We went here for dinner around 9 p.m. on a Saturday. The dining area was completely empty, but the…read morebar was packed. We were seated right away and given chips and salsa--the salsa was kind of bland, and the chips had no salt. Our waitress was very nice and attentive, which we appreciated. My wife ordered the enchilada combo with three different enchiladas. She doesn't like spicy food, and it turned out to be spicy, but no one mentioned that ahead of time. Still, she said it was good overall. I ordered the "pick three" combo with one side. It came on a giant plate (as you can see in the pictures). The tamale was decent but lacking flavor, the enchilada was okay and a little spicy (which I didn't mind), and the chimichanga was easily the best part of the meal--really good. The black beans were not good at all, though--they tasted off, almost sour, so I left them. For dessert, I got the churros to go. The menu doesn't say they're stuffed, but they were--filled with caramel and served with chocolate chip ice cream, hot fudge, and whipped cream. They were excellent. Prices were fair, and I'd probably go back, but it's not really my type of Mexican food. I prefer fresher Tex-Mex flavors, and this place leans more toward heavy cheese and sauces.

Vida Mexican Restaurant is an authentic Mexican restaurant that opened in Laconia, New Hampshire in…read moreApril 2021. It was founded by a family of restaurateurs that includes Arpeet Shah, his wife Gabriele Hernandez, and brother-in-law Alan Romani. The family sought to bring authentic Mexican cuisine to the New Hampshire Lakes Region. The menu features of variety of Mexican dishes such as fajitas, burritos, tacos, chimichangas, quesadillas, enchiladas, as well as their signature crafted margaritas. A second location, dubbed Vida II, opened in Tilton in October 2021, but it was closed by late 2022. A third location, dubbed Vida at the Lake, opened in Meredith May 2022. The family also owns and operates Ensō Japanese Steakhouse in Meredith (opened June 2024) and Raíces Authentic Mexican Restaurant in Manchester (opened February 2025). My extended family and I visited the original Vida this past summer while we were visiting Funspot down the road. After a few hours at the arcade, we were getting hungry for lunch and looked on Yelp to see if there was a good restaurant nearby. Vida came highly recommended and we're glad that we decided to stop in. Most of us started off with a round of delicious margaritas. My wife had the "Fresca Strawberry Margarita" (1800 Silver tequila, triple sec, Gran Gala, fresh lime and fresh house strawberry purée) and I had the "Spicy Margarita" (Ghost Tequila, triple sec, Gran Gala, fresh lime and agave). We then ordered some freshly made guacamole for the table to share. For entrees, I had the "Taco Dinner" (three chorizo tacos, served w/ rice, beans, pico de gallo, fresh limes, grilled onions, jalapeño and salsa on the side), my wife had the "Shrimp Fajitas" (large grilled shrimp with onions, peppers and tomato, served on a sizzling skillet w/ rice, beans and salad), our older son had the "Kids Burrito & Taco", our younger son had the "Kids Corn Dog" (w/ fries). These dishes were super authentic! All of the ingredients tasted so fresh and flavorful. We're very happy to have discovered Vida Mexican Restaurant and we highly recommend them to anyone looking for authentic Mexican cuisine in the New Hampshire Lakes Region!

Frida Mexican Bar & Grill soft opened their second location in May 2026 in Alton, between Alton Bay…read moreand Gilford on NH 11, formerly The Lodge At Smith Point-Woodlands Tavern-The William Tell. There is parking in front and along the west side of the building. The place feels more spacious than their Epping location with a full lounge service bar with seating and high top tables to the left side and a full service dining room with regular table seating on the right side on the main floor. The lounge area has flatscreen TVs on the walls and there was a DJ setup too. The back windows on both sides overlook the woods towards the Lake. I stopped by Frida in Alton for an early Saturday dinner on a sunny day. The place wasn't too busy yet. I was greeted at the hostess stand and picked out my table by the back window on the lounge side. I was given an extensive Mexican-American food menu to look at. Reggaeton was blasting through the speakers. It felt like I was sitting in Lawrence MA or Framingham MA south of Route 9 (sh-tbox cars blast reggaeton through the city streets), without looking out the window realizing I'm in the heavily forested Lakes Region of NH. There were a mix of NH and MA plates in the parking lot. The bar also offers draft beer, wine, and cocktails. A complementary basket of crunchy chips with small dips of mild salsa, mustard dip and refritos, seasoned beef, & cotja cheese were brought out. I really enjoyed the refritos dip for the chips. I was given a glass of cold water. I went with the Enchiladas Rancheras with Shredded Beef ($17.99 plus tax) served with Mexican rice, refried beans & cheese. The food was served to me in about 15 minutes after ordering. The big plate was very hot, which had 3 enchiladas (corn tortillas) filled with stewed shredded beef topped with cabbage, pico de gallo, & cotja cheese, sour cream on the side. The beef enchiladas with the soft Mexican rice and soft refried beans & cheese were very filling to eat. I barely finished the whole entree and the basket of chips and dips. I passed on the dessert offer, again like at the Epping location, but I'll get dessert next time. The check with tax and before tip was $19.52 (cash)/$20.30 (card). Overall, I enjoyed a another great meal at Frida, this time in Alton. The music changed as I was leaving from reggaeton to upbeat 1980s dance music. The TVs had baseball and horse racing on. This Frida was actually a convenient stop since I was already driving from Laconia to Alton Bay.

