La Corona — Restaurant in Texas

I really love this place's menu. I always base my review of a Mexican restaurant, initially, on their rice and beans. La Corona’s rice and beans are... ok.

HOWEVER. (A big however), everything else was fantastic!

We had shrimp tacos and the carnitas. The shrimp tacos were everything that we missed from San Diego and this place has the best ones I’ve had since moving to Houston six years ago. I also had the carnitas which is relatively rare in Houston (unfortunately). The carnitas were pretty darn good. Comparable to El Tiempo, though El Tiempo edges them out a bit. Though at La Corona you can get an individual order that’s appropriately sized for an individual.

Then the Margaritas. My wife had the peppered and I had the “perfect”. It was not perfect but it was probably the best margarita I’ve had at a restaurant, here in Houston. Not overly sweet and not too tart. It was refreshingly citrus and not overpowered by tartness or tequila.

This place needs to stay. El Tiempo is a really good restaurant that I love, but the quality of the menu here is undeniable (they have mole!) They know what they are doing and the service was great. Please, please, please, take a chance on this place, I promise it will be...

Probably for the finer palate (not me)—this is definitely not your TexMex garden variety Mexican food. The food here is much spicier—which reminds me of food from Quintana Roo, Campeche or Yucatán areas of Mexico. I’m not familiar with how to describe the flavor of the spices. I can tell you the salsa was warm and spicy. My fish in the fish tacos was cooked nicely. Whatever, the sauce was, it was too spicy for me. I took one taco home and used tartar sauce —which was perfect for me. The fresh made tortilla was really great. My mate’s chicken molé enchilada sauce was spicy, yet flavorful. They shredded the chicken, which was delightful-compared to how other places give you chunks. The cheese was lightly browned.

The refried beans and rice were both kind of basic. This really reminded me of rice and beans in Quintana Roo.

What really stood out —and earned five stars— was our water glasses were always refilled immediately. We never had an empty glass. All the waitstaff was so friendly. We couldn’t be certain who was our actual waiter because everyone...

Delicious food in a convenient location. This restaurant is located conveniently in the Northeast corner of one of the main strip centers of The Vintage. Easy to get to from the East entrances and more readily available parking. The atmosphere and decor is a bit lacking and minimalist. It does not have that Mexican restaurant flair feeling that you get in some of the bigger chain restaurants, which is not necessarily a bad thing. The food was delicious and very filling. Our table tried multiple types of things including empenadas, steak, tacos al carbon, enchiladas, and a grilled shrimp salad and it was all very good. Even the sides of two different beans we tried were good. Only the rice was less flavorful than other places but then it did not take away from the other food. Only two people ordered drinks but they ordered a couple of them so I'm guessing they were also good. Pricing was reasonable and was certainly fair for the...