Daniel was quite literally the best server we have ever had anywhere. Food was delicious and hot! Music was perfect, not overwhelming. read more

Abuelo's Mexican Restaurant - Skinny margarita - Mexican Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

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Fun Mexican atmosphere with decent food The chips come with three different salsas, but I could personally pass on all of them. None of them are much like traditional Mexican restaurant salsa. But maybe some people love that. Definitely swap your refried beans for the papas. So delicious. read more

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Food was great, ambience pleasant, and waitress Nayelly was very helpful and attentive !

We have already been here twice and each time the food and service was incredible. Abuelos is in a prime location so it made us want to try it. When we walked in, I was genuinely impressed with its layout. It had a water fountain in it!!! And the decor was perfect! I had the quesadilla and it was incredible. It was very cheesy just how I like it. They also give you chips before your entree with three different salsas - this was a nice little perk. While we were there both of our servers were very attentive and got us the food quickly. It was great customer service all around. We will definitely be back here again soon. read more

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Beautiful place, service was excellent. The pork tenderloin needs to be marinated so it doesn't rely on the bacon for any taste. Chimichaga was outstanding, had very little beans served with the meal and for almost 30$ you would think the food would be in abundance. Bar drinks are inconsistent so do not order outside of the menu items. read more

Totally would give it a 5/5 if the prices weren't so high. Went to one years ago and wasn't impressed and sure glad I have this one a try! Tex Mex at its finest! The salsa trio is refreshing and the chips are light and airy! Huge restaurant with ample Seatings don even a patio condos! Can't wait to come back and try happy hour! I was pregnant last time so now I'm ready to party it up! Responsibly of course! read more

We just left after having a great dinner - a Grande platter - my granddaughter and I and had a wonderful server, Blake. He was great from start to finish. So friendly and attentive. Will definitely ask to be seated in his section in the future! read more

Service was a little slow at first...to the point we were about to leave, but the hostess who had sat us took note and corrected the situation. After that, the team was spot on and cares for every detail going forward. We enjoyed every dish we had while sitting on the patio on a beautiful fall evening. I eat their food often, almost always ordered for delivery, and never been disappointed. I am always happy on the occasion to eat in house. Tonight was no different. read more

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We were disappointed that the Kissimmee location closed, but excited to learn of one in Lakeland. After a beach weekend in Sarasota we stopped for a first visit to the Lakeland location...we were very pleased. Same great atmosphere, same great service and even better yet same great food. Thank you for not closing ALL your locations. We will definitely visit this location again and again and again. read more

Service was great, food came out fast and hot, and everything was delicious! First time trying it but definitely won't be the last.

Good food , good server , I loved the decor but the music was horrible all you could hear was garble or something But you could not hear the music over the croud so it was annoying and distracting from enjoying our conversations. read more

Abuelo's Mexican Restaurant - Chips salsa - Mexican Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

For a Mexican restaurant and having 3 items that aren't even gluten free they are "gluten sensitive " is mind blowing. Why are they using a seasoning that has wheat? That is just some cheap way of cooking. And the worst part I still got very sick. All I had was veggie fajitas bc it was that or a ground beef taco. But anyway do better it isn't hard to not have wheat in every meal. Even the soup(chicken tortilla) wasn't gluten free. Just sad for a large menu to have nothing to eat read more

I have been a customer for years. The food is always AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS & I have never had an issue with service BUT their new music choice is AWFUL! read more

Abuelo's Mexican Restaurant - Green Chili Quesadillas - Mexican Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

First time eating here with family. Best place for FOOD POISONING and a trip to ER. Frozen margaritas seemed to be the culprit.

I really do love coming here their red sauce is very good I do also like the green which is sweet and the other one's a little bit hotter chips are amazing freshly made. It's one of the first times that I've changed it up I got the fajitas chimichanga it was very good. I normally get the steak fajitas which are absolutely fabulous more than enough for two meals sometimes even three depending on how much chips and salsa I eat.... Our server was amazing she was spot on we didn't even have to ask to have our drinks refilled. The chairs are very comfortable the whole place is comfortable really. It's very pretty has wall murals and a wishing fountain. I always thought abuelo's meant grandmother but it actually means grandfather. read more

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Today, 10/21/25, Abuelos served us old chips, and food which was reheated-in-plate. We ate here many other times but today was a total dissappointment. Service and ambiance, as usual, great. read more

