The service at this spot was not so spot on. We ordered a ton of drinks and food and everything was fine and dandy in the beginning, but then this chick turned on us and got very moody/angry while helping us. Towards the end of the meal she slammed down a $300 bill onto the table and walked away. Then every time she came back just didn't say a word and kept rushing off. For the final bill that you need to sign she pretty much tossed it on the table without saying a thing and walked away. I really liked my Mole dish, but the terrible service left a bad taste in my mouth. Don't get the carne asada either, they served it up very rare as if the cow was slaughtered live back in the kitchen. Would love to spend more money there and hang, but service needs to step it up. read more

The best guacamole in town. It was a tough call between the frijoles black bean dip, tomatillo salsa verde and the guacamole. I liked all three of them with a bowl of chips and a nice cold glass of draft beer. Also the tacos were wonderful. My favorite was the veggie taco. This is definitely one of the best Mexican food in Seattle. read more

Amazing place. Amazing chips and salsa. Great drinks. What a nice neighbourhood too. Overall a great experience! Thank you!

Knowledgeable bar staff who aren't pretentious. Best guacamole in Ballard, if slightly overpriced.

I love this place. I wish the beef was grass-fed, but they have duck! Try all the salsas (they rotate, so they're rarely the same twice) and the Huarache. This is a great place to go when I want good Mexican with a nicer atmosphere and a great bar. The classic cocktails done with tequila and mescal are all worth trying, and they always have a barrel-aged cocktail too! read more

Writing my first Yelp review to say that the pork skin was amazing!! Chicharrones and guacamole, it was perfect. It was a huge portion and was easily shareable between me and my friend, along with our margaritas. Thanks!! read more

The atmosphere is nice and the decor is beautiful. I had the chorizo torta which were quite large, even a bit unwieldy and I was unable to finish, but it was so soggy and difficult to handle that I didn't feel like bringing it home. Also their happy hour didn't clearly state that adding meat to a torta was extra money (I just assumed that a torta was made with meat like at any other establishment I've eaten a torta at). My $10 torta ended up being $15, and I couldn't even eat half of it. This place probably has better food options than my torta experience and their bartender looked like he knew what he was doing. But I've been to several great Mexican places that have offered more delicious grub for half the price, so I don't expect to be back. read more

I felt this place was reasonably ok when hubby and I came in earlier this week for a lunch date. But service was slow, and not all of the items were as tasty as I would have hoped. HOWEVER, I do hold high hopes for this restaurant in the future, as Ballard Ave has discerning tastes and this place has only been open for 4 months and my feeling is that they are still working the kinks out! We started with a round of margarita's ($12/ea) ... way too many "rocas" and completely watered down. Hubby ordered a 2nd and asked for much less ice and said it was a great improvement! To go with this rare midday alcoholic treat, we got an order of the totopos & salsa macha ($6) plus a side of guac ($5). Which were excellent.. totopos are thick-cut chips made with Gracia's house tortilla recipe and the salsa macha is basically like crack in your mouth-- a bunch of different types of dried chilis, tons of garlic, peanuts, sesame seeds, oil. Yes, I grilled the server on how it's made. It would be perfect as a dressing on roasted fish... or basically anything!! We asked for extra totopos and they happily provided them (since the original plate comes with about 8 chips, LOL) without charge but it takes a while since they appear to be fried to order. Next we had one each of the taco barbacoa ($4- lamb, pasilla de Oaxaca salsa, & guac) and pescado ($5- halibut, beer batter, cabbage, lime, chipotle crema, cilantro, jalapeno). Hubby and I agreed that it would be worth it to return for the fish tacos alone. Next arrived a little bowl of red rice ($4) which I ate a couple bites and found merely ok, but hubs demolished!! They also have arroz verde (as opposed to the rojo), which is flavored with cilantro. For our final course of small plates, we opted for the huarache, which was basically a small open-faced dark-corn masa "tortilla" with the fillings piled on ($6- duck carnitas, salsa roja, crema, lettuce) and the empanada which - be forewarned- was the largest, most massive empanada I have ever seen, which I'm supposing the price should've given it away ($10- chicken, cheese, salsa verde, crema, pico, lettuce)!!! Ambiance was quite cute and it was packed during our arrival time of about 12:45pm on a random Tuesday... significantly thinning out by the time we departed 1.5 hours later. We sat in the bar on a high-top since there were no available tables in the rest of the restaurant... even for just the two of us. I overheard the bartender tell one of the counter patrons that they had never seen the place so slammed before and were hustling to catch up! read more

