Great authentic mexican food, good portions & prices. The mercado is also excellent.

Pros: Tasty, authentic food, Price Cons: Service Summary: The food is great but please read the detailed review all the way to the end. Details: This is a really tough one. I ate here last week and the food was amazing as always. It's the third time that I've been here in the last year and this place has completely transformed for the better. Most of what is now the restaurant used to be part of the grocery store. Now they have booths and it has decent restaurant style seating. The location is great - strip mall on centerpoint road. The restaurant/grocery store isn't the cleanest but it's decent. Most of the items on the menu are really cheap. I have to agree with everyone else when they say that this place is authentic. So far, I have tried their tortas, burritos and enchiladas and I've loved it every single time. In order to keep costs low, I've seen that they're foregone the chips and salsa which used to be part of the meal in the early days. If it was up to the food alone, I'd give this place 5 stars. For instance, last week I had their cheese smothered enchiladas with beef which was still really crispy when I cut into them. The service was fair and although it took them 15 minutes to serve us initially, the food was out in 15 minutes after we put in the order. All that being said, there is something else that I need to mention on here too. At lunch last week my friend had the chilaquiles and he came down with a bad case of food poisoning - listeria. It is possible that the food here and nothing to do with it, but I'd feel very responsible if I didn't even mention it on here. Now, I was completely fine after eating the beef enchiladas, and both times before then. It is possible that he contracted it from something else that he ate/drank that week, but this was one of the foods he ate outside of his normal diet. When I asked him if he enjoyed the food and if he'd come back, it was a yes! read more

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Heads up everyone! Germo-phobic's please avoid this place. :) I am a big fan of this place. I was craving for Mexican food & my manager had suggested this place so went there. The best tacos in town I love their chicken chimichangas. The portion are of decent size for the price you pay. I call them as hotel version of the Taco Truck(It's a Mexican food truck). It also has the grocery store to buy Mexican groceries. My fav Jaritos you get all flavors & sometimes even big bottles. I buy fresh cilantro (Please wash them). I consider them to be the authentic mexican place in Cedar rapids. read more

La Guanajuato - Table - Grocery Near Me - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

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They try to charge complete different prices for food on different days I've gotten the huevos con chorizo which is supposed to be 6.99 on there lunch special yet I have paid 17.99 12.99 and 6.99 depending on who is working wonder if maybe it's because I'm a gringo read more

Sooo good. We love little authentic Mexican restaurants. This place is a hidden gem!

service was 10/10. Food was made quickly after ordered and it was delicious. workers were very nice to customers. Would definitely go again!

Asked some locals for good authentic Mexican fare and they recommended this spot. I had the chicken pozole soup, wow! I highly recommend it, it was a bit spicy for the average person, but I powered through because it was so delicious. Good portion size, with lime & tostada chips on the side, added them for a nice texture to the soup. read more

Enjoyed my lengua tacos. Probably the most authentic in Cedar Rapids: corn tortilla, cilantro, onion and meat of your choice. You grab a jarrito out of the refrigerator and you are good to go. You pay up front at the cash register after your meal. The reason for my average rating is just the decor. The seats in the booths are torn and it just doesn't feel clean. But my tacos were indeed good. read more

La Guanajuato - Lengua tacos - Grocery Near Me - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

This is your place if you aren't looking for drive through convenience but you also don't care about atmosphere. It's a walk in, order, take to your table type of fast food with crazy good food. It doesn't look like much from the outside and when you first walk in you won't know what to think but keep on walking into the back where they take your food order and then enjoy the food. If you want a good fast Mexican lunch, this is it. This place reminded me of many similar places in the south when I'm on the road traveling. Very authentic. read more

Stopped in here for lunch on our way to Green Bay after reading the reviews on Yelp. I wasn't disappointed nor was I overly impressed. It was like I was was walking into a small restaurant in Guadalajara, Mexico not the US. The food tasted authentically Mexican, not Mexican / American, which we get in most Mexican restaurants in the US. I had the Fajitas with steak, it came with beans, lettuce, tomato, rice, sour cream, and three warm tortillas. My wife had the One Enchiladas plate, it came with beans, lettuce, tomato, rice, sour cream. We both agreed that the food was delicious. The service was very quick, maybe that is why they do not provide chips and salsa when they take your order. If I'm in Cedar Rapids and felt like Mexican food, I would go here. read more

