The best thing about this restaurant is there salad bar. Always have plenty of fresh veggies to make yourself a great salad! Mexican food is not authentic but not the worst Mexican food either. There are plenty of other restaurants in Los Banos that serve authentic Mexican food that is better priced and taste better. I have a suggestion for the bar! They need to sell appetizers or at least have chips and salsa for as long as the bar stays open. I myself like to have an alcoholic drink accompanied by an appetizer. Also it would be nice to see the bar close late if there's a good crowd hanging out. Last time I was there they stopped serving alcohol a little before 12am and start rushing you out. If there's a big crowd keep it open until at least 2 am when you need to stop serving alcohol. There's not many choices to pick from her in LB to go out and drink. Also how about a DJ once in awhile to liven the place with music instead there's only a jukebox w/good music that you can hardly hear when playing a song.
Review Source:Great food, although a bit pricey. Nice ambience. Not really liking the waiter I've been getting. She's nice while seating you, but doesn't check up on you often and you're left thirsty for awhile. I believe her name is Nicki..
Overall, great place for a nice quiet lunch or dinner.
The bar is fun on the weekends for hanging and enjoying drinks with friends.
Trying to be fair... My son was going there with some friends so I asked him to bring me back one of the Crab enchiladas. Â Bad choice. Â There was no Blanca sauce and no pico degallo or charro beans, instead they just put the tomatillo-cilantro sauce (a lot of it), cheese, olives. Somehow I ended up with refried beans (very thin) instead of the Charro beans. Â Eeewww!
Review Source:If you're in Los Banos, any local will tell you Espana's is a must. The menu offers a wide range of options, including Spanish style food along with American options (surprisingly, the best burger I've found around!). You can also get a margarita in any flavor imaginable...
The chips are delicious (ask for their flour ones!) and the food is always fresh. The bar is packed on Friday and Saturday nights and is a fun, safe atmosphere to share a drink with friends.
Hands down, best atmosphere of any restaurant in town!
Not as good as it used to be, but still the reliable standby restaurant in Los Baños.
España's  began in the late 60s or early 70s as a small Mexican restaurant across the street from the current location. In the mid-70s. they moved into the current location on the grounds of the old Canal Farm Inn. In the 19th and early 20th century, the site was the headquarters of Henry Miller's Miller & Lux company, at one time the largest cattle ranching operation in the United States. As noted in many of the reviews, the location has quite a lot of ambience. The building is adobe with Spanish tiles and dark wood fixtures, and the red tablecloths and Spanish-American artwork are typical of the older, nicer Mexican restaurants in the Valley.
When I was a kid living near here in the 70s and early 80s, España's  was sometimes considered the only good restaurant in town (to be fair, with the notable exception of two Basque restaurants and the rather more adult restaurant where many of the big ranchers would meet for lunch).  It was the go-to restaurant for catering big events, and Los Banos Rotary continues to meet here each week.
In its heyday, España's was  known around the west side of the Valley for its excellent chips and salsa and for its chili verde (con carne de puerco)--which for those of you not local to the San Joaquin Valley is a treasured specialty within Central Californian Mexican food. The chips were thin and crisp and often served hot, and the salsa was a spicy blend of tomatoes, tomatillos, onions, chilies, and hint of garlic. If you asked nicely, you could get extra salsa for takeout, which we often did.
España's was also  the first restaurant in town to join the salad bar craze in the early 80s. Their salad bar remains consistently good to this day, with a particularly good bleu cheese dressing.
Over the last few years, the restaurant has changed, apparently to accommodate the tastes of the growing population in town who are not originally from the Valley and are looking more for Tex-Mex or Southwestern fare rather than our regional interpretation of Mexican food. The name has been changed to "Southwest Bar & Grill"and the food is much less spicy than it used to be.
I still like the chile verde, which is slow-cooked until the pork is nearly falling apart, in a green sauce of tomatillos, garlic, onions, and a touch of cilantro. Â On my most recent visit, I had the fish taco with halibut, which was perfectly fried to a nongreasy, melt-in-your-mouth, crispness. The rest of my family tried the lunchtime for fajita bar which runs on weekdays from noon to 1:30 and includes the salad bar.
Overall, I still like to come here when I am visiting family town, Though I missed the fiery spiciness of the old salsa and wish that some of the Mexican dishes had a bit more kick. If you are looking for more intensely authentic Mexican food (or more spice), I suggest you try one of the more casual taquerias in Los Baños or one of the excellent if low-key Mexican restaurants in Firebaugh or Mendota.  but for a group of people with different tastes, for family with children, for the excellent margaritas in various flavors and combinations, and for convenience of location and hours, it is hard to beat España's.
