The food is authentic and tastes amazing! The service is also amazing. We love LA Olla!!

Had a great dinner there the other night. Yummy food, warm ambience, fast and friendly service! Can't ask for much more.

We were driving thru on our way back to NM and decided to stay the night in Marana, AZ, just north of Tucson. We looked up reviews for Mexican food restaurants and found La Olla, a few minutes off the I-10 in a residential area. The server, Trisha, was amazing (hope I remembered her name correctly). This was what I consider a local cozy restaurant. The menu had plenty to choose from, regular and unique options. The chips and salsa were delicious (not spicy). My hubby had the #4 and I had the Chico Flauta (chicken). This flauta was flour tortilla rolled with a juicy chicken filling, different but DELICIOUS. The drizzle and guacamole on top were perfect. Hubby enjoyed his entree selections too, beans and rice were okay. Soooo worth the stop. Happy Hour maragaritas were really delicious, still a bit pricy though at HH. Overall, this was a pleasant experience and if we are ever traveling thru this area again, we will definitely take a few minutes off the I-10 to stop here. read more

Such a great find for Mexican food! We were seated quickly, our server was friendly and very attentive. The comp salsa was very good. The entrees were decent sizes and were very good. I loved every thing we tried! Would definitely recommend going read more

La Olla Mexican Cafe - Shrimp empanada combo - Mexican Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

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i'm personally very picky about my food. I love fried tacos, but the ground beef that they use is in the form of a patty, not crumbled or shredded. It did not taste as if they used any seasoning either so it was kind of like taking a bite out of a hamburger patty with a fried taco shell around it. I also like fajitas, this restaurant does not offer fajitas at all. I personally will have no desire to go back. My husband would. So having said that, I give it three stars. my husband enjoyed his food very much so, keep in mind i am very picky and ONLY eat fajitas and either ground or shredded beef for tacos. read more

My wife and I love this place! We tried to become "regulars" but our schedules are too crazy. We come here for dinner at least two to three times a month. Great atmosphere, quick and friendly service, and amazing food! They have the best calabacitas in Tucson, hands down! Give this place a try. You won't regret it! read more

Food was great! I wanted to try the cheese cake I saw on television commercial and it didn't disappoint. read more

La Olla Mexican Cafe - Shrimp chile relleno - Mexican Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

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One of my favorite restaurants. Love the chipotle chicken salad with avocado and toasted pecans. Also love the carnitas flautas. Love the churros, strawberry with ice cream dessert read more

We decided to go here to celebrate my partner's birthday today. I ordered a combo plate of fish tacos and shrimp empanada, my son ordered the Olla bowl and the birthday celebrant ordered an enchilada plate. We all liked our dishes and drinks! If you are looking for home-cooked Mexican dishes, this place will remind you of them from your first bite. I'm sure we will be back for more. read more

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We love this place. Everyone is always so nice and they have great recommendations, we've never had a bad dish. Their calabacitas is the best we've ever had. Sometimes we go just to have that and a day drink! Highly recommend! read more

Took about 30 seconds to understand that La Olla is (as the owner says) "a local, family owned and operated restaurant." The clue? The attitude we got from everyone working there. Even with that, I might've considered a bit better rating, but things went from sour to spoiled pretty quickly. The Wife wants some authentic Sonoran; we've driven past La Olla before, so we figure we'll give it a shot. Hostess tries to seat us at the first table inside the door, and I'm wondering why this is good as I scan all the other empty spaces. The Wife says, "If it's OK, we'd like to sit at the bar; there's going to be too much traffic here." From Hostess' reaction, I'm thinking The Wife had kicked her cat. Oh, well; maybe Hostess is having a bad day. Bartender is having the same bad day. The Wife's seat isn't warm, my butt's still hovering over my stool, and Bartender is demanding what we want. The Wife says, "If it's OK, we'd like to look at the menus first." We're left in begrudging peace for just 60 seconds before Bartender & his attitude are back at us; I order a gold margarita just to placate him. The drink comes, and it's wet. Not much else noteworthy about it. The Wife's first stab at an order gets shot down. She'd like the specialty tacos w/ calabacitas, hold the cheese. Bartender doesn't hide his disdain: "Calabacitas have a lot of cheese, you know." The Wife's surprised because this Mexican squash dish isn't *always* made with cheese, and I'm wondering why he needs to be so snotty. She goes with her second choice (Tamale-of-the-Day); I order carnitas flautas and ask for a Blue Moon to wash them down. The food arrives, and I'm still parched. I suspect Bartender forgot the ale, but then I see him wrestling the keg. Maybe that's why he's having a bad day. I consider changing the order, but he gets me the 16-ouncer before my plate's half-empty. La Olla says their classic Sonoran dishes have "an original twist," but I'll be stuffed if I can figure out what that is. Flautas are near-burnt fried flour tortillas wrapped around over-done carnitas (a SIN!!!) with some guacamole & salsa on the side. The presentation is pretty, but the flavor is pretty standard; same is true for The Wife's tamale. I'm glad I didn't order the far more expensive manchego shrimp. We're done and opt not to order desert; Bartender huffs. The Wife starts to say something about being a discount club member, but Bartender interrupts her -- "Yeah. We don't do that." -- before practically throwing the bill at me. Probably the high point of the visit, even without the $10 club discount; the total's around sixty bucks, and I figure, "You get what you pay for." I forgo my typical over-tip and enter something around 12%. The Wife & I aren't even out of the parking lot before we agree that we won't be back. Tucson's got too many really good restaurants to suffer mediocre food and servers who are really good at making diners feel bothersome. (Interesting side note: The Wife reports to the club that La Olla didn't honor the discount, and the club's response shows the kind of service we'd expect from a small, local, family-owned & -operated restaurant. Live & learn.) read more