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So good and the ingredients are high quality. The service was extremely fast.. Both my daughter and I will be returning.. You pick out drinks from the attached grocery store while your meal is being prepared.. This is a family run business, ao there might be kids running around. This actually was a nice feature, because it feels like a family. read more

La Guanajuato - a plate of food on a table - Grocery Near Me - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

An internship brought me to Cedar Rapids, and when I asked my manager (a self-identified food snob) about the local ethnic food scene, she sighed. But as much as I went to LG with low expectations, there was something very familiar about this grocery-store-with-a-restaurant-attached setting. Budget ethnic food - authentic one - is often found in joints like these, certainly back in my home state of Virginia. LG is essentially an extended home kitchen, service can be a tad arbitrary but that's not out of malice or mediocrity, they are just a family trying to run a store and make authentic food with the limited resources they have. I had their chicken quesadilla and tacos on two separate occasions. The meat was fresh and well-cooked; the mild cilantro salsa was pretty decent too, a whole lot spicier than your average mild salsa at Moe's, say. I'm relieved La Guanajuato exists, my summer won't be that bad after all. read more

Very good and authentic. They actual Mexican food on the menu, rather than just Americanized food. You order at the counter, get your own drinks from the freezer, and they bring you the food. There is not wait service, and you pay up front after you eat. Mexican tv plays in the background, and there is a small area with some groceries to the side. It is not a huge selection, but I was able to find some Honduras cream, which is one of my favorite things on the planet. The food was delicious. We were not sure what to try, so we played it safe and got a taco salad and a fajita quesadilla. We both opted for steak, and we both loved what we ate. My husband said his quesadilla tortilla was very crunchy and flavorful. I felt the same about my taco salad shell. I generally don't eat the shell on a taco salad, but I ended up dipping mine in the sauces they provided us because it tasted so good. The sauces were also really nice. The red one was extremely hot, but the green one was more acceptable for me. It had a nice flavor and I ended up putting it on everything. We will definitely be coming here again, and I'm excited to try different items on the menu. read more

This is the BEST Mexican restaurant in Cedar Rapids, IA. Don't bother going anywhere else when you are in Cedar Rapids. The food is flavorful, the portion sizes are perfect and they offer many options for beer. Our favorites include the tacos, chimichanga, mole chicken-wonderful flavor! The owners run the place, do the cooking and the serving and always manage to be attentive and accommodating. I've lived in the southwest and their restaurant parallels the authenticity of Mexican-American cooking. The only items I did not like were the Tres Leche Cake and flan, these are not made at La Guanajuato and the consistency was unappetizing. The only other thing I wish they did was make their own tortillas but that's ok, their other flavors make up for it. read more

La Guanajuato - a menu for a mexican restaurant - Grocery Near Me - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

My son & I are here once again, the gorditas are the best, plus it is the only restaurant we found that makea the GORDITAS. Please try this restaurant, don't judge from the out side, wait till you eat the food. read more

My favorite taqueria. This is authentic Mexican food. The tacos are excellent. They're served on corn tortillas, with homemade green & red sauce and a lime on the side. The burritos and tortas are also great and very filling. I was really happy to find this place several years ago and I am always telling my friends that it's the best tacos in town. I almost feel like I'm giving away the location to my secret taco place by posting this review since it's such a small place and is tucked away in the strip mall right by KFC. The atmosphere right now is very basic, but I like it, and the people that own the store/restaurant are really friendly. read more

