La Mesa — Restaurant in Minneapolis

I really wanted to love this place, but unfortunately my experience was deeply disappointing.

This was my second time visiting. The first time, I came with my dad—the food was solid, but the restaurant was clearly understaffed with only two servers working the entire restaurant. I gave it the benefit of the doubt, hoping it was just a rough day.

Today, I came with a friend and was excited to show her this spot. Same issue—only two servers, both visibly overwhelmed. It took a long time just to get our entrée orders in, though the guac and queso came out fairly quickly. I even told our server I felt for her, and that it was unfair she was left to handle so much. She looked like she was fighting back tears, and it was heartbreaking.

When our food finally arrived, it was cold. I politely asked to speak with the manager—who I later found out is actually the owner of the restaurant. I asked why they were so consistently understaffed, since this was now the second time I’d experienced this.

Her response? She told me it was “none of my concern.” I was shocked. I wasn’t attacking her—I was trying to give honest feedback about how the understaffing was affecting both guests and staff. Instead of hearing that, she got defensive and told me she should have waited to seat us (she had been working the host stand too).

She offered to remake the tacos, but they came back even colder than before. The entire experience felt chaotic and poorly managed—and not because the servers weren’t doing their jobs, but because they were being set up to fail.

Eventually, she asked if I wanted the tacos taken off the bill, which I appreciated—but by then, the damage was done.

The staff are clearly trying their best, but the way this place is run makes it hard to enjoy. Until the owner takes responsibility and invests in proper staffing and support, I can’t recommend this place—no matter how much...

After arriving at 5pm when the restaurant opens, we were told that there were no tables in the mostly empty restaurant due to reservations. We were given a table in the bar area by the door. After 30 minutes and a not nearly full restaurant, we witnessed several other walk-ins without reservations be seated at much better spots.

While I appreciate the owners response below I’ll clarify that this is a cozy restaurant. As such, it was easy to hear the conversation other incoming guests had with the host. When a group of four arriving after us stated they did not have a reservation and were seated at a booth, as a group of three, we were left wondering why we weren’t offered that booth. In addition, a couple also arriving after us, again stating no reservation, were seated in the much warmer...

I have read great reviews about this place so I was excited to give it a shot. Unfortunately, the timing must have been off. Our waiter seated us right by the door near the kitchen which I thought would be a great for service and seeing what others were ordering. We sat there for quite some time, but our waiter never came back. He stopped by the table next to us twice. He cleaned off empty tables when there was no one waiting in line for a table. Later a person came in sat down and he He even waited on her by bringing her water. We didn't even get water. We tried to flag him down with no luck. Unfortunately, I couldn't stay all night because I needed eat and go to a meeting. So disappointed that this didn't work out. Maybe I will get some courage to trying it again...