Leal’s Mexican Restaurant
Latest Reviews
-
Never had an issue here. Been more than 15 times in 3 years. Ask for a bowl of blended jalapeos instead of salsa. It's not in the menu. Best condiment…
-
Closing time says 9 pm but more like 8 or 8:15 pm. Have gone to eat at the prince street location around 8:30 pm. Both times, we were informed they we…
Davida5051
Leal’s Mexican Restaurant
-
Love this place!. We go here at least once a week. Although, the Mexican food is more Americanized, its delicious. The crispy chili relleno is to die …
Calebscottashley
Leal’s Mexican Restaurant
About
Leal's Mexican Restaurant serves American, Desserts and Mexican. Incorrect or missing information? Make a report, or claim the restaurant if you own it!Details
Reviews
Leave a Review
You must be logged in to post a comment.
10 Reviews on “Leal’s Mexican Restaurant”
Seriously?. Is this seriously what New Mexico has to offer for Mexican food? Call it tex mex, call it Mexican… either way its bad!! … And dirty!
This place is awesome! 4/5 stars at least. There’s something on the menu for everybody and they give you a quality meal and good service at a competitive price. I’ve eaten at pretty much every location and I will continue to give them my business. For fans of long and detailed reviews:Like any restaurant, the experience with the staff can be a bit inconsistent from visit to visit, but I’ve never felt like my server didn’t deserve a tip at Leal’s. I’ve worked in restaurants before and I know the quality of your staff can be limited by the quality of your applicants, you have to do the best with the staff you have. Of course it is hard to get people to genuinely care about the reputation of a restaurant that they don’t own. I feel like the service at Leal’s has usually been up to par, though.There’s a brief history of Leal’s on the wall in the waiting area that I read. It actually started as a tortilla factory, and it is still in operation along with the restaurants today. That’s probably why they have the best tortillas and chips I’ve ever had from a restaurant or off of a store shelf. You can tell that the same tortillas used to make the chips are also used for their tacos and enchiladas.Every Mexican restaurant’s salsa is hit or miss for most people. As for Leal’s salsa, if you like it, you find yourself getting full before your meal gets there! If you aren’t a fan of their style of salsa, their queso is the bomb and they have other dip selections.I would highly recommend Leal’s for anybody looking for solid dine-in Mexican food. If you’re looking for extremely authentic, you’re looking for a taqueria. On the other hand, If you go to Leal’s and pay for a $10 meal, don’t be mad when you aren’t served a $25 meal. That seems to be why there are a few overly negative reviews. There’s no way you walk out of there feeling like you overpaid. They give you more than enough food for the price. If you’re looking to drop $30 per meal in a more upscale restaurant, Chuy’s or On the Border might be your best bet. So, although the food at Leal’s is not as authentic as your tia’s cooking, it isn’t the usual crap you get from a chain restaurant. It’s a way more home-style quality than that. The environment at Leal’s is a little of the best of both worlds as well. It’s homey and authentic while managing to meet the necessary criteria to be considered a comfortable full-service establishment. But they don’t go as far as more cheesy chain restaurants do to look authentic. At the same time, you aren’t sitting on picnic chairs in a non air-conditioned room like you’re at a hole-in-the-wall joint.There’s nothing wrong with taquerias or On the Border, but when you go to Leal’s, you shouldn’t expect one or the other. You’ll be impressed by the way they’ve combined the two styles and made it their own.If you have a bad experience there, you’re just that one unlucky customer in a thousand. Management is more than willing to hear you out and make up for the bad experience. They definitely want your business.I grew up in this area and have eaten at pretty much all of their locations for years, so I may be considered a bit biased. I think the main thing that separates this place from the rest is that you know the management cares about their customers. All of the locations are family owned and operated. The owners are extremely involved and are constantly coming by and saying hello to the customers. The only way businesses succeed in smaller towns or cities is by earning repeat business. Leal’s definitely does that.All-in-all, my opinion is that this place is a consistent 4/5 and can definitely hit the spot next time you’re craving Mexican food. I saw some people having too much fun writing negative criticism and I just had to give a more accurate review.
Decided to go to Leal’s tonight 7/18/2013 and have to say some of the best service I have received motto mention a absolutely fabulous meal.
Food is ok. Service was good.Stay away from the hot salsa unless you like pain!
Busy, but nice. We had a party of 5 with two kids under 10, and we also went on a Saturday night, so the place was busy. The entrance is a little awkwardly sized and since there were other families waiting, it was a little uncomfortable, but we were seated within a reasonable amount of time. The service was good, the servers were very polite and approached our table enough times that we knew they were paying attention, but not hovering. I ordered the combination plate and, overall, it was good- the taco was very plain and the chile relleno wasn’t the best I’ve had, but still good. The enchilada was delicious (chicken/green sauce) My friend ordered the chicken fajita with mushroom/green peppers, which was also really good though she said there were few mushrooms included and she received 2 and not 3 tortillas. The taco salad was plain and a little unappetizing in appearance and the two kids ordered grilled cheese, pretty standard, though I don’t think I should be able to count the number of french fries on the plate…. Paying was pretty simple, though our server didn’t know how to do a split payment (cash/card) and neither did the other employee they called over- I told them how, but still, it’s better if all your employees can do simple tasks like that for the register. Overall, we’ll go again, but we’ll stay away from ‘simple’ things and order up, it seems Leals does that best.
First time I visited in September 2012 the food and service were both complimentary. December 2012 visit? The food was okay and the service was terrible. This is the one on Prince Avenue. The cheese quesadilla left a lot to be desired. I will probably go on my next visit to Clovis and I hope for their sake they get the service right. They didn’t even ask how our visit was when we went to pay the bill.
Had lunch there while in town on business. LOVED it! I had a friend order for me. I think it was the #8. The fried chille rellano was awesome! The place was packed with locals so that should also tell you something.