La Mesa Modern Mexican — Restaurant in St. Charles

La Mesa? La Basura would be more appropriate. I used to frequent this spot when it was Puebla Modern Mexican, and since the menus are almost identical, I expected my experience to be, as well. Pump the breaks. The margaritas are much too sweet and the heat in the jalapeño drinks was no where to be found. I used to love the complimentary bean dip offered, however what we received was a dish of brown water. We ordered three salsas, which were just ok, but the carrot habanero salsa had a gluey consistency and the sweetness overpowered the pepper. At least there was an abundance of chips, oh wait...We had to wait for chips to be made both times we asked for some, and this was over the span of 100 minutes. We weren't plowing through chips and this was on a week night, it's not like it was crowded. Of the three types of tacos we consumed, I honestly did not care for any, partly due to the fact that the tortillas taste and feel like they are store bought. In addition, the tacos do not have two tortillas to provide extra support, thus the taco falls apart. If you're craving an indistinguishable medley of soggy vegetables and sugary cabbage slaw, then you'll love the vegetarian tacos. The one bit of hope this restaurant has is the service. My waiter was polite and attentive while providing adequate space. I hate to provide such a negative review (only one I've given), yet I hope La Mesa realizes that low quality food in a high profile location is not good for St. Charles. Hopefully La Mesa can turn things around because even though the restaurant up the street has superior food, it is a bit cramped. It'd be nice to have a comfortable place to grab good food and...

Terrible. "MODERN" ??? this place more like money grabber for sure. weirdly matched ingredients for tacos. This is more for those folks that haven't ate real authentic tacos in there life. This is just trash on a tortilla. how you going somewhere they serve mainly tacos but if you want salsa for your tacos you have to pay extra.? Plates already $17 -24 per person Minimum!!!. Sadly we did waste and spent extra. We were a party of 7. And each taco place had only one tiny sliver of lime!! For 3taco plate!!! For that price why aren't you not making homemade tortillas from scratch. Not hard. but few ingredients . Few plates do include salsa in the taco. But once you get it. The condiments over power the tbsp of hidden meat a teaspoon of salsa.. It was barbacoa with onion straw. More like a crunchy onion straws taco with a pinch of salsa and 1 tbsp of meat. They were too busy for the staff they had working. Poor scheduling.. as it took us min 30 to even order. Waitress did have a great personality. She did her best i know that. Only good thing came out of this. The rice was hard like it had been sitting there. Or they didn't cook it correctly or not enough water during cooking. Refied beans tasted like they came from can not freshly made. Not going back. Not Even for free

// modern Mexican from where. Mexico doesn't have "modern" tacos like this. Not sure what you call fresh. We had to pay extra for salsas. And they did not taste fresh. If you feel bashed, oh well. This is google reviews. I posted pics not lies. Do better or change careers. surprised we didn't get charged...

This an Absolute NEVER go to. Look I love food and enjoy supporting local restaurants. I was flabbergasted that both the food and service was this awful.

I ordered a steak burrito. The meat clearly was old. At first glance I could see the greenish, purple glisten on the meat. I instantly asked our server.

It was explained to me the the meat is "pre-cooked in the morning".

Keep in mind my son and I went in for an early dinner at about 4:45 p.m.

When I asked if they could remake it fresh, I was told "no, that is how they do things". That all the meat is pre-cooked.

So is the skirt steak for dinners pre-cooked also?

Even the local burrito shops in the area cook the meat fresh. I am not sure of the thought process here.

When meat is left out all day and then warmed back up to serve in a burrito, it is possible for bacteria to start to form and people can get sick from it.

On top of that the Charro beans were cold. Looked good, but stone cold.

I guess my favorite part was when I asked our server if anything could be done the response was priceless...

"Look, I'm not the restaurant owner, sorry" and simply walked away caring little to nothing that now I had nothing to eat for dinner with my son.

All I can do is shake my head... Don't waste your time here.

I will say that the Arbol salsa was great and so were the chips. That's the reason they got at least a one star.

If you are looking for piping hot and farm fresh food... DO NOT GO HERE. You certainly won't...