Don't go for good service, but the ladies were nice. We had azada and pastor tacos (4 each to split). The red salsa tried to burn our face off and tasted amazing in the process. The green was not quite as spicy, but still some good heat. You'll want to be generous with either one for good taste! Tacos weren't the best ever, but were totally satisfying and filling. Great tortilla recipe! Different. Looking forward to trying more from them. We loved that they have multiple Mexican craft sodas available (Jarritos, Senorial sangria soda or Sidral Mundet(apple)). read more

Found the place on yelp with great reviews so we stopped to get my son tacos. The place is part grocery store and restaurant- people were very nice and friendly and my son loved the tacos! Authentic Mexican food :) read more

La Guanajuato - Nom nom nom - Grocery Near Me - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Less tienda, mas taqueria. They are reducing the space on the Mexican store and adding more seating for the restaurant. This is a family owned and operated business and a nice addition to the growing diversity along this stretch of Center Point Rd which also has an Indian restaurant and grocery, an Asian restaurant and a KFC. Hey, Kentucky is practically its own country, they have their own language anyway. For authentic tacos and friendly service come here. read more

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Super nice people. Very attentive,excellent food, and the store even had some pastries that were extremely good. Definitely recommend this place. read more

La Guanajuato - best menudo ever - Grocery Near Me - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

This place is amazing, by far the best Mexican food you can fine anywhere in Linn county. The people are friendly and the service is great. I have been three times now and have not been disappointed. This is must go in Cedar Rapids. read more

La Guanajuato - Pastor Burrito - Grocery Near Me - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Hours on the door and Yelp show that the place is open Monday-Saturday. Well, it's definitely Friday at 0940 and it's not open. Drive 5 miles to get here due to the positive reviews. Maybe they have a good reason? How about putting a sign on the door?. read more

Super authentic .. kind of small but better food than haciendas de Gloria's for sure.

Portions are a bit small but the food is really good and spicy. I enjoy this sweet little spot.

All time favorite place. Before my husband and I moved up to CR we would make trips here specifically for it. It became our place to go to after looking at houses and we still go there fairly regularly now that we live up here. The service and food are amaaaaazing and the atmosphere is actually pretty casual. There's usually kids running around (owner's children), but they keep to themselves. I always get the tacos here (I like them more than La Reyna tacos) and my husband usually gets a chimichunga or explores the menu and has never been disappointed. Price wise its fairly cheap! read more

This is my favorite Mexican restaurant in Iowa! The service is excellent, the owners are very polite and welcoming, I have gone here with my Dad so many times that they always remember us and when we walk in they smile and greet us. The food is excellent, very authentic and well cooked. I have never had better steak tacos! Want to order a drink? They let you go back to their refrigerator and let you choose your drink! The menu offers a good variety of great authentic Mexican taste. Any one is welcome to La Guanajuato! And if you really enjoying that great Mexican taste, you can go to the back of the store to take home some yummy treats. My only concern was that the chips and salsa are not on the house and you have to pay about 3 dollars. But that's just a minor detail. I enjoy this place to much to give it anything lower than a 5 Awesome restaurant! read more

I just moved from Phoenix to Cedar Rapids and can't tell you how happy I am to find such a delicious and authentic Mexican restaurant. The prices are very reasonable ($1.99 per taco a la carte) or you can do a combo with rice and refried beans. You can't go wrong with the el pastor, carne asada, and carnitas tacos served on two, perfect corn tortillas. I look forward to coming back to try more! read more

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love a good bodega taco. Give me 5, or 6, al pastor and I'm a happy camper. This place seems to be eliminating the bodega, and putting in booths. I'm hoping that the quality of their food stays above average, as it has always been, and that the only changes that this switch to a true restaurant brings are good ones (like maybe margaritas, mojitos, and caipirinhas). read more

Went with my wife and kids. The owners were there are really nice, seemed to know a lot of the customers by name. Everything we had was fantastic, will probably try to get there again when we are in Cedar Rapids. read more

