This place was amazing! Ask for Pedro! he's very attentive and you're guaranteed amazing service !

Would recommend La Popular if your looking for date night ideas. To start with their cocktails are well crafted, and some include theatrical flair like flambés or vapor filled bubbles. Your meal starts off with a complimentary salsa sampler and house made chips. This time around I tried their queso with ribeye chicharrones add-on, ribeye fajita and chicken mole enchiladas. Solid queso and I really liked the crispy bits of ribeye as they added texture and were just really tasty. Out of the two entrees I prefer the fajita. The mole sauce tasted flat to me, and didn't enhance the enchiladas. Staff had great knowledge of the menu and are super helpful if you need recommendations. read more

La Popular was worth the long wait. I appreciate their portion sizes: Though they look small, they pack a punch and will satisfy your stomach. The appetizer chips were homemade and paired perfectly with their cute salsas, which range from mild to extremely hot. Their Mexican rice tasted like my childhood and I loved how refreshing their horchata was on a Texas summer day. read more

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Ambiance (5/5) - You can tell they were going for an upscale lounge vibe, as the dim lighting really sets the mood. They played a great selection of music during dinner and there were plenty of people dressed for the nightclub and celebrating birthdays. There's a great outdoor space, as well. Cocktails (5/5) - Very good! Their drinks were better than their food, in all honestly. I tried 3 different cocktails, but the one named after a toucan was my favorite and reminded me of lemon drop candy. Queso Fundido (3/5) - Excessively oily from the chorizo. The ribeye chicharrones we added on were great and should be offered as a separate appetizer plate on its own. Baja Shrimp Tacos (3/5) - Recommended to us by our server over the creamy chipotle shrimp tacos, tasty but very messy to eat from being overstuffed with pico de gallo. Ribeye Fajitas (2/5) - The meat was chewy and the flavors got lost in all the sour cream and oily veggies. The potatoes felt very out of place, as well, and added nothing to the dish other than being filler. I would say adjust your expectations prior to visiting, La Popular is a good lounge/bar that happens to serve food; it is NOT fine dining by any means. read more

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Skyler was amazing!! Great recommendations and stellar service. All of the food was incredible, strong margs and good vibes.

Picked this off of Yelp while in Austin for a class. Reservations were immediate with text confirmation. Seated right away in a very nice dining room with a large bar in the middle of the seating area. Server was quick and friendly, taking our drink order. Another server dropped some excellent chips with four different salsas ranging from a avocado mild to a habanero very hot. All were good (and not too hot). Took our order; I had the Campeche enchiladas and a side of rice, my Wife had the rib eye tacos. We also ordered the fundida appetizer. The app was okay, steaming hot melted cheese. Tasted good but extremely greasy from the chorizo and cheese. Entrees came and looked stunning. Wife tried her taco and it was cold! The meat and the tortilla were both cold to the touch. Waved the server down and told her, she went right back l to the kitchen with it. I tried my enchiladas and they too were cold; sauce, fillings, all of it. Waved her down again and had her take back for a re-heat. Meanwhile, we finished our first maghheritas which were superb. I had the skinny option and the wife had the house version. Ordered a second one and Mine tasted distinctly different. They used the mix from the house version in my second skinny version. I took it to the bar and asked if the bartender that made the first one could remake this one. Went back to the table and let the sever know. Drink came back and it was the same as the bad one. Server asked if it was okay and I told her no, that she could take it back and not charge me for it. Bartenders were laughing about it. Food came back and both were piping hot and tasted great. Wife ordered the Churro desert and it was very good. It's shame to rate this 3 star with it having great tasting food but one star loss for the Drinks and one star lost for the cold food. read more

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Good food and drinks! Love the chocolate flourless cake. Our server Aurora made our night great. Highly recommend her!

3rd time here and I will say this is our best visit yet. Juan Carlos the bartender was awesome and is the reason I bumped my review to a 4 star! If this review was souly on him, it would be a 5 star. However, everything in my original review is the same. Food: Is good but nothing to brag about. Drinks: good mixed drinks and they have a full bar. This is a great happy hour place but I would be upset if I had to pay full price for what I was served (food wise). read more

La Popular Austin - Mexican Near Me - Austin, Texas

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Everything was fantastic. Came here to celebrate my 29th birthday and the service and food was better than expected! Miguel was our server and he was beyond attentive and friendly. We will definitely be coming back again! read more

La Popular Austin - Mexican Near Me - Austin, Texas

It was okay.. I probably woundnt come back. Dressed up basic Mexico City style food, but quality is average. Also my napkin was supper raggedy? Lol The drinks however are excellent! read more

La Popular Austin - Tacos al pastor. Serviceable - Mexican Near Me - Austin, Texas

Love this place! My brother lives one a mile from La Popular! We hit it every time I come to Austin! Happy hour is fantastic and Tony is the best server! Ask for him! read more

Food was great! Our server was Miguel he did a phenomenal job taking care of me and my mom. This is one of my favorite places to come the food, music, vibe is always amazing! read more

Great food! Great ambience! And better service!! Manuel and the manager on duty treated us great!!

