La Vallesana — Restaurant in St. Louis

i liked the way this place felt. it has a small authentic mexican feel to it. my wife and i ate there last night. i ordered the $13 fajita plate and my wife ordered the $13 spicy shrimp empanadas. yes, the food was good and usually i am stuffed after ordering a fajita plate at any restaurant BUT at this place the serving was a bit small and i left still hungry. they didn't serve us chips until we actually asked for them. the first basket of chips was really good and warm. the 2nd basket of chips was cold, stale, and had a funky smell to them. weird, eh? we asked for salsa as there was nothing to dip the chips into and no sauce at any of the tables.!!??? the server gave us this tiny little bowl of chunky pico de gallo. it was so tiny and the entire mexican chip event was very disappointing. isn't half the reason to go to a mexican place to eat chips and salsa?? my wife wanted a margarita and the server asked if she would like regular or small sized. that was such an odd response so i inquired what the sizes actually were. turns out there are 4 sizes. large and jumbo were also sizes but the server didn't offer those. there is also a $21 pitcher of magaritas. i was a bit frustrated since the server didn't know what a dos equis beer was and so i decided to order the $21 pitcher. this was a BAD idea. what they did was completely insult my intelligence. the pitcher came completely filled to the top with ice and then margaritta was poured over the ice. I thought i was going to get a pitcher of margaritta and instead i got a $21 pitcher of ice with enough margaritta mix to fill our small glasses 5 times. the pitcher was quickly empty aside from the fact that it was still full to the top with ice. There seemed to be little booze in it.

SO...the management may have thought thought that a $21 pitcher of ice with some weak margaritta mix in it and small food portions might be good for their bottom line but they definitely lost us as customers. I will never return. I left with a $52 bill and was still hungry and definitely not even the slightest...

Okay so you Do Not go to Cherokee Street just to eat. There is an excitement in the air and the street itself is Alive and La Vallesana is truly at the heart of it. With its courtyard and covered patio you can enjoy the sites and scenes of a hustle and bustle busy street with people coming and going and cars cruising up and down the street freshly waxed. If you want to relax a little you can sit inside and you are right next to the bar. Pretty standard set up but lots of what you would expect them to have. IE lots of beers and flavors of Margaritas. However if you want a soda such as a real sugar Coke they have that too. They have also been making ice cream there for as long as I can remember. It’s very good and I recommend saving room for a try. The food is the best and it really is delicious. This restaurant has been renovated and added on to over the last 20 years. What used to be an ice cream and taco shack is now super nice and big! They have taken that time to craft a tremendous menu. Also sauces are homemade including the red and green sauce they have had on there tables since I can remember. They are both different the red is spicy the green is amazing. The street tacos are the best I’ve had outside of Mexico and the tongue, the cheek, or the headcheese tacos are my go to’s everytime. Trust me try it! Cilantro and lime mmmm so good! Also their Torta’s are very good. I recommend trying a torta it’s basically a piece of French bread cut in half then refried beans, lettuce and tomatoes, some kind of spiced fried or stewed protein, and sour cream. Messy but tasty. We sat outside and our food was brought to us. After that we were on our own as far as if we needed another drink or anything. But that’s okay. It was worth not having a hovering waiter for this great restaurant and it’s amazing food and atmosphere....

La Vallesana

Hey! This place is solid. You can count on a freaking awesome plate every time. Tacos, quesadillas, tortas and way more than I'm going to mention here…. My go to is the camerones al diablo (well, currently, anyways) and I have decided that between the quesadilla and the torta, the torta wins. It's the grilled bread with crispy cheese edges and idk how they do it but this is a sandwich that keeps me coming back for more.

I've been coming to this place formerly known to myself and others affectionately as The Taco Stand for over a couple decades! It seriously used to be a one room shack on the corner of California and Cherokee. Now the enlarged building multiplies its size by at least 10! The outdoor patio on the corner is larger than the whole joint started out.

It's now formatted so you order and seat yourself, which works out well as far as I can tell. And takeout is just as easy. IT DOES GET BUSY, so if you suspect you're in a time crunch you could always go to another spot nearby and grab Mexican at a (potentially) less busy spot.

ALL of the Mexican restaurants on Cherokee have great items on their menus and and it's worth exploring all of them to see what you like where. But basically La Vallesana is my go-to when I'm not being particular and maybe want to go be anonymous somewhere.

The last thing I have to say about La Vallesana is that you might want to think about dessert first, so you can save room. When you enter, all the house made ice cream and aguas frescas like horchata are also not to be overlooked. Plan ahead.

Saturdays seem to be busiest and I am here on a Tuesday after lunch rush, and there's still a steady flow of customers. 5 stars out of 5 here. Glad to support local growth and a minority owned business on...