This place is truly as good as it gets for Mexican fare. Stellar service was provided last evening by Selina. ( Spelling?) She did a great job of taking care of us. She was courteous and helpful answering all of our questions. We both enjoyed our meals but the three different salsas served with the complimentary chips were amazing . Each presenting their unique flavors. We can only wish that we had one of these restaurants in our area. We will continue to visit this location as well as others wherever they present themselves... read more

Abuelo's Mexican Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

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I had forgotten just how good Abuelo's is! The atmosphere is exquisite, with the gorgeous statue and mural but it's the food that sends it over the top! The chops and salsa are perfectly seasoned, with 3 different salsa options automatically provided. The beef enchilada and refried beans were so good I kept eating long past the point of being full. And the service is of course top notch. read more

Abuelo's Mexican Restaurant - Mural and dining area - Mexican Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

Giving it 3 stars because it's not authentic Mexican food and since the salsa verde was watery. I Came in on a Monday for dinner and was seated right away. The waitress was attentive. You are greeted with chips and salsa, I requested salsa verde which wasn't hot/spicy at all. The food came out fast. There's a beautiful mural throughout the back of the restaurant and an abuelo statue tribute when you walk in. I will go again to try something different, but I'm still hunting for authentic Mexican food. read more

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The food was amazing, portions were super large. I had special requests and they brought my food exactly as I asked. Thank you, first time customer and now I'm a lifer!!! read more

What happen to the Queso Blanco? Don't you hate it when you go to your favorite restaurant and they decide to change it up. That's what happen to Abuelo. As you can tell from the last photo they change their cheese dip. It didn't live up. The white cheese deep tasted to light and delicious. This update cheese dip is so heavy & orange it just wasn't good. Our server was ok, it took her 10 minutes to acknowledge us. After that everything was ok. Our main food was good. Every time we come there we alway ordered the Queso Blanco. Next time we will just stick with the free salsa. read more

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Food is always good and the atmosphere is relaxing. Service was good too. I had cheese enchiladas and they were delicious. I love their green salsa too. Highly recommend!!!! read more

The service was great! The food was good, but not very authentic. The ranchero sauce was more like a tomato sauce. The reformed beans, i don't know, just weren't very good. The presentation was great, but the taste leaves a bit to be desired. We did get to eat outside and that was awesome too. read more

We all know that Abuelos is a wonderful restaurant. The reviews are true...go and eat there. I am here to review one appetizer. I have found that usually an appetizer is enough for me to eat, so that's where I start. Tonight I had the extreme good sense to order the Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Shrimp. $12.99 When you order it, you will receive 3 large cooked shrimp sitting in a cooked green chili. The whole thing is covered in this bacony, smoky, cheesy, incredibly seasoned perfection. Seriously. It is incredible. You will not be disappointed. Between that and the very generous bowl of chips and sauces, it is a meal. read more

Spacious with a great menu and service to boot. Thoroughly enjoyed my meal and will return frequently. Love the pet friendly patio too! read more

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Went on Friday was absolutely delicious service food everything! As always, very clean wonderful server, right on point ! read more

Abuelo's Mexican Restaurant - Steak Shrimp Fajita Salad - Mexican Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

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We came by to meet up with family to visit. We had plenty of space and our waitress was attentive. We had chips with three types of salsa a queso. We ordered Taco salad with chicken and fajitas with steak and shrimp. The salad was very good and the fajitas were also very good with tender steak. We were not rushed and had plenty of time to visit. A good place for a group of people and smaller areas also for couples. read more

I was craving mexican food as we were coming back from our anniversary stay in St. Augustine and this popped up with decent reviews and not too far off of I4 so we decided to stop in. Very nice building and really nice decor inside. Checked in and had a 20 minute wait. A little harder given covid but they let you wait in your car and will text you. Heading to our table the smells were awesome. The fajitas smelled amazing. We got the salsa and chips to start free. Very good salsa which boded well for the food. I was looking for tacos and ground beef so I went for the enchilada / taco meal. It was actually a smaller plate than I thought it would be since these places usually have big portions. Not too bad for the price though. However I thought the ground beef could use some more seasoning. It was kind of onenote. I added hot sauce and salsa that kicked it up. Deb got there Mi Abuelo's Manjar which was enchiladas stacked and covered. It was pretty good but suffered from the same seasoning issue. Overall it was pretty good but nothing that knocked our socks off. read more

