We stopped by La Mesa Mexican Restaurant for Happy Hour (3:00-5:30 p.m.) for the first time and chose to sit outdoors. Unfortunately, the experience started a bit rocky. The male host seated us near the bar, but the table wasn't fully cleaned and even had some paint chipped off. A couple seated next to us also had to ask for their table to be wiped down. Considering it was early and the restaurant wasn't busy, it was surprising to see this lack of attention to the outdoor area. Once seated, our server brought menus, and the Happy Hour menu was already on the table. We ordered Corona beers, which arrived quickly, and then placed our food order: Chips & Salsa, Nachos, and Chicken Tacos. The dishes came out in the order we requested. The Chips & Salsa were a great start--crispy chips served with pico de gallo and two flavorful sauces. The Nachos were a highlight, topped with a generous scoop of guacamole, and loaded with cheese, beans, and lettuce the deeper you went. The Chicken Tacos were packed with meat and topped with a nice slice of avocado, though the rice and beans portion was on the smaller side. A busser came by to offer boxes, and we took the Chips & Salsa to go. Sitting outside was pleasant at first, but the "fever flies" quickly became a nuisance, constantly landing on our food. It definitely took away from the experience--nature doing its thing, but still frustrating. Our server later offered dessert. We were too full to indulge, but the options sounded tempting. We're already planning to return for dinner and will definitely try the churros next time. Overall, the interior was vibrant and inviting, and both the service and food were great. Next time, though, we'll pass on the outdoor seating--and definitely ask for a different host. read more

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We have visited this restaurant many times and have always enjoyed it, which made today's experience especially disappointing. We stopped by for happy hour, and although it was clear that a storm was rolling in with dark skies, lightning, and rain about to start, we were told we could only be seated outside. We have always been allowed to dine inside with our well-behaved 14-pound Cavapoo, but today, despite the unsafe weather conditions, we were told that was no longer allowed. Rather than sit outside in the middle of an approaching lightning storm, we chose to leave. Unfortunately, this experience has convinced us not to return. With so many wonderful dining options on the island, we will be taking our business elsewhere and, regrettably, will no longer be recommending this restaurant. read more

Food is so good! Table side guac is incredible and we all really enjoyed our entrees, but the service we received was so unfortunate. This is one of our favorite places to go on the Island and our server had too many tables and didn't know how to prioritize. We were a table of 9, 5 of which were kids of varying ages. Our server didn't greet us for at least 10 minutes, then we would have to flag him down for everything. When we asked if we could order our entrees, he said "one sec" then retuned to the restaurant twice and took orders from two different tables, checked on two other tables and walked into the back again. Finally showed up to take our order, then we didn't see him again and drinks needed refilling. When we did have bar drinks we saw them sitting at the bar for several minutes before he brought them over. I'm so sad about our experience because it really is a place we love. We've had a good experience when we went in the past, but this particular server really should not be someone you keep around. Your food does the job, which means you don't need much, but it would have been nice to have someone who made you feel welcome, communicated what was going on, and at least tried to make sure we had a nice time. read more

We stopped by Mesa for a quick round of drinks before heading to dinner, and it was the perfect spot to kick off the evening. We grabbed seats at the bar and ordered a Skinny Spicy Margarita with a Tajín rim, a Paloma, and a pineapple juice for my sister. The drinks were beautifully presented and tasted just as fresh as they looked. Mine had the perfect kick without being overpowering. The vibe was relaxed but stylish, and the service at the bar was friendly and quick. Definitely worth a stop if you're in Marco and looking for great cocktails in a cool setting! read more

La Mesa Taqueria - Paloma and spicy skinny marg - Mexican Near Me - Marco Island, Florida

