We had very good food here a couple of years ago, but this week (3/31/2026) was disappointing. My husband's chili relleno was not edible. He found one piece of pepper (less than half inch) and the rest was a mix of mushy dough and rock hard cheese that glued it to the plate. He had ordered a dinner so he could get that along with burrito and rice. I decided to just get the daily special of taco salad since our server was not very knowledgeable about menu items. The soft drinks were almost $5 each. I don't have exact price because we didn't receive a receipt, but our lunch for 2 ended up being almost $40. We got the soft drinks because on our last visit, the food was good, but water had a strange taste. See photos of our food. The taco salad was very basic, no guac, no pico, somewhat brownish shredded lettuce and an overcooked taco shell. My husband, who usually loves salsa, would not eat the salsa that came with our chips. He said it just tasted like tomato sauce. Nobody checked back with us after food was delivered. There were no drink refills or to go cups offered, and we had to flag down someone to get the check. There are many better Mexican restaurants closer to our home, so we will not be going back. read more

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With a nice addition to my birthday meal I will repeat Service Our server was really nice and gave us ideas of what to order read more

Great food and portions! The staff is very friendly too. One of the few Mexican places that has a spicy option that is actually spicy!

Fish taco were good, but better when they had the cabbage slaw on them. Fajitas had chorizo, shrimp, chicken, and beef strip. Came out steaming hot and were good. Chorizo is very good. read more

La Altena - a plate of food on a table - Mexican Near Me - Cleveland, Tennessee

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Food was delicious, totally recommend! We had a great time, great environment and great service! read more

La Altena - I had the Pollo Loco, it was delicious! - Mexican Near Me - Cleveland, Tennessee

Great lunch service and the food was excellent! Fajita burrito was really good! Service for 4 was fast and really good read more

I had the fajitas with beef chicken shrimp and chorizo traded the green peppers for jalapeños the chorizo is the best part the rest is about normal fair. Wife had the fish tacos which why we came. In the past they were made with cabbage and were really good. They changed there recipe and now make them like a regular taco she was disappointed after we had driven 400 miles from Indiana. read more

La Altena - Fajitas - Mexican Near Me - Cleveland, Tennessee

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Love how they are open to modifying menu items and even let me request special creations. Definitely something I look forward to when I just have got to have some yummy Mexican fare. read more

I wish this had 10 stars. This was an amazing dinner with my friends tonight. the food was hot fresh and and great customer service was amazing. read more

La Altena - Chicken Fajitas - Mexican Near Me - Cleveland, Tennessee

I have ordered the Guacamole Casera two times and asked for no onions due to an allergy. I repeated the specification twice on the phone before disconnecting the call. Picked up my order and once back to work noticed again that it had onions. Call the restaurant and they said they would replace it. Not sure why no-one can understand NO ONIONS. Do better!!! read more

This has to be one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in town. Great selection of dishes. Warm chips and salsa greets you when you arrive and in short order you food in on the table. The one thing I like is the decorations of the dinning area. This is very much like many places I have visited in central Mexico. Mexican music playing, only thing better was if they had real mariachi guys playing. read more

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Great food and great service!!! First time I tried a chicken burrito and it was excellent. Will definitely be back.

Soooooo gooood The chips and salsa fresh and hot. We ordered chicken fajitas for lunch and was blown away. Just might be my new favorite thing, read more

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Great food here. Service is always great, I have been going here for over 20 years never disapoints

This place looks like a hole in the wall from the parking lot but is actually one of the best Mexican restaurants in Cleveland. They have THE BIGGEST MARGARITAS IVE EVER SEEN !!! I didn't get a pic of that one but I did get a pic of a regular one and shrimp cocktail! Everything on menu is good , I'm into the verde dishes these days and they didn't disappoint! read more

La Altena - Shrimp cocktail and small margaritas - Mexican Near Me - Cleveland, Tennessee

This place has been in a downward spiral for a while now. I have given them several chances over the last year being they are conveniently located to my house but tonight was the last straw. First off I placed a take out order and two of the three plates were wrong. There's no calling and complaining because the gentleman that answers the phone gets huffy and acts like you didn't place any order...tried that route a few time. They said it would be ready in 15 minutes and it was 40 minutes. The Food quality was fine but service and accuracy is lacking. This is the same scenario every time we order take out. I suggest to dine in rather take out. read more

I typically don't leave such a high review but this was well deserved! Fast! Very nice servers. Drink cups are larger then normal so you don't have to wait for them to fill it back up. Cheese dip was over the bow and really great and hot. We went for lunch. Lunch Shrimp fajitas was really good! And the Burrito I think lunch special #10 it was huge!!!! Over all great experience! We will be back! read more

