Las Cruces Tex Mex — Restaurant in Metairie

Came here with my family over the weekend. Here are the pros:

Our small children had an excellent time. The outdoor area is shaded, turfed, fenced in, and they have chalk for the kiddos to use. They loved it, and as a parent it was nice to let them run around. There were a fair amount of other kids there as well.

The atmosphere was pretty nice. It was a clean environment, looks like new construction, plenty of tv’s which was nice bc I could peep at the football game.

The appetizers were pretty good. We got the smoked wings (buffalo) and queso dip. The wings were good. They dip was pretty good.

The entire staff was really nice. Our server was pretty attentive.

Unfortunately, the one con is a pretty big deal for a restaurant:

Two of the three adult entrees were borderline inedible. We got two orders of enchiladas and one order of fajitas. My wife thought the fajitas were poor but not the end of the world. The enchiladas, on the other hand, were just really bad. They were dry, which is really odd since I usually expect enchiladas to be basically smothered, but I can get around that. The flavor though was something else. I hope the cooks had an accident because the flavor was so salty and so limey. It really tasted like someone had poured a cup of salt on it, and then squeezed a bottle of grocery store lime juice in a bottle on it. Those were the flavors, nothing else. I took three bites, one of each enchilada, and then tapped out.

The next day I tried one of the kids tacos (we had boxed those up to go as our kids seemed to like them enough). After I reheated it there was a large trail of grease on the plate. Don’t love that as we tried to order the healthiest thing for them on the menu (a grilled chicken soft taco). I know it’s a Tex Mex restaurant so it sounds ridiculous to be complaining about health, but still.

To be fair, the manager did come out and ask us how our meal was, and then when we expressed our displeasure he did say he would talk to the kitchen. After that our server told us she would comp our enchiladas as we weren’t satisfied with them. So that lessened the blow since the prices are pretty high compared to your average Tex Mex joint. The price for a small cup of queso, 6 wings, 3 entrees, two kids meals, one beer and one margarita was going to be roughly $140 before tax and tip. It ended up being around $100 with the two comped entrees.

We really wanted to like this place and were quite excited for it. The food was just really subpar, so much so that it negated the rest of the positives of our experience. I wish I had a...

I've been waiting for this one to open for quite some time now. So as soon as I heard about the grand opening we had to get out and try it. Las Cruses is the latest brainchild of restauranteur Aaron Burgau. It lived up to our expectations. I started out with a House Margarita. We had the tortilla chips and exceptionally delicious salsa brought to the table as soon as we sat down. Mmm... the House Margarita was very good, and did I mention the chips and salsa? Wow! Best Salsa I've had in a long time. I probably could have made a meal out of the chips and salsa and had another margarita, but the menu was calling me to order more. The menu was small but very diverse with offers of Fajitas, and Carne Asada that was a hanger steak. I'll probably order that next time with a few sides and split it with Charla. But Charla ordered the Two Soft Taco Meal with a side of grilled veggies, and I ordered the 3 Enchiladas. Beef, Chicken, and Cheese. The food arrived promptly and was served with a smile. My Enchiladas were delicious but the one thing I found tasty was the rice and beans. There are so many restaurants that ruin the meal with off-tasting beans and rice. Charla made a meal out of her two chicken tacos that were also cooked to perfection. So, I was able to eat her sides of beans and rice. I probably could just get the beans and rice and make a meal of that. That's how good it was. Outdoor seating is an option. There is a large bar for those that would like to partake in cocktails and a large grass area outside for your kids to run around and play. So over all they raise the bar for TexMex in the New Orleans area. We will be back. I must try that Hanger Steak Carne Asada. Oh, I almost forgot. Get the bread pudding for dessert. It's delicious. Charla does not eat bread pudding, but she...

This was our first visit. The food was tasty enough. Drinks were nice and strong.

Service was fine.

Yes… it took a little time to get the order in and the check… but it was a busy night and was expected.

What really was a downer was the fact that the table right in front of us were literally changing a baby’s diaper in the open of the dining room (rather than, say, the restroom).

Having a front row seat to poopy diapers in a dining room is simply unhygienic (it simply zaps appetite).

I then realized that the atmosphere of the restaurant was filled with unsupervised children from various tables.

Example; another person had a child crawling unsupervised through various tables while another toddler and older child chased one another with a ball in between various customers who were eating.

I am unsure how this is fixed or if it even needs addressing. Perhaps this is their image? That’s fine - it’s just not for me.

It also might be unfair to place responsibility for this on the restaurant.

Is it more indicative of inconsiderate parents or restaurant atmosphere?

I don’t know.

I do know that I personally do not change diapers in restaurant dining rooms.

I also know that I’ve been to many family restaurants (El Paso, Carreras, Pedro’s) with the same volume of children who were blessedly free of the poopy diaper dining room experience.

So while the food was good enough, it was not so good to eat considering atmosphere when so many other options exist.

P.S. - of course there are no pictures; that would be massively inappropriate.

P.S.S, - I’m not some child hating person. Whatever you feel about the scenario I think we can agree changing a child’s diaper in the open of a restaurant dining room...