Carmela's Mexican Restaurant in McKinleyville

Best carnitas tacos and ceviche! They have a friendly, dedicated management.

Fantastic place to eat! Best Mexican food Ive had in a very long time. I will be returning

Loved the Mole carnitas burrito..Very authentic

Carmelas is always serving up great food. From salsa and chips starter all the way to tres leches cake for dessert, Ive enjoyed each of my trips here. I like their soft shell tacos with carne asada. You can get 4 tacos for 11.95. They also have a gigantic burrito for 19.95 that will keep you full with leftovers. Take out can have a bit of a wait, so dine in is a great option if you have the time. I will continue coming here.

Pretty good Mexican food. Service was good and only 3 ppl running the entire place on a Sunday morning!

Great service. 9/20/22 served moldy sour cream..!!!@ super nasty

Good prices, good food, convenient location. Had leftovers.

We eat on the patio every time. Food has always been very yummy. Our server, he is always fantastic.

Having lived in the Central Valley all my life, I feel like Ive been pretty spoiled by great Mexican food. Since moving to Humboldt County, weve been struggling to find one that approached the same quality of what were used to--but I think Carmelas might be The One.The service was wonderful and the food was amazing. My friend swore up and down that their mole sauce was some of the best hes had. It also just had a really chill vibe. Basically, well probably be making return trips!

The mole burrito was phenomenal, one of the better mole sauces Ive had. The burrito was massive and very reasonably priced.

Went here one day after driving up to Trees of Mystery wanting to find some good, quick Mexican food in McKinleyville. The food service was quick but it was not good. I got a California Burrito with pork and was disappointed. The meat was moist but over-salted and the rest of the burrito had almost no flavor to it. Ordered a Modelo to try to make it more palatable but couldnt finish the burrito with the IPA they served me instead of the Modelo I asked for. 3/5 star because of the poor food quality. The restaurant was clean enough, there was enough parking & a restroom for customers.

The service was slow and for a Mexican restaurant the quality I expected was not there.

I got a burrito and it was really good. Not normally a burrito person

Food is mid but service is okay. Prices not to bad for this county but I recommend cooking for yourself.

Amazing food, you get so much for what you pay for

Food was amazing and waiter was right on it!! Great place, will definitely be going back again!!!

Fantastic Mexican food. I always get the small super nachos with shredded chicken, delicious!

We had three dishes, tortilla soup, fish tacos and beef tacos. The food and service was excellent

Wonderful experience, good prices, good food. I also didn’t stub my toe walking in.

Food was great but service was lacking. It seemed that they only had one Waitress on duty and we hardly saw her. Other than that all was well.

It was all good until I witnessed an employee come out the back of the restaurant look both ways then proceed to put a pot down with a lid on by the back door.

Havent had a bad meal yet. But we did get a to go order got home and our order was messed up and missing some things. Owner was super cool and remade our order and even drove it to our house himself personally. Pretty awesome.

The food was delicious but they messed up on my order and Cindys both, my order was totally wrong I ordered a number 11, I was brought a number seven but they did bring me my proper meal, and my girlfriend ordered ground beef and she got shredded beef and this was her birthday dinner but she said it was good so she didnt complain

OMG so so good! Our server Omar was 100% on point and makes a mean margarita. Definitely going back !

Great food and friendly staff. The chef is argentinian ( Wilsonand a supernice guy. Excellent flan. I dont like Horchatas but they must be excellent because lots of people order them.

Decent, on multiple occasions the beans and rice, were not good. I went tonight with my family and it was one of the off nights again. The beans seam like maybe theres too much lard? I cant really pinpoint the taste. The rice appeared to be combined with another batch that had been burnt. There were numerous chard grains of rice. Needless to say, Id been working all day and hadnt ate so I was starving, so I picked through and managed to eat my dinner. I also would suggest possibly reducing the volume of the speakers for the live music. I do enjoy the idea of live music. However it is overwhelming and you cant conversate at all unless you basically shout across the table. I will be back again most certainly and I hope they can make improvements. I know this is a unimaginable era for the restaurant industry, Im sure as things get better as will the quality and consistency of this popular local restaurant!

AMAZING! The service was impeccable, the food has git to be some of the most delicious Ive eaten (I recommend the nopales salad), and, because I left my ring in thier bathroom, and live hours away, they kindly worked with me to figure out a way to get it, and they are mailing it right now! I wish I could give more than 5 stars, the server was so nice too! While there is quite a few negative reviews from the past, they seem to have turned the establishment around big time!

Amazing food, amazing staff, large portions, great prices. Best enchilada sauce Ive ever had at a restaurant. Super clean.

