Had the guac, green and red salsa, fried avocado hard shell tacos and the poblano enchiladas. Everything was amazing. The enchiladas had a deep poblano flavor and the avocado tacos were fresh and creamy and maybe the best thing I've ever eaten. The salsas were good but the guac was great. Service was never lacking and we were lucky enough to get a table, this place is small and the tables turn quickly. It's a basic little strip mall restaurant but the food is the star of the show. Great value/portions as well. read more

Calienete has been a go-to for quick service to go Mexican food for quite some time. I recommend the yaneth burrito or the poblano enchiladas. I recently had a breakfast burrito from here that was also really good! read more

Vibrant, neighborhood spot serving up bold, craft Mexican fare with a modern twist. Caliente brings a lively atmosphere, great tasting tortillas, and a menu that highlights bold flavors from across Mexico. Casual and lively with colorful decor, and a friendly, welcoming atmosphere. Excellent service! read more

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Hip vibes. Delicious food. Highly recommend the chilaquiles with poblano sauce and the fish tacos. Great customer service and reasonable prices too!! read more

We've been here four times now, and it has never disappointed. The service is always friendly and fast, the food is consistently delicious, and the restaurant has a great Mexican vibe from the moment you walk in. The lobster tacos are one of my favorites! If you're looking for a lighter meal (or you're like me and sometimes order from the kids' menu ), one taco is perfect. If you have a heartier appetite, you'll probably want two or three because they're so good. The guacamole is smooth, creamy, and absolutely delicious. The burritos are large, flavorful, and filling, and the bowls are excellent too. This has become our favorite Mexican spot for a quick lunch whenever we're in the area. Highly recommend! read more

Caliente is a cute little Mexican restaurant off northsight and Hayden. The food is tasty. The shrimp and carne asada place was very good and the chipotle sauce that came on it was also quite good. We also ordered the chicken and carnitas tacos, those were both good. I wish the carnitas tacos had a bit less raw onion, but that is a personal preference. Overall great service and an enjoyable meal. read more

Caliente Mexican Grill - Mexican Near Me - Scottsdale, Arizona

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Good food. A little pricey for what you get in a strip mall. Ambience is ok. Margaritas were good. Would eat here again.

Tried this small Mexican spot and had a great experience overall! The restaurant was clean, service was friendly and attentive, and everything came out quickly. We ordered fish tacos, a chicken burrito, Modelo on tap, and a flavored margarita--everything was really tasty. The only downside was the fish tacos were a little light on filling, but still flavorful. Would definitely come back! read more

Caliente Mexican Grill - Fried fish tacos, Yaneth's favorite -burrito style - Mexican Near Me - Scottsdale, Arizona

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The flavors here are AMAZING! Like nothing else I've found in the valley. Not fancy, but very friendly with good prices. The menu isn't "extensive" but has more than enough choice. Recommend Yaneth's bowl. We've eaten here many times and I've never had a bad meal and always look forward to returning. Probably our favorite restaurant in Phoenix. Definitely recommend! read more

I was hosting my daughter, her husband and my granddaughter for a going-away lunch because they are moving to Great Britain. The food I ordered -- lobster tacos and guacamole, was offensively bad (the tacos) or tasteless (the guacamole). The lobster tacos didn't taste at all like fresh lobster. Instead they tasted like lobster that had turned bad. I hope I don't get sick. The guacamole could have been good with adequate salt and fresh garlic. It had neither and was tasteless. The food reeked of owner or manager arrogance and incompetence. They should both fire themselves. The only shining light was the service. I gave our main server a tip of $60 on a bill of $118. I hope she shares it only with the server who assisted. It's virtually criminal if it's skimmed by management. So, zero stars for the food, but five stars for the servers; it's not their fault they have to work at a toxic waste site posing as a restaurant. I'm already getting queasy. Good thing I didn't eat the second taco. I'll give it to the health department. read more

Incredible food. Best Poblano sauce I've ever eaten. The servers treat you like family and the service is the best!

