I was so excited to try this place having read so much about it, I went against my best judgement despite many not so favourable reviews. The ambiance is good, much better than many other Mexican restaurants but in a rather generic way. Open concept kitchen but not well ventilated and the decor looked and felt like it could have been any diner or Vancouver restaurant and lacked any authenticity to the cuisine served. Nonetheless we feasted and while I did enjoy the tacos which I found were reasonably priced at $2.95 each, my favourite dish was the fajitas. The nachos were disappointing as most of the chips were soggy. We ordered way too much food as by the end of our dinner, I was stuffed for hours after. Service was a little slow but I never complain about slow service but I found our server nonchalant and the restaurant was not packed to the brim when we were there. It was ample service, not great, I don't expect stellar service unless its in one of the higher end restaurants. But when the bill came, at this time I was in the washroom so I was glad my friends tarried for me to return before paying as I noticed a 15% auto grat added to the bill. This was both surprising and disappointing as (1) we were not told about auto grat (2) this was last weekend so not during the Olympics (3) even while we were paying there was no mention of auto grat (4) who charges auto grats for a table of 3. We would have tipped the polite 15% anyways but having it added for a small group plus not pre-warned is not honest to me. I loved the tacos and was planning to return for lunch but sadly my opinion of this place is forever tarnished.

Terrible service!
The bartender was our waiter and was not splitting his duties well at all!
We had asked for it to be split on two plates. He looked me straight in the eye and said cheerily "Yes, no problem." he put it down in front of us and it wasn't split. Ok, no biggie. "Can i have an extra plate please?"
Everyone had started eating and he was mixing drinks. He wasn't going to come back. I had to cross the restaurant, walk up to the bar, and ask for a plate.
There was extrememly limited service for the rest of the night (they probably could have sold more drinks if they were more attentive!)
There was an auto grat of 18% as we were a group of 10.
Not impressed at all!

My friend and I went to Don Guacamoles for lunch this afternoon. When we arrived, we noticed an empty table outside and gladly scooped it up before anyone else could. Fortunately, the weather was a bit milder today and not too hot - almost perfect for outdoor dining.

After browsing the menu for a minute, a waitress came by to take our drink order. We both just had water, which arrived promptly along with a tray of chips with various sauces and salsa, all of them very tasty. The service was good, but the waitress was almost unfriendly - no smile, no personality evident.

We placed our order and the food arrived without much of a wait. It was good, but really nothing special. I thought my sopes lacked flavour, which I remedied by adding a few spoonfuls of salsa and hot sauce to it. It wasn't bad, but it just didn't have much flavour, which I expect from Mexican food.

I think I'll check out one of Vancouver's many other Mexican restaurants before I go back to Don Guacamoles.

I was really excited to check this place out cuz it was new and it's always packed.
I came here on weeknight approx 8pm and the place was packed. When we went through door, I made eye contact w/ one the servers but she didn't greeted us or asked us how many ppl. I did showed her that there were two of us. After waiting for abit wondering if she knew we existed, we finally got to sit on the only empty table that was right in front of us.
I saw that every table had a set of dips and nachos. I was excited to see what they were. We got our menus and there was a good selection of items. If you're not familiar w/ Mexican food, there might be some difficulties deciding what to order. When we were ready to order, it was hard to get our server's attention. I don't think she has "peripheral vision". After a few mins, we finally ordered and she almost screwed it up even though we only order 3 items. I even pointed at the item on the menu but somehow she thought it was something else that was totally different. After 10 mins of waiting, I got a lil impatient b/c I was very curious about the nacho dip. My partner noticed that I was being a eager beaver, he helped me asked the server what those dips were. She apologized and told us that she will give us some. I got mad. Those were comp and she didn't give it to us until we asked! The other server gave this table their dips right after the menu was given. I felt somewhat discriminated. There's no way you could forget to give out comp nacho dips. It's like forgetting to give us water. C'mon. Anyways, the food (flautas, beef fajitas and beef taco) arrived and it looked good but it was disappointing. No taste. No salt. Bland. Boring. No spices. Just covered with sour cream and guacamoles. I don't call this authentic!
The service was terrible too.
I hope to believe that it was just a bad day for us but I will never come here again.

Food - Every Mexican friend of mine has told me the food is as close as they've come to home since they left. Never heard the word "fake" or "americanized" to describe the food at guacamoles. I would recommend firstimers try the enchiladas verdes, simple and decilious, around $13. The torta ahogada is good with nice pulled pork, onions, and cilantro inside a soft bun, drowned in a chipotle salsa, $8. They have large platters for sharing in the $20 range which are good. The food is simple and true to its roots. My only complaint is that they don't have any seafood items on the menu. A nice ceviche or fish taco would be welcome. Speaking of tacos, they are a must as a starter, try the carnitas!

Service - First time I went I had to wait a while but was comp'd a free dessert. Im not sure what excellent service is supposed to be but they do a good job. Don't take my 3 rating as a knock, aside from the first time I find the service good.

Value - The prices aren't outrageous but not cheap cheap either. Average for Vancouver so I guess what I'm really complaining about it Vancouver prices in general. But this place isn't too bad, lets say $30 a head with beer.

