oh and they have wi-fi too!
I'm a broke college student = I love happy hour.
This one was no exception...yummy yummy $3 margarita, the kind where you could drink like 30 because you are convinced something so sweet & delicious could not possibly get you intoxicated. Nevertheless, I stuck to one. :)
The quesadilla I had was nothing to write home about, but who really writes home about quesadillas anyways? For that matter, who WRITES home when there are cell phones and internet?
There was free wi-fi that I didn't take advantage of, but it's nice to know they have it.
I would go back, but there are few places with $3 margs that I wouldn't return to.
I know it's a rather pedestrian quest, but I'm still looking for the best chips and salsa in PDX, and Los Baez didn't quite manage to impress me.
Beyond that, this is a pretty cool place to slake your thirst for margaritas and Americanized Mexican food. We hit Los Baez on a Sunday afternoon, and things were exceptionally quiet. The space itself is large and comfortable. If you've got a huge crew to feed, keep this place in mind. To boot, it's located smack in the middle of one of this city's best neighborhoods for getting your drink on in style.
The staff was exceptionally helpful, and the homemade tortillas definitely set this family-run joint apart from some of the incredibly mediocre Mexican food I've had in PDX.
While I won't be back soon, I will definitely keep Los Baez on my list of places to visit again.
this closure is totally fine with me, in case you were wondering.
maybe something totally amazing will go in?! please?!
maybe a killer bar/restaurant with a rooftop patio? just an idea.
whatever it is, please let it have free wi-fi because since Los Baez' departure, I have none, and I'm sure as hell not paying for it...
1 Previous Review: Show all »
-
11/30/2007
Listen, I grew up in the Northwest, okay?
I mean, I know what authentic Mexican food tastes like (i… Read more »
Two disclaimers.
1) I usually dislike "authentic" mexican food because of overly-greasy or too complex entrees.
2) I tend to be picky.
That being said, let me walk you through the dining experience I had recently at Los Baez. Server was attentive - I ordered Chicken Chimichangas, and my friend ordered the Fajita Quesadilla. The chips and salsa served while waiting were mediocre, but good. The salsa was bland in consistency, but hot on the spiciness.
The meal that was brought out... well. Apparently Chicken Chimichangas are what appears to be boiled chicken, dusted with cheese and wrapped in greasy tortillas. The Spanish rice was good, and the black beans were excellent. My friend's Fajita Quesadilla was basically the same entree as mine boiled chicken, but with lettuce and not as large. I was pretty disappointed in the quality and price, but the service was good and fast, and the atmosphere nice.
I would have gladly opted for Cha Cha Cha (which I love) or tried Ol Ol (which I have heard is good) instead of this $30 mediocre meal.
I'm a very tough critic when it comes to Mexican food. I grew up in a CA town with an abundace of excellent authentic Mexican food. I have not found anything remotely close to the good stuff back at home yet here.
Los Baez is a pretty new addition to my neighborhood, and I've walked by it several times, turning my nose up without even considering trying it. But I felt adventurous last night and suggested to my boyfriend that we go try some Joan Baez food, so that I could further confirm my "Mexican food sucks here" mentality.
It's a huge, somewhat sterile looking place that could benefit greatly from some warmer lighting and lively festive decor and what the hell even some flamenco dancers or mariachi band in the corner, cause there's room for them all here. Not many people were here when we showed up...not a great sign either.
I had the last minute urge to step out before the waiter came....because I was having some second thoughts about this place, but then I saw the waiter smiling as he approached our table with some chips and salsa, and I just didn't have the heart to bail after that. Chips=good and crispy...Salsa=better than most that I've had in Portland.
My boyf got the enchiladas, which he loved and I concurred that they were pretty good. I went with the chicken tacos, which were better than I expected...not really authentic, but then I didn't really expect them to be either. Their plates are HUGE, though. I could only eat half, and I'm looking forward to diving into the leftovers tonight.
What earns them 4 stars was their fresh tortillas! They have a huge tortilla making machine in the middle of the restaurant...and they were some of the best tortillas I've had! Yum! Their service was really great too. So, yes, I'd probably go back. Certainly for their happy hour at least. And I'll probably bring a giant purse that I'll fill up with tortillas while I ask for more and more refills to the table.
I have to admit that I know precious little about Mexican food. I grew up in New England, and I have yet to even make it down to California since I've been here.
That being said, take a quick peek at the other review(s) and I'm sure others will speak about its quality. The only thing I'd like to add in would be regarding the staff. They were all great folks; extremely polite and friendly. They know their stuff, especially concerning Tequila.
The bar has an ample happy hour, and lots of seating for a bar in its area. The spicy level of the salsa comes and goes, but that doesn't really bother me as the quality of the product is consistently great.
Also, if you happen to need takeout, and they are not slammed with people, I highly recommend it. Seldom do you find a place that will take serious care in preparing it's takeout orders so that you don't feel like you lost out on the experience of eating their food.
Best Margarita ever. Also, the red sauce (I'm not sure what it's called) is soo good. The happy hour is one of the best in town, yet it's relatively mellow because not many people know to go there. My pick for the perfect Baez evening is $3 Margarita, Pork Happy Hour Nachos (they put beans, cheese, pico, guac, and sour cream on each chip individually--it pretty much blew my mind the first time I had them), and another $3 Margarita...or perhaps a 99 cent Pabst if the mood strikes. Everyone who works there will strike up a conversation with you, so even if you're solo happy houring it, you will have company--that is, as long as you want it.