Sonora Restaurant

Reluctant to express on most restaurants… regarding food. Since that can be personal. I’ve been coming here about 1yr now , a few times a months. Nothing has ever let me down. May be the best place for food, price, quality and exceptional service along the 52. Great job again.

I stumbled upon this place on my travels from Boise and oh MAN LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING. This place is a hidden gem and so damn delicious. This is coming from someone who’s coming from Los Angeles and whose family is from Mexico. This is authentic Mexican food from the chips and salsa plus refried beans to dip the chips to the overall menu items. I felt like home with my mom and grandmother making food. The vibes of this place is home-style with the owner making sure everything is to your liking. That’s AMAZING service when you know the owner is making sure everything is good. I ordered the Sonora Burrito and dude it was so good. Even when I get back to LA, I am going to miss this place!

SHRIMP TACOS WORTH DRIVE If you're anywhere within 50 miles of Horseshoe Bend and not eating at Sonora Restaurant, what are you even doing with your life? I’ve made the scenic drive from Meridian to Sonora multiple times over the past year, and each time I take that first bite of shrimp taco, it’s like a fiesta breaks out in my mouth—complete with salsa dancing and cheers from a tortilla-loving crowd. Let me just say this: the shrimp tacos (minus the bacon, thank you very much) are an actual fiesta in your mouth. The homemade tortillas are soft and flavorful, clearly crafted with love and possibly some form of tortilla wizardry. Then there’s the shrimp – perfectly cooked, lightly sauced with a kicky, zesty, “oh my stars!” level of flavor that makes your taste buds do a happy dance. And the whole dish is topped with a generous, glorious slice of avocado, like a green crown on a royal taco. The presentation? Beautiful. The flavor? Divine. The experience? Like being hugged by a warm tortilla of joy. But wait—there’s more! Olivia, the owner and culinary queen of Sonora, isn’t just back in the kitchen whipping up magic—she’s also one of the friendliest, most down-to-earth people you’ll meet. Her passion for good food and happy customers is baked (and sautéed) into every dish. Bottom line: If you haven’t been to Sonora, gas up the car, grab your GPS, or hop on your trusty steed and get there. Order the shrimp tacos minus the bacon. Repeat as necessary. You’ll leave full, happy, and wondering why you haven’t been going there every week. Five shining, spicy, tortilla-wrapped stars.

I was not impressed, but being this far from Nampa or Caldwell, I’m not surprised. I ordered their “molcajete” for almost forty bucks and basically got a half quart of tomato soup with a few measly pieces of meat and a tough slab of undercooked cactus. They make it look BIG, but it really isn’t allot of food. The rest of the family was not very impressed either with their burritos and carne asada plate. They forgot my wife’s sour cream and they did not put sour cream in my daughters burrito. Maybe sour cream is hard to come by in Horseshoe Bend. Next time I’ll just order the horchata. To go.

Service sucks really really bad as if it doesn’t exist at all. If you want a refill of anything expect to get up walk into the hiding place (Kitchen) and flag down someone with stink eye to ask for it. They walk by you like the table is empty while ignoring you,your empty chips, and drinks after a 35 minute wait for your order. By then you could be in Boise have service and a cheaper bill. Hard earned dollars deserves respect and they clearly don’t know that here. They clearly dislike serving people or interacting with the idea of a restaurant. It would be nice to see them improve. Add a chip and salsa bar, move the soda fountain out of the kitchen and take orders at the counter to eliminate the multiple reviews like this one. At least then all you have to do is wipe down tables and cook the food.

Great little place to eat while driving by in horseshoe bend. Service was fun and quick. Food had on point Mexican flavor. Clearly the regulars know about it in the area as they were greeted by name when they came in for lunch. 🌮

Great family restaurant with amazing food and service!

We had a great experience. Our server was attentive and accommodating. The portions were very big.. giant burritos and good kid menu options.The bean dip with the chips was a nice touch and their suiza sauce was great. Great tasting food. We are glad that we stopped to eat lunch.

