La Casa Margaritas

Recommendation: Well-​prepared delicious food in very sizable portions. Atmosphere is lacking and the service is hit-​or-​miss. I’d definitely recommend it for the food quality though!
Note: I’m only giving this 4 stars because of the lack of competition in the surrounding area. By normal standards, this would be a 3 star review.
Service: The restaurant is family-​run so you’ll see pretty much the same staff working there every day. Usually there’s one main gentleman (one of the sons of the owners?) that takes orders from customers, and then various kitchen help will assist with bringing dishes out, clearing tables, seating people, etc. Since we’re generally interacting with one main person and his mood varies from day to day (even from customer to customer) sometimes you see cheery service and other times he’s a little less cheerful. Checks are distributed to each table at the end of each meal and then you go up to pay at the counter on the way out. Sometimes it takes a few minutes to get through the line if a lot of people are trying to leave at once, but most of the time you can get out in about 5 minutes.
Atmosphere: Typical of a Midwestern restaurant, the atmosphere is somewhat lacking. You are greeted by a glowing Monster energy drink fridge among various Mexican decorations, and then when finally seated the walls are adorned with only a little South American decoration. There’s also no music playing, meaning it can get quiet if there aren’t many people at the restaurant. This is rarely the case though because there is a lot of room to seat people. I often see parties of 15+ people (old and young) when dining at the restaurant and there are plenty of additional tables and booths in the main seating area. If that’s not sufficient, there’s an entire separate section of the restaurant with even more seating. Another complaint I have about the space is that in the booths, the seats are often awkwardly far away from the table. If you’re a small person, it can be difficult or uncomfortable to eat so I’d suggest trying to get a table.
Food: Ahh, the redeeming factor. There isn’t a ton of great food in Grinnell, but I’d say that La Casa Margaritas has the best food. Flavors are full and savory, ingredients seem to be freshly prepared and colorful, and the portions are usually pretty sizable. I oftentimes eat only half of my burrito and then save the rest for another meal. In the past, I have gotten a variety of the burritos. I think my go-​to favorite is the Fajita Burrito, which is a standard chicken and/​or steak burrito with fajita sauce, green and red peppers, onions, and other vegetables! They’re a little pricey for Grinnell food ($ 13) but the quality and amount of food you get is definitely worth the price.
Recommendation: I think that this place is a must-​visit if you’re looking for good Mexican food in Grinnell. The atmosphere and service are lacking so I’d suggest being comfortable with your dining partners or simply going to a more fancy place (think Relish or Peppertree or Prairie Canary, in that order) if you want a better overall experience. I still find it worthwhile to come here though because it’s generally not overpopulated with college students and the food is delicious. I’ll definitely be coming back here!

Service was slow and the food was average. The restrooms were filthy and disgusting like a dirty gas station. The highlight of the meal was the drinks. Horchata was very delicious on a hot day.

This was not even close to what I call Mexican cuisine. Stopped in for lunch and they were very busy. Not sure if that effected the kitchen but food was bland and just not very good. Service was friendly and chip and salsa were fine so that kept it from a one star.

Mexican? More like Mexican’t… Told this was the best Mexican restaurant in town, but I can only hope not. This place was packed, so it took a little time to get seated, but that was cool. We were seated and the place was a playground for unruly children running a muck. Even had a kid throw a straw wrapper onto our table. Finally got ordered and the food took a long while. Strangely when the food came out, it was cold. Ordered nachos and the chips were completely soggy so I had to use the chips that came out with the salsa to eat my food. We also ordered an burrito dish that was loaded with meat and cheese, a glob of sour cream and guacamole but no vegetables what so ever. It was a hassle to get a side of veggie or any kind of soda refill. As we drove down the road we were upset we ate here rather than eating at the Pizza Ranch down the road.

Good food, substantial and flavorful. I was happy with my tamale and my husband and his parents praise their mole and other dishes too. The salsa tasted fresh, and we asked for hotter ones they brought quickly to us. The lady owner said she made a lot of the food from scratch. Certainly it does compared with food in Mexico or other big cities, and their recipe seemed a bit «Americanized» — Chile relleno for instance was omelette wrapping chile… but I think it is pretty good in central Midwest. Seating was nice too, probably had some recent renovation.

You can’t do any worse — even in Grinnell. Not sure where to begin. The place is filthy. They don’t wipe down the menus and the carpet was disgusting. My surly over-​extended server screwed up my order but I ate it anyway because she never came back to check on me. The food is bland, even by Midwest standards. Two bottles of ketchup on the table should have warned me. The salsa tastes like Heinz tomato sauce with a little onion and cilantro mixed in. The cheese that’s melted over/​with everything seems to be Kraft singles. The shredded beef taco was the highlight and I didn’t even order it! The «chile relleno» was basically a few strips of poblano pepper wrapped in American cheese and maybe some egg — hard to tell.
The kicker was when I tried to pay my bill at the cashier. My bill came to $ 12.31 and I gave the manager $ 15.06. I should get $ 2.75 back right? Wrong! He looked at me like my hair was blue and tried fiercely to return my nickel. He couldn’t do the math in his head so I implored him «Key it in» and «Let the computer do the work.» He took my on my word that I should get $ 2.75 back and acted like he was doing me a favor.

