Ensenada offers a charming concept that immediately caught my attention: a menu divided neatly between Honduran and Nicaraguan specialties, inviting diners on a culinary journey through two neighboring yet distinct cuisines. The restaurant itself is quaint and impeccably clean, with an unexpectedly thoughtful touch--every seat enjoys an unobstructed view of a giant television, making it an ideal gathering spot for World Cup matches or any major sporting event where good food and collective cheering go hand in hand. Curiosity led me to order the cacao, a first for me. Because I avoid ice and untreated water while traveling in Nicaragua, I had somehow never experienced this beloved traditional beverage in its homeland. Rich and comforting, it felt like discovering a small piece of the culture I had long missed. For the main event, I chose the carne asada accompanied by the classic Nicaraguan trio of gallo pinto, fried cheese, and crisp fried plantain chips. The steak arrived well seasoned with undeniable depth of flavor and a satisfying char. Unfortunately, the kitchen's enthusiasm with salt overshadowed the quality of the meat, tipping the balance just enough to distract from what could have been an excellent plate. The service was alright. It seemed that the woman assisting us didn't speak English, though it hardly mattered, as most of the clientele appeared to be Spanish-speaking and the interaction remained perfectly manageable. Ensenada delivers a pleasant dining experience in a welcoming setting, particularly for those looking to enjoy Central American comfort food while catching the big game. While I appreciated the thoughtful atmosphere, the opportunity to finally try cacao, and the overall adequate service, the meal ultimately didn't surpass other Nicaraguan restaurants I've visited. Good, certainly--but not memorable enough to inspire a return visit when stronger contenders are waiting just down the road. read more

Ensenada Restaurant - Carne asada - Latin American Near Me - San Francisco, California

I rarely leave negative reviews, but this experience was bad enough that I feel obligated to warn others. The biggest issue was food safety and sanitation. The employee preparing and serving food was using the same gloves to handle cash, touch various surfaces, and then immediately handle customers' food without changing gloves. Watching someone take money from multiple customers and then touch food with those same gloves was extremely concerning and completely unacceptable. On top of that, the wait time was ridiculous. We ordered a quesillo and ended up waiting over an hour outside in the cold. During that time, we asked several times about our order and were repeatedly told, "They're working on it." Meanwhile, employees appeared to be standing around rather than actually addressing the growing number of waiting customers. After waiting more than an hour, we were finally told that someone else may have taken our quesillo by mistake. Instead of being proactive and fixing the problem, we were left standing there wondering what was going on while our food got cold. The entire experience felt disorganized, unprofessional, and poorly managed. Between the sanitation concerns, the excessive wait, the lack of communication, and the mishandling of our order, this place was a huge disappointment. I came here because of all the hype and social media recommendations, but it did not live up to expectations at all. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this restaurant and will not be returning. read more

Ensenada Restaurant - Using the same dirty gloves that they handle the money with and touching all the food with !! - Latin American Near Me - San Francisco, California

Ensenada Restaurant is on the same block as my favorite dim sum take-out restaurant. I wanted to try Ensenada's soup and ordered a sopa de res (beef soup) $22. It came with rice and tortillas. To go with the soup, I tried the papa rellena (stuff potato with beef) $12. Both dishes were pretty good. I will come back to try their meat platters if I'm with friends. The food took about 20 minutes for it to be ready. Take-out service was excellent. There were only a few customers at lunch on a Friday. read more

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This restaurant have a horrendous costumer service and a very horrible food taste. I do not recommend it.

