I actually picked this place because of the reviews on Yelp. Although I thought it was really good (and I love Mexican food) I definitely think there are other places in the area that are a little bit better (so I'm giving it three stars for it being a-okay). I would eat there again though, so I would still recommend giving it a shot.. maybe it was the option I chose on the menu. :) The service was just fine and the food came out really quick. It's a great restaurant for a date night if that's what you are looking for! read more

I'm writing this to the owner of Cafe Del Sol. My partner and I ate at your restaurant last night after having taken a one year break. We've eaten at Cafe Del Sol at least 10 times and each time I leave wanting more and better. It happened again last night - here's why: - Prices and portions are out of whack. Grilled shrimp $18.50 comes with 6 shrimp, a cup of rice, 1/2 cup of mango "salsa" and some lettuce. Ingredient wholesale, $3. That's a huge markup. How about "surprising and delighting" your patrons with 10 shrimp or a side caesar or a baked rice dish to go along with the shrimp. As it is, it's salty, fine and crazy overpriced. - The "famous" seafood enchiladas. My partner ordered - one large enchilada, 3 tablespoons of seafood. Again, fine but $18.50?? - The "wine" selection - red and white. Yawn. - Chips and salsa - not provided. Chip and Guac - we ordered. 30 chips, 3/4 cup of guac. $12. Bland, boring, uninspired. - The music system is broken. It's been broken for years. If there is background music playing it is either (a) muffled by static, (b) inappropriately loud or (c) off/on/off/on irritating. Spend $100 and get a new system. - Your window blinds. Some are broken, some are missing, all are dirty. Again, show your customers you care and spend $250 and get new blinds online. They're cheap but noticeable. www.blinds.com - The space. Clearly this was once a hair salon or small retail store. Do something to make it more welcoming and homey. A box of paper table coverings blocking the side entrance isn't welcoming. The scuffed and potholed floors look bad. I think you've grown bored of owning a restaurant. The food is bland, overpriced and uninteresting. The menu is tired. The staff is bored and disinterested. If you want to be in the restaurant business with a great location in downtown Menlo Park - act like it. We'll probably wait another year and give you one last try. Fingers crossed. read more

This place might look very low key and like its from the 1970s but boy, the food is quite modern and tasty. Instead of just giving plain tortilla chips and salsa like every other Mexican joint, they provide potato-filled tacquitos. Props for being unique and more props for making it work. The grilled shrimp in sweet salsa and guacamole was stellar for appetizer. I had the braised pork ribs that was completely broken down. Eating that with the cilantro rice was pretty money stuff. Eating at a restaurant like this is a completely different experience from the typical Mexican food outing. You really get a new perspective and appreciation for Latin-inspired dishes here at Del Sol. read more

The service was so bad we left. There were about 8 tables open. It was Friday at 7:30, the waitress passed us 3 times and did not even acknowledge our presence. A waiter did the same thing twice. Didn't look like the kind of place that you seat your self and we were trying to catch their eye, anyone's, a waitress, bus person, a matrid' . No one even looked at us and we were like 2 feet away from them! It was obvious, they didn't want us here - so we left and walked around the block, there are several places within walking distance. Oak City, while not Mexican food, was happy to see us. Did we smell or something, del sol? read more

Truth be told, I am not a Mexican food expert. I can't tell even tell different kind of beans apart once they are cooked. I may not know good Mexican food when I see one - but who cares what label yo put on it - this place definitely has awesome, delicious food. No meal would ever go wrong with a generous glass of sangria. This was no exception. We had a huge shrimp tostada salad - enough for 3 of us to share. Every ingredient was thrown in there with a purpose - "Wow" was the properly greeting. And it got better from there... I had the grilled Chilean sea bass tacos - succulent and grilled to perfection. Not sure what sauce was on top (it must be a secret sauce - hot and tangy and sweet all at once.) It was too good that I absolutely refused to "share" it. "Sorry. Get your own... This is what you get for taking me to your favorite neighborhood joint." read more

I went to this restaurant years ago when they first opened and had the best bread pudding EVER. I went back this week for lunch and had a chile verde burrito and it was great. Fresh, flavorful, not a gut bomb. read more

