Lagunas Mexican Grill & Cantina — Restaurant in Lake Charles

1st time at this place. My boss taking me to lunch again. It was his idea to go there. It's actually a very comfortable restaraunt. There is lots of light from the many windows. Between the decor and the big patio area, it has a nice atmosphere. The view of the lake makes gives it a perfect location. The service was fast and friendly, especially considering the time of day.

I've eaten in a lot of Mexican food restaraunts. It's something my mother and I used to do together fairly often. Most restaraunts of this style are inexpensive. I would say it was about average pricing. Some of the items on the menu that are pretty common fare for Mexican food, were a little more expensive than other places. But then other things like the fajitas were pretty much the same price as most places I've been.

Usually when I go to a Mexican food restaraunts, I get nachos as an appetizer. Most places I've been to have 3 types of nachos. Your basic meat cheese and bean nachos. The choice of chicken or beef, with sour cream, guacamole, pico salad and various other toppings. Then the fajita nachos, beef, chicken or shrimp and sometimes a combo offer, plus the extra toppings. I always prefer the 2nd one. I want a lot of toppings but I don't want chunks of meat that I have to really chew or pull apart. I like my nachos to be chips dumped on the plate and the toppings layered, but kinda messy. Nothing fancy or organized looking. The waitress tried to sell me on the fajita nachos but I pretty much ignored her. I'm sorry about that. She was very sweet, I just didn't want those.

If I'm with my wife, when we go out for Mexican, sometimes she likes to share fajitas. But if I don't go that way, I usually get either tamales or beef enchiladas. This time I chose the beef enchiladas. It's a very simple dish. I also went with the lunch version, which is 2 instead of 3 enchiladas. That was a good decision too. Cause after eating half the nachos, I couldn't finish my main dish without hurting myself. I always worry that the smaller lunch portion at a restaurant may not be enough, but this was a perfect amount. Of course rice and refried beans on the sides of the enchiladas.

Unfortunately, since my boss and I were going back to work, there was no drinking of alcoholic beverages. I would have loved to try a margarita, but that would have been a bad idea for a work day.

The food all came out great. Hardly any wait time. We were about halfway through the nachos when our main plates came out. Everything looked very nice, as you can see by my photos. The taste was great! The nachos were fresh out of the oven. The toppings looked perfect. It was easy to pull aside what I wanted onto a small plate. Tasted fantastic. My enchiladas came out at a good time. We had more than half the nachos eaten. I really have no complaints. It all tasted really good. I couldn't have been happier. I hope I can go back soon and...

I just had my second and last time at this place, and what a shame being walking distance from our home. I not only just paid nearly 40$ incl. tip for an appetizer (that was half-melted shredded mexican cheese and fajita meat), but also the drink rang up wrong and cost 18.50 and the tequila was only supposed to be changed from house & upgraded instead to DJ. No big deal except the shot wasnt put on the side, individually, like my receipt shows it charged, and the margarita was not exceptional considering it was mixed with the House Tequila ruining the taste I wouldnt have minded paying for had it been how I desired. Food is very mediocre, salsa is strong on the tomatoes and cilantro, tortillas are seemingly store tortillas and not anything I couldnt just microwave up myself at home. I dont like enjoy public blasting of establishments but this place needs to figure it out. I spoke with a nice mgr who basically said sorry and that mgmt has her hands tied and I was not able to have anything changed from my bill. Customer isnt always right apparently here but I get it, my fault then. Our server Jeff was great but didn't get 20% bc he was not clear and let this play out after nodding in agreement after I ordered and mentioned I'm ok with an upcharge for upgraded tequila. I dont even know the tequila was added. Certainly not a $20 drink.

Im going to take my loss and move on like anyone should when a restaurant doesnt do things close to one's satisfaction or expectations. I certainly didn't cause a scene--however, I did learn my lesson to just say "No thanks" the next time anyone invites us to have a meal at this particular establishment. Ive worked too long in the industry knowing thats not how you treat and value your guests if you want to see them back in to spend their money with you, besides this isnt the only mexican food within a square mile so maybe try winning the guests you do get instead of being the place that they never would choose to revisit...

OK, where do I start. This my first time,first impression! I grab the handrails leading to the steps in the front and found them to be sticky. Not sure why, but not a good first impression. I had to wash my hands before I sat down, which was probably a good thing anyway. This place has great potential, the location and the view of the lake is fantastic. I have nothing against the waitresses, but they could use more training. When ask about certain dishes, our waitress didn’t know any more that what you could read on the menu. OK, about the food. I ordered the Seafood Chimichanga’s and my friend ordered the Fish Tacos. She said her fish tacos had a very fishy smell and her vegetables were cold, But She didn’t want to send it back. She ate a little and called it quits. Mine on the other hand was very good. The Seafood Chimichanga with the shrimp and crawfish was very good, as was the rice and beans. The Margaritas were ok, but not as good as Casa Manas. As I said earlier, Lagunas has the potential to be one of the premier restaurants in Lake Charles or it could go the way of so many restaurants that have come and gone. It needs Work on the following: Quality (food shouldn’t smell bad or be cold). Waitresses (Need to be polite, knowledgeable and friendly. A good waitress is 50% of the experience). And finally, the establishment must be clean all the time all day long. Older people need those hand rails to get up and down the steps. They shouldn’t need the bring rubber gloves. Conclusions: My meal was Good and I will definitely go back and give it another chance. I hope Lagunas makes it in...