Food was excellent . However gf fish tacos needed a bit more fish.. my son enjoyed his shredded beef tacos, hubby enjoyed his enchilada. Friend loved her chile rellano and enchilada, place was clean, bathroom was clean, staff was very attentive.

Absolutely delicious. Try the pollo a la crema, it's incredible! The owner Olivia is amazing.

I stumbled upon this place on my travels from Boise and oh MAN LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING. This place is a hidden gem and so damn delicious. This is coming from someone who's coming from Los Angeles and whose family is from Mexico. This is authentic Mexican food from the chips and salsa plus refried beans to dip the chips to the overall menu items. I felt like home with my mom and grandmother making food. The vibes of this place is home-style with the owner making sure everything is to your liking. That's AMAZING service when you know the owner is making sure everything is good. I ordered the Sonora Burrito and dude it was so good. Even when I get back to LA, I am going to miss this place!

Service is very slow and not overly friendly. We came in at 2pm and all the tables were dirty and needed to be cleaned. The door to the patio was filled with fingerprints. The salad was ok. Like it could have been much better if some effort was put into it, but it wasn't. And there is very little of it. The food was very good. Not excellent. So I added a star. But no need to come back for me. If I loved local I would give it another shot.

The food here is so good. It's one of the places I take my family when they are in town. The sauces are just to die for. I love the tres chilis.

poor food wise I don't know who think this place is good I order carnes asada burrito and it the worst burrito I ever ate meat doesn't taste right taste more like fish flavor then it is, I don't think I'm coming back to this place if the food taste old as hell gross, people needs there taste bud check or something and the cook should be ashamed serving old food to people and taking money from them if the food taste like shit I only took couple of bites and threw it away that how gross it was

The service is wonderful and the food is delicious! We're never disappointed. Olivia always does an amazing job!

If I could put a zero star rating I would! It was the absolute worse service I've ever had at a restaurant ever. The waitress who seated us went right to break after that and ate inside the restaurant talking extremely loud on a phone call while on speaker for the entire restaurant to hear. Then after that they didn't even bother asking if we wanted a refill on our drinks and never came to check in on how everything was. I had to ask for the check and also took a bean burrito home and while eating it I chipped my tooth on a ROCK that was inside the burrito so i recommend to never go to this restaurant ever!

During a visit to Emmett to visit my parents this part weekend, a couple of their friends recommended we try this restaurant. We made the short drive to Horseshoe Bend Sunday afternoon and found the place in a nondescript building alongside Hwy 55. The restaurant was basic, nothing fancy but clean and bright. The waitstaff were very attentive, with Isela notable for her quick service and really sweet demeanor. OMG... THE FOOD. Fresh warm tortilla chips with tasty salsa and bean dip. Dad ordered the Tres Chiles plate, Mom the chicken flautas and I ordered Chorizo and eggs, all the plates accompanied with authentic East L.A. beans and rice. JUST AMAZING. We all loved the food, and my chorizo and eggs was as good as I had growing up in SoCal. Great margaritas, too. A must-go for my next visit, and I recommend Sonora Mexican Food to anyone looking for truly delicious food in the wilds of Idaho.

Wonderful owner! Great chicken tacos chili verde. Is tasty beer is ice cold, best homemade chorizo ever

This Mexican place was decent. The chicken was good the rice was decent but they had a lot of cheese on all of my stuff like litterly all of my food was covered with chees. Also the waitress there were really grumpy and they had no guacamole! Like what Mexican restaurant has no guacamole!! but overall, decent

Very delicious and filling for sure! Got the supreme burrito w/carne asada and las tres Maria's . Very happy with both.

Mediocre food. Neutral to bad attitude. The taco truck down the street is far better food.

If you are looking for REAL Mexican food this is your place! Everything is authentic and homemade. It is a family owned and operated business. You can taste the pride and love for cooking in the food. When in Boise, this place is a must! Try it, you will LOVE it!

Best Mexican food in and around the area! Wonderful people! A must when visiting or driving through Horseshoe Bend!

