Los Portales Restaurant & Grocery

I am so shocked by all these good reviews! This place is by far the WORST Mexican food I have ever had. The salsa is incredibly bland. The taco salad was bag lettuce served in a cold tortilla shell, topped with cold shredded beef, no cheese, and sour ranch. I immediately sent it back. The chicken soft taco was not any better. Very bland and soft tortilla was hard, not to mention a charge of $ 1.75 for a tiny cup of shredded cheese. Will not return and will NOT recommend. My advice: Chimi’s!

Delicious margaritas! Very satisfied with the chicken verde enchiladas, chorizo and eggs, and the house made tortilla chips.

This place is amazing. It doesn’t look like much, but once inside you will be blown away. The chips are homemade, hot and the several types of salsa appease everyone. We have been here several times and all of the dishes we’ve had are delicious. The food comes out quickly, hot and the flavorful. I highly recommend it.

I was pleasantly surprised by this little place. It may not look like much but they serve so great food here. The chips and salsa are fresh and they will customize your orders for you if you would like some alterations. I would definitely return.

Best Mexican in Wentzville, by far. Great guacamole! It’s a little hole in the wall former gas station but, don’t let the outside fool you! The waiters could be friendlier but, we go there for the food, not the smooze.

Service has never been THAT great, but the food is good. Salsa is reallllly good. We like to come here when we’re in the mood for Mexican food!

Best Mexican Restaurant! In St. Charles county! Best fish tacos. Authentic Mexican Food. Very friendly atmosphere and casual!

Excellent small hole in the wall place. Very unique and great take on Mexican food. Perfect for those who don’t want to be overloaded on gluten and corn and not have the only option be fajitas. I’ve had a lot of Mexican but never like this.

Solid 4 star for the area.
Since the entire St. Charles /​St. Louis area lacks a solid 5 star Mexican cuisine restaurant, I almost gave this a 5 star.
It’s an authentic Mexican restaurant inside what’s left of a Mexican grocery. They do still carry some (what appeared to be) basic groceries.
Our dinner was excellent.
I’m über picky about Mexican cuisine and really liked the Garlic Chicken entrée.
I appreciate fresh, sensible portions with vegetables.
I couldn’t finish my plate but enjoyed every bite.
The salsa is fresh and unique.
Not your typical Maguey.
Chips were authentic and warm.
Margarita’s were good, although we always order ours with an extra shot of Don Julio.
We live in neighboring Lake St. Louis which lacks good, healthy choices all the way around.
We’ll drive into Wentzville again for a meal here for sure.
Excellent choice.
Parking is odd since the lot is an old gas station.
Our server was friendly but slow.
Otherwise a 5 star selection.

First time here. Good food quality and quantity. Salsa is very good and fajita chicken is among the best in St. Louis. The décor leaves a lot to be desired and as mentioned it is inside an old Caseys gas station. Will be back often.

Some of the best Mexican food I’ve had in the entire St. Louis region. and it’s in Wentzville! I enjoyed the salad, my husband had some meat heavy dish which he liked. There is a nice outdoor seating area but we opted to sit inside. Staff was friendly. Food was affordable, delivered quickly, nicely presented and most importantly, delicious.

By Wentzville standards, this may be the best Mexican restaurant in two. It is not bad and the obvious had appeal to authentic Mexicans. But I am not sure they’re eating there vs paying bills and sending money.
My rule for finding a good Mexican restaurant in less obvious places like L.A., is eat where Mexicans eat. No doubt Mexicans frequent this place, but for all of them that went in and out while we were there, none of them actually sat down and eat.
Our waiter was a bit odd. Had never heard of Bohemia beer, so I pointed to the poster advertising it behind me. And later I saw that he is also the bartender. There were 3 of us dining When he brought the first two dishes (and not especially fast) he told our 3^rd companion that they’re out of what he ordered. All of our meals were made to order, presumably. And we waited a good 20 minutes for our meals to arrive, and that is when he told us they’re out.
The place is obviously popular with Wentzville gringos and despite the very odd service is not bad. Just not great.

I’ve drove by this place a million times, but never went in, but happened to be out in Wentzville this afternoon for a business meeting and decided to stop in afterwards based on Unilocal reviews, and I was totally not disappointed for once. This is the best Mexican food I’ve ever had in the St. Louis area. Unlike a certain local chain of cheap Mexican places that starts with an «El», they use fresh ingredients. I could tell the beans were made fresh and not from a can like the «El» place; the food also was cooked more to a Mexican palate rather then made more mild for American tastes. I had the fajita lunch special which was awesome, and had the corn tortillas, which aren’t given as an option most places. The server was attentive and spoke perfect English, which is rare for most Mexican places around here. Don’t let the fact that this place was an old Casey’s gas station keep you out… If you like authentic Mexican food, you’ll love this place. The salsa and chips were also probably the best I’ve ever had from a restaurant. I’m sure this will be a regular stop for me from here on.

