Laredo's Mexican Restaurant East Madison — Restaurant in Madison

Welcome back to the West family trying out restaurants in Madison. This round we tackled Laredos Mexican Restaurant. Overall the food was delicious and flavorful and the portions were massive.

My wife's favorite was the Enchiladas Poblanas. The chicken inside was tender and moist. Each of the enchiladas was packed with filling, no skimping on ingredients here. The mole sauce on top was slightly sweeter than expected but overall quite tasty. Around $12 for enchiladas and rice might seem a bit on the higher price scale, but for the amount of food you get it's definitely worth it.

The chips and salsa were great. The chips themselves weren't overly greasy or over-salted like some Mexican restaurants can have. The salsa was fresh tasting with a bit of a kick. I would definitely go through an entire bowl in no time.

The side of beans that came was massive. Definitely a good deal for a side dish that is the size of a main. The beans were creamy with just the right amount of cheese on top. They were a little bit runny to eat on their own, but they made a great dip for the chips.

The beef hardshell tacos were still crunchy even though we had the food delivered, so that's definitely a win. Nothing worse than a soggy taco. These were packed with meat and toppings, unlike some restaurants that skimp on the meat and stuff the taco with 90% shredded lettuce. The meat wasn't incredibly seasoned, but overall they were pretty good.

Would definitely order from Laredos again. Next time might need to try some new dishes since their menu has so many choices, it's hard to stick to...

East location: Be careful that you know what you’re paying for. We asked for salsa and received bowls half full. When we asked for more we were told by the woman claiming to be the manager “no, you must pay 99 cents.” Food prices have gone up, yes, however when I asked where in the menu it stated only 2 half-full bowls she showed me the take-out section. I showed her that it said take out and she responded, “take out or stay in is the same.” No, it’s not the same, and restaurants can’t just make things up as they go along. This new “rule” needs to be posted somewhere. The service was very slow from the start and out 10-12 tables in our section there were only 5 filled. The “manager” was up talking to other workers when we were trying to flag her down.

Laredos has always been our go-to for Mexican in Madison and have always had quick and friendly service. We’ve never had friendly service from this particular person but it’s expected. The food is still good and they hopefully will have the new salsa rule appropriately stated. I don’t mind paying for what I eat if it is in the menu.

If this was new waitstaff, new restaurant, etc I would understand. That’s not the case. I’ve actually never heard of having to pay for more than two half bowls of salsa when dining in and have never experienced that...

I want to start by saying we frequent the Laredo's in Fitchburg. Love the place! Was hoping to have the same quality food here as we do there. Unfortunately Lien road laredo's was a major let down. We were seated promptly but that's where the good ended. We ordered the queso fundido to start. What was brought to our table first was the plain queso. No big deal. We reiterated that we wanted the queso fundido and they corrected the order. What they brought out to us however was a mess of cheese and chorizo without a single poblano in it. For my main course I ordered the chimichanga colarada. What I got was more like a smothered burrito with rubbery flavorless chicken, a ton of cheese and a massive amount of corn in half of it. No rice or beans, and no queso fresco. My girlfriend ordered a taco with a bunch of extras and a side of peppers and onions which was good. We saw our server maybe twice and had to flag down others to get silverware, napkins, and more than one thing of Salsa. We also struggled to get anyone's attention to get a drink refill which didn't arrive until our last few bites. A very disappointing experience here which was surprising given how incredible the food and service is at the...