La Pinata

I’m so glad I found this place! Amazing authentic Mexican food. The menu is very extensive. I’ve been there about 5 times and have had something different every time.

Me encanta la comida de aquí! This place serves authentic Mexican food. The bar, in particular, is festive, colorful, and quaint. And the bartender is helping me practice speaking Spanish. Él es mi maestro de hoy! Y agradezco su ayuda!
Highly recommended.

Oh boy, lol I’m noticing all the 1, 2 and 3 star ratings are from (and I mean no offense by this) the whitest white folk on the list of critics. Take it from an honest to goodness actual Mexican, this Mexican restaurant is one of the best in all of Kalamazoo. I’m originally from South Texas, like ‘walking distance from Mexico’ South Texas, where Mexican food is just ‘food’. It’s everywhere and it is of course delicious. Trust me when I say La Piñata serves great food, has very friendly staff and atmosphere and makes me feel like I’m eating back home. We live almost 20 minutes away, there’s about 3 or 4 other Mexican restaurants close by and we make the trip regularly for what we consider the best in town :)

Very clean and colorful environment! Price to food portion ratio is ⁵⁄₅! Really nice staff! Be ready to view a large menu! Authentic mexican food!

A friend had been telling me about this place for some time and finally convinced me when I had a jones for what is considered Mexican around here. First time was for lunch of burritos and Modelo. Food was plentiful and tasty, Modelo is Modelo. Service was a little slow for as few as customers that were there, but very helpful.
Second time was for a late lunch. This is when I usually find if they reheated leftovers or it was fresh. The steak was a little overdone but the chicken and shrimp were spot on for a combination entrée and range of flavor was good. Tried a Margarita that was worthy of ordering again next time in.
Is it authentic Mexican? My opinion is no. Is it close to authentic and well done Americanized, Yes it has my vote.
Joe L’s review makes me wonder just where he lived and ate for years in Mexico. My experience is limited to entering Brownsville/​Matamoros driving the mountains to Mexico City to Acapulco to Jalisco to Monterrey mesa route to Nuevo Laredo for six weeks. I can tell you that the style and flavors in Mexico can vary greatly let alone the ingredients. You will get what is considered bland and have to enhance it with what is available to restaurant/​cantina that is flavored for local and or tourist tastes. I by no means sampled all of Mexico’s dining options but I know that authentic is hard to pin down unless your localizing it. Yes I ate street food and did not regret it until after eating in Nuevo Laredo. Fortunately Texas pharmacies carry extra large bottles of medicine for that. Go figure. By the way Joe, what was the name of the Mexican beer that had a recess in the bottom to remove the twist off cap for the next beer? I think Montejo was one of the names but there were others.

The staff is always very friendly, The restaurant is always very clean, The food is amazing especially the cóctel de camarón, always my favorite for dessert Flan. The margaritas are the bomb but I especially like their piña loco drink, it’s so cute the way that they make it. I would and do recommend this place to many of my friends

Went last night for the first time, and it was pretty good! Very generous portions of food. Our waiter was super friendly and helped suggest things on the menu. It was quick and easy and casual. I will be going there again for sure.

The Huevos rancheros is fantastic. Best Mexican salsa around. Arroz chicken delicious. Chicken very tender. Staff is very friendly. Was seated immediately with chips and salsa given immediately. Atmosphere pleasant with nice music.

An excellent Mexican restaurant! Be prepared for a huge portion of food! My favorite deal is the pick two or pick three combination dinners! They have a huge menu including some American fare like cheeseburgers and fries. A great spot for groups and families. I highly recommend stopping by for great food, fast and friendly service.

Complimentary chips and salsa were very good. Salsa was hot enough to notice but not over powering. Some of the prices are a bit high, but portions are big. I had a combination platter with a taco, burrito, and chulupa. Everything tasted good and was well put together. Only thing keeping it from 5 stars was the price of things relative to the competition.

Being from Los Angeles, we have lots of options for great mexican food. So I was pretty excited when my cousin said we were going out for dinner. Mexican food is one of my favorites. Well, we pull up and its on a strip mall next door to Sally’s Beauty Supply. Ok, not a problem. I’m cool with hole in the wall spots. We walk in, yep, looks like a mexican restaurant. We sit down and order. Salsa was «ok». Guacamole was more purée’d. Not chunky avocado style. I ended up dumping the salsa in the guacamole as the guacamole didnt have any real flavor. I ordered the fajitas. Chicken, steak and chorizo. They smelled good. They were just kinda bland. I was expecting the steak to be charbroiled and well seasoned. It wasn’t. My cousin had nachos. She seemed to enjoy them. Overall, I’ll give them a 3. Would I go back? Probably not.