I like the new renovation. They built a bar and have nice natural lightning. Seems to be consistent with great food and service. So many things on menu hard to decide. I like the slow roasted pork loaded burrito. It was the biggest burrito I ever seen. Must have huge appetite or like leftovers. Thanks for the great visit, Modelo with lime was the best beer I had on tap in long time

Food is not all that great compared to other Mexican restaurants. All of the food didnt arrive at same time, and salad was old. Fries I had was good and fresh.

It took 45 minutes to get two combo plates. It was not busy. The food has gone down in quality in the last month.I won’t be returning here. All new servers, and slow kitchen staff.The server only checked in once and disappeared. We were trying to get the check and were deeply disappointed with the quality of food.The pozole was lacking tomatoes, cabbage, lime, cilantro and tasted like enchilada sauce. 🤮

Lively vibe once inside. Service is friendly and timely. Portions are substantial and executed with flavor and tradition. All the food was good, but the Al Pastor was startling and mesmerizingly fantastic!

The food was incredible! My wife and I both got tacos and our daughters shared a quesadilla. The portions are quite large and the flavors are very authentic. Very clean inside as well.

The huaraches is delicious and Gorditas is delicious tooI’m recommend 100%The service is really goodThank you we are front Redding Ca.

This is hands down one of the best places Ive ever eaten. The $20 burritos with half and half sauce fish/shrimp.... To DIE for! Best salsa Ive had in a long time too (mildthe chips were very stale but everything else was 💯. I will be eating here A TON.

They never include silverware, I wasted gas after taking my takeout to the beach and had to drive extra 15 miles looking for forks and knifes. Stop being cheap, most restaurants include silverware as a common sense. Like you are serving food for pick up, be professional and train employeess to ask if we need silverware. Third time this happened, and the chimichanga I ordered was overcooked and dry. Like its supposed to be fried to golden brown, not dark brown. Worst culinary experience in the whole town

Passing through and stopped to try their food. In the midst of going up to pay the bill, I left my purse on the table. 400 miles later I realized it. Called as soon as they opened today and they have it!! They offered to ship it to me. Great customer service and honest workers. Definitely recommend this place!

Some of the best Mexican food around. Always fast and friendly, reasonably priced. Great margaritas if youre dinning in or waiting for a to go. They may deserve five stars but I reserve the last star for the exceptionally and extraordinarily spectacular nowadays.

The service was fantastic. Everyone was friendly.The food was amazing. I dont know how they prepare the asada, but it was among the best Ive had. My wife had the chicken flautas and said they were perfect.We will definitely go again and cant recommend it enough.

It was so nice to sit with my family and enjoy chips and salsa (very good, two flavors and spice levels). The chicken fajitas were very tasty. The chili relleno looked great (my wife didnt share, bummer).The prices are very reasonable and service was very good. Overall a really good experience.

Celebrating my employees 5-year anniversary with tacos and homemade flan by Carmella herself these guys always come through for our staff appreciation days and we really want to say thank you!HeidiOwner/Practice ManagerMcKinleyville Animal Care Center

The hotel we stayed at recommended the restaurant. It was very busy, mostly with carry out orders. The serves was decent and food was average. Since there was no chicken dishes on the menu besides chicken fajitas, my wife created her own dish (see below).

Had a very bad experience . 1 star , went to return the food . But the manager was very nice and made the situation right , so sure 4 stars for that .Update . I called the store , the invited me back to return it , made me a new one . Owner /manager is a very nice and genuine .

Our go to Mexican food restaurant. The whole family loves it! Employees are friendly, and the food is good. They have your basics like tacos, burritos, and chimichangas....and they also have specialty items like gorditas and huaraches. Its making me hungry writing this review!

Love their fajitas quesadillas, now they are serving oysters!!!

Food was delicious. Service and venue were decent but not too remarkable. We enjoyed our meal.

I really like this place. The happy hour specials are great and they have all the usual combo’s. The portions are huge. The Burrito Loco is no joke essay.

Our absolute favorite Mexican restaurant in McKinleyville. Everything here is great, except for the hot sauce. The mild sauce is okay, but the hot sauce they give you with chips just tastes horrible (its hot, but horrible hot isnt what I like). We often have to mix the hot sauce with the mild sauce just to get something edible with a wee bit of a kick to it. That aside, everything else is excellent (and I come from an area of the United States known for great TexMex and authentic Mexican restaurants). The staff is usually friendly and on the ball, and the atmosphere isnt stuffy, so you can be casual. Very family-friendly as well. Also good for large groups (although you should call in ahead of time if you need a lot of seats, as large groups are common here).

Loved this place portion sizes are hugh well worth the price we got the the Huarache and the Burrito Loco which was massive both were very good. Would highly recommend the Huarache.

Had a monster burrito here for Halloween. It was excellent. The massive burrito was perfectly cooked and seasoned throughout, and all the veggies tasted fresh. Definitely recommend giving this place a try, but the monster burrito is apparently a Halloween-only thing. Too bad.