We really liked Los Portales. It is located inside an old gas station so it definitely has a dive feel to it. The chips are very good and the salsa tastes homemade. Tacos, enchiladas, and tamales were all very good.

Hands down the best Mexican food in the area. Authentic and fresh. I stop by on occasion just to get salsa. I like the original salsa and the newer smoky. Enchiladas, especially the beef are delicious. The real ice tea is a plus too. You won’t be disappointed. Can’t wait to go back many more times!

Love this place go to alot of Mexican restaurants this is one of my favorites great food good prices employees are very nice and attentive

Evening service on a Friday was poor. Only two other tables and 3 servers, yet unable to get drink refills. Food was decent, but while we were eating, they decided it was a good time to sanitize the restaurant, and the smell of disinfectant was so strong we couldn’t complete our meal. Unfortunately (or conveniently for them), they did not understand my complaint or my wife’s nausea, so there was no apologies nor did they stop cleaning. The dinner experience was less than enjoyable.

Authentic, authentic, authentic.
The bar is fully stocked with so many tequillas, housemade margaritas, and an expansive menu.
Walk in and you feel like you’ve just crossed the border into a family restaurant. You see the bar, with hand painted stools, the beautiful murals, paintings, few Mexican drinks in a fridge and few snacks. Walk through a small door and you’ve got a Mexican grocery store!
Wondering what to order? It’s all good. Really. Chimichanga: almost too large of a portion, perfectly fried, stuffed with meat. Chile Colorado: OMG! The beef is so tender, the sauce supreme, and again, great portion size. Tacos: meat also cooked nicely, portions are a little smaller. Overall impression– can’t wait to come back!

Place is alright. I got slightly bad service. I came in at around 1900 thought I might have come towards closing time (2100) because they guy who served me gave me kinda bad looks and hurried me to order. When I walked in I got a business related phone call and had to handle this so didn’t initially order so this guy gave me some attitude. But when I asked about their closing time which he didn’t know, he asked someone else they told me I had 2 hours! So I was a little chagrined. The salsa and chips here are pretty good. Ordered a chicken enchilada and it’s ok. Not great but ok. I did like the fact that this place use to be a gas station and they turned it into this restaurant.

Ok. so where do I start? Everything was so delicious and each and every item deserves a separate section. I’m going to start with the first thing to the last thing that was brought forth to the table.
SALSA
The salsa here is the highlight here. It really sets the chips off to a whole nother level. It has the right spiciness. Keep in mind, this is no mild salsa but I’m a huge fan of spicy salsa. This one just hit the spot. It wasn’t too spicy and complimented the chips perfectly. The salsa was very flavorful and packed a punch. Not sure if you can order a milder salsa but this is what came out with the chips.
CHIPS
The chips were incredibly crispy straight from the fryer straight to my basket. You can tell the chips are homemade from the fresh corn taste. These little triangles begged to be dipped in that invigorating salsa. I wish I can get these chips bagged and grab a whole gallon of that amazing salsa and just enjoy them every night.
CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
One of the BEST enchiladas, if not the BEST, I have had at any eatery. This is by far the best place to get enchilidas in St. Louis. I don’t care if you have to drive an hour just to get here because this dish is just THAT good. I’ve always found the mole sauce on top of enchilidas to be too salty or overly dense but the sauce here is mild as is the rest of the dish. Subtle yet robust flavors. One of the milder enchiladas I have had for sure. You can actually taste the freshness of the ingredients which is hard when you involve a dense mole sauce. Each component of the dish was great. Heck, even the sour cream tasted fresh.
Having been to Tejana ober in Bridgeton, MO, I also rated that Mexican restaurant high and this one matches the authentictity and deliciousness of that one. Both are well deserving of the 5 stars. It amazes me that there is great Mexican food to be found in St. Louis area.
I’m not even going to try and say anything about the service. It really doesn’t matter here. You sit down, you will get your food and your drinks. It’s casual dining. Just relax and enjoy. The dining experience predicates on the fact that you make it your own and I love that about select restaurants. This one is no exception.
And guess what, all this for under $ 10! Heck, I’d pay $ 10 just for the chips and salsa. That’s how good of a deal this is. Most of the items on the menu are $ 10 or below. Mexican food to me is my happy food. I can eat it alone, I can eat it with a bunch of people but don’t get me wrong this is no ordinary Mexican food. It is leaps and bounds better than your average Tex Mex restaurants.
Parking is a little awkward at first because like other reviewers have said, it’s occupying a former gas station. When you pull in, there are parking lines drawn out. Once you get there, you’ll figure it out pretty easily. When you walk in, you will notice the store to your right and the restaurant to the left.