Ordinarily one of the best spots for nachos when I'm in town, but the service was so awful today I don't think I can come back. I was dining earlier this evening when a customer slipped and took a bad fall on the greasy floor. Rather than check on her or offer her some free guac or something they just carried on like nothing happened. I talked to this beautiful young woman after and found out it was her birthday. Not cool, Caliente. Do better. Or at least clean your floors. read more

Everything was great!! Staff was so helpful!!' Food was excellent. Service was fast+very pleasant read more

Our server, Alondra, was very pleasant. She was helpful and timely. Our food was very good. The guacamole was made in house and was fantastic. The black beans were also very tasty. The restaurant is located at the end of what you would call a strip mall. The food tested ver fresh and authentic. I'd stopped by again. read more

This place is great! Service is excellent!! We tried the cheese crisp, chips and salsa with guacamole, carne asada taco, fajitas, and taco salad. Highly recommend!! read more

The absolute best homemade mexican food in scottsdale. Period. I have eaten there with friends.Over five dozen times and not only is it consistent, it just gets better and better every time we go! The staff is amazing and the family is outstanding! Some of the best carnitas in town. They also serve shrimp many ways. In every way is outstanding, from fried tacos, to shrimp ala taquila. Shrimp diablo is amazing too! read more

We went in for breakfast this morning. It was amazing. We will be back soon to get breakfast again. I had the quesadilla and my wife the chilaquiles with carnitas. read more

My first visit and it was amazing! I had the chicken taco salad. It was fresh, well seasoned chicken, with black beans, rice, (I had them add corn), si sit cream, and guacamole. Before I left, I had to tell the owner it was the BEST taco salad I had ever had!! the salad was so good that I didn't need the red or green sauce. Did I mention the size? Well, it was so big that I had to take over half of it to go. The staff was very attentive and very friendly. Highly recommend. read more

Still amazing after all these years. I've never had anything but a great meal here. I love the family and the food. Thank you. read more

Caliente Mexican Grill - Mexican Near Me - Scottsdale, Arizona

Great little restaurant with good authentic Mexican food and awesome service! I'll be back again very soon!

Caliente Mexican Grill Local Family owned restaurant Maria Ordered the shrimp taco with cilantro and the carna asada taco along with the sausage and chorizo breakfast quesidilla. Also ordered the Plato Caliente for one which consists of their signature platter with steak, chicken and chorizo carnitas topped with sauteed onions and jalapeños with guacamole and sour cream on the side. What a pleasant surprise and wonderful experience. Thank you for adding another delicious restaurant to the area read more

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Everything was great! Honestly, this place excites my tastebuds every time I think about it. I CRAVE this place!! The food is delicious and the family that owns the place is so welcoming and really sets a high standard for customer service! The ambiance is very comfortable and cheerful. read more

Bad. Just bad. The service itself was fine--staff were respectful and clearly made an effort. Unfortunately, the food was not nearly as satisfactory. I would not recommend wasting your time at this faux-modern Mexican restaurant. If you're somehow desperate enough that this is the only place available, here's my advice: order the tacos. They were the only items at our table that looked even slightly appetizing. That said, don't expect them to be cooked particularly well; based on my experience, overcooking seems to be a pattern here. Absolutely avoid the fajitas. They arrived with toddler-sized portions, too few tortillas, and--once again--overcooked meat. I ordered their "signature" meat-lover-style fajitas, which are supposedly meant to serve two people. If I had to estimate, the total amount of meat was around 12 ounces, and that's being generous. For two people, that's simply unacceptable. As for the atmosphere, it was fine--nothing offensive, but nothing memorable either. Overall, it fell short and could be significantly better. read more

Consistently cranking out amazing food. Their Tender Carnitas plate is everything it promises. Comes with a big pile of guac ( most other places are charging extra for a small side of guac). Always greeted with a smile. Dog friendly patio. AND they carry my favorite Mexican beer, Victoria. Love this place. read more

Good service decent fast casual ambience. Best carne asada burrito I've ever had. Added to my door dash roster

When I questioned pricing on their menu Erik who identified himself as an owner accused me of trying to get something for free. Very rude and condescending. We won't be back. read more

Really love this place. My go to is a carnitas burrito with black beans and cheese, but everything is good. My boyfriend loves the Plato Caliente...delicious selections of meat cooked perfectly. The breakfast burritos are great too! Always very clean inside and excellent service. Prices are fair too. read more

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Very attentive service and high quality delicious food. We had carne asada burritos and they were amazing.

