La Mestiza — Restaurant in Madison

Great experience of authentic Mexican food!

I was in Madison for work and this place was perfectly placed right next to my hotel. I took the short walk over with some colleagues in order to try this place out.

Inside it's a small operation but very inviting! Plenty of color used to warm up the ambiance, and it was pleasantly clean but not in the "sterile" sense. We sat in a booth and the waiter was quick to hand us some menus and start us off with water.

The menu is a good size and they had a vegetarian section which I appreciated and was right up my alley! I ended up choosing the corn quesadillas for my meal - and I'm glad I did!

Their version of a quesadilla was shaped more-so like a small calzone. It was filled with cheese and veggies and came with a small side salad and pico de gallo.

I found the dish hearty. I was afraid it was going to be too greasy, but it was pleasantly less so. I think the balance of the cheese and veggies was perfect! I wasn't over-chewing the cheese and the sautéed veggies helped add texture and flavor.

The waiter was really helpful in explaining the menu and even came out with a sample of cactus since we all were unfamiliar on what or how to eat that - super cool! He also came around to share stories of the restaurant which was nice to learn about.

Overall would definitely recommend this place for a solid...

Well, first thing I noticed is that the place is uncomfortably small. But oh well. Then they seat my girlfriend and I at a 4 person table even when there was a 2 person table available. We sat for about 15 minutes before they even took our order. They only had 1 spicy option on the entire (very small) menu. I ordered shrimp enchiladas. They came to us about ten minutes later and asked us to move to a different table, he then took us to a booth that still had food and drinks from the last customers on it. We sat and watched for a few minutes as he cleaned our new table which he should have done before hand. Then we waited for a while before finally getting our order. First thing I notice, they did not give me enchiladas. They brought me a plate with rice in the middle, sauce covering the plate and 4 pieces of shrimp and a side of 3 small tortillas. $15.49 for 4 shrimp and rice. Absolutely ridiculous. The food tasted pretty average. It was highly over priced. My girlfriendsaid her food didn't taste good anthe portion was extremely small, she's still hungry after leaving. Overall the most impressive part of the meal was the...

Regarding their catering: Service A+ I had them cater my graduation party this past Saturday, called on a Thursday hoping it wasn't too short of a notice and it wasn't. Antonio was very nice on the phone, walked me through my options, we did a two meat taco bar, rice, beans, tortillas, chips, and salsa. Picked it up right on time, Antonio even offered to help load my car.

Food Quality A+ It was a smaller graduation party, and when people heard I was catering a taco bar, they thought that was something easy enough to do at home, until they tasted it. From the fresh fried chips, to the pork and steak tacos, every dish burst with flavor and it was the highlight of the party. Everyone raved about how good it was and couldn't believe they didn't know about this place before.

Value A+ For roughly $10 a head, everyone was able to get thoroughly stuffed, and we're still eating it as left overs the next day. Also getting compliments from those who we sent leftovers home with.

Overall A++

As for dining in the restaurant, I've been here several times and never had anything but a great experience with...