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Elena's, San Francisco, CA

Elena's

4.7 (755)
$30 and under
Mexican
255 W Portal Ave, San Francisco, CA 94127-1401

Make a reservation

2 people
8:00 PM
Booked 194 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
  • Dress code
    Business Casual
  • Delivery & takeout

What 755 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

NoiseModerate

Loved For

  • San Francisco Bay Area

    Most Booked

  • San Francisco

    Most Booked

Review summary

AI-generated from verified diner reviews
Elena's offers a "fun atmosphere" with a lively vibe and "beautiful decor." Guests rave about the "amazing food," particularly the crab enchiladas and fish tacos. The service is often praised as "fantastic," with standout servers like Flora and Lily. However, reservations are essential, and noise levels can be high.

755 Reviews
  1. Charles

    San Francisco Bay Area4 reviews

    3.0

    Dined 2 days ago

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 3
    4. Ambience 3
    We dined on a Memorial Day afternoon. We received chips and salsa from the bus staff a few minutes after seating. Unfortunately it took nearly another 40 minutes for server to make first contact and take our drink and food order. It was another 25 minutes for our drinks to arrive. Our food didn’t get to us until 90 minutes after being seated. This seemed to be an issue throughout the establishment. It’s important for management to make the rounds during these situations and keep folks informed and to consistently apologize and help out their wait-staff. This did happen. Food was great, but not great enough to warrant a return visit and endure mediocre service and long wait times.

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  2. Vela

    San Francisco Bay Area2 reviews

    5.0

    Dined 2 days ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 4
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    The overall experience was great. We celebrated a friend‘s birthday. The drinks are very yummy. Will be definitely coming back.

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  3. dmitry

    San Francisco Bay Area1 review

    3.0

    Dined 4 days ago

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 2
    3. Service 4
    4. Ambience 4
    Food is average and over priced. However the service is excellent and atmosphere is nice.

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  4. Nancy

    San Francisco Bay Area4 reviews

    5.0

    Dined 5 days ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Food 10/10 especially the ultra thin tortilla chips & salsa on the house! Vibes 10/10 Great, lively ambience with a full bar Service 10/10 Great, attentive service! Only thing I would ding is the wait to get seated. I arrived early and I see tables available, yet waited 15 minutes to be seated. It almost seemed like they want to build the crowd by the door on purpose. Food was great, but $$ for what it is.

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  5. Kate VIP

    San Francisco Bay Area25 reviews

    5.0

    Dined 5 days ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Eaten here 5 times, every time it’s gotten even more delicious. Ordered the chicken enchiladas, highly recommend. Also got the empanadas for an app, incredible! Highly recommend this place, make your reservation 3 weeks out.

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  6. Julia

    San Francisco Bay Area17 reviews

    4.0

    Dined 6 days ago

    1. Overall 4
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 3
    Our meal was tasty, the service was great. Our only complaint was the noise level. We could barely hear each other talk! If they improve the noise we would come back.

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  7. Brenda

    San Francisco Bay Area1 review

    5.0

    Dined 6 days ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Overall we had a great time , good food, good service great drinks.

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  8. Kelly

    San Francisco Bay Area17 reviews

    3.0

    Dined 6 days ago

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 3
    3. Service 4
    4. Ambience 4
    I want to like it so much. But some seats are directly in the sun. We were able to move but many had to sit uncomfortably. The food just isn’t as good as the wait for a reservation is long or prices are high.

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  9. Ellen VIP

    San Francisco Bay Area26 reviews

    3.0

    Dined 7 days ago

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 3
    3. Service 2
    4. Ambience 4
    Honestly, I want to love Elena's. Original Joe's in North Beach is one of my favorite restaurants in the city and my husband and I order from the West Portal Little OJ's for pizza often. But the service is what I hate about Elena's - where Original Joe's feels like a special treat, Elena's feels like you're annoying everyone there just by being there. Our waitress today couldn't be less interested in us, and when we asked how her day was going she responded "well it's almost over here, so I can't complain". She also commented on how much stuff we had on our table (food? Drinks? Shocking!) And even at one point muttered to herself "I don't even know where to put this", speaking about a thing of salsa. It felt rude and unnecessary. I also don't love that they don't seat you unless your whole party is there. The restaurant was half empty and they wouldn't seat 2/4 of us. We'll sit down and order a drink and give you more money if you had sat us, but I guess you don't want that? Confusing.

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  10. Jack

    San Francisco Bay Area19 reviews

    5.0

    Dined 7 days ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Excellent Mexican food spicy enough to be authentic. Great service. The restaurant is justifiably crowded. Noise level was a bit high for us seniors but bearable. Highly recommended

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FAQs

You can order delivery directly from Elena's using the Order Online button.

Elena's is rated 4.7 stars by 755 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
8:00 PM
Booked 194 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
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