We came here on Mother's Day without reservation and they were very accommodating. They had a mother say train and menu lots of options. We got the cucumbers the light in the lavender lemonade both were delicious. We got the Kearny Asada tacos and the ground beef tacos. Very yummy. Chips and salsa were very good. They gave me a rose to celebrate Mother's Day. Her waitress was fantastic. Would highly recommend coming here for dinner. One of the rooms has a door that opens up to the outside, so feels like you are dining outside. read more

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Best salad with lots of cheese. Good for lent too. I highly recommend you go there. Now I'm going to want to go there on Friday

We have been coming to Espiau's for many years now, that goes back all the way to the original Pomona location. This has been our favorite restaurant in all of this time. The Mexican salad is simple yet unique, and no other restaurant has been able to copy it. That salad alone is what keeps many customers coming back over and over again. I have also enjoyed getting the cheese enchilada plate for years. In the past, you would be served a generous amount of food, with the enchiladas stuffed with cheese, the refried beans served with a layer of melted bubbling cheese, and a good portion of great rice. Starting in Pomona, the actual plates the food was served on were huge, and the portions matched. This custom was carried over to the Claremont location. However, things and circumstances change, and so did the plate size and portions. Things were still good enough to keep us returning as regular customers. But, this last visit has us reconsidering. What we were served was just plain unacceptable. I ordered my usual two cheese enchiladas, rice and beans, with the Mexican salad. While there was less cheese on the salad as there has been in the past, (an eye boggling huge pile) it was still very acceptable and delicious. However, when they brought the enchilada plate, it was a complete disappointment. What I was served would have been an embarrassment to a child's plate. There were two completely flat tortillas with little to no cheese, at least I was never able to really see or taste any. The beans came with a sprinkle of cheese on top, no bubbling layer at all, all three tablespoons. There was an equal amount of rice, that is to say about three tablespoons as well. They were spread in a thin layer to try and at least look like there was a covering on the plate. Did I mention that the plates the meal was served on are now the size of a child's plate? The cost of this skimpy meal was $30. I understand the inflation has caused the necessity of raising prices, but Espiau's is now trying to serve as little food as possible at premium prices. What they don't seem to get is that the point of raising prices is to enable quality and quantity to remain. I believe that people are willing to pay higher prices to keep things as close to possible to what they are used to receiving. But this practice of serving smaller and smaller portions white raising the prices to near unsustainable levels is just not going to work over time. I just don't think you can have it both ways. Tiny portions of food with large price increases just isn't a winning business model. There comes a time when the point of diminishing returns has been reached, and I think Espiau's has reached this point. You can only shrink portions and raise prices so much. We haven't completely given up, even though we have noticed this trend of smaller portions and higher prices. We are going to give it another try and hope that this experience was just a result of a bad day or an inexperienced food preparer. We can accept that times in the food industry are tough, but not at this level. I will amend this review if we find that this was just an off day. I would have given just 1 star for the meal, except that the salad was still delicious. Espiau's, please, do better! read more

I found this spot a year or two ago while I was looking on Yelp for a fun place to catch the March Madness games. I wanted somewhere I could enjoy live sports, grab a bite to eat, and maybe get some work done too. After checking around, I realized this place was just what I needed. During the day, it's super chill and perfect for getting stuff done since it's usually quieter. But at night, especially during big games, it can get pretty loud and packed, which isn't great for working. Still, the lively vibe at night makes it a lot of fun. read more

Horrible service and over priced the waitress MaryAnne or Merrilyn is horrible. Totally rude unprofessional and unfriendly she brings down the energy of the entire place. She is snarky, unprofessional and passive aggressive and does things out of spite if she gets upset by telling her there is hair in your food. read more

