El Sabor - Mexican Restaurant

Me and my partner love this Mexican restaurant, used to be our a local a year ago which we would frequently go to. However since moving to the suburbs we hadn’t been back until yesterday. The food is still amazing, we really enjoyed our meal. Also it was get value for money. This time we were seated downstairs which has a much better atmosphere than upstairs, the only annoying part was that the speaker that was playing music kept stopping and starting every couple of minutes. The service is okay, the girls are polite however not very tentative. This has been the case for all of our visits here, as a hospitality worker myself, I feel like they could try more to connect with customers. A group of 6 were dining across from us and left before we got our food. Their table sat covered in dirty plates and glasses for around 20 minutes despite it not being that busy and also the staff walked past the table many times and just ignored the mess. Lastly I made a booking online, which I don’t think the waitress even knew about. I don’t want this to be a negative review, because I genuinely really like this place, just some points which I think could use some improvement. We will be back in the future. The beef burrito bowl is my favourite 😍

I booked to have dinner here and was seriously impressed. The food was amazing—fresh, flavorful, and beautifully presented. The vegan tacos were especially good—packed with taste and definitely a highlight of the meal. Service was quick and efficient, and the staff were absolutely lovely—friendly, attentive, and made the whole experience even better. Highly recommend!

Came to El Sabor for a nice Saturday night meal, overall the experience was quite average - the entrees were superb (corn chips with salsa & corn), the mains disappointed. One would think a taco restaurant would have flavourful tacos, however they were extremely bland and felt heavy in the stomach - not a nice feeling on a Saturday night! The service was mediocre, the restaurant was mostly empty but our table didn’t have forks or any napkins.

We visited this restaurant with high expectations, eager to try the food—and in that regard, it did not disappoint. The dishes were flavorful and well-prepared, showcasing the kitchen's capabilities. However, the overall experience was unfortunately marred by poor customer service. The server was noticeably unwelcoming and at times came across as quite rude. Basic courtesies, such as serving water in a timely manner, were overlooked—even after the food had already arrived. While the culinary aspect deserves appreciation, the lack of hospitality made the visit less enjoyable than it could have been. With some attention to service, this place has the potential to offer a much more pleasant dining experience.

This is authentic Mexican restaurant 😋, offers delicious and tasty Mexican food. Food presentation makes it more palatable. Customer service is good, staff was polite. Food prices were reasonable , it's not an expensive place. I will visit the place again and recommend to try it.

We booked the upstairs room for a family get together with 25 people. The staff were amazing and made us all feel so welcome and managed our chaotic family group beautifully. The food was delicious as always and the whole event was just perfect. Thank you ladies, you were terrific!!!

I thought this restaurant was quite small but it also has a roomy upstairs area. Very well heated on a cold night which was appreciated. We shared chicken fajitas for two - very tasty and plenty of food. We liked all the Mexican decorations and crockery.

The food is amazing!!!!! I haven’t come across any Mexican restaurant so goood. The staff is lovely and so friendly and really take care of our requests

That was the worst Mexican food I have ever eaten. We visited on Cinco de Mayo (which was a Saturday night) and I could not believe they were out of two menu items we wanted to order. Everything was served room temperature and bland tasting. Some items were even too terrible tasting I wouldn't finish them. (Do not order the enfrijoladas.) Aside from that, the staff could really improve their service. Lastly, our bill was completely illegible with strange amounts of numbers and decimal points in weird places. Would have also been nice to have their beers listed on the menu. I do not recommend eating here. The corn is better at Mamasita and the tacos are better around the corner at Hello Jose.

If you don't want to read the rest of the review then just know this. 2 people, 2 drinks, 8 very small so so tacos and 2 starters = $100. We were so so disappointed AND STILL HUNGRY even before getting the bill that we decided to drive 5 minutes down the road to a real authentic Mexican food restaurant and got 2 drinks, 8 REAL tacos, 2 starters and 2 desserts for $87. 13 bucks less for more. If you have never eaten authentic Mexican food before then you may and I do say "may" think this place is just ok. Walked in expecting good things because this place is owned by El Cielo where I get my own raw ingredients and tortillas when I cook mexican at home. WRONG! Not owned by El Cielo anymore. Sold off and you can always throw away reviews on a place good or bad when it's under new ownership. On to the food. Portion were tiny and lacking in true authentic flavors. Honesty this is something anybody can cook at home. If I can cook better than a place then I don't see the point. The other person in my party ordered a margarita that came in a tumbler. I ordered A Pacifico beer for $12. $9 everywhere else. Asked for tamales as it's on the menu saying only available Fridays and Saturdays and we happend to be there on a Friday and one of the first people in the door. "We are all out of tamales ". Hold on, how? Then we want some fish tacos. Nope, all out of fish. Don't get me wrong the food was ok. That's the problem though it was just ok. For the money, average food and still left hungry left me extremely disappointed.

