Service was quiet and non-energetic. The food is that of a failing restaurant trying to get by: serving whatever they can afford and slapping it together to resemble a stereotypical mexican plate. Go to Taco-Hell for the exact same meal just cheaper. read more

Had a taco, it tasted like shit. They had a lady with a broken arm working both the cash register and seating people on a Sat. Night. I really felt sorry for her read more

Fantastic. Great portions, good prices. Friendly service. The peach sopapilla was delicious. Military friendly too. read more

Love love love El Fenix all my life. Disappointing visit. The food was good as always. 13 tables in our section were dirty when we arrived so no available booths and stayed that way the entire time we were there. 5 tables of diners in the entire restaurant with at least 3 waitstaff plus cashier, kitchen, and manager. No one was clearing tables. Someone was in the managers office when we checked out so there was more than adequate staff on hand for the few patrons. Wednesday night at 8:15 and not near the 10 o'clock closing time. Management should address ASAP. So unlike the quality expected at El Fenix. Ever. read more

Sorry but this was the worse dinner of my life. Do yourself a favor and stay away. Go Taco Cabana for more authentic food. They also the saddest fajitas ever!! read more

Worst service I've ever had. Waited over 30 minutes for my meal. Waitress said she had to get a manager involved in the manager was preparing my food themselves. Complained about the service at the checkout and was told I'm sorry and hope you come back. Felt the restaurant should have caught me for a free meal read more

We went there for a birthday celebration. Good food and great waiter.

We hadn't been to El Fenix McKinney for some time and it will be a while before we go back. Service was good and friendly, food was on par for El Fenix, restaurant condition was OK and here comes the BUT. Near the end of the meal the "manager" brings the hostess near our table and explains to the hostess how they can fit a party of ten once those 2 people leave (that was us). Then she brings 2 of the party over to our area and shows that they can split the group or fit all once we leave. Directly in front of us while we finish our meal. Then she tells our server the situation to push getting our to go box and check ASAP. We understand these types of conversations have to happen with the staff to accommodate new customers, but not right in front of people eating their dinner. So unprofessional of the manger and El Fenix. read more

This place was ridiculous we had a rather large party so some delay is expected but food coming out in staggered waves 20 minutes apart is ridiculous. our poor waitress had to cook and bring the food out and the service slacked a lot. i will not be returning. read more

Love this place. Our favorite Mexican food anywhere. Best chips/salsa around. Service is always prompt and attentive. Been trying to get them to open a restaurant in Sherman so we won't have to travel 45min the five or six times a month we go there. read more

Your food may be really good but that doesn't make any difference when I order take out only to find some key parts of the order missing when I get home! The last time, my wife's fajita's where missing the rice and beans. This time, rice and beans were there but the guacamole and cheese missing. I could write a book on our experience but the food is really is good hence why we put up with it. It's just a shame I have to give such a low review because of poor take out service. If this was an occasional occurrence, it would be one thing but this happens almost 95% of the time. Do you really want us to check your work and open up every single package to do quality control that you should be doing before handing it over? Nope. I'll just write you a bad review and call for a discount which I did. read more

After waiting on our food for almost 40 min, on a lunch break, my fish tacos were a joke! My food was an insult. The fish were about the size of a small pinky finger. Their was 2 per taco. It was pretty much all lettuce mix. It looked like leftover little pieces from the bottom of the bag of frozen fish. Then after that, we presented 2 coupons to take $4 off each kids meal. Well the girl at the front used one coupon and took off $4 from one kids meal but then only did a caso deal for the other meal, which was a $2 discount. After asking to see an itemized receipt we noticed the 'switch-a-roo' and asked for her to correct it. Of course she needed a managers approval. This guy was not pleasant. A manager should fix the issue and make a guest want to return... His attitude and the whole experience... WE WILL NEVER GO BACK. read more

El Fenix - Insulting to serve this. - Mexican Near Me - Mckinney, Texas

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Second time in a row they decided I didn't need soft tortillas. If I ask for them and you don't want to give them away sell them to me but don't ignore the request. They have some great servers and some terrible ones also. Tired of driving out of my way to mess with this location at lunch. read more