(Based on 2.5 stars) Espiau's Restaurant is located in downtown Claremont. I stopped by here with my husband on a Wednesday to use a gift card that I was given. When we first came through the front entrance, the employee told us that we were to go to the back (outside) to get seated. We waited more than 15 minutes and an employee never came outside so we went back to the front entrance. The employee said there should be someone so she lead us back there. We waited another 5 minutes and decided to head back to the front entrance and make a to go order (as we were already annoyed with the run around. If I didn't have this gift card, I would have left). After looking over the menu, we ended up ordering: Shrimp Fajitas, $20.99 prior to tax- I was surprised to see that this entrée is made with small size shrimp. It was odd that the shrimp and vegetables are drizzled with a yellow/ orange sauce that I thought was cheese. It was actually a spicy sauce but didn't taste good. This entrée is also served with beans and cheese and a side of rice. The hot sauce, tiny shrimp and vegetables didn't taste that good and both my husband and I had much better fajitas. Tacolada Platillo, $13.49 prior to tax- This dish is supposed to be a hybrid of a taco and an enchilada. But because this was covered with cheese and sauce, I have no idea what it looked like but thought it tasted okay. The portion size of this entrée was quite a bit. This dish is also served with beans and cheese and a side of rice. ---------------- (Total= $36.44 after tax) I think we waited 20 minutes for our food after ordering. It was nice that our order came with a side of chips but I didn't like the seasoning that they used. The seasoning was too salty so we didn't end up eating them all. The salsa they gave us on the side was spicy but good. The food we got tasted like Americanized Mexican food and is overly priced for what it is. I wouldn't come back. read more

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For context we went a Sunday morning for lunch after visiting the nearby farmers market. We were seated right away inside which was great. We were greeted with chips and salsa. Salsa was a little spicy, but enjoyable. My wife ordered flautas and I ordered a burrito. After waiting 30 minutes we asked if our food was being worked on. We were told the patio was really busy, but they would check. Our food came out 45 minutes after ordering. I get it, Sundays are busy, but the restaurant should maybe hire more staff. Staff were obviously doing their best, but there's only so many plates one server can dish out. Food wasn't that tasty either. I paid an extra $1 for guacamole and sour cream. I didn't expect them to dollop a tablespoon on top of my burrito. Who doesn't put guacamole and sour cream inside the burrito? read more

Service was wonderful. Food was mediocre. Chips way too salty. Almost inedible. Salsa was good. The place was dingy and outdated. Floor by the bathrooms was sticky. Star for food and atmosphere read more

I usally go for their delicious Espiaus salad, I get the double with extra dressing.. The have the best chips also.

Service was mediocre and that was the best part of the entire experience. Disgusting, filthy restrooms should have been warning enough to leave before dining. Chips were not corn tortillas but flour and severely unevenly seasoned. Salsa was mainly sriracha. Skinny margarita was barely sweet and the blood orange margarita was way too sweet. I tasted two meals. It is perplexing to me how they are able to prepare food with such absence of flavor. Consistently, other than the sriracha based salsa, I found the food to be full of calories and texture and lacking any discernible flavor. This left me regretting eating anything there. I think back to the filthy restroom prior to dining and wish I had listened to my inner voice telling me to leave then. I found no redeeming qualities of the restaurant. Update from next morning: two of us have been in the bathroom a LOT after this meal. It's bad. read more

My husband had the steak fajitas and I had a burrito. I had order envy, his fajitas were amazing. A+ for the portion size of the burrito :). I liked how big it was - shoulda paid an extra $1.50 though to make it wet... would have liked more sauce - that's some hot sauce I put on top in the photo. It would be nice if they could bring back the student discount, when you show your student ID :(... it used to be 20% off the bill and that was cool! Some good wine options on the menu and that is impressive . :) One time we had the happy hour nachos and they were great - also loved the size. We like to come here and sit in the booths very comfortable and always a fun time! Great service - thanks! read more

Espiau's - Gorto Burrito I think - Mexican Near Me - Claremont, California

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I came here for lunch with friends a few weeks ago for the first time after driving by so many times and I really enjoyed myself. We were seated quickly and were brought chips and salsa right away. The chips are SO good. The seasoning is delicious and the salsa is really good! I like that the menu has a variety of different things. I opted to get the cheesy cheeseburger which was good. Our server was efficient, but she did seem to be bothered every time we asked for a box or something additional. I'd definitely come back to try some more food. The salad looks delicious so I'd love to try it! read more

