Festival Mexicano

Festival was a decent local mexican place that shut down a few weeks ago. It was usually empty except for cinco de mayo so I knew it was only a matter of time. Would be nice to see a healthy restaurant come to the neighborhood.

I love this place, although I’ve never eaten inside, when I pick up my order it’s usual really chill and low key environment which is great. There’s a bar so you can eat and drink and be merry, and it’s nice and dark so it’s kind of loungey, if that makes any sense.
I always order the ground beef taco platter, it comes with guac and sour cream and rice and beans with cheesy goodness. Order the chips and salsa too, they are delicious! Usually runs around $ 11-​$ 15, pretty inexpensive and reasonable for the sizing, I usually eat half for lunch and the rest for dinner.
I’m a big fan, love it!

Friends and I were hungry after a five hour happy hour at Welcome to the Johnsons and I had a major nacho craving! I’ve walked by this place a million times over many years, and for some reason, I thought someone had told me that this was an awesome mexican restaurant. I mean, it’s still in business!
The salsa had some heat, so I was cool with that. They asked my friend if he wanted hard or soft chorizo tacos and he said hard. They came out soft and he was not happy. The chorizo was very dry and crumbly and didn’t have much flavor. Chorizo is supposed to be greasy and spicy!
The nachos were decent — very cheesy, and tex mex style — each individual taco had it’s own stuff on it, rather than a pile of tortilla chips topped with stuff.
Another friend got the mole and he said he liked it but I didn’t try it. It was a decent sized portion.
I left full, but not altogether satisfied. The meal actually made me crave good mexican food even more.

— bland food
— beans were cold
— slow service
— got sick a couple hours after eating the food
+ cheap beers

very affordable. Good, cheap drinks and food is very good.

I came here with my new roomie when I first arrived back in NYC. We wanted Mexican and this place was right around the corner. We should have traveled a little further.
We really wanted guacamole, but whatever it was that came to the table, while green, tasted more like whipped cream than anything coming from a vegetable. We also heard about their so-​called fabulous margaritas and sangria. Again, epic fail.
Our meals were also quite bland. The meat, quite rubbery. The rice, dry.
I dislike giving negative reviews, but people should know not to waste their money on subpar food. We never went back.

Went here for a late dinner while still struggling after a crazy night the prior evening. This place had just what I needed — cheap chimichanga, greasy chips, no frills atmosphere, cheap sangria, and a very friendly staff. But if I wanted to leave dinner feeling good about myself — this would not be the place to go.

It’s not swanky and it’s no neon lit Dos Caminos extravaganza. In fact, I’m not sure if they actually have a ceiling light. However, Festival Mexicano is a (very) little more than a hole in the wall Mexican place (cause there are quite a few tables where you can sit) and to me, their food is authentic and tasty (though not as cheap as I’d actually expect).
I recommend the guacamole, the frozen margaritas, the chicken tacos (which are like gigantic) and the Mexican salad with grilled chicken and a side of pico de gallo. The service is usually pretty reasonable and it feels like sort of a family establishment. I like that though I see some people on here wrote that it can be «awkward.»
Eh, I don’t mind.

Is that… Velveeta on my taco? I am not 100% that was the case, but I am pretty sure. Whatever it was, it was dayglo orange
I will be the first to say that there is a place for comfort food in the world of restaurant dining. I am a strong advocate of the cheap heap of tasty, unpretentious food. This place was a stop of convenience and one that didn’t pan out, though.
My order came out immediately, and by that I mean in less than five minutes, which was great since I had somewhere to be, but made me leery of the ingredients. Not too suspicious, I mean I’ve eaten at chow line restaurants before that have been great, but what I worried was that it was a bunch of store-​bought stuff thrown together in the kitchen. I didn’t go back and inspect the place, but I’m pretty sure that was the case. Strange alien cheese sat on top of chemical-​tasting shredded chicken on a taco shell that had to have been picked up at a grocery.
Shortcuts are sometimes necessary, but they add up. The meal I had was filling and edible, but not tasty. It made me wonder what one of the $ 15 entrées would have been like, and glad I did not get one.
I have to commend the service, though. My waitress was great and very kind. I saw her gracefully handle some asshat at the bar trying to impress the two girls he was with by being a jerk to the servers. Classy.
I wish I could rave about this place because I liked the atmosphere and I liked the people, but their food needs an upgrade to meet their current prices.

Visited on the recommendation of a friend, before a night of hitting some live music around the corner.
Food was pretty good, for New York City Mexican, which as you all know, isn’t saying much! Portion size was good, but price seemed a little high.
Fajitas did come out sizzling, but without the accouterments such as cheese, sour cream, lettuce.
Drinks we had (Frozen Margaritas) were inconsistent in quality.
Overall, not bad for greasy Mexican on the LES.

For a Mexican restaurant in New York, this place is high up there. But still NY, what is wrong with you? Why can’t you produce a decent Mexican joint.
advice to Mexican places:
— do not use yellow cheese. ever.
— do not use sour cream.
— do not use BBQ sauce on your chicken.
— nothing on the menu should be over $ 6.
Well, now you know what I didn’t like, here is what I did like:
— free chips and salsa.
— guac was excellent and real avocadoes were used with no evidence of filler.
— cheap beers
— excellent tortillas, beans, and chile rellenos.
I will come back. But only because this place is the best of the severely awful.

