Salena's Mexican Restaurant

Salena's Entrance on the courtyard, 8-2008 Salena's Mexican Restaurant

Location

274 North Goodman Street, Rochester, NY 14607

Hours

Monday: Closed

Tuesday - Thursday 11:30AM to 10:00PM

Friday: 11:30 AM to 11:00PM

Saturday: 11:30AM to 11:00PM

Sunday: 2:00 PM to 9:00PM ***During the summer

Thurs, Fri, Sat: bar open until 2AM beginning May 5th

Phone

585 256 5980

Website

http://www.salenas.com/

Review

Review from a January 13, 2006 article in The Insider

Salena's is a tasty Mexican restaurant, located in a new location at Village Gate on North Goodman Street. Not a great selection of draft beer, but the margaritas... woo. If you think you're going to get a fishbowl-sized tank of sugary alcohol, nope — you get a glass of pure margarita satisfaction. You see, they don't use sour mix. Limit 2 per customer.
Salena's has an outdoor bar and seating as well.

Salena's was voted "Best Mexican Restaurant" in City Newspaper's Best Of Awards in 2007 and 2008.^{1 2}

Comments:

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See Archive Page for comments prior to 2008.

2008-01-09 14:25:03   I don't understand what all the hype is about with Salena's. It is only 2nd worst to Maria's in my opinion. The food was terrible and the margaritas are more like big shots of tequila with an ice cube. Not comparable to the margaritas I've had in Mexico... —RochesterMom

2008-01-31 22:49:48   You are all out of your minds

Salena's has GREAT mexican food.. trying new and often times very expensive restaurants for fun and we were very impressed with Salena's food, service and drinks. You are used to tex-mex and their authentic mexican fair is probably quite different. Our favorite place was in NJ where they only spoke spanish and the menu also contained no English. If you want REAL mexican, Salena's is by fair the best bet in the area. —ParkAveGirl

2008-02-25 09:55:46   We went to Salena's Saturday night, and oh my God, the food was incredibly delicious. I don't know who was working in the kitchen that night, but the entire meal was perfection. The homemade salsa was perfectly balanced with tomatoes, garlic, and jalapeno, and the chips were fresh and tasty. Our standby Mexican Flag plates were superlative: the refried beans were fresh and rich in flavor, the rice was moist and perfect, and all three enchiladas were divine, perfectly seasoned and cooked. The entire meal was complex and flavorful, not flat and bland like most other Mexican restaurant food. We love this place and have never been disappointed. —KatieSchmitz

2008-05-19 11:37:40   The new location is really nice and much better than the old. I didnt enjoy my meal there 5 years ago, but I recently returned and had an excellent dish. Id go back, ranks up there for Tex-Mex food. The chips and salsa are awesome. —MrRochester

2008-05-22 01:22:58   The service has always been the least favorite part of my experience. However the Hole Mole almost makes it worth it. The new location is fantastic, and I love the new outside seating for the warmer weather. The last time I went the margarita that I ordered was terrible, however did enjoy a shot of Herradura. They have a pretty good selection of tequilas. —SillyGirl49

2008-06-23 15:00:01   Had dinner here Sunday night. $18 for Fajitas? You do get a lot of food but come on. The food was pretty good, but not great. The service was okay, but I saw lots of hurried interaction between the servers and the guy behind the bar. (Work related, not social.) Seems more like management needs to get more staff on or a better system. And what is with the busser who literally runs in and out of the kitchen? Nice decor, decent food but not worth it for the price in my opinion. —BadFish

2008-07-27 09:05:00   We've tried a lot of Mexican food in Rochester, and this is one of our favorite restaurants. Part of that is the setting; we are very partial to Village Gate in general. We like Salena's for food and atmosphere; one of our servers had the best sleeve tattoos I've ever seen. Last time we went, though, we chose to sit outside in the covered patio which would have been great except that they allow smoking at the bar, and the smoke drifted over to our table. I asked about it, and they said that NYS law allows smoking outside and all they could do was to move us inside. I was disappointed. Fortunately, the smokers left before our food arrived. And the food was, as usual, excellent. The avocado salad with cilantro-lime vinaigrette was out of this world! —VickiRobinson

