JUAN'S IS SO GOOD. Seriously, everything I've tried here is so good. It's hard to find authentic, good Mexican food in the Berkeley area. This food is legit. Tastes like food that I ate growing up. They bring out corn and flour tortilla chips and two salsas to start. The flour chips are sooooo good and flaky. Birria, chile verde, enchiladas, chiles rellenos are all on point. I highly recommend anything here. Also, get the wine margaritas. MMM read more

Blah! They don't have a liquor license so they serve "wine margaritas". That is probably all I have to say to justify my one star rating but just to make sure you steer clear of this place I'll add: bland, gloppy refried beans, greasy chips, terrible guacamole, red sauce that definitely came out of a can... I could go on but I just don't want to continue to access the memories of the two times I had to eat there. PS If you want good Mexican food in the East Bay, check out Dona Tomas. read more

I love Juan's green salsa. I buy it by the bottle to use as a condiment/seasoning at home. Therefore, I am a big fan of the chili verde (& my family, also, likes the chili colorado). Like most folks say, this is "old-time Mexican food." Big plates of smushy stuff - except for the rice which is very fluffy. The hours are great (Hours: Mon-Fri 11am-10pm, Sat-Sun 2pm-10pm). We went on Saturday because my favorite lunchie wanted chili rellenos ala Juan's. I had a salad which was quite nice and bought chili verde & colorado, and carnitas dinners for my starving family at home. Lunchie and I had "wine margaritas" which I've never had before and they weren't bad. Nicely whimpy so's I wouldn't be too drunkie-up to drive lunchie & me home. I have always had the friendliest of service here and we ritually order food to go on New Year's Eve so that we can wish the family that is Juan's a HAPPY NEW YEAR! To me - family is what Juan's is all about, the families that are customers and the family that is Juan's. I'm a hokey person and family rings my bell.... read more

I have to agree with other reviewers that Juan's is rich, delicious and kinda pricey. The neighborhood is dodgy, but what fantastic mexican food place isn't in a dodgy neighborhood?! Soo... on that note, the service is fantastic! While my sister and I were there for a late night dinner, one of the servers was having a birthday and they cranked up the "happy birthday" tunes and passed cake around to everyone. I thought it was very sweet of them to share the cake, yummy chocolate, with everyone and it shows that they care about their costumers. I would recommend it if you're in the area or want to indulge in some super greasy flour tortilla chips, but it ain't cheap and I definitely recommend sharing the super burrito cause if you can eat the whole thing by yourself you deserve some kind of award. It's HUGE!!! read more

I've been coming to Juan's place since I was 5. I've been going to this place for 20 years. 20 years. I took a little break when I moved away, but I came back. BEST BELIEVE I CAME BACK. My three favorite places as a babe were Sizzler's, some Indian restaurant on Shattuck that I can't remember (I think they closed it anyway), and JUAN'S PLACE. I love this place. I love everything about it. I mean...at this point...they could serve me a marinated shoe, and I'd love it. Because they know how to marinate shit here. That shoe, AT WORST, would be tolerable. I'd bet it would be quite good. Look. I don't need to write about the consistency of their guacamole or whatever. I DON'T CARE. The food is delicious. You know what Mexican food is like. If you enjoy it, you will enjoy Juan's place. If you don't like Mexican food, you will like Juan's Place. The website really does it for me: "Juan's Place - a Mexican Restaurant" Hell yeah it is. read more

I was brought here on the premise of some fresh flour tortilla chips that I had to try. The chips were tasty, but that's about all that was here. The salsa was blended to a consistency of an ordinary hot sauce, only it didn't taste hot, just salty and sour. The flour chips were tasty, the corn chips, not so much. Onto the entrees - I ordered the cheese enchiladas with a verde sauce, which I believe was $13.95 on the menu. I couldn't have been more disappointed. I have had better enchiladas from the ready made selections in the grocery store. The cheese tasted like plastic, did not seem to have melted very well, the sauce was bland, the rice and beans were blah (the beans tasted like they came out of a can!), and the whole dish seemed like it was showered with salt. I'm not sure how this place is making it. It definitely is the worst Mexican food I've had, as well as some of the priciest! Even those flour chips won't bring me back, as I've discovered I can make some that are 10 times better than theirs! read more

