Excellent restaurant. Excellent service. Traditional Mexican hits the spot not too far off I 75.read more

I eat here at least once a week. Everything I have had on the menu has been excellent. The…read morepeople here are the big seller. They are all really hard working people who care about you and your experience. They work hard to take your order and get your food out very quickly. If you are looking for good food and good people, this is a must try. I know you will enjoy it as much as i do. The decor is done in a traditional fashion with agave light fixtures and hand painted morals on the walls and chairs.

We had a reservation for 22 and got there early - they were awesome and got us seated quickly. The…read morefood and drinks were great and the wait staff was excellant! We had wonderful time!

We're Traveling from Ohio on business. This restaurant had great reviews so we decided to try…read more It's a nice, simple restaurant back in a strip behind some other businesses- so you may not see it from the road. Decor is simple, but plenty of seating and even plenty of large tables for large groups. We were seated promptly and given salsa & fresh warm chips right away. Salsa is something we're particular about. This was great salsa! A little more cilantro than I prefer, but still edible for me. The heat was perfect- between a mild & medium- maybe closer to medium, but didn't make my mouth burn after eating a bunch. The tortilla chips were white corn, thin and crisp. Not salted, so I salted each of mine before dipping in the salsa. Also, they bring a bottle of salsa and 2 bowls, so we each had our own bowl for double-dipping. We both ordered chimichangas. He ordered the ground beef, I ordered shredded chicken. They came with cheese sauce poured over, and served with refried beans that also had a little cheese melted on top (I really liked that!), Spanish rice, and a pile of shredded lettuce with pico, guacamole & sour cream. I really liked how the chimichanga was just a single one and wasn't too huge. It was still more than I could eat! But I'd rather have a reasonable size meal at a reasonable price, instead of a huge meal for a huge price, that you could never finish. I ate 1/2 the beans & rice and maybe 1/3 of the chimichanga. That was a very good chimichanga. It was packed with meat! And the meat was juicy & tender. I loved the cheese sauce on top. Our server was working very hard to serve quite a few tables. It took him a while to take our order after bringing our drinks. Because he also had a huge party of 20, that he was serving. He was nice and our food came out very soon after we ordered. The next time we travel here to Chattanooga, we plan to come back!

We love La Altena. Great service and the food is even better. Love to go on Tuesday for margarita…read morespecials and Tacos.

Highly recommend! Stopped in during a trip at the convention center. Food was amazing, margaritas…read morewere solid, price was the cherry on top. Everything was beyond reasonable. I got the chicken chimichanga and a $5 marg, it was the perfect lunch. Had that hole in the wall feel, but the u side was very nice and well kept. If Im ever back in town I'll be stopping by again.

Tasty food, friendly service, good value, casual atmosphere. We always get the "fajitas mixed."read more

After such a great dinner last time we went back. What happened? We were so excited for the same…read moremeal as last time? No diet anything to drink, quesabirrias brought out to us literally burned. The green sauce that was so great last time? Not even close. Worst part remember the birria broth that was so fabulous not even same type. So 1 either a different cook. 2. Different recipes but worst no consistency. Actually we were shocked that the waitress even brought the quessbirria out burned. I guess we're back to finding a great Mexican food restaurant in Chattanooga. Have a 3 instead of a 2 as I'll just say I guess it's hit or miss.

Tried this for the first time today with friends. The decor is modern and interesting with good…read moreartwork on the walls making for a good experience. The menu is not typical Mexican, it's very extensive and innovative. All of the dishes we had were tasty seasoned well and perfect portions. Our waitress was very friendly, helpful and knowledgeable couldn't ask for better. Will definitely be back.

had a group here with some friends. I really love the ambience, which was very Instagram social…read moremedia picture friendly there were so many moments to take photos. They had so many backdrops of and murals as well as affects to their walls and picture moments. The food and the service were excellent even with the mistakes were made. They were course corrected, and I would definitely go back here again.

Food- 4.5/5 Atmosphere- 4.6/5…read more Service- 5/5 In a town where there are Mexican restaurants on every street and every corner, this one takes the crown. I have been coming here since I was a small child. I have tried almost every Mexican restaurant in Cleveland, but it is hard to beat the consistency of service and food that el Cazador provides. If me and my family life don't know what we want to eat, about 90% of the time that results in us calling in food and using their drive through! Or just sitting outside on the covered patio. If you go please try their wings, their papas fritas(loaded fries) chimichangas, quesabirria, a burrito or a chili relleno.

Of the create your own combo, of the items I chose , the beef taco was the best! The beef was well…read moreseasoned, which was a very pleasant surprise because I almost killed it by asking for hot sauce, but after a bite without the hot sauce, I was glad I didn't because that might have masked the deliciously seasoned beef! The sauce on the other two items was ok but nothing to write home about. They have a 2 - 4 - 1 margarita special, which was just ok ... I wish they advertised their full bar on their menu, I might have ordered something different. All in all, an ok place but make sure to try the beef tacos!

