Las Cazuelas — Restaurant in Lakewood

I have been a Lakewood resident for my entire life, first coming to Las Cazuelas in high school during the mid 1970’s, where it has been located all this time. I believe it has been family owned it’s entire tenure, perhaps being later passed down to family members like Rosie. The restaurant itself is very casual and laid back, not the typical “bling” atmosphere you get with other Mexican restaurants, so don’t expect much in that department which is fine by me, I just want real good Mexican food. When I am talking Mexican food I am pretty simple and straight up, burritos and enchiladas are my usual go-to. On that note, I expect high standards and quality when we are talking about the basics, which include REAL refried beans folks, made with good’ol lard of course ! Their beans are silky smooth in texture and very flavorful, all made from scratch each day - not from a can, you can taste the distinct difference. Hopefully some day Rosie will pass along some hints to me on how she gets them perfectly simmered ! Now let’s talk about the other basic, Green Chile. Do you love pork green chili ? If so look no further in this department, Las Cazuelas does not mess around here folks ! I don’t know about you but I am sick and tired of going to Mexican joints that promise green chile “with pork” where you walk away dissatisfied because the pork was skimped on - if any existed at all. At Las Cazuelas, they start with pork seemingly as the “basis” of their green chili, real huge tender chunks that are just impossible to avoid. Not only that, they use real, fresh green chili’s that give it the spicy kick that green chili should always have. The chili here is very naturally thick and meaty, not just with respect to the pork but the other crucial ingredients, such as huge chunks of real tomatoes and onion too. I read a couple other reviews where the chili was described as watery which, if you are used to the "other places" that have thick and gelatinized cornstarch as the "main" ingredient, then go for it reviewers. If you want the typical Mexican restaurant green chili that is flavorless, full of corn starch, and zero ingredients and zero substance don’t come here, it’s not for you. If you love the real deal, then come here for a great value, you will not be disappointed.

Can’t wait to get my green and bean fix soon ! Thanks Rosie !

Allen...

The quality of their food and customer service is just lousy and horrible. This was a good restaurant way back when, but as they continue to stay open for business their food has just gotten worse, and their prices seem to continue rising. I have been to this establishment multiple times and each time I have tried something different, but all the plates I have tried are not up to par and lack quality. The “carne adovada estilo Mexicano” was really dry and did not taste like adovada at all, their rice and beans are mediocre, you can tell they sit in a big pot all day. As for the $18 “Summer Special” plate the taco shell is very stale and bland, the ground beef is not fully cooked and just awful, it genuinely tasted like DPS school lunch tacos . I’ll admit the only good thing at this restaurant and on the summer special plate is the Chile con Queso, but if you want to pay 3 dollars for a tostada with valveeta cheese and green chile be my guest. As for the drinks, a margarita is 7 dollars! But it is just non alcoholic margarita mix with very little to no tequila! The man who took our order was elderly, looked about 75-80 years old, which didn’t bother me at all until he was constantly wiping his eyes, mouth, and nose with the same tissue to clean some type of discharge from those areas, but the thing is he did not wash his hands once during the time we were there which made me feel uncomfortable and unpleasant. He was also very rude and basically slammed or plates on the table, reached over people to grab cups and chip baskets without saying excuse me, and lastly he did not even offer to refill our drinks. Overall I would recommend that you should not even consider giving this restaurant a try. They don’t really have any actual authentic Mexican food, it’s very Tex mex, but it’s overpriced and...

!!$6 For FROM THE BAG chips and salsa!! I needed to start this review with that ridiculous fact. While the waiter and cook (only two employees there at the time) were pleasant the food was poor quality. We ordered the enchiladas and tacos. There are only two meat choices, beef or chicken. While ordering we were interrupted by the waiter several times telling us how to order specifically from him and not the menu. For example, he refused to add onion or cilantro to the tacos because “I needed to try it as it was”. For “tacos” We received corn tortillas that hadn’t been warmed or toasted with wet chicken on top, bagged lettuce, a little sour cream and guac, and the most processed shredded cheese you could think of. The enchiladas came with a hefty heap of raw onion on the top (but they couldn’t throw a bit on the tacos?). Our waiter made a comment that this was a “TV dinner” which honestly didn’t make us feel great about the food we were eating that was poor quality not only in ingredients but also in preparation. This place was WAY too overpriced for the quality of food. IN NO WAY AUTHENTIC MEXICAN CUISINE. We were sorely disappointed in our meal and recommend that others avoid this place unless you poor quality food for a high price. PS: don’t trust a Mexican restaurant with a “live...