La Puente Restaurant — Restaurant in South Salt Lake

La Puente is the best place to go to get your chili colorado. It is thick, spicy with red chili, the gravy part of the chili is smooth and it has chunks of well cooked pork all throughout it. They give you a generous serving of meat to go to chili and a nice big fat tortilla cooked just right! Basically cooked just like your grandma used to make when you are a kiddo in her kitchen. La Puente has been in the Salt Lake Valley for a very long time. They have branched out to different areas of the valley. La Puente located in South Salt Lake has the most awesome atmosphere. In one section of the building is a stage for Mariachi's, or a band, a large dance floor, a bar with stools, and a lot of tables. The room is beautiful. The perfect setting for Wedding dances, receptions, Bat Mitzvahs, Bar Mitzvahs, Quinceaneras, Birthday Parties, Anniversary parties. This room is PERFECT for doing La Marcha; the traditional dance that starts the party. La Puente has a very extensive menu of some of the best Mexican food this side of the Rio Grande River in Texas. My personal favorite is the Chile Colorado. It is made with love from the red guahillo chile, cooked and simmered to perfection. The meat chunks are superb, practically melt in your mouth perfect. The chile itself is somewhat spicy. If you don't want somewhat spicy opt for the que bueno Chile Verde, green chile. They offer burritos, enchiladas, encebollado steak that is cooked to perfection. Their guacamole is very good and goes great with food or with a spoon cuz sometimes you have to eat your avocados like that... mashed with some super yumminess. A spoon helps. Their ribs are fantastic, so are the chile rellenos. The music in the restaurant reminds of eating at my Grandpa Joes house on Green Street. The tortillas reminded me of my Mima, the way she would work the tortillas into perfect rounds with the just right thickness to them. And the frijoles reminded me of my Mom's frijoles. Eating at La Puente for me, is like coming home to my grandpa's or my grandma's, but definitely my Moms house. The atmosphere of the building is fantastic. In one side, you can hear the band and watch the people dance. Or you can sit in the center section of the building, or sit in yet another section of the building. This is a large restaurant and should be filled to the max with revelers celebrating weddings, and birthdays and the band should always be playing. The waitstaff was amazing!! Celina was very nice, attentive, and engaging. Everyone that walked by my table enquired about me or my meal. My meal was fantastic!! I will be back for more. I've decided I should get married so I can have a party there. Nah, I think I will have a sweet 16!! Regardless, La Puente will not disappoint you. Bring your kids, they have a kids menu. They also serve Hamburgers and Cheeseburgers. These burgers, I promise are very good. I was surprised when I did order one, how tasty...

Was really disappointed this time. We used to go to the old location quite often before we moved and were really looking forward to eating here at least a couple of times while we were back for vacation. Ate here once and it was awful. Service was cold and disjointed and the food wasn't the same yummy quality. Big bummer. Ended up going other places the rest of our vaca

UPDATED REVIEW: 3/2024 We went here for dinner with a bunch of our family (we talked them into going to this location as we try and hit it when back in town) and was again so disappointed! The food was great and the service was wonderful…until the check came. I had ordered one side of half and half rice and beans, got two full sides and was charged for two full sides. Okay. Things happen. No big deal. My son ordered smothered rice (which is on the menu) and was charged for each part as extra components. I also ordered a side salad with ranch and was charged extra for the ranch???? Yes, they charged me extra for the salad dressing for my salad. Not extra salad dressing, just one little packet of Newmans own ranch dressing. Other members of my party experienced similar nickle and diming. When she took my card to go run it she came back and said, “she charged this wrong, let me go get it fixed” which usually means “hey, they overcharged you, let me fix that for you” but no, they charged me originally for what it stated on my ticket, reversed it (gave me the reversed charge receipt with the other one) and ran my card for a higher ticket amount!! I think we’re done with...

La Puente finds the perfect home. I had a real problem with La Puente's last location; there is no way an open roofed sun-baked cantina could serve such glorious heavy fare. I never got that second bowl of chips or finished the last gooey Chile Verde and cheese on my plate. I couldn't bear hitting the playa after cabbing it back to my resort. The food hasn't changed in 30 years and that is why I love La Puente as well as a testament to doing it right-with love and fat. The new location (Where the Greek Market stood for a couple decades- another Salt Lake institution now gone the way of Lamb's or Bill and Nada's) is where La Puente should have been all along and it feels like home. Stop by and don't feel guilty that hearty New Mexican Mexican has returned to the states and only a few miles from my house where I am going to recuperate from my second bowl of chips with a nap.

Update

I went in for take away in the height of Covid and am devastated. The food was cold, off-taste, in fact inedible. I kept going back in for another bite thinking that it was me, that something was wrong with me. Nope, each terrible bite confirmed that which i did not want to believe. And I haven't been back since- to a restaurant I frequented at least once a month for 26 years. I don't even register it when I drive by. I was just feeling a bit nostalgic today especially with the closing of Coachman's but that doesn't mean I have any desire to dine at La...