Casa Mariachi — Restaurant in Lower Allen

This is such a hidden gem in Mechanicsburg!! I happened into this place for dinner since I was in the area for an event. The inside dining area is small and wasn’t crowded at all on a Thursday night around 5:30 pm.

They have bottled drinks - plastic bottles, Mexican sodas, and cans. We opted for the classic Mexican Coke. It’s so good. The chips and salsa were excellent, although I wish the chips came out piping hot. The only other Mexican restaurant I’ve eaten at in Pennsylvania charged for chips and had horrid food, so I can’t complain very much!

I picked carnitas for my entree and my fiancé got the carne asada. The food came out freaky fast. It was all hot and so delicious. My carnitas were very tender and I loved the onions that were cooked with it. I wish the beans were seasoned more or mashed together more because they were bland and the texture was off, but that’s the only part of the meal I wasn’t obsessed with. The rice was so tasty and a great texture. The tortillas were piping hot and tasted homemade. I’m normally a flour tortilla gal, but these were insanely good. I tasted the carne asada and it was also perfectly seasoned and cooked and was a good portion of meat.

We opted to try the flan for dessert. It wasn’t as sweet or caramel-y as I’m used too, and seemed to have a lot of cinnamon in it or dusted on it. I’d skip that next time and try a different dessert.

Overall, the service was incredible and so were the food and drinks. We are already planning...

This is one of our go-to dinner spots for my husband and I. We love coming here and every time we leave satisfied with our bellies full! The service here is always great. The staff of servers are young but they’re so polite and professional. As for the food, I usually get their tacos carne asada (steak). Sometimes, the beef they serve is dry or has too much cartilage and fat. On a good day, it’s juicy and tender. I love that they serve you chips and salsa while you wait for your food. Their salsa is so fresh and delicious. The crème of the crop is their churros! We always choose the dulce le lèche and it’s so scrumptious! You’ll find yourself scraping the plate to get every last bit of the sauce. And lastly, their prices are so affordable and “cheap”. They did raise their prices but in this economy with inflation, their prices are still reasonable and the food is worth it so we can’t complain. Most other restaurants raise their prices but they don’t deliver on the quality of ingredients or quantity to justify paying that much. This will be our favorite AUTHENTIC Mexican place that we’ll continue being...

Always good food. One of my favorite Mexican go to place to eat authentic Mexican food. UPDATE...I am not changing my rating, however, like everyone else, they use to charge a fee for credit card. I believe it was 3%. Now, instead of that fee, they changed all prices. Now those new prices reflect a 5% fee if you pay by cc. You do get a 5% discount by paying cash though. Pretty smart for them, but I feel slighted somewhat.

Next, I usually dine in. Yesterday I ordered takeout. All I got was what I ordered. No chips and salsa like you get for dining in! When I asked if there were chips inside, she says " no, you must pay extra" on takeouts, yet the price is same regardless of takeout or dine in.

I do love their food but they should relook these extra costs they pass on to customer.

UPDATE: They no longer offer the 5% cash discount and prices are still the same. Also when you eat in you get free corn chips. Take out is same price, but you have to pay extra $4 if you want the chips....