La Lomita — Restaurant in Isla Mujeres

Please do yourself a favor and read latest reviews for this “restaurant”.

We had dinner here - according to reviews good local restaurant. But the reality is different. We ordered calamares con ajo and fried fish, two margheritas and one salsa mexicana.

Then we waited for about 15 minutes, we got salsa and margheritas. Salsa was OK, not amazing. Margherita tasted like lime lemonade - lots of sugar, tequilla nowhere.

Then after another 15 minutes the waiter came up with problem that he only had bigger fish than we wanted - here I would add that we were sitting at the freezer, from where the staff was pulling out all the food.

Well, after 30 minutes, two margheritas and one salsa they began to handle our order. We wanted to change it, instead of fried fish for shrimp. There was no problem.

After that cooking took about 10 minutes. The calamari and shrimp were extremely greasy without a strong taste. As a side dish of rice and bean soup - bean soup was only one delicious. We ate about half the portions and paid quickly.

Resumé:

1. It is obviously a family restaurant, where the father and mother work as waitresses and there are daughters in the kitchen.
2. The staff didn't seem to know what they were doing. It looked like disorganized chaos.
3. One star I give to cook - she made 99% of work.
4. Bill: 2x150$ for margherita, 55$ for salsa, 180$ calamari, 240$ shrimp.

I highly don’t recommend this restaurant, it is neither good or cheap. It is best to avoid it...

Beware the cook!

I'm really torn on this review, as the first time I went to this restaurant I (and the rest of my party) thought the food was awesome, drinks were great, and all felt we should come back again during our visit. Which we did. Now we're sorry for that. The second time, the first thing we noticed was that there was a different cook (this is a very small establishment and you can see right into the kitchen). Don't know if this second is their regular cook, or if the first was (I'm hoping it's the first), because with the second, the food was super salty and some plates weren't finished cooking.

I didn't catch the cooks' names, however, the first one was a guy, and the second was a lady. The lady also did not bother with the attention to plate detail and garnish that the guy did.

After the first visit, I was ready to rate this place a 5 (obviously I thought it was good as we went back), but the second rated closer to a 2. The drink sizes were much smaller in additional to the food issues I already mentioned. Additionally, the second time, the guy that had been waiting on us decided he was done working and left right as we were wanting our check. This left the girls in the kitchen working for about 10 minutes to figure out what our total was.

I can't say I've had a more Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde dining...

A true gem of the Mexican Caribbean, La Lomita is as traditional as Mexican food gets. Most menu's in a resort town like this cater to tourists at least a little by adding obligatory french fries and a page dedicated to tacos. The only thing you'll find here is a simple menu all in Spanish with family recipes made by practiced hands.

Served on terracotta dishware in an endlessly charming and colorful environment, this will easily be some of the best Mexican food you'll ever taste period. The chili relleno is famous for a reason, stuff it with your favorites then stuff your face. The cocktails were simple yet strong, and everyone working was genuinely kind and helpful. Prices are well below average for the island, even though I'd gladly pay double for this kind of culinary adventure.

If you have been wandering the chaotic streets of Centro searching for an authentic experience before heading on the ferry back home, welcome to your salvation. Take a step off the beaten path and pull up a chair. Come hungry, and leave fulfilled in more ways than one. This place is what Mexico is...