La Patrona — Restaurant in Tumwater

My husband and I were passing through this area and decided to stop in for a little dinner date. The place looked fairly nice from the outside and the inside was even cuter! Great decor and a very friendly staff!! Unfortunately, those are the only good things I can say about the place.

To start, I ordered the "large" guacamole. It was served in a small bowl, only a little bigger than the bowl they serve the salsa in. The guac lacked flavor, not sure if they even added salt. Next, fajitas for the hubby and tortilla soup for myself. The caldo (broth of the soup) was very acidic, very tomato-ie, and again, very acidic. It wasn't even flavorful, there was absolutely no chile that I could taste in the broth. I tried to eat it anyway, but after 2 spoonfuls I decided my stomach couldn't take it. I spoke to the waitress and ordered rice & beans with a side of tortillas (I figured that was a safe bet). She was very apologetic for the soup and kindly exchanged it for the sides. On to the fajitas, I could tell fairly quickly that they weren't good by the way my husband was slowly eating them. I tasted one, honestly I couldn't tell if the flavor was just bad or if the meat was actually bad, they had a slight sour taste, but not enough to know for sure that the meat had turned. Again, the seasoning wasn't there and whatever we were tasting wasn't good. Considering that fajitas are pretty simple to make, I'm questioning who's behind that counter.

This food is definitely not your Abuelas cooking, far from anything that I've tasted in my abuelas kitchen, or even off my tio's grill. This was high priced, below average mexican food, if you would call it mexican food. To the white folk eating here, please stop supporting this mess, you're allowing my mexican folk to serve you mediocre food. To the owners, their's no way you're proud, go back to Abuelas recipes and cook from the heart, season that food! To everyone else, I were you I'd save a buck and go the the below average Taco Time across the street. At least there the expectations are low and you're getting what you pay for.

*another ding, only the first bowl of chips and salsa are free, gotta pay for more. -- Said no real Mexican...

Disgusting and WOULD NOT recommend. A complete waste of money!

I went here last night for my 21st birthday and expected a nice meal. I have no clue how the rating is almost 4 stars. If I could give it zero stars, I would. I didn't enjoy one second of my time there at all.

First, my husband and I ordered chicken nachos. They were cold when they were given to us and they were not even good. The chicken was dry, the beans tasted like dog food and the worst part is, when we were HALFWAY through the chicken nachos, my husband found a RAW slice of BEEF. Why is there RAW beef in our CHICKEN nachos. So we stopped eating the nachos after that and waited for our food.

Almost immediately after we ordered our meals, they came out to the table. A woman at the table beside us made the comment "wow. That was really fast" but after we tasted the food, we knew why. The food did not taste authentic AT ALL and my husband and I figured the reason that their service is so fast is because they precook the meals and leave it under a warmer so the service is so quick. They should focus more on the flavor of their food rather than having such speedy service. I would have very much preferred to wait for my meal to actually be cooked and taste good rather than having fast service. The food was so bad, I couldn't even force myself to eat it and I usually at least eat the food that I don't like so I at least don't waste my money but I just couldn't do it.

Lastly, when my husband and I were walking out of the restaurant, we happened to look over at the register and see that they had the cups of salsa (which tasted more like dollar store marinara sauce than salsa) that they were serving to the customers just sitting out in the open on trays for God knows how long.

My husband and I were VERY disappointed with our experience and we will never go back there. I was still hungry after we left the restaurant so we ended up going to another restaurant down the road and just eating pizza for dinner and the pizza was a million times better. Don't waste your time or money. You would be better off going to Taco Time across the street. Their drive thru tacos probably taste...

Took 15 mins for a server to get our drink order, so we went ahead and put our food order in as well. I ordered the dragon fruit margarita, says on the menu it comes with a rock candy stick, but didnt. Instead I got the cocktail with gross chewy pieces of dried dragon fruit and an inedible flower garnish. Ordered queso dip and when delivered to the table there were no chips so they had to go get some...which is fine, but when all we were given was one small bowl of chips and a super tiny bowl of salsa when we were first seated, of course we needed chips with the queso. Also $3 for every refill of chips and salsa is cheap. Hands down. Which is what they charge after the first "complimentary bowl". They also never didn't give us any extra napkins or plates with the queso so I was waiting for a server to pass by our table so I could ask for some and none did. So when I went to the hostess stand, I made eye contact with THREE different staff and was ignored until the one blonde waitress, that actually seemed to be doing her job, asked if I needed anything. Not going to lie, the queso was really good. I ordered a chimichanga, boyfriend ordered enchiladas. Both dishes were mediocre at best. The rice was both overcooked and undercooked and bland. The beans were super bland and tasted watered down. I use the restroom and there is absolutely zero hand soap in the women's restroom. Like...not it was spitting out its last little bit and ran out recently...just dry. Nothing. Which also makes me concerned about the waitstaff that, I assume uses the restroom, not washing their hands with soap afterwards 🤔 We were never asked once how the food was, or if we wanted refills on anything. My boyfriend had to ask for more water when our food was delivered. We heard more loud banter from the kitchen than we did from the patrons and there was a large birthday party at a near by table. Besides us and that party, most of the tables in the restaurant area were empty. And only saw a few people in the bar area. $95 for crap service and less than mediocre food and drinks was not...