The food here is average at best. Salsa isn’t anything to write home about and the service could be better. Waitress seems kinda cranky every time we go there. I only go here because I get out-​voted by co-​workers who really don’t know what great Mexican food is.

I am a towny, whole family goes there and loves it alawys ggod food and service so far.

I was visiting ftom out of town and this place was one of the few open near my hotel. I think this is probably the worst Mexican food I have ever eaten. I ordered the shrimp with garlic and salsa but it tadted like shrimp in canned gravy. No hint of garlic or salsa. Canned mushrooms, canned mushy beans, dried out rice, and odd-​tasting salsa with green onions. As others have service is poor. Avoid this place if you can.

Review details that bear re-​consideration: It’s in Grinnell, not «Oakland Acres». Also, it’s on the west side of highway 146, not the east at the dot indicates. Whew. Ate here several times this summer with family, and thoroughly enjoyed solid, hot, wholesome food. The staff was friendly, dishes were well cooked, and the atmosphere was very good. Would go back, any time.

While the food was good the service was not! Restaurant was not busy although our waitress never did return after bringing our first drink. Had to ask another for a glass of water. Maybe try again to see if there was maybe a hitch that night

I’m normally not one to write bad reviews, but this place has really set the bar for how bad a dining experience can be. Three out of our four food orders were wrong, service was so bad that we didn’t even bother asking for the correct food. Had to all but beg to get a check. As for the food? It crossed the line from «this isn’t very good» to «wow, I hope I don’t get sick».

Service was apathetic at best, raw tortilla chips, ordered cheese and chips, they served a plate of melted cheese, they literally melted shredded cheese on a plate and called it queso. Tacos came out with meat and tortilla only (menu said cilantro onions salsa and meat) when I asked the «waitress» she told the table that they just serve it like that because «people like it better that way» and the meat had probably been sitting in a sham since lunch it was almost inedible.
The mens bathroom should have been closed it smelled so bad, I assume it was a sewer backup of some kind but was a serious turn off. Spider webs on the fake plants in the windows. I can’t think of a worse dinning experience, ever.

Their Mexican food is very Mexican American. You’ll find the typical yellow rice and beans that are definitely out of a can. However, I was surprised to find out that they are ridiculously cheap burgers that come with two patties, fresh avocado slices, a bunch of veggies, and bacon. And it’s only like $ 5! It doesn’t get any cheaper than that. Who would have thought that the best burgers are in Grinnell are at a Mexican restaurant?

Excellent classic Mexican fare. Salsa is mild but a little Tapatio on table makes it just right, chips are fresh and hot. Portions huge, tortilla soup especially good with almost an entire chicken breast for $ 3.99. I ordered a pork burrito, I asked if meat was shredded, waiter spoke pitiful English and brought me beef (which I avoid in most Mexican restaurants), but I tried it and very good meat, well seasoned, fairly tender and too much. I’ll be back I’m sure and try the pork tomorrow which I did, pork excellent too. Service a little slow, but best Mexican in town…

While visiting my son (a Grinnell College student) we went to Casa Margaritas for dinner tonight (Monday).
We were seated by a disinterested bus person. After about 10 minutes our drink and dinner order was taken. We each ordered fajitas. The fajitas came with a side plate of refried beans, guacamole and lettuce. This side plate preceded the main course by 7 or 8 minutes. The food was ok though not exceptional.
About 15 minutes after finishing it became awkward because the waitress never returned to offer a drink refill, clear our plates, nor to take a dessert order. We were finally able to get her attention and ask for the check.
I would not recommend.

And so the Great Grinell Guitar and Gymnastics Restaurant Tour begins!
Huh? We live 35 minutes away, but my son takes guitar lessons and my daughter takes gymnastics in Grinnell. My son’s lesson is over an hour before my daughter, so to kill time (and to fill our bellies too) we decided to take a tour of the city’s restaurants. Each week for about 8 weeks we tried something new in Grinnell. What a ride it was!
Our journey began at Casa Margaritas. An «authentic» Mexican restaurant, Casa Margaritas is well-​lit, colorful and spacious. Warm chips and fresh salsa were quickly brought to our table and we dove right in. The salsa tasted fresh, unlike the canned varieties we’ve experienced at so many chain restaurants and the chips were crispy with a hint of salt. Perfect for my salt-​shy palate!
I really wish I could remember the names of the dishes we ordered. Mine was some type of bacon-​wrapped shrimp with cheese, tortillas and side dishes. My son’s was a steak burrito. Both portions were HUGE and delicious! We cut our portions in half and boxed them up right away to share with the rest of the family.
The service was good, not exceptional. But I do give high marks to the server who brought us our food. My son is taking Spanish and I encouraged him to speak to our waiter in Spanih. Although my son felt quite shy to speak in Spanish, the waiter was very patient, thoughtful and helpful. He even pulled over the manager who was very animated and fun, teaching us new Spanish phrases. We left the place laughing and looking forward to returning.

We were on our way back to D-​town and we bumped into that restaurant. We really liked it. The portions are large and they have really good service. The food was really good… one of the best mexican restaurants i have ever gone.

The food is decent. The prices are decent. The whole thing is ‘okay.’ It is definitely never my first choice for dining out in Grinnell.

Went for lunch on a weekday. Good experience. Quick.
Food was what you would expect from a full service sit-​down Mexican place. No complaints.