Decent & ok food but extremely slow service. $4 for a small taco(3 bites tops) seems extremely steep to me. Given that the restaurant was slow and it took literally 45 minutes to fixed up extremely high priced tacos, we will not be back. You can get delicious tacos at the taco truck without the steep price and long wait. read more

The queso quesadilla was divine, as were our specialty margaritas and the guacamole. Our server, Baird, was attentive, knowledgeable and the author of our special order margaritas. This would be 5 stars, but the chips were generic, not as exceptional as the rest of the food. read more

After our movie was cancelled, we turned to Gracia for sustenance. We had high hopes for this restaurant, but were sadly disappointed. To start, we waited 10 minutes after seating to receive our menus. We ordered a fish taco plate and a lamb taco plate. The fish was severely lacking fish- waaaay too much breading. The rice was also very spicy. The black beans were very good though. A lot of lemon on the cabbage and fish, and a whole lemon slice, peel and all, cleverly hidden in the lamb. The tacos barely stayed together, to the point of using a fork. It also took them around 10 minutes to bring the check. Also quite expensive for the quality of food. read more

We came in for lunch and were pleasantly surprised. Everything we ordered was delicious and the service was awesome. The lamb on the mulitas was fantastic! Will definitely be coming back! read more

Good margs, but soggy tacos and 'carne asada' that was more like standard steak. Better tacos and carne asada can be found in Ballard for sure. read more

Went here on a Monday afternoon. Not many people there but we waited over 40 minutes to get our food once our order was placed. We saw many staff members there so they were not short handed. I would understand if they were busy but that is way too long to wait when there were only 2 other tables with people eating. Food was alright-nothing to rave about. Won't be back due to the wait time. read more

Good but not great. We. It's had tacos but felt like the flavor was there but not delicious. From the South, so we can be picky about our Mexican food. read more

Below was my first review....but now I need to update. When served your meal on a wood moldy plate with thin paper separating your food and mold YUCK, the last two times out of the seafood option. Done with this place! Really tasty food! The Guacamole was delicious- the chips just the right thickness. Fun to watch her make corn tortillas! It happened to be Dine Around Seattle so we both chose options from that Menu. the Shrimp Tostada was spicy and great, the Snapper was also great. My husband loved the pork shank-it was so tender and delicious. First time in and I hope a quality nw seafood option as an entree is on the menu for return visits rather than the usual fried-fish-taco as the token seafood choice! The flavors were very good- we will be back. read more

great food and drinks, and the service was great as well. Food is overall pretty spicy, but in the best way possible. Get the salsas just for the tomatillo green one, SO GOOD. read more

Delicious food, modern design feature and very helpful service, can you ask for more? We had a limited sampling of their brunch menu but would not hesitate to go back. read more

Walking down Ballard Ave looking for dinner and saw a few of the dishes through the window. The food looked amazing so we thought we would give it a try. We were met right away and the place was packed so the only place to sit was at the bar towards the back. These were the best seats in the house as you could watch them preparing all the goodies they have on the menu. The prices are a little steep but the food was worth it. We had the chips and guac, 5 different types of tacos and 2 margaritas. The tacos were some of the best I've ever tasted and my wife said several times during our meal "these are my favorite tacos ever". The staff was very nice and were there to ask you if you needed anything. I would recommend sitting at the bar in front of the kitchen so you can watch all the yummy food being made. The only regret was we didn't order the grilled corn. This must be a seasonal item, so get them while you can. Would be 5 stars but like I said it was a little spendy. read more

My husband loves the tacos. 3 was enough so long as you don't overdo it on chips. The guac was on point. Pozole was very hearty and filling. A little bland, but good on a rainy day. read more

