La Serenata de Garibaldi

Love the shrimp signature quesadillas. Best thing ever! The service isn’t great at peak hours but it is wonderful at off hours when it’s less crowded. This place is a must!

Ignore the bad reviews, they’re coming from out of left field. This place was so good, and had a real variety of authentic Mexican food items from all parts of the country. The manager was so nice, too, and I look forward to going back and seeing him and trying more dishes.

Great food!!! Snooty westsiders love to come here & bitch & moan about slow service. Ignore them. This is high quality Mexican food and the people who work here are great.

This is still my favorite Mexican spot on the Westside, anyone who doesn’t like this spot is a snob! Fresh, amazing food (shrimp enchiladas w mango habanero sauce), and nice cozy atmosphere. Love this place!

The salsa… ten stars. It has a wonderful combination of spices that I have not experienced anyplace else.
The food, delicious. I went for brunch and was not disappointed. They served us homemade chips with mini quesedia wedges. Yum. Then we had eggs with chorizo and peppers. Very well made. Simple yet so so good. My friend ordered a carne asada off of the regular menu. That was also quite tasty.
The staff of service professionals were cordial and accommodating. I went with a gay group. They printed our prefix menus on rainbow paper. I will always love them for making this sweet gesture. They went out of their way to make the event memorable for us. They are good people with good hearts.
I must have eaten at 700 different Mexican restaurants in and around Los Angeles over the course of living here for over 15 years. Serenata De Garibaldi is certainly in my top 5.
I will most certainly be back again. I felt welcome and appreciated and that my business is valued. Thank you.

Authentic Mexican, and beyond tacos. Cochinita Pibil was very good, as was ceviche tostada. Squash was great too.
The food quality carried it but were a couple of issues. The ceviche tostada was $ 10 — way over priced. And they could spruce up the place a bit — our booth had a duct-​tape patch, and the back of the messy hostess stand is too visible from tables. Finally, our waitress had to also make our Margs, so was a tad slow, but still friendly.
I mention these as constructive comments, so hopefully they can improve them. At the end of the day, the food was very good — y auténtico — and the place is not bad inside, just needs a tune up.

Great happy hour. Very good tacos. Good ambiance. On weekends that have a musician. Easy parking.

My wife and I were in the mood for Mexican seafood but did not want to drive to far. Checking on Unilocal La Serenata came up
I haven’t been to La Serenata in over ten years. We checked the menu online and was happy to see the change and additions to the menu
We sat in a booth by the bar so I can watch ta football game and were served by three very attentive female servers
We brought our own wine and the corkage was on ten dollars which is a bonus
We split the chicken stuffed chile relleno as an appetizer that was delicious
My wife had the Chilean seabass grilled but split with two sauces– creamy cilantro and creamy chipotle. Both were yum but the creamy cilantro won. The plate also came with rice and two beans. Black and pinto. We loved the pinto beans best
I had the grilled shrimp with creamy cilantro sauce, rice and beans that was exactly what I was in the mood for
They also brought freshly made and warm corn masa which were perfect
Thoroughly enjoyed our dinner here and will be back
The food also came

realest margarita ever!!! and a great selection of cocktails, ask for the spicy watermelon one…#thebombness

Honestly the Worst Mexican Restaurant Ive been to-​date. The salsa looked and tasted like it came from an El Pato Sauce Can/​Enchilada Sauce can. The Chicken Tortilla soup was like orange pudding from a can and the portion small as a salsa dip cup. Only the 2 baskets of chips are free, unlike unlimited chips and salsa at other mexican restaurants.
My Enchiladas came with cheap Queso Fresco/​Fresh Cheese instead of real mozarella cheddar cheese. The rice was bland yellow instead of it being spanish red rice, and the beans were too watery. After they brought us our food and left, we still had to ask for our silverware. Very small portions for the high price. These old ladies don’t know how to make food, Hire some real mexican men to make some REAL mexican food. I can make much better food than this! And Im still hungry too!

This review is from an experience either late May or early June 2015. While writing a review for an unrelated Mexican restaurant, I remembered that I had forgotten to write this. A couple months ago (in May or June) I had chicken nachos here. It was a pregnancy craving. That night I woke up with severe food poisoning multiple times. This is NOT good when pregnant. I was camped out on the bathroom floor for the night. A note to the kitchen: please be careful with handling of food. I just can’t go back here and was previously a frequent customer.

The absolute, hands-​down WORST mexican food I have ever had.
Ordered chile relleno with chicken. The chile was two bites and filled with peanuts, a small sliver of chicken, no cheese or sauce. And the chile itself was cooked to death. Rice was bland, beans were watery. Chips served with sauce which reminds me of ketchup and attempts to ask for Pico digio and I was told I would have to order it as a side!

This was the blandest food I’ve ever had. I asked the server which of the tamales were spicy (cause there are 3 different kinds) and she said none of them. As if it wasn’t meant to be flavorful. But I thought they had poblanos and pasilla chilis? She brings it over and it’s served with a side of sour cream… wth? And they did not steam it, it was boiled so the maza was very mushy.
The hubs had the fish tacos that looked dry and tasted bland. It was served with a tiny scoop of rice and beans. Any other mexican joint, it takes up the whole plate (more bang for your buck).
If it’s any indication (since the area is very… how can i put it… uptight), the table next to us told the server they don’t want anything spicy and no beans. Why the hell would you come to a Mexican restaurant then?
I’ll stick to the Valley, thx.