I think it used to be very good. Was better before. I used to come here as a kid and I remember it being very good. Now it is just ok....a little on the pricey side. Not bad, but not great. Service was excellent though and everyone is very friendly. read more

Authentic and family owned restaurant. All the waiters are the sons and their wives. Super sweet and mean well. Very genuine and nice. The food is a good amount compared to closer places that give you a ice cream scoop of rice and beans each. Their guac is a must! Super fresh. read more

After going on a moonlight hike with a good friend we were of course starving. Having already been 9 pm we cruised around looking for some good, hot, post hiking food to refuel. D recommended Juan's as I had never seen or heard of the place. Not only were they open, but bursting with hospitality and character. D ordered one of the most epic burritos I have ever seen and I had a chicken salad that had an ample portion of the zestiest, juiciest chicken I seen come out of a restaurant. Definitely adding Juans to my night menu roster!!! read more

Revolting, hurl inducing food; and relatively pricey, disgusting! Much better bets in Berkeley are Tacubaya (on 4th street, it's excellent) Cancun Taqueria (downtown, I like it), or Picante (West Berkeley, excellent ingredients, OK food, not very picante!) read more

I had trouble coming up with one reason to even give it one star. I guess... um... they gave us free chips and salsa and D grade guacamole? What's wrong? 1. Food is gross. Like below average, boring Mexican food. No one in our party finished even half of their plate. The meat tasted like mildew, not seasoned, beans were bland, rice was probably Rice-A-Roni Spanish rice. 2. SUPER EXPENSIVE for gross, low quality, not fresh, probably 80% from a can or prepackaged food. I had two enchiladas, and a glass of watered down Sangria and (with a $4 tip) it cost $25. This is seriously $5 food, if that. 3. Wine Margaritas. What is a wine margarita? Gross, that's what it is. And is it cheaper because it's a gross wannabe margarita? Nope. I can safely say I won't be back; there is too much just as gross Mexican food around here but much, much cheaper. read more

Disappointing. Expensive. Even though it's only a block away from my office, and there aren't many other places within walking distance, I think I'd rather eat microwaved frozen stuff from Trader Joe's. Quite honestly, it's tastier and a lot less expensive. Oh, did I mention it's expensive? $9.50 for a chicken tostada? Really? If I could give it no stars, I would. read more

Flour tortilla chips: that's what Juan's is all about. You sit down and they plonk down a bowl of corn tortilla chips and flour tortilla chips. Guess which disappears first! The flour chips are like a cross between fried won ton skin and pie dough--such a toothsome texture. While the service isn't particularly slow and it's not like you're waiting around being forced to eat these chips, they have a mysterious way of disappearing. Thankfully, they are happy to bring you another bowl of it. Juan's has wine margaritas and wine pina coladas; you can keep drinking them and not get shitfaced. They don't taste half bad, either. My favorite items on the menu are the enchiladas (green or mole are good), but if I want to be bad then I order the deepfried flautas or the matador. UPDATE: Dear Juan, please don't make me take my leftovers home in a paper boat and a precut aluminum foil again. Ever. I nearly dumped refritos all over my friend's car. Paper cartons with lids are ok, but paper tray and foil is an entirely different matter. UPDATE 11/30/06: Thank goodness, they're doing styrofoam containers instead of paper boats. Not good for environment, but I didn't have to worry about spilling my refritos. Plus, I was able to fit a whole bowl of flour chips in here. I got the fish taco for the first time and they were above expectation. Huge pieces of fried catfish (I think) in crispy corn tortillas. I had to crawl into bed immediately upon arriving home, though, due to the immense food coma. I'm like the happy lovechild of Juan and Terry Schiavo. read more

Mmmm....I don't usually like chips and salsa, but I didn't even notice how many I ate until my hand was absently scrabbling in the bottom of the basket. We went at 4pm so there was almost literally no one there, but the food was delicious and the horchata tops. Although I ate so much I feel sick. read more