Whenever I eat here, it's been hit or miss. I love the green sauce that comes with chips during lunch (during dinner there's some free taquitos). I prefer lunch with the green sauce, otherwise you have to pay extra for the green sauce at dinner. Expect the green sauce to be a bit watery, not really salsa, but it's amazingly delicious (we've bought large containers of them for $7). The tamale is good here, would definitely recommend. The taco salad is also really well done. They do tend to put too many ripe mangos in the salads, but they're easy to pick out. At another meal, we got mole and shrimp. Their mole tasted like a melted Hershey's chocolate bar. One of their pure shrimp dishes tried was very skimpy in the shrimp and general portions. I would recommend skipping those two dishes. While the service once seated has been good, they don't do a good job of taking to-go orders over the phone. Mine got lost and I had to re-order. They also don't do a good job of seating people - my boyfriend and I arrived during a busy Friday afternoon and had to watch several couples that arrived after us get seated before us. We didn't say anything, but all the couples that did get seated were white and well dressed. Guess we should have changed out of our t-shirts and skin color before coming. read more

Cafe Del Sol is my favorite restaurant in the Bay Area, particularly for the price. While the prices have steadily crept up over the past few years, it remains an excellent value. There are a number of standouts. - The Enchiladas de Mariscos are amazing. I recommend these to anyone who - The Salsa Verde is particularly addictive. - The Tostada Salad is excellent (I personally recommend adding some of the Salsa Verde to it). As a single serving, it is a bit expensive. But it is large enough to be shared. - The Burritos are large, flavorful, and come with chips and salsa. The clear winner for me is the Shrimp Burrito which comes with a generous amount of shrimp and incorporates a particularly delicious Mango Salsa. I primarily takeout from Cafe Del Sol. I would warn that the restaurant is small, which can make dining in more difficult. The service can also be inconsistent. But given the quality of the food and the price-point, dining in is certainly worth it. read more

Such a cute place with good food. I would've never expected the inside to look the way it does given what it looks on the outside. I ordered take out and had no issues ordering or picking up. I ordered the tostada salad with shrimp and was pleasantly surprised with the freshness of the ingredients and the plumpness of the shrimp. I also ordered the chicken soup with rice and was a little disappointed with the blandness of it so that is why I gave this place a 4. This is not a fast food type place and I spent $20 for this lunch. read more

This is the best Mexican restaurant ever. The burritos and fish tacos are out of this world and the service is wonderful. I go here at least once a week, highly recommend! read more

As good as it gets for quality restaurant mexican food. This is my go-to place for healthy mex in Menlo Park. I have had a few things but my very favorite are the chicken tamales. so yummy! With black beans, salad, rice and mango all for about $8.5. So good! When a group of us from work go for lunch we fight over the salsa verde that comes with the chips. The pico de gallo is also tasty but that salsa verde is the best I've ever had. Very garlicky so have some gum in your desk back at the office. VERY reasonably priced with super attentive and friendly wait staff. read more

Went here for the first time tonight with my love! We just moved to Menlo park and live walking distance from here. We finally walked over to have dinner and from the moment we walked in we had amazing service; and the food was phenomenal! definitely going to be one of our regular go to from now on! read more

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I came here with a group of about 20 for dinner (we had reservations) and the food was delish! I ended up getting the shrimp quesadilla, which had the most delicious mango salsa I have ever tasted. The dish overall was flavorful and light -- enough for dinner. Our table also ended up sharing a pitcher of sangria, which I would also recommend. I was able to find free parking easily in the lot across the street. I would come here again just for the Shrimp Quesadilla! read more

This place is clean and bright. The service here is fast. But this is no fast food restaurant. The complimentary appetizer they bring out is artfully displayed. It's just chips and guacamole but it's actually...pretty! Peeps who have been to this restaurant will know what I'm talking about it. Waitstaff is always courteous and attentive. The food is tasty, but not too heavy. They serve more or less traditional dishes- with a twist. My husband digs the seafood dishes. I love their enchiladas. We've been repeat customers for years now. read more

