Reviews & Ratings for Elsa's Mexican Restaurant

03/05/11

Tim the pufffed up manager has driven away 20 year customers

by tallsandi at Citysearch

The Dayton Hash House Harriers have been coming to Elsas for 20 years. We visit about twice a year with about 20 to 30 people and have never been treated as badly as we were today. We came in early, as we usually do, and arranged to have the back room, as we usually do. We also arranged for special pitcher prices, as we usually do. When we came in today, Tim was snotty and informed us that Elsas never takes reservations and we could just wait until they could find room for us. The waitresses all seemed to know we were coming of course, and they we all nice, which is more than I can say for Tim. They got the back room ready for us then Tim kept coming back there and glowering at us like we were hoods who were going to steal the silverware. We come in, drink a lot of beer, eat a lot of food, and we don't cause fights . We will not tolerate this jack@ss treating us like scum. Then, to top off the evening, he reneges on the beer prices we were promised for large group, almost doubling what were were promised. You can KEEP TIM, because the Dayton hash will never come in there again as long as he is an employee.

01/25/10

Bad Juans

Contributor at Citysearch

The Bad Juans are the GREATEST if you have one you will have another.......

05/04/08

Margaritas are to Die For!

by CSAR at Citysearch

Elsa's is a great place for lunch...I haven't had the chance to eat there for dinner yet but I'm sure I will. Great food and the Bad Juans are the best Margaritas in the Land. Well worth the trip and I'll go again even though I'm in Virginia. KoKo like!

• Pros: Great Mexican food and great drinks with good people
• Cons: None

04/12/08

bland food, overpriced

by fabbie at Citysearch

I have to agree with the previous reviewer. While the Bad Juan was potent it was small and overpriced. I ordered a small frozen margarita. It was $4.50 and it came in a shot glass! The food was greasy and bland and the portions weren't great for the price. The queso dip was good but not like your typical white cheese dip. (stringy cheese rather than melty) For great mexican food I would suggest keep to the small Mexican owned spots like La Pinata. They have MUCH better margaritas, food selection, and prices.

03/20/08

Very small menu and overpriced

by hkicks311 at Citysearch

Elsa's looks cute from the outside. However, on the inside, it looks like a junky bar restaurant. We ordered margaritas that were over-priced and came in small glasses that were not even margarita glasses. The menu was very small and half of it was not even Mexican items. We ended up leaving after the margaritas.

08/19/07

Highly recommended - great service and excellent food!

by macatawa at Citysearch

Greetings from the Sun Coast!

I don't regularly take the time to write reviews but, in this case, I had to make an exception. The food is great - on par with an authentic Mexican restaruant here in Venice Florida. A good friend of mine, former native of the Dayton area, recommended this quaint little spot to me. The Bad Juan lives up to its reputation as the best marguarita....anywhere...period.

• Pros: consistently great food.
• Cons: 18 hour one-way drive from Florida ;(

06/21/05

The BEST!

by dumbfox at Citysearch

By far the best authentic Mexican cuisine in the state. Try the shredded beef tacos, chili con queso appetizer and the BAD JUAN margaritas. Can't be beat!

01/07/05

Elsa's is Awesome!

by hbatzel at Citysearch

When in Dayton (my long-ago hometown) last year visiting from DC, I spent a fabulous evening at Elsa's. We had delicious food (agreed by all), great service, and lots of fun. I found it to be one of the best Mexican restaurants I'd been too. (I'm not sure which location I went to.)

• Pros: great atmosphere, great food, lots of fun

06/25/04

disgustingly american "mexican" food

by miel at Citysearch

Granted, most places in the US are never going to be completely "authentic", but this place was so contrived as to be laughable. The salsa and gazpacho were almost interchangeable, and tasted like they had just freshly opened a can of Hunt's diced tomatoes and poured it into a bowl.

And the rest of the food was barely a step above taco bell.

If you want "Mexican" food that tastes like you went and picked up Miejer brand taco shells and mixed in some prepackaged seasoning into the meat, then go to Elsa's.

• Pros: None
• Cons: , Expensive, Canned tasting

If you love Mexican food and margaritas sit down here for a really great meal.

by Contributor at Citysearch

The Scene
This location, the first of three, has a colorful Mexican cantina atmosphere with piñatas hanging from the ceiling and serapes and painted murals on the walls.

The Food
Elsa's signature drink, the Bad Juan, goes down smooth and will put you in a fiesta mood pronto. If you end up dancing on the table or balancing napkins on your head, don't say you weren't warned. According to management, the Juan has a secret recipe that's not written down anywhere. If you're afraid of the Bad Juan, you can order a scaled-down version--the Gringo. Balance your Bad Juan with chips and salsa or an entree from Elsa's tasty Mexican menu.

Dish to Die For
The super burrito is a favorite. It comes loaded with beans, cheese, lettuce, olives and your choice of meat.