La Tierra Mia — Restaurant in Leiria

While we were excited to try this place out, there was a lot left to be desired…. We made reservations (which I don’t even think you need honestly, considering you will still wait forever) and came to find their main entrance locked, even though people were inside. We ended up having to call the restaurant and be let in by one of the staff. We get our menus and order two margaritas and a jarritos (Mexican soda). Our waiter brings our drinks out pretty quickly, however as he drops our margaritas off he clarifies which flavor our friend wanted and then promptly brings the wrong flavor for the soda. Okay, no big deal. We then wait…and wait…and after about 45 minutes we get our orders taken. We order two starters/appetizers and three main dishes. This is where it starts to get comical-our server comes over about 20 minutes later and clarifies what we ordered. After an hour and a half we get finally get one starter (nachos) which was super delicious! Then, we get the guacamole (which was okay, but the portion size is very small, maybe good for one person). Thank goodness we had that because we ended up having to wait FOREVER for our main meals. Our server comes over again to clarify what we ordered for our main meals. We wait, and wait…finally, one dish arrives. We have already drank our beverages long before this point. Then, another dish comes out about 30 minutes later, and finally two of us have finished our meals. We are still waiting for our third and final dish, after more waiting we finally ask the server when we can expect our friends meal-the server completely FORGOT to even input it into their system. We can see the cook rushing to do the order (and may I give a shoutout to the woman cook who is AMAZING and very friendly). Our friend rushed to eat as they were supposed to close by that point. We wanted to try the churros for dessert but we didn’t feel like waiting another 2-3 hours for those, so we opted to go somewhere else. I will add the restaurant was not even busy when we were seated, yet the wait time persisted.

Pros: food is absolutely fresh, delicious, and visually appealing. The decor of the restaurant itself is quaint and cozy, and a decent amount of seating is available. Again, shoutout to the woman who works there-you were very attentive and friendly. They speak Portuguese and English!

Cons: I don’t think this restaurant is prepared to be opened yet, they need way more staff (or just allow less people), wait time was absolutely ridiculous, and our server had no idea what he was doing. It would be fine even if he wrote our orders down with pen and paper, but no. He forgot to input our orders three times and maybe this was due to him taking tequila shots behind the bar area (we counted three times while we were waiting). The staff needs to get their act together, it was seriously ridiculous.

Overall, food is fantastic but sadly the service and wait time made it really difficult to enjoy the meals, especially since we all had our meals brought at different times. We would come back if service was better, but...

After hearing all the buzz on Facebook, we finally made our way to La Tierra Mia in Leiria today. And let me tell you, as a "Mestizo from Texas" who knows Mexican food like I know my own reflection, I am particular. So far, no place in Portugal has quite hit the mark. Until today.

Tucked away on a charming little church square (because nothing says “Mexican” like holy ground), is La Tierra Mia, a cozy, tidy spot run by a young chef from California. Now, I’ll admit—I was skeptical. Californians have "thoughts" on Mexican food, and they’re not always the same as we have in Texas. But this guy? He gets it. The food? Pure, soul-hugging, abuela-level goodness.

We kicked things off with the homemade guac and chips and a couple of margs on the rocks—because PRIORITIES. The margaritas? Made with silver tequila (my preference, obviously), fresh lime, and orange liqueur. No sickly-sweet, fluorescent-green mix in sight. A Dios mio! The guac was simple and fresh—avocado, lime, cilantro, salt, pepper, maybe a whisper of garlic—topped with pico de gallo. One bite, and I knew this was not some gringo pretending to know Mexican food. Portion was a little small, but honestly, have you seen avocado prices lately?! I wasn’t about to complain.

Then came the "Burrito Molhado" com frango (carne available for an upcharge), and folks, I may have seen the face of God. A giant tortilla, stuffed to the brim with rice, beans, pico, and beautifully marinated grilled chicken, then smothered in a mild red sauce with a drizzle of sour cream and a dollop of guac. It was EVERYTHING! I did spy some dry burritos and a quesadillas at other tables, which I’ll have to circle back for. By the time we finished our massive burritos, there was zero chance of squeezing in dessert—tragic, because I had my heart set on an order of churros. Lesson learned: next time, we pace ourselves.

As for the vibe? Cute and tastefully decorated with just enough Mexican flair. One wall is stocked with Mexican pantry staples (fajita seasoning, come to papa). If I had to nitpick, I’d say it could use some ambient lighting—maybe a few strings of fairy lights or floor lamp, or two, to soften the dark corners. But that’s just me being fussy. (Imagine that!)

Final verdict? A solid 8.5 out of 10, and I fully expect that to climb once we work our way through the menu. Service was very friendly, food was 100% on point, and I’m already plotting our...

I have been travelling around central Portugal with a couple of friends. We have eaten all types of cuisines, Portuguese, Italian, Indian, Chinese. In Leiria we decided to have mexican and reserved a table for lunch. Coincidentally, all 3 of us only eat one meal a day, so when we go to a restaurant we order quite a bit of food. The first impression of this restaurant was that it seemed a bit dark inside. We sat down and saw a menu card on the table with 3 set menus, tacos, tostadas or a burrito bowl. We asked the waiter if they had an a la carte menu to order from, to which he replied that it wasn't available at that time. So basically there were only 3 things to choose from, no burrito, no quesadilla, no nachos, no enchiladas.. very strange. All 3 of us ordered the tacos which came with 3 tacos each. After a while the waiter came over and said that they were out of the tortillas they use for the tacos, but they can use another type of tortilla which is bigger, and since they're bigger, we will get 2 tacos each instead. I believe they should have just offered 3 tacos anyway for the inconvenience. The tacos arrived and they seemed really small, so I was left wondering what the original tacos looked like. The food wasn't too bad, but for the really long wait, yes they are slow, I would have expected the meat to be at least hot, which it was not. In the set menu, dessert was included, but only 2 types of ice cream, no churro, for example. Also beware they do not accept payment with foreign cards, not even cards issued in the EU, luckily we had some cash on us. In the end I left really dissatisfied and hungry, we actually went somewhere else to eat afterwards. Why on earth couldn't they make burritos? Or even extra tacos? For example, let the customer add tacos to the set menu for 2.50€ each or something. I wish them luck with their business, but they don't seem too interested...