Amazing food but we can never eat here again because my wife only preferred the Caesar salad which was removed off the menu. This was one of our favorite spots we would bring friends to who came to visit us. Hopefully the corporate team sees this and changes their mind. read more

Great spot! Had some amazing enchiladas and drinks on a Sunday. Dont sleep on this spot

They food was really good! Everything came out fast and there was parking. But the food was okay and it wasn't anything special but yeah. But the desserts were good! Service was great. Ambiance was mid. read more

It was my wife's and my first time at Popular, and I must say everything was phenomenal. The food had the perfect balance of flavors and complexity that would make anyone's taste buds tingle. Our server, Miguel, was warm and welcoming. If ever you're in the Austin area , please stop by for some great Mexican eats. read more

Great for a date night and has such a cute vibe! There was a little wait even with our reservation but we sat at the bar for the time being and we enjoyed some fun drinks until our table was ready. I am such a huge chip/salsa fan and I love how it came with 4 different flavors. We had an amazing server as well cannot wait to go back. read more

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Went there for a Christmas party along with ten colleagues and bosses. We had booked back in September, but they only had one waitstaffer assigned to our table. The wait for food and drinks was terribly long, and the food was just ok.ive been to several Christmas parties in past with similar sized groups, and the drinks were flowing! Hopefully a new venue will be picked next year. read more

Pedro was an amazing waiter! He was so attentive and made sure our orders were prepared and served with care. Great food and even better service! read more

After my previous experience, the manager reached out to apologize for the service and invited us back to give them another try. I appreciated the courtesy so we returned last weekend. When we arrived at 4:50 on a Sunday, we were surprised to hear it was a 20-25 min wait as there were vacant tables. The hostess said they only had 2 servers and were waiting for others to arrive. Another operations issue ... it's the weekend during dinner rush ... gotta have ample staffing. It ended up being 37 min (I got text updates with time stamps) so we weren't thrilled to have waited almost double the time we were quoted. Tbh I would've kept this at 3 stars if we didn't have such a great server, Axel. He was attentive, very personable, and good knowledge of the menu. He had our daughter's kids meal come out first (and it tasted way better than the quesadilla she got last time!), we got the tuna tostadas again (they were tougher and harder to cut through this time), Baja fish tacos (REALLY GOOD! Packed with toppings), Campechano tacos (decent. Super oily. I just used chips and scooped up the meat because it just poured out oil every time I tried to pick it up), and churros (12 mini churros that came out piping hot!). All things considered, we'll probably stick with Happy Hour for a better value of what we get (and will make a reservation!). read more

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Food was delicious, portion were good, flavors were good. The restaurant was clean and nice. There is a kids menu which is very well balance we went for the shrimp chipotle tacos, Baja mahi mahi , birrias tacos and for my little one she did a chicken bolw, all was very good and the service from Madie was super amazing, she is nice and was always checking we have all we need read more

I decided to give this spot a second chance and was pleasantly surprised. I used the popular plates and drinks listed on Yelp to order. I loved the Perlas cocktail especially the delicious garnish. My husband had the LP margarita and that was good too. We ordered the queso fundido which came with both corn and flour tortillas. We also ordered the ribeye tacos. They were a little grisly for me but overall enjoyed them. And again the service was top notch. We stopped by with my infant son at 5 pm on a weekday. We were seated right away without a reservation. Our server was great and a manager came by to ask how we were doing. It started to get very busy in the evening so I would expect a wait if we had gotten there later. There is a large parking lot but again it does get busy so expect to walk a bit if you park further away. read more

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Received coupon in the mail for buy one entree, get one free so figured we would try it out. The website design and menu (both food options and prices) reflect that of a higher end establishment. The level of service was disappointing. Our server disappeared and another server rang us out after we waited a while. The food was nothing great. I ordered fish, and my wife ordered a more traditional Mexican dish (chicken fajitas), and her food was much better than mine. Carve Grille is very closeby and in my opinion a better option. read more

A big fan of this place. Love the ambiance especially at night. Food is always great. I recommend the enchiladas. Ask for Pedro. Really good service and great recommendation! read more

The food and service were both fantastic. Pedro took great care of us and made the experience delightful. The churros were the right choice!

unfortunately we've gotten food poisoning from this restaurant 2 times now. We tried to love it but we won't be coming back -- sad as some items on the menu were pretty good. read more

Great! The atmosphere is modern and clean, and food and drinks are better. The chips and guacamole, excellent. The Paloma is best I ever had (they make their grapefruit juice fresh in house). Bartenders are great. Everything we have ordered has been excellent. You have to try the Quesabirria. All servers have been great, our last server was Aurora and she was really good and fun. One of our favorite restaurants. read more

Love the salsas they serve and the cocktails are amazing. Ambience is key. Everyone I have told about this place has loved it.