Not the best hospitality. Server didn't ask if everything was ok during meal. She looked perturbed that we asked for a second bowl of chips. Portion of chips was extremely small. The food was fantastic other than that. We heard her asking the next table if everything was ok! The young lady that served us was the most pleasant. We visited here from out of town.

This is normally one of my favorite stops on the way to or from the mountains. We stopped in for lunch and there was only one waitress... I had to ask twice for chips and salsa, not offered refills for beverages, had to get our own extra napkins and more. Granted the waitress was slammed. Customer satisfaction would be so much greater if they added another waitress. I got the Shrimp Diablo the serving size for lunch was pretty small. Food was delicious as always but unfortunately due to the service I have to give it a low rating this time. I would also like to see them wearing masks

Fabulous food. Clean, fresh ingredients, and very tasty. Best burrito I've had since I was in Arizona many, many years ago.

This review is based on service, as we never had an opportunity to try the food. We drove out to Sonora Mexican Restaurant in Horseshoe Bend on Sunday afternoon to give them a try. We live in the valley so it was a good 40 minute trek. We were excited to try this restaurant, based on others recommendations. We arrived, were seated & never had a server come to our table to bring water, chips & salsa or take a food or drink order in the 15-20 minutes we sat there. They weren't busy, maybe 3 parties seated, with one party just leaving as we were seated. We tried to flag down a server that attended to a booth two down from us, but were just ignored. As we left, we told the cashier we never had anyone come to our table to take our order and she just gave us a blank stare & mummbled sorry.

What great food! This is some on the best I've had in Idaho. Will be coming back for sure. Highly recommend the chicken mole.

Wow! Best Mexican food!!!! We loved this little place. Service was great. Amazing burritos and carnitas! I'll definitely be back

Delicious salsa standard fare beans homemade tortilla chips my pollo en mole some of the best . Chili's Colorado exelent the chili rellanos very good. My corn tortillas were fairly dry. That was the only downside. And the only thing keeping it from being a 5 star

What a gem! Everything seems to be homemade and fresh. The salsa is fantastic and even the fish was fresh in the fish tacos. As a road warrior, you never know what your walking into for lunch! This is a gem!

We randomly came across this spot and totally will be back!! Our server was so sweet and we loved our food:) perfect post hot springs stop

Terrible food horrible service from the owner! They are always out of something! The staple should be chips and salsa it's plain no flavor they use can tomatoes and they don't use fresh onion or garlic, cumin to spice up! They do not serve any pozole or menudo or any other caldo

I can't begin to say how disappointed we are in our past visit. Previously, this restaurant was one of our favorite places to eat. In fact, we waited to eat at Sonora's, while returning from McCall to Boise, because we had such a high regard for this establishment. All my wife and I can say is 'What happened?' Everything was unlike our previous visits. The homemade chips we loved were terrible and few... perhaps a third of the amount we have had on previous visits. There were no refills offered. The prices had gone up significantly... which was an unpleasant surprise. The waitresses appeared a bit scattered and didn't seem to be working as a team. They definitely were not service oriented. We had to wait for over an hour to be served... so long that we had to ask if they had lost our order. The food was marginal at best... actually it was the worst Mexican food I have had in a long time... and there was little content inside my burrito. The sauces on the top of my burrito were so thin that I essentially couldn't even scrape any off for a taste. Finally the bill was presented in an ungracious way and I was told 'You decide'... which meant I needed to decide how much of a tip to offer... beginning at 15% and going up from there. (I tip well if we enjoy the waitress or the food, but they should have paid us to eat there.) It was that bad. Our bill was much higher than we had ever had before. When my wife and I walked out to our truck we said... 'I said this was the worst part of our day.' My wife said, 'I won't go back there again.' I/we are so disappointed. We loved and often recommended this restaurant. We plan never to return unless we hear that they have returned to a level of service that we used to enjoy.

This is a great find on our way to river rafting. Food and service was excellent! We cannot say enough how phenomenal the food was! I recommend Las tres Maria's! Kids say their meals were "mega bus""."