"Bready Chips!" It's all about the bready chips! I love Juan's place because i'm a snacker and they give you two different kind of chips! How awesome is that. One is thicker/ breadier and the other is your typical salsa chips. I didnt really remember the main dish that I had so I think i've had better but I like going here to snack on the chips and have a sangria. It's cheap and it fills you up! Also, they have homemade decorations all over the place, and I believe there is a picture of jesus somewhere, not sure why I remember that weird detail... If you tell them it's your birthday, they will flash the lights that's all over the place. I dont recommend that... read more

Juan's is an authentic Mexican restaurant. It's not a taco truck, it's not a quick and dirty burrito shop right next to campus. It's not Taco Bell. That's why I find it amusing that many of the reviews here (particularly the negative ones) are from people who ordered a Super Burrito. Don't get me wrong: I LOVE a good Super Burrito. But the burrito is an invention of the American people. It doesn't come from original Mexican cuisine. That's why I order quesadillas or enchiladas whenever I come to Juan's. When in Rome, right? I have found the dish that I love and I order everytime I come back. A la Jesus Quesadillas! If I were to judge Juan's on this dish alone, I would give them 5 stars. Their salsa is yummy and the people are friendly. The service has always been pretty good and I love the atmosphere. It's one of the places I miss most about the east bay. read more

The place itself is kinda cool. Walls are decorated with an assortment of random things and the tables and chairs are ghetto fab. You just walk in, get seated right away, and in front of you gets placed 2 different types of chips w/ salsa. The portions are GINORMOUS. Last time I came here it was with a buy one get one free coupon from the Entertainment booklet, we def got our money's worth. My friend who is a big guy and a big appetite like myself didn't even attempt to challenge himself to finish esp since we scarfed down 10 plates worth of chips before the food actually arrived. The chips are hella addicting. The steak burrito I ordered wasn't very good. The flavor of the meat was MEH, and the mixture of ingredients was subpar. Not sure if the size really makes up for the low standard for a burrito. Not really unless you were absolutely starving. Go elsewhere for delicious mexican food. read more

If you want to feel at home, this is the place. I don't care about the food, it's the people. Food is food. This is a mom and pop restaurant, and I love the feeling I get walking in. Like today, shitty day. Waiting to get my car smogged. Dropped in, to have a bite(by myself, which is NOT a norm for me). And I feel at ease, comfortable watching the A's game at the bar. read more

My feelings on Juan's can be summed up as follows: 1. I frequently work very long hours on weekdays. When I get home late, I will often lazily go eat somewhere that is easy and close rather than cooking. 2. Juan's is three blocks from my house. 3. I have only been once. read more

Juan's Place is Lupe's Place. It has the best Mexican food in the Easy Bay, and I'll often blackmail my friends into taking me there for my birthday. The Enchiladas de mole are the best I've ever tasted, and the portions are so huge that I don't even eat lunch on the days I know I'll go there for dinner. The atmosphere is decent enough, but what you're coming for is the food, which is super totally way very awesome. read more

Price: 5 Stars Quality of Service: 5 Stars Mindful attending to Customers: 5+ Stars Quantity of Quality Food: 5 Stars Atmosphere: 4 Stars Overall score: 5 Stars It is the best bang for the buck. ... Support quality small business. .. read more

Juan's is by no means food snobs' Mexican food. It's not 'nuevo latina,' 'Tex-Mex,' 'Mexicali,' nor 'fresh mex'. Juan's is like when you go to your mexican buddies' house for a birthday or quinceanera and their mom and all their aunties are in the kitchen cooking up a spicy, cheesy, meaty mountain of hearty Mexican food. Hell, toss grandma in there with them for good measure! Juan's is comfort food at its best. Flour chips? Awesome. Super burritos? Super. Flautas? Flautastic. Huevos Rancheros? It's got huevos. read more

Great food .. love the chili verde burrito, it's a must have extra sour cream .. omg you have to try it!!

