Looks great from the outside and when you walk in. We were seated fairly quickly at a booth with very little room between the table and the seats. I may be a little on the larger side but my wife is very skinny. Chips and salsa were delivered to our table then we sat for about 10-15 minutes before the manager came out and asked or anyone has taken our drink order. No was our reply as he headed to the back and sent a server out. She came out and did take our drink order then came back to tell us they had already shut down the soda machine. Who does that an hour and a half before they close? There were people eating although it wasn't very crowded. My wife ended up with water which she is not a fan of. She asked for lemon and when the girl returned she said they were out and offered her a lime. I ordered a margarita which came out with no taste of tequila in it. However it had a ton of ice. She took our orders which did come out fairly quickly.i had to ask for the spicy salsa three times and when it came out is was a vinegar based green sauce with zero spice. Upon leaving we found that the green vinegar sauce was an extra that they charged us $3.25 for. The food was less than average so I guess I should have checked the previous reviews first. Live a learn I guess. I don't recommend this place. read more

Good prices and good food. Tacos, or nachos are my go to dishes here, and both are pretty good. Nothing spectacular, but still good value. read more

Went here as a family a few nights ago and we all got something different! We taste tested everyone's plate and were blown away at every single bite. The chips, salsa, and queso were incredible to start with as well! Great margaritas and lots of flavors to choose from! Our server was super kind and quick to help! Looking forward to our monthly outing as a family! read more

La Mesa Mexican Restaurant - Quesadilla with Birria Meat - Mexican Near Me - Saint Joseph, Missouri

See all

Delicious! Wonderful service and the food was fantastic! We have found our go-to Mexican food place!! Looking forward to working through the menu! read more

La Mesa Mexican Restaurant - Brunch!! - Mexican Near Me - Saint Joseph, Missouri

Taco Tuesday was delicious! . Such an awesome lunch special, 4 street tacos for less than $9!

I has the Enchiladas rancheras ace it was very good. We had really good friendly service here. read more

La Mesa Mexican Restaurant - enchiladas rancheras - Mexican Near Me - Saint Joseph, Missouri

Favorite Mexican restaurant in St. Joseph, by far. Flavorful food and friendly atmosphere. Highly recommend the cheese dip!

Came back for lunch after several years of "not eating out much" A pleasant lunch dining adventure. Good Food, nice spice, ample amounts, Good Service. Good training and management, a well-run restaurant. Worthy of more frequent returns. read more

The food is continuously delicious! JESSICA WAS AN AMAZING SERVER! She anticipated our needs, keeping our drinks full and our table uncluttered! we had a birthday and she made it very special! she suggested appetizers and drinks and was very helpful and timely!! Overall, great food and AMAZING service, thank you Jessica!! read more

Last night we went to La Mesa for dinner. It was wonderful... Upon arrival we sat at the bar were we meet Janet... Janet was the bartender and our server. Janet immediately made us feel like family. Janet then brought out the owner/ manager Stanley. The menu was extensive, service was good, the food was good, the portions were plentiful...Looking forward to our next visit. read more

My parents thought this place is better than Barbosas not so! Food has no flavor. Tortilla chips had a burnt flavor and salsa was like watered down ketchup. Maybe this is good for midwestern Mexican food but we were looking for something fresh and authentic. The place smelled of bleach when we walked in the door. Don't ever plan to return. If I could give a zero I would. read more

We went there on a slow day and our server was barely around us at all to check on us or refill drinks. The chips tasted like they were rancid and cooked in old grease. Food was cold once we got it and barely had any seasoning at all. I understand it's probably more bland because of their customer base but, it's not for me. read more

The service was excellent, portions were generous and the taste was on point. Ask for Christy she did an excellent job. read more

La Mesa Mexican Restaurant - Molcajete - Mexican Near Me - Saint Joseph, Missouri

Food is tasty. Always warm chips. One of our favorites. Their steak is very good with their fajitas.