So glad we found this gem. Great food, friendly staff (family owned and operated), and a good value. We will be back - often. One of the best Mexican lunches I've had in a very long time. Check it out! read more

What an amazing restaurant. The food is phenomenal, the service is great, the environment is extremely inviting/friendly. It's just an overall a great experience. I highly recommend the "PLATO CALIENTE" it is an assortment of 4 different meats that are bursting with flavor! It comes with potatoes, jalapeños, and onions. It's basically a build your own taco platter. They have a great salsa verde & red salsa and a EXTREMELY spice but tasty habanero salsa! This is one of my favorite spots! read more

Caliente Mexican Grill - PLATO CALIENTE (custom only steak & chicken) - Mexican Near Me - Scottsdale, Arizona

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Fantastic food and even better service! We we the amazing reviews and wanted some good Mexican food so thought we would try. Definitely a little hesitant pulling up to a newer strip mall style establishment but WOW!!! Definitely worth the stop!!! Large menu and service was so friendly to help us pick out what we wanted. Ordered chicken and chorizo nachos and 3 tacos all in corn soft shell. The ingredients are tasty and everything is so fresh and flavourful! Bright and crispy veg, no shortage of avocado and guac, and all around great Mexican food! read more

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Visiting from CO and we're always looking for some good tacos. We got the carne asada and fried avocado as well as a chicken, shrimp, and adobada tacos and they were amazing. The service was so quick given how busy it was when we arrived. The restaurant itself has such a cozy inviting feel to it with photos of the family's journey with this business. read more

Caliente Mexican Grill - Carne asada and fried avocado tacos - Mexican Near Me - Scottsdale, Arizona

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The lobster tacos were good and reasonable priced and the carne asada burritos were decent. The server was very rude and the service was slow. The margaritas were fair. Probably won't be back as there are so many great choices for quality Mexican food in the area. read more

There were only four seats left at when we got there at 4:45pm on a Saturday evening. It seemed like a lot of the customers were regulars and knew to get there early. We sat at the bar & liked watching the hustle on the prep line. The server took our order quickly. Enjoyed the guac, the chips were ok. My daughter wasn't sure about ordering the avocado taco, but I convinced her to try it. She was not disappointed. We both really enjoyed our meals. Wasn't too loud given how many people were there. Will go again. read more

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Smallish portions and odd and unwelcoming attitude from the staff. You could do better at a Chipotle. Note: this place is not kid-friendly. There's no kids menu. We removed ingredients from a chicken bowl and got a bowl of rice with an ungenerous portion of chicken for basically $12 The unmodded items were equally disappointing. An entrée item here is like a third to half portion of a similar plate at your typical Mexican restaurant. Tiny enchiladas, tiny rice (literally like it would fit in a take-out ketchup container), tiny beans, tiny meat. I enjoyed the taste of my dish but I came to eat, not to sample. We had to eat again when we got home because everyone was still hungry read more

My brother recommended this restaurant to us for dinner. Came here around 5pm on a Friday. It was pretty busy inside (it's small). They have the tiniest patio on the side of the restaurant so we sat there. We ordered margaritas and chips and salsa to start. The margaritas were ok and a little too sweet for my liking, but still good. Salsa was good as well. My favorite was the salsa verde. I ordered shrimp tacos. I really enjoyed them and there was plenty of shrimp. My husband and mom both had burrito bowls, which they also enjoyed and my step dad had fajitas. Overall the food was good and so was the service. I didn't care for the patio. I know they can't help what it looks like or the size, but it was super narrow and squished. read more

Great tasting food but don't ask for queso to go with your chips- wrong region, they don't do that there.

Good food. Good service. Clean dining area. This restaurant is pretty from the outside, with colorful signage and a nice, new looking exterior located on the end of a strip mall. It is small inside, although there were still many tables. It seems more like an "order and sit" place when you walk in, but it is full service and the servers were very friendly. The margarita was surprisingly good as well ... again, considering this did not have the feel of a traditional Mexican restaurant. I would definitely return. read more

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The portion sizes were lacking IMO. For 4-5 dollars per taco the value just wasn't there for me. The food was ok but nowhere near good enough to make up for the portions. Won't be back. read more

Traveling from New York we wanted a local place with quality Mexican food at a good price. We found that and was impressed by the local neighborhood feel and fast and friendly service. Will return when back in town. read more