La Mesa Mesquite Grill — Restaurant in Joshua

A Disappointing Experience Despite High Expectations

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Upon arrival, we were seated promptly, which was a promising start. However, the rest of the experience left much to be desired. The complimentary chips and salsa were underwhelming, lacking the vibrant flavors you'd hope for. Service was painfully slow, with nearly 20 minutes passing before anyone came to take our drink order.

We ordered guacamole and drinks—while the guac arrived quickly and was decent, the drinks lagged behind, taking about five additional minutes. By the time our server returned to take the main order at around 40 minutes, we were nearing the hour mark and almost considered paying the bill and leaving without our meals. Luckily, the food arrived just as we were reaching our limit.

The kid’s bean and cheese nachos were acceptable for a child’s meal, but the adult dishes fell flat. The appetizer plate was forgettable, and the steak fajita chimichanga lacked any notable flavor. The accompanying rice was bland, and the beans were runny and lacked depth. For the price and the hype surrounding this restaurant, we expected significantly better quality.

To add to the disappointment, the noise level was frustratingly high. The harsh sound of wooden chairs scraping across polished concrete floors each time the seating arrangements changed was grating.

Overall, while the service had redeeming moments, and we appreciated being seated promptly, the lackluster food and unpleasant atmosphere made this a middling dining experience that doesn’t inspire a...

On Thursday, 22MAY25, my family and I visited La Mesa for dinner at about 7:30pm. When we entered the restaurant, there was no hostess to greet us. There were two parties waiting for a table. 1 party of 3 and 1 party of 2. We were a party of 6. I saw that 1 table was empty and clean and there were 2 tables that were empty but needed bussing. It took several minutes until a waitress came to the front and told us that it would be a 45-minute wait. I asked if I could bus one of the empty tables to make it available. The waitress liked that idea but had to check with the manager. I watched the manager shake her head no, but nobody returned to speak with me. After several more minutes the hostess made an appearance, asked how many were in our party and then told me that it would be a 30-minute wait. When I asked about bussing my own table, the hostess advised that her manager had said no. The waitress went on to add that they were "trying to catch up in the back". During this conversation, another 2 tables became available but needed to be cleared.

La Mesa has always been one of our favorite restaurants, but we have noticed that over the last year, something has changed and not for the better. I don't know what the issue was that night but leaving tables dirty and people wait for said tables so that the staff "can catch up" will likely result in a lot less people to fill the tables. We left without being served and found another restaurant. (and it wasn't the...

Went on a Thursday at 8pm. They were about 1/4 tables filled (6 at most). Plenty of waitresses (at least 4), a host and bartender. We were seated almost immediately and our waitress was friendly. After ordering we didn't see her for a while and had finished chips, salsa and all of my drink before she came back. She refilled mine but not my husband's that was half full. When food came it was very underwhelming. All plates had very dry, overcooked rice. The taco plate was bland, chicken samosas good but underfilled with meat and Chile relleno was undercooked with the pepper hard to cut. We had finished eating for ten minutes before the waitress brought the check, then sat another ten minutes waiting for her to ring our check out, before I finally went to the bar to ring out myself. We saw her waiting no other tables the whole time we were there, so if she couldn't take care of our table (for whatever reason), letting us know or passing us off to another waitress would have been better than non existent service without an explanation. From our experience tonight, the food and service was underwhelming for...