We ventured over to La Popular when we realized that Ling Wu was as completely booked for the night. To our pleasant surprise, there was no wait at La Popular for our party of 5. We were seated in a cozy and spacious booth. The ambiance is fantastic and fun- great lighting, good music that had my two year old nephew fist pumping, and prompt service. We ordered the salsa sampler and nachos as starters. Gotta love those homemade chips and the variety of heat levels in the salsas! The nachos were unique and piled high. I don't typically care for high piled nachos because usually only the top chips have toppings. But these were well layered and topped so every chip had something delicious on them! The Pineapple Agua Fresca was delicious! A nice chimoy and tajin rim was the cherry on top. Our entrees came so swiftly and piping hot. Everyone loved their dishes. I had the Pastor Enchiladas which were covered in a delicious sauce and pineapples. This was a really unique spin on classic al pastor and I really enjoyed it. We all went home with leftovers because the portions were large. Pricing was very reasonable! read more

The ambiance is definitely lit here which is not something I was expecting being that this is located on SW Parkway and not downtown. When we first arrived, every table was packed with either couples or families. Not too long into our apps we noticed the vibe changed and the bar became filled with scantily clad young women and Narcos wanna-be's. It was quite hilarious especially when the selfie mirror came out and the show began. But, the show did not end there because in the restroom, there was a girl with her curling irons plugged in. Now, that was something new.... Besides the extra activities going on around us, we thoroughly enjoyed our drinks, food and service from Shay. I am obsessed with fresh baked tortilla chips and to say the chips here are the best, that is not an understatement. The chips are homemade but thinner than most restuarants so we did not leave feeling gluttonous. The bean dip, queso with chorizo and ahi tuna apps were all winners! For a party of four, we shared the ribeye, baja shrimp and fish tacos as well as the enchiladas blancas, charred jalapeño, onions & potatoes and the truffle elote. The food was incredible! The only let down was the tres leches cake and I was so disappointed because tres is one of my favorite desserts, but while being very pretty, it tastes less like three milks and more like a dry baked cake. We will definitely be back for more amazing food and to people watch. read more

Tried this place during a quick get away to Austin. Based on the reviews and the pictures I was sold on trying it. The service was good. The ambiance is nice. The food... well... unfortunately the pictures are better. The plating of the food is very pleasing to the eyes. In my opinion, the food is lacking seasoning and balanced flavor . The meat going in the taco is not seasoned very well. The toppings added to the tacos are being used to carry the taco. Although the toppings are good alone they do not bring the experience around full circle because the seasoning / flavor/ soul is missing. However, the bean dip was good. The salsa selection was also very good. read more

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Been waiting for a while to get into this place. Definitely recommend making a reservation for a weekday. It gets insane on the weekend and if you can wait. The drinks and the atmosphere were delicious. I loved all the food we tried and can't wait to go back and try more. read more

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i never write reviews, but this has been my husband and my favorite restaurant in austin because of the caesar salad, we go at least 1-2x a week JUST for the caesar. it's that good. well last night we went, and they got rid of it on their menu. sadly we won't be going here anymore, but we were told maybe if we write a review then "corporate" will bring the caesar back so thats what we're doing :) bring the caesar back please!! read more

Price Taste Ratio - Good Not Great What an awesome authentic Mexico City spot in Austin! They start you off with complimentary totopos (chips) and four kinds of Salsas. All with individual signature flavor profiles of their own! Started off with the Ahi Tuna Tostadas - Worth every penny! Two large portioned tostadas with a good amount of Ahi Tuna on both! Super tasty. Definitely will not have any regrets! Enchiladas Blancas - wow, I have never had an Al Pastor Enchilada before. Chefs kiss. Super filling, with so much flavor and so much cheese! You can add the two sides for a little extra but not needed because it is definitely enough food. Baja Prawn Tacos - Also great! This is for those that want something not as filling and/or want to play it safe. Packed with flavor and a great dish! The restaurant ambiance itself was super cool kid. And the staff couldn't have been nicer. I would come back here everyday of the week. If the plates were a tad cheaper I would definitely give this place a 5/5 but it can rack up quickly. Overall. YUM read more