Let me start off by saying that the food is delicious, very authentic and served in a timely manner. With that said I've probably been to this restaurant two or three dozen times because the food taste good. In the two or three dozen times I've been here I've noticed a reoccurring theme. The price I pay is always different from the menu price. By different I mean it's more expensive when you go to pay the bill. The first few times I didn't think much of it just paid the bill, about a year ago I discontinue going to this restaurant because this kept happening. I miss the food so much I decide to come back, same old story. I don't know what to think about why I'm always charge more than the menu. One hypothesis is I'm getting the gringo price. Not cool! read more

Best chicken tacos in town! I chose this place based on Yelp reviews and wondered about the choice when we walked in. Indeed, you feel like you're in Mexico! (They also have a little pharmacy in the front and a little grocery store in the back...) But the food? Hands down the best chicken tacos I've had! Great people, too! I'll be back. read more

One word: authentic. The food was amazingly delicious. The lunch menu has more options. The dinner menu is somewhat limited. This is very much a family-run establishment. Both the red and green sauces were fabulous. This is NOT tex-mex. the tacos reminded me of the ones I had at a taco stand in Juarez years ago. The atmosphere is immersive. For a moment I forgot I was in Cedar Rapids! This place is a gem. Definitely on my short list now. I look forward to visiting again soon. Can't believe I didn't know about this place earlier. read more

If I could give this dive less than 1 Star I would. It was by far the absolutely worse "mexican" food (if you can call it that) I have ever not eaten. I and my friend ordered burritos, enchilada, beef and chicken tacos. Runny, watery beans, bland rice, chicken tasted like canned chicken. The shells tasted 'fishy'. I literally took two bites and spit it into my napkin. And it was so overpriced. Whoever is giving it 4 or 5 stars obviously eats dog food on a regular basis and enjoys it. Spare yourself the time, effort, and money. Please!!!!! read more

This place deserves more business! Excellent food. Everything I have ordered has been piping hot and very delicious. Polite employees and reasonable prices. Love this gem. read more

This is a small restaurant with very good potential. As a self proclaimed food critic who's is on the road every week, let me give you the breakdown. I always try to visit every restaurant twice to give the benefit of the doubt, if I get bad service or food the first time I will try a second time & if it's good I will visit multiple times. Aesthetically it's not pleasing at all, no matter how many times you visit it'll still look the same (that of course if they don't remodel) not a place for a date. The good; tasty, fresh very flavorful. The bad: first day I found the attitude of the lady in front very unpleasant. When I got my food they were poorly served, not enough meat in the tacos, out of the tree lengua tacos the meat was enough for two (maybe 1.5) Out of the pastor taco well, I dealt with it. My second visit was 3 days after, the lengua was delicious and therefore I wanted to give it a second try and figure out if the small amount of meat was a one off or not. This time I ordered 5 tacos, out of those tacos there was just enough meat for 3 & only one quarter of lime, definitely not enough for 5 tacos... I enjoyed them as much as I could but I honestly, I ate more tortilla than actual meat. Side note: while sitting there eating, the ladies in the kitchen keep badmouthing previous customers who complained about how little meat was on their food, so instead of arguing with them I figured I would just let everyone know this place will skim you out of ingredients. As I was starving i did not snap a picture of all the tacos but in this picture the middle taco is missing half the meat as well as the two first ones I ate. If they stop being so stingy with ingredients and keep customers happy, this can be a 5 star easily. read more

La Guanajuato - Grocery Near Me - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Absolutely delicious, and quit affordable (for lunch at least). The place is a little run down, but the food more than made up for it. I'll definitely be going back. read more

Amazing Mexican style burrito, by far the most authentic mexican cuisine in Cedar Rapids. I can't recommend this place more.

This is the BEST in town. Their food is super authentic and delicious! You help yourself to drinks--glass bottle sodas and beer. The staff is very nice and efficient. I recommend anything with chicken especially the Chicken Gorditas read more

Great food. Very authentic. Solid prices and portions coupled with phenomenal service. You can't ask for much more than that! Not many authentic Mexican places in Iowa, this is a must stop shop if you're in the Cedar Rapids area. read more

Great little Mexican restaurant. Good prices. Owners are always really nice. Cheek tacos are my favorite. The food here is more on the authentic side from the American perspective. read more