la patrona restaurante — Restaurant in Isla Mujeres

This was a very disappointing experience and a review I am very sorry to have to write….but I review every place we visit whether good or bad. I typically do so via Trip Advisor but this restaurant is not on there yet. I’ve written hundreds and hundreds of reviews…most are overwhelmingly positive..just so you understand I am not some troll bashing this place. I had high hopes after seeing some others comment on various FB groups but after visiting I’m only left with regret that I wasted one of our meals here when this island has the most amazing eating establishments.

So, we sat upstairs and I was super excited bc this place is as cute as they come. The young man who waited on us was adorable…sooooo nice. Upon his recommendation, we ordered mango mojitos and were splitting an order of the queso birria tacos.

It took quite a while to get the mojitos. They were pretty good but I did not see or taste any mango in them. No biggie.

Then come the tacos. They looked great on the plate. First bite was a little ok. Second bite I found myself unable to get my teeth through and then I saw why..there was a huge…and I mean HUGE piece of fat or a tendon or something that filled up over half of that taco. I could not believe that the kitchen could miss that and it screamed low quality control. I looked in the 3/4 of the remaining taco on my plate and saw no edible meat. I was done. Then, my husband, who had eaten about half of his taco said his was full of fat…..and that was all we ate. 1 but for me and 1/2 a taco for him. And then we waited…and waited….and waited..and finally our server came to check on us and I showed him what was found in my taco and we told him we couldn’t eat them. He said he’d see what he could go and he took them away.

Then we waited and waited and waited and he never came back…finally, we went downstairs and stood at the bar. When he comes back he tells us the owner is willing to give us half off. We didn’t think we should pay for any of that nasty meal, but we just wanted to get out of there so we did not argue and we told him it was fine.

We waited for a bit longer and he came back with our check. They had reduced the bill by half..so half off the drinks and the uneaten tacos. Mathematically, this was a bigger discount than if they’d only charged us for the drinks so in the end it was right-ish. Not sure if that’s how they intended it to be or not. We still tipped the server and he looked shocked that we did…he wasn’t efficient but he was kind and I know others have had good experiences here so it had to be an off night. I just wish I had a do over that night to spend our...

What a great find we happened upon today for lunch! They have a small outside bar that was VERY well stocked with premium spirits and manned by Francisco who provided excellent service. We went here primarily because they accept credit cards, something that has become a rarity on the island, even though they charge 5%, it was well worth it. Francisco made us a couple of Red Sangrias to start which were done very well, not too sweet and with a bit of spice. We ordered the classic nachos which were way more than we expected and quite enjoyable. The chef was working on a new Caprese appetizer and sent an order out for us to try and it was outstanding, something I would definitely order. I had the Chicken Tacos which came with a spicy Salsa Verde and sour cream...tasty. My wife had the Mac & Cheese with Chicken which was outstanding with a nice garlic cream sauce. Francisco was outstanding as was Paco the Manager. Thank you guys for making this a great experience, best food we've had on...

Had heard a few reviews before we came to Isla mid February. During a day out on the golf cart we stopped in (after lunch I might add) but still wanted to try their tacos. Ivan greeted us immediately and told us about his favorite menu items. We split the steak tacos and they were fantastic! I wish I was hungrier at the time to try more but will definitely be back. The location is cute and of course with the owners of Inkaholics at the helm you know the decor and murals on the wall are 10/10. They have a cute upstairs area and I'm sure it's so pretty to eat here for dinner at night!

Drinks were tasty, we had a cucumber watermelon margarita and they added a touch of jalapeño to mine. I'm already counting down the...