Autentica Mexican Cuisine

Recommends

Gibran R.

Joined 1 year ago

I almost don't want to write a review for this place because its so good...I want to keep it to myself. The food is innovative and has an amazing mix of traditional flavors mixed with new tastes and combinations. Even the drinks are spectacular. I have been here on many occasions and have been very impressed by both dining and food experiences. Autentica is definitely one step beyond any type of Mexican/Southwest fusion in this town.

Recommends

jordscott

Joined 3 years ago

Wow!!. My wife and I agreed that the food was with out a doubt the best mexican food we have ever eaten in Portland. I wouldn't go as far as saying it was authentic, but the food was still excellent. I ordered the carna asada and I can honestly say that the carna asada was more tender and tasty then most steaks I have eaten at famous steak houses in Portland. Oh, I don't want to forget about the black bean tortillas that were given to us. We have never eaten tortillas that were that soft and delicious. The neighborhood was nice and their was an italian eatery next door that looked very good as well.

Recommends

lizlizliz

Joined 4 years ago

truly authentic. love this place and will go again and again

Doesn't Recommend

brandoncf

Joined 4 years ago

biggest let down since i moved to portland. first of al. l am a mexican american who has traveled all over the west coast and baja cities of mexico. i found there to be very little autentica about this place. entrees seem to be americanized concepts of what high end mexican food should be, and they are mediocre at best. the service is also completely lacking. my wife and i started with the ceviche. it was pretty uninspired. the salad was quite good: romaine and cilantro with a cotiija dressing. here's where it gets bad. our silverware was covered with chese dressing and the waiter just took it off our plates and set it on the table my fork even had a huge piece of slivered onion on it. my wife was staring at me with a shocked expression. i wiped my fork and knife on my napkin. my wife had the shrimp. and i decided to have the tacos al pastor. possibly the greasiest tacos i have ever eaten. the shrimp was also pretty bad and was not deveined. so she spent as much time working with the shrimp as eating it. i tried one and it did not taste fresh at all. after hearing so much hype about this place this has to be the biggest let down in the six months that i have lived in portland.

Doesn't Recommend

blackolive

Joined 4 years ago

great place for good food...horrible service...what a shame!. My husband and I were recommended to have brunch here by many friend that love to eat there. We finally decided to have brunch there this past Satuday. The place looks great and it was nice to walk into. It was very difficult to communicate with the server. She was an d older latina woman that could not undersant what we were saying. It seems like she doesn't speak english. It was our fist time in this restaurant and we didn't know about your specialties and she was not able to give us any feedback. We finally got the order though and got the food served. Our server never once came back to ask if we needed anything else and we were had to get her attention to get us what we needed. We asked for coffee after lunch and it was the worst cold coffe we've ever had. I loved the food there. It's a real shame that becouse of the service we will never be back.

Recommends

SarahBeech

Joined 4 years ago

Beware. The upscale authentic Mexican food makes up a bit for the loss of Taqueria Nueve but our bill for $81 before tip for 2 drinks, 1 appetizer & 2 entrees was steep. This was partly because while sitting at the bar waiting for our table we ordered margaritas. There was only one margarita on the drink menu at $8. That's what we thought we ordered. The bartender pointed to a bottle and said that's what she would be using and also mentioned Gran Marnier. I thought, fine, that's a real margarita. When we got our bill we found we had been served 'Cadillac' margaritas at $12 each. Even when we questioned the bill we were only told that. They did not fix our bill as I think they should have. I found this shocking behavior.

Recommends

BobNewman

Joined 4 years ago

Excellent. I had dinner with 8 other folks here a week ago and the consensus was that the food was excellent and the atmosphere and service were, as well. I had the carnitas, along with boar's ribs and they were the best I've had. The fresh tortillas were in a league of their own. I don't live in Portland but will try to make Autentica a regular stop when in town.

Recommends

lcmomtobe

Joined 6 years ago

Autentica is delicious. Let me start this by saying my husband is EXTREMELY picky and will reject food with no holding back. He will even, much to my chagrin, reject food that my mother has lovingly prepared for him. Most certainly he rejects food at restaurants. He loves autentica. My hubby is Cuban, and as a rule, doesn't like Mexican corn tortillas, but Autentica's are so fresh and delicious, he even eats my share and I have to yell at him!

My husband also doesn't like spicy food. He likes "spiced" food, he believes when food is too spicy you can not really taste the flavor. When he ordered his favorite entree one day and it was spicier than usual (that is, too spicy for him) the owner noticed he was not eating with his usual vigor and asked what the problem was, my hubby complained (rudely in my opinion) and they offered to bring him something different, we chose cake. We were not charged for the entree or the cake. Only my meal and a couple drinks.

This is a great place to eat and they take care of you. I personally think the negative reviews were written by some jaded ex employee or the competition!

Go here and enjoy!

Recommends

nat1777

Joined 7 years ago

Excellent Food and Atmosphere. We had dinner at Autentica last night and were not disappointed. The food was full of complex flavor and much more exciting than typical Mexican food.

Recommends

PDXrestaurantlover

Joined 4 years ago

Authentica is more than just authentic!. My wife and I were first time diners today for brunch. Our neighbors eat here often and have recommended it to us previously. I had hesitated to go mostly due to some of the low ratings given by others on this site. Big mistake. Like movie reviews, feedback is dependent solely on the tastes and experiences of the reviewer. I agree whole-heartedly with the other reviews stating that this is not a place for the Chevy's crowd who enjoys the typical Americanized platter of a generic entree with runny beans and orange rice all covered with gobs of melted cheese. This is AUTHENTIC Mexican food mis amigos. We have been off the beaten path in all places Mexico (Cabo, PV, Troncones, etc) and this food is up there with some of the best. Everything is made with FRESH local ingredients...from the trio of salsa (adobo, serrano, tomatillo) to the main courses this place is amazing. Our server asked if it was our first time there and sent out a complimentary appetizer which we happily ate in addition to two sope con chorizo. For our entrees my wife had the "huevos con espinaca picante" (eggs w/ spinach and habanero sauce) and I had the "chilaquile rojos con bisteck" (tortillas simmered in sauce with steak)- both were DELICIOUS. For those who haven't been to Mexico and/or haven't had REAL Mexican food keep a few things in mind: the tortillas are handmade and served warm (not fried up triangles), beans are black and homemade with lard (yup, bad for you but taste great and don't come from a can), the cotija cheese predominantly used is more like a feta (not that you'd know what that is either but not like gooey mozzerella), the crema fresca has a different taste/texture (than normal sour cream), and the salsas are freshly made in-house (and doesn't come out of a jar w/ a Pace/Tostitos label).Lastly the service was friendly/attentive; in other countries they wait for you to finish and don't rush you...this is customary. A little expensive but like most great places, well worth it!