La Presa Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Grand Coulee

I frequently pass through Grand Coulee for work and always see Lapresa as I'm heading back to Spokane (but never as I'm coming in the other way, for some reason). After dropping off some precious cargo, I thought I would finally pop in to Lapresa to see if it was any good.

I am going to ask that you take this with a tiny grain of salt, due to this being Memorial Day Weekend and all, but I won't lean too heavily on that little factoid. The restaurant itself was very hot, and the fans weren't even running (a simple 7 second trick to help at least get circulation going inside. I wanted to cheat a little bit because I wasn't super interested in what my wife was cooking for when I got home, so I just wanted to order something small. Therefore, the nachos appetizer seemed like a good shot. I'll say, it wasn't bad, but the corn chips were definitely super soggy by the time it got to me, a problem that occasionally happens, especially if there's a LOT of substance on top of it like meat and beans. This is normally fantastic, except I ordered an appetizer. For a party of 10, this would have been a great starter. For a party of 1 who had ordered it as a small snack, this was a monster.

The staff was very friendly, and the environment was clean and lively (see again that this was Memorial Day Weekend, so I can't say whether or not this is average or just a factor of this amazing holiday). However, when finished, I asked for the check and then proceeded to wait 20 minutes for it, having asked a second time about 10 minutes in. They weren't slammed or anything either, so it isn't like they were serving more than they could handle. It honestly just looked like a combination of lack of communication between waiting staff and general inattentiveness. It happens, but when I've only ordered one "small" thing to eat and go, I'm hoping I can get in quickly. I was waiting by the cash register when I finally got my check, and the cashier came with another card from another family, charged that one like I wasn't standing there (again, possibly inattentiveness or maybe I just prioritize differently in a professional setting), gave the card and receipt back to the family, THEN finally got to me. Not 100% sure if I was just already annoyed by the heat, massive "appetizer", and late check, or if that's normal to just blow off someone already waiting to pay and leave in order to get to the people still sitting down. Had I gotten the check quickly in the first place, I probably wouldn't have thought anything of it. Nevertheless, my experience was not as pleasurable as I had hoped. Billy Burger is probably going to be my go-to restaurant along this route from...

I rarely drop a 5-star review for restaurants, but this place really deserves it. We were immediately greeted and seated before we even had a chance to stop at the 'please wait to be seated' sign.

Before we sat down, the chips (made daily) and delicious salsa were on the table. The salsa is maybe a bit spicey for those who aren't fans of spice, but I am, and it's one of my top salsas at a restaurant now.

The service is outstanding. We were never left with an empty glass, and the food was out promptly.

I had a combo of enchilada, taco, and tamal. My son had the enchilada and taco combo. My daughter had the Carne Asada, and my wife had the Camerones a la Diabla.

Everything was delicious, fresh, and authentic. The Carne, which I sampled 🤣 had an amazing char flavor. The shrimp were not overcooked in the Camerones, which is rare, and the sauce was incredible.

Overall, this place really impressed me. It's also clean...

We had dinner here last night and the food was very good, and the service was prompt. The waitress immediately asked us for our drink order and then acted frustrated when we wanted to look at the drink menu and make a decision. The service from there on out continued to be too quick for our liking. We felt very rushed. We were finishing our meal and my grandson was dipping his dinner in my sauce and the waitress yanked the plate out from under him. Then she barely let us get our food boxed up before taking the rest of the plates. She was hovering and asking if we were done boxing up our plates. Not enjoyable one bit. Slow down and let your customers enjoy their time in your...