Mesa Vista Cafe

The food is very poor here. I can’t recommend it other than the fact that there is no where else to eat nearby before 5pm when the restaurant at the spa opens.

I wanted to like this place, I really, really did. The food was just extremely bad. I love divey Mexican food and am typically very forgiving of mediocre food but this was just not even up to the mediocre level. The one saving grace was that the server was very sweet.

People — staff Amazing
Food — amazing
Cute town
I recommend the burgers, chile cheese fries — breakfast & homemade Pies !!

Let me start by saying that the staff from Mesa Vista Café really care about your comfort and happiness. They really really care. And I knew this the moment I stepped in, because they had situated their mounted elk head in such a way that it could gaze contemplatively out the window, pondering its current state and how things got to this point. Not many people would take the time to make sure their dead elk has a proper view. But the owners of Mesa Vista Café did. Because they care. I simply could not applaud their heartfelt service more.
Next: the food. Remember those crinkly freezer french fries from your elementary school cafeteria? Yes? Now imagine those covered in melted cheese and a delicious green chili sauce derived primarily from canned chilis. Mesa Vista Café has that! It’s like a childhood dream and an adult nightmare wrapped up into one confusing, but ultimately satisfying dish. You should order it. My only complaint was that it wasn’t Velveeta cheese, the melted gold of the dairy world, but really, I’m being overly picky. We ordered this dish as a starter, and we were extremely satisfied.
Next we ordered a beef enchilada, a chicken enchilada, a bean and cheese burrito, and a chicken quesadilla. There were at least 4 other items on the menu to choose from, including gourmet frito pie, but we felt our four items were staple New Mexico dishes that should not be overlooked. And boy, were we right. The beef enchilada was simple, but tasty. The green chili was an exquisite accompaniment. It had a lovely fresh bite to it, and a lingering finish that truly captured the essence of roadside New Mexico dining. I could taste the culture.
We were somewhat disappointed by the chicken enchilada. I could tell that the chicken was not free range, organically raised, or native speaking, which really came forward on the palette. But again, the green chili was divine, so we couldn’t reasonably complain.
Next was the chicken quesadilla. With a little salsa and lettuce, this was rather tasty.
And last but not least was the bean burrito. It had a pleasing molten core. I’ve never had refried beans in a burrito before (and I mean only refried beans), but I’d do it again. I think.
My only real complaint is that they were not serving breakfast burritos at 1:30 in the afternoon. I was somewhat taken aback by this, given their warm welcome and wonderful service. Breakfast is the single most important meal of the day, and I shouldn’t be penalized for when I choose to get up. This is America. When the server informed me that, no, I cannot have a green chili and ham breakfast burrito, I glanced over at the elk. For a moment, he and I met gazes, and I could tell from the shame in his eyes that this had happened before. He has seen some things, that elk. Which is why he continues to gaze out the window across the New Mexico landscape. Imagining a life free of this daily repetition. Longing for something more. Like a breakfast burrito.

As other reviewers said, we had excellent service from a very friendly waitress. My husband had a buffalo burger that was very good. I had a turkey sandwich and we shared an order of green chili fries. The food was good and reasonably priced. We will definitely return if we are in Ojo Caliente again. I also enjoyed looking at all the antiques and «Bill» the night watchman.

We ate here while we were staying at the Ojo Caliente mineral spa. Quaint little place, with friendly staff. We had the buffalo burger which was delicious. I recommend this place to anyone who stays at the mineral spa.

Service was painful. Worst tacos I’ve ever had ever. Unless you’re out of choices I recommend passing on this place.

we ate here to avoid the expensive Artesian Restaurant at the hot springs. We saved at least half of how much lunch would have cost us. Our meals were very decent, not outstanding. The beans were a bit runny and lacked flavor. We liked our red and green chili. We loved our sweet waitress and had good service. We will definitely give this restaurant another try if we are back in the area.

We made a wrong turn and ended up driving through OC, so decided to give this place a shot. The service couldn’t have been friendlier and it was also prompt. The food was tasty and a reasonable value for the (low) price — I preferred the red chile sauce but my friend liked the green… get ‘em both FTW. We had some veggie and chicken enchiladas and tamales. It’s not gourmet and it’s not the best you ever ate, but it tasted fresh and good. Fun décor seals the deal.

Best service, the lady that works there, is like being around family. She is so easy to talk to. We sat at the counter, because I don’t get to do that very often. It is becoming at thing of the past, diner counters.
The inside of the restaurant is filled with tons of pictures, horse shoes, nostalgic cooking stove and more. You could spend a good amount of time just looking at everything. I find that part of the charm.
Food not bad. I ordered the breakfast burrito with green chili. I don’t really recommend that on an empty stomach. I learned the hard way. We also ordered 2 bean and cheese burritos, Christmas style for togo. Ate them at the airport. I used some of the salt they put in the bags. Tasted great.

The food is fine, the service is great, and the place smells of old grease. I had the breakfast burrito and my fellow diners had the tuna sandwich with fries (crinkle cut), and chicken and cheese enchiladas with red.

the food is microwaved. period. the one star is for the sweet lady waitress.

We were staying at the Ojo Caliente resort and had neglected to make dinner reservations at their restaurant and so had to eat in town. The Mesa Vista was listed on Unilocal with a good review and there appeared to be many cars in the parking lot. We were optimistic. However, when we walked in the door there was only one customer (we still don’t know where the cars came from!) and the restaurant smelled of old grease. We would have walked out, but a super friendly woman came out from the kitchen and we were too embarrassed/​polite to leave. We should have left.
Although the service was great and friendly, the food was horrid. I ordered beef tacos and my husband ordered a Mexican combination plate. All of our food was microwaved. (We could hear the microwave and its dings clearly from the kitchen.) My soft taco shells were so over-​microwaved they were leathery. The beef was standard ground beef with no spice or flavor. My tacos had the plain beef, some bagged orange cheese and iceburg lettuce. Salsa that looked like Ortega came on the side as did what were clearly canned refried beans with a few sprinkles of the same bagged orange cheese. My husband’s combination plate was also microwaved and consisted of the same pre-​made food items (canned beans, jarred salsa, etc)
It was all edible (barely) but not authentic, not homemade and not tasty. We had so many wonderful meals in New Mexico, but this was like the bad «Mexican» food you’d be served by someone’s crazy aunt in the midwest. Very sad because the waittress (who clearly also served as the sole kitchen employee) was very friendly. We would not return and would not recommend the place to friends.

Awesome service and great Mexican American Vegetarian and Non Vegetarian Dishes. Sign says it opens at 7am but they told us 8:00. The service is excellent-​there is a really good vibe in there. The Huevos Rancheros are HOTT and delicious. The Bison burgers with Green Chili might knock your socks off-​it varies, it was super hot one day and tolerable the next. Hot pie right out of the oven topped with ice cream tops off the meal. This is the place to eat at when you visit Ojo Caliente Spa-​prices are low but the food is wonderful. Enjoy