Las Carretas Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Winter Park

I definitely wasn't expecting some place this nice in a strip mall. The vibe was very relaxed. There's energy and some music but it's nothing that disrupts conversation. Plenty of space, doesn't feel cramped, even though they clearly can handle a lot of people. The booth seats were comfortable, and literally everyone we interacted with was professional and pleasant.

I was sat right away, and was served and checked on by someone so talented, I believe her name was Chanty -- it's hard to explain but she was so hospitable, it made me feel ...special? Important? Like an actual guest. So cozy and what a great sense of community springs from such nice treatment. I wouldn't have guessed that from a place where I can have amazing food during lunch rush for 11 bucks.

Speaking of which -- look at this thing? They have probably seven or eight full busy pages of items, but I thought I was being modest in picking from the lunch menu in the back getting something called a 'chicken and rice bowl.' I wanna hang this in the museum. The "garnish" was an entire chimichanga that had the best slow cooked-tasting chicken I think I've had in years, and that big bowl was full to the bottom of fresh tasting high quality ingredients.

I noticed that it seemed from the descriptions that they serve some more traditional Mexican fare and not just the broad strokes stuff you see everywhere else. Everything looked and smelled great. I was out here an hour away from home for a doctor's appointment and I honestly think I might drive the hour to come back just to bring someone else and blow their mind as they have an experience like I just had.

I was hoping I'd come here and they'd be doing well ratings-wise because I want businesses like these to succeed. How happy I am to see that they're maintaining a 4.9 out of THREE THOUSAND REVIEWS.

I'm pretty much jealous of myself for getting to...

Wanted to try this place and since we were around the area it was a convenient choice.

We were greeted and seated at our table and one of the staff members brought chips and beans to our table. It was a nice change to get beans instead of salsa. Don't worry though, they have a salsa bar close to the entrance were you can pick the one that catches your eye. We ha the pickled Chiles and green uncooked salsa, both were good.

It took a while for our appointed server to come by and take our drink order. When she finally did, she apologized and said she had too many tables and most of them outside. We understood and told her to give us a bit to decide what to order, while she went to get our drinks. She brought our agua de jamaica and left. It took a while for her to come back, that we had to ask the hostess if we could get our order in. She came by, wrote it down and left. When the food came, we were missing our tortillas and a side. She took care of that after having us wait again and we saw her again just to get the check (yes I did tip her, even though her service was average and she was more concerned with her other tables).

I would've given the restaurant 5 stars, but service was a big factor. Usually we understand, but we barely saw her and she seemed annoyed that she had to go to the other side of the restaurant to take care of us :(

The food is worth it. We ordered the Cecina Asada and the Salmon Tropical. Both were fresh, made to order, good portion, good presentation, good sides and very tasty. It had been a while since we had authentic Mexican flavors and the cecina was just on point. Kuddos to the cooks and the kitchen for a good meal.

We will stop by again if we are around the area, to get good food and try the margaritas, hoping we get...

Las Carretas Mexican Restaurant is authentic Mexican food that is delicious. This was our first time visiting. Upon arriving on a late Saturday afternoon, the place was packed. However we were greeted and seated quickly. Our server, Evelyn was kind and attentive. To begin, we ordered hand made guacamole that was prepared table side in front of us. Our main dishes were the steak quesadilla and the mulita de birra burrito. Both dishes were prepared quickly and were delicious. The meat on both dishes were tender and flavorful. We finished with an order of churros. Overall the experience was delightful. The only con was the temperature inside the restaurant. It was pretty warm. I'm not sure if that was due to the place being crowded, the fact that Orlando is going through a heat wave at the moment, or if the air conditioning wasn't working properly. If you are craving authentic Mexican food in Orlando, definitely go to Las Carretas. You won't be disappointed. There is a reason that they are rated so highly. Check them out.

Update:

We visited a second time and the service was very different in a bad manner. First, our group a party of 5, was seated in the middle of the restaurant within a crowds instead of a booth as requested. Second, our server, Maicol, was polite but was trying to upsell every single thing that we ordered from the menu. Every drink, he tried to push the large drinks. He did not take the time to explain the difference. Third, they want you to order quickly, eat quickly and pay to leave quickly. Fourth, the desserts are very lacking and not worth ordering. Overall, we left very disappointed after having such a good experience the first time. I will not return nor recommend...