Hacienda Bar and grill — Restaurant in LaGrange

One star for vibes, zero stars for survival.

La Hacienda in LaGrange looked like a dream. I was driving by, music playing, the sun was shining—and then I saw her. This beautiful, colorful, brand-new Mexican restaurant. She called to me like a siren from the sea. We thought we were walking into a fiesta… turns out we walked into a full-blown telenovela.

We arrived at 2pm. We left at 4. Not because we were enjoying ourselves. No, baby. Because we were trapped. Held hostage by malfunctioning card readers, missing food, and a staff that looked like they were just as shocked to be there as we were.

Let’s start with the service. Sweet faces, but bless their hearts… it was like watching toddlers try to run a spaceship. No one seemed to know what they were doing. The POS system kept glitching like it was haunted. Our server wrote things down, but it didn’t matter. Everyone at the table ordered something different, and not a single plate came out correctly. The food runners—God bless them—looked just as confused as us. “What is this?” I asked. “Uhh… maybe… chicken?” was the reply. Baby, I ordered shrimp.

We tried to find a manager but it felt like we were on an episode of Unsolved Mysteries. Was there a manager? Was it a ghost? We may never know.

The restaurant itself is gorgeous. Like Instagram-worthy, Real Housewives brunch spot cute. But unfortunately, they put all their energy into the decor and forgot about literally everything else—training, spacing, structure, functioning technology… you know, the basics. I was sitting so close to the table behind me, we could’ve combined bills and become one family.

Then, just when we thought we could escape, the card readers went down. We were locked in like a “Saw” movie but instead of blood and traps, it was queso and chaos.

I wanted to root for this place. I really did. But La Hacienda feels less like a restaurant and more like a social experiment. My advice? Bring snacks, a backup card swiper, a therapist, and maybe a walkie talkie to communicate with the waiter across the crowded maze of tables.

This wasn’t a dinner. It was a disaster.

And if you’re wondering what La Hacienda’s vibe is… think Titanic. Beautiful on the outside. A mess on the inside. And when it started sinking, there weren’t enough lifeboats to save us. So unless you’re ready to pay a whole lot of money just to go down with the ship, I’d take a different route.

Because baby, this ship is...

We were driving by and noticed that they had opened for service. Walking in, you could tell it is actually probably their soft opening to help train crew and work out any issues before their grand opening. The staff, to us at least, we could tell were still learning the tablets and cashier setup. The wife and I have both worked food service before, so we totally understand the aches and pains. 👍 Now, after sitting down they brought chips and two types of salsa. One was a little smokier than the other. I happen to enjoy a nice smokey salsa. Cheese dip, as one does when at a Mexican restaurant, was as expected. I went for the Pollo Al Tequila. A chicken dish with roasted corn and cheese sauce (which was divine btw), paired with rice and black beans. Personally, I have no complaints about the food or service. I expect things to be much faster after the official grand opening. My notes on the atmosphere: ~it was absolutely frigid in the dining room. Need to pay close attention to that. Several customers at tables near us mentioned it out loud. 👍 ~with the current table and chair configuration, the servers will have great difficulty navigating to tables because things are so close together and some of the chairs have pronounced arches for their chair backs. These types of chairs, while comfy and aesthetic, take up unnecessary space. Just a good comfy chair will be good. Doesn't have to be fancy. today, there was a family of 4 sitting beside us, one of 6 at an aisle table directly behind us, behind them two gentleman, and behind them a solo diner. As the servers came thru each time, they were having to squeeze by or go around another way or constantly say "excuse me" to get through. If the restaurant is packed, no one will have walking room. I imagine, given the menu, that this place will be popular once the grand opening happens. Your staff will need to be able to move fast and freely. That, and customers don't want to feel like they are stacked on top of each other. All that said, I quite enjoyed my dish. I plan on sampling the Elote and the Verde Enchiladas next time. Thanks and hope...

I recommended this place to my family who is visiting from out of town, I raved about it from our last two experiences there within the last month, however tonight was ridiculous. We had a new server who had been there for 5 days total, between the lack of training that management provided this young man before throwing him out onto the floor alone and the language barrier he was struggling and it was evident. I am extremely compassionate about the situation he was put into and honestly felt for him as I have previously been a waitress myself.

We ordered our food which after taking 2 of the 6 orders he left to run to another table to take care of what I can only assume was another mistake. He came back and continued the orders which he struggled to find them on the handheld device.

My husband’s food came out first he ordered a burrito with no onion and no mushroom—it had onion on it. (He is allergic to onion).

Next was my step dad’s meal which he ordered the beef enchilada—it was chicken.

Mine was next. I ordered the Nachos Grande Big—just like it comes on the menu with lettuce, tomato, cheese, beef, shredded chicken and sour cream—it had only beef, cubed chicken and tortilla chips.

My daughter ordered the same as me—it came with everything—onion, pepper, shredded chicken, any topping you can think of it was on it.

We complained (which I hate doing) they tried to compensate their mistakes with a churro bucket.

As previously stated, I have a lot of compassion for this young man as dealing with the public can be difficult and learning a new job.

This is to management— please, have this young man shadow someone for 7 days then have them shadow him for 14 days to help him when he has questions or needs something. This is unfair to him as an employee and unfair to your...