Beat Mexican in Chelsea

The staff was great and the food tasty.

Delicious food in a nice area and excellent service. A little pricy for some items but the food was worth it. We were not rushed at all and enjoyed the evening outdoors.

Went for my cousins birthday- service was awful. The speakers that play music was broken which drove us insane. We wanted to order more drinks but it took forever so we gave up

My erstwhile dinner companion, Mykel, and I tried an unfamiliar restaurant in the neighborhood this evening: Fonda, located at 189 9th Avenue.

The wait staff was warm, friendly and polite. When making the reservation, I selected indoor dining because it is pretty damn hot here in NYC tonight. While it was cool indoors, it was pretty loud. It wasn’t the music, which played at a perfectly reasonable volume. Rather, it is just one of those spaces where sound bounces around too much. I think I would prefer to eat outside next time.

We started with guacamole made to order with soft tortillas and homemade spicy salsa. I had a mojito and Mykel had a Negra Modelo.

For an appetizer, I had Ahi Tuna and baby shrimp ceviche. Mykel had “zarape de pato”, or soft corn tortillas filled with braised duck and a roasted tomato-habanero cream sauce. I tasted the duck; it was luscious. My ceviche was spiced with chipotle and bright with lime, fresh parsley and mint. It was huge, too.

Mykel had seared salmon fillet over sweet potato mash with an ancho pineapple sauce for his main dish. I decided on chile relleno de espinacas, or roasted poblano pepper filled with sautéed spinach and raisins with a roasted tomato sauce and cotija cheese. Again, very spicy but nicely offset by the raisins. Additionally, I ordered a side of esquites, which, of course, is otherwise known as Mexican corn. This version of the dish was served not on the cob but as roasted corn kernels tossed with mayo, cotija cheese, lime juice and chile powder. It was just as delicious as the more common “on the cob” preparation but much less messy. Like the raisins, the sweet corn helped temper the spicy chile. I took home the leftover esquites as well as one of the two stuffed poblanos on my plate.

While the dessert menu sounded fantastic, neither of us had room for anything but a cup of coffee at the end of the meal. And, what a fine cup of coffee it was! They brought one of those little pots of freshly brewed co

Service was great, drinks strong and food good

The best guacamole I’ve ever had. Great service and atmosphere. Will be back!

This is a gem of a Mexican restaurant. Very varied menu, top quality ingredients presented in an elegant manner. Upscale ambiance. Not your typical refried bean/rice/taco joint. Excellent margaritas. The zarape de pato (duck zarape) is to die for.

Service was slow.

Excellent food, friendly service, and fun drinks make for a good evening. Nice menu, but the outdoor seating is hot and stuffy on a warm summer evening. Some ventilation would have been a welcome addition.

Delicious drinks and food with a beautiful presentation at fantastic prices. Where else can you get three cocktails and a brunch entree for $35?? Will absolutely be back🙌🏼.

Guacamole, Cadillac Margaritas, flautas and mole great.

Excellent food and service but REALLY LOUD AD NOISY

Food was really good, the guac to start was perfect and the place is pretty cool... if you want some good mexican - not a bad choice!

Enchiladas in mole sauce were dreadful, virtually uneatable.

Quality service. Delicious food.

If you do not like hot, spicy food, be sure to ask your wait person to tell the kitchen. EVERYTHING had too many jalapeños and too much red pepper flakes. I had to scrape the mole sauce off of my enchilada which was disappointing since without the heat, it would have delicious. The pico de gallo was equally as hot and for us, inedible.

Still love this restaurant but will def remember to tell the kitchen to hold the heat!

Great Food and service and margaritas

Maria was an excellent hostess!
I love going to Fonda. I have brought so many friends here and they all enjoy it. The food, ambience, and service are all great.

GreAt ambiance and delicious food. Portions are huge. We split guacamole and an entree and still had leftovers.

Find is one of the true Mexican gems in Manhattan. The food is brilliant, the ambiance simple, the staff cordial and helpful.

My go to place in Chelsea, best staff and food!

Love the outdoor seating and the pollo sandwich was delish! Margarita is def the go to drink

Awesome, will be back

2nd visit had the same food and drinks and will be back again. Love this little gem. Thursdays the place is packed so the wait staff are running around nonstop. The Classic Margarita @$13 is a bit expensive but our favorite drink. Carne Asada Taco and Guacamole are delicious. This time we added the Esquites...yummy!

The food was very good as usual, but definitely need more servers since service was quite slow....could not get the attention of one for a long time.

This restaurant never disappoints. I always ask for the server to order for me—which always exceeds expectations—because there are too many delicious options to choose from.

Sat outside- well done- great service- food delicious!

Our first visit was on 4/15/21, greeted promptly and were sat upstairs. Ordered the guacamole (for 2) @$14.95, Carne Asada Taco @$11.95 and the Pollo Taco @$10.95. We drank the classic margarita @$13.00 ea. The guac and the carne were excellent and the chicken was very good. The classic margarita was excellent! The staff are friendly and attentive. This is our new neighborhood restaurant will be back weekly.

The food was nice. I found my mole a bit smoky and almost bitter. Guacamole was Excellent. Drinks were nice as well. I do wish they indicated the level of spice in dishes my friend had fish tacos and the amount of spice in them surprised her. Not the best Mexican restaurant I've been to but not the worst. We sat inside on the 2nd floor and it did make me nervous that there were no windows open and it did seem to get crowded at one point. A nice experience, and if I had a friend who was visiting and wanted to eat Mexican nearby I'd take them.

Amazing food!!!!

staff a bit abrupt not very welcoming at all, food ok better mexican nearby will not be back

I love their guacamole. Their margaritas are excellent as well. The stuffed peppers were a healthy option!

Our waiter was so patient with us & very understanding of our meal preferences/needs. I randomly found this place & will definitely be coming back & recommending to others! Also- GREAT music!

food is authentic mexican cuisine and great quality. brunch is really good for the price and includes three drinks.

Best Mexican food we’ve found since moving to NYC! The Guacamole was exceptionally fresh and flavorful. The mole enchiladas were delicious too, but our favorite dish was the Camarones Adobados. Service was friendly and efficient. My only minor complaint was that the music was a bit louder than it needed to be, in my opinion.

New location is beautiful and the food has authentic flavors of its origin. The brunch was very good and came with 3 cocktails or beer for $35. We kept it traditions with margaritas and the ingredients are super fresh (I was a mixologist). The manager was super awesome and helped us find and purchase some of their glassware we fell in LoVe with. Beautiful decor throughout, very clean and the outdoor seating area is well decorated and inviting! Great Job Team Fonda!

This place was delicious and hit the spot! We sat upstairs and our waitress was amazing. Came to check on us as needed, but left us to really enjoy the meal together. The guacamole was delicious and we loved the tortillas and the side sauce that came with them, it had a nice smoky spice to it. The Carnitas De Fonda is not to be missed! We’ll certainly add this place to our list when we visit NYC.

Excellent food and service

My friends and I had a great time! Whenever I am in the city, I always recommend Fonda to my friends. The food tastes great, and it’s a relaxing ambience. Thank you for a great night!