Clean and comfortable Nicaraguan-Honduran restaurant in the Excelsior. Service was friendly and timely. The food was good. Only complaint would be that the music was too loud, but it also has a bar, so there's that. I like that they have big TV's all-around to watch sports. Would be a cool spot to watch a playoff game at. They have Toña beer, cacao. They offer enchiladas nicas which I had. They were offered as appetizers so they came as two giant enchiladas in a plate. One was enough for me. It had rice, shredded beef and other ingredients. My wife had the carne a la jalapeño. She was content with her plate. All in all food and service were good. Curious to come back and try their chancho con yuca, or Vigoron, and their carne asada plate with gallopinto, maduro and queso frito of course. Deacachimba, tuani. Vengan a apoyar a lo nuestro. read more

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This place is sooo good! We got lured in from the smell of carne asada that they were grilling right outside their restaurant front. Super glad that we came in cause it's a place I would regularly go to. The food is authentic, the carne asada is juicy, and they got so many good appetizers! Staff (Cindy) is really nice and everyone sings karaoke really well. Live music when we ate here. Lastly the Toña cerveza is a hit with the grilled meats! Coming back soon read more

Me: "Hello, do you accept credit card?" Lady: "NO!" *hangs up phone* DONE....delivery it is! Earlier this week, while I was on my way to grab dim sum takeout, I saw a new sign up for Ensenada Restaurant. They took over Mi Lindo Honduras and have a similar menu. Also, the reviews for both businesses (prior and current) are merged on google under "Ensenada Restaurant". So not sure if this is a rebrand or an entirely new business? They're open for takeout, delivery, and indoor dining. M E N U Honduran cuisine with a sprinkling of Nicaraguan and Salvadorean dishes: apps, breakfast, soups, entrees, etc. Per staff, cash only so delivery apps come in handy. Keep in mind prices are most likely lower in person than on the apps. Today, I ordered priority delivery via UberEats and my order was delivered in 23 minutes. Kudos for that! F O O D * Baleada Super w/ beans, cheese, crema, eggs, and avocado ($6.73) // 4 stars: http://tinyurl.com/ptcvhxjy Baleada is a Honduran street food consisting of a thick, handmade flour tortilla filled with mashed beans, crema/sour cream, and crumbled queso duro...with variations that include scrambled eggs, chorizo/meat, and/or avocado. It's like a large Honduran soft taco. The handmade flour tortilla was warm, thick, and chewy. They give you hella filling but it was very crema + queso duro heavy with plenty of ripen buttery avocado chunks. Light on the mashed beans + eggs. * Pollo Catracha aka Pollo con Tajadas: Fried chicken w/ plantains, cabbage salad, onions, cheese, salsa, and dressing ($20.69) // 2 stars: http://tinyurl.com/4zxxdd9z My least fav rendition I've tried of this popular Honduran street food item. Starting with the positives, it was a huge portion - they give you half a chicken! But, went downhill from there. The fried chicken seemed reheated, not freshly cooked (dry). It was drowned with the cabbage slaw, pickled onions, and pink dressing (mayo + ketchup based) that leaked out of the box and into the plastic bag. This resulted in wet, soggy fried chicken and hot cabbage slaw. Wished they separated the hot and cold items plus dressing instead of plating it like a dine-in dish. To top it off, if you zoom into the pic and look at the right corner of the box, there's a long wavy black hair on the grape tomato through the end of the chicken drumstick extending out of the box. I have ashy blonde/silver hair. =X S E R V I C E Seems brusque over the phone but maybe they're nicer in person? A M B I A N C E Looked the same when I passed by.... Casual, sports bar-ish type vibes with counter, table, and booth seating. They kept the 49ers gold/red booths from Golden State Grill. P A R K I N G Very challenging street parking. Overall, while delivery was hella fast, in-person dining is probably a lot better. If you're in The Excelsior, it's worth trying Ensenada Restaurant for yourself! read more

Ensenada Restaurant - DELIVERY - Pollo Catracha/Pollo con Tajadas: Fried chicken w/ plantains, cabbage, onions, cheese, salsa, dressing | $20.69 - Latin American Near Me - San Francisco, California

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I really wanted to like this place but sadly didn't. I tried the nacatamal as I've been craving one for months.. It wasn't good at all. First, I pulled out a large rib out of it, then kept pulling out bits of hard rice, then bit into the pork.. it was all mostly fat. I instantly started regretting ordering from here. I gave it just one more bite and bit into a smaller bone of some sort mixed in with the masa. I couldn't finish it and just threw the rest away. read more

The service and food were good. I had their combo seafood dish and the portion was generous. The sauce of the stew was good but in the end it got salty hence only 4 stars. read more

Ensenada Restaurant - Surf and turf - Latin American Near Me - San Francisco, California

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The music is about the only good thing about this place. The food was mediocre and served cold.

