- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
Presidente Mexican Restaurant
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:
- Yes
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
9 reviews for Presidente Mexican Restaurant
My family comes here ALL the time....and the food isn't really all that good, but the nostalgia of it makes me like this place so much. I remember eating the burger, or NY Steak, when I was a little kid (because I was fat and didn't want Mexican food)....but now, I enjoy the tacos and the refried beans with melted cheese on top. Oh yes, oh yes.
I have yet to try the drinks here, though. Guess it's time to go back :D
I've been living in the Valley for so long and have always wondered about this place. So, yesterday I went here for lunch. I had the Carne Asada Grilled Special. I was so disappointed in the steak. It was so rough and full of griselle (hard fatty subtance). I felt so bad that I kept spitting it out while my lunch date watched. :-/
The cheese enchilada, beans, rice, and sweet corn cake, were so yummy compared to that hard chewy steak. I did order it medium well because I consider places that are not real steak houses not able to produce the perfect medium. Of course they couldn't even produce a medium well correctly because it came out well done.
Maybe I'm speaking to soon for this place, but when I come back I'm eating something else.
This place is located in the heart of mexican food territory and this place is just shameful....salty as hell...as if they were trying to poison the shit out of me...i was literally bloated for like a week from eating here...i only ate it because the asian complex in me and my mom's voice saying finish your food...its a sin to be wasteful...
the wait for this place is ridiculous...there is no reason to go here...the only reason i've gone to this place more than once was because i came with a group and they chose this place...and i was just one little fish in a tank at an aquarium..i convince them to go anywhere else...
grossity gross barf in my mouth...
drive to reseda and valerio and go the the taco truck called Priscillas and get yourself a delicious carne asada burrito for a 1/4 of the price...
I am not a huge fan of Mexican restaurants in the Valley. Used to come here because it was near my old high school. The family decided to head here the other day, rather than the usual El Queso Grande. The margarita was not very good. The food was mediocre. I see myself going back in the future.
This restaurant is part of a group of restaurants, some with the same name of Presidente, and a few that are not. Most are in the San Fernando Valley area.
I came for a business lunch, which it seems that on a Friday, is a popular idea. Still, it is a pretty big place. Inside are large booths and a ceramic tile decor, There is a very large patio outside which is covered to protect you from the sun as you eat.
The waiter came to ask for something to drink right away, but was slow to deliver it, and actually had to be reminded after our food selection arrived. They have a pretty good size menu, but for business lunches, they have an express lunch menu of about 10 dishes.
I had their Ceviche Tostada. An unusual dish but pretty good. It was a classic white fish Ceviche mix poured atop two crispy flat tortillas. I guess to satisfy the Gringo customers, it was served with french fries, which seemed incongruent for this dish. But I thought it was ok, considering I already had chips and salsa when we first sat down.
Unlike many Mexican dishes with rice and beans, this was lighter and didn't get me into a food coma an hour later, which was great, since I had to drive all the way back to LAX!
All the express lunch offerings were under $10, and we got in and out in an hour, with plenty of time to talk, too, which is the idea of a business lunch.
PS - it may be hard to find if you are looking for a sign. The sign is covered by the trees in front, so go by an online map, GPS, or that is on the corner.
I like chunky salsa. The stuff with the hunks of tomato? I guess you could even say I prefer spicy pico de gallo because too much liquid in my salsa is never good. What's the point? It just runs off your chip and makes a mess.
Also, I grade every Mexican place I go to based on their chile rellano. Once I find a place that makes one well, I'll declare it the best Mexican restaurant in the world (because I have the power to do so).
Presidente isn't too bad, they have lots of locations in the valley, so maybe another location is better. I went to the Mission Hills one for lunch today with my family because...I don't know why. My parents said "EL PRESIDENTE!" and we took off.
Their outdoor seating area is nice and covered; huzzah for sun protection!
Salsa: NOT chunky. Watery! =( Chips were good though.
Chile Rellano: The smallest chile inside a rellano I've ever had. Lots of cheese though. I'm still on the hunt for one made without so much damn egg. Concentrate on the chile and cheese, please!
I bit into my rice and it was fine. Later on, it had some sort of salt chunk in it - like I just ate a Ramen packet. Perhaps an unmixed portion of flavor crystals? I guzzled down some water and my rice went untouched from then on.
My dad had the enchiladas rancheras because that's the dish he gets at all Mexican restaurants. It looked good; he said it was good. Also, he had a margarita - didn't look like the best, but I didn't taste it either. Mom had two beef tacos, finished one, had a cold and couldn't taste anything. My grandma only likes chicken or shrimp fajitas, which looked like the best food on the table. (She says bell peppers give you gas though.) Beau was cheap and had a quesadilla. It looked like, well, a quesadilla.
All in all, it was fine. There are better Mexican restaurants though.
As for the cemetary across the way that holds Ritchie Valens, it also holds my brother. I'm sure he's pissed about the salsa too.
The best Margaritas!
Pretty good mood in the place. Lots of space to sit. Can sit outside and smoke on the patio or inside and enjoy the Spanish decor. There is a bar there too, its separate from the restaurant. The night I went there, there was karaoke. This is a Mexican restaurant and the karaoke was in Spanish, there were English songs too which I ended up being the only one singing in Spanish.
Great size of the drinks, my margarita was huge. Also we got nachos and the plate was pretty big too. The bill wasn't bad at all for the 6 or 7 of us. Good times after class, we needed that.
It had been a couple of years since I had been to President so I was dying to go, I missed their food.
The parking lot and the actual place seemed a little run down but as long as the food is good right?
We were the first to arrive for lunch and maybe we caught them off guard, I don't know but it was a weird deal. Upon entering we noticed a strong smell of floor disinfectant, along with the look of panic on employees faces. Instead of seating us in the dining room the host chose to seat us in the bar area where it's all tile that was still wet with that reeking STRONG chemical smell and it just seemed muggy and dark, very unappetizing and hard to get passed. On top of this the salsa that they brought us was not fresh, I noticed this upon just looking at it, clearly it was last night's, and that stuff grosses me out to a point of no return.
The next part I'm not proud of but hey, what's a girl to do? I faked an emergency call and we left before ordering a thing! I couldn't do it, and believe me it's upsetting, because at one time this place brought me many of good times and great food. One night in particular my party dined with a friend that is an opera singer his style and depth much like the late great Pavarotti when dared to bust out with his music he did right at the table, the entire restaurant stood and applauded , management sent our table a free round of drinks right after! (great times at Presidente)
What the heck happened?
The best enchiladas I have ever had in my life!! I have been going to this place forever...and whenever I am back home in the valley I have to hit this place up!! I could eat the chips and salsa forever!! Margaritas are damn good here too!! The bartenders sure do know how to make one good top-shelf!
Side-note: Ritchie Valens is buried at the cemetery right across the way....some of the old school bartenders who are older than my deceased grandfather will share stories like you wouldn't believe!!