This place is around the corner from where we live and our ultimate destination for comfort food, after a hard day of work.
It’s unpretentious and inexpensive and I especially like non-​tex-​mex items on the menu: the chicken with mole is awesome (both the chicken and the mole), the various beef or chicken with some sauce are good and sometimes stellar. With it goes a Mexican beer or a bottle of wine, which varies in quality but is always good value.
On the downside is the sometimes too bright lighting and the jukebox that is rarely played.

Holy Mole-​y (yeah, i went there).
Their mole is so delicious. Nice and spicy with a complex layering of flavors. Also, damn their $ 4 margs are strong.
I had my 24^th bday here and the waitstaff was very accomodating to my party of 15. I liked that they didn’t add gratuity, we were able to determine our own tip. Of may party of 15, not one person had any complaints about their food or drinks.

I’m not going to write a really long review.
Other people have said it pretty clearly below!
So here’s a nice highlight:
Cheap drinks, ‘eh’ to OK food.
$ 4 Sangria and $ 4 Margaritas
Not super strong Margaritas, but tasty enough.
And able to accomdate a large group.
Otherwise.might as well go to Chipotle. A little cheaper and just as ‘authentic!’

Food’s so-​so… not the best. It’s cheap mexican amongst other cheap eateries and bars. No reason not to try it when you’re in the area and feel like junky mexican food, but don’t go out of your way.
This place is far from authentic, so I don’t know where you guys who claim that is, have eaten before.
Cheap margarita’s, not the best, but somewhat strong. Service is alright, depending on how crowded it is. Directly across the street, a relatively new Burrito shop called Neighburrito exists, with a similar-​to-​Chipotle style… it’s much better, but all they serve are burritos, and there’s nowhere to sit.

Festival Mexicano is a great Mexican Grub spot!
This place is pretty awesome because they serve HUGE plates of food. You could honestly even share an $ 11 dollar plate with a friend if you wanted to. I am a fan of their combo platters. They also have cheap & pretty good (not the best, but good) Margaritas for only $ 4! So basically at this Mexican spot you get a lot for a little price, just my type of place!
The service is fast, food is good, drinks are cheap and it’s right next door to Sugar Sweet Sunshine (for cupcakes after dinner). Not bad at all! ;o)

The food was damn good and dirt cheap. I got a heaping plate of chicken tacos, and could barely finish half of it. The margaritas are only $ 4, & they’ll put you on your arse.
The restaurant was really, REALLY clean. I don’t know if they’re due for inspections or if the owner is just that meticulous, but I liked that!
Service is a little slow but it’s a decent trade off for the food and the drinks. Weird though, b/​c we were one of only two tables seated. The salsa is good, guac even better. I’d come here again.

Cinco de drinko has been forever ruined for me, thanks to my time in LA where this minor Mexican holiday incites tequila riots and margarita madness in southern California. The enjoyable kind. There is no Mexican like SoCal Mexican. Except for Mexican Mexican.
I enjoyed the salsa at Festival, but not so much the chips. I liked the chicken tostadas, but I don’t actually recall much chicken. And I liked the beans and rice, but not the chicken enchiladas with mole sauce.
Am I ruined? Will Mexican never taste as good as it did in LA and Mexico? Thank goodness for the margaritas. They taste like ass (too sweet with a weird finish) but they’re potent. And that’s what really matters.

We were actually headed to Dash Dogs, visions of sliders dancing in our minds during the two-​transfer forty-​five minute train ride from Nowhere-​Ville, Brooklyn — and of course, simply because we hadn’t called ahead, it was closed. Festival Mexicano, across the street, looked like a decent hole-​in-​the-​wall.
The waitress was chatting on her cell phone when we arrived, so we seated ourselves.
My dining partner ordered hot chocolate, and I ordered Mexican hot chocolate. His came about five seconds later, with a layer of unstirred chocolate powder on top. The place wasn’t busy at all, and the waitress could have taken the extra thirty seconds to properly put the drink together. Especially as my Mexican hot chocolate arrived a full ten minutes after.
The Mexican hot chocolate was very good, though. So was the complimentary salsa. The entrees themselves — chicken enchiladas with green sauce, and a bean and cheese burrito — were mediocre.

I had a pretty good level of expectation walking in the door having read other reviews on Unilocal.True true… all true… the wait staff? Yeah, they looked annoyed that you had the nerve to come in. Actually, for the majority of our meal, you could hear Jeopardy and then Wheel of Fortune playing in the background, with no music playing in the restaurant to mask the fact.
However, food was decent and as others have noted, margarita prices like these here you just don’t find in Manhattan — although I do have to mention they have gone up to a whopping $ 3.75 versus the prior $ 3.50. Bring another quarter.
I had the cheese enchiladas with mole sauce, having read some of their sauces were on the bland side. I thought it was great and can’t beat the prices!