I first came here two years ago and then again recently about 2 weeks ago. I don't know why I stopped coming here for such a while. Maybe it's because location-wise, I don't like driving in this particular area. Parking can get very crowded too. Anyway, I agree with Erin D.'s review. The first thing you see when you walk in will be staring Hispanics, but you'll get past that. And as for the waitresses, you're better off at just pointing at what you want on the menu. I highly recommend the fried rice and fried fish and/or fried shrimp! And with hot sauce! Mmmmmmmmm. My last visit here was with three other people and we decided to just get the family dinner for 4. It runs at a little less than $30 for like 12 pieces of fish, a huge plate of fried rice, and god knows how many pieces of fried shrimp. Pretty awesome. There were also a lot of drunks at the bar watching a soccer game. They were starting to get really rowdy until a cop that was in there (I think he's on-site majority of the time) spoke to the manager and made him tell the bartenders to stop serving those guys alcohol. Thank god for that, because they were annoying the hell out of me and would've ruined my dining experience. I do appreciate that the manager was attentive and prompt throughout this situation. Overall, I would just recommend coming in for the food and nothing else. Get it to-go, if you can! read more

Mambo Seafood - dinner for 4! - Seafood Near Me - Houston, Texas

For cheap seafood, this is it. Lots of eating area, patio seating, big portions, decent shrimp fried rice and fish by the pound. My partner had a taste for seafood but our wallets didn't agree on the usual suspects so yelp led us to Mambo. I have to say its what I expected from the reviews. Cheap food, and lots of it. Plenty of wait staff hovering around, and a very active dining room. We ordered the family seafood platter thinking it would be plenty of food for the both of us. Turns out its enough food for two days. The fish and the Shrimp fried rice were good, though the butterfly shrimp were plenty in numbers but not meaty or particularly special in any way. I believe the batter on the Shrimp and the fish was the same which made our meal rather monotone but the quantity and our appetites made up for the scarcity in flavor. We ordered cocktail sauce ala carte and it became our best friend lol! read more

Mambo Seafood - Family seafood platter: 6 fish, pound of butterfly shrimp and shrimp fried rice for about 32 bux - Seafood Near Me - Houston, Texas

I had lunch with a friend here this past Friday at her suggestion. I had never eaten at a Mambo's before. I am so glad we went! There didn't seem to be much English spoken, but I know/understand a little Spanish. Although we had to wait a few minutes for someone to clean off a table, the service was generally good. Amd, I was pretty happy with the prices of the seafood.. I had bacon wrapped shrimp with fries and a salad. The portion of the bacon wrapped shrimp was more than I expected. I havebto highlight the michelada. I had a Corona michelada and I think it is the best michelada I have ever had. It's slightly spicy, so good! read more

I've been coming to this Mambo location for over 8 years! The food always tastes delicious and fresh. The server Kricia, did an amazing job! She was very attentive with my table and made sure I wasn't missing anything, made my experience there 10x better. I will make sure to ask for her every time I go! read more

I was very excited about going here to have a chamoy margarita. I've been craving one for a few weeks and finally found a place that made them. I convinced some friends to join me. I really was excited. Unfortunately the margarita really really sucked. As did the mango one. The food was just as bad. STAY AWAY FROM THE CEVICHE. it's not ceviche. Basically a shrimp cocktail. What a disappointment. I've been going to golden seafood, Connie's, and Tampico for years. This place doesn't compare at all. The waitress wasn't that great either. Needless to say I left w a $70 tab (I paid for my friends cause I felt bad I took them to such a bad restaurant)and very very disappointed. I was going to speak to a manager but by the end I just wanted to get out of there. Hope my review helps you make a decision. read more

Mambo consistently provides great food. We had the family meal with fried fish and shrimp, and fried rice, and octopus and calamari. The food was yummy. The service at this location is very good. Our waitress came by many times to check on us and refill our drinks. read more

Mambo Seafood - Seafood Near Me - Houston, Texas

LOVE THEIR FRIED RICE!! The food here is sooo good and very inexpensive! I've tried their salmon-very juicy with a smoke flavor. Their margaritas are great as well, this is the new spot, especially if your dining on a budget. Nice place to come, relax after work or hang out over the weekend. Great service as well! read more

So I went there for our annual year end lunch yet again and this time things were much better. I think it's partially because our waitress spoke English and partly because it wasn't as jam packed. I got the grilled fish/shrimp with rice and it was very delicious. I am a reasonable man :) The area however is still pretty ghetto but what can ya do? read more

I'm huge a fan of seafood and have to give this 5 stars!! Waitress was amazing and everyone very friendly. The food came out fairly quick. Great family atmosphere read more

