Mary Batts Estrada, review of Like Water for Chocolate, in the Washington Post, September 25, 1993, p. B2.

This review praises the novel for its mixture of culinary knowledge, sensuality, and magic as "the secrets of love and life [are] revealed by the kitchen."

Stanley Kauffmann, review of Like Water for Chocolate, in New Republic, Vol. 208, No.9, March 1, 1993, pp. 24-25.

Kauffmann reviews the movie version of the novel and finds it "drawn-out" and "lacking in focus".