I gotta say, coming from Southern California, I am REALLY impressed. I ordered the nachos and a few tacos. They certainly knocked it out of the ballpark. Not a single complaint. The pastor meat is on point and the ice cold beer was just icing on the top. I definitely picked the right spot from the few Mexican restaurants that came back on yelp.

Disappointing. Looks promising but the food is very average. I ordered a rum and coke to drink and was told they "only serve drinks from the menu". There were both rum and coke on the menu. My tacos were tiny and the meat was lukewarm, tasteless and dry. My partner was served three tiny enchiladas and the side serve of rice was a tablespoon of Uncle Ben's Mexican Rice, probably straight from the bag. We spent $60 on extremely average food and left still feeling hungry.

I was looking for that "Hook Line and Sinker" experience. Awesome Melbourne's Winter evening .... Easy to park the car, looks like a great evening, Mexican degustation dishes to come. It didn't start well with the Sangria. Grilled Corn Cob as an opener, followed by Calamari ....Chicken Wings .... looking good so far, then it just hovered, stalled, palate not going anywhere. Very small dishes/serving to share. 3 bottles of FANTASTIC hot sauces on the table. House Red, Hunter Valley Shiraz has been opened too long. Pleasant service and nice ambiance. Can't say it's our favourite at this stage.

Really excited to find a great Mexican place in North Melbourne! Service was great, decor is colourful and the food was tasty. We had prawn tacos and a large pork nachos. Yum!! Tacos were nice but not as good as the delish nachos. They were topped with pulled pork, heaping guac, black beans, corn, sour cream and the tortilla chips were hearty, salty nice chips. We both had a drink and the whole meal was $42. I'm salivating just thinking about the nachos! Will be a repeat customer.

With Mexican restaurants on every second corner in Melbourne, I had high hopes. Unfortunately, the food was that Aussie version of tex-mex you'll find at taco bill. Unfortunately each dish tasted the same. A mixture of cheese and refried beens. The service however was stand out. Making this a 3 star review and not a two. Maybe I'll give it another go in a few months.

Authentic Mexican at very reasonable prices. Clearly there are real Mexicans in the kitchen. It is very hard to find real Mexican food in Australia, but I strongly recommend ordering a verity of tacos!!

I was Visiting Melbourne from California where Mexican food is plentiful and where my family makes some of the best that I've ever had. El Sabor was probably the best Mexican food I've had outside of the continent. It was so authentic tasting that when I tried the tacitos, I felt like my grandma had made them. There are some serious talented cooks in the back there. I would recommend anyone try it if you're looking for authentic Mexican cuisine. ARRIBA MÉXICO.

We had the black bean enchiladas and the beef tacos. One of the things that Mexican food has going for it is the levels and complexities of flavours, when it's done properly. Unfortunately this place just doesn't have that complexity of flavour. It kind of didn't have much flavour at all. We had to use quite a lot of El Yucateco. Other than that the food was cooked adequately. They have one dish with free range chicken but all their other chicken dishes are not free range.

El Sabor has a couple of nice portraits on the wall however that's where the pleasantries ended. We arrived for a late meal on a Wednesday night and were served by a staff member who was cold in her service and short with her helpfulness. The service would be excusable if the food was enjoyable. Alas, we were resigned to enjoy a couple of dishes that tasted like something out of a microwave. I can't fathom giving this consideration next time we dine in North Melbourne.

As a fellow Texan I know Mexican food. This is the place to go. Enchiladas, al pastor tacos everything is delicious and taste like home.

Melbourne has lots of good Mexican restaurants, however, this one has been my favourite so far, it is under new management. The food was delicious, specially the "Beans soup" and the "Vegan tacos", and so far they prepare the best Micheladas in Australia :) . Price is reasonable, food was delicious and portions were good enough. Definitely I will go back.

Excelente and authentic Mexican food, when I first walked in I wasn't expecting much but the food is really good, very generous portions very tasty. Definitely I will go back. A must try place in North Melbourne Pd. Really nice cocktails and good selection of tequila

All of the staff are extremely friendly and had an amazing 8 course degustation that was delicious from start to finish