I went to La Mesa for my first time this afternoon and have been looking forward to trying it since the last time I came down to Marco a few months ago. I ordered a jalapeño mango margarita to start which was great as I am typically a fan of jalapeño margaritas. For my meal, I ordered the corn tamales off the appetizer menu which were more like corn tamale cakes which was not what I expected but were still good. My fiancé ordered a steak quesadilla which he enjoyed but did admit it was a bit greasier than what he is usually used to. The other members of our party ordered tacos and did enjoy them but noted the fish was the best! Besides the food, our overall experience was not fantastic. We were sat by the big garage door which was fine at first but 10 minutes into being sat, the garage door was raised which made the entire restaurant VERY warm (especially given it was 4pm in the afternoon). In addition, this caused half of our party to have sun directly in their faces which was not ideal as they were forced to wear sunglasses to see us across the table. I will say, our server (who was phenomenal and attentive) did move us to another table which made it better than the original table but it was still incredibly hot. I enjoyed the food here but if you are looking to escape the hot and sun, definitely take into account the garage door and the fact that the management does not care if patrons complain about this (several customers did and they left it open). read more

La Mesa Taqueria - Sweet Corn Tamales - Mexican Near Me - Marco Island, Florida

I have no clue why the reviews are not higher at this place??? First off it's so adorable on the inside, the vibes are great. Live music. Fresh air with lots of doors open. Friendly staff. We got the cheese dip as an app, it was fabulous. The chips are very crunchy and delicious. As the mains we got the combo carne and shrimp fajitas and both were scrumptious. Meat was so trendy and juicy!!! I think the refried beans were the best I've ever tasted in my LIFE. The tacos were nothing crazy good. But overall a great spot. Highly recommend! read more

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One word: churros. The churros are probably top 5 things I have ever eaten. Freshly made and they come with a caramel and fudge dipping sauce. They don't warn you that it comes out with a sparkler and has a huge presentation so here is your warning. Please get these- you will not be disappointed. Initially came here about 2 years ago and was not impressed. I have since been back twice and the experience has improved a bit. The carne asada has good flavor. The tacos are a bit messy and the nachos have too much going on making them harder to eat and enjoy. Margaritas are good. Overall it's a good spot with a good vibe! read more

Fabulous food. Hard not to fill up on the chips and salsa and guacamole. Homemade chips were still warm and the 3 salsas were all mild and addictive. Guacamole was made to our preference at the table- delicious. Pick 3 tacos was a great option to allow trying the various taco options. All were flavorful and melt in your mouth. The atmosphere was festive. The decor was colorful with a fun vibe. Great inside/outside dining. The walls slide open so it felt like eating on a covered porch. The servers were friendly, and the live music made a great ambience. Definitely will be back. read more

La Mesa Taqueria - Pick 3 tacos - Mexican Near Me - Marco Island, Florida

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Fun, vibrant taquería with sugar skulls, neon signs and colorful interior. Perfectly instagrammable inside. We went at 530 and got right in, but by the time we left ~715 there were tons of people waiting. Service is friendly and accommodating. The menu has good variety - classics like tacos, enchiladas and fajitas, but also some tasty fun options (ceviche, birria tacos). There are two women making fresh tortillas in the center of the restaurant and they are delicious. They fry their tortillas fresh to make their tortilla chips and you can taste the difference. Perfectly crunch crispy chips pairing wonderfully with the queso and ceviche. The birria and the burritos were the stars of the show - highly recommend! read more

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Probably the best overall dinner we had while vacationing on Marco Island! The mezcalrita and strawberry margarita drinks were refreshing. From the fresh made table side guacamole, to the Al Pastor taco and chicken enchilada, to the birria tacos - all seasoned well and generous is size - so good! Lastly, had to try the churros - a touch more cinnamon/sugar than I'd like but were very tasty. And the presentation with a sparkler and mini churro cart - fun. They don't take reservations so be prepared to wait unless you like to eat early. Parking looked non existent from the front but there is space behind the building. read more

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Came here with co-workers for dinner. Their salsa and chips were good, I like the thin chips they serve. I got their margarita, yummy. And the birria tacos, so good! Our server was great, she was so sharp and handled our rowdy table so well. I have plans already to come back again later. read more