Great restaurant to enjoy breakfast, lunch or dinner Very clean restaurant The service is fantastic, they cook really good meals, we love this restaurant so delicious food to enjoy in family or friends read more

Loved this place! Cindy was our waitress and she was on point! The karaoke was poppin and it felt like a classic Filipino party, but with a Honduran/Nicaraguan vibe. The Carne Asada Nicaragüense was incredibly flavorful and perfectly cooked, and the beef tostones were amazing--crispy, savory, and super satisfying. Everything tasted fresh and delicious. Definitely a spot we'll be coming back to! read more

La comida es mala, sin sabor . Las porciones son muy pequeñas y es costosa. No volvería a ese lugar. ------- --------- The food is bad and flavorless. The portions are very small and it's expensive. I would not go back to that place. read more

Delicious food . Really enjoyed brochettes with gallo pinto. Large quantities of food. Only thing is expensive - $20 plus per plate. weekends they have pupusas. Friendly service . read more

This place wants to be a Nicaraguan restaurant but falls short. I had the Nicaraguan carne asada plate and it was poorly executed. The platanos verdes were broken up into almost crumb sized pieces. The cabbage salad was just chopped up cabbage with absolutely no vinegar seasoning. The gallo pinto was off. A Nicaraguan restaurant that can't get gallo pinto right should not claim to be Nicaraguan. The carne asada was poor quality with a lot of fat and unevenly cooked. The encurtido (pickled onions with a dash of chili) was bland and tasted more like onions in water instead of onions in vinegar with a dash of chili. There were two other Nicaraguan people in my party but I kept my review to the plate I ordered. We all ate different plates from the menu and suffice to say none of us will be repeat customers. read more

food was so good! they bbq right out front - we got the carna asada, yuca fritas, and papa rellena. a great local find! the staff and customers were singing karoake as we were all eating. super fun ambiance! would definitely come back read more

The portions are large but lack authentic Nicaraguan flavors. We ordered nacatamales and we were disappointed: no aromatics were used to infuse flavor in the masa or the pork. We also had caballo bayo and the only good thing was the carne asada and the fried cheese. The service was fair and the place looked clean . The server was very pleasant. I don't like giving up so we may try other small dishes if I'm the area. read more

Food service and vibe was fantastic. Came right at 11am for early lunch. My mom had the Desayuno tipico, which she enjoyed to the very last bite. My father and I had the Filete de pescado al ajio (filet of fish in garlic sauce which is pictured on this review). It was fantastic!!! Will be trying other things in the menu next time. read more

Ensenada Restaurant - Latin American Near Me - San Francisco, California

This restaurant is the best. The food is so delicious and the ambient is amazing. I really recommend this place!!!

Es muy triste como la señora que parse dueña o maneger general está atendiendo de mal a los clientes. He sido cliente por más de dos años de este restaurante, pero esta señora atiende muy mal. El sábado llegué al restaurante y pedí un pescado frito, se demoraron una hora y 23 minutos para llevarme el servíos, el cual llegó con el pescado extremadamente frío y con I sabor a viejo. Están vendido al los cliente productos viejos Al expresar respetuosamente que el pescado está frío y con sabor a malo, la señora que parece ser la dueña llegó a mi mesa exaltada y con una muy mala actitud, quien al parecer quería que yo a la fuerza agarrara otro servicio de comida. Muy enojada conmigo por qué había devuelto el pescado que espere 1:23 horas para que me lo llevaran frío y en mala estado. Mucho cuidado con los productos que aquí están vendiendo. Mi experiencia ha sido muy mala. Y si me hubiera comido ese pescado así, quizás hasta me hubiera intoxicado. Este lugar en definitiva ha perdido la calidad con la atención y con los productos. read more