Don Meres Restaurant · Historic Downtown Lake Elsinore, CA
(951) 228-5224 · donmereslakeelsinore.com
● Every Way to Get It

Dine in, take out, deliver, cater — your table or ours.

Don Meres meets you where you're hungry: a welcoming Main Street dining room, ~13-minute pickup, curbside, delivery on three platforms, reservations, and catering ranked among Lake Elsinore's best.

~13 min
Typical pickup ready time
3
Delivery platforms — DoorDash, Grubhub, Seamless
Yes
Reservations accepted
Top 5
Yelp best Mexican caterers in town
🍽️
Dine-In
Casual · wheelchair accessible
🥡
Takeout
Phone, online, or walk-in
🚗
Curbside
Stay in the car
🛵
Delivery
DoorDash · Grubhub · Seamless
🎉
Catering
Taco platters that scale

How It Works

From craving to table in four steps.

1

Pick your path

Dine-in on Main Street, pickup, curbside, or delivery to your door.

30 seconds
2

Order

Call (951) 228-5224, order online with live tracking, or grab a table and let Jose's team take it.

2 minutes
3

Fresh-fired

Tortillas pressed, meats sizzling — pickup orders typically ready in about 13 minutes.

~13 minutes
4

Eat well

Hot, generous, scratch-made — at the restaurant, in the car, or on your couch.

The good part

The Honest Comparison

Don Meres vs. the fast-food Mexican chains.

Same price neighborhood. Different food universe.

CategoryTypical Fast-Food ChainDon Meres Restaurant
Tortillas✕ Factory-made, reheated✓ Hand-pressed in house daily
Guacamole & salsas✕ Pre-packaged, standardized✓ Scratch-made fresh
Birria & carnitas✕ Rarely offered / pre-cooked✓ Slow-cooked the traditional way
Menudo & caldos✕ Not on the menu✓ Full caldos section, 6+ soups
Who's cooking✕ Rotating staff to corporate spec✓ Chef-owner Jose, daily since 2018
Knows your order✕ You're a ticket number✓ Jose remembers regulars' usuals
Health score✕ Varies by franchise✓ 92/100 county inspection score
Independent rating✕ Typically 3.5–4.0★✓ 4.4★ Google · #2 of 252 locally
Breakfast burrito✕ $6–9, assembly-line✓ $5.99, machaca or ham, scratch-made
California Burrito✕ $11–13 where offered✓ $10.90, loaded with asada & fries
Reservations✕ Not accepted✓ Accepted — call ahead
Catering✕ Corporate catering menu✓ Named a Yelp best-caterer in Lake Elsinore
Frequently Asked Questions

Ordering, reservations & catering.

Yes — Don Meres delivers through DoorDash, Grubhub, and Seamless, and offers direct online ordering for pickup with live order tracking. Delivery covers the Lake Elsinore area, and the most-ordered delivery items are the Street Taco Platter ($16.99), Carne Asada Fries ($12.90), menudo ($13.90), chilaquiles, and churros. Online ordering typically runs during daytime hours (roughly 9 AM to late afternoon for the direct pickup platform), while the restaurant itself stays open into the evening for dine-in and phone-ahead takeout. For the fastest, freshest result on a big order, calling the restaurant directly at (951) 228-5224 always works. Don Meres is at 202 N Main St, Lake Elsinore.
Three easy ways. One: call (951) 228-5224 and order by phone — pickup is usually ready in about 13 minutes. Two: order online for pickup through the restaurant's direct ordering platform with live tracking. Three: walk in at 202 N Main St in Downtown Lake Elsinore and order at the counter — curbside pickup is also available if you'd rather stay in the car. Tacos, burritos, and caldos all travel well (caldos come with garnishes packed separately, the right way). For orders feeding a group, phone ahead so the kitchen can time the hand-pressed tortillas to come off hot when you arrive. Call (951) 228-5224.
Yes — Don Meres accepts reservations, which is unusual and valuable for a casual family restaurant. For weekend mornings (when menudo draws a crowd), family gatherings, birthday dinners, or any party larger than four, a quick call to (951) 228-5224 secures your table. Walk-ins are always welcome too — the dining room is casual, wheelchair accessible, and family-friendly, with TVs and classic decor. If you're planning a special occasion, mention it when you call; a family-owned restaurant where the owner works the room is exactly the place where that detail gets remembered. Don Meres is at 202 N Main St in Historic Downtown Lake Elsinore.
Yes — Don Meres has been named among the best Mexican restaurants that cater in Lake Elsinore on Yelp's local rankings. Street taco platters, burrito spreads, and caldos scale naturally for offices, parties, and family events, and the kitchen's scratch fundamentals — hand-pressed tortillas, house salsas, slow-cooked meats — hold up beautifully in catering format. Because catering needs vary (headcount, pickup vs. drop-off, timing), the right move is to call the restaurant directly at (951) 228-5224 and talk through your event with the team. Plan ahead for weekends, and ask about the Street Taco Platter format — it's the crowd-pleaser.
It's a different category of food at nearly the same price. At Don Meres, the tortillas are pressed by hand in house, the guacamole and salsas are scratch-made, the birria and carnitas are slow-cooked, and the owner is the chef — versus pre-made components assembled to a corporate spec. The receipts: a 4.4★ Google rating across ~570 reviews, a 92/100 county health score, and a #2-of-252 ranking among Lake Elsinore restaurants. Meanwhile a loaded California Burrito is $10.90 and breakfast burritos run $5.99 — chain-level prices for genuinely homemade food. The comparison table on this page breaks it down line by line. Decide for yourself at 202 N Main St, or call (951) 228-5224.
Contact

One call covers all of it.

Tables, takeout, curbside, big orders, catering — (951) 228-5224 handles everything.

  • Phone (951) 228-5224
  • Address 202 N Main St, Lake Elsinore, CA 92530
  • Website donmereslakeelsinore.com
  • Delivery DoorDash · Grubhub · Seamless
  • Serves Lake Elsinore & Southwest Riverside County

Feeding a crowd?

The catering kitchen Lake Elsinore already trusts:

  • Street taco platters that scale to any party
  • Named among Yelp's best local caterers
  • Burrito & breakfast spreads for offices
  • Hand-pressed tortillas, even at volume
  • One phone call to plan it all
Call (951) 228-5224
Disclaimer: Menu items, prices, and hours are subject to change without notice. Food items may contain or come into contact with common allergens including eggs, dairy, wheat, shellfish, fish, and peanuts. Please inform staff of any food allergies before ordering. Consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish, or eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illness.
All information on this site is believed to be accurate at the time of publication. For the most accurate and up-to-date information contact donmereslakeelsinore.com or call (951) 228-5224. Nothing on this site constitutes nutritional or dietary advice.