Ambience - I think the dark wood decor suites the place. All those places that try to show you what Mexico is by slapping somberos and pinatas on the walls are for those who haven't been anywhere in Mexico outside of the clubmed at Puerto Vallarta. This place is for the Mexicans that are living here and want a taste of home. Also, the waitresses are pretty cute.

ive been to mexico so i know what to expect in terms of authenticity and this restaurant comes closer than any others offering mexican food (without too much "westernization") in terms of taste and quality.
their food is superb! ive tried around many different items on the menu and everything tasted delicious... you get huge portions for what you pay (with nothing on the menu exceeding $25) and the ingredients/spices that are used makes each dish so much better. one final word in regards to the food: their tacos are deadly and addictive.
service is not a strong point. the waitresses i had were friendly & polite but quite inexperienced and thus miss certain orders or did not come around to bring refills/extra eating utensils. however, ive noticed that their staff (waitresses) has changed so im sure the owner has noticed this fault as well and is improving this particular area.
best value for what you pay. you get truly authentic food for prices that you will not believe. and i cannot stress how much food you actally get.
the environment is loud (like a "bar" setting) and thats what the restaurant aims for it to be. you have two plasma tvs hanging on opposite ends of the restaurant, music playing from the speakers around the room and a bar table that overlooks the chefs cooking. great combination for a place to just kick it.
this place is packed on the weekends. there are line-ups basically everyday on friday, saturday and sundays during dinner times. ive seen people willing to eat out on the patio in the chilly weather which goes to show how terrific this place is. and as a consistent diner here, i agree every bit.

My sister and I grabbed a bite about 4pm on a Tuesday afternoon. The place was very busy with a buzzing kitchen. We weren't greeted by anyone at the door but I walked up to a server and asked and were told to grab a seat on the patio which was busy but not full.
We were given menus and brought out the complimentary salsa and chips.. very good. The ambiance was nice as it was breezy on the patio with enough shade. We ordered the guac - good not great and over priced for the amount - the chicken burrito and the chicken tacos - also good - the burrito was HUGE and the tacos were very tasty - fairly priced but didn't blow me away. To drink they had Horchata which was good but had no ice - it was served chilled but quickly warmed up. Anyhow overall the food was pretty good, there was a packed house by 5pm and many latinos (us included) were dining and enjoying the meal. With horchata, a beer, quac, burrito and tacos (3) our bill came to about $43 without tip and with complimentary chips/salsa. I'd go back to try something different, nice little patio to enjoy a beer.

I noticed this place a few months ago, it seemed to be regularly busy so after reading the reviews here i thought i would give it a try. Went in on a Tuesday night thinking it may not be busy, it was but nevertheless glad i went.

We ordered tacos pastor and guacamole for a starter, the taco is a hybrid shawarma style/inspired taco which was excellent the meat is seasoned and spiced on a shawarma rotisserie topped with pineapple for a tasty and unique flavor for a good price, under 3.00 each for the tacos. the guac was also good, from scratch ingredients and definitely fresh made with the right amount of cilantro and lime juice and served in martini glass for a funky presentation. For mains we had a the carne asada burrito, which was also good. A little different to the tightly wrapped folded burrito i am used to getting at other places but the taste was excellent. Our other mains was the Cactus, also well prepared and very good ( admittedly not something i would think to order on my own but having tried it recommend you do to). While waiting for our order we were given a plate of chips and salsa with two delicious house sauces one red one green, standard mexican sauces but, above standard in taste. Also the fresh made salsa was very good.

the service was fine, we had a small wait at the door but the place was busy and it is small, which adds to the ambiance. it was standard wait time you would find anywhere so no big deal to us. our waitress was good and attentive to our needs but not smothering which i hate.

overall found the place to be a good value and would recommend it as a place to try.

I came here twice, during busy dinner time and non-busy Saturday afternoon. Both times I enjoyed my meal, and my blended margaritas! I was told the food is fairly authentic (what do I know) and the portions are generous. I definitely agree that my burrito was veryyyy large portion... Definitely can share with a frield. The little tacos were good, but I prob won't get them again, because you can get a bigger dish for the similar price if you order 4 taco shells. I thought the service was ok, actually felt the service was better when it was busy (but then I am referring to that one server). I would come back again!

Wow - I have never written a restaurant review before but this experience was terrible. We helped ourselves to a table, as nobody would acknowledge our presence at the door. We waited 15 minutes before anyone glanced at us or brought us menus. Our server had no idea what was going on, and we had to repeat our simple oder (2 waters, 2 beers and 2 burritos) 3 times. Our food came out 4 minutes after we ordered it suggesting that it was pre-made, and our drinks showed about when we were about half way through our bland and boring food. Cutlery and napkins? I helped myself to at the kitchen. I understand that this restaurant is supposed to be authentic, but if I wanted a tortilla stuffed with iceberg lettuce and bland chicken, I would have gone to taco time, and not paid $9.50 for it. We never saw our server again, and when I finally went up to the kitchen and asked someone else if they could clear our table and bring us our bill, I was responded to with a dirty look. When a different server finally came to our table, he asked us if we wanted separate bills, and we said yes. He then said it was too difficult to do. Why ask? I asked him if our server had left and he didn't understand me. He understood 'difficult' but not 'left'. As we were settling up the bill, a different server came over and made a big production out of grabbing the debit receipts and cash off our table (but not clearing any dishes of course) and checking to see if we left a tip. Brutal! At least it makes for a funny story but come on! We will never be returning.