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.

I have visit this place 3 times. The first time was great, they served us some great guacamole and variety of salsas.
The second time i took another friend, then the guacamole had changed, we ordered vegetarian and the food wasn't that great.

3rd time i made the mistake of recommend it to another friend and we went just to find that they cant serve you the same recipe twice, what i ordered the first time was quite different, and if you order vegetarian version, they just remove the meat without adding anything else (nopals or any other veggy). My friend ordered some steak and they didn't ask him how he wanted it, so they over cooked almost to the point of burning it. I felt ashamed of recommending this place. Im still searching for a good Mexican restaurant that tries to serve original recipes, not a lousy Canadian version.

Im from Mexico, and felt sad that they cant represent the good quality of food we have there. also there are tons of Mexican food that dont have meat on it.

I had heard lots of great things about this place...authentic mexican food, patio, decent prices, so a friend and I headed over on a sunday afternoon.
We sat outside which was great but it took a while to get some menus and chips and salsa. We just wanted a snack so ordered the nachos nortenos which was clearly not a good idea (i know nachos aren't authentic mexican but we felt like it). It was a huge mess of greasy condiments with barely any chips visible. It did NOT look appetizing in the least. Actually it was really gross looking. But those are the chances you take when you go out to eat so we made our way through it.

The worst part though of the afternoon was the service. We didn't get cutlery (which was clearly needed with these nachos), water or asked if everything was ok. It also took a good 20 min for our order of drinks to arrive. When we asked for another round, the waitress basically waved us off. We had to go inside to request our drinks again, which still took another 10 minutes to get to us. No apologies, no comps, nothing.

I eat around Vancouver a lot and I haven't had such bad service in years. Even if they had the best food ever, i would never go back.

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.

Me and Mr. Dining Dandy have been here several times. Its really the only decent mexican food place by English Bay.

The pros
Clean
Patio seating (this can be a con as the view is mostly passing bums but its still nice when the weathers warm... keep your purse close)
Free chips with a beautiful assortment of salsas for the chips and your food.
The rice and beans that come with the enchiladas is very nice
They are licensed so enjoy a delicious strawberry daquiri
Carne asada is some of the best ive ever tried

Cons
Service is always awful - they'll bring your plates but not give you cutlery or napkins
Inside its so dark... semi dreary although you can tell they wanted a modern look (so they went for dark colors in a dark space... a no no)
Kind of pricey unless you stick with the 10$ items like 4 small tacos.. i mean like 7$ for flan as a dessert? there other dessert was 9$ and i cant justify that... they also have 30$ items on the menu if your going for the pricer items.
El taco is much better and i wish it would move closer to us.. but then again El taco is a tex mex type of food ... almost nothing at Dons comes with cheese.

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.

Oh my God is this place for real, The food is amazing and the value is to die for.
We need more good mexican restaurants in Vancouver.
The Tacos are to die for that is what you wnt to star with along with a side of the house made guac.
The burottos are ginormous and to die for, one of these and you don't need the 3 O clock snack.
Thank God keep it up guys.

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!

Not only does this restaurant fill a need in that it's easily the best and most authentic Mexican place in Vancouver but its the overall principles upon which it is run that more restaurants need to adopt. Straight-forward concept with great food, a bustling room, and solid service. Overall the food impressed and offered a good variety of the classics with a nice selection of offerings that you won't find at your local Tex-Mex places. The tacos are great to share/start with, particularly liked the al pastor, and the beans with bacon, sausage, and jalapenos could very well have been my favourite dish. A close second was the mulitas which is essentially a steak and chorizo sandwich between two crispy corn tortillas. The cactus is interesting and a must try at it is a staple in Mexican cuisine and I certainly appreciate the different salsas/sauces they serve with their chips that come to each table. The booze isn't particularly cheap but the selection of tequila is deep. Service was solid -- food came out quickly and we got some help navigating the menu. Very busy at dinner time but worth the wait. All in all I left over stuffed having spent just $22 for food and washed it down with a couple Pacificos. A great meal.

Don Guacamoles is a true highlight of Downtown Vancouver and I feel very fortunate to live close to it.

This place is exceptional. As I write, my mouth moistens with a desire to return.

After sharing a plate of steak nachos with jalapeño peppers, my fiancée plumped for a beef fajitas dish while I went for the burrito, thinking I was playing safe. The portions were full - we both took food home - and delivered with friendly, enthusiastic service by a very pleasant young man. The meals were excellent.

Our experience clearly wasn't a fluke. We've seen queues of people waiting to get in even on Monday evenings. And, by the way, those queues of people are served drinks as they wait to go in.

The drinks selection is also very impressive, with a big variety of beers, wines and cocktails. My good lady's Margarita was excellent.

I would obviously recommend this place to anybody. Don Guacamoles is a delight.