Casa Colima Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Happy Valley

Due to the two other places we wanted to go to being closed, we decided to give this place a try. We ordered coffee to drink which was served fresh and very hot. It was delicious. Rich but not bitter. My fiancee got the fish soup, and I got the chile sampler which included a chile relleno, chile verde, and chile colorado along with rice and beans. The soup was okay, the stock was flavorful but it tasted like the veggies were frozen and the fish wasn't much better. For the chile sampler plate, it was also okay but nothing was spicy at all which is a huge component of Mexican food. For the chile verde, it was somewhat plain missing cumin and other important flavors, the meat was pretty tender though. I ended up borrowing some lime and cilantro with onions from my fiancee's dish and that helped a lot. The chile relleno had plenty of cheese but again, the salsa was not spicy at all and missing flavor, and the egg coating seemed very soggy even for something that's supposed to be submerged. The chile colorado tasted like the sauce came from a can or jar and missing the smoky flavor associated with that dish; the meat for this dish was also very tender. The beans were definitely missing some love as well but tasted like beans. The rice was cooked well and fluffy, but also just not flavored that great. It seems like all the flavors were just very toned down and muted which is not at all what I'm looking for in Mexican food. We both asked for corn tortillas with our meals, however it seems like it's a common thing around here to not grill the tortillas. They were edible but just not cooked very well, I ended up mostly eating chips with my meal. The chips were very crunchy with good flavor, but again the salsa was not spicy at all with very muted flavors. The best part of the visit were the chips, coffee, and our waiter.

The waiter was very friendly, attentive, and quick. He was a true pleasure.

We might come back for drinks as they looked good but the food was a bit...

It was our first time having dinner here on March 3rd, 2024.

5/5 for ambiance. We love the painted chairs and tables. They are so pretty and vibrant in color, instantly boosting your happy mood as soon as you walk into the door.

5/5 for service. The super attentive server checked in with us frequently throughout the busy Saturday night dinner hours. They were between 80% and 90% capacity, though the bar was empty.

3.5/5 for food. Our total dinner was $68.22. -Zero Proof Tamarindo, $5.77: It was lighter in Tamarindo base and a bit too sweet for my taste. -Fish Ceviche, $17.95: It is lime-based and okay in taste. I was disappointed the fish was mined instead of cubed. It didn't come with any chips. There was too much-chopped tomato, which overpowered the minced fish. -Combo 3, $19.50: You can pick any three items and protein. We got one chicken taco, one chicken tamale, and one pork tamale. The tamales were wrapped in corn hush. There was not much masa on the tamales and not much flavor on either chicken or pork. My husband loved the chicken taco and said he would order just the taco next time. -Comala Steak, $25: This was the night's winner. My husband and I both enjoyed it. It was cooked just right and served on a sizzling hot plate. We didn't care much for the pickles, onion, and sauce that came with it.

My husband said he would definitely come back here with me since it's only 4 miles one way from where we live. He also said he would order the taco and Comala Steak again because he liked them tonight.

I would return to check out other items on the menu but would not reorder what I had tonight (virgin tamarindo, fish ceviche, chicken, and pork tamales).

My husband said the restroom was clean and well-supplied. I did not check out the...

This place is a bad restaurant that is overpriced, food is bad and the service even worse. As someone with 10+ years of server/bartender experience, I rarely will leave a bad review. But this place took 3 tries to get a simple classic dish brought out (steak fajitas - NO ALTERATIONS) and didn’t even offer to discount the dish or remove it. The gave attitude, and was incredibly rude. 3 of 7 adults were still eating when the bill was being paid, because thats when they got their food. Again, I completely understand mistakes happen, but mistakes are only bad when the restaurant doesn’t own it and make it right, so that’s where I draw the line. In addition, the condescending server tries to patronize you for not pronouncing dishes in perfect Spanish.

We showed up as 7 adults and 4 children and sat at separate tables, yet they put everything on one check? With experience myself, I know they had to complicate things to do this. Why they went out of their way to do so? It’s so a server can add gratuity and take a guaranteed payout rather than split it up and the gratuity policy be void. Plus, they knew the guests who didn’t get their meals would likely not have tipped. The bill had gratuity, and no discount offered even just on the dishes that got messed up. Lastly, server did not even announce gratuity was on the check (their second unethical mistake where he confirmed all suspicions). Splitting the check the way it should’ve been would’ve been just 3 checks. I tolerate bad food and service, but I draw the line with unethical motives. And that’s exactly what our server embodied.

Unfortunately for Casa Colima, since they insisted it was all on one check, we now have to dispute the entire charge....