La Mesa

Very good food. We’ll be back again. Service could’ve been a little better. Girl is nice but not as attentive as she should be.

Ate at LaMesa in Barrington yesterday; great food; their tostadas are the best I’ve ever had — even when I’ve eaten at restaurants in Mexico and they are only $ 2.75 each.
The ambience could be improved, however, but just can’t beat the excellent food. Highly recommend for authentic Mexican food here. Because it’s so small, it’s mostly for take/​out.

So it’s a kitschy little hole in the wall. Food is decent and so is the price. Drinks are meh. I don’t think it was real patron. Now let’s move on to the sanitation issues: the floors need a good old scrubbing, for a few hours w lots of hot water and bleach. The chairs were greasy, hardy any napkins and you kinda have to ask for everything. The kicker of the kitsch — towel racks as curtain rods in the front of the restaurant. The staff was friendly and sweet but not trained. Maybe I expected too much. PS margaritas are made from a mix not from scratch, we prefer scratch.

The décor in this establishment could use some work but the food is overall very good. I will definitely return as the prices are very reasonable.

Long time fan, do come for the food and a basic, charming ambiance. I always have the terrific chicken enchilada with a very spicy salsa verde. I love Mexican food and have never had better in Chicago, Denver or Mexico City. Also a great value!

Drive into the parking lot about 6 spaces to park in front all full but only two lady’s in the restaurant. Parking on the side is for employees only and parking in the back for customers??? Walk into La Mesa to sit at a table and 7 tables inside four dirty tables for about 20 min until they cleaned it. I was then handed a menu that had food on the inside and asked for another one. I can to this place because my mom gave me a coupon from
and offered it to the server. Server commented oh I haven’t received one of those for years… With an attitude like shit ur getting a free meal. All in all the salsa and chips, the chicken tortilla soup, quesadillas, shrimp fajitas, enchiladas with mole was very very good. We ordered 2 bowls of soup but only received one??? But the bowl of soup was a large portion.

Service was poor but that was due to being short one employee. Obviously that is not going to a regular occurrence. But the food was a different story…
I ordered the chicken quesadilla lunch special. It was not a quesadilla in the traditional form you or I would expect (2 large flour tortilla grilled with meat and cheese inside). I got two small flour tortillas folded like a taco with lukewarm, rubbery, pre grilled chicken inside with a slice of partially melted cheese on top. Refried beans and rice sides were both cool (and not in the Fonzie) kinda cool). They weren’t cold, but they weren’t warm either.
I was with a group of 8 people and only a few of the ordered came out right. One beef chimichanga came out as chicken. Pork carnitas didn’t come out at all as they ran out of it, but they were able to make pork tacos???
Not likely to return.

We came because of the reviews and were sorely disappointed. Family of 4 came on a Tuesday night. The service was horrific! We got our guacamole and waited 15 minutes for the chips so we got to watch it turn brown. Everything came extremely slow! If the food were good, maybe that could offset the lack of service, but it wasn’t. I had carne asada and hubby had something similar. Both were fine. Guacamole and nachos were yummy but I can’t get over that painfully long wait! The bathrooms are made for horror movies. Unilocal let us down this time. We will not be back.

I stopped in here based on the reviews. I was NOT disappointed! I ordered the guisado de puerco and it was excellent. I will be back.

Great, authentic mexican food! Employees are really nice as well. I LOVE the lengua burrito. Mmmmmmmmm…

I’m a fan. This place has great food, the burritos are very good, The salsa is ok but could be better. Sometimes the chicken doesn’t taste good. The interior is awesome. Just like mexico. Don’t go here if your looking for fancy pancy service with a smile. Go here if your looking for Mexican food. Im not sure if its family owned but it has that kind of feel. Its a small restaurant trying to compete in a tuff industry and they are doing a great job. Oh Tacos are bomb.

