La Casa Mexicana Inc — Restaurant in Edwardsville

La Casa is miserably mediocre. This review has been written after 3 poor experiences. Their food is bland and lacks authenticity (i.e. canned or processed foods); service is frequently awkward and poor. I ate with a group recently, and the waitress--despite our graciousness (always saying please and thank you)--seemed bereft that we were giving her orders. When my friend did not enjoy a quesadilla ordered a la carte, we simply informed the manager that the dish was unappetizing and that we would like to not add it to the bill. Rather than apologize for the experience, the manager insisted that my friend was wrong: "What about the nachos?" he asked, inferring that she must have had picky tastes or that she simply felt full and didn't want to pay. "I can take the food back," the manager said, "but we would lose money." What they really lost were four customers. Finally after an inappropriately confrontational instant, the manager removed the platter of quesadillas from the table. Service at that point was so bad, we actually laughed. The waitress all but completely ignored us; we did not receive the check for at least half an hour after everyone had boxed their meals. Having worked in the restaurant business, the first rule of business is that the customer is always right. This restaurant clearly has lost the point. Not...

I was extremely excited to come here. I hadn't had Mexican food since before the pandemic and they also had their patio open. It was a beautiful day and I was expecting great things. Unfortunately, it didn't go as planned. My friend, who is pregnant, ordered a drink but without the alcohol. The server brought her the drink with alcohol. She said she would have them remake it and they brought a completely different drink. We gave up on getting the right one. I ordered a water with a lemon and never got the lemon. Not too big of a deal. However, the food was extremely dry. There weren't many vegetables on a plate that should have veggies. I saw 3 peas total and that was it for veggies. I ran out of water at one point and couldn't get our server's attention for about 10 minutes. She just didn't come back for a long time. When she did bring my water back, she didn't even say a thing but set it on the edge of the table next to me. I almost knocked it over because I didn't even see her come back nor did I realize it was there. When we asked for the check, it was like we were causing such an inconvenience for her. It just wasn't a good experience. Bad food, bad service, and a bad attitude aren't things I care to pay for so I probably...

I had time to kill before picking up a catering order near by and it was lunchtime. I had already experienced other restaurants in the area and was craving Mexican, so La Casa was an easy choice.

The complimentary chips and salsa were good. The chips were thin, warm and crisp. However, the salsa could have used a little more spice. Recently, my go to adult beverage when dining Mexican is a, Paloma. That was a bad choice here. The Paloma here, was totally flavorless. To be honest, I couldn't even tell if there was any alcohol in it at all.

Best part of my visit, was my entree. I enjoyed three soft shelled Shrimp Tacos and they were delicious. The shrimp stuffed into the tacos were prepared well and they were huge. My side of Mexican Rice was very good. Typically, I am not a fan of Mexican Rice, but theirs was soft and seasoned well. Wish all Mexican restaurants made it this well.

If you're in the area and want some good Mexican, I'd say La Casa is...