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While the waiter was outstanding, the food was subpar and overpriced. I personally had the Mexican Stackable which contained tons of refried beans but very little ground beef. The Dulce de Leche was great. however an hour after getting home I got violently ill. We will not return. read more

I came here for dinner with my parents and both seem to really like this place and have visited several times before. The service was fine and everything else was just dandy but the food I did not care for. I ordered the Laredo dinner meal and it was just too salty for my palate. I'm also not a fan of Mexican rice with peas and carrots, something about it felt like it was a frozen bag of peas and carrots added to the rice. At any rate, like I said my parents continue to enjoy their food and themselves when frequenting here but it's a no-go for me. Again, service was a-ok it was really a food issue for me. The food was piping hot but man oh man it really lacked flavor and was way too salty, so much so that I couldn't even finish my meal. I took maybe a few bites and immediately new this wasn't for me. read more

I met a client here for lunch and was impressed with the quality of the food. Let's not fool ourselves for a second that this is authentic, it is more Tex-Mex than Mexican, but it was still a good meal in a nice environment served by a very professional staff. The chips and salsa we're good, we also added in order of queso. This is not something I normally order, but I will say I enjoyed it as a nice alternative to the typical chips and salsa alone. The queso was not only an attractive offering, it was well executed with chunks of peppers adding to the visual and the taste. For my main course I had to enchiladas and a taco. The beef taco and beef enchiladas were a little weak, but the chicken taco was a pretty good rendering of that classic. Next time I will focus more on the check-in and less on the ground beef. The accompanying rice and refried beans was pretty much stock, nothing special. I had them bring out a homemade hot sauce, and I must say it was pretty good. All in all I am going to give it five stars. As I said, I have had more authentic. But as an overall lunch experience, I have to go with five stars. read more

Abuelo's Mexican Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

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Whenever we are in Lakeland we make a point to stop at Abuelos at Lakeside Village. Has been our favorite Mexican dining establishment for years. Ample parking, and they always seem to have plenty of staff on hand, no matter the time of day. On this visit, I ordered "Mi Abuelo's Manjar," which is (copied from their website) ... Grandfather's three stacked enchiladas layered with beef, cheese and chili con carne, topped with two eggs and served with refried beans and your choice of Papas con Chile™ or Mexican rice. (Picture included with this review.) My wife ordered the Fajita Tacos. Both meals were prepared to perfection, just as we've come to expect from this fine Mexican dining establishment. I really want to point out to you what a fine job Sherold did in taking care of us. Our party included a lady in her 70's with a severe hearing disability. Sherold was very patient with us all, and I just felt management needed to know what a fine job she did via this review. And yes, I sought out a Manager on duty and informed them of her fine work. So people, if you get exemplary service, THANK your server, and let someone know. See ya next time Abuelos! read more

Abuelo's Mexican Restaurant - Mi Abeulos Manjar - Mexican Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

I have no idea how this has good reviews. This was definitely not what I expected. Food had no flavor at all. All the meats tasted frozen out of a bag. This is a disappointment to Mexican food. Nothing about it was authentic. I had the chimichanga with cilantro, lime rice, and my daughter had steak fajitas with Mexican rice both were hard not cooked all the way things were salted pico de gallo has no flavor at all. Chips and salsa were also very disappointing. All I can say is this place is completely disgusting seriously walked out with the stomach ache. both of us did. Our waitress was amazing. I will not lie about that but other than that I will never go to this place again.. read more

The food is real Mexican food fresh the service was amazing and a quiet ambience The enchiladas was the best read more

Austin gave the most beautiful service I've experienced in a long time and was very personable and kind. The ambiance was on Point and the food he recommended was phenomenal ! Also the drink he made was delicious. Will definitely be back and loved the experience with Austin! read more