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Pedro was amazing! From the moment we sat down, he recommended the perfect drinks and food, everything he suggested was spot on. He was incredibly attentive the entire night and made sure we had a genuinely great experience. You can tell he cares about his guests. We'll definitely be coming back because of him and the ambiance was great!! read more

Would rate it zero if I could. I didn't get half of my order and the part I did get was completely inedible. The ceviche was just a mouthful of salt. read more

La Popular Austin - Ceviche - Mexican Near Me - Austin, Texas

This place was brand new to us and we are glad to say everything was excellent. Our waiter Pedro had every intention of making our night a memorable one to the story and his charisma. The ambiance was quite frankly everything desired for the music to the gentle lighting in the restaurant added to the overall experience. Our food once again highly rated by our waiter was quite frankly some of the better dishes I've had ( we got churros, the salsa appetizer, tacos al pastor, and chicken enchiladas blancas) all of which was quite excellent. Pedro is seen to value his work and enjoys making the night for the customer I will gladly return. read more

Excelente Servicio, comida riquísima!! Nos atendió Pedro Diaz y nos hizo sentir como en casa! In servicio espectacular. read more

La Popular Austin - Mexican Near Me - Austin, Texas

After trying to get into "popular" a couple times, even as early as 4.30pm, there was no room at the inn so to speak. A 2hr wait was quoted the first time we dropped by. Suzie got the idea of making a reservation, which she managed to do, 3 weeks out! Must be some good nosh awaiting us. We managed to actually update our reservation to yesterday and when we arrived there was room at the bar, which we took advantage of. I will say the place was sparsely populated compared to our earlier efforts. We happened to arrive for happy hour and there where drink specials and craft drinks available. We both opted for the LP Margarita poured from a tap, no salt which arrived with salt $8 No biggy. The Salsa plate arrived with Llorona, Toreado, Lorenza and Avocado Verde samplers. I personally liked the Toreado the best and was going to pickup a jar on the way out. This is where things started to go askew. They pride themselves it seems with making their own tortillas and chips. Cool. Not cool, more than half of the chips were not crispy, oily and had a mealy quality. We requested another batch and similar issues, just not as many though. It must take a great effort to make these and since consistency seems to be an issue, why not just use some of the great El Milagro Tortilleria chips locally sourced? It certainly wasn't the best foot forward to begin with. We moved onto the Northern Mexican Chipotle Bean Dip $5 and Ahi Tuna Tostadas, two to an order $18. Dip, was good value, but didn't really get a great deal of a Chipolte profile, however there was a great quantity of manchego cheese. This batch of chips served with the dip were of much better quality. Tuna Tostado's were good, with a couple of slices of Tuna per chip. We also opted for the Al Pastor Tacos, two to an order $14. The corn tortilla was thick and definitely made in house. The tacos, although adorned with pineapple, onion, cilantro and lorenza salsa, were surprisingly bland. It was nice to see the spit's twirling with sumptious meats roasting through the kitchen window, but these seemed a bit of a miss frankly. It's one of their signature dishes. The wifey ordered a Paloma $14, which she enjoyed. It was at this point, we made the decision to head out. We just didn't get a sense that things were really going to live up to the hype, so I cannot comment on their mains. Service in the bar area was very mixed. The original barkeep that greeted us, was cheery enough and provided us with our first round. After that, he ghosted us and seemed to just chat away with another patron with his back to us for most of our time there, while his colleagues attended to the ever filling bar area. We were able to flag down other barkeeps and Andy was very attentive, checked on us often and was pleasant to interact with. I noticed there was an area at the back of the bar made to accomodate folks in wheelchairs, very cool. However, as the bar got busier, an able bodied young couple with a very young infant, in a pram, grabbed the space for themselves and placed the pram in the walkway where the barkeeps made their way in and out. Not cool. I was surprised that nobody directed them elsewhere in order to save the place for someone who was handicapped and not be a nuisance to the employees. The space itself is surprisingly smaller than I thought it would be inside, they also have an outside area where folks can roast themselves in the upcoming months. It is fairly loud, with an pretty high bass bumping on the stereo as the place filled up. I am in a bit of a quandry with this one. Was this just a new place trying to find their legs? They apparently have a few locations, so why the issues with what we tried. Price point is in line with other restaurants in the immediate area. Perhaps we will try again in the fall or perhaps not. There are many restaurants that are similar, we wil probably stay with what we enjoy currently at this point. read more

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