Over spring break my friends and I stopped in to La Mesa for dinner/drinks. The food was delicious authentic Mexican (and they had options for kids/less adventurous eaters like the "gringo taco"). But even better than the food and ambiance was our service. All of us remarked that we had never had a better waitress (shout out to Yuleni for being so helpful, accommodating to my dietary restrictions, and attentive). 10/10 would recommend. read more

Ambience was great. Small restaurant, family friendly, great atmosphere and trendy decor. We sat at the bar and service was good. Bartender was attentive despite how busy it was. My husband and I shared the nachos especial which were great. Big portions, tortillas and chips made fresh there. We also got the fried ice cream which wasn't that great. Texture of the coating of the fried ice cream was not crunchy like you'd expect but the flavor was there. read more

La Mesa Taqueria - Fried ice cream - Mexican Near Me - Marco Island, Florida

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The night started with the signature watermelon margaritas that were excellently settled with a slice of watermelon. I really enjoyed the server Morgan she has the best gave the best recommendation. The vibes walking Into the restaurant were immaculate and Met with a local artist playing an original! Great menu options read more

La Mesa Taqueria - Mexican Near Me - Marco Island, Florida

Loved the food, ambiance, and service here! Everything was amazing. We stopped on a whim and I'm so glad we did! Great great food. Forgot to take pictures but it all tasted sublime. The service was also really fast and they had live music which was fun! Overall great service! read more

La Mesa Taqueria - Backdrop behind us was fun and cheeky! - Mexican Near Me - Marco Island, Florida

Yummy chips and table side guacamole. Flautas yummy. Tacos great to share after chips and salsa read more

La Mesa Taqueria - Awesome place. Kacy our server top notch. Happy hour fun . Meals so good. A must when you visit. - Mexican Near Me - Marco Island, Florida

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First off, it's a lovely little restaurant. Fun, clean, and service was good and pleasant. Our group started with chips and salsa. As a number of reviewers have stated the chips are overcooked, cold and thick. I had the baked chili rellenos with shrimp and my husband had the quesadilla. The relleno with black refried beans and rice was good, but the $10 extra for shrimp got me seven tiny pieces of shrimp sprinkled on top. Really thought the $10 was out of line with the serving size. Their special "best of" margarita was delicious, as it should be for $20.. My husband said his quesadilla was average. So quite a mixed bag. Not sure I will try it again. read more

When going, we were very excited to try this new restaurant. We got a table right away but then everything turned. The service was slow, it took an hour to get our food, the manager on staff yelled at us after we mentioned it had been 45 minutes since we ordered and never even heard from our waitress. Won't be coming back. Food was also not very good. read more

The person waiting on us was friendly and attentive. Food was average as for taste. My biggest complaint was the portion of food provided. I ordered a taco bowl. When I received my meal the shell contained very little food (small amount of cheese, meat, beans, etc). My advice...if you eat here, don't order the Taco salad unless you want something extremely light. read more

I was hesitant to come here due to not so flattering reviews. However, I wanted to give it a try for myself. I'm glad that I did. We went during happy hour. The drinks were delicious and the food was very good. The fish batter could have a bit more salt but the quality of the fish was top notch. Service was nice too. I will definitely return. The birria tacos were so freaking delicious. WOW read more

Food was great! Homemade tortilla chips, margaritas, tacos, tortillas and the churro cart all were delicious!! Jameson the bartender was very friendly and attentive. Clean bright fun atmosphere. read more

La Mesa Taqueria - Churro cart. - Mexican Near Me - Marco Island, Florida

The best Mexican restaurant on the whole island! Food was great and so was ambience! There was even live music! read more

La Mesa Taqueria - Menu - Mexican Near Me - Marco Island, Florida

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Not bad, food was okay nothing special. Tacos were good but no salsa or hot sauces were offered, so very dry. Place wasn't managed well and seemed like employees were running around with no supervision or training. Not worth an hour wait. read more