2008-08-06 19:48:10   We went to have drinks with some friends and ended up staying to eat- the server we had was pleasant and efficient. Sadly, the food was terrible- flavorless even though we added sauce to everything to try and spice it up. The kicker was when the busperson and bartender swore at us as we left (we were the last people there but had asked repeatedly if we should leave and were told no) and basically ran us out the door. We'll never go back, which is unfortunate, because the location is great and sitting outside is a lot of fun on a nice evening. —ShawnaLusk

2008-08-20 10:41:35   I've been going to Salena's on and off since it was in the old location. I don't personally remember having bad service, and I would agree that years ago in the old location, some of the food was hit and miss, and I swore the the tortillas had some off taste (read: mold-esq) on more than one occasion. That being said, I've been there several times since they have moved to the new location, including last night, and I have not been dissapointed. Our server last night (yah, the guy with the sleeve tatoo) had a good personality, was attentive but not bothersome, and made sure we got everything correctly and on time. Both dishes we ordered tasted great, and it looks like the funky old tortillas have been gone since the move, maybe longer. My only complaint was that it was a little cold (sitting inside), with the windows open, and the air on full-bore, and it being 65 tops outside, but that's the first time I've noticed any problem. For anyone that was turned off years ago, go back, give it another try, and look for the cool waiter (sadly I don't think I got his name). —WillMullaney

2008-09-10 15:20:24   I've been trying to find a decent Mexican restaurant in Rochester, and I've wanted to try out Salenas for a long time. So for my birthday, I convinced my husband to take me here. The atmosphere was nice, very classy. The service was very good, quick and friendly. The waitress made a few suggestions and although the restaurant quickly filled to full capacity, never ignored us. I ordered a drink that was delicious. I highly recommend getting one of their mixed drinks or a nice big glass of sangria. The food was pretty decent. I don't know why everyone has been saying that the food is so tasteless, when Mexican food in general is pretty basic. We paid about $50 with tip, which I didn't think was bad for what we got, although there is better food for cheaper, the atmosphere made the difference. The Village Gate is also one of the neatest little nooks in Rochester and my husband and I explored after our meal. We will definitely go back if my Mexican food cravings return. —CatMagro

2008-09-21 18:45:14   Really interesting menu, loved the enchilada combo - eclectic tequila selection. Their seating tactics are pretty underhanded though, essentially they make EVERYONE wait 20 minutes (even if there's tons of tables free) to force you to go to the bar for a drink. —MarcusKroll

2008-09-22 11:58:50   Marcus, have you considered that perhaps they didnt have enough servers at that moment to give you good service? Thats why you had to wait? —MrRochester

2008-10-04 16:51:38   The atmosphere was ok, but the food was sub-par. —JaredStrohl

2008-10-11 20:08:22   The food at Salena's represents the worst insult to Mexican food there is: it's absolutely flavorless. This was even more evident after a trip to Mexico and eating the real thing. —CheriCrist

2008-11-07 11:48:09   I'd hate to sound repetitive, but it really is bland and flavorless —SeanToTheFuture

2008-11-21 22:40:47   I have to agree with the masses on this one. The restaurant itself is nice, but the food is definitely not worth an hour wait. Excellent service, just no real flavor to the food, and rather pricey considering that. I hope that this place doesn't insult the Mexicans who surely come from a land with much better food! —LincolnComet

2008-12-06 10:10:48   This restaurant was originally Maria's but one side (I don't know which) splintered off. That's why the food tastes similar at both places. I prefer Maria's over Salena's but if you want Maria's flavor and you don't want to drive to Irondequoit, Salena's will suffice. Salena's margaritas pale in comparison to Maria's, as well. Many years ago, the margaritas were comparable. I swear they're using Banker's Club Tequila in them now. —BatGuano

2009-02-04 11:09:18   We love Salena's, however they're now closed on Sundays and Mondays, which after having gone there on Sunday probably over ten times we find this fairly distressing. They always seemed relatively busy on Sunday.... So, if you go, the shredded beef burrito with white sauce, guacamole tostada and the Cadillac margarita. Oh yeah, and order a side of guacamole for the chips they bring out to the table, its fresh and delicious. The perfect meal. SO GOOD! —PersonFace