Good food, good service, good happy hour specials 7 days a week. I always ask at Mexican restaurants if they have a hotter salsa than the one brought to the table with the chips. La Altena's was definitely one of the better ones I've had. Not super hot and a very good taste. My chicken fajitas were very good-almost all chicken with very little bell peppers, tomatoes and onions. It was a lot of food so I've got a lot for tomorrow too. I'll surely come back here. read more

In search of a good burrito I found this restaurant on yelp. I was not let down, the reviews for the most part are accurate. The restaurant is fairly large and during my lunchtime visit very crowded. With that being said service was prompt and our waiter was very friendly, As soon as we sat we had someone take our drink order and drop of chips and salsa. The salsa was delicious, two variations. One mild and one hot. The salsa was refreshing, smooth and delicious. Main course I had a wet burrito. The burrito was filled with steak, onions and peppers. Side items served separately were lettuce, sour cream, tomato and guacamole. The meat inside the burrito was tender and flavorful. The size of the burrito was average. The cheese sauce on the burrito made it amazing. This was a great find. read more

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As soon as you sit down you are greeted with heated chips and some Sausa. The sausa is not hot either. They kept my sweet tea full at all times. menu items ordered: sweet tea, and lunch combo number one which includes chile rellino, Mexican beans, taco and a salad with a tomato. It's was great and hopefully I won't have to eat any more the rest of the day. They do have WiFi and the password is their phone number. read more

If you've read any of my other reviews, you know that I like that "smells like the bottom of a dirty mop" scent as I cruise into a Mexican joint. Too busy cooking greatness to be concerned with how the mop may be received. This place rocks! From real margaritas to awesome service, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit. I had the Burrito Mojado, which was steak and Mexican sausage combined with lettuce, tomato, cheese and cilantro. BIG ol' chunks of meat! Served with rice and beans. Muy bueno! Atmosphere was cool, decor nice for being in the Walmart parking lot and the price was right. What more could you ask for? Eh - the rice was okay and the beans were good. Trifling matters. I'd come here again. read more

La Altena - the interior of a mexican restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Cleveland, Tennessee

I've been here twice, the first time wasn't bad, so I thought I would try it again. Big mistake, the hard shell tacos were so soggy I had to throw the shells away. The only good thing were the chips and salsa. Both times I've been here the waiters never smile and talk to you with an attitude. I will never get food from this place again. read more

I absolutely LOVE this place. The food is always great, The workers always treat you with respect, and it's not too expensive. One of the best restaurants in Cleveland. read more

This was gross!!!!!! made me and my boyfriend throw up everything we had ate. The chicken looked uncooked and the spinach was from a can if I could give this place a no star review I would! Take the extra 8 minutes and drive to tres Hermanos it's worth it!!! read more

I've been interested in this place since I've moved to this side of town. Every time I go to Wal mart La Antina catches my eye. I decided yesterday to take the wife and the kids to have some good Mexican food. It's been a while. For starters, the Aztec vibe with the big double doors upon entry is a nice touch. It was about 3pm so they weren't very busy. We were immediately greeted with a smile by the host and seated promptly. The menu is typical for a sit down Mexican restaurant. The prices are comparable to anything I've seen that isn't considered upscale. I went with ol faithful and got a chicken and a beef enchilada with rice and beans. My son got a chicken salad and the wife also went with chicken enchiladas. It came out pretty quickly and was fresh and hot. At this point this 5 star review drops a couple notches, just because of the bland taste of the food. The rice and beans tasted the same. I had to get some hot sauce to liven it up. The enchiladas? Also very bland without much flavor. Everything kind of stops there. The prices are fair and service is top notch. The food? I venture to say you could probably get better tasting food at a place like tres Hermanos, and as I previously reviewed, the unmatched Nelas tacos. read more

Been here years before and the food was great but came in Mother's Day 2022 and the chips were so stale they hurt your teeth. Asked for fresh chips and was told that they were all made the same day. read more

If i could write only one word, excellent would cover it. Very good service, great taste, even better prices. We ordered and our food was out in about less than 10 min. The food was authentic and very tasteful. read more

My boyfriend and I have been long-time loyal fans of La Altena and used to go all the time. Now we don't go as often and it's unfortunate to say that this restaurant has gone downhill. The food is still the same but on my last visit we had a nice visitor, a small cockroach, crawl on the wall of our table. We just killed it and tried to just ignore it and eat and go but as are food was getting placed on our table another cockroach called from inside the napkin holder and all over our table. We were asked if we wanted to move, and we did. But I was never apologized to or offered anything for having bugs where I was about to eat at. Unfortunately, the rest of our meal was really uncomfortable and we just wanted to leave. Since we're regulars here I would have imagined the manager coming to say sorry and giving a meal or even just my drink for free but no sir. As my bf paid he said they did apologize but nothing to myself. I hate to stop going here since we tell everyone to go here and are know many of the servers but sadly this will be my last visit. read more