This restaurant is horrific! We went in expecting normal service at the least! The only server on Friday afternoon was the manager herself! Slow due to all the customers there! Then we found a long black hair in the white cheese! When we brought it to her attention she reload what do you want me to do about it?! Will never go there again! What a dive!! 1 star read more

If you love cheesy salads and food this is the place for you!! The food is delicious and the drinks are yummy too. A wide range of margaritas to choose from! The servers are all very friendly. There's a bar area and dining area. Pricier than your average sit in restaurant but the food is good. read more

Espiau's - Potato taquito's and beans - Mexican Near Me - Claremont, California

I am surprised this place has such bad reviews! My mom and I had a great experience here. I was a Little hungover this morning so I ordered a Bloody Mary and it took care of that, this is one of the more basic bloody Mary's I have had but it was still flavorful and not overly spicy. For food I had the chillequiles - for $10 this is a great portion my mom had the Gringa burrito and she loved it. She also had an aero spritz which was good as well but you cannot really mess that up. We sat in the bar area with a booth and we could watch the World Cup no problem! I'll be coming back for sure, you cannot beat the prices or the flavor read more

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I left a review last week that didn't shed good light on our favorite place. We are here every weekend because it is one of our favorites! I'm not a regular on yelp but noticed such an issue with some help that I put it out there. We love the waitresses, especially Jen, and the bartender, Jeffrey is fantastic as well. We love the food and the atmosphere which is why we come every weekend. People doing the job expected of them is important to me that's all. I really hope everyone sees this place for the great restaurant and bar that it isI know I do! read more

Came here around 5:00 on a Friday evening place was a bit packed so my party sat outside. Service here was pretty good our server kept checking up on us and food came out on a timely manner. Although i will say the food was alright not the greatest that i had. Just a wee bit expensive for this type of Mexican food that's being served. My favorite thing would probably be the drink here. I would probably just come back here for drinks and chips and salsa read more

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I will walk miles through a thunderstorm for their chips and guacamole! Outstanding! Even 3 days later!

There food very good and tasty the people over here are super nice and very friendly very cool place read more

Espiau's - #veganburrito - Mexican Near Me - Claremont, California

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Koo breakfast spot gets a little crowded and noisy Be patient there's 1 server for the dining room area Had a simple cup of coffee with chilaquiles with a side of avocado 6/10 read more

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Poor service and food is so so. Americanized Mexican food plus non-Mexican options. Nothing extraordinary. Ordered the torta. They put some kind of melted cheese that tasted awful in it. Not normal. Open weekdays only and close at 6pm. ‍ seriously not worth a try. Went out of curiosity and desperation for somewhere without a long wait. Not sure why anyone goes there but they did have a bar so thinking the booze? Didn't feel like valued customers as we saw non-minority customers get smiles and expedited requests while we were ignored. No return visit for us. read more

I've been coming to Espiaus since the 70's as a young kid. The food no longer tastes good, the signature salad is not worth the 9.50 to add on to your meal. The service was horrible and everything was way overpriced. Never came back to refill my tea. It was a struggle to swallow my dry flautas down. The very tiny and dried out serving of rice and beans was not worth the $17.99 then add the extra 9.50 for the salad. The server never came back to bring lemon for my tea or see if I needed a container for my uneaten salad. I'm not coming back. read more

Been going there for over 30 years even when they were in Pomona. We moved to Colorado 4 years ago and we came to visit the grandkids this week we went there for our daughter in law's birthday. Let me tell you we were so disappointed with the service and the food and the prices of the food. I can't believe they now charge $10.50 to add on their famous Mexican salad which I love on top the $17.99 meals. The service was horrible and they didn't want to give us any containers for our leftover salsa and the chips. And I had to beg them to give me a little container of their salad dressing for my leftover tostada. Never again will we go so sad after so many years. read more

