Hacienda Cazadores — Restaurant in La Mesa

Hacienda Cazadores has recently opened their doors in the heart of La Mesa. They are located in the departed Por Favor location. This new old world Mexican Style Hacienda offers a beautiful Sonoran style ambiance and cuisine.

The menu speaks volumes as to the direction of the multitude of flavors and the engaging presentations of the food offering. It's not just the great flavors and textures, but the experience as well.

To start my meal, I had a Mexican traditional shareable item called queso fundido with sauteed mushrooms and Beef chorizo. First of all, Hacienda Cazadores does it correctly. They use queso Chihuahua which offers a great melting buttery rich quality, that is baked in a cast iron vessel, with Anaheim peppers. You can add mushrooms, beef chorizo, or shrimp to the mix. I had it with mushrooms and the chorizo which went very well together.

The queso fundido was fantastic. I have not had it made correctly this way for a while now, so I was very happy and excited to partake in it. The baked melted cheese was gooey and offered a great pull, and the beef chorizo and mushrooms were great. It was great eating with the house made corn tortillas. You can also ask for flour tortillas. If you love cheese, this item is a must.

Next, I had the salmon ceviche. It was delicious indeed, and came with a side of crispy tortilla chips. The ceviche came with the chopped serrano peppers, mango, cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions which all played well together. The lime citrus dressing was delicious and the sliced avocado on top was smart. I can't wait to try the other ceviches on the menu.

For my entree, I had the Enchiladas Sonorense with chicken tinga in a red sauce. Now, these are not your ordinary enchiladas because they do not come rolled, but stacked as they do in Sonora, Mexico. The corn tortillas in the stack were house made, lightly fried, layered with tender well seasoned chicken tinga, and drenched with a mild guajillo sauce that offered a little heat in a very good way. I loved the queso fresco, the crema, and the pickled onions on the enchiladas. The enchiladas were a great experience to dine on.

I not only enjoyed my meal, but I was also very fond of the experience that "Elena" my server provided. She was attentive, amiable, and very helpful regarding the question I had regarding ingredients and such. She was an example of how important, great service can make an eating experience, that much better. Not to mention how it reflects abundantly positively in a restaurant.

Hacienda Cazadores is a great addition to the city of La Mesa. Oh Yes! Try the Choco Flan...

Our dinner reservation also coincided with La Mesa's Octoberfest on a Saturday night and the streets were PACKED, like your typical Farmer's Market but with 10X the normal pedestrian traffic. We were told Hacienda Cazadores (HC) had recently garnered some very good reviews since its inception. Upon arrival, we were told was being prepared for us. We were thrilled our table was inside dining room versus out on the patio. Ivan was our server and he was awesome! If you ever visit and Ivan's working, you'll be treated great throughout your stay.

My wife & I shared their Empanada de Tinga for an appetizer (we found it tasty) as for our entree, we ordered their Alhambre Cowboy fajitas platter. While the portions weren’t as much as we'd like, it tasted good! Their beans & rice sides were also less than the beans & rice serving which our friends received. The blue corn tortillas were tasty. Our drinks consisted of sparkling water and a bottle of Sangiovese wine. We ordered three servings of chips, salsa, & guacamole. The others ordered their Enchiladas Sonorenses, and 2 Tomahawk Ribeye steaks! All food was finished with exception for 1 of the Tomahawk steaks. The dining room was a lot busier than usual due to Octoberfest, but Ivan made sure our table had received everything we needed. HUGE props to him and all his busers who helped him serve and clear our table when needed.

While the food, atmosphere, and service were amazing; the really big negative we experienced was their lack of adequate restrooms (only TWO, one upstairs & one downstairs) for a restaurant/bar this nice and for as large a restaurant it is, that is unbelievable. Worse than that, the uncleanliness of their restroom was beyond bad! Honestly, had my wife needed to use the restroom in the filthy, unkempt, and unsanitary condition it was in, we definitely wouldn't return, no matter how awesome everything else was. To not send staff to clean their overused restroom regularly to ensure patrons have a clean restroom to use is completely unacceptable! This was the only downside to our entire experience. I sure HC addresses this concern by the time anyone reads this...

Went today during Octoberfest. The food was decent for what I had, but definitely not at those prices. $32 for fajitas that I can get anywhere! It wasn't anything grand. Also, I only got a glass of water. My friends thought the drinks were really good but they were $17 a pop which, is a little pricy. Overall, our total was $210.00 for five people. 4 of us got drinks, and we only got 4 meals (2 of us shared a meal) with a side of chips, we gave a $24 tip due to the service being poor. So, the average person spent between $42-$52 on their meal today.

Our server messed up my order and my friends order, and then, she gave incorrect information on a dish we were curious about, she said it was tacos but we got one taco with a side of bone marrow. We asked for sauce and they never came back with sauce. We wanted to give them a chance because we thought "maybe they were busy" but they weren't, we were seated right away. The food is decent but, the portion size is SMALL... which is so unfair since they charge ridiculous amount for the amount of food you would get. I've had same quality food at Casa De Pico for a fraction of the cost and for bigger portion size. They also charge a surcharge fee for credit cards, so be aware of that, they did not tell us this beforehand.

Sadly, I wanted to like it but, I cannot. I would never come back here nor would I ever recommend it to any of my friends. It's not worth the price. Again, the food is decent but not anything great. I also believe I was overcharged, but tough lesson on my part. Next time I'll look at the receipt...