This new restaurant is really struggling to find it's footing. As they don't take reservations, my friends and I arrived right at opening time. There were two lines that basically merged into one (such a mess), though half the people went right to the bar area. The rest of us made up about 10 total tables but the staff staggered the seating and had the line last for an extra 20 minutes, which is bizarre. Just seat people and let them start with drinks or some chips. Why create a line when you have empty tables? I was told they were trying to help the wait staff with timing, but we weren't THAT many tables, and also that logic flies out the window because when the restaurant IS actually full about an hour after opening, are they directly saying the wait staff can't handle that either? Moving on...the decor is fun and inviting, but I was surprised for such a "high end" Mexican restaurant that the bar area had TVs for sports. The bar area is right in the center of the restaurant, so when the bar gets rowdy, it will disturb the diners. And when you're paying $20 for a margarita and $40 for tacos, that's not exactly the atmosphere you want. Now for the food...I will say the tableside guacamole was a cool experience, though we weren't asked how spicy we'd like the guac and it was served very mild. Still, it was fresh and tasty. As for entrees, the portions were super small. I've already noted, this place is expensive, so you'd hope for decent portions, but they are not satisfying. And they weren't particularly interesting, either. Overall, I was disappointed. read more

The food was good, once we traded with each other the correct meals. The server, Lauren, was not so great. She refused to alter the tacos, that my grandson ordered, to just chicken, lettuce and cheese. Said it could not be done. There were 8 of us. At the end we requested 3 checks. She Divided our bill up ok. She gave receipts to 2 groups but not to one couple. When they asked for their printed receipt, she printed all 3 and literally threw them at the couple and said, "one of these is yours". She was not attentive at all while we ate. She just seemed frazzled from the beginning. The restaurant was not crowded at first. read more

La Mesa Taqueria, newly opened Mexican restaurant in Marco Island. Beautiful decor, family friendly great food and wonderful service. We started our meal with a table side guac and amazing margaritas. The guacamole was light, freshly made with options to add or remove items from the standard. Our mains included the Birra tacos, Al Pastor quesadilla and the Camarones platter. The quesadilla was plentiful and delicious it also included rice and beans both very flavorful. The Camarones (shrimp) seasoned with tomatoes, onions and plenty of spices without being spicy. The Birra tacos were great especially if you enjoy spicy food. We completed our meal with churros that were paired with both a chocolate and caramel sauce. We would definitely recommend La Mesa Taqueria and experience great Mexican cuisine. Joy attended to us and made sure we had an excellent experience. read more

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The owners can easily improve this place, they should close it down or sell it to an operator that really knows how to cook Mexican food. This so-called Mexican food is horrendous. Don't waist your money read more

We tried La Mesa for the first time on our annual trip to Marco. It's a bright and trendy space and a nice addition to the area. We were greeted and seated quickly. We ordered queso and chips and salsa that were great appetizers for our party of four. Our entrees were all delicious and two of us had leftovers to be enjoyed later. Our server was not always attentive but we didn't let that spoil an otherwise good dining experience. read more

Trash tacos but the atmosphere is nice. Ordered the Al Pastor tacos for $22. Almost ordered the steak tacos but I'm glad I didn't (I'll get to that later) ; their steak price apparently changes with the market, so tonight they were $24. I passed and got the chicken instead. Al Pastor tacos were wildly dry and tough to finish - if the pork was dry, I can only imagine how dry their steak is. The shredded chicken wasn't bad - the taste lacked a bit but they were juicy which was a step up. The sides were embarrassingly small and average taste at best. No side of salsa verde or avocado sauce, or even a lime - which would have helped the dryness and lack of taste of the tacos. Beautiful spot but incredibly average if not below average food - if they put a little more time into the flavor of their food, and at the very least, add some limes and salsa verde, this could be a top spot. Needs some changes before that happens though. 3.5 is a generous rating - I believe they can turn it around though - to be fair, this was ordered later in the night so maybe during the day it's better - just not this time read more

Great guacamole made table side and best margaritas ever. ($20 top of the line margarita is fantastic.). Fish tacos were above average. Grace gave us great service. read more

Great food & great atmosphere! Staff was nice, attentive & personable. Will definitely make this a place we return for lunch or dinner.

