La Corona — Restaurant in Rochester

La Corona is one of the better Mexican Restaurants around. The outside looks like an old fashioned aluminum diner, but the inside is decorated more like a Mexican restaurant. We’ve visited La Coronas many times since the Summer sometimes as a couple and other times as a party of eight. We even celebrated a few birthday parties here. If you celebrate a birthday, the staff will place a sombrero on your head and sing “Happy Birthday” Mexican style.

Their chips are pretty good and the salsa authentic. Not too spicy! None of their dishes are very spicy, they cater to a New England palette. Besides Cholula hot sauce you can request green hot sauce to spice things up. The table side guacamole is average ... not enough seasoning and spices.

We’ve tried the combination dishes, where you can choose from 2 - 3 entree dishes prepared with a choice of shredded beef, chopped beef, chicken, pork or cheese accompanied by beans and rice. A good choice to sample between a burrito, chili relleno, chimichanga, enchilada, taco or tamale. Their fajitas are good as well. A few in our group always enjoy the Pacifico Chimichanga stuffed with seafood ... very good. They have traditional Mexican style desserts. The fried ice cream is good the churros were average.

La Corona has an extensive bar obviously specializing on Mexican Beers and Margaritas. The wait staff is very friendly and try to please the customers. A few times our orders were mixed up but they always make it right. Every time we’ve visited, the owner is on site making sure things are running smoothly.

The food at La Corona is always consistent and a good value for the money. It’s not the best Mexican food We’ve ever experienced but good for many...

Scratched the itch, but nothing to write home about.

Parking was easy enough, and the wait wasn't but a few minutes. The staff was courteous. The atmosphere was fairly standard, but tasteful.

The place was busy, so my expectations were pretty good. I ordered the Camarones Diablo, one of my go-to dishes. The waitress had a little trouble hearing me, so we had a false start with the wrong plate. I don't judge what I didn't order.

Maybe it's my being from the south, but I was disappointed in my dish.

The table salsa was soupy. I've had worse, but it was kinda thin. Flavor was mild.

The shrimp was delicious, but we got a grand total of seven. Quite underwhelming. They were fresh, though, which did shine through. The sauce was sweet and had a decent flavor, but it missed the note I was looking for. That thing that would have made it "Diablo:" HEAT.

The rice served with the dish was plain, mixed with a veggie medley and lacking enthusiasm and flavor.

The only thing I actually noticed the peppers in was my margarita. The flavor was pretty smooth, but the brine from the pickled jalapeno was a little discordant. I'd give it an 8/10.

All said, it at least scratched the itch. The service was pretty good, but the food was not what I was expecting. Drinks were good, though. For a traveler looking for an authentic taste of the southwest, I would give this...

First, let me say I DO NOT eat industrialized meat. Therefore, at most restaurants, I eat vegetarian options. That being said, this restaurant is in no way, shape, or form a Mexican restaurant 🤔 I ordered a vegetarian burrito and vegetarian quesadilla. Do you know why it's called a quesadilla? A traditional Mexican quesadilla is made with a corn tortilla, and queso served crispy. In the modern world beans, various peppers & corn serve as further filling. Mine was a limp flour tortilla with jack cheese, cauliflower, broccoli & carrots. 🤔 The burrito was soaking wet, and gummy 😳 The again flour tortilla had barely any rice and beans but was filled with cooked fajita type peppers and onions in a sauce that contained way too much cilantro. I will not return. A lot of restaurants offer vegetarian options, and I don't know why. They don't put any care or love into cooking them. I've even had a pizza place put cucumber slices on a pizza before!! Bad American Mexican restaurant and bad vegetarian dishes. Absolutely no authenticity or Mexican flavors. Try some cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, coriander, allspice, oregano, thyme, cinnamon, cloves, achiote and/or cacao! Everything is...