Ehh, I really like the atmosphere here and the service was good, but I thought the food was a bit overpriced and just ho hum. The margaritas were tasty but at $12 a pop I will likely get cocktails somewhere else and then come here for a snack read more

Great Mexican food in the heart of Ballard. My husband is a huge Mexican food fan, much more so than I am but Gracia is a place we can both agree on! He loves the Pozole and I'm a fan of the fresh ceviche. Their tacos are good - I just wish they had a carne asada taco on the menu bc to me that's a staple. Oh well. Chips and Salsa/Guac are super good and scarily addictive. And the margaritas are strong and delicious. Gracia has a fun vibe and very nice decor. read more

Extremely nice staff! Food was delicious! Guacamole, tacos, enchiladas, margaritas: it was all great! Coming from Texas we weren't expecting much but we were pleasantly surprised! Super cute interior as well ;) read more

Underwhelmed... The interior is really nice and the service was good but everything else was brutal. There were, no joke, about 12 total choices on the menu. Almost no choices. The food was ok nothing too special but it was ok, but the drinks were a kick to the happy sack. Although the food was reasonable, the unmarked drinks were not, basically everything even super small drinks were $12. They got us good... Real good. Spent about $35 on food and 70 on drinks and damn near dead sober. Do. NOT order drinks here If u want to live. read more

Gracia is divine. The tastes are as authentic as the folks who create them; the creations are prepared with the humility and heart of Mexico itself. A must-visit. I can't wait to return. read more

Recommend for happy hour but haven't eaten a full meal there yet. Great margaritas and guacamole.

Fun place! The food was amazing. I was there for lunch last week and had a quesadilla and some veggie tacos. Also enjoyed a tequila flight.

Have been here twice (visiting from Vancouver, BC) and it delivers on all fronts. It fills my craving for high quality Mexican (I use to live in Calif and CO) and has of the best homemade tortillas I have ever had. Really fun seating up front in the window seats, great service and good value. Highly recommend. read more

The food was fine but not great, the service was pretty good but not great the ambiance was fancy but not worth the price. La Carta de Oaxaca has much better food, it's less fancy but has a much better vibe and way better food. read more

Really not impressed by this place. The food was just OK. Our appetizers were pretty good but can't say the same for our entrees. The fish in the pescado tacos was so over-fried - all we could taste was grease and fat. The lamb was pretty bland (how?!) and disappointing. This review is only about the food but we were not impressed with the service either. They may have been understaffed as we were not helped until the bartender came over and took care of us. He was super nice and it wouldn't be the servers' fault if they were understaffed but still worth mentioning. read more

Gracia is exactly what you want it to be but nothing more. Good drinks, the right amount of noise, and really great guacamole. I feel it falls right in between sports bar and Ballard boutiquey. Do yourself a favor and try the fish taco! read more

We went to this place with a group of friends. I happen to be allergic to a certain spice that they happened to put in every one of their entrees. I didn't know this before but tried the first bite and had asked to order something else. The waitress recommended a different dish so I got that, it had the same spice as before. I told her I didn't want to order anything else. I had already gotten a margarita and when the bill came they charged me $10 gratuity on a $9 drink! She had added both entrees and subsequently deleted them without deleting the increased tax and gratuity. If this place thinks a 100% tip is appropriate to be charging someone they need to get real! I am known to tip very well but not that well! Terrible! read more

delicious. stumbled upon it with a friend, and could not wait to go back with my husband. the food is exceptional, clearly super fresh, innovative, gutsy mexican. love, love, love. Interior is a plus, even the bathrooms are sweet. JASMINE, the host, is a doll, fabulous. I would hire her in a heartbeat for anything customer-service related. read more