Food was very good. Sat at the bar and Lesley didn't steer us wrong. You ask she will answer. Ambience was ok. The only thing we found that needed a little work was the queso dip. 2 appetizer, 1 meal, 2 alcoholic drinks 1 soda $61.00. Would recommend read more

I have been a customer here for years and didn't realize I have never given them a review. My favorite by far are their flat enchiladas with ground beef and an egg on top! Delish! Everyone I visit here with loves their food. It has a mom & pop type feel to it. read more

Overall, the food here was good. They had standard chips and salsa. We tried one of the specials, an elote style cheese dip, which was really good! It had all the toppings you would find in street corn with a cheesy base. The chip to dip ratio was off, it could have come with more chips, and required a lot of dip per chip. For my main course, I ordered the chimichanga. It was nice and crispy and came with a lot of toppings, including sliced avocado. I also ordered one of the specialty drinks, the Cadillac. I was disappointed with the drink, it tasted good, but the glass it came in was mostly ice. For something that cost almost the same as my meal, I was expecting more. read more

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We are visiting from out of town and was recommended this restaurant. It's your typical casual Mexican restaurant. You seat yourself. Service was excellent. Staff was attentive. They have complimentary chips and salsa which was good. Most of the food we ordered was delicious! I would recommend the carnitas entree and flauntas. They were both exceptional, authentic and full of flavor. I would skip the Sonora Hot Dog. We thought th at was just OK and the bun was too hard. The carnitas taco platter was good and would have been better if they squeezed some of the juice out as the sauce from the carnitas made the tortilla soggy which ended up tearing it. Mojito was also good if you need a cocktail! We ended up dining here twice during our stay so that says something! read more

I enjoyed it. I can't complain. We came in from Phoenix to explore and found this little restaurant. read more

La Olla Mexican Cafe - Drinks and food was great. - Mexican Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

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La Olla provided dinner for a strengthening families program and it was delicious! My son loved the tacos and the salsa was delicious!! Thank you La Olla!! read more

This seems to be yet another restaurant which has succumbed to the Covid aftermath. What was once a good place for Mexican fare pre-covid is now a mix of lazy service and cheap shortcuts with the food. We wanted Mexican food that wasn't fast food and this was the closest place. We saw 4.4/5 stars and thought it wouldn't be too terrible. Apparently most of those ratings were before Covid...we just didn't look closely enough. We came in around 2:30 on a Saturday afternoon. There were a few seated at thw bar but tables were wide open. Neither front staff or kitchen staff were wearing masks. Service was okay but slow at times....and our waitress acted like she just didn't want to be there. We ordered our food and it looked okay but tasted awful. I ordered a chicken enchilada with rice and beans. The enchilada barely had any red sauce on it and the chicken tasted very weird. The refried beans were so bland and the rice tasted like it came from a rice-a-roni box. I also tasted my boyfriend's burrito and the shredded beef tasted awful as well. He also mentioned there was not enough red sauce on his burrito. When the waitress came by to ask how everything was we said "It's good". She then asked us, "Are you sure?" in a sort of sarcastic way like she expects the food to be bad. That pretty much made me lose my appetite so I stopped eating. Unfortunately we won't be back. read more

La Olla Mexican Cafe - Chicken enchilada with rice and beans ($7.95 lunch special). - Mexican Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

This restaurant prepares and serves wonderful Mexican quinine. The staff is excellent and the owners cooking superb. We have patronized this restaurant for many years and never been disappointed. read more

Went in on a Monday around 4 pm. When walking in we were immediately greeted with the "sit anywhere you'd like", very friendly and a polite/welcoming atmosphere. The music and decor was very homey and the staff was not overbearing. The happy hour is a very good deal and the mango margarita was *chefs kiss*, the special recommended to us was a chimichanga (half red sauce/green sauce and half chicken/carne). will absolutely be going back, thank you Trista ! read more

I love all the food. They are delicious and fresh. It's my first time to try these plates, they are totally different than I tried before. But I like them, will be back read more

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Our go-to Mexican food restaurant. Eat-in or Take-out, it's consistently good. The tamale pie is to die for. I love the pork carnitas, and my folks like the garlic shrimp tacos. read more

Always always excellent service and food. Casual atmosphere and quiet environment makes a great dinner perfect!

Food was delicious and service was superb. Will eat here again when in town. Still don't know why they only had 4 stars. One the best experiences we've had in Tucson. read more

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Really tasty Mexican food and reasonable prices. Amazing salsa. I always get the guacamole and chicken tortilla soup!

