Kandela Tacos & Tequilas (Formerly La Santa Tacos & Tequilas) — Restaurant in Florida

Molcajete Quest #1

Mexican food is fantastic. Often, a combination of several common ingredients (avocado, beans, corn, chili peppers, cheese, herbs, lard, tomatoes, you get the idea) presented in different ways. For example, is there really a fundamental difference between a taco and a tostada? Or aren't the rice and beans inside a burrito similar to the rice and beans you sometimes get as a side dish? Of course, some restaurants do it better, and tastier than others. Personally, I'd order from a taco truck over a Taco Bell any day.

Growing up in Southern California, there was no shortage of Mexican eateries and I had my favorite haunts. Yet regardless of where I went, I almost always chose a combination plate of rice, refried beans, and either a taco, tostada, enchilada, tamale, etc. Sometimes, I'd order a fish taco, an al pastor, or a fajita plate. So when I visited La Santa Tacos & Tequilla with my friend from rural Tennessee, I was set to order an old habit. "Have you ever had a molcajete?" she asked. "A molca-what?" I responded. "It's like a stew." "Really?" "You mean you're from Southern California and never heard of a molcajete?" "Uhm, uh.. no..." I somewhat shamefully admitted.

She convinced me to try their Molcajete Azteca and holy smokes! I found my new favorite Mexican dish. Wow!

The molcajete is basically a mortar made of volcanic rock and is used to grind foods into powder. The pestle, called a "tejolote" is the complimentary stone tool. Yet here, the molcajete is presented as an overflowing stew filled with steak, chicken breast, shrimp, peppers, pineapple, chorizo, etc. The bowl arrives piping hot, and is served with a side of rice, beans and tortillas (I recommend corn over flour) and easily feeds two, perhaps three if someone isn't as hungry as the others.

Having all those ingredients mesh together in a stew is a culinary wonder and the communal activity of sharing the bowl makes it great for a date. I put strips of meat, peppers and pineapple on a tortilla and eat them as extra juicy (often messy) tacos. This thing is amazing and I love the way La Santa merges the flavors in their molcajete, which makes for a rich, highly flavorful and filling dish.

So after years of ordering variations on a theme, I have found my new favorite Mexican dish. My only complaint, if I can even call it that, is that the restaurant's only other location outside of Naples is in Boston. But if you're an hour or so away, it's worth trying. La Santa's Molcajete Azteca...

Our experience was completely tarnished by our snake of a server Jocelyn.

Pros - great hosts, great bar service. We started our night at the bar since we were told an hour and a half wait (ended up being less than an hour) & a kind gentleman who was leaving gave me his seat. They were extremely busy but still gave the best attentive service they could.

Cons - Jocelyn. Our table was ready early so we went ahead and sat. My two friends were eating but I had come from an earlier dinner at Divieto ❤️ celebrating my birthday and after the bar, I was just fine with drinks. Our server informed us that if I wasn't eating (even though 2/3 of the table was) there was a limit on our dining time. Mind you, there were empty tables when we left. She brought us our tabs and I was the only one who paid with cash, she brought back receipts for everyone else and didn't bring my change back.... We asked the busboy w/ twists (he was awesome by the way) & we heard him notify her on the radio, she ignored him. She helped the tables around us & didn't even look or way as we tried to catch her attention until our while group had to call to her when she was walking by. I asked her to please bring me my chance & after some pretend confusion she agreed, she even knew how much she owed me back. Then she had the guts to tell us that I didn't ask for change back so she assumed.... She assumed that I was giving her a 65% tip for booting us?! It took us 20 minutes to get my change from her. Then when she finally returned she asked me if I wanted to round up to the dollar & she was literally holding on to the extra dollar in her hand. Pathetic. I told her to keep the dollar, gave her back enough cash to make a 20% tip she did not earn, & sent her on her way. I worked in hospitality in college. You NEVER keep change unless told by the guest or they add unnecessary small bills to make it clear it's a tip. And you ALWAYS carry a small cash bank to handle a situation like that. Then to give us the run around and then grovel at our table after trying to bonus yourself. So much nerve in one person. Servers like that really kill an experience. I don't go to establishments with untrained wait staff. We...

We were a party of 7. The beginning of our experience there seemed like it was starting out good. I have read previous reviews about her and was a bit apprehensive to come but nonetheless gave it a try. We were greeted by our waiter and he took our drink order. Our drinks came out at different times and 2 of the drinks were missing a popsicle that was supposed to come with it. It was brought to the waiter's attention and it was finally brought to them like 15 minutes later. It did came out like super fast that made us turn our heads in shock. Plates ordered were mole, fajitas nachos, carne asada, tacos al pastor. After we finished our meals 3 of us put in to go orders. After waiting 30 minutes we asked the waiter the status of the orders he stated they were being bagged up. Another 30 minutes pass by and we asked again and were given the same answer and i told the waiter we had already heard that. He then brings the manager over to us who then tells us the same thing and offers us a discount off the to go orders. I explained the gesture was nice but we just wanted our meals so that we could leave. Another 25 minutes go by and the meals finally came out. The food was okay, bland not much flavor. The to go orders for more portion wise than ordering a meal in house. The 2 things they have going for them is their decorations and their live mariachi band. Not sure I would recommend or go back there's other places with better quality and service to spend...