La Esperanza — Restaurant in Elkhart

Service was great, quick, food was out in minutes. Beer was great.... that's about all and the only reason for two stars. Visiting from out of state I should have known anything with "Authentic" in the name of the restaurant IS NOT. Food was mediocre at best. I ordered their Burrito. Beans are from a can with American cheese, tortilla to the burrito was cold, white, and over processed store bought. The ground beef was made with store bought taco seasoning? Or some deep red oil seasoning junk that made it look like cat food. Rice may have been from a mix, not enough tomato sauce and cumino...very bland and no flavor. The horchata is definitely​ from a powder mix that taste like fake cinnamon, reminds me of watered down hot tamales (the candy). Several locals recommended this place for the great food, makes me sad they aren't experiencing real authentic taste/food. If you're looking for real Mexican food and not fake processed American menu, look elsewhere. Taco Bell may have a leg up on this place minus...

We walked in for lunch and waited for them to seat us. Once seated, it took about 15 mins for them to come give us menus and still didn't take our drink order. A few mins later, someone came and took our drink order and brought chips and salsa. After about 20 mins, they took our order. We then waited for over an hour and nothing. When a couple that had walked in about 10 mins before got their food, they realized that we had been sitting there. Normally, we would have walked out, but we were trying to be patient as with Covid most restaurants are shorthanded and it looked like they might have been too. At that point, someone walked over and asked if we had placed our order. We told them never mind, we had waited over an hour and didn't want to wait any longer. They offered us our drinks at no charge, but nothing else was said. Even the person who took our order was behind the bar watching like he didn't remember...

The food was excellent. Nice clean place. From the start, the chips and salsa were very good. I ordered the tow tacos pastor. One flour one corn both mexican style. My order arrived both flour shells. :( I just went with it. The pastor is excellently flavored. I also ordered a chicken tamale on the side. It was covered in a delicious mildly spicy sauce. I did request some salsa verde. It was very bland tomatillo flavor. Once the food was served, no one was around. It is not a big place. I needed more napkins. I had to go in the bathroom and get some towels. Luckily, nothing was too spicy, so I did not need a water refill. When the service was there they were friendly. If they fix the service, I would give them 5 stars!! We shall see. I will try...