Went to Frida to try the newest restaurant to see if we should put this into out routine. We were…read morevery underwhelmed. The Margaritas were flavorless compared to the local competition. Not a hint of lime, not a hint of tequila. I tried the mole chicken. I always judge a Mexican restaurant if the can pull off a great mole. Frida's mole was not good at all. Maybe the dish sat under the heat lamp for too long and dried out the mole sauce but my enchiladas were dry and lacked any mole flavor or spice. According to others at the table their food lacked flavor and seasoning. The carne asada was tough, flavorless and bland. The guacamole lacked acid and heat. Others at the table repeated the same, flavorless and bland. The service was poor. Our food was delivered but we had no silverware. It took a few minutes for our server to bring our silverware to the table. As our food cooled off while waiting he had no problem bringing drinks to another table. That seemed to be the theme. We had to find our server after waiting for 20 min to get the check so we could leave. With 4 other great Mexican restaurants in the area we will keep heading into Belmont and Tilton to get our fix.

As transplants from the W Coast and New Mexico, we were thrilled to find Cielito so close by. Food…read moreis great, artfully prepared and of course excellent. Service is excellent and we always look forward to seeing Christopher. High end, well prepared dishes, well beyond "street food" and highly varied menu. And, they have Pacifico beer, my favorite, discovered by me on a diving trip to La Paz, Baja California Sur.

Went early evening today & host said about 10 min. Waited for awhile, big party came in after us &…read morehe seated them first. Not excusable. Young guy don't know his name.

Food, servers & ambience, always top-notch, if you're a "Mex Cuisine Lover"!!…read moreWeather indoors or outdoors, the atmosphere is authentically amazing!!

We were really excited because this place had a line out the door. Waited about 15 mins to be sat…read moreand our server was really friendly. It became disappointing when the food started to arrive. We got chips and guac and the guac had an overwhelming amount of onion in it. Ok, fine, we were then looking forward to our mains. We ordered the Chicken Enchiladas and the Tostadas. Both had what we would guess as unseasoned boiled chicken. UNSEASONED chicken in a restaurant feels crazy, borderline offensive. Like so bland and boring, and the tortilla the enchiladas came in felt uncooked? So unseasoned chicken in an uncooked tortilla. Really disappointing. I ordered a side of beans (sort of assumed it would come with a side of rice or beans) and it took like 15 mins to come to the table. I wanted to eat them together so I sat with bland food in front of me for 15 mins until the beans could come. Served was busy but didn't check back in on us once the food was dropped. For the price, the food, and the long wait that came with it, I wouldn't recommend spending your money here. :/

We ordered the street Birria tacos, both of us and shared a plate of refried beans. Both were good…read more We had got there and was told a possible 15 minute wait, that's understandable for being a Friday night. A couple came in after us. I got seated right away then they realized oh hey, we have two that came in before them. I was quite perturbed with that.

Our visit last night to El Jimador was most excellent! My husband, daughter, and I stopped on our…read moreway back home from the airport and we are so glad we did! Our cocktails were very reasonably priced and refreshing (my daughter and I both had the margarita flight) and my husband had his favorite tequila neat. Our meals were exceptional! Plenty of food to fill us, and delicious! We all enjoyed everything so much, we did more eating than talking! Rare for our family! Ha! Kudos to our bartender server, and the chefs! We will be back! And we will also order via Door Dash this winter.

Great food and friendly customer service! I'll definitely…read morebe back. We did takeout this time vs. dine in and they got everything right. Well done!

We stopped by for dinner around 10 PM, when very few places were still open, so we weren't sure…read morewhat to expect. Thankfully, the place didn't disappoint Food They have all the standard Mexican dishes you'd expect at a restaurant. We ended up getting the pollo chipotle, which came with rice, beans, and tortillas. It was so good that we actually ordered another one! Extra Amenities The staff was very friendly and attentive. They checked on us regularly and made sure we were taken care of. Parking might be a little limited since it's right in the center of the city. Ambience / Overall Feel It had a typical Mexican ambience and wasn't too busy despite it being a Friday evening. There's plenty of indoor seating, too. Overall, a really solid late-night dinner find.

Went here on a Friday night over Labor Day weekend about 6pm. I do not understand why this place…read morewas not packed. There was a bar and seating area, we were able to get a table. Our server was quick and brought us drinks and chips immediately. The children's menu had mozzarella sticks on it, which was a hit with our crowd. I ordered the veggie burrito and it was a 10/10. I have not had a burrito that good in a long time. It also included lettuce which was a nice touch. I wish I lived closer; I would definitely be a regular at this spot. My husband ordered the enchilada and was pleased as well. Will definitely go back!

It was okay. I got the pastor burrito The burrito was very heavy on the rice and light on the meat.read more

This is by far my favorite Mexican restaurant in the area would go out of my way to eat at this…read morerestaurant. The staff are really friendly and helpful.

Unfortunate lunch. I asked the server if the beans were vegetarian and he said, they are. I ordered…read morea combo with beans and sure enough, it came out with beef. I asked the server to please bring me the bean combo I'd ordered. He left the plate in front of me and brought out the meal items in foil, LEAVING THE MEAT DROOL POOLING ON MY PLATE alongside the lettuce, pico and guac. Jesus.