I recently came here for my second time. The first time I came here was a few weeks ago. I ordered a steak burrito & a chicken enchilada along with chips & salsa to go. The steak burrito was for me. The size if the burrito was pretty good, I have seen bigger burritos but I have also seen smaller. It really comes down to how good the burrito is. After a few bites I thought the burrito was pretty good. The chips & salsa were ok. They were very fresh but not really my kind of salsa but for the kind of salsa it was it was pretty tastey. The chicken enchilada I got for my family member wasn’t a big hit. However I was happy with my meal & the prices were oretty good.
The seond time I came here was the other day. I ordered another steak burrito to go. When I got home & started eating I was very disappointed. The burrito was very salty & had no taste. Even when I put hot sauce on it the salt over whelmed the taste.
Overall the staff here was pretty nice & my firat visit here was pretty good & even with my second visitnhere being a disappointing one I would still come here again for a burrito if I was in the area.

We went there for dinner tonight. The food is good. The place is dirty and worn out looking. The service was some of the worst I have ever had! Had to ask 3 – 4 times for water, hot sauce, more drinks. The waitress never came back to see how things were or if we needed anything else. Had to go up and ask for the check and for a take home box. The empty tables in the restaurant all had dirty dishes on them. I will not be back and it is too bad, as the owner is a very nice man and has good Mexican food.
Sorry, just another bummer in Barrington.

Awesome real deal mexican food
You have to check this place out. We will be back.

Thanks Unilocalers! We decided to try this place while we were out and about in the Barrington area.
It’s a small restaurant in a very small strip mall near/​in downtown. They have tables and there is wait service for those who decide to eat there and they also have take out. The restaurant area is a little run down looking, but not too bad — not enough to stop me from coming if food was good.
The good news is that the food was very good — very fresh. My family definitely enjoyed their meals. The chips and salsa were great. My only complaint was the slow service, but you could tell that the food was made with tender loving care for us so I know that that takes time plus I think it was just one guy in the kitchen and there were a lot of take-​out orders. However, service was very friendly and chips/​salsa/​drinks arrived quickly.
All in all, we enjoyed our dinner and would definitely come back here again when in the mood for Mexican.

Best shrimp tacos for lunch!
So I’ve never been inside as a co-​worker picked up our lunch order, so I can’t speak for the interior, but the food is fantastic and lunch menu is very very reasonable.

Hole in the wall… great find… excellent food… wallet friendly… emphasis on hole in the wall

La Mesa really is a great little place. I’ve lived in the area for almost 15 years and I’ve never been disappointed. Yes, it can be a bit dirty when you go in after lunch hours, but you cannot beat the friendly service. The owner is almost always there and recognizes me by my order whenever I call in.
I love the cheese enchiladas with verde sauce but try out chorizo with red sauce too. The salsas are both great — and the beans and rice are top notch. And it’s all really cheap. The lunch special for $ 8 can’t be beat (and on several occasions, I’ve gotten 3 not 2 enchiladas — although that might be that I frequent the restaurant at least once a month.)
I prefer to get take-​out but my family will stop in for lunch/​dinner every once and a while.
Definitely try it!

Quintessential hole-​in-​the-​wall Mexican joint.
I’m a big fan of the fish tacos. The fish is very lightly breaded, not battered. Some spice and fresh fish in soft corn tacos with shredded cabbage and lime. Simple, excellent.
The guacamole is solid, but not particularly exciting or unique.
Chips and salsa make it to the table early, and they are quite good. More traditional than the soft, flaky chips so many other places have started to serve.
Margaritas are ok, but a couple different tequila choices might be a nice touch.
This is not the best Mexican restaurant I can think of. But it is one of the most authentic, affordable and accessible. That’s why I like it so much. It’s right here and it’s consistently good authentic Mexican fare when I want it.
With that level set, I highly recommend La Mesa as your everyday Mexican restaurant.

When you are hungry for mexican food and don’t want anything big and fancy this place fits the bill! My husband and I like to come here on nights when both of us are out late from work and don’t feel like cooking dinner. The food is very good and they do special orders NO PROBLEM! My husband says their tamales are good and I like the burritos with cheese and red sauce on top. yummm.
Prices are really great and the services is very casual! I really like their mild salsa, and my husband thinks the spicy one is great too!