Lisa’s Mexican Restaurant

We felt welcomed and at-​home the first time my husband and I walked into Lisa’s. We have been back weekly since our first visit.
We have worked our way around the menu and are always pleased with the quality, the freshness, the flavors, and the love Maria puts into each dish.
Mario and Jose are wonderful owners and ambassadors of Daly City’s oldest restaurant.
Highly recommend!

I tried this out because it was a local establishment that had good reviews. It wasn’t the best I have ever had and seemed a little bland on seasoning. I like some kick to Mexican and this just didn’t have it. I will maybe try something else here but I will check out some other places before returning.

I wanted so much to love this place, because of how warmly we were greeted, and how personable the service was – but the food was less than mediocre.
Clearly, everyone’s so accustomed to getting pico de gallo with their chips, and it’s so easy to make, that it becomes glaring when it’s absent. This wouldn’t be such a problem if the salsa presented instead were something special. Alas, the watered-​down table hot sauce is not special.
Granted, I’m Californian, not Mexican. The Mexican restaurant that I compare everyone else to for a sit-​down dining experience is with Manuel’s in Aptos with the rich, flavorful sauces and moles.
The sauces here, for me, were mediocre. The beans were watery. The meal altogether seemed like something made in a rush just to get you fed, not to give you a taste of the richness of Mexican cuisine.
Although it is definitely a nice experience to be greeted warmly, accompanied by friendly service, these points are like a promise to something great that never arrives.
I would not hesitate to come back, if the service remains the same and the the food IMPROVES.

I started dining at Lisa’s in 2011. Sadly, I most likely will not return again.
First of all for the type of small restaurant setting, the prices are beyond expensive.
The food portions are absolute minimal. I order the #13 combo which was 2 burritos.
The burritos had minimal ingredients and were so small, they looked like enchiladas.

Lisa’s is consistently great. I always go for dinner. It’s small and usually crowded at 7. If you have a big group, call ahead. It’s very comfortable, friendly and the service is amazing. The food is always fresh and cooked perfectly. I always go for the enchiladas. One cheese and one beef with rice, black beans and a Mexican Coke. I love a cold bottle of Coke served with a glass of ice.

Great atmosphere! Great service however the food was not tasty. It needs more flavor.

This is the BEST Mexican food I’ve ever had in the states!!! It’s so authentic I haven’t found any quite this good since I lived right on the border of Mexico! Wow! I licked my plate clean!!! The owners, cooks, everyone… including the regulars… are so amazing here! I feel like I landed into my own special little slice of heaven! Everything is homemade and made with love… even the corn tortillas! SOOOOO YUMMY!!! I’d give way more than 5 stars if I could!

Great family run establishment that has been in Daly City forever. My wife use to go as a kid and was excited that I stopped by. I wish there were some more vegetarian options and with less cheese. Overall, the food was good and I ate well.

I called in a lunch order for me & my boss. Im new to the area & took Unilocal 4 star review as a oh yeah this will be delish. Boss ordered chicken quesadilla w a side of guacamole. I got a enchilada w chicken tostado deluxe lunch plate. It was $ 31!!! No soda or drinks either. Asked why it was & $ 31 he said the quacamole was $ 7. So i Looked in the bag & there was 1 salsa. I asked if it was spicy he said yes. I said my boss needs mild please & i can have another spicy. He said he would have to charge me! I said really? I just spent 31 dollars for lunch. He said yes really. If i was eating there i could of ate all the salsa i wanted right?! He knew i had never ate there before. Not a great way to treat a potential regular. My job is a few blocks away. So i get back to the job there is a small container in with quesadilla & it was brown. Old guacamole. Put that next to the fresh stuff it was nasty.
So the tostado was ice cold. Even the chicken. The enchilada was warm & had potential but just an enchilada ya know. Beans runny. Salsa just flavorless.
3 strikes. Never again. I advise you to take your money else where.

Been going to Lisa’s for years. Each time we eat there the quality is the same, always the best. We love Mario, Jose and Maria like family.

This place is fantastic. We had guacamole, Albondigas, Steak Chicken and Prawns dinner plate plus the Flan. Washed it all down with a negra modelo. Love every bite and I’ll definitely be back again.
There was one guy who didn’t get his water when a lot of people were seated around dinner time. He freaked out on one of the guys that ran the place and I felt really bad. This is a small family restaurant the busts their butt trying to fill the seats and put fresh food on the table every minute their open. Bottom line is some people have no patience! Hope they had an easy night after that guy left.
Thanks again for the delicious meal!

At first I was excited about this place. It had 4 stars and great reviews on Unilocal.But, clearly those reviews have been manipulated. For starters it seems quaint and cool on the inside. I got excited imagining authentic Mexican faire — Fresh Salsa, spiced Carna Asada, organic fresh veggie burritos, heuvos ranchos — all your basic staples in latin food. However, as we desparately tried to get the aging waitress to understand what we were trying to order I started to think this might not be the place I thought it was. Our food tasted bland. The chips were stale and the salsa canned. My friend ordered a veggie burritto — so we guess no meat means beans and rice only??? There were no veggies in the burrito. I had to specifically ask them to not give me ground beef but Carna Asada (which ended up being dry and bland) instead. They got my friends’ drink order wrong twice. I was amazed at how they ever make money because it was lunch time and no one was there. The food is outdated and disgusting. The place needs a good cleaning and paint. The sevice was terrible. The final kicker that made us leave with no tip and a bad review was the waitress tried to cheat us on the bill. She charged us 9.95 for the veggie buritto when the menu said it was $ 7.50. We asked why it was different she said it was for tax. What was the tax percentage???
Then there was an unexplained line item at the bottom that she also said was tax.
We paid cash and left no tip. Will never go again. So, disappointed because we were both excited about some great mexican food. The Mission still has great Mexican restaurants… at least for now. Think I’ll go to one of those next time we want latin flavor.