Mambo Seafood - Vuelve a la vida soup!! Fish, shrimp, oysters and octopus! Delicious!! - Seafood Near Me - Houston, Texas

See all

I have come to the conclusion that the best fried rice in Houston is served in a Mexican seafood market. I could come here and just order the Mambo rice. Never mind that an order of Mambo rice serves 3, I love it so. But I usually opt for one of the platters that comes with a side of the rice. Mambo knows their fish, but don't skip over the rice. :) read more

Do not eat here. They are extremely racist. I am an African American young man and my and I waited an hour and 45 minutes. First server didn't even want to serve so a young lady finally took our order after 30 minutes of flagging down waiters. The food was not good either but that's not even it man. I was treated like trash and that's the review this place gets. Do not go here if you're not of Hispanic decent read more

Very delicious , good service and good food ! Price is amazing as well ! Best Michelada in Town ! read more

Mambo Seafood - Best Michelada in H-Town ! - Seafood Near Me - Houston, Texas

The fried whole snapper was overcooked and I got the ranchero sauce 20 minutes after the fish was served. I didn't get my salad. My husband's fried shrimp were soggy. The french fries and shrimp fried rice were good. Also liked the agua de Jamaica. The service was attentive and friendly. read more

This is my favorite location of all the mambos. The vibe is great, they are very attentive and very efficient. The only thing I would change is how salty the food was. I had the whole fried Talapia and because it was so salty it was hard to enjoy. Otherwise my michelada was in pint as usual and everything else was too. Everyone else also seemed to enjoy themselves and their plates. read more

This place is one of my favorite for fried rice t ,the seafood in general is good ... ,they dont really serve a really decent portion . But I highly recommend the rice ! read more

Delicious !!!!! #1 combo was amazing fish and shrimp with rice and street corn. The mango margarita topped it off ! read more

Mambo Seafood - Seafood Near Me - Houston, Texas

It was super busy here. Had to wait 15 minutes. Took forever to get our food and another 15 minutes. It was hot inside and the AC was pushed around by fans and was extremely uncomfortable. I ordered the fried fish, snapper. $35.00. Not worth it. The salad we for was not good. Kids meal was not good. Fries were not good. What was good: the fried rice and cherry Mr. pibb. The food has gone downhill here. I guess bc it was so busy, they do t give a D. I would rather go somewhere else for seafood next time. read more

See all

La comida está muy rico i todo pero la hostes no es nada buena gente irrespetuosa i no ayuda ala gente muy mal señores muy mal !

From the moment we walked in the service was on point. We were seated in less then a minute. Not even 2 minutes later the waitress named grisly was taking our drink order. She checked on us non stop. Food was amazing . I give this place a 10/10 .. will definitely come back here read more

@MamboSeafood worst Mother's Day thanks to the chaos of this unorganized placed. Placed an order 1 1/2 hour for pick up. I get to the location and there is 50 crowded people at the door. Then I have to still wait 1 hour for them to cook after I show up. This been the worst. People with no mask all over the food waiting for pick up. This is not safe at all. read more

If you need to escape but don't have time for a Mexican vacay, look no further. Mambo's has the freshest fish, shrimp, and oysters around. There's outdoor seating that's very comfortable while you sip on their famous Pica Michelada. My shrimp cocktail was so large that the waitress asked if I needed an extra spoon. No way! It was aaaall mine. For the love of Dios, ven y disfrute! read more

Mambo Seafood - Seafood Near Me - Houston, Texas

I had a not so good experience last night. After we were sat at our table, we waited 15 minutes for a server to get our drinks and we ordered a shrimp cocktail as an appetizer. Well we sat another 20 minutes waiting for our drinks, which she got wrong and never brought out the cocktails. And then she asked if we could give her a few minutes to get our order and I told her you know you are taking too long and my little girl is hungry. I should have left by then but we didn't cuz we had not had mambos for 6 years and were craving it since we were back in town. We waited over an hour to get our food. Two other tables were seated after us and they got their drinks and food before we did. I understand businesses get busy but omg our service was horrible! I was mad! Should've gotten a discount on our food for waiting so damn long. Our waitress was horrible. I wouldn't come back. The food didn't even taste what it used to be or maybe it's just this location. If I could I would give zero stars. Was not satisfied last night and they lost me and my family as future customers. read more