Vegetarian fajitas: The beans, rice, guacamole, sour cream, and tortillas were relatively legit. The sizzling vegetable plate.....not so much. The vegetables were reminiscent of a bag of precut frozen vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, and baby carrots. There was a sliver of two of pepper. The vegetables seemed like they were steamed and then dumped on a sizzling tray of garlic butter. Kinda yummy, but totally not the typical fajita I've come to expect. And the flavor profile clashed with the the rest of the toppings when wrapped in a tortilla. Vegetarian burrito (wet): The burrito itself was meh. The cooked lettuce inside the burrito was a disappointing choice. The enchilada sauce lacked the deep taste of chili powder and was dominated by an acidic tangy flavor. Service: Good. read more

I always get the seafood enchiladas. The food, especially the green salsa, is good enough to keep me coming back, but the wait staff/ service leaves quite a bit to be desired. i would be doing you a disservice if I did not clarify that you MUST try the salsa verde, then be mad that you will never love another salsa as you have loved Cafe Del Sol's salsa verde. Then, if you're like me, you order a large container of it to go, and slowly sip it for the rest of the night, trying to figure out what flavors are in it so you can make your own personal stash to have at home. read more

As pointed out by many already, Cafe Del Sol has a lovely ambiance. One sits down prepared to have a lovely evening only to leave disappointed by the dinner and wanting to rush across the street to Borrone for a pick-me-up. The sangria has lots of potential, yet tastes watered down. Large sides of overcooked rice, poor quality beans and a wierd guac salad detract from the main dishes. The main dishes: bland bordering on flavorless? Rather than mince adjectives, consider the mole. To all appearances, it is a cornstarch-thickened slurry poured last minute over a just-cooked suspiciously-circular chicken breast. Similar impressions apply to the chicken adobado, chile verde, and chicken enchiladas. I suspect the over-worked waiters and resulting mediocre service were the result of Friday rush rather something systemic. All this having been said, the initial appetizer (taquitos?) was noteworthy. I would have happily paid for it. The rest, not so much. read more

So first visit. I was really hankering for tamales, but since I was running errands in the neighborhood, I decided (on Yelp reviews) to do a late lunch a la Cafe Del Sol. I was cheerfully greeted, immediately taken to a table & after the right amount of time, nicely asked if I wanted something to drink/ready to order, et al. Nice service thus far, no complaints. Decided I'd take a Yelper's suggestion & went w/their "signature" beef tostada salad. Had concerns because tostada salads of my past were always interesting fried concoctions to include the grease + dressing. Cafe Del Sol's iteration was quite nice; slices of grilled meat, avocado, salsa, mango, creamy beans & way below, a crisp tortilla. Of course, there was oodles of chopped romaine...with which I mixed it in & all together. Yep, I can do this kinda tostada salad all the time. I was also served chips + 2 dips, I really like the green one (such literary style), it was a tad bit spicy but also too salty for me. Boo. I liked it, body can't do the salt tho. The tomato salsa was mild & fresh, not quite as exciting as the green salsa, but I thought pretty good. So I politely, (from my perspective) devoured more than half of this ample salad & had them put the rest "to go" along w/the rest of chips & tomato salsa. I also enjoyed their ice tea. I'm thinking this is an in-house brewed specialty & upon asking, it turns out to be a tropical mix. Not in-house, but hey, it was tasty & refreshing. My experience overall was quite nice; I'll go back & check out the rest of their menu. read more

Cafe Del Sol - Beef tostada salad! ($10.75) - Mexican Near Me - Menlo Park, California

The Pollo Adobado is one of my "Top Ten" favorite dishes. Excellent and unique spices combined with white meath chicken and fresh grilled vegtable skewers. Calling this Mexican food gives the wrong impression. This place cares about not only the quality of the food, but the presentation of the dishes. The venue itself and the service is adaquate, but come for the food! read more

Yum yum! Perhaps the tastiest Mexican food I've had in the Peninsula. Their dishes are unique and have a real down home savory taste to them. The cilantro rice is super delish and their sauces all have different flavors, unlike many other restaurants that simply use the same generic green or red sauces. I do have two quips with Cafe Del Sol. The service was certainly not as impressive as the food. I recall our waitress being particularly surly and not very helpful. If I'm paying $15 for enchiladas that I know I could make at home for a cool $8, I'd like the extra $7 to check up on us at least once during the meal and not reply rudely to each of my small requests or questions (a little more water? the check? C'mon, don't those things come standard with being a server at a restaurant? I mean, the check for cryin' out loud!). The bathroom is in a totally awkward place. Definitely do NOT drop any kids off at the pool here. Don't even think about it. read more