After being an occasional customer for decades, I'm not sure if I will go back. I ordered Birria tacos in deep fried flour shells with a side of Birria sauce to dip them in. The meat filling was fine, but the taco shells were inedible. They were hard and dried as though they had been put in an oven. The waitress brought GREEN sauce and insisted this was their Birria sauce. So now I am going to another restaurant to buy more birria tacos, and ask for extra sauce and a store to buy more shells to make these tacos edible. read more

Ended up here at the suggestion of a friend. It was late on a weeknight and this place was packed. Yep, that's always a good sign. The menu was just the right size and not too overwhelming. If menus are too large, I get distrustful. Strange, huh? The menu was easy to peruse in a short amount of time. I hate that awkward pause in the conversation when people are reading menus. Like Goldilocks and the 3 bears, this one was just the right size. I ordered the enchiladas de mesa which came with a chicken, beef and cheese enchilada- one of each. Each one was delicious. Very fresh, quality ingredients and not smothered in sauce. There was just enough sauce to be complementary and that always enhances the meal. Don't you hate meals that are drowning in sauce? I do make exceptions for gravy, though. lol. The chips were fresh and the salsa was very yummy, too. Same with the main meal sides of beans and rice. This was a very satisfying and delicious meal. The servers were nice, friendly and helpful. They were not overbearing and did not linger at the table. It was the right touch of attention. Glasses were refilled without being asked and needs were met. The atmosphere was busy and welcoming. This is a big restaurant and they seem to get a great deal of business. You could almost spot the regular customers and everyone seemed to be in a good mood. Prices were reasonable, as well. I do not get to St. Joe very often. Next time I do, however, I will be sure to visit again. This restaurant hits the spot. read more

I was very disappointed coming here after so many years. This place 8 years ago used to be my go to Mexican restaurant because the food was really good and the service was on point. Clearly a lot has changed in the past few years. When the server came out he took everyone's order by memory, or so we thought, and even came back to verify. When it came out the food order was wrong on one of the orders. When we told him it was wrong he became very defensive and said "I asked you twice". That really set the mood for the whole lunch. On top of that, when my chicken and cheese nachos came out, I was very disappointed with the quality of food. The chicken was so dry I couldn't even finish the whole thing. I won't say that I would never go back here, maybe it was an off day for them. But, next time I am in town I will give my business elsewhere. read more

Any day before today, I would have given this place 5 stars. We've gone here for years and have always had excellent food and excellent service. I'm sincerely hoping today was just an aberration. We came at lunch, place was not busy, no other customers waiting. We waited up front 10 minutes before someone even greeted us. Drinks and our meal orders were placed at the same time. Sodas were very weak and they never came around for refills. Never saw anyone for a chip refill either. I ordered the chimichanga, the menu stated it was filled with "beef chunks," so I was thinking small pieces of steak similar to their fajitas. Nope. It was ground beef. I wouldn't have ordered it had I known it was only ground beef. The table next to us had similar issues, they had someone get up and physically ask someone for drink refills. They got their refills, and the server avoided making any eye contact with us for ours, instead quick walking away with her head down. Being short handed is no excuse for poor service! :( read more

The food was fast and good. Had very polite staff and not to expensive. Plus the portions are very large look at photo. read more

La Mesa Mexican Restaurant - Fajitas for 2. But more like 4 and still have left overs. - Mexican Near Me - Saint Joseph, Missouri

This review might be a bit long and ranty. Sorry. [TLDR-Bad service quit being a customer. Tried again. It was great once and then back to their old ways. A manager that doesn't care.] A bit over a week ago we tried takeout from La Mesa for the first time in almost five years. (Due to poor service-wrong items) Taco Salad with ground beef. Sub pico de gallo for guacamole. And Enchiladas Rancheros. Extra salsa and chips. It was great. We received everything as ordered. The lady who took the order was awesome. Tonight we called in the same order but made the Taco Salad the steak fajita. This time it was a manager that took the order. We take the order home and find that the Taco Salad had guacamole and very little cheese sauce, if any. It was hard to tell with 3/4 inch of greasy/watery liquid in the bottom. When I called back in the same manager answered. When I informed him the order was wrong he stated they don't do substitutions. He asked if I wanted it remade. I said no as we didn't have time to come back. Not to mention the other entrée would've been cold when we got back. All he said was "sorry" with no other offer to keep us as customers. They "don't do substitutions"? Funny that that was his response when every other time, including last week, they had, and he did not say so when he took the order. And I've not come across a situation where a restaurant wouldn't do a substitution unless it was stated on the menu. read more

My family and I moved back to St. Joseph a little less than two years ago. My wife's favorite is Mexican food. No matter what Mexican Restaurant we go to I always get the tacos. Out of all the places in town I think they have the best tacos. The shredded cheese on them is amazing. We always get our food fast and the service is pretty good. They don't come by that often which leads to them not refilling our drinks fast enough. The place is pretty clean every time that we've been. read more