Had the worst experience there picking up my food after an exhausting day at work on 9/7/18 I ordered ahead by phone they said it was gonna be ready in 30 minutes by the time I got there it was already about that time I get there I paid for my food and the lady didn't even say you're food will be ready soon or didn't even check to see what the status of it was so anyway I stood there for 10 minutes and then one of the previous clients that had already paid also asked for his food he said would you please check on my order I've been here for too long already and sure enough the food was ready to go on the shelf that they placed it to go then I thought to myself well would you check on mine and guess what the food had been there sitting forever without them even checking or asking if anybody was waiting for that particular order it was really upsetting when I told the lady why did she let that happen when she supposed to be in charge of giving everybody their food and she really had the worst attitude very hostile which is unacceptable for business because I will never go back there... I asked to speak with her manager and she was very threatening saying oh yeah you think I haven't done anything you think I haven't done my job you want to speak to her OK fine I will call her...By this point I was so upset about her attitude towards the manager in charge (short dark completed with curly hair) shows up that by the way was laughing about the whole experience because she had already told her ahead of me speaking to her so unprofessional because she didn't seemed to even care about the situation as she was laughing about the whole thing... I know she's been there for a long time maybe is time to switch her around so she doesn't have favoritism with some of your employees so That they DO the right thing! You would think the food was good after all this but it was the worst food I've ever had from there. read more

What a fantastic place. Food is yummy. Service is always friendly. The variety on the menu is awesome. Try not to drink to many Micheladas.... they go so well with everything on the menu:) read more

Mambo Seafood - Seafood Near Me - Houston, Texas

Papa loves mambo. Mama loves mambo. Look at 'em sway with it! Gettin' so gay with it! Shoutin' "Ole" with it, wow! Umm...okay...yeah, I admit that song pops in my head every time I hear of this place. So despite knowing I'd have this song completely stuck in my head for how ever long, I heard such good things about the food and especially the Mambo rice that I had to give it a go. First the Mambo rice. Oh my goodness! It IS THAT GOOD! I love it! We got the large Mambo Special rice which is a fried rice with pork, shrimp and chicken. A large is described as serving 5 people but unless those 5 are flat out famished it can serve more. That means you have some great leftover rice to serve along with your own homemade stir-fry. The Special rice was cooked just right in texture and each meat gave its own flavor to it. The shrimp were small and that smallness worked perfectly in this dish. I prefer small shrimp in a fried rice. The pork was thin sliced, tender and savory while chicken was light and select. I look forward to getting more of this rice. I just love it! I've found my new favorite fried rice! Mambo offers other types of fried rice with those being chicken, pork and shrimp alone. All rice dishes are offered in regular and large sizes. Besides this amazing rice, Mambo serves up some good seafood. We tried the fried shrimp which was fresh tasting and breaded nicely. The crinkle fries were crisp and hot. Mambo also offers soups, salads, ceviche and gumbo. You can buy a large variety of seafoods by the pound and have them cooked your way. Family meals are offered in different quantities. Ask a server for details. The servers are friendly and wait time for food is very timely. Prices are very reasonable for the amount of delicious food you get. The ambiance is peppy and loud. It's especially booming on weekends. If you prefer quiet you can get your order to go. It is hot and ready in an efficient time frame and they throw in plenty of utensils and sauces. Pappa and Mamma are wonderful dancers and they can mambo and probably love, or definitely like, to mambo. I'm for certain they'd also love Mambo Seafood. For great prices, very tasteful food and that absolutely delightful rice, I love Mambo Seafood. And I love mambo, too. read more

Mambo Seafood - Mambo Special fried rice and fried shrimp - Seafood Near Me - Houston, Texas

Delicious food! Great service! This place for sure is my number 1 seafood restaurant in Houston Texas. To be more accurate I should say I even did not have such fresh and tasty seafood even in Florida, San Diego or any other place I have been. The octopus and grilled snapper were fresh and cocked to perfection. I will come back every week if I'd be in town. read more

Honestly, I am amazed I'm the first to review Mambo Seafood on Hillcroft. The crowd alone whenever I come here would have assured me someone from Yelp had this place covered. Hmm...Maybe I shouldn't review this place and keep it my secret :-) Mambo on Hillcroft is in a mostly (ok all) Hispanic area of SW Houston and whenever I've gone in I'm always the only non-hispanic person in there. Also, my waitress never seems to be able to speak English. I say this just because if this sort of environment pisses you off, you might not want to go. However, I love it. The food is GREAT, casual, and cheap. I mean we're talking $5 shrimp platters. It has a nice big patio with old school picnic benches on it, the perfect place to enjoy a cold Corona or Bud Light or Michelada... (Mental note, I need to actually TRY one of those Michelada's. I have no clue wtf it is, but it's extremely popular there.) Overall, it's a great, inexpensive place to grab a quick seafood bite and drink a beer and people watch. read more

