D’ La Santa — Restaurant in Seattle

Went for dinner on Saturday afternoon, and breakfast Sunday morning. A close friend recommended this place. Real AUTHENTIC food/vibe/plating etc.

Dinner, I had the carne en su jugo. Wife had chile en nogada. My friend had the carne asada and his wife also got the carne en su jugo. We got some tuetanos for an appetizer as well. Everything was exceptional. From flavor to presentation. The meat was tender, broth salty from the bacon, and pinto beans breaking some of that flavor. Chile en nogada was great, slightly on the sweet side but ground meat was nicely seasoned. Carne asada looked delicious, had some of the meat and it was perfectly seasoned. Presentation nicely set and what you'd typically see in an actual "Carne Asada" outing. Everything came with hand made tortillas as well, which makes a huge difference. Can't forget the tuetano, Grilled beef bones. Marrow and fat was so good. Salted nicely and lightly. Love the natural flavor.

Breakfast was just me and my wife.. but tried multiple plates since I won't be back for a while. Got the Fritas de huevo, picadillas de mantequilla, chicharron en salsa (verde), and chilaquiles verdes. She also got a chocolate and I tried the Jicara. Again, EVERTHING was delicious. Felt like I was home. Chicharrones were fantastic, nice big chunky pieces with the skin fat and meat. Refried beans were so smooth. Chilaquiles also some of the best. Chips were real crunchy and not all soft and soggy. Cane with eggs to you liking a piece of asada and a side of more beans. Fritas were my less favorite, only because they had more cheese than I thought. Still, they had good flavor and the sauce they were covered in was tasty. Then the picadillas, almost like a sope, deep fried masa and covered with crema beans and cheese. That itself was pretty much a meal.

Service was fantastic too. Dinner was a bit more relaxed and waiter took our orders in a timely manner. Breakfast, not as much but understandable because it was packed. Go in the cue and had an estimated 60min wait, went relatively quick though since it was...

Wonderful and distinctive food, generous portions, lovely presentations, great wait staff-- a terrific experience all around! (And they're family friendly as well.)

They're rocking grandmother's recipes for dishes I've never tasted before, like a green pepper stuffed with apples, walnuts, almonds and more, sauced with a crema-with-wine and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds. I love that dish! (I've just been eating it.) More than one dish featuring nopal/cactus, and the vegetarian options (like grilled portobello mushroom with meat and asadero cheese) are a favorite with our friends. I so much love the condiments they bring to the table, including white onion and pickled red onion as well as at least two kinds of salsa, and etc. (The cilantro is on the side, which is much appreciated for our cilantro-averse friend.) The restaurant staff is friendly, knowledgeable, efficient, and remembered me even after an absence of several months (grin). I love the margarita served in the carved coconut shell! The entrees & appetizers are sufficiently generous to serve one and a half people or one teen-aged boy, (um, apologies if this is an unfair stereotype) while the prices are very reasonable indeed.

My most recent order was for the grilled cactus leaf covered with beef; a dish of that special stuffed pepper in crema sauce with pomegranate seeds; the "queso" appetizer, we got it with mushrooms; and an extra side of their (whole) beans. Which I would eat as its own dish. In the past, doing on-site dining, none of those beans survived the meal un-eaten. In all, two entrees, an appetizer, a side dish, seven or eight condiments including the two kinds of onions, and a margarita (for me); we had our dinner, and we have plenty of left-overs (two adults, both hungry).

Unqualified...

TLDR: D’La Santa was soooo delicious. Will return soon (like next week) and probably again shortly after that. Not a place that caters to small children.

I tried the portobello with carne asada, pollo asado tacos, and guacamole (which was served with 5 blackened hard tortillas as the chips). All very good. The carne asada is thin cut and a bit dry but it came together with the juicy portobello.

The atmosphere is wonderful and staff are very *attentive. Probably because they have a no reservation system and want to push tables through. I respect this and value places that do this and can keep up in the kitchen with prompt service, which was what I experienced :)

I subtracted a star because despite 4 tables having small children the restaurant did not seem to have any modifications in place for these smaller patrons. When we asked for a water for our 1.5 year old we were directed to the glass goblet on the table. The ‘small plates’ were dinner sized baked wear. Very pretty but minimized our ability to keep items out of reach on the table space (think taco toppings). The food is served on serving platter sized plates which probably provide cozy space for the larger meat dishes but again minimized table space when only three 5” tacos were on it. My kiddo eats adult portions so I didn’t think to ask for a kids menu but it was also never offered.

Also all the dishes came with a side of beans (yummmm) and an enameled spoon. All 4 spoons at our table had big chipped areas in their enamel which now that I’m thinking more about it makes me yuck but in the moment I decided it would be too much of a hassle to ask for a new one...