My wife and I recently had a baby and a work associate was nice enough to give us a give us a gift card to La Olla Mexican Cafe. My work associate is actually in Utah and decided to do some research to find a good restaurant in our area. With a new baby, especially during COVID, you can imagine that my wife and I don't really want to go out. Additionally, we are so exhausted sometimes we don't even feel like cooking. The first thing I loved about La Olla is that they gave the option to either go pick up the gift card right away, or just order take out and pick it up when we picked up our food. For me that was amazing. The fact that we could order when we were ready and then just pick up the gift card when we pick up our food was very considerate. Next, the food. The food was DELICIOUS. I got the Classic Chile Rellano plate, my wife got the Classic Cheese Enchilada Plate, and my daughter got the Kids Bean and Cheese Burro. We all shared the Chips and Salsa and the Queso Fundido. Ever bring was fresh and tasted amazing. The price was also reasonable. Finally, before I left they congratulated me on my new baby. If that isn't great customer service, I don't know what is! If you're looking for a nice little Mexican family restaurant, you definitely have to check this place out. read more

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Came for lunch w wife at her bequest. Was a little skeptical because of location but man was I wrong. Lunch specials very affordable and quality Mexican food served. Ordered a Relleno and Calibasitas. Other than homemade these were about the best I've had in AZ. Also ordered a side of quacamole (awesome). Wife had a combo plate. Reasonably priced lunch specials. Covid distanced. read more

Our 1st time. The food was amazing. Our servicer was absolutely fantastic. Would highly recommend we will be back soon. Thank you for a great birthday dinner read more

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The food was delicious definitely coming back. The jalapeno chocolate ice cream is divine!

This is a very tiny Mexican restaurant, but the staff is so sweet and I just wanted some authentic grilled chicken and cheese tacos which they accommodated without question my daughter had a bean and cheese burrito with rice and beans and she said it was great! I would make sure to get there early because it doesn't have a lot of tables or space but definitely worth a try if you're in the area read more

Been there many times and food is consistently good. Service is also always good. The calabacitas - the best around.

Love this place. A little more contemporary and nicer than most but with delicious authentic Mexican food. Always a sure stop when I'm in Tucson & Marana. read more

Nice little neighborhood Mex Cafe. Good food and friendly waitstaff. Be prepared to find the place packed, because it is no secret in this end of town. read more

underwhelming. wish they gave me a reason to go back but they didn't. Mexican food was the same you could get most anywhere. no particular Mexican flavors detectable other than fast food. they need to get smaller plates rather than spreading rice and beans paper thin on a large plate. be real if you are cutting corners on quantity at least be up front about it and use proper sized plates for the small portions served. decore was non-existent. not a single Olla in the olla cafe decor that I could see. no decorations to speak of. plain tables and chairs could be found at any truck stop diner. wait staff unengaged and only interested in acting out some sort of fake prissyness. you have to ask three times to understand what they are whispering and then they want a tip. here's a tip: get a life and a real job if you don't like waiting tables. read more

Stopped in for dinner and I must say I was very impressed with the staff. COVID precautions are being taken, all staff is masked up, tables are appropriately spaced, sanitizer is available, tables are cleaned off and wiped down immediately. We stopped in for an early dinner, approximately 4pm, and by 5pm there were people waiting for tables. This is a family owned restaurant, not much space inside and with the social distancing they have less tables available, so either get there early or plan a little wait. The staff was very accommodating to all that entered, while still maintaining the proper safety and health guidelines. The food....I've had better cheese enchiladas but overall my dish was good. The hubby had the fish taco and the shrimp taco....his review: shrimp taco was ok, fish taco was really good. There is a coupon on restaurant.com if you are trying to save some money. read more

La Olla Mexican Cafe - Fish taco, shrimp taco served with rice and beans. - Mexican Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

We came here on a weekend, Saturday night. They only have two booths which were reserved. The rest is uncomfortable seating and the waitresses didn't really want to be there you can definitely tell. Our buser/hostess who sat us didn't day one word to us and there was fingerprints left on the silverware. We cleaned them of course. There's no salt and pepper shakers on the tables and the food was as bland as the wait staff. Sorry not sorry! The plates came out were piping hot! But the tacos are made with hamburger patties, shrimp was unseasoned and bland and the calabacitas was made within velvets cheese. Definitely not authentic food! Won't be going back! read more

This is an awesome place check it out and enjoy home cooking!! Had lunch here it was a nice break to enjoy very good Mexican food . read more

La Olla Mexican Cafe - Two deep Fried Taco Platter with Tamale. Was fabulous fresh and delicious. Chips and salsa also fresh and delicious . - Mexican Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

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Great food. Great food options. The Calabasitas is fantastic as a side option. Great service. Love the atmosphere. Definitely recommend. read more

The "tacos" for take out had half a hamburger patty as the "meat". Unusual and screams "cheap". Nice decor and ambience. Too bad it is wasted on low quality food coupled with high peices. We are not stupid and wont be going back. read more

Amazing food! So good. I had the Chile rellanos. They were covered in shrimp and sauce and creamy. To die for.