We have been to Gracias twice now and still keep dreaming about the food. We were there a week after our first visit and they have made some adjustments to the menu that make it easier to try more things. For example, you can now order one taco instead of two, so you can treat it like an appetizer or mix and match for a meal. The gortitas were also amazing and very authentic. Be sure to ask for the house made hot sauce if you like more heat. The carne asada was a favorite too - grilled poblano peppers, Mexican onions and grill cactus and black beans along with the tender high quality cut of meat to fill the homemade tortillas (very homemade as in grinding the corn too). Unlike carne asada I have ever had before. The homemade ice cream has been our favorite dessert so far. Mole ice cream one night and a Carmel Nut the other. Perfect end to a meal. Like I said, everything is made from scratch here and you can tell. Our waitress, Jamie, was especially helpful and friendly even with our large group of indecisive newbies. Really happy with our experience- out son keeps asking to go back!! Update: Just read another post about how the $6 chips and salsa are destroying Seattle. I felt like six dollars was a fair deal for four different kinds of incredible handmade salsa and endless chips. It's a different quality than the reviewer might be used to eating. I also think the reviewer has to remember how expensive it is to to run a restaurant, let alone, in one of the most popular neighborhoods in the city. read more

We went to Gracia yesterday and were completely disappointed. The staff had a huge chip on her shoulder and didn't know what the salsas were made of when we asked. We had read all about them and were excited to go try out this new restaurant. Our food was also extremely slow and she came by once to let us know it was coming out. The food itself had great flavors, but really not worth the wait or the feeling that we were not important in any way. Really disappointing. read more

This place was worth the drive! We drove from Bellevue to Ballard to try Gracia and we were not disappointed. We started our meal w/ queso fundido, which was delicious. The tacos were just as good. My son ordered the lengua tacos, the beef was cooked in a spicy broth, it was tender and cooked to perfection. We also ordered the chicken mole enchiladas, the mole was the best I've had. Overall, the service, drinks and food were all worth the effort of driving across the bridge on a cold rainy night! read more

Edit: The comment below from the "manager" shows that they have a horrible attitude regarding customer service. I will spend my money elsewhere!! Good food, HORRIBLE service. Sat at the bar and the bartender didn't acknowledge me for 10min. I finally ordered a margarita and he took 20min to make it. It then tasted REALLY spicy despite the fact that I ordered the Ballard margarita. I finally was able to ask him what was making it spicy and he said "Oh I used the same glass as for a spicy margarita". He offered to make me another margarita which I accepted. The first course showed up and we both used our forks and dirtied them(they actually fell on the floor). I asked him for new forks before the next course and he didn't say anything and kind of threw the forks at us. Then the carne asada arrived and we asked for tortillas. 20min later, we still had no tortillas and the food was cold. When complaining to the "manager/horrible bartender" he became argumentative and yelled "go ahead and get out". What a jerk! Horrible way to run a business. We will not be back. I have never been treated so rudely as far as customer service. The customers keep you employed but these folks have no clue! read more

12/22/16 review - Arrived hungry and ordered six different items - very very dissappointed. The empanada was flavorless, and the broth in the chicken lime soup tasted like store-bought beef broth - with chicken? Taco with brisket had cubed meat, seemingly in 'gravy'. We really wanted to like this place, but the food didn't have that 'fresh' taste, and it is way too expensive for what you get. While the restaurant looks great (nice tables, nice bar), the servers were not attentive. They didn't smile, threw the food on the table and turned and left, without any eye contact! If I eat out, I like to have someone at least act like they want to serve...not going back to this place. read more

Want to love this place. Decor-A, homemade everything-A. Where it falls short is the execution and the price. Started with chips and guac (thick cold chips and flavorless guac) $6 for the small. Asked for salsa to spice it up, ($3 which we found out about when we got the check) ok up charge aside. Cochanitas pabil dinner, great flavor but it's a small amount of meat on a pile of rice with a small handful of pickled onion. Red on red on red, chef.... Please add a little green, something fresh, cilantro, cabbage, even lime, just something to add a bite of freshness. Quesadillas had the fresh toppings but we found the insides to be bland and rubbery. Overall, really wanted to love it but it fell flat and for the price it's not worth it, especially when senior moose and carte de Oaxaca are just a few blocks away. Might give it a go for lunch or happy hour but dinner is off the table for now. -JK read more

Yes, Gracia- you rocked my world. I am so glad I decided to take my out of town friends to experience some of the best food Ballard has. The food is delicious and full of flavor. My vegetarian friend was so happy to have many options and the chef was happy to accommodate her dietary restrictions. The soap de calabaza was amazing, and the shrimp tostadas I always enjoy. The guac always it the spot. Perfect prices. Totally worth every penny. read more