Samano’s

They are lucky to be getting one star, I used to like this place but just went last week and they went downhill really really fast will never go back

Food quality is always pretty good, sometimes great. Service is friendly. It’s a tavern atmosphere, but sometimes loud. Nicely renovated building. They serve American food as well as Mexican dishes. The fish fry is usually good. Not open for lunch. Convenient street parking. Not wheelchair accessible.

This is by far my favorite Mexican restaurant. We drive 40 minutes to get here and it’s worth it every time! The chips and salsa are great… the salsa has a nice kick to it but if it’s not spicy enough for you, try the habanero salsa… SO GOOD!!! All of their margaritas are served on the rocks and they are strong! Happy hour they are served in a pint glass for $ 4!!! I usually get one of the flavored margaritas and mix it with half a regular margarita to cut a little of the sweetness. I agree with another reviewer that said she adds some of the salsa to the guacamole to give it a little something extra. I do it every time. Still good without it but even better with it! I almost always get the 2 enchilada plate… cheese onion and pepper and spinach… DELICIOUS! I’ve had the chimichanga and other items as well and I have never had a bad meal here. Wish it was closer so that I could go more often, but I always look forward to it when we do go.

The building IMO is kind of a dump.
The margaritas were really extremely sour and served with dried out limes.
The salsa had the consistency of tomato paste and lacked flavor.
The service was so lackluster that I felt like I should be serving myself.
Maybe it was an off night… But I’m not willing to give it another shot.

I have been going to Samano’s since before I could walk (now 26). The waitresses know me, my parents, and my fiancé by name. All I have to do is walk past the window outside and they already have our drinks ready for us. Their chicken chimis are to die for. The service is always great, I think within the past year there was only one time they were abnormally slow-​and I mean, my fiancé and I go here at least twice a month. We LOVE their chips and salsa and always order the guac-​though I must say I always mix some of their salsa into the guac because it needs a little something to zazz it up a bit. Samanos is, and always will be, one of my favorites!

My husband & I came here because we had a
coupon and he has always wanted to try this place.
We walked in & there was a sign that said seat yourself so we did. We sat down, waited around for 5 minutes with not a waitress in sight so we moved to the bar. We waited about 5 minutes before we were acknowledged and served sodas.
We looked at the menu, which was a big menu… I ordered the 2 taco dinner and my husband got the 3 item dinner. He reported that it was okay but nothing special. My tacos were so-​so. The rice tasted weird, I can’t pin point what was off about it but I wasn’t a fan.
It was an okay restaurant — I would go back if I was in a pinch.

Love the building, love the location. Walking inside you have so much to look at, it’s fun. The menu is extensive. The margaritas are not very good — actually made me feel sick while drinking it and I’m no stranger to margaritas so I’m not sure what that was about but they tasted very… bad, for lack of a better word.
I ordered a chimichanga and it was stuffed with cheese, a LOT of cheese, a little too much cheese. Unfortunately I was not feeling well from the margarita so I didn’t really enjoy it. I did like the salsa though, it reminded me of an old haunt I used to go to on Green Bay Rd that I miss.
I will try it again sometime but I will not be ordering the margarita there.

The salsa tasted like it was made from the expired canned goods that fell off an Aldi’s foods delivery truck. The margs were terrible. I was disappointed before I even ordered my entrée. The chicken enchiladas were basically tortilla’s stuffed with unseasoned baked chicken with cheese on top. I would rather eat big mac’s!

The building is nice but definitely nothing special besides the fact that it was built in 1894. Being from Eastern Europe, this is an architectural baby age for me.
Food wise, this place could be considered a gem if you were raised in the swamps of West Virginia and the only food you are accustomed to is the one that crawled onto your front porch to die. Not sure why these people had to «Murkanize» the hell out of the food and forcefully extract any ethnic flavor (or any flavor actually) that could’ve been in it, but thats what happened.
The salsa: served with bland generic blah chips, it tasted like someone dripped sweat into it. If you sit on a bus next to a sweaty homeless person in July and are forced to inhale that funk, that is precisely what the aftertaste of the salsa was. This is pretty much the most accurate description that I can bring forth.
The guacamole: I didn’t know you can actually mess up the guac, but they did it. After pondering on a culprit for a completely bland taste (or lack thereof), I figured it out: they didn’t have onions or salt in it! Nope, none at all!
The steak tacos: These came on a plate with rice and beans, arranged in a fanciful manner which left the entire side of one of my tacos being drenched in these said beans, which I had to scrape off with my fork. Sorry, but when I ask for tacos with rice and beans on a side, please don’t take it literally. The shell tasted like it was bought at Walgreens in 1998 and preserved in someone’s cupboard just for this occasion. The meat and cheese (random chunks of melted mozzarella) were buried under a huge heap of lettuce, most of which I had to remove in order to not feel like a pasture animal. I think the best part of Mexican tacos is cilantro, which adds that zesty fresh flavor. You do NOT replace cilantro with bland filler like lettuce-​NO! The meat itself was not awful (but this I mean «edible») but pretty bland and unimpressive. I’ve had better tacos at a gas station diner at 3am.
The rice: tiny and chewy-​hard, it appeared undercooked. I have cooked better rice in a microwave. There was definitely nothing Mexican about the rice as it was… wait for it… yes, bland! It appears «Tasteless» was a flavor of the day. I felt like I was eating sand.
I am not a snobby eater as I was raised in 80’s Russia on herring and spoiled cabbage borscht, but this place is terrible and is not worth coming back.

always excellent food and the folks there are the sweetest. best restaurant in cudahy.