Amaaaazing service! Food was delicious and large portions. Never had to ask for refills. The staff…read moreand manager were SO SWEET to our one year old. They even brought us a huuuuge dessert to share. Very friendly and would highly recommend. Also the cheese dip is one of the best we've had. 100/10!!

Margarita - great, really took the edge off…read more Food - nothing objectionable but nothing to write home about. Service: read on. The restaurant has a wonderful ambiance, with plenty of room, music, and hand-painted furniture. We were greeted promptly and received our water, chips & salsa, and menus right away. The main problem that we saw here was that the management has decided that they "check all the boxes" for a general level of acceptable service, and as long as the customer accepts this unquestioningly, there's no need to go above or beyond. Stephen Covey advises: Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Our server seemed completely unprepared to act as an intermediary between the kitchen and management on one hand, and us (the customers) on the other. When we specified what we wanted, she went away for a long time, then came back, only to be told again what we were asking for. Some examples: Drink menu had no prices. We wanted a breakdown because we knew the drinks were oversized, and wanted to share a margarita. It took a couple of requests to get this. We had to reject the 2 oversized pitchers. Then, Instead of bringing us the oversized pitcher with 2 glasses, it was the oversized pitcher with one glass, so one person was drinking out of the pitcher through a straw, waiting for the other person to be ready for a refill of their glass. Awkward. Fortunately, the margarita was superb and (almost) worth the wait. But having to pour from a pitcher with no spout was messy, and of course we had to request extra napkins to clean up the mess. And of course the napkins took awhile to arrive. Might I add, it was a Thursday night and we were virtually the only patrons in the dining room. A good restaurant does not need to have the customers spell out complaints in a Yelp review. Again referencing Stephen Covey, "Be proactive." Anticipate likely requests such as prices on the menu, customers wanting to share a pitcher of drinks, extra salsa, extra napkins, dietary exceptions such as no beans. Chips & salsa: Come ON! Three adults, a modest bowl of chips, and one thimble-sized souffle cup of salsa? After which, when the entrees came, we had to ask for more? We were asking each other jokingly if there were tariffs on salsa that we hadn't heard about. Ordering directly off the menu with no deviations or substitutions was almost guaranteed to get us what we wanted. Still, the portions were heavy on rice, okay on the main dishes, and positively miserly on sauces, dressings, and condiments...the things that most restaurants provide without having to be asked. One member of our party ordered and very explicitly asked for no beans to be included with the carnitas. Sure enough, wall to wall beans, and my friend sent the whole plate back for de-beaning. Again, someone in charge was apparently thinking "Nonsense! Everybody likes beans. There must be some mistake. We'll just give them beans regardless, and they'll thank us for it." No. Give the customer what they asked for, the first time. All in all, we were hungry, and we were fed. But as per the above, there were problems. And when there are problems, communicated to the server, it's vital that the server come back shortly after delivering the food, to ask how everything is, and if there's anything else that might improve the experience. For example, some sour cream would have been nice on the tacos dorados. But the server stayed far away for the remainder of the meal, so there was no opportunity to requvisits. Tellingly, no other senior waitstaff or managers came by to inquire as to our level of satisfaction. They just didn't seem to care. El Meson has occupied their prime site in Chattanooga for many years and can be an enjoyable place to gather. But for smaller parties who know what they want, this restaurant needs to work harder and smarter to earn their respect and return vidits.

Tonight was one of the worst experiences we've had here yet…read more There were three of us and our friend ordered a steak burrito and wanted red sauce instead of cheese sauce. Wanted the rice and beans in the burrito. They came in the burrito however they put cheese sauce on it and then charged him for a side of rice ($2), AND a side of red sauce ($3.50). The burrito was small and cold. My husband ordered the Hawaiian tacos, again, cold. I ordered the chicken tortilla soup which we had here a week ago and it was amazing. Tonight it was awful! I told the waitress and she didn't seem to care. It had an off flavor and I was afraid to eat it. It was only 8:30 and she was basically rushing us to pay and leave. On our way out she actually said " I hope the soup is better next time"! It's too bad this restaurant isn't more consistent and that a manager isn't checking in with the customers. This place could be amazing all the time if properly run.

Visiting friends in the area, we decided to do happy hour with a waterfront view last Thursday, aka…read moreAmigos. Not very crowded and reasonably priced, we ordered a couple of vodka cranberry cocktails, salsa, and guacamole to split. All were tasty. The staff were friendly too. A good go to place for happy hour - Amigos.