Xecora Gastronomia Urbana

Came here last minute for our 7th wedding anniversary. It was raining and our kids baseball games got cancel so we decided to give this place a try. Brenda provided excellent service, the drinks were good, the food was awesome and the place is clean and beautiful inside.

If you are near the El Monte area, I recommend you stop by this place.

Place was great! Food was good. Nice clean place and service was good too. I enjoyed the aguas frescas.

Very delicious food!
Nice service!
Definitely I'm coming back soon with the rest of my family.

This is when the saying "if you don't see any people eating there, then it usually means it's not good" applies.

Xecora lacks customer service. At the door there's a sign that reads "wait to be seated," my party and I waited a long maybe 10 minutes and no one acknowledged us. There were 3 waitresses (2 blondes and a lady with wild purple hair) standing talking with each other. At first I thought they were probably busy dealing with a transaction, but then I noticed they were fooling around and laughing. They saw me standing there for a long time and we made eye contact multiple times, but they never approached me until I waved my hand to get their attention. The moment the waitress walked towards me she asked me how many people were in my party and I said 3. I asked her if we could sit somewhere with good lighting since the restaurant was 90% empty. She said she needed to ask first because they had not mopped that area. I observed that when she asked her colleague (the other blonde waitress), the lady rolled her eyes and said "no, what the hell they need to sit on this side." They need to be careful with their conversations because I could hear everything. When the waitress returned, she obviously told me that they weren't sitting people on that side. I will say that this waitress wasn't rude like her colleague. I mentioned to her that I heard them and added "I don't want to be rude, but I see you guys talking a lot and I've been standing here for a long time. Am I going to wait long for someone to help take our order when we sit down?" She gasped and said no, but then proceeded to tell the other blonde waitress and the waitress walked past my table and giving us the dead stare and rolled her eyes. The couple sitting at the table by the entrance even added that they had been waiting a long time and no one had gone to their table to get their order.

I can go on and on about this experience because I chose to give them a second chance by staying and dining at that restaurant. I genuinely came here to taste their food and their drinks, but the service was horrible. The food was cold. I have pictures of the presentation. However, I have to give them a compliment- the micheladas did not disappoint. They were pretty good. The food is a 2.3 out of 10, and I wouldn't recommend any of the three options I ordered. The shrimp tacos were cold and lacked in seasoning, the pescado zarandeado was cold and lacked flavor, the shrimp wrapped in bacon were burnt, this was just an overall bad experience. The food is pricy and not worth what I got. The most affordable food you'll pay at Xecora are tacos for $15 but the rest of the menu is $20-$35.

Enter at your own risk. I give them 1 star and I'm being generous. Save your money and support a local authentic Mexican restaurant. This is Americanized, expensive and the service is beyond horrible.

After picking up my daughter from school, I decided to take her here for dinner, as I wasn't in the mood to cook.

It was my daughter's first time there. She told me that from the outside, the place looked small, but it was roomy once we stepped in.

They had low lighting there, which added a very gloomy vibe to it...haha.

We ordered:

Rockefeller Oysters $20 (4 pieces)

Gobernador Marlin $15 (3 fish tacos)- mine

Ofenda Del Mar $22 - my daughter's

Hibiscus Margarita $13 -Mine

Chips and salsa on the house

Total bill $76.07 and with 20% tip it came out to $91.28

Service could improve, but they were busy and only 1 waitress. I actually think she did a good job.

They need to staff more.

One minor hiccup, the flat breads that came with my daughter's order "Ofenda Del Mar" were charcoaly (my made up word) coated! I told the waitress about it, and she did bring new toast for her.

*OH after 3 checked-ins I was crowned Duchess of Xecora. This time around, I wasn't stoke like I used to...because if you have been following me, I am still grieving over the loss of my grandma.

I had been wanting to try this place for a long time and I finally got to. I got out of work early and I invited my mom to go get some lunch. I was originally going somewhere else and since it was on the way I decided to go in and try their food.

As soon as you walk in they welcome you and they sit you down. The restaurant is beautifully decorated and very clean. It is colorful and very authentic. As soon as we got sat down our waitress approached my mother and I. They serve you chips and salsa immediately took our drink order. I got the 2 Micheladas it was happy hour therefore they were 2 for $10 which was a great deal for me. My mom ordered the Agua Fresca de Pepino con limón and said they it was delicious.

What really caught my eye was the menu. Everything on their menu was looking good and my mom and I were very indecisive about what to eat. My mom ended up ordering their pescado zarandeado. I got the Secretaria Taco and the Ensenada pescado taco. I really wanted the ceviche though and ended up asking our waitress what she recommended and let me just say that she was absolutely right. I got the Lilikoi Ceviche and it was so delicious. I did want to try the Octopus a la braza but that will be the next time I go. Everything looks very good and I will definitely be back.

If you're ever in El Monte stop by and show them some love. They also have an open bar called Mixology. Definitely worth the visit and I thought the price was right. I promise you that you'll also want to come back for more.

Second visit. Sweet deals, delish food, and solid drinks. Bartender knows what she's doing, kind, and professional. We will be returning.

This place is a gem. I have been here multiple times and it's always leave me amazed. Not only is the presentation of each plate impressive but the flavor in each dish is absolutely amazing.
You really can't go wrong with anything on their menu I have tried several dishes, and all of them have been super good. One of the things I really like about them is that all other dishes are freshly made whether it's a ceviche or something battered. You can taste the freshness.
Another thing I really like about this place is their decoration and the set up they have it's really nice. They got some nice paintings on the wall and also a little history on their background.
Service is another plus here. The ladies are very attentive, always checking up and they are super friendly. They make you feel welcome, which is much appreciated.

Found this place on social media and wanted to try it out. We came during brunch time and ordered bottomless mimosas. Thank goodness the waiter gave us the brunch and lunch menu because we had trouble deciding. I wish they had some chorizo dish in the brunch section but it's fine. I got the Shrimp Aguachile with the tostadas, which was very delicious. The portion was small but the amount of tostadas and crackers they gave me kept me satisfied. I wish they had given us chips and salsa when we arrived but we had to ask and then were charged for it. The interior is so beautiful and colorful. They had humongous painted murals on some of the walls. The service was just alright. The waiter wasn't too attentive even though there weren't many parties yet. Cute place for the experience.

This is my go-to Mexican restaurant when I'm not frequenting the local taco trucks.

Food: still going through the menu but the food is pretty solid. I particularly like their kesabirria tacos and guacamole. I've tried many of their agua Fresca flavors and they were all delicious. This place is definitely authentic and superior to other more Americanized Mexican restaurants

Ambiance: The restaurant is very spacious (great for big parties), has upbeat music and decor that makes you feel immersed in Mexico. For how good the atmosphere and food is, I'm surprised this place doesn't attract more people and it's usually dead the times I've gone. I just hope they don't go out of business.