You know that feeling where you spent all semester at college eating dorm food… And you go home to your first home cooked meal and you felt like you died and went to heaven… Well I’ve been out of college for 5 years and I can attest that you will too have that feeling all over again when you come here… In fact this place is so good! That you will never go to another Mexican restaurant again because it will never compare! I think I might even start going to church again after this meal!
I had both the beef and chicken chimichanga… And the flavors are outstanding! The margarita is outstanding! Better than mine and for a Belgian women… I make a pretty darn good one… Just sayin’… My waitress is my newly adopted aunt… And the atmosphere makes you feel like you’re in a cozy Mexican village… Hands down… I high recommend coming here! But warning… It will ruin any other Mexican restaurant out there for you.

One of the better Mexican restaurants here in Kalamazoo. The servers are wonderful, and are always around. They are also so friendly, which really adds to the experience.
The first time we dined here, we ordered the house margaritas and the southwest chimichangas. The margaritas were huge, and the best tasting out of all of the Mexican restaurants. The chimichangas were great tasting, and not overly-​greasy, which seems to be more the norm than the exception. Lastly, the chips and salsa you’re served when you’re seated at your table has a great smoky flavor, and has been deemed our favorite salsa out of any of the other Mexican restaurants that we’ve tried.
The atmosphere is just like any other Mexican restaurant, very colorful and lots of decorations, but it’s also very clean. The prices are very reasonable and we can’t wait to go back.

One of the best Mexican restaurants in town. They always have great specials on the board as you walk in so be sure to check that out. The salsa and chips at the start are delish. I always get ranchero burrito, very good. The staff is so friendly and accommodating. Atmosphere is fine, more fun when restaurant is busy. Enjoy.

Yuck. Meat tasted old and reheated. Cheese was Velveetaish. Not even close to authentic. Mexicans (in Mexico) take a lot of pride in the quality and taste of their food. Not the case here. I grew up eating Mexican street food, in Mexico, for years. Only El Gallo Blanco (Portage Road) and La Perla (Benton Harbor) are the real deal. The other places (Los Amigos, Mi Pueblo, etc) are good, just not authentic. You won’t find burritos, tacos with lettuce and cheese or the saucy, cheesy dishes in Mexico.

Guacamole was good, but that was really the only thing that I was impressed with. While the serving sizes of the entrees are huge, they’re not particularly good and taste like a lot of the ingredients are processed.

I wish I could rate the food separately. The food is delicious! It’s not the best I’ve ever had but definitely worth a repeat visit… normally…
The first time or two that I’ve been to La Piñata I had very good experiences. This time not so much. What made things worse is that I had bragged to a friend of mine about how good my experience was at La Piñata, which of course made her want to try it out.
So anyway, we get there and are seat as normal. After about 8 minutes our waitress finally showed up. She appeared distracted and kind of «all over the place» which was odd as it was less than half full. But I know how things can get so I blew it off. After another wait our drinks were brought out. We had already picked out entrees so we ordered. The wait for our meals seemed a bit long, which again was odd based on the size of the crowd. But whatever…
The food arrives and the first thing we notice is that the order is wrong. My friend ordered the small chicken fajitas, which is around $ 13 – 15.00. What showed up was the LARGE La Piñata fajitas which has chicken, beef, shrimp, etc. and is like $ 19, enough food for two people easy! Now I know mistakes happen and normally it would be no big deal. A «good» waitress would either replace with the correct dish or modify the check. This one did neither. When the mistake was brought to her attention, she proceeded to tell us that’s what we ordered, even though anyone with eyes could see that it was way too much food unless we were going to split it. So I explained to her what we actually ordered, she basically called me a liar. I asked for a menu so I could show her. Never arrived. By this time my friend who is totally non-​confrontational just wants to eat and leave, so I let it go. I did explain to the manager, when we paid, the lack of tip and exactly why she didn’t earn one. He attempted to apologize but I assured him i would not stop patronizing his establishment based on one bad experience. But I thought you guys should know in case you get the same waitress.
Then we I looked at all of the other reviews, I see that mine was not an isolated occurrence. Hmm… So now I’m conflicted… I’ll let you know if I go back…

My boyfriend and I come come here all the time. Great Mexican food and the prices aren’t bad either. Not only are they quick with the service but they also have great margaritas the size of your head! (That is if you have a massive head)
I’ve been to quite a few Mexican restaurants in Kalamazoo but this one tops ‘em folks!

This is my favorite restaurant! The food is amazing and the service is great. It is never too crowded (Except for CInco de Mayo). I always get the Burrito Mexicano. If you are looking for authentic Mexican food go here. The menu is very large and even has «american» food for those who are not in the mood, although I have never tried that.

After searching for a Mexican restaurant in kzoo, and reading mixed reviews I decided I had to try this place, I dined in at lunch with a friend.
The server was just ok, didn’t seem like he knew how to answer our questions, being first time diners. Their were a few other diners, we both ordered burritos with a side of queso sauce. My friend was served first, while I had to wait an additional almost 10 minutes for my food (they were near finished)
The guacamole on my plate was oxidized and un appetizing. never have I been to a Mexican restaurant where they served bad guacamole. The free chips were out of a bag-​not authentic, everything was just very bland. Needless to say we left un satisfied and will not be back.