I first visited this Berkeley institution as a freshman in 1976, and have been returning regularly ever since. In all that time it hasn't changed a bit except that Juan no longer is around (I remember him standing over the operation wearing his cowboy hat). This is a family owned restaurant which serves excellent authentic Mexian food. My favorite dish here is the chile verde. Other favorites are the carne asada, chile relleno and carnitas. And as so many have posted here, the flour chips are to die for...you have to be careful to not stuff yourself with these before your main dish comes. Bar is beer and wine only, which means that margaritas are wine-based. It also is street parking only, which usually isn't a problem in this part of Berkeley Service is quick and efficient. You can expect a relatively short wait to be seated on Friday and Saturday nights, especially when UC is in session. Juan's Place is my favorite Mexican restaurant anywhere (second favorite is El Tepeyac in Los Angeles). Check it out if you're ever in Berkeley. read more

YES INDEED - IT IS A MEH so first time I ate here 2 years ago i remember it being kinda pricey but I remember the food being good. This time is different. It still is pricey but they do have a few "specials" that are at a reasonable price...(@$11) but food is Meh. Definitely had way better food at other MX places and @ cheaper price too. Had the chicken enchilada and pork tamale combo for lunch this time... meat in the enchilada is bland and so was the tamale. I actually liked the tamale at the tacqueria inside las montanas than this one! Sauce is also meh.. rice and beans are good. I liked the strawberry margarita. I also liked the tortilla chips! Customer service is good. See, there's some stuff i liked! ;) I just end up eating here basically while waiting for the smog test center across the restaurant to finish with my car... plus they give me a 10% discount to this place! HA! read more

Don't mess with the staff or they'll crack you in the skull with a tire iron! BRUTAL! Haha! Go, Juan's! If you don't know what I'm talking about, do a news search for Juan's. Jesus Cristo! Juan's is your basic, homey, hearty, family-run Mexican food joint. Good portions and reasonable prices. I've received major attitude in the past from a waitress who is the granddaughter of the owner. She actually had the nerve to say, "I'm the owner's granddaughter" as if it excused her bad behavior when she argued with me about getting my order wrong TWICE. I don't give a shit who you are, get my order right and don't argue with me to try to act like it wasn't your mistake when you get it wrong. I always order the same exact thing each time I come in, lame-o. I wrote a letter to the owner about it and he apologized and gave me a $50 gift certificate so I forgave them. I just don't go in as often because I'm not up for paying for a side of attitude with my food. To go, please! Wine margaritas? That's pretty weak. But they have affordable pitchers of beer. All in all, I really, really like Juan's and definitely recommend it. It's one of those places that you act like you don't like but really do love when it comes down to it. It's got character, that's for damn sure! Just don't piss anyone off unless you want your skull cracked. read more

Don't go! If you want food out of a can then this is your place! Sure the people are friendly and the prices are low. But I could not finish my meal. It's hard to put flavor in canned products. So disappointed. If you know what good Mexican food is this is the opposite. It's not that hard to make good food it starts with fresh good ingredients. That goes for any type of food. read more

A great neighborhood Mexican restaurant! Decent prices and good food! I had the molè and it didn't disappoint!

Food and service was amazing. Everyone is kind and always making sure you have everything you need. Free Salsas and chips. Favorite Mexican restaurant in the east bay. read more

This place is not what it used to be. I got food poisoning this time- no kidding. The food looked questionable and unfortunately I got sick from it. I am writing this review to warn people off. I love dive restaurants but won't be eating here again. read more

Ehhh....Juan's Place is okay. Nothing to write home about. Their flaky flour tortilla chips are good, but I swear, the enchiladas are better at chain places like Chevy's. Bummer. read more

There are few Mexican restaurants that remind me of Nana's. Nana is my paternal grandmother, who resides in my hometown in SoCal. She makes tamales from scratch, cooks rice and beans with every meal, and can flip a tortilla like a mofo! But enough about Nana and more about Juan: Whichever Juan (sounds like: one) is in the kitchen, this place serves some mighty delicious enchiladas; some mighty huge burritos; some mighty tasty guacamole; and some mighty mixed corn and flour tortilla chips. While the place is a little out-of-the way, and obscure, it's worth the journey. Service is typically friendly and the environment is casual.. great for a lunch in your PJs or a dinner when you want to avoid the crouded frou frou joints of the Bay Area. read more

