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Celia's Mexican (Mexican cuisine)  $$$

 6
JaT Rating

379 Gellert Blvd, Daly City, 94015  (Directions)


650.755.6213


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Family style mexican restaurant and bar (Daly City)


Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1012
Reviewed: 5/7/2005
Rating: 6
My photo gallery 		This score only reflects the Daly City location as the other Celia's Mexican restaurants throughout the bay area are operated by different owners. Ive been to the San Bruno and San Mateo location and its 10x better.

Judging from the exterior of the restaurant, it appears to look like an old El Torrito restaurant. We werent even sure if it was open as the paint was fading, no signs on the outside with hours, barely any cars in the parking lot. The restaurant is huge, almost too big for jatbar standards but Im willing to give it a try.

I went with the Shrimp Diabla with black beans and rice.

rice - so dry so depressing. Its like they left it under a heat lamp and the top ended up being crunchy

beans - regular black beans that you get in a can, they might have added salt to it and thats about it

shrimp - the red sauce was completely lousy, saltier than the ocean, mushrooms too overwhelming, shrimps were ok size. The sauce wasnt even spicey.

The entire meal was a letdown for the prices we were paying ($15-20/plate). I cant see any redeeming value to this lunch except for the nice waitress and clean table settings. I had a lot of leftovers and left it there.

Do not let this review scare you away from trying the other Celia's Mexican Restaurants in the Bay Area. Let me reiterate the San Bruno and San Mateo locations are great places to eat and I have no idea why the Daly City location was such a disappointment for me.
 
8
Agent Rating


Reviewer: ne00
Total Reviews: 173
Reviewed: 8/16/2005
Rating: 8
My photo gallery		 Celia's advertise that they have the biggest and best margaritas, but this is not the reason why I frequent this restaurant. Yes their margaritas are good, but their portions and dollar average is even greater. By this I mean you get more bang for your buck here.

This is not fine Mexican dining, nor is it fast food. The taste is nothing phenomenal but it's good. The service is a lot better than many other Mexican chain restaurants. There are more options for combo plates here.

Parking: The parking lot in Palo Alto is slim picking, if you go during lunch or dinner; go during non peak hours to find a parking spot. If you have to go during peak hours, drive down further to the Menlo Park Celia's where you'll find plenty of parking.

Chips & Salsa: They bring out the water, chips, and salsa before you order. On occasions the chips come right out the fryer so they are served crispy and hot. In the past they used to bring the salsa along with the fresh tomato salsa, but now you have to ask for the fresh chopped version.

Service: Service is efficient when it's not overly crowded. Drinks are refilled often as are the chips and salsa when requested. During peak hours service may be slow and waiters are harder to find but they'll eventually get there.

Menu: Plenty of selections to choose from. The price range is consistent so I don't feel those with a small appetite will benefit from eating here. On the other hand those with a larger appetite will find plenty of choices for combination plates. My favorite is the Celia's Super Special, which includes Enchilada, Chile Relleno, Burrito, Taco, Rice and Beans. Or for $1.00 more you can get the Perfecto Special (feeds about 2 to 3 people) which includes a carne asada cooked to your liking. They also include a Mexican cole slaw which is not too tempting so when you order tell them not to include it, this way you get more rice or beans. You have your choice of meats, chicken, steak, ground beef, shredded beef, pork, etc, but only chicken is served with sour cream. If you choose one chicken you can avoid paying extra for sour cream on the side.

Pricing: Prices may vary from location to location. Most plates range from 8 dollars to 16 dollars and the lunch and dinner menus are the same.

Seating: There's indoor seating, patio seating, and bar seating. The patio seating area has heat lamps to keep you warm on a cold day/night.

Discounts: Sometimes they have a buy one get half off second meal in the Palo Alto daily newspaper. This newspaper is free and you can actually find it sitting around outside of Celia's. Check the paper while ordering to see if there's a coupon you can apply to your meal.
 
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