La Fiesta — Restaurant in Athens-Clarke County Unified Government

We often go to La fiesta, because the food is pretty good. But tonight something was off in the kitchen. Maybe because it was the day after a severe storm where power was lost during yesterday evening and all night and power is still out in some parts of the city here in Athens, Georgia.

One of the orders was a fajita, which normally comes out on a sizzling metal plate with cooked onions, green peppers, and beef and tortillas to roll them up in. Tonight it was way off the norm. The onions were very underdone, too crunchy and very sharp. The peppers were barely cooked and the beef was not hot, but barely warm . And after we ordered the food, they brought it out rather quickly, which suggested that it was already made and sitting somewhere and maybe they just kept it under a hot lamp or in the oven on warm. It wasn’t freshly cooked at all. After our meal, we mentioned this to our waitress. She was very friendly and apologetic, but she also gave us excuses that the kitchen was short staffed, and everybody has been working nonstop with no breaks all day probably due to the storm.

I understand and they have my empathy, but what do they think we’ve been doing all day? Leading the life of luxury? We work too and we paid good money for a good meal, which, unfortunately tonight was not the case. If they can’t operate properly and make a proper meal then maybe they should not have opened at all. Our waitress took just over two dollars off of the meal. Nice, but I would have expected not to pay anything for that one dish we had ordered. But this will not stop us from going there again. We understand sometimes restaurants have an off night, but I would’ve expected more in the way of compensation, or a little more effort in the kitchen than to serve food that was far below par and their normal standard. I mean…did they think we...

The Mexican cuisine at La Fiesta is sub-par, particularly compared to Mexican meals elsewhere. The food is exceptionally bland, consists of cheap ground beef. My son's meal was inedible..deep fried outer with the grossest chicken meat, if it could even be identified as chicken. The meals consists of no lettuce, guacamole, or tomatoes, and to get these, unlike other Mexican places, you have to pay extra! 1.50 for a small bowl of iceberg; and clearly, the restaurant is trying to keep food prices lowered by charging exorbitant prices for tea and water...seven dollars of the bill for tea and a sprite. I wonder that Athens' customers are satisfied with the cutting corners, sensationally bland food, and exorbitant prices for a simple tea and sprite. I don't think the cook knows anything about Mexican cuisine, and the owners are clearly cutting a lot of corners that other great Mexican restaurants do not. Two meals and drinks..$37.00. Only thing positive is the 98 food score. Servers weren't particularly gracious either. I am sorry Athens customers don't have a better choice. Visit Los Cerritos in Cornelia, owned by owners who understand Mexican cuisine, and you will experience excellent Mexican food and friendly service, and you will never...

I ordered the California burrito. There were hardly any black beans even though I specifically asked for them. there was five times as Much rice and refried beans inside then there should have been and the rice was dry to the point of dehydration. It was ordered correctly so this is due to lack of skill in the kitchen not at the take out counter! I asked for tomatoes and got pico even after clarifying I wanted chopped tomatoes. I was given a garnish type lettuce unlike the nice shreds that usually come with these dishes. So that was completely wilted. It was thrown away uneaten literally garbage no seasoning flavorless mush. You can always tell the true quality of a place by its take out food. Because they know they can get away with poor execution of a dish. Someone isn’t keeping an eye on the kitchen and doesn’t care and it shows. It was dead in there tonight.save your money go to taco stand...