El Palenque - Restaurants On Oahu Wahiawa, Hawaii

El Palenque is a tiny little hole-in-the-wall type restaurant that offers authentic Mexican food, which includes chicken, beef, and pork dishes. They also have a bring-your-own-bottle policy so if you're looking for booze with your meal you may want to walk next door to Walgreens first and buy some.

The food here is classic / authentic Mexican with plenty of familiar taco, enchilada, burrito, and chimichanga options among many more choices. Prices are very reasonable, the service is good, and the food is very good.

I ordered a beef taco and beef chimichangas which came with a side of rice and beans. The taco was excellent, though greasy. The chimis were very good as well but come dry (no red sauce, etc). I was going to give this place a slightly higher score but the end of one of my chimis had some burnt nastiness in it. Rice and beans are very good here. The salsa is good, not great, but more of a hot sauce than salsa.

The interior could use some renovation and general cleanup. I could see into the kitchen while eating so on one hand that's nice as I can see what's going on but on the other hand I could also see the cook checking his phone while preparing food (no gloves) and we all know how nasty and dirty cell phones are. So there is a cleanliness issue here, but I'd eat here again if I was in the area and wanted Mexican food.