A great Family restaurant in the best way. Genuinely nice folks. They have had this place forever, like since the 60's, and that means something in the restaurant industry. The family works in the kitchen and the owners walk around and greet you at the table, but not in an annoying way. We got to know one of the grandkids when we lived in Berkely and were treated like royalty when he invited us to visit. He was a nice guy and one of the better roommates we ever had. Hard working, studious, you get the idea. Great food, honest old school cooking and generous portions. Family owned and operated.. Why can't all restaurants be like this? read more

Ordered 2 Super burritos/1 pork, 1 chicken, the burritos are huge & easily feed 2 people. Tastes good, large quantities of meat, only thing I would change is have my guacamole/sour cream inside burrito & not on top which is their regular way, very little given maybe 1 Tbsp each, its only enough for a couple of bites. Pica digallo came with it but didnt see much only tomatoes & a few chopped onions. Food is pricey $11.99 each. I would go back..Service is quik.. read more

This place is really great. The serving staff was funny and helpful. They started out by bringing me two types of chips and salsa. I ordered the combination lunch special. After a few minutes of eating, the chef came out and asked how my food was. Overall great atmosphere and if you order one of the lunch specials you will definitely get your money's worth of food. read more

I love this place. Juan's is Mexican food made by Mexicans, for Mexicans. It isn't Berkeley-hippie-White Mexican food with your organic vegetables and lard-free tortillas. No. Juan loves lard. He would marry lard, he loves it so much. I had my 21st birthday at Juan's a few years back. I got to wear a huge sombrero. It was awesome. On our friend date, I got the fish & veggie fajitas w/ black beans & rice. It was really good - especially when topped w/ a jar of the salsas they leave for the chips. They were probably pissed the weird Asian girl ate all their chip salsa. Oh damn, people totally double-dip in those things. That is so gross. Damn. Lo-Lo enjoyed flautas (which were totally not deep-fried. I swear. oh wait, . . . . Juan love's lard). Lo-Lo did NOT enjoy the creepy guy in the corner openly staring at her feminine assets. Juan does not love perverts. . . . except for me. read more

I'm being generous with 2 stars, because I've been coming here for 20 years off and on. Juan's isn't what it used to be. Slow service, high prices, bad food. read more

Juan, What happened? I used to get a half plate of chili Colorado and still have left overs. I measure out 1/2 cup of rice when I'm at home, but shoot, I want more when I go out to eat. Plus, everything seemed flat. The red sauce was bland. And my plate was unadorned with any lettuce, salsa, sour cream, avocado. No nothing, just a bit of rice, beans, and not many pieces of very tender beef for 10 bucks. Hmmmmm.... Should I have gone to Chevy's? I did notice someone eating a burrito, and it still looked hefty. The flour chips and red salsa are still the bomb, but I'm not sure if it's enough to bring me back. read more

The thing about Juan's is they aren't the best mexican place around but when I'm in the mood for a huge serving of comfort food, this is the place. I've been going here for over 11 years now and the experience really hasn't changed at all. The Chile Verde plate is always good and when they have Carnitas, I'll order that. I can always count on getting three glasses of ginger ale, and I'll always go through one bowl of corn tortilla chips and one bowl of flour tortilla chips. Their burritos are also massive - I'm a big eater and about half the time I'm taking home leftovers. Big portions, good food, familiar friendly faces. Once you've found something you like here, you can count on the experience being the same every time you come back. read more

Am I missing something? Juan's Place is terribly overrated. I ordered a cheese enchilada platter, which cost a whopping $13.75. Fortunately, my friend had a coupon from the Entertainment book, so I only paid $7.00, which is what I think it is worth. The food was bland and it just tasted like gloppy Mexican fare. My friend ordered a super burrito with mole sauce and she was unimpressed as well. I also don't understand the hype behind the chips. Plus, the salsa was blah. I doubt I'll ever return. The only positive aspects were the pinto beans and nice staff. A big thank you to the bartender for turning on the Giants game for us fans. read more