La Esperanza — Restaurant in South Bend

Aside from the obviously fake one-star reviews from employees of other Mexican restaurants, I will say that after going there for more than 20 years, they became and remain one of my favorite Mexican restaurants anywhere. I was born in New Mexico and lived in Chicago and have eaten A LOT of Mexican food and theirs is easily up there with many of the best. Sometimes the service lags but the food is always on point and very flavorful. Just went on Cinco de Mayo with 12 other people. They accommodated us and we got great food very fast considering how busy they were. Chips were chips but their salsa is amazing! Also, if you want macaroni and cheese, why would you go to a Mexican restaurant and then be surprised it wasn't great? I will say they could update / remodel inside but it isn't bad. I would encourage you to look at the overwhelming amount of 4 and 5 star ratings. And if you consider Hacienda to be authentic Mexican food, your taste buds are seriously compromised! (I do like Hacienda but it's not authentic Mexican food). People that had a bad experience are much more likely to leave a review but you can plainly see that isn't the case with La Esperanza. We were also very sorry to hear about the passing of Gerardo Fernandez the great man in...

I really don't understand the hype. It's obvious most of the reviewers have never eaten authentic Mexican cuisine.

The "Mexican" cheese they use here is the bagged, shredded multicolor cheese you can buy at the store.

Their rice is bland, and their "quesadilla" was the basic, Americanized, flat stuffed disc cut into wedges. I was really craving an authentic quesadilla, and was severely disappointed with what I got.

I was served a sad, Americanized "quesadilla". I was expecting freshly shredded chicken basted in tomatoes, onions and peppers with queso Chihuahua inside ... an authentic quesadilla rellena. And I was expecting that trademark crispy, slightly grilled tortilla. However, I almost sent back the dish I was served. It was laughable.

Service was not great. We ordered at the same time but my fiancé's food came first, while I waited another 10 minutes for my entrée, plus another 10 minutes for a side of rice. His tacos al pastor and steak tacos (Mexican style) were flavorful but everything inside them was really dry.

Our bill was way too expensive to walk out feeling like we paid for mediocre food and subpar service. Left feeling really disappointed and upset that we paid so much for such a...

I got a carry out order for 3 steak tacos on Taco Tuesday. The cashier was very nice and told me it would be 10-15 minutes. I could tell she was working hard to get orders out. It ended up being 20 mins. I wish they would’ve just told me that at the get go bc I had to go to the Post Office and would’ve done that first. The women’s bathroom was occupied the entire time I was there somehow which was also a bummer. (Only 1 stall).

The steak tacos looked promising but the meat was dry and not flavorful. If you dump enough salsa verde on it though they weren’t half bad. The rice was also dry and they didn’t give me silverware so I scooped it into my mouth with chips.

I got free chips and salsa with my order which I greatly appreciated as it was the best part of the meal. The salsa was awesome and spicy. I couldn’t stop eating it! The chips were also very good. I would’ve given this a 2 star review if it wasn’t for the fire chips and salsa so good job on that:)

I also thought the prices didn’t fit the quality (not during the specials but the rest...