Ok....Whew!! Where to begin!!! We came in for a quick something. Ordered the double salad (Iceberg lettuce and cheese). The salad dressing,as always, was awesome! Worth, with tax, $20? No, just no. Now let me tell you about the chips and salsa we received. A very small handful of chips and a small black container with a dollop of salsa. We laughed. We couldn't help it! To the owner: Very obvious that the quality and care is not there anymore..... Sell it to someone who DOES care. read more

We stopped off for Lunch. Took advantage of the SENIOR MENU. The prices are discounted and priced well I ordered the ground Beef Taco w/ Rice & Beans. My Wife ordered the Cheeses Enchilada with rice & beans. That did include a drinks too Great service and they bought I Chips & Salsa. Great place to eat, encourage anyone to try out their food. read more

The only good thing about this place was the drinks. Everything else... a disappointment. The food was blend, flavorless, and salads were gross. 3 of my girlfriends and I hated our food. The dressing was washed down. NO flavor. I'm sorry, if you're trying to save money, don't do it on the one thing that makes a salad taste good, the dressing! I ordered the chicken fajitas and that too had no flavor. No seasoning at all. They even messed up our order. Tables were dirty, sticky, so gross! Seats were super uncomfortable. This restaurant is at a great location, and they know customers would be barging in, but can you please clean up a bit? and maybe change your chef! read more

We visited for lunch on a Saturday. While the village was full of shoppers Espiau's was not. The restaurant has continued its dual identity as both a Mexican restaurant and a sandwich shop with bits of the former Dansin . We arrived at the hostess station only to find it vacant. While servers walk near by they did not attempt to acknowledge our presence. Eventually the hostess arrived and we were seated . Chips and salsa arrived promptly. First warning of things to come. I like a bit of salt on chips. These were loaded with salt, it was all I could taste after a long wait a waitress took our order . I opted for a beef dip sandwich my mother has fond memories of the salad and was looking forward to it. She also ordered a taco. I ordered a margarita. Eventually our order arrived still no sign of my drink . The beef dip was extremely salty. The dip equally so. Even the salad was salty. The Taco proved inedible both greasy and salty. The only thing not dosed with salt was the potato salad, it tasted to be out of a container you could pick up at the market. Half way through my drink arrived. I needed it given the sodium. My margarita was supposed to have a shot of raspberry liquor, much like a Cadillac has orange liquor. It was bright red and tasted only of Raspberry Liquor. The restaurant's decor is dated and worn . It was not worth half the bill. read more

Literally the best chips and salsa I've ever had in my life. I thought I loved an olive garden salad with lots of cheese but it is nothing compared to an Espiaus salad with shredded chicken and a mountain of cheese. I would recommend this place to anyone for a date night, my husband and I come here weekly now. read more

been going here for a couple years now they honestly have the best drinks. The margaritas are our favorite so many options to select from chips and salsa are the best. ambience is a very chill vibe. Got to get to know the bartender pretty well he's very nice and a couple of the staff as well. you could honestly not go wrong with the food here. surprisingly their chicken wings are really good for a Mexican restaurant. Their burgers are even more delish. one of our go to spots read more

Went here for a late lunch. We were seated immediately and were treated to a basket of chips and salsa. The chips were a bit too salty, but the salsa was good, with a bit of heat. The menu is a mixture of Mexican, burgers, sandwiches and salads. I ordered a shredded beef "stuffed" burrito. I was underwhelmed. It was a bit bland, lacked flavor and was a bit dry. I think the refried beans were canned. My friend ordered a taco plate with rice and beans, and he said the taco was dry. The server was friendly and pleasant and our order was taken in a good timeframe. The food came out in a reasonable timeframe as well, so no complaints there, but the food was a bit blah. Perhaps the sandwiches and burgers are better... read more