Best Mexican food. Place has so much character and great food. Love this place. They always have the best service too. Great job to the owner and cooks! Thank you!

I just had some of the best tortilla soup I’ve ever had from Lisa’s. It was a small intimate restaurant. The staff was very kind and welcoming. I enjoyed the décor. The cooked my food fresh which I almost fell over watching because I was so pleased. The bay needs more places like Lisa’s! My missing star is for the price. I think $ 7.95 is expensive for a medium and it should be closer to $ 5.95. I will not come here as much for that factor. Overall, I enjoyed it and I will be back!

Fantastic! Absolutely love this place. It’s a quaint sort of «hole-​in-​the-​wall» with festive Mexican charm. We walked in and were sat promptly and served in a very friendly manor. The decorations are quite entertaining — you can just sit and look at all the pictures and art, which are instant conversation pieces. My wife and I agreed if the food was as good as the delightful atmosphere and chips & salsa we were munching on, this would definitely be a find! And it was. I ordered the menudo and wifey got a combo of chile relleno and chicken chimichanga (we like to eat half and then swap plates). The menudo was legit. Very authentic, the tripe was tender, and they included all the classic accompaniments. The relleno was so flavorful and battered just right. I expected the chimichanga to be the usual kinda clunky fried burrito, but it was very unique and an immediate favorite. Also, a great assortment of beverages and so many things I want to try when we come back! Next time I think I’ll give the albondigas a shot!
A definite yes!

It is simply breathtaking that a place like this can still exist just steps away from the city limits of San Francisco, and close to so much better Mexican fare in the Mission. There’s a reason why this was supposedly Mickey Rooney’s favorite Mexican restaurant: it’s stuck in a time warp from back in the 60s and 70s and hasn’t bothered to update itself to the 21^st century.
Take the very small space and décor. Cut out pastel paper? Framed photos of Elvis and Vicente Fernandez. That must have been the heyday of this place. Maybe when Chente performed at his charreadas at the Cow Palace, there was really NO other place in DC to take him… for a plate of enchiladas!
So that seems to be the case for all of the dishes I tried here. But it’s not just the terribly bland taste and food that took no special care or dedication. I was one of only two or three patrons there. TV was on blaring loud news and sports, and it seems that everyone, even the owner and both servers were literally standing there, dishrags on their shoulders, watching whatever was on. The poor cook was literally phoning it in, spooning sad, broken sauces that were just measly coverings for the wimpy enchiladas, or the flabby chile rellenos, or worse, the ground beef (WHO DOES THIS IN A SIT DOWN RESTAURANT?) for the tacos.
From the extensive list of combination orders, I chose the #1 —taco, enchilada and chile relleno. But all the choices are really interchangeable. The fillings are nothing special at all, and I wish I knew why beef means ‘ground beef’ and why it can’t be steak (carne asada) or even shredded beef. If you can drop blocks of ground beef into a pot and break it up when the ice is melting, surely you could take a cross rib roast and braise it in liquid and then shred it with a fork. Or is this a cheaper option? Or do you figure that if Taco Bell can do this, why can’t we? My guess is that these cooking techniques were burnished in the 60s, in the swinging Mickey Rooney days, and they just stuck.
Also unforgivable was the creepy and vinegary salsa that was served with the chips on the table. I can only guess that they emptied out hot sauce bottles because there was no real base with chile peppers. Maybe some were liquefied but then someone decided to add jugs of vinegar to help preserve it. Hey! We can’t actually roast our peppers and blend it every day! Who do you think we are? So any time you poked the salsa with your cruddy tortilla chips, one part of it would separate, with the whole thing looking like an oil spill. This salsa was unacceptable and not worth spooning on to the food.
I can’t recommend this place at all, and I would venture to say that many have abandoned this establishment for more acceptable fare and atmosphere. I get that Mexican food like this can be comforting to people, and the beans and rice were, well, adequate. I also get that some dishes are almost foolproof. But really all of these dishes should not be hard to make. It isn’t rocket science, because if I am forking over $ 15 and you’re going to spoon gruel-​like ground beef into my taco that has been fattened up with cheese from a bag and iceberg lettuce, then maybe there are other dishes that are equally as suspect.

This place has live harp music when we come and it’s great! I love the fact that its small and cozy inside and everyone is very nice. The food is good — honestly, not the best mexican food ever but its good. For me, Lisa’s is more about ambiance and convenience.
The photos on the wall are fun conversation starters :)

Haven’t been here in years. Still
Has the same menu and still GREAT FOOD!
a lot of pictures hanging on the walls showing actors who enjoyed coming here to eat.

If you’re not mexican, don’t go here. All the mexicans got service but we were completely ignored.
We walked in and stood around for what felt like eternity. Finally, we seated ourselves and then waited for menus for another eternity. After about another ten minutes of waiting, a busser came over with chips and salsa but still no menus.
We finally got up and left. Place is small but well decorated. The food looked good but no service unfortunately.

Have been here several times. Don’t know how this got past me. LOVE LOVE LOVE their food. Seriously excellent mexican food and very friendly owner and staff.
Would even come here more often cuz their prices are very reasonable but parking is very tricky!
I do however HIGHLY recommend. You will love it!