The food, speed and prices are awesome. So glad we found this place! Very flavourful and the…read moreportion size is perfect.

WOW! The little hole in the wall that leads you straight into the streets of Mexico! Everything at…read moreEl Este is fresh and delicious and served with the passion of good food rooted in true authentic Mexican cooking. Just a tiny likely shop tucked away in Dartmouth, a few high top seats and a menu that nails the essentials. The burrito was AMAZING and the tacos will knock your socks off. Definitely try the pork! Awesome service and great vibe. Worth the stop!

Honestly? I was super impressed by Habanero's. Considering my friend and I popped in about 30…read moreminutes into opening day, I was prepared for a) a lineup or longish waiting times and b) some confusion. I was pleasantly surprised to only have to wait a couple minutes to order, and the service was great. I decided to go for the 3 tacos for $7-something deal and my friend got nachos. I found the prices very reasonable - more so than Cheesecurds. I decided to experiment with 3 different tacos. Meat aside, I got the same toppings on all three with a little guidance from the servers: lettuce, cheese, corn salsa, medium salsa, guac, hot peppers and plain sour cream. I started off with a classic crispy taco with spiced taco beef. Then I tried a soft taco with pulled pork, and finished with a soft taco with fajita chicken. All 3 were delicious and really hit the spot, but the star of the show was most definitely the pulled pork. It was so flavourful. I've been thinking about it ever since and plan to make a trip back very soon. Maybe next time I'll try a lobster and shrimp taco too. My friend devoured her nachos - she was definitely a fan. The decor is fun and fresh. Mostly counter seating in addition to some picnic tables outside. Habanero's is a very welcome and needed addition to the Dartmouth dining scene. I can't wait to go back.

I'm a big fan of Mexican food, and thanks to my half-Mexican boyfriend (who lived in Mexico for 4…read moreyears), I have learned what actually constitutes "authentic Mexican food" and "Americanized Mexican food" and find myself on the lookout for the former whenever I have the chance. Unfortunately the choices in this category have been severely lacking in this city (with the exception of Mexico Lindo) until the past few months so when I heard Habaneros had opened up I couldn't wait to get my gringa culo in there to check out their ingredients. Well, clearly this place is consistent because I can definitely echo what everyone else has said about friendly and fast service - the guys behind the counter are super nice and I had my order within minutes (although there was only one person ahead of us so it not being busy I'm sure helped with this). Now that that's out of the way, onto the really important part - the ingredients. First of all, I was impressed that they had corn tortillas on the menu (definitely "authentic Mexican" as opposed to the more traditionally Americanized white flour tortilla), although I was disappointed to hear they only had them in hard/crunchy form, not soft. This is a tiny complaint though, because flour tortillas are still fine in my book and theirs were good. I just kinda hope they carry soft corn tortillas sometime in the future. I ordered a BBQ pulled pork and a fajita chicken soft taco, with pico de gallo, house-made salsa, corn salsa, lettuce, and lime-cilantro sour cream on top. OHMYFREAKINGODTHETOPPINGSWERESODELICIOUS! It seriously was all super-fresh and I loved the variety. The pulled pork was so good I couldn't get it into my mouth fast enough. The chicken wasn't as good - I liked it - it was tender and lots of flavour, but I found it was a bit too spicy (gringa, remember?) and just nothing...special. I think next time I would either get two pork, or try one of the beef ones (speaking of which, the beef is SHREDDED, not ground, which is 'authentic Mexican' as well and preferred by me, so that was nice to see). My particular favs were the pico de gallo and the sour cream (love that they added a few herbs to it rather than just serving it plain, which is fine but bor-ing). I made my order a combo, with a drink and tortilla chips, and it came to just over $10, which I think for the amount of food and fresh ingredients is quite reasonable. The chips were good too - a little salty, but def better than the generic, no-name ones that are clearly from a grocery store. I'm not sure when I'll be back here just because it's not close to my work or home, but I would actually go out of my way to stop by just because the ingredients and service are so good. Or they could just open a location in Clayton Park...*nudge-nudge*

Obviously no attention to detail as ordered tacos with cheese- no cheese/ ordered salsa on the…read moreburrito bowl- where's the salsa? Seriously

I love the chicken Burrito so much and the mango sour cream. Their burritos are jam packed with the…read moregoods. Great portions and service.

Our server was dialed in. Had great recommendations. Was money on everyone. Had the 3 guacamole and…read morea pork pastor taco. Delicious

It was my second time there, and really enjoyed sitting at the bar. Down to earth and friendly…read morestaff! Loved the 3 salsas and choices of hot sauces - all greens favorites for me :) keep up the great atmosphere, food and service! Quesedillas and Lake city cider - A visitor from Montreal!

Cute little casual spot, and the food reminded us of our favourite little Mexican place in Phoenix,…read moreArizona. Delish! It was a Monday, so there were only a few other tables seated. Service was fast and friendly.

No its was really really bad..the beef meat was unchewable..the meal is completely…read moreflavourless...worst mexican food we have ever had..the place is very nicely decorated and the waitress was very good and the refunded my meal because it was basically unedible...so strange was here a year ago had pork and its just ok but worth a second try..this time definitely won't be returning

I used to always come here to get a pulled pork burrito- love it- all the options n saucesread more

@jasonsalwayshungThis big ass burrito cured my hungry problems big time! As I watched the creation…read moreof this beast the ingredient and sauce game kept getting more complementary and complex, the large whole wheat tortilla wrapped up Canadian Pulled Pork with a secret Jax Sauce a mix of warm south western flavours next the lettuce, spinach, smashed and black beans on Mexican rice mixed in with marble cheese and pickled onions as the sweet potato and corn joined i was in awe..guacamole, diced tomato and jalapeño the picante cranberry-pico, finished with mole and mango sour cream this was a certified banger 9.3#halifax #novascotia #canada #alwayshungry #foodcritic #foodie #worldjuniors

The best arepa I've ever had. WOW! The arepa itself is not too mealy, the "bun" is thin and…read morenicely grilled/crisped on the outside but still soft and moist enough on the inside. And both the beef and the pork fillings were oozing with flavor. The beef almost tasted like a french reduction or something, very rich. The pork was more traditionally flavored garlic, etc., but all the spices, sauces and such complemented each other and elevated the overall dish. GO HERE! Fast casual system is great, and prices are reasonable, especially considering the quality of what you get.