I have always loved this location. El fenix is one of my favorite restaurants and we used to get excellent service every time. When the managers changed last year, the service went downhill for a while, but picked back up. This past experience was the worst turned to an amazing visit. I'll explain. My mom, my son and I went on Saturday, April 28th for an early dinner. We got there a little after 4:30. We waited for somebody to acknowledge us shortly. A waiter, Martin, came over and had us follow him. He sat us with no word and walked away. A young man named Kaleb, came from the back with chips and salsa and told us that he wasn't the waiter, but he was helping him out until our waiter came over to us then he took our drink orders. He brought the drinks out and went on his way. We sat, waiting while other were seated all around us and had their waiters taking their drink and food orders. Kaleb noticed that we had an empty chip bowl and needed a refill in drinks. He kindly refilled both. He later noticed that we still had our menus so he came by and asked if our waiter had shown up. When he heard that nobody had helped us, although many waiters stared and helped surrounding tables, he took our orders and apologized. He brought our orders out and apologized again. We ate our food and he got us our check, apologized again and wished us a great rest of our evening a few times. It was obvious that he felt badly about us being ignored by the rest of the staff. He was very kind and on top of it. We paid, left word with the woman at the register and left. We left at 5:24 and noticed that Kaleb was walking out to his truck, which tells me that he probably stayed late to make sure that we were taken care of. I tried to call and let the manager know of the horrible to wonderful (because of this young man) experience that we received and ask them to do what they could do to recognize Kaleb for going above and beyond, but got no answer. If you visit this location, make sure to ask if Kaleb is available. He deserves to be recognized by all. read more

Went there with our family some from out of state. We were told that they would have to set up a table and would take 15 minutes. Table was ready in 2 minutes and yet we continued to sit in the lobby for over ten minutes. Hostess's were rude read more

Ray is my favorite waiter. He is very attentive. Remember on Wednesdays, it will be crowded.

While in Mckinney on business I stopped into this restaurant for dinner. I am not a fan of tex-mex however I had the beef fajitas the price was good the fajitas were average. But I will tell why I gave 5 stars and why I would go back...Juan my server was fantastic he asked me how the food was and I stated ok, he engaged in conversation and I found him to be delightful. Shortly after Juan's manager came over and asked if everything was OK we had a great conversation about the differences between Tex-mex and authentic Mexican. He shared this restaurant has been around since 1918 (I may be wrong on the year). All of this is great customer service and needs to be recognized in a world where businesses have forgotten this, El Fenix gets it right! I will be back to try another dish and enjoy great customer service. read more

My husband and I had our rehearsal dinner here. Our guest loved it. The food was amazing and very affordable.

Decided to walk out. We were seated immediately. Hardly anyone there. Chips came quickly. Immediately took our order. Then there was the wait. We saw 6 to 8 people come in after us, and eating while we were still waiting long after 1 hour. Not an exaggeration after 1 hour. Waiter came by at least 4 times to tell us it was on its way. Never happened. This is a management problem. Can't blame the waiter or cook. The manager needs to get an idea what's going on in her restaurant. This is unacceptable, and I won't return. read more

I have eaten at El Fenix the majority of my life at various locations, and quite honestly, it's my favorite Mexican food restaurant. One of my favorite things are the chips....they are the BEST!!!! So when I went to the McKinney location on Sunday and the chips were totally different, I had to find out why. Apparently the machine in the manufacturing plant broke, and they are trying to get it repaired. Seriously?? An operation of this size doesn't have a backup plan?? THEN...one of my other favorite items is the Lemon Ice Box pie. My friend and I had both planned on getting it, but the waiter never bothered to ask us about dessert. He simply put our receipt on the table and quickly walked away. I have to say that in all my years of dining at the various El Fenix locations, this was the worst experience ever!!! I don't see myself going back anytime soon!! read more

