La Frida Mexican Grill & Seafood — Restaurant in Tucson

We went last night for my birthday. Place is a little small, but great atmosphere. So it gets packed quickly, parking can be tight because of that. But let me tell you why! The mural, the neon lights, and the hanging monkeys and hearts just set the mood. When we arrived we were told there would be an hour wait because of how packed they were, ended up only waiting maybe a half hour. I was determined to try it since we traveled from northern AZ for it specifically. Our server was Brayan and we loved him! He was so thorough and helpful when we were navigating the menu. Two things we were looking for besides good food was non-dairy and non-alcoholic options and we found those. So for me: since it was my birthday and I like alcohol, I got the Noche Frida drink and I almost didn’t want to drink it because of how pretty it was! They use activated charcoal and edible glitter in it which makes this beautiful color shift under the light but I’m a sucker for spicy tamarind vodka so I finished that no sweat. My weakness is mariscos so I saw they had a campechana option called Empoderado and it was great but the lil cucaracha shrimp they used for plating decor was overcooked and dried up, was a not so tasty shrimp jerky. My mom has been sober for a long time and has a dairy allergy so she was a bit more picky. The mocktails they have are SO GOOD!! And beautiful to look at. She got the Pincelada Azul and carne asada tacos and gave them both a thumbs up. My sister got the shrimp ceviche and loved it. She got a sprite so no fancy drink there. My brother in law got the chicken flautas plate they have there. I can’t remember the name but he said they were very good. He also kept it simple with a Dr Pepper. Now for desserts, I was super undecided with what I wanted my birthday cake to be so that’s when Brayan stepped up to help us and we ended up getting Carlota de Limón and a Bañuelos and ice cream dessert to share. BOTH WERE AMAZING! And he even put a little candle in the Bañuelos dessert 🥺 the limón cake was gorgeous to look at and was like the perfect lemon cheesecake. I think I definitely preferred that one over the other but it was a hard choice. The Bañuelos dessert you’re forced to eat fast because it’s melting ice cream but it’s really good too. And the end of the night Brayan let us know he was throwing in the Bañuelos dessert for free for us and we love him for that. We are definitely going to be making a stop there again in the future. They are doing great for their first few weeks of opening.

For some of the people asking, yes they are wheelchair accessible, there is a ramp. They have vegan options. All gender restrooms. We saw some babies in high chairs so they do have those. As of right now, they aren’t doing reservations, just first come first serve, but...

I left this place unimpressed, hungry and pretty disappointed. Let me explain. My son picked me up from a dental procedure and asked where I wanted to go for lunch. I said "Hey have you seen that place La Frida on Instagram? It looks nice." He said "Yeah, let's go." We pull in and notice the location wasn't that great. Unless you want to kill two birds with one stone and wash your car after you eat. Anyways we walk in and were immediately greeted and seated. It was pretty dead. It was a Tuesday afternoon. The restaurant is beautifully decorated. It's also pretty small so I'm very glad we tried it out when we did. After being seated our server introduced himself and brought us chips and this amazing cheese dip. We put our drink orders in. As we waited we looked over the very small selection of items on a very dirty paper menu. Our drinks were brought out in a cute but small Mason jar. Now, it's time to order. This is where everything went down hill! My son and I both ordered the (3) chicken enchiladas. I asked if I could have just cheese in the enchiladas because I just had that procedure. The server said "No." I said I would pay the same price. He still "No, we don't change the recipe." He said it exactly like that. So, I said "okay I'll just have it the way it comes." I didn't want to argue but I must have made a face because after the server took our order we were stared at by multiple staff members. So, after waiting a while our food comes out. Everything was beautifully presented on different plates which was different. We were disappointed at super small portions for the $18 lunch price. Then we dig in. The tortillas were hard and dry even though there was a very delicious red sauce poured over them. The chicken was cold and bland. I was very annoyed having to deconstruct my enchiladas so I could eat something. The rice was crunchy and bland as well. While trying have a conversation and now eating we were interrupted so many times by our server asking how everything was but never once filling our drinks. The busser tried to take our plates five minutes into our meal. It made us feel rushed and so uncomfortable we ended up asking for a box to go. We literally only stayed 10 minutes after we got our food. I rarely review places. If, I do I will only give positive feedback. I know bad reviews can hurt a business especially a new one. With all the hype on social media about this restaurant I expected more. I definitely didn't expect passive-aggressive...

I am extremely disappointed with my recent dining experience at this restaurant. Despite taking my family there, we encountered numerous issues. We waited an hour and a half before being seated, and then had to wait another hour for our food to arrive. Unfortunately, when it did arrive, it was cold. All of us had to send our food back, which took an additional 30 minutes. When it was re-served, it was only warm, but we were too hungry to send it back again. The carne asada tacos were subpar, and the ribs I ordered were actually riblets, which were not good. This restaurant does not live up to its hype, and I was disappointed to find that it is not as good as others claim. I do not mind paying premium prices for quality food, but $230, including $64 for drinks alone, is excessive. Furthermore, the waitress failed to inform us that the strawberry lemonade would cost $4 for the lemonade and an additional $4 for the strawberry flavoring, totaling $8 per glass. I will never take anyone to this restaurant again, as it was the worst dining experience I have ever had. To add insult to injury, I left a $50 tip, bringing the total to $280 for subpar food and service. The waitress only offered a 10% discount for the trouble, which is inadequate compared to other restaurants, which would offer $50 to $60 off for similar issues. I am willing to pay top dollar for quality food and service, but this restaurant failed to deliver. I will be sharing my disappointing experience with others and advising them to avoid this restaurant. In fact, I would have been better off going to Applebee's. In contrast, Mi De Mi Dito, which often has a wait time of one to two hours, is worth the wait due to its excellent food and service. My entire family was disappointed with this restaurant, and I fail to understand why others hype it up to be so good when, in reality, the service and food are subpar. Paying $28 for riblets is ridiculous, and I could have had a better experience at Pinnacle Peak. These are not ribs they are riblets the second time they brought our food back the riblets were very little on the board, the second time they brought chicken pozole it didn't come with avocado and the soup very disappointed in everything I give this place a zero stars if you want real Mexican food authentic go to Mi Nidito it's...