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Elena's, San Francisco, CA

Elena's

4.7 (791)
$30 and under
Mexican
255 W Portal Ave, San Francisco, CA 94127-1401

Make a reservation

2 people
8:30 PM
Booked 127 times today

About this restaurant

  • Lively
  • Neighborhood gem
  • Hot spot
Welcome to Elena's -- a place where a family’s love for authentic Mexican food is celebrated and combined with California-inspired elements and signature Mexican-American dishes. We offer reservations for up to 8 guests via OpenTable. At the time of your reservation, we kindly request the entire party be present to be seated. Tables will be held for up to 10 minutes after the reservation time. For parties that arrive later, the table will be released but we will do our best to accommodate the reservation with the next available table. We appreciate your understanding and look forward to welcoming you to Elena’s!

Additional information

  • Dining style
    Casual Dining
  • Price
    $30 and under
  • Cuisines
    Mexican
  • Hours of operation
    Mon–Thu 11:30 am–10:00 pm Fri 11:30 am–11:00 pm Sat 10:30 am–11:00 pm Sun 10:30 am–10:00 pm
  • Phone number
    (415) 622-4440
  • Website
    http://www.elenasmexican.com/
  • Dress code
    Business Casual
  • Delivery & takeout
    Order direct

Featured in

Menu

View menu on restaurant's website

What 791 people are saying

Elena's reviews from people who’ve dined at this restaurant. Based on recent rating.

Overall ratings and reviews

Reviews can only be made by diners who have eaten at this restaurant

4.7
4.7 based on recent ratings
  • 4.6Food
  • 4.6Service
  • 4.7Ambience
  • 4.2Value

Noise • Moderate

Loved For

  • San Francisco Bay Area

    Most Booked

  • San Francisco

    Most Booked

Review summary

AI-generated from verified diner reviews
Elena's offers "excellent and generous portions" of Mexican cuisine, featuring standout dishes like crab enchiladas and ceviche. Guests praise the "amazing drinks," especially the seasonal margaritas. Though noise levels and wait times can be high, the "beautiful atmosphere" and "attentive service," particularly from servers like Natasha and Flora, make it a worthwhile visit.
791 Reviews

  1. Lara VIP

    San Francisco Bay Area7 reviews

    5.0

    Dined 2 days ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Our 4th time here, we are slowly trying everything on the menu! Great food and service and one of the best margarita's in town.

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  2. Jackie

    San Francisco Bay Area1 review

    2.0

    Dined 5 days ago

    1. Overall 2
    2. Food 3
    3. Service 2
    4. Ambience 2
    It was upsetting to find hair in our food! Upon notifying the waitress, she immediately took it and suggested replacing it and removing it from the ticket. Well, I still paid because it wasn’t removed. The Jamaica agua Fresca was also not the best. The chips were way too salty!

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  3. Paul VIP

    San Francisco Bay Area9 reviews

    5.0

    Dined 5 days ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Excellent and generous portions of food & drink — outstanding ceviche, guacamole, crab enchiladas & house margaritas! Very nice service in a lively setting. Well worth just a bit of a wait at our reservation time.

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  4. Nathaniel

    San Francisco Bay Area2 reviews

    4.0

    Dined 6 days ago

    1. Overall 4
    2. Food 4
    3. Service 3
    4. Ambience 4
    Elena's was a place I took my wife for her birthday. The alcoholic drinks were tasty and stiff and the food was good with pretty big portions. I talked to the hostess about if they were going to do something special for my wife since it was her birthday and I had the idea they were. The hostess told me to pick one of the desserts on the menu and our server would take care of it. I had the impression that the dessert was going to get comped but it wasn't when I got the final bill. No worries because I would come back again but not to celebrate a birthday.

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  5. Ray

    San Francisco Bay Area3 reviews

    4.0

    Dined 7 days ago

    1. Overall 4
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    I give my overall experience 9/10. The food service and ambience was very good/excellent. My only complaint is when our server offered to box up our food, he didn’t box my 3 tortillas. I didn’t realize until I got home.

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  6. randall

    San Francisco Bay Area1 review

    5.0

    Dined 7 days ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 4
    Leave time to find parking, but so worth the effort. Everything was great, and the side dishes were incredible. The place is a joy to experience.

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  7. Toni VIP

    San Francisco Bay Area52 reviews

    5.0

    Dined on June 9, 2025

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 4
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Love the ambience! Drinks are good, food could be better, but it’s fine. Service is always great! The music is a little too loud!

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  8. Toni

    San Francisco Bay Area1 review

    5.0

    Dined on June 8, 2025

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 4
    Short wait for our table; greeted by friendly and attentive staff. Everything we ordered was delicious, and Cadillac margaritas were just right! Will definitely recommend to friends and be a returning customer!

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  9. Derik VIP

    San Francisco Bay Area19 reviews

    5.0

    Dined on June 8, 2025

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    We love Elena’s they truly are the best Mexican restaurant I’ve ever been to! Their food, drinks, and service are fabulous! We love their tortilla chips and salsa. The chips are thin, crunchy, and fresh! The salsa is flavorful and nicely blended not super chunky like some places. It’s also not super hot or mild. It’s perfect! I love their chile con queso! Goes great with their chips. I always get their hamachi crudo which is fresh, flavorful with a nice kick to it. Their Esquites are phenomenal. The toppings are very flavorful! That was our first time ordering that dish. We also had their sopes which were great, too! For entrees I had their chile Colorado dish which is my absolute favorite dish there. I’m obsessed! The pork is cooked to perfection like a delish stew and is jammed pack with flavor. It comes with delish rice that has corn kernels cooked in it, refried beans, and tortillas. The coconut drink is my favorite. It’s basically a coconut margarita and is delicious! For dessert my go to is their tres leches cake! Yummy! I also enjoyed their espresso martini which is not standard as it has Bailey’s, Tuaca, and frangelico in it! But I still thoroughly enjoyed it! This place has become my new favorite spot in the city and I’m glad it’s close our house and not downtown.

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  10. Fernando

    San Francisco Bay Area6 reviews

    5.0

    Dined on June 8, 2025

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 4
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Natasha was our server she went above and beyond to make our first experience at Elena incredible. The drinks were amazing highly recommend getting the clase azul plata melon margarita only available this month! Will definitely be going back and trying other things on the menu.

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FAQs

You can order delivery directly from Elena's using the Order Direct button in Additional Information section.

Elena's is rated 4.7 stars by 791 OpenTable diners.

Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable.

  1. Home
  2. United States
  3. San Francisco Bay Area
  4. San Francisco
  5. Forest Hill / West Portal

Make a reservation

2 people
8:30 PM
Booked 127 times today
Google Map for Elena's

255 W Portal Ave, San Francisco, CA 94127-1401

Additional information

  • Neighborhood
    Forest Hill / West Portal
  • Hours of operation
    Mon–Thu 11:30 am–10:00 pm Fri 11:30 am–11:00 pm Sat 10:30 am–11:00 pm Sun 10:30 am–10:00 pm
  • Price
    $30 and under
  • Cuisines
    Mexican
  • Dining style
    Casual Dining
  • Dress code
    Business Casual
  • Parking details
    None
  • Additional
    Wheelchair Access
  • Delivery & takeout
    Order direct

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