This was my first time eating at any el fénix and I love Mexican food. I know most people will write about the food and I will but I must start out with customer service. I had the best experience with my waiter. Training doesn't teach the touch he had so kudos to the hiring staff that can tag a good hearted person for your staff. I only wish I had caught his name. It was a difficult day for me and normal thinking was gone. He was a young fellow with reddish hair. The salsa was dang good. When the food came it looked more like the patio frozen dinners. The beans were really good, however, they never seem to give enough beans. The enchiladas were decent. I would go back and order it again. Maybe not order that on my next visit because I would look for something I could say I loved. The ambience was very nice. I went on a Wednesday around 5. They seemed organized and prepared. I would recommend this place again and again and I look forward to dining here again real soon. read more

First time I came here it was great! Second time it was okay. Third time it just went down hill from there. Server are great but the food just got worst and worst. read more

regular visitor, or was. received our meal the other day, the flour tortillas was not even warm. the plate with enchiladas with rice and beans were luke warm. i'm still stun the waitress did not notice the fact that neither plate was not hot. i noticed a lot of new waitress in the area. my waitress was seen very little on the floor. i suppose i will be going to plano's el fenix for awhile until mckinney get there staff trained. pj read more

Had a family gathering yesterday evening. I ordered from the breakfast menu. Eggs with potato mix. It was horrible. The potatos were burned so bad could not recognize them as potatos, but thought maybe was sausage. I forced myself to eat it, but not a pleasant experience. Won't do this again. read more

The hardest beef Fajita I have ever eaten. Don't go to this place

Friendly service. Love the chips and hot sauce. Good place for a quick meal and clean atmosphere.

I was born and raised in Dallas and am 65 years old so grew up eating and loving El Fenix. All our high school banquets were at the downtown Dallas location. Living in the McKinney, Tx area for the last 20 years I have eaten at the McKinney location a lot. I know the Martinez family sold it in 2008. I would say the quality and service hung on for a while but the last three times we have eaten at the McKinney location it has not been a good experience. All three times the lobby had numerous people waiting (no large parties) and they were taking names with a waiting time of 10 minutes or longer. All times, while standing waiting for a table, you could see numerous tables (as in at least four 4 tops) empty and clean in the dining room. Today was the worst... we will NOT go back. After waiting for over 10 minutes we were finally seated by the "manager" and we discover there are at least 6-8 empty tables and people are still waiting and names still being taken. I inquired of the manager why people are waiting with empty tables and he stated he had to clean them -- REALLY -- is this the best use of a manager? We sat and sat with no one acknowledging our presence for another 10-15 minutes. Finally, the waitress appears and set water and chips and salsa. She takes our order and disappears for forever. The best we could determine is that she had 4 tables, including ourselves. She finally returns and says she will get more water and silverware... neither of which were ever brought. We got up and got our own silverware from one of the clean empty tables and my husband walked over and filled his water from one of the pitchers sitting around. Finally food arrived, was luke warm (always it is hot before) and order was not correct. She disappeared before we could say anything. She never checked back with us and I had to wave another waitress down to get our waitress. She brought missing items and disappeared until she dropped the bill on the table and then asked if we needed anything. No, not now, we are long finished. The 'manager' never once made a pass through the restaurant to check if things were OK. In our lives we have NEVER not left a tip but we did not leave one today. We told the hostess the service was horrible to which she said "thank you" ??? We will not return. read more

This breaks my heart. I have been eating El Felix for 30 years. This was my place to go when I wanted really good Mexican food. However today was the last day I will eat at an El Fenix restaurant. The chips were terrible. Old and greasy. When we asked for some that weren't greasy, we were told they didn't have any of their chips available and that all the chips they had were like that. Then the food came. The lunch fajitas were bland, no taste to the meat at all. The veggies weren't cooked. We sent it back and they did heat the vegetables up but at no time did we get the sizzle of the fajitas because the cast iron was not hot. I had the veggie enchiladas with a creamy tomatillo sauce. My food was cold on the inside as well. The sauce was lumpy because it was cold like everything else. Just such a disappointment as to what used to be one of the greatest restaurant names in the Dallas area. Sorry to say but we won't be going back. read more