The Short Version: Venezuelan restaurant with tasty but…read moreexpensive food. Lunch cost $70 and we were still hungry. The Long Version: This place is highly rated and raved about on many platforms. It's only open for breakfast and lunch and is very popular with locals. We tried to go the last time we were in Halifax but they were closed for vacation or something we didn't expect. Anyway, I was excited to try it this time around for lunch. I got the Pabellon plate ($24.50) and my husband got 2 empanadas, a pork one ($9.25) and a beef one ($9.50). I got a bottle of water and my husband got a Jarritos (the mandarin flavour). I'm not sure how much the drinks were but with taxes and tip our lunch came out to $70, which I thought was expensive for what we got. So I later saw locals asking for a pre-chilled bottles of tap water behind the counter and they had clean empty glasses near the hot sauce bar. I wish I knew this before I paid for bottled water :/ Anyway, my plate looked like a lot of food, but it didn't really fill me up. It was white rice, black beans, queso, 4 pieces of plantain, 3 triangles of a cut up arepa and a pile of shredded beef. The beef was tender and full of flavour. The plantains were crunchy on the outside and a bit softer on the inside. The arepa pieces were a bit crispy on the outside. The rice was soft, as were the beans. I mixed the beans and cheese with the rice and it tasted good. My husband's empanadas were good (I had a bite). The outside was crispy and the inside had tender meat and melted cheese. They were small for the price. I'm used to paying up to $6-7 an empanada, which I thought was pricey already, so I found $9+ for an empanada very expensive. I'm guessing the drinks totalled $7-8, which is a high mark-up. I suppose the meal would have been more affordable if I got the bottled tapped water like the locals did. Wish I had known. You order at the counter and pay. They give you a sign with a number on it. You seat yourself and put your numbered sign on your table. When your food is ready, they bring it out to you. The place was packed. I know it was all locals because everyone was in business casual attire and had their work badges on, lol. (It was a Thursday lunch and the place is surrounded by office buildings) Service was pleasant and the wait for the food wasn't too long considering how busy they were. Street parking only. Review #125 (2026)

One of the first meals that my wife and I had in Dartmouth when we were doing some AirBnB-based…read morerecon on the neighbourhood we would eventually move to, was El Este. Their tacos made for top tier takeout while watching The Roast of Tom Brady, and in subsequent visits as well. As quaint as their small shop on Albro is, I was excited for both them and my taste buds when I heard that they'd be opening a second restaurant in downtown Halifax in the old Starbucks location on Barrington. My wife and I stopped in with some friends after Curated's cider festival for more substantial sustenance than what we'd had that afternoon. The space is an order of magnitude larger than the OG spot, but it's just as colourful and lively, if not more, with a La Catrina mural taking a place of prominence behind the bar (yes, they're licensed!). This location has a slightly bigger menu than the Dartmouth location, so I opted for something that isn't a regular menu option on my side of the harbour - a torta. These hearty Mexican sandwiches are essentially taco ingredients with more veg that are thrown in a supple bun, and if you're thinking "That sounds friggin' delicious!", then you'd be absolutely correct! The plentiful shreds of brisket were moist and tender without being mushy, and packed a deep, earthy flavour. Shredduce and pickled red onion brightened up the picture, as did a layer of spice from the habanero salsa. I don't know if it was baked in-house or not, but the bulilo bun was pleasantly chewy and held up well against its precious cargo. A return visit had me diving into the taco section of the menu. I had a light lunch so I doubled down on taco orders - one of the Baja-style fish, and then mix and matched the next two, getting shrimp for one and barbacoa for the second. Each plate of tacos comes with a side (this isn't well advertised on the menu), so instead of getting a ridiculous amount of corn chips, I got rice and beans for one of the plates. When my food arrived, I quickly dug into the fish before the batter had a chance to soften. The beer batter was light and crisp, and not too bulky - this was a fish taco, not a batter taco. The fish itself flaked easily and wasn't at all mushy. Shredded lettuce, pickled red onion and a crema made for a light, but flavourful taco. The side of house-made nacho chips were wonderfully crunchy, with a nice little dusting of seasoning to give them a little pep. My second batch of tacos did not disappoint either! The shrimp were plump and had a pleasant snap, without being rubbery. Their chipotle sauce was deeply rich and savoury, with a little bit of spicy bite to it. The barbacoa was equally well-executed, with the moist bits of beefs still maintaining crispy edges. Both tacos were minimally-topped, with traditional toppings of diced onion, cilantro and salsa roja. The rice and beans which came with my second duo of tacos were solid if somewhat forgettable, although some strands of pickled red onion brought more flavour to the show. I also had a house-made iced tea, which had a light fruity edge to the tea, without being too sweet, which I really enjoyed. It was a much-needed balance to those extra doses of Valentina's that I was adding to my food! I've been an advocate for El Este's tacos since my first bite, and now that they've expanded, I'm sure there will be many more bites to come.

Very good food and service was very good. Even had recommendations for my picky 12 year old that…read moredoesn't like spice. Very casual but delicious option.