My entire family absolutely loves this place! The food is amazing and the service is excellent. The owners are so friendly and really get to know their customers. It’s definitely one of my favorite local places to eat. I love that I can order a meal, or ala carte (sometimes you just want one of each). The spinach enchiladas are to die for — a must try!

Favorite Mex place to visit. Love the Margaritas and dip sampler. The beer selection and soda selection is phenomenal. Try the chimichanga. You won’t be disappointed!

Samano’s is in a very cute building. I love all the windows and the angles that allow for many views of the neighborhood. Walking inside, we are greeted by a friendly hostess who is always ready to seat us but we prefer to sit at the bar.
The bar is nice and long with plenty of room to spread out. I love a Mexican restaurant that has plenty of Mexican beers on tap. Deciding between them is only made more difficult by the great margaritas. There is no blender in this bar and no cheezy margarita machine that looks like it could make sno-​cones. These are authentic-​on-​the-​rocks margaritas made the way margaritas are supposed to be made. The tequila selection is very good too.
There are nightly specials and it doesn’t matter which night we go, they are all good and extremely reasonably priced. Samano’s is one of the rare places that has shredded beef on the menu. And it is very delicious as well as nice and tender. The salsa is amazing. It has a nice spice and is loaded with fresh tomatoes that compliment the tortilla strips perfectly. The menu has plenty of offerings and the portion sizes are generous.
The staff is friendly and knowledgeable and we will be back for more.

My wife had been there previously with a large group. She thought the food was rather bland but thought she’d give it a second go. The building is certainly something special but unfortunately that’s the only reason to visit.
The red salsa was on par with jarred Chi-Chi’s. I ordered a hot salsa and it was marginally better but tasted like they dumped a cup of salt in the batch. The chips were acceptable but nothing special.
I would have preferred fajitas but they only serve them as specials two days a week. Unbelievable… a Mexican restaurant that doesn’t have fajitas on the menu… what are they thinking? So I starred at the menu and finally decided on the two tostada combo. My wife ordered a burrito, taco, and tostada combo. Our food was brought out within 5-​mins of ordering and that’s not a good thing when the chicken in my wife’s dish tasted raw.
It’s too bad. We wanted it to be good but just not happening.

So I know Samano’s isn’t authentic Mexican. The items on the menu are really more to the Tex-​Mex side of things, but there weren’t any fajitas on the menu. This really is not a problem for me, the mega chains of fast casual have done the fajita to death. The menu had numerous options.
The service was 4 ½ to 5 stars. Felicia was our server, and was on top of things. The only thing she missed during the entire meal was a water my wife ordered along with her margarita. Our order was taken when we were ready (the menu has quite a bit on it, so it took us some time.) The time from our order to when food made it to the table was reasonable for a busy Friday night. I think it was under 10 minutes, but definitely not to the point where we were wondering where our food was. Dessert was offered at the appropriate time, and we decided to have some. Felicia brought us our check with perfect timing for our situation. We had a toddler with us, and she knew when you need to go, you need to go. Waiting on a check was not an issue.
Food was 3 ½ to 4 stars. Many mexican restaurants you go to have HUGE portion sizes. That was not the case here and that is just fine with me. Both my wife and I finished our meals with nothing to take with us. I got a chimichanga that was a la carte, a first for me, but again ok. I haven’t seen an option for chorizo before, but it was one here. I just picked some at the other dishes people had for rice and beans. It also came in size options of small and large. It was moist on the inside and crispy on the outside while also flavorful. My wife got the enchiladas. She said that they were a bit dry, but once salsa was added, all was good.
This will become our go to Tex Mex for Milwaukee.

Food is good. Some different items are available over the typical Mexican restaurant. Their house margaritas are the kind that give you stomachache though… too much sour.

One of the best on the south side, great food, strong drinks, and friendly staff

Tex– Mex by way of St Francis, nothing fancy — mediocre Tex-​Mex at best.
Not worth it in any regard.

I went here on some very strong recommendations. But I should have also prefaced that by saying that those recommendations came from people that make generic canned pasta sauce taste «good» by mixing it with Prego.
*cringe*
Sorry. I think I just puked a little in my mouth.
OK. Onto the review.
I was told the fresh salsa was excellent and the Chimichangas were the absolute best. So, I ordered a chimichanga. My date ordered a combination plate (taco, enchilada, and tamale).
The chips were… chips. Nothing out of the ordinary, but certainly not stale. The salsa was… how you say… «off»? A lot? Off the deep end? Off their rocker? I dunno. It sure tasted funky though. I still can’t pinpoint what it was. I think it was something in the tomatoes. Kinda like they used beef steak tomatoes that were a day away from being rotten.
The margaritas were pretty good though. A nice balance of sweet and sour. Above average.
The food came. The chimichanga was the size of an infant’s head and I went in for the kill. Let me just say this: I can’t say it’s the best chimichanga I’ve ever had. Nor can I say that it’s not. But it’s definitely the most unique. It’s loaded with flavor and is relatively juicy inside — which is odd for chimichangas. Normally, they are served pretty dry. Don’t get me wrong, it was quite good. It’s just that… well… whatever they served me… I cannot, in good conscience, compare it to other chimichangas. It stands on its own. And it’s definitely worth getting again.
The beans and rice were par.
Now for the rest of the food. My date was not pleased with her combo plate. So I tried a couple bites. I was not pleased either. It was barely edible.
If all you want is a night of margarita’s and gigantor chimichangas, this place is worth checking out.

This is some of the best Mexican food you’ll find in Wisconsin. It’s fairly authentic and this is coming from someone who now lives in LA. Everything is made from scratch (including the guac, despite what other reviewers might think) and the portions are large.
And again, I live in LA and eat Mexican all the time and this is STILL some of the best salsa I’ve ever had!