Legit Mexican place on the west side. The crispy tacos are amazing, the customer service is excellent, and they have queso fundido!

We should have known that this place wouldn’t be very good given the restaurant next door was overflowing with people and this place was nearly empty.
We chose to sit on the patio — where they don’t allow alcohol.
The chips came with parmesan cheese sprinkled (not melted or anything) on it which I thought was weird, and a passable red salsa.
I ordered the poblano chile and cheese tamales. One came ice cold. I ate the other warm one while I waited for the waitress to come back to complain about the cold one. There were chiles in it but not really any cheese that I could see. It was mostly masa. Didn’t even come with any sauce to moisten it. When I complained about the cold one, she did offer to bring two more; unfortunately it took another 15 minutes and, while they were hot, they were not very good. I’ve had way better tamales at much cheaper prices.
My companion had an appetizer plate that contained bites of food that we could have gotten frozen from a box. I tasted what he couldn’t eat — they were generic and tasteless. I felt a little sick after eating there. Not food-​poisoning-​sick, just gross-​food-​sick.
Overall not very good Mexican food for the prices. In fact, really pretty lousy. The wait staff was nice, but the food is just unforgivable. Will not be going again.

My oh my, have I found the best Mexican food on the Westside. Yea, that’s right I said it (now the secret’s out!)
On a whim, my sister & I stopped by for the first time for some tacos y cervecas on Cinco de Mayo (original, I know). Sure the wait was long, but no matter — we found a couple seats at the bar. After ordering the carnitas street tacos, we observed the hustle & bustle of the entire staff working at speeds that would mimic Usain Bolt. Our server and bartender were both very friendly and in good spirits, despite the chaos of the crowd you’d expect at a Mexican restaurant on their motherland’s national holiday. But no matter — we were always acknowledged as if we were the only ones there.
The chips and salsa were so savory & unlike any other that I’ve ever had at restaurants. I couldn’t put my finger on what makes it so hard to resist. And when we finally received our food, I thanked the heavens for allowing such deliciousness to exist. Sure, the portions are small as other Unilocalers have so vehemently and arrogantly pointed out — BUT NO MATTER: quality over quantity. We also had the chile relleno which was fried to perfection and had the right balance of crispy coating to ooey-​gooey cheesy insides.
To everyone who expects to get stuffed with typical monstrous portions, you can go to El Torrito and take your attitudes with you. What we have right here is a showcase of great restraint and wonderful balance in flavor and portion size. I’m so glad to have stumbled upon this little gem!

Though I have only ordered take out and had my hubby pick it up for me, I can say that based on their home-​made-​style chicken soup I had, they are pretty authentic in their recipes! They were very nice over the phone and helped out my hubby when he went to pick up my order (I wasn’t feeling well and needed chicken soup). It was late at night last weekend close to their closing time and they still helped him! We will be going back very soon! It’s nice to have neighborhood Mexican restaurants that are good!

I had not been here for a while, but went for lunch w office.
Mexican food in general, has taken a good leap in quality, pulling away from the Taco Bell style. La seranata has always been the standard bearer in high quality authentic Mexican food.
My burrito was great, a shrimp one. The salsa was fantastic and addicting. Unique and rightly spiced.

I never really noticed this place as I passed it going to the mall for the past 20 years of my life. It used to be pretty hidden amongst all the other hole in the wall restaurants, but since they remodeled the outside I was intrigued to go with my sister on Cinco de Mayo.
It was pretty crowded by 7:30 PM but we managed to get two seats at the bar. They were swamped with a lot of orders but the bartender and the server made us feel like we were still important. We got some drinks which were delicious; I had asked the bartender to make me something sweet and he surprised me with a very delicious, strong drink. We ordered the small bites I got the chicken flautas and mole platter – DELISH! They really are small bites but they’re super amazing, full flavor, and so so worth it. We also got chips with salsa and guacamole, which were super super fresh and just delicious.
After the crowd died down, we also had some good conversation with the server which made the experience that much more enjoyable. If you’re looking for fast food Mexican food or really cheap cheap food and then go somewhere else because this place only does quality food and it does it right. Will be back soon

I enjoyed a chicken burrito. It had a soft tortilla enveloping rice, red beans, guacamole, slightly dry chicken, and doused in tomato sauce. I’ve never had a burrito with tomato sauce before but I quite enjoyed the subtle flavor and the sauce complimented all of the components of the burrito fantastically. My meal was exactly what I wanted since my stomach was hurting prior and I didn’t want anything too complicated. I ate nearly all of it and would definitely order it again. For $ 13 it was a decent price. Be aware that the chicken was slightly dry though.
Our server was friendly and although it took a while to receive our check she was otherwise very punctual and efficient at providing refills and checking up on us.
I would give this place 4 stars however I found the venue slightly dirty. The seats (we sat in a corner booth) had food on them and the table was sticky. Aside from that, the overall vibe is slightly daunting. The irregular lighting on the left side of the restaurant set a weird tone for me and I didn’t feel like sitting there for very long. I would consider returning again but I don’t think I’d go out of my way. Overall a decent 3 star experience.