Cafe Del Sol Restaurant is a good choice for Mexican food in downtown Menlo. The waiters are Foothill students by day and are very friendly. The food is fresh and delicious. I like to come here with one or two friends for an intimate dinner. Great place for a date.. I am not the only one confused by the title "Cafe Del Sol Restaurant". Shouldn't it be Cafe Del Sol or Restaurant Del Sol? Is it a cafe or a restaurant? read more

Cafe Del Sol is a decent and affordable Mexican restaurant. It's one of the two restaurants I keep going back to when I am in Menlo Park. The other is Sultana. There is never a wait for Saturday lunches. I hear its much busier during the weekday though. Not open Sunday though. What I have tried and liked: Chicken tostada salad grilled steak burrito carnitas burrito seafood enchiladas The food won't impress you but time again they have provided a solid meal. Service is always excellent. read more

This place rivals some of the best taquerias in the Mission. Tortillas are cooked until crisp and browned on the edges (not steamed!) Quality of meat is great, ingredients are fresh, concoctions are creative. And the sumptuous green salsa they serve with chips is a power-packed mouthful of joy. I'm ecstatic to have found a place that is comparable to my SF dining experiences. Now if we could only get a decent Thai restaurant in the area... read more

The food is consistently excellent every time we dine here. My favorite is the chicken tostada salad. Be sure to order the chips and salsa, it's worth the $3.95. read more

After waiting awkwardly in the cramped waiting area for several minutes with some other patrons, Mr. T and I were finally seated. This was a pretty good preview of things to come: the service was s-l-o-w. The people there seemed like they were working very hard, they just seemed understaffed. Mr. T was slightly grossed out by the lipstick mark on his water glass (hint: he was not wearing lipstick.) The food was alright, maybe slightly better than average, though also more expensive. I had a really good spinach salad, though my black bean soup was just really, really salty. Mr. T enjoyed his pollo adobado. read more

This is a wonderful place to eat delicious Mexican food. The shrimp with garlic dish is delicious. My date had tuna tacos also amazing. The waiters was great too. Had a wonderful dinner. I highly recommend this restaurant. read more

Cafe Del Sol - Very authentic and healthy chicken tamale! - Mexican Near Me - Menlo Park, California

My husband and I came here for dinner. Don't come here. Server asked us if we wanted chips and salsa and we thought nothing of it and said yes. She brings us chips, salsa and guac. Later in the meal I ask for a bit more sour cream. Time for the bill. We are charged $9.95 for guacamole we didn't initially order, $3.95 for chips and salsa and $1.95 for a little bit of sour cream! What?!? Our bill for 2 people came out to $70. I'd much rather have spent the money on tooth extraction or something like that. Not coming back. read more

Food here is very fresh and tasty. My favorite Mexican restaurant. Don't really have to much to write other than it's a really good Mexican restaurant. read more

Great fish tacos served with good beans and rice. The chips were house-made and the salsa verde was super flavorful and had a good kick. I will be back. read more

-Dangerous chips & salsa verde -Delicious burrito and tomal de pollo -Great service & presentation. -an A+ sit-down but-not-too-pricey Mexican place in Menlo. Lunch on a Sunday afternoon was quiet, sunny, & lovely. *If you're looking for a sloppy, gooey, messy presentation of burritos covered is beans, sauces, sour cream and who knows what else, this it not it. The presentation here is clean and thoughtful- or maybe I just have food-touching-other-food issues. read more

Consistently good. They specialize in seafood, and I definitely recommend trying any of their snapper dishes. I get the snapper tacos every time, and they are always fantastic. They come with soft shell taco shells, seasoned rice, beans, mango salsa, and home made chips. Definitely not your typical Mexican restaurant, and in a good way. Highly recommended! read more

I lived in Menlo for a year and never saw this place. did it just open? How did I miss this? Really enjoyed the ambiance, decor and layout of the whole place. Bringing some ethnic diversity to downtown Menlo, woohoo! Awesome free appetizer = winner. The camarones de la plancha were really good. I dunno what kind of rice they use, but it was green and flavorful (probably also drenched in butter). The mango salsa was a real treat! However, the portion seemed "small" to me - and I'm a girl (There were 5 shrimps on my plate for $15. That's $3 a shrimp...wait a minute...) My guy friend was still hungry and had to order another appetizer. I would dissuade people from ordering the "Caliente" bean dip. It was too spicy for me and really not that special. All in all, a pleasant experience. read more