I wish there was a Mambo's in Austin, this place rocks! Excellent seafood, dirt cheap and the best shrimp fried rice ever. So what if the waitresses don't speak that much english, just point at the menu. That's what fingers are for yo! read more

good ol mambo..nada like the ghetto ambiance of chinese food & seafood in a mexican setting in tha hood !!!! had the shrimp ranchero with shrimp fried rice!!! as in pic..beaucoup shrimp & ton of rice for $8!!! large protions..cheap prices and always good !!!! read more

Mambo Seafood - Shrimp Ranchero w Shrimp Fried Rice - Seafood Near Me - Houston, Texas

Not a lot of money goes a long way here. Don't be put off by the small language barrier! I was on a business trip a few months ago but forgot to review this place. A coworker had recommended it to me so I made the drive from my hotel, and was greeted with a pretty large restaurant with quaint decor. I ordered a half order of fried calamari, a fried crab, the combination fried rice, and a michelada to top it off. The calamari was plentiful and the perfect texture, the crab was fried in the shell which means it was fresh and also tasted great. The real surprise however was the fried rice. There was way too much for me to eat in one sitting so I asked for a to-go box after brushing up on my almost non-existent Spanish. It rivaled any family run Chinese food fried rice, and the whole meal was really inexpensive for the quality. Definitely a place I'm returning to whenever I'm back in Houston. read more

I am actually writing this review for the 290 location. Ok, now back to the show. This review will be short, sweet and to the point. Do yourself a big favor and head over the Mambo for a big bowl of ceviche (they use green olives in it) and a michelada. They do both as well as any place in Houston. It is a perfect combination and just thinking of it makes me have to adjust myself. It's that good. The only downside is that the waitstaff wears midriff wearing shirts and tight jeans. What's wrong with that you say? Well, most of them shouldn't. I saw more muffin top there than the glass case at Starbucks. read more

My friends and I were looking for a new seafood restaurant to try. This place did not disappoint! The shrimp Mambo rice and stuffed crab are very tasty! Try the mango margarita. It's delicious and only costs $4! Definitely coming back here again. read more

I bought a fish soup "caldo de pescado" twice, for pick-up, and when I got home there was NO fish. $8 for some broth is way too much. read more

Mambo Seafood - See email apologizing with offer to rectify but I never heard back. Thanks for empty promises, they match the fishless fish soup! - Seafood Near Me - Houston, Texas

I always come back for the fried rice and it's always consistently on point. The service was friendly and the food came out fast. This place doesn't joke around. Straight forward good food and good service. Try the mango lava! read more

Mambo Seafood - This mambo fried rice is so damn good. Don't even tell em - Seafood Near Me - Houston, Texas

See all

They are super slow on the phone and can't even talk because they play the music to loud. Food is great but the damn music. Turn it down so we can enjoy our meal read more

I have not ate there, but my boyfriend and I order it to-go.When you first walk in, I felt completely out of place. I got over it. It is a little confusing about where to pick up orders. It isn't the best place to eat seafood, but it is cheap and plentiful. My boyfriend ordered pretty much a platter of different friend seafood. I ordered a fried tilapia which I loved, because I love eating a whole fried fish. I brought it home and ate it with my sweet chili sauce. That def. hit the spot. The food we bought with $25 lasted us a couple meals. Basically, I like this place because it is cheap and plentiful. I would come here when I crave a fried whole tilapia. read more

garbage. oysters without horseradish crawfish terrible . The woman checking me out almost gave me everything free... get it together

THIS REVIEW is for THE SEAFOOD COCKTAIL!! I wasn't impressed at all. This cocktail tasted like pico de gallo with a bunch of ketchup. It didn't have the clamato juice and celery. The cocktail is served with dinky shrimps, one oyster, and a whole lot of octopus. The raw oyster tasted fresh but you can't enjoy much with only one oyster. All the stuff just barely fitted in a tiny glass cup. read more

Cheap inexpensive fried seafood that is better than your long john silvers, this is some real seafood market fried with batter that is not overly done that you can't taste the seafood....lots of variety, loved the stuffed crabs and the fried shrimp, the beer that they had mixed with some spicy sauce was interesting but didn't go well with me, saw everyone order one, I will just sick to my beer/margaritas read more

Mambo Seafood - Too spicy for me - Seafood Near Me - Houston, Texas

See all

Seafood and shrimp fried rice! Yum! This is one of the busiest seafood place that I have been to. There is always a wait no matter what time of the day I visit. Lunch time seems to be a little slower but even then, there's usually at least a 20 minute wait. I love coming here for the shrimp fried rice and their deep fried cat fish. The fish always taste so fresh and never disappoints me. read more