La Llorona Progressive Mexican Cuisine — Restaurant in East Lyme

The fact I am writing this review saddens me deeply as I has been a tremendous lover of this restaurant and its culinary addition to southeast Connecticut. For reference, I have brought first dates to this restaurant and met colleagues here after work.

I recently visited and all was going well — we had enjoyed our appetizers and cocktails when our main courses arrived. A member of my party returned a small bowl of shrimp from a family style platter as she thought it smelled off and was tough. The shrimp made up a small portion of the actual plate, and amounted to 3-4 shrimp total. She had given the shrimp to the waitress serving our table and we continued chattering until the owner visited to ask what was wrong with the shrimp. My party member explained the situation to the owner and the owner emphatically denied her claims, indicating that the shrimp was fresh as of the day before and the chef does not agree with her. She asked if he was going to deny her request to which he responded that our party could leave if we wanted to, stunning us all. The severity and hardness of the owners’ response was jarring as the request made by my party member was small. As I said, the bowl she asked be replaced had 3 or 4 shrimp total, and was asked with no hostility or attitude. Although the owner gave us an option to either keep eating without the shrimp or to leave, the atmosphere he created for my party left us feeling with no decision but to leave. As we left the restaurant he followed us out with a dour face.

As I said at the beginning of my review, this episode leaves me only with a sense of loss as I do not feel comfortable visiting a restaurant whose management reacts this harshly to such a small request made without malice. Even if the owner was completely in the right, even if the shrimp were perfect and needed no alteration, to react with such hostility and absoluteness is a gross overreaction. I am sorry to say I will not...

Decent food, although menu seemed limited. If you have an dietary restrictions, there was really nothing here to eat. Being from California, and having been to Mexico a dozen times, I think I'm as much an expert on Mexican food as you'll find in CT (except maybe from an actual Mexican). The fish tacos were excellent, although I thought the sweet slaw was a bit too sweet for my taste. The fish was of course fresh (but we are a stone's throw from the ocean, so it better be!). The tostadas were decent - chicken a bit dry/bland, but had nice presentation and "extras" on top. My boyfriend loves radishes and red onions, so he was happy (I despise both, so I tossed mine onto his tostada). I can't believe we had to pay $20 for chips, salsa and guac. More than for the actual meal - more than a cocktail! I can't recall any Mexican restaurant that charged for chips and salsa at all - ever, so that was a bit shocking. Must be an East Coast thing. The service was friendly, but not particularly attentive. We had to flag down our waitress 3 or 4 times during our meal - another round of drinks, water refill, more napkins, get the check, take the check away, etc. The restaurant was not particularly busy, and mostly the staff was chit chatting amongst themselves. Again, quite friendly, but it could have been more attentive. I will probably not come here again unless it's someone else's idea. I'm hopeful there is something...

I typically dont leave poor reviews BUT as a native New Yorker and traveler, I feel responsible to leave an honest review to prevent other ppl expecting a “progressive” dining experience from being disappointed. From the decor to the food; everything is below average and outdated. Biggest No No is they actually charge for chips and salsa. I am including photos of a local restaurant in my town - that actually is progressive. You can judge for yourself if La Llorona even comes close - And of course they include complimentary infinite from- scratch delicious chips and salsa. We hv several authentic Mexican restaurants in our area and they ALL include complimentary homemade chips n salsa. I’ve only been to one other Mexican restaurant that charged for chips n salsa and that restaurant only lasted a few months before shutting down. Our meals at La Llorona had little flavor, no garnish and taste like something you would order at a theme park. Llorona, unless you are willing to update your overall Interior and actually serve well prepared food; please remove “Progressive” from your business name and stop charging for chips and salsa!! Otherwise change your name simply to Llorona and save many customers from leaving your...