Yum. If you are heading up to McCall, stop here on the way. Not the shiniest star in the galaxy, but certainly good food. Ceviche was the best. Order large so you can share. The beans are authentic, mashed till smooth. Not the pasty stuff you get elsewhere. My dad is a picky eater, and he cleaned his plate. Most authentic menu I have seen since we moved up to Idaho. Used to live on the border, so I know good stuff when I find it. Sorry I didn't think to take a picture.... Hot Food arrived on hot plates and we dug right in. We will be back.

Best Mexican food we've had in years and several states. I had the chili relleno and chimichanga combo. Fantastic! Great salsa too. Everyone at the table was extremely satisfied. Well worth the trip, wherever your coming from.

We have been enjoying this delicious Mexican flavor from Sonora, Mexico for years! The dishes are authentic with a homemade flavor. You will not be disappointed that you stopped to enjoy this wonderful restaurant and friendly service!

Food was mediocre and the beer was served almost warm. Other costumers were very friendly. Helped pass the time while we waited for our food. Service was extremely slow. The restaurant wasn't very clean. Will pass on it next time through town.

Excellent food all around! Portion was exceptional. I ordered extra rice for my dish but it ended up being too much whereas other restaurants skimp on it so I always double up. Here I won't.

We stopped here on our way from McCall to Boise on Sunday after white water river rafting. The place is cute, clean, service is great. I had the enchiladas planchas. You get chips with salsa and beans too for free. They were really good about refilling the chips. They have a great location in Horsebend for people on road trips or out on an outdoor adventure.

This place is AMAZING!! BEST Mexican food around. I love this place.... We go here often. I missed good Mexican food after moving from Texas, but found an amazing place.

Sonora has the best Mexican food around! The chili rellano is amazing, chimichangas are great and the chili Verde is perfect. I stop by every time I travel in this direction and I'm never disappointed! The service is as great as the food too! You can't go wrong here!

We have become regulars at this place! It's our favorite Mexican restaurant. My kiddos and I have food intolerances and sensitivities, and in general we are careful about what we eat. We do avoid most animal products as a result. What I love is that their refried beans and rice are fully plant based (they use vegetable lard in the beans - ask for no cheese on top), and they are amazing!! My kids love them too. I get the veggie fajitas, and sub the refried beans instead of the pinto beans and just ask for no cheese or sour cream. My husband loves to get the fish tacos and have them use mushrooms in place of the fish. Oh! And the salsa is always so good too. (I'm really picky when it comes to salsa.) Bottom line is I can tell when the food is fresh and when it's not... This is fresh, good food, prepared well, seasoned well, cooked well, etc. We love it.

Don't bother! The absolute worst Mexican food I've ever had! So when the waitress came to our table she asked if we were all together or separate? We said all together and she said, " are you sure because it'll be too hard to separate later" wow there were only five of us and you could clearly see we were a family! Ummmmmm yea I'm sure! Then she NEVER refilled our drinks or the stale tortilla chips. When the food finally came out it was SO bad, over cooked skirt steak that was like leather to chew, fajitas with melted cheese over it!? There's not a Mexican anywhere who dumps cheese all over the sizzling hot skillet, you can imagine how it looked all burned and stuck over everything. The rice had zero flavor as well as the (grey colored) refried beans! Bad bad bad!

Decided to give la Sonora a try based on reviews here. Couldn't be more pleased with the experience. Went with the molcajete for two, and the horchata. Ate every single bite. Owners were friendly, restaurant was clean and clearly loved by the locals. We live in boise so it's a short drive here, but we'll make the trip just to come here again. Love love loved it.

It was bussin. Service was a little slow. If you love a great enchilada, this is the spot for you!

