I wasn’t jam packed with meetings today so we both had a little extra window to grab some lunch. I recommended we try out Elena’s in West Portal since they opened up in February. There’s a lot of buzz around this restaurant since it’s opening. It’s owned by the same couple (Elena and John) behind Original Joe’s in North Beach and it’s getting such good press that it’s become a destination restaurant in generally laid back West Portal.
I’ve had several reservations lined months out for weekend brunch time. Suffice it to say, reservations during normal dining times are harder to come by, but we figured a Tuesday lunch would be doable. Fortunately, there was no wait to eat at the bar and a short wait if we wanted a table (we opted for the table. In the first few months of the restaurant opening, there are stories about waits of multiple hours which sounds crazy to me.
The space is pretty large, inviting, open, and airy. I would have loved to try one of their margaritas, but since we were here for lunch, a mockarita (made with non-alcoholic tequila) had to do and Andrea had the passion fruit mocktail. We started off with some guac to go along with the chips. All was delicious. The mockarita had a bit of a floral flavor too it, which normally I wouldn’t really care for, but it was tastefully done ant not overpowering. The guac was simple, but delicious and the chips were thin and crisp with a bit of a sheen of oil on them.
For our mains, Andrea went with the pozole, which she always likes to get if it’s available on the menu and I wet with the quesabirria tacos. The flavor of the pozole was very good, but serving was large, so Andrea had some to take home for a second meal. My quesabirria was delicious, although a bit on the greasy side and obviously a heavy dish for lunch. Dipping it into the consomme helped cut the grease or adding some of the guac helped balance it a bit. In any case, I ate the whole thing.
Even though we were full, we did go ahead and try a dessert, but went for the lightest one, the fresas con crema which was fine, but nothing special. I did really want to try the churros or the cocoflan, but knew we were too full, so next time.
In any case, we really enjoyed this as an option for a mid-week lunch and i’d be very interested to try for dinner. The food was straightforward made with decent ingredients prepared well which was it’s appeal (and had thinking we should along weekend trip bacl to CDMX!). We’ll definitely be coming back!
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