Vibes 10/10. Food was quality and prompt. The service was also excellent, friendly staff. Cody the Bartender was specifically a great host. read more

La Mesa Taqueria - Bartop - Mexican Near Me - Marco Island, Florida

Service and food was great for Friday night. I'm gluten free so corn tacos worked well read more

La Mesa Taqueria - Pick 3 tacos was fantastic with Guatemala' Cheese Dip - Mexican Near Me - Marco Island, Florida

Friendly and helpful staff, great location, plenty of seating with a nice open air spacious dining room. Food is amazing, the burritos are a great size and delicious, the flautas are delicious, the quesadillas were awesome and the nachos were great. Everything we have tried so far has been delicious and authentic, definitely recommend, good for families too. read more

1 star for the 1 ingredient they put in their $15 table side guac. Can't get a pitcher of margs modified. Mezcal margarita tastes like cheap mezcal. Chips are burnt. Table side guac is avocado, onion, tomatoes, cilantro. Nothing else. Al Pastor taco have no taste. Save $100 and eat elsewhere. read more

This is what $21.00 gets you. Rice was cold guacamole had such so much lime juice in it. Chips were over baked. Biggest rip off EVER!!!! read more

La Mesa Taqueria - So this is what 21.00 dollars gets you!! Ridiculous and so not worth it. - Mexican Near Me - Marco Island, Florida

Everything about this place is amazing the tableside guac service the service in general, the food the atmosphere highly recommend

First and last. Myself along with 3 other groups at the bar, couldn't get service. 3 bartenders and no one would make eye contact with us. Strange. Food was just ok and very pricey for just ok. No complimentary chips and salsa, ok no big deal. Small Menu, was under whelmed. However, trust the reviews, they follow a theme. This is a gorgeous location and I hope they take the feedback to heart and get it turned around. read more

This was to be the biggest new thing on Marco. Over two years to build, it looks good and since opening it's always packed. However, as Mexican cuisine goes on the island, it's better than Margaritas, but decidedly inferior to Zara. I've been there twice. While there are positives, those don't measure up to the hype. The major problem is that it's being run like a business, rather than a restaurant. While some dishes were good, others weren't, and the dining experience was not a priority for the diner. In both my visits there were two major issues. First, while the bartenders, I sat at the bar each time, made it known they would put in at least the appetizer separately so as to not have all the dishes arrive at the same time, that's what basically happened each time. Each visit I ordered three items and specifically asked to have it course by course, otherwise you have to wolf down the food so it doesn't get cold. That's what happened each time. The fist time there, part of the second course, there tacos, one came out cold. On the second visit, the second and third courses just came out on top of each other. This seems to be a business model to just churn seats. I though wanted to enjoy my meal without rushing to eat food before it got cold. It might be the kitchen has not perfected their timing, but that's not the vibe I got. Second, food quality is not consistent. The first visit, the Al pastor and barbacoa meats were too chewy and on the second visit, with the chile rellano both the pepper and cheese weee tasteless. In the positive, the tostadas, fajitas , cerviche, and enchiladas were good. Also recommended is the gringo taco. Margaritas were good and bar service was fast. Recommendation, get there early, meaning before 5 pm, to get a seat at the bar, order food individually between rounds of margaritas, and enjoy. But if you want great Mexican food without the crowds, go to Zaza. read more

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Took my 3 sons to La Mesa Taqueria on Marco. First time I had been there since they opened. One son from Texas is an expert on TexMex and he as well as everyone loved the food and friendly service. Chicken Tortilla Soup and table side Guacamole were hits; Tacos, refried black beans shrimp quesadillas were delicious. The Jalapeño poppers were wonderful except to do it over would ask them to hold the BBQ sauce. read more