We had not heard of this chain before moving here. It is quite different than the places we are used to. They have the typical fare found in Tex-Mex restaurants along with more creative dishes. Their margaritas are interesting and quite delicious. All the young people who work here are quite pleasant. This place is very busy and seems to be extremely popular with the birthday party set. (Every time we've been here, or even just driven by, there are crowds of people with balloons, etc., coming in for a party.) Their guacamole is delicious, very well done. The queso is good, but better on food than on chips. The complimentary trio of salsas served up with chips are all quite tasty. My husband's had both the Pork Tenderloin Abrigada with Enchiladas and the De Los Mejores de la Casa which was a similar version, but with steak wrapped with bacon instead of pork. He really enjoyed both, but thought the pork was better. The latter came with bacon wrapped shrimp which were expertly done, very tender. I've had the Fajita Chimichanga (steak) and the Juarez (platter with beef taco, tamale, cheese enchilada, and sour cream chicken enchilada). The chimichanga won hands down. The "fajita steak" was cubed beef, but melted in my mouth. Chilies gave it a good spice and the queso on top was a delicious accompaniment. I really like the Mexican rice here, it is very light, and almost delicate flavored. The portions here are a very nice size as well. All in all, it's a fun place to go to and extremely popular, so don't be surprised if you have to wait for a seat. read more

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The biggest burrito I've ever had! We strolled in at 9:30 on a Wednesday evening, yes we were THOSE people who show up right before closing, and were promptly greeted and seated by the hostess. Our sever, Nate, came to collect our drink order within minuets if us sitting; right away I started to ask him about vegan options and what he would recommend to me. He was very familiar with the menu and ingredients in all of the dishes he spoke of, however I decided to go off the menu and asked if he could have a veggie burrito made for me with "all of the veggies available in the kitchen". He said it was completely do-able and in 15 minutes or so he was bringing me a gigantic plate with the biggest burrito ever! I was expecting a burrito I could pick up and eat but this monster needed a fork and knife! The ranchero sauce that topped the plate was delicious too. I was only able to eat half of the monster size dish and took the other half home, not a bad deal to have spent $10.95! I did fill up on their free chips and salsa before receiving my food though. My boyfriend had a chicken and shrimp meal.. I can't say much about it but the Trea Leches cake he took home smelled so heavenly I had to snap a picture. I'm so happy I found another local spot I can eat amazing food at! read more

Abuelo's Mexican Restaurant - Grande Burrito - vegan style - Mexican Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

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Lakeland is our favorite location, but yesterday was a disappointing lunch for us there. The 3 dip sampler--bottom half of the bowl of guacamole was all shredded lettuce and no guac! So we got half the amount of guac we were expecting. WFT? When we order the guac appetizer, there is no lettuce! I'm paying for guac, NOT lettuce! Then the real disappointment. My husband ordered the pricey Los Mejores De La Casa--last time he ordered it medium and it was more like well done. This time he again ordered it medium and stressed MEDIUM but it turned out to be RAW in the middle. The top and bottom were cooked but 1/8" from the top and bottom was RAW MEAT! The outer edges were medium to rare. He always eats the shrimp and other items that are on the plate first and did not cut into the steak when it arrived like I do when I order a filet. It was a longer than usual wait for everything so he did not send it back but left the raw portion--about 1" x 1"--on his plate when we left. " He thought when he first saw it he would be able to eat it but could not stomach it. He pointed it out to our server who came to remove the plate and the server said "oh that's too bad". He did not offer to call the manager or take $5 off or anything. I told my husband this is why you should always cut into your steak when it arrives! I always do. But I do feel the server should have done something about it. I think this happened because a Mexican restaurant does not serve a lot of steak and just doesn't know how to cook it properly. Yesterday was a busy lunch service, so it may have been a kitchen helper who cooked it. We noticed that fajitas came out smelling very burned to the table next to us and they left a lot uneaten. So beef and inexperienced cooks might be the problem. But, we will NEVER order Los Mejores again!! Too bad because it's a great meal. Another issue was the disappearing blond bartender. Husband ordered a beer and it did not come and did not come. We flagged down our server and he glanced at the bar area near where we were sitting and said "the bartender hasn't got it ready yet" even though we had seen the bartender conversing with a man seated at the bar. Our server said he would have to find the bartender because blondie was AWOL. He did find him and bring the beer but it was overdue. read more

Great service and huge portions. Loved the vegetarian choices. Will definitely go back.

Went to this place for the first time in forever. The atmosphere resembles a typical patio in any Caribbean country. You will be surrounded by Mexican motives and beautiful hand painted murals. Our Waitress was extremely sweet and attentive, checking on us every few times and refilling our chips and water very often. I had the chicken pumpkin, absolutely delicious! The fajitas were also a great choice, sizzling and ready to eat. Don't forget to have a Margarita, or just the sangria swirl, which gives to the best of both worlds. read more

Abuelo's Mexican Restaurant - Patio with sky motive. - Mexican Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

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