2009-02-28 17:56:17   I'm a fan of Mexican food so I finally tried Salena's today. The place looks really nice and is in a great setting in Village Gate. The food though was, eh. I didn't care for the salsa that came with the chips and the entrees did not have the flavors I typically expect. I believe they used Mozzarella cheese. However, I was more concerned about the slowness of service... there weren't a lot of people there, and other tables that were seated later received similar food faster than we did. Plus it took a while to get a check. Overall, it seems a bit overpriced for what you get, but I'm probably going to give it a 2nd chance this summer and try something else off the menu, especially with all the good margarita reviews I now see. —NateBurtch

2009-03-12 14:02:18   Ate here back in December and it was eh. Not terrible but not great. Would probably come back for a happy hour & drinks but not food. It's a cute restaurant and has a nice bar. Service was friendly. —JaimeTe

2009-03-19 23:05:15   Very tasty Mexican food and mostly authentic. The margaritas are wonderful but remember that they have more booze than the average margarita. The servers are all very nice and friendly. —PrincessB

2009-04-09 22:44:23   I recently had a horrible experience with Salena's. It was not my first time and I had, in the past, loved the black bean stuffed avocados with rice and refried beans. We made a reservation for 8 and were promptly seated upon our arrival. From there the evening began to go down hill. The 8 of us were sat a table for 6, with 2 of us sitting on the opposite ends of the table. On top of being cramped at the table, we were placed ridiculously close to the wall - they could stand to take a few tables out of the lower seating area. The small, not particularly noteworthy margaritas were overpriced. The food, once our order had finally been taken, was much blander than I remembered it being. The service in general was not very good but the real kicker was the blatant lie that our checks could not be separated. We were forced to separate our checks by hand (once we finally received the check) and after all of that he took a ridiculous amount of time to ring us out. Yes, I understand the restaurant was busy but this evening was just ridiculous. You can get tastier, more authentic Mexican food for less money at other locations. I would say give Salena's a try, but don't expect the world. —JaredDavis

2009-05-10 10:34:31   Dos Equis braised chicken wings topped with crumbled blue cheese and diced tomatoes are one of the top dishes in all of Rochester. —RealMrRochester

2009-05-20 18:18:22   Food here is decent, the margaritas are the best in my opinion. I LOVE the margaritas! —GizPotter

2009-06-30 17:32:46   Last time I ate here my entire meal tasted like an entire shaker of salt had been dumped into each bite. After that experience, I have been unable to contemplate eating there again. At one time, this place was a suitable alternative to Maria's. No longer... —BatGuano

2009-07-02 20:51:26   Been going there for ten years and definitely agree that the food itself is nothing to write home about. But the one thing that really set them apart wasn't there today when I went, and that's their chips. For ten years, they had these incredibly thick and tasty chips, like none other I've ever eaten. Today, they just had ordinary chips like they'd come from a bag. The salsa was awesome as always, but why'd they bag their out-of-this-world and best-on-the-planet chips? —bionicsimmons

2009-08-21 21:35:00   My wife and I eat at Salena's regularly (so much so that certain servers now recognize and greet us when we arrive) and it's one of our favorite area restaurants. We've tried different combinations of nearly everything on the a-la-carte menu, and the food is consistently good. No, it's not exactly what you're going to get in Mexico, or Texas, or Arizona, or SoCal. If you're a stickler for authenticity, drive out to Rio Tomatlan in Canandaigua (another of our favorites). If you want Mexican-style food that's served quickly, prepared however you like, with tasty chips and a knockout margarita on the side, in a way-cool atmosphere, then head to Salena's. We've tried plenty of other Mexican restaurants around the area, and we always come back to Salena's. —daverea

2009-10-05 13:30:52   For Northern Tex-Mex, it's some of the better stuff you'll find in Rochester, and we enjoy eating here a lot. If you don't like the crowds or waiting for a table, I've got a secret for you — go early & eat at the bar. We've had fantastic service, consistently good food, and decent margaritas. Just don't steal my bar stool. —LoisGraham

2009-10-05 13:31:20   one sour note (forgot to add) = too much garlic in their salsa. whew! —LoisGraham