lupe's tex mex grill

unique bean dip. i've been here before, maybe 2006, 2007. i don't remember much about the first time. don't remember what i had, but it must have been okay, because i had no reservations returning today with a friend. i had the green poblano enchiladas which just so happened to be on special today. it had a lovely presentation but i was surprised when i touched the edges of the plate. it was just lukewarm. bottom of the plate was a little warmer. i snickered because our server delivered it with potholders. looks can be deceiving. at least he didn't say "hot plate, hot plate coming," like one server did, after which i picked up the plate with bare hands, raised it over my head and said, "yeah be careful of this very hot plate."

this entree was good, above average and portion size was good. beans and rice were decent as well. i really liked the chips and salsa. the redsalsawas nice with a bit of spice. the bean dip was the star. you don't see bean dip too often and this black bean version was thinner, not the variety of frito refried bean dip you may remember from the past. it was quite unique. we also had an order of queso which was rudimentary. it seemed like a thin smooth version of melted velveeta.

my friend had a guisado de res which looked really delicious, red, vibrant and reminiscent of the many of the carne guisados i've had in san antonio. he comes to this restaurant about once a month and enjoys a number of items on the menu. the prices are very reasonable, especially the items on special.

service moved at a rhythmic pace. our server was on the ball with refills and generally taking care of us very well.

my friend said that there have been several remodels over the past few years with walls being brought down and room expanded. in the latest version it has several big screens added to the mix with soccer and judge judy being shown simultaneously lol! you gotta love lupe's tex mex grill. it certainly is not pretentious.

also note that they have a second lupe's in keller on rufe snow just south of tarrant county pkwy, which i have not visited as of yet.

food is awesome. wife brought me my favorite, a chile relleno home, so i can't make a review for the service, atmosphere, ambiance, etc. it was awesome, the main dish,salsaand beans were phenomenal. the rice and chips that were also included were good (just not phenomenal). i would easily tolerate less than perfect service for this level of flavor.

nothing special. nothing special about this place. the hostess and "chips andsalsaguy" were great, but our waiter was terrible. he got us our drinks in a good amount of time, but then he disappeared for the longest time. when he came back, he filled up my water and turned to leave and we had to holler at him that we were ready (even though we had been there a while and all of our menus were closed). even then he said "ok" and walked away. we assumed that he needed to go get a pen or paper or something. he came back, walked right past our table and to another table he was waiting on. after he finished with them, he pulled the pen and paper that he had the whole time out of his pocket. :/ and then we never saw him the rest of the night. literally. someone else checked on us mid-meal, the hostess cleared our plates, and a third person handled our checks. it was bizarre.

about the food: the black bean dip was yummy, but thesalsawas totally hit or miss. the first round was burn-your-mouth hot and the second round was super mild. the inconsistency was disappointing.
hubby's fajitas were alright, nothing special. same with my chicken enchiladas.

there was nothing special to pull us back, and definitely not worth fighting the construction traffic for. you can find me at miguelito's.

great local place for tex mex. though it is currently surrounded by highway construction and located in an unusual corner of a strip mall, this is a must visit venue. let's start with thesalsaand chips. if you stop there, then there is no hope that this great restaurant will survive the airport freeway expansion, but if you order anything with the mole sauce, then you will be hooked. we ordered the shrimp chile rellenos and shrimp enchiladas. we will be back there in 4 days and every time that we are in the neighborhood. the service is excellent and prices are reasonable.

loop in for lupe's. supersalsaand chips the rest is very good tex mex...not too crowded ...construction

surprisingly good!. we went to lupe's on friday night because i'd purchased a groupon. one of my main ways i judge a mexican restaurant is by the margarita. mine rocked! the other is by the chips and salsa. this was ok. the chips were fresh, a bit thick, and thesalsawas sort of bland. when i commented on this, our server - who was wonderful - brought out a spiciersalsathat was hot!
we also ordered quesio and that was perfect - smooth and creamy.

now on to the main course. we asked our waiter julio what was good and he recommended the seafood. we were skeptical because past experience has taught us that you don't order seafood at a mexican place, but he assured us it was wonderful. he showed us the back of the menu, which was in spanish, and there were several pescado (fish) entries. he said the fish was tilapia.

my husband ordered pescado with cilantro and lime and i got shrimp fajitas with corn tortillas. i have to say those were the absolute best corn tortillas i have had anywhere. soft and thin and perfect. melted in my mouth.

the shrimp was good but my husband's fish was to die for! it was awesome and i'll be getting it next time we go.

for dessert julio recommended a fried banana dish with ice cream. we tried it and again, were pleasantly surprised. one of the best desserts we've had anywhere.

pricewise, everything was in line with every other mexican place we visited. large margarita $8.75, entries $7.99 to $12.99. our total bill before the groupon was $60. and this was two drinks each, two entries, and dessert.

doing the groupon was a good thing for lupe's to do. getting people in to try them and serving up such great food worked, at least for us. we will be back, even without the groupon.

excellent food and service. their shrimp enchiladas with poblano sauce are to die for. excellent chips,salsaand bean dip. great service. i love this place.

chips,salsaand bean dip are very tasty. get the chicken tacos al carbon, they are delicious.

thesalsawas really good, medium in flavor, but not borderline hot. both meals arrived hot and were delicious. the waitstaff was friendly and available. they have a surprisingly large menu, which made it difficult to choose. the interior was brightly decorated, but the entryway felt cramped as we waited. overall it was a better-than-expected experience. i'll likely go back to try something else.