Last time I was in here, I asked the server a clarifying yes/no question concerning pricing. Turns out, she was wrong and when I confronted the owner about it, he said she didn't speak good English and that wasn't her fault. He insisted I pay the price he was charging, which I did. .....really? I'm not one to demand that everyone be fluent in English, but if you're gonna answer questions, it's important to know what you're answering. This would have been an easy fix for the owner; it was $2. Customer service for this place is a low priority compared to similar restaurants. As far as the food, it's on par with other Mexican restaurants in the area. read more

Our food was ok. Chicken in both our dinners was dry & our rice was oily!... good sweet tea

This is my favorite place for Mexican food in Cleveland. They have some of the more authentic dishes (tacos al pastor, Arandas Especial, mole) that you can get in Cleveland. The salsa has always been good. Sometimes the spiciness can be a bite more or less depending on the day. There is always a good taste of cilantro in the salsa but it is not overpowering. The service is always decent and often excellent. There is plenty of parking in the lot outside and while there is sometimes a wait it is never long. There are 2 reasons why I have not given 5 stars: 1. There have been some times where the food has been a little inconsistent. While it has never been bad, there was a couple of times where it was not as good as normal. 2. The cashiers sometimes come off as a little rude. Again, this does not apply to everyone. Sometimes it seems like I am an inconvenience to them because I'm trying to pay for my meal. read more

My favorite Mexican restaurant love everything about them! Been going there for years! read more

La Altena - Artwork is amazing - Mexican Near Me - Cleveland, Tennessee

This is a great little spot for good Mexican food and margaritas. Their take out is always ready very quickly, I love eating here when I'm in Cleveland! I've really only tried the fajitas here, since that's what I've been in the mood for when we've eaten here. but their salsa and cheese dip is usually pretty good too. Some times the salsa can be a bit weak, but maybe that's just the end of the batch. From what I've experienced around Cleveland, TN this place is the best for Mexican read more

We have eaten here several times. This is the first time I have written a review. Normally, I would give them a 4 1/2 star rating, but I cannot do so tonight. We arrived around 5pm on a Saturday afternoon. They were rather busy at this time but since there were only two of us we were seated immediately. The salsa is a little too spicy for my taste so I asked for some mild salsa. What he brought was some warm red sauce that they pour over several meat items on the plate. It was rather bland and I had to add quite a bit of salt to give it any flavor at all. I ordered combination #16 which is one enchilada, one taco, rice and beans. My wife ordered #18 which is two enchiladas (she ordered Chicken), rice and beans. They brought my order about 5 minutes before they brought out hers. My food was not hot. It was bland (including the taco) and I had to salt it heavily in order to eat it. My wife's food was just warm at best. Her food was also bland and needed a lot of salt. Incidentally, they must be using Sea Salt in the salt shakers because it would not come out of the shaker very well. I had to take the cap off of the shaker to get the salt out. Normally this is the best TexMex place to eat but they didn't do such a good job tonight. read more

This is probably our favorite Mexican restaurant in the area. Food is fresh, good salsa, and nice portions for the price. Highly recommend!

We have stopped at this location many times and we also send our customers here from Chattanooga North KOA Good job read more

I have been going here ever since they opened. The Food is authentic Mexican Food - My favorite are the fajitas. I love the chips and salsa they serve upon being seated. Some of the stuff there is not things I am accustom to but the things I have tried over the years have amazing taste. With the fajita I get so much that I split everything on both plates into 1/3 and eat 3 meals out of it and still feel very full I could easily split to 1/4 meals. (They are more than happy to bring you a to go box and thats what I do. Everything including my left over chips n salsa go with me for later.) I have tried other Mexican restaurant that I was highly disappointed in the flavors and way things are prepped, but La Alteña is by far THE BEST I have ever had, my favorite place to eat period and I highly recommend it! read more

The food was great. Guacamole was fresh and tasty. The bathrooms were dirty beyond use.

Good Mexican food! The staff is always friendly and attentive. I usually get the Pollo Loco, Huevos Rancheros, Tacos de Asada or Chicken Nachos. Yes I know I have too many choices and I rotate them out. Drinks there are ok (Margaritas is usually what I get), but my service is always great! I recommend this place for Mexican! read more

The food was OK, Ive had worst in Cleveland, Have had alot better tho. The portions where small for the price. Beer mugs where cold, but not frozen. Service wasn't to bad over all. I dont like haven to remind them to get something tho.The Place was clean I thought. read more