I really like this place, really good chips and salsa and they bring out a bean dip (vegan) to the table for free as well. They have different drink deals every night! I like going on Monday's where all the draft beer is 2 bucks a pint! Perfect for indulging in a bunch of chips and salsa. As far as meals go I have had the veggie fajitas and taco salads. Both which I thought were great.. My wife usually orders something with meat and she always seems to dig it as well. Some people have talked about the cleanliness in the place, I think it's pretty good. The bathrooms are not the finest i have ever seen, but way better then a lot of Mexican restaurants I have been to in my day! The service has always been great and they always work with me, on making sure they can do what I want Vegan. I appreciate that. read more

I'm not sure by what standards midwestern Mexican food is judged, so I can't really review La Bamba from such a perspective... but in coming from a place where good mexican food is serious business, this place is pretty horrendous all around. The meal started with some chips with salsa and beans. I'm not sure if the salsa was made in house or not, but it tasted like a bad, cheap grocery store salsa. No flavor, no heat.. no anything. The beans pretty much tasted the same, which was a big theme with this place in that everything was bland and everything tasted the same. Mexican food, when done well, bursts with flavors. I don't know what they are serving here, but it's an insult to call it Mexican. Sometimes good service can somewhat overcome less than quality food. This is not one of those places. The service here is terrible. The place was almost completely empty when I was there, yet the server couldn't be bothered to check back even ONE TIME to see if i needed something else to drink... and I really wanted some water. The guy was just standing around doing nothing for almost the whole time I was there. It also took about 30 min after I was finished to get my check due to the same problem of a worker who obviously doesn't give a damn. I rarely give 1 star reviews, but this place is just all around awful. To the person who said decent authentic Mexican food... wow. I feel sad that you've apparently never had real Mexican food before. read more

We were a bit concerned about the cleanliness of the place. But, the food was tasty. The service was mediocre. The prices were tolerable. Definitely could have been better. Definitely experienced worse. The parking leaves a lot to be desired too. read more

Super fast service, even when it's busy. A margarita and steak California burrito are an excellent hangover remedy. So delicious.

Everyone needs a neighborhood Mexican restaurant where everyone knows your name; where you run into your community regularly. La Bamba on Grand Avenue is mine. On any given night I can recognize neighbors or my kids' school mates dining there. The staff have watched my kids grow up and know them both by name! If I ever "need" to go to another Mexican restaurant, I feel like I'm cheating on them! The service is fast and friendly. Special touches include separate salsa dishes to allow for double and triple dipping, as well a little bowl of refried bean dip. My kids get annoyed when we need to go to another Mexican restaurant while traveling and they don't have this feature! Their $2 house margaritas fall on Thursday and Saturday nights. Perfect! Only thing here is that recently they started serving them in regular glasses rather than the margarita glasses that I prefer. I generally order the shrimp fajitas or fish tacos which are both fresh and delicious. I wouldn't mind seeing more (somewhat healthful?) seafood items on their menu. Lastly..they recently upgraded their booths and decor, which was needed. However, they added big screen TV's, of which I am not a fan. read more

Went there with coworkers for lunch. I personally wouldn't go again. The tables are way too small. Our food almost couldn't fit on the table. I ordered one of the lunch fajitas. Meat was chewy and over cooked. Beans and rice were ok but nothing special. I would rather go to tasty taco or even Chipotle. read more

The food tasted ok, but nothing special. My wife and I both felt sick to our stomachs later that night. Not food poison or anything, probably just low quality food. Would not go back to. read more

Decent authentic Mexican food on Grand Ave. in Des Moines. The rice and beans are excellent, and the steak tacos could have been improved if they had tomatoes on them and were a lot spicier. Also, if they used home made tortillas for their taco shells rather than the kind you can get from a taco kit at the grocery store. I don't know what that note about the cleanliness or the parking lot below is about--in my experience both were totally fine. read more

Lunch here is excellent. My co-workers and I dine here regularly because of the consistent quality and cost/value of the generous portion and the good, fast service. read more

We recently moved to Des Moines and were looking for a good Mexican restaurant. My husband believes that you can tell if it will be good or not by just two factors: do they serve free chips and salsa, and do they have flan? Well, when we arrived, we looked at the menu and, sure enough, La Bamba met those two criteria. In terms of food quality/taste, we were not disappointed. The service, however, left much to be desired. We have eaten at many restaurants pretty much identical to this one, and the food at this type of restaurant typically comes out super-fast. Not the case here (though it wasn't THAT slow). After we got our food, our waiter was nowhere to be found. We finished our dinner and sat there for a good 10-15 minutes staring at our plates. Finally, we saw him and my husband asked for his flan (which was also good). He ate it and then it took probably ANOTHER 10 minutes before we saw the waiter again and could ask for our bill. It was not explained to us that we should pay up front, but we figured it out. I should point out that it was a Wednesday night and there was only one other table seated--it's not like they were busy (also, another table had left not long after we arrived, and by the time we left ~45 minutes later, that table still had not been cleared). I'm hoping that this was just a fluke, because the food and prices were good. I'm giving them 4 stars for that. read more