VIVA LA SONORA! I have to admit....my boyfriend and I made fun of this little random Mexican restaurant each time we drove past to go camping. We thought, "how could this tiny little place in this itty bitty IDAHO town know anything about Mexican food??" so one day after rafting the Main and taking a very chilly spill into the water we thought "why not?" and went inside! Nothing impressive about the inside, it looked clean but worn down. My boyfriend and I thought it was interesting that they had a little yard part with a kid's playhouse through a sliding glass door. It didn't take long for us to be greeted and sat as the place was small enough that you'd have to be blind to miss anyone coming in! Luckily they were blind to the fact that my boyfriend was missing a shoe (now probably somewhere down the Payette...) We ordered what looked like the most impressive thing on the menu, of which the name now escapes me, but it involved a molcajete. It was slightly more expensive to make it a "meal" for two people but very affordable. When it came out.....I was so impressed!!! My boyfriend's jaw dropped as did mine. It was a steaming, bubbling, delicious smelling molcajete full of red enchilada sauce, cheese on cheese on cheese, nopales, flank steak, chicken, and what we discovered was bacon wrapped shrimp (very authentic ;) But that wasn't all! They accommodated the fact that my boyfriend is crazy and likes flour tortillas better than corn, while I am the opposite and gave us a mix of both! Then a monstrous plate of traditional restaurant refried beans, Mexican red rice, pico de gallo, guacamole, and crema was dropped off as well. I think what blew my mind the most was that this restaurant had nopales (cactus) and it was cooked well!! If you cook it incorrectly it can be slimy and nasty, but this was delicious and a wonderful addition to our tacos! THE ONLY BAD THING: Which wasn't all that bad. Our service was great up until the very end. It was actually done by a young teen as well as an older lady. However towards the end the older lady disappeared and the younger girl was more interested in talking to her friends at the table behind us than clearing our plates or getting our check. We even made sure that we weren't supposed to go up to the cash register ourselves to get it, other tables around us had gotten theirs delivered. After we waited for about 30 minutes just chatting etc. we decided to just go up to the host stand and just take care of it ourselves. No big deal! Overall, delicious, but know that it is a small town restaurant without the same expectations as a big city chain!

A night of yummy margaritas with me and my honey and boys sorry i would have posted a better picture but the raspberry margarita was to die for super great service we love this place

Omg - I'm from California visiting my son. We've been looking for a good mexican restaurant since we started visiting 3 years ago...and until we tried Sonora Cafe on the way home from a white water rafting trip, I was convinced...it would never happen. The place is small and doesn't look like much - but we were starving and it was recommended by our raftmg guide. It took a while to get the chips and salsa...but oh my!! The flavor of the salsa was amazing. It's not chunky or spicy, so if that's your vibe...you may not agree. My husband is mexican and even he said the salsa might be the best he's ever had. He ordered some kind of shrimp that looked to be in some sort of tomato sauce - says it was 5 star!! My shrimp fajitas were great too. The one thing that need work however are the margaritas. Neither one had much ice and didnt have much alcohol in them...but everything else was so amazing, I'm giving them 5 stars anyway!!

If you want there street tacos... They have some of the best...ive only ate this...so far...

Absolutely love this place!! They have the best salsa around. It also has incredibly good food, and super nice employees!! We moved to Idaho from Houston, Texas, and had the hardest time finding GOOD (authentic) Mexican food in the area. Well, Sonora is it folks!

The service was slow. I think they were short handed. The food was mild and almost lacking flavour. I expect more from a Mexican restaurant.

I LOVE the Sonora! Food is always delivered fast and warm the owners are so so kind. Try their new Tinga Tacos I'm obsessed. I'm a local and never have a bad experience. If it's busy sometimes that's something no one can control and if you ever have any issues with someone not wearing a mask go somewhere else. The Sonora is amazing.

Sonora serves up some the better Mexican food within the orbit of Boise. The food is fresh and tasty. Service is friendly. The menu is pretty standard, but the ingredients are quality.

Simple, delicious, friendly & quick. Best chile relleño I've had in a long time. Kids were all happy it's their meals. Will definitely be stopping here on our way home from McCall more often.

Great food.... everyone loved the food. Enchiladas, carne asada, fried shrimp, all excellent! Would definitely recommend this place to anyone. Enjoy!