Horrible experience! Â Really -0- stars. The atmospere is fine, but the food is boring & lazy and so is the staff. Â We had an office lunch there and it took over an hour to get our food. When we got it, four out of the six orders had at least one thing wrong. This has happenned to us before and we took a long break from going there. Â Unfortunately, nothing has changed. Â They are only in business because there are no other places in town with a decent atmosphere (what a sad reflection on this sad town). Â We won't be back.
Review Source:I hate this place. I have no idea why on earth people LOVE it here. The food is not authentic mexican, more tex mex infused, the service is horrible. The bar is always loud and packed. Oh, right. That is probably why people love it here. For the drinks. I will admit, this place it the most classy place in los banos to get a drink and the whos who of los banos are usually here. Lots of celebrations, lots of 21 yr olds with margaritas. I have been here about 5 times and have never been impressed. But to be fair, the whole town is in love with this place. And they do have a deliver service using a super cute golf cart you will see coasting around town.
Review Source:stopped by on the way back from Fresno for lunch. Â downside is plan on getting sleepy w/in 45 min after leaving. Â food was great, portion size is pretty big. Â my coworkers got the lunch fajitas buffet and they really liked it. Â wait staff was friendly enough. Â the place was clean. Â i'd repeat
Review Source:I guess considering Espanas is in Los Banos it endures. If it were in the Bay Area, LA, San Diego or any other metropolis it would just be another statistic.
Having the ex Los Banos mayor own this, I guess draws in the loyal LB fans.
Pros:
Plenty of parking, especially near the run down shanty shacks that are on the property. Just make sure you lock your cars.
Cleanliness....yep they do a good job keeping the place clean.
Patio...if it isn't a typical blisteringly hot day in Los Banos the patio can be a nice place to chill and have a cocktail.
Cons:
The food is what I would refer as Mexican food for the masses. It reminded me of something I would get in Nebraska, Washinton or West Virginia. In other words it is a Caucasians version of Mexican food. Â Way too bland, lots of ground beef instead of the real McCoy. Most disappointing was the salsa...Pace Picante from a jar would have been tastier.
The bar...way too bright (lighting), drinks are expensive considering the atmosphere
If you are looking for real Mexican food there are multitudes of authentic Mexican establishment in Los Banos within a five minute drive of Espanas. If you yearn for the Denny's of Mexican food this is your place.
Espana's is the place to go for a "nice" restaurant in Los Banos. Not many options in this town. Things to try: frijoles de la olla" (whole beans), the rice, salsa, albondigas soup, the chicken enchilada, crab enchilada, and fajitas. The margaritas are pretty good, STRONG. You get your money's worth on the drinks.
Review Source:My husband and I stopped to have dinner and we were disappointed. The parking lot was always full when we drove by in the past; so we thought it would be a great place to eat. The building is nice and the service was good, however the food was bland, boring and my taco was greasy. I don't know if it was because there were several large parties or what. It took forever to get our food. The chips were stale and the salsa tasted like it was out of a jar. The best part of our meal was that our beer was served in an icy cold glass. It was really a disappointment, we expected so much more.
Review Source:This used to be the ONLY Mexican we would eat in town. I don't miss LB one bit, but I do know my hubby misses their buffet during the week, it was heaven for him. Â A cute little gift shop with some of the cutest decorations for my home (and Christmas) I still have and gave as gifts. When I'm searching for a good Mexican place in Morgan Hill, we drool thinking about Espanas, nothing extra special but it was better than what we get here!
Review Source:Decent food, and the depending on the bartender, decent drinks. Unfortunately, they do not make authentic mojitos- they use a mix instead of muddling the mint- very sad:( Yet, the salsa almost makes up for it. The lunch buffet is fantastic for the price, and the size of the restaurant can accomodate any number of people in large parties.
Review Source:Definitely a place to eat with the family when in Los Banos. Â Good atmosphere. Â Not as authentic as most people prefer, but is americanized with excellent mixed drinks such as their daiquiris and margaritas. Â Their enchiladas are to die for and always a must have. Â I go with the chicken Enchiladas de California. Â Good service and excellent salsa and chips.
Review Source:We usually just switch drivers at the Wal-Mart and possibly grab a bite at Subway or Taco Bell. Â This time, we wanted to try a sit down dinner instead. Â This tucked away little place was great for ambiance. Â I really felt like I took a good break from our 4+ hour drive from my mom's cabin in Central Camp headed toward home in Oakland.
The food was not fabulous but it wasn't the worst Southwestern fare I have ever had either. Â The cantina looked totally cool!
The mayor actually owns this restaurant, and it is way over-priced/overrated. The food is not all that great, and the service is below par. Although they claim to be a Mexican restaurant, their menu has Italian, Western-American and other types of foods. If you truely want Mexican food, there are better places around town.
My only guess why people go here is for the ambiance/atmosphere. It's one of the only semi-upperscale restaurants in LB.
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