This restaurant is... fine. (Yes, I abuse ellipses, but I sometimes hope that I will change my mind by the end of the third mark.) I was so excited for some more authentic Mexican and even more thrilled by the notion of no corkage. A no corkage delicious Mexican place within walking distance of my apartment would have been too good to be true. And... well... it was. This place is definitely not bad. The food was definitely not the huge burrito Mexicatessen type of food and that is a positive. However, it was all just OK. I enjoyed it, but nothing was too fresh or too tasty or just totally perfect. I was hoping for more (especially with the prices being that of many other nice sit down restaurants in the area with food that does really just hit the spot). I have no regrets, but I think that I'll probably stick to Palo Alto Sol for my Mexican and continue to stay home to my own good wine with a meal. It would have been nice to combine the two, but such is life... read more

This reasurant made me the best Milanese I could ever eat yes I'm 11 but it was pretty good so if you want to eat somewhere then eat here

I have only been here during the week so I cannot speak to the wait on the weekends. I have eaten here 3 times and every time I have enjoyed the service and the food. They have a limited menu, but everything our group has ordered was well flavored and worth the slightly higher than average cost. The service has been excellent and the food is served in a timely manner. Their mole sauce was extremely flavorful and tasty. This place is not your typical Mexican restaurant. They try to have a more "gourmet" flare and every dish is artistically displayed full of flavor. read more

A nice step up from burrito-counter Mexican-- and without the post-grease bomb bellyache. Don't get me wrong-- I loathe 'fancy' Mexican food even more than the next guy raised in the Central Valley-- but a combination of reasonable prices ($12-$14 for the carne asada that's called something else), reasonable service (slow but friendly), and nice decor (red lighting and interior windows-- I'm going to put some into my house soon) made it a place I'll probably return to. If the review doesn't sound like it's worth four stars, it's because they earned a extra star for the guacamole-- there's a secret ingredient in there that's reminiscent of the guacamole at Tito's Tacos... yummy. read more

This was A-Ok. I really like their green salsa. I ordered there Torta the first time, it wasn't as toasty as I had hoped and was bordering on soggy but it was tasty. I went back today and ordered the shrimp with garlic entree. It was served with rice, refried beans, mango salsa, salsa fresca and a salad. It was a little too saucy but the flavor was there. read more

This place is pretty decent. My friend and I come here for lunch sometimes and have yet to be disappointed. The service is friendly and usually fast. My friend has tried a lot of what's on the menu and has enjoyed most, if not all, of it (the tamale especially). I'm a fan of ordering off their kids menu because the portion sizes are perfect for lunch. I love the bean and cheese burrito as well as the steak taco. Both come with a little serving of rice and beans- not the best I've ever had but good enough. Now, the highlight: the green salsa! SO GOOD. Not a lot of heat but it's got really intense flavor and is one of my favorite restaurant salsas. They also serve their chips with a pico de gallo which was good and their chips are pretty great too. All in all, a great place to try. Parking can kind of suck sometimes but other than that, I don't really have any complaints for this place. Just simple, yummy food for a fairly decent price. read more

Really solid Mexican food is surprisingly rare 'round these parts. Sure, there are taquerias aplenty all over the Peninsula, but not so with more complete native Mexican fare. I came here per the Yelp app and wasn't disappointed. The taquitos appetizer was different, fresh, and tasty, and all three of us really enjoyed our entrees (enchiladas, barbecue shrimp, and mole poblano (mine)). The mole was one of the best I've had in awhile--particularly because the chicken was of much higher quality than the usual, and because the cilantro rice really added to the authenticity. Dining area was a bit cramped, but it didn't really bother me. Service was great. I'll certainly be back. Very glad to have found this place. read more

So here's the deal. I come here knowing the service is lacking because I love the burritos. I get the "wet" steak burrito and it is incredible. It will rival any certified taqueria. The meat is really flavorful, salsa and guacamole is very fresh, and the sauce is great. I really can't speak for any other items on the menu, but I'm sure they're good too. read more