Original's Café Mexicano — Restaurant in Port Moody

Came here thanks to a friends recommendation and they did not disappoint. The exterior of the restaurant is a cute yellow house and when you walk in, it has a very homey feel to it. Perfect for on a cold day and I noticed that they had a patio, which I assume is great during the summer. The place looks like it seats maybe 20-30 people, so it’s pretty small.

I ordered 4 of their plant based tacos and added cheese, which was cooked onto the tortilla - I would definitely recommend doing this as it levelled up the tacos! And yes, they have many vegetarian options here. I’d say my favourite was the Raja’s, but I had no complains about any of them. I believe it comes on a small corn tortilla, which they really pack up with toppings, so you should prepare to get your hands dirty. They were flavourful, lots of different textures going on (in a good way) and some were relatively simple. I will say for the size of the tacos, $5.5 (not including added cheese) per taco is a bit steep, but you’ll definitely leave content. My only wish was that when you added cheese, they would let it crisp up a bit more to add a crunch, that would’ve been amazing. As for my friend, he got a wet chicken burrito. It was very saucy and he enjoyed it, but it just looked like a basic burrito. Can’t speak much about it because I didn’t try it.

Overall, food was great, alongside the service and ambiance. If I’m in the area, I’d come back to try their other entree’s, but it’s definitely not one of those cheap Mexican eats. I actually think their prices are more on the steeper side. If you wanna see if it’s worth it, I’d say try it for yourself! I'd give this place a 4.5 star if I could solely...

Great food, nicely done drinks, cute, casual and cosy little space.

Nacho platter for our shared started was gobbled up.

Delicious margaritas - we tried lime, strawberry and chamomile pineapple, all were excellent, and they had a hibiscus one that was amazing too! Tried the Copa de nada and it packed a punch but wasn't too tasty, next time I will just stick to the margaritas.

Our food arrived in good time and with impressive presentation. Birthday girl and her date reported their Burritos were excellent. The new on the menu Camarones al ajillo were tasty and well enjoyed. The picky one ordered Flautas, and they accommodated his special request without issue - he loved them. I had the fajitas de pollo and would definitely order that again, portions were all big enough that a few of us took some home - just about lit the place up trying to wrap them up at the table, the small space and proximity to the candle made for an exciting couple of seconds. Pretty sure the bartender had one eye on us, with all those margaritas, as when the incident happened he casually walked over and opened up the door for a few moments. Ooops. We were all pretty full at the end of our evening, but enjoyed sharing the Churros the birthday girl received.

Even with a reservation, they called us and requested that we come 30 minutes earlier and threatened to seat us outside if we didn't. Well, it felt like a threat on a cold and windy night, a covered patio and heater only do so much! So we rushed our arrival. Part of the charm perhaps! Popular place with a bit of buzz. In my books, they are 2nd only to Aquis De Mexico for a great Mexican style meal out!

Great...

I have a lot to unload here and not for the good reasons. Here are the facts: Initial service: I got there without a reservation, so I was asked to wait while they get their outside seating ready. This took about 10-15 minutes. When I finally sat down, I sat down the server for menu recommendations but she wasn't really knowledgeable with the menu. Most of the servers seemed to lack training.

Missed order: Our appetizers came soon enough, but the server forgot to check in our mains. I flagged down the server 3 times before they finally realized my main order wasn't entered into their POS. After getting my appetizers, I waited about 45 minutes before finally getting the main. The server brought over 2 free beers for me and my friend as their apology.

Mice: We saw a mice casually hanging around in the outside shack. Just chilling and doing its own thing. The outdoor turf they had for the ground is hard to clean, which I imagine would attract critters.

Outside shack: I highly doubt this shack passed safety checks. It was raining heavily that day, and there was rain spraying onto our table. The ground is slanted and had our table rocking.

Pricing: For a mid-tier restaurant in random Port Moody, they're priced like a semi upscale restaurant in Vancouver. The food is decent, but both food and drinks are about 15% too expensive, plus with the untrained servers and the poor ambiance, the restaurant offers an overpriced experience.

Overall, I won't go again and I was quite disappointed. I don't think I'd recommend...