La Hacienda Mexican Restaurant - Columbia — Restaurant in Columbia

Update: I moved to Columbia in January 2013. La Hacienda was the first place I went for dinner. It was excellent then and has consistently been delicious since. It is our favorite place to go. We feel like we are at home there. We love the Shrimp Diabla and Hawaiian Nachos the best. Oh and the carnitas are scrumptious. Ooh and the shrimp cocktail is always fresh and light. There is also the Guacamole en su mesa made fresh the way we like it at the table. The margaritas are always a favorite. They also have the coldest most delicious Dos Equis Amber on tap. They have two for one Rita's most days before 6pm. Give them a try. You won't be sorry.

Original post: I've lived inColumbia for six and a half years and La Hacienda is our favorite place to eat out. I am originally from Texas and quite picky about Mexican food. The food is great. The staff is always excellent and friendly. The prices are reasonable. The margaritas are wonderful...

We had so much fun here. We had a group of 7 people. We got happy hour for 2 for 1 margaritas and got our swerve on (delicious).

I had the shredded chicken quesadilla. Family members got the Chimichnga meal. The bean and cheese dip is fantastic. The food is pretty damn good and pretty cheap for how much food you get. The waiter, Gabriel, was awesome! We kept ordering margaritas and knocking them back and he kept up the pace and brought fresh rounds for us. He was also on top of bringing fresh chips and salsa without our group having to ask. I love this place. Freaking awesome.

I'm going to come here again next time I'm in town...

The food was flavorless and literally watered down. The refried beans were as runny as soup. This place offers a lunch buffet, but do not waste your time. Nothing on the bar is marked, and some food items were wrapped up. You will play a guessing game trying to figure out what you're putting on your plate. The food had been sitting there for so long, the meat was tough and dry. I bit into a fried banana (which was topped with the watered down chocolate syrup) and had to spit it out because it was black mush on the inside. With so many Mexican restaurants in the area, I would suggest eating at one of them instead...