No Menu's again! This QR menu thing has got to stop! but wait there is a menu on the wall, but its torn and dirty. My buddy has been here many times but not in years, he said nothing has changed but his standards and although its the same its just not very good. We had salads that at $14 and $17 dollars each were a complete joke, piled with only shredded Iceberg lettuce, a few sliced pink tomatoes and some wet AF shredded carne asada this salad was not only tiny it was just a complete failure. The vinaigrette salad dressing was served in a 2 ounce plastic portion cup with a lid, and plopped right on top of this poor excuse for lunch. pretty gross in my opinion. Service was minimal and the place is dated, dark and dusty. The tables are those folding plastic banquet tables. The table was so dirty and sticky that it would be impossible to slide a quarter from one side to the other. the chairs are no better. With the pedigree and lineage Espiaus has you would think it would be excellent but what I experienced is a restaurant resting on its laurels and wiping its tables with filthy rags. If the owner reads this please run the palm of your hands across your plastic table tops, and then train your entire staff how to clean them before you open your doors again. read more

First time here sat in the bar area ordered a aperol spritz it was so refreshing and wasn't too sweet i ordered a second. We had the elote app and the shredded beef quesaldilla it was really good not sure why this place has three stars the bartender was really nice and came often to check in. I would definitely be back ! You should give this place a try! read more

Espiau's - Elote dip - Mexican Near Me - Claremont, California

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Sadly, like so many other restaurants, Espiau's is no longer affordable. Their legendary Espiau's salad is $11 - for lettuce and cheese. $2 for a teaspoon of sour cream. Service is slow. Had to ask for my daughters drink 3 times. Arrived watered down. Super disappointed in our last visit. read more

On my date nite with hubby we tried this place out. Ordered Chicken & Shrimp fajitas. Very good. The rice and beans were good which is how I normally rate Mexican food. Nice ambiance. Service was good as my drink was never empty. read more

Omg the tipsy coconut is a must to have. Jeff the bartender was great! Stopped in to watch the game as it's the only bar to have TVs in the area of downtown Claremont. Great service. read more

Espiau's - Tipsy coconut - Mexican Near Me - Claremont, California

Got 2 stars because beers were good & cold. Definitely great location & get a ton of business with new people walking by because of it. They could easily be 5 stars but: 1. Service - they need to hire more "hustlers", not slow walkers. Got thru appetizer, still no silverware or napkins. 2. Queso dip is full of beans & cream cheese chunks. Not bad, but could be amazing. I could make this at home in 5 min. Obvious way to cheapen food to make more. Charge $2 more & make it right. 3. Chips are fantastic. Salsa tastes like pace picante sauce. No other options available. 4. Hostess doesnt smile & kinda seems irritated w how busy it is. Not very friendly. 5. Outside table - be careful not to lean on them. Ours would fall right over. 6. Food: Salad is yummy. Carne asada burrito is ok at best. Full of rice & beans. Rice good, beans are ok. Potato taco good. Salsa on it is fantastic. That should be chip salsa option :) read more

Horrible service. Friendly, efficient services is definitely not their strong suit but today was just horrible. I don't mind waiting when it's busy but it's annoying when the server is just too busy chatting to be bothered with working. As if that's not bad enough, greeting the people that came in after me was even more annoying. Thank God for food to go. That service was still fairly mediocre, but at least I got the salad that I came for. read more

Great food and service. Absolutely love the salad and especially the house dressing. Great portions and chips are authentic

My wife and I are longtime fans of Espiaus. My wife will absolutely get the Mexican Salad and I love any of their sandwiches. The ambience is very much a local thing but you will see many college kids eating here. I highly recommend Espiaus. read more

Stopped by Espiaus the other day. We don't get there as often as when we lived in the area. Had a great double Espiau salad ( shared with hubby) . Hubby had taco. Had chips n salsa and we asked about them not having the queso dip like back in the day. ( been having Espaius since 1968). She said they could make it for us. It was yummy and we enjoyed every bite with our chips. Good food, great service every time. Hope to see you soon Espaius. read more