El Michoacano

Ryan Caliwag 2 weeks ago

A friend recommended El Michoacano because he said they had one of the better molcajetes in Fresno, so my girlfriend and I decided to give it a try. When we arrived, there were only one or two occupied tables. By the time we left, the restaurant was about half full. We were seated immediately and told we could sit anywhere we wanted. The only issue was that several of the first tables we looked at still had dirty dishes or cleaning towels on them, so we had to find one that had already been cleaned. From what I could see, there were several cooks working in the kitchen and one woman handling the entire front of the house. She was the hostess, waitress, busser, bartender, cashier, and everything in between. Initially, that wasn't a problem, but once the restaurant started filling up, it became obvious that she was stretched very thin. We ordered drinks first. My girlfriend got a margarita, and I ordered a michelada with a seafood mix. Both drinks came out quickly and were very good. Our food also arrived surprisingly fast. My girlfriend ordered the shrimp enchiladas, and I ordered the original molcajete. The food was the highlight of the visit. The molcajete was excellent. Unlike many molcajetes that arrive overflowing with sauce and bubbling over the sides, this one was a little cleaner and easier to eat while still delivering great flavor. The portion of meat was generous, and overall I was very happy with it. My girlfriend also enjoyed her enchiladas and margarita. The biggest issue was service, but I don't think it was the server's fault. Once the restaurant got busier, she simply had too many responsibilities to keep up with. After our food arrived, she checked on us once, but after that it became difficult to get refills, extra tortillas, chips, or salsa because she was constantly helping other tables, taking orders, and running around the restaurant. To be fair, there was a "Help Wanted" sign posted at the front of the restaurant specifically looking for bilingual staff, so they clearly know they need additional help. Unfortunately, the staffing shortage affected the overall dining experience. One other thing to note is that when we were ready for the check, we ended up walking to the front ourselves rather than waiting for it to be brought to the table. The overall setting was nice, wasn't too hot, they had sports on the TV and Mexican songs playing. Overall, I enjoyed the food and drinks enough that I would absolutely come back. The molcajete alone is worth trying. Hopefully they're able to add more staff because with a little more support on the service side, this could easily be a five-star experience.

Marc. Wise 7 months ago

This place is tucked away in the back of a strip mall. We were looking for a place that had sopes, and we ended up here. The interior of the place is nice, although there is a quite a bit of dust on some of the decorations. We got the the sopes (pork and carne asada) and the carne asada plate. My wife was lukewarm on the sopes, as they were a bit harder than she is used to. The carne asada plate was excellent and it came with a roasted jalepeno and fries. Best of all were the homemade corn tortillas. The waitstaff was friendly and the service was good. Overall, I would come back.

George San Mateo 11 months ago

Good experience! Caldo de rez had one big potatoe and one big corn not much Vegis, lot a beef! Fried fish was missing the head which was the best part! Way deep fried as well as the fries. Refried beans were good as well as the rice. We tried to ask for more vegis but they said I’d have to order an entire new order. Atmosphere was perfect, cantina style playing Spanish music / Salsa!🕺🏿💃🏽

Darren Williams a month ago

My wife and I always wanted to eat here. We walked in on Mother’s Day and no one wanted to seat us we were standing in front for over 10 minutes waiting patiently to be seated with plenty of tables available and the 5-6 ladies there just kept looking over at us like if they were wanting us to leave, It was very strange and extremely weird. I’ll definitely tell people not to waste their time with this place. Check out El Bajio if you haven’t been there. Amazing food.

Madrigal 6 months ago

Food was good, didn't get refills on any drinks due to our waiter not coming back. Also random people would come up to our table and try to sell honey/cakes.