We are always warmly welcomed when we walk in. Staff are super nice. We've never had a problem with our orders and the food is always wonderful! This is the only Mexican restaurant we will go to in St. Joe! read more

service was ok, I ordered taquitos and got hard tacos. even says on the menu those are two different things and when I asked if that's what I got he said yes.... also, not much flavor to any of the food. read more

Haven't been here in awhile. Came back Sunday for lunch. I had the chicken chimichanga. It was covered in a white sauce which totally took away any of the fried crunch you look for in a chimi. The chicken didn't have much flavor at all. The refried beans on the side were pretty good. Their regular salsa is very bland, no heat whatsoever. Asked for the hot sauce, it was a weird yellow color but pretty good with a decent amount of heat. Didn't know we would end up getting charged extra for it though. When ordering the waitress asked my husband if he wanted rice or beans, so he thought they came with the meal, nope, got upcharged for them. The waitress pretty much spoke no English, it was difficult to communicate. She gives you the menus and then stands there and waits, very uncomfortable, you feel rushed. She did the same thing when she brought the tab and stood there and waited, guess she wanted to make sure you fill in the tip line. read more

We ordered delivery through Uber Eats. No food an hour after delivery was supposed to arrive. Phone # just a busy signal. This is simple stuff folks. read more

I'd give them a no star if I could .. Worst food ever... rude server and bland food. All of our bills were wrong. We were overcharged by at least $5 to $6 each and when we asked him to fix them he laughed. He brought back a new bill for the obvious overcharge of a second drink that was not ordered or received. We will not be back! read more

Ordered for delivery and my food was made incorrectly by La Mesa. When I called the restaurant the worker I spoke to blamed the delivery service company, refused to remake my order or offer a refund, and was very insulting and condescending towards me. He even hung up on me. Never ordering from here agan. read more

I really wish I could give a negative star but you can't.. my girl friend and I were there last night and had the most terrible service and gross encounters. First when they brought the salasa and the small bowls to put them in, one of the bowls was still filled with dirty dish waster and they just dumped it out and said here you go. Then after eating dinner and walking out the restaurant, my girl friend noticed when we got home that my nice white shirt had grease all over the back of it. The only explanation for this would be that they did not clean there booths at all. THIS PLACE IS GROSS!!!!! read more

La Mesa Mexican Restaurant - a dirty bed - Mexican Near Me - Saint Joseph, Missouri

Literally zero stars, I ordered via door dash, they wait until the order cutoff date then cancel your order. Called the restaurant 3-4 times and someone would answer not say a word then Hang up. Keep in mind it's Friday 8:45pm clearly they can "fulfill the order" unlike what they said via door dash. This the SECOND TIME! Also why Abelardos is taking all your business. :) read more

You've got to come here on taco Tuesday. All you can eat tacos! The food is yummy. Service is hit or miss, but I really like this place. Their margaritas are big! read more

I'm from Texas. I've been to central Mexico. I know what Tex-Mex and Mexican food are supposed to taste like. La Mesa is not it. While I don't live in St. Joseph, MO, I visit it often as my wife's family are local. You would have to get me drunk, blindfold and somehow extort me to ever go back to La Mesa again. The one time I was cursed to go there was on the happy occasion of my nephew's wedding rehearsal dinner. While it was a large party, yes, the staff was so unprofessional that several of us lodged official complaints. Once they brought the food out, things went from bad to worse. None of the orders were correct, and the changes that they messed up were minor. "No beans, double rice" for example. "No onions please" was another. None of them came correctly. Once they righted the orders, and many of us just settled for the food they brought, we finally were able to eat. 2 hours after arriving. La Mesa serves Mexican food in the same way that McDonald's serves gourmet burgers. This is to say, they don't. It looked like Mexican food but tasted very much like what I would expect microwaveable frozen diners to taste like. This isn't me being funny, it honestly did taste like they nuked a bunch of TV dinners and dumped them on a plate. Now I know what you're thinking. "Of course you judge our Mexican food with righteous indignation, you're from a place where it's authentic." TRUE! All of it, however, it's not that La Mesa tried and failed. No, it's more like they didn't try at all. I guess what I'm saying, in a nutshell, is this. "Yuck." read more

We visited La Mesa the other day, had not been there in a couple years. Food had not improved, very bland. And to make our meal worse, the largest roach I had ever seen was on wall next to our table. Waitress just giggled and got young man to remove it. Won't be going back ever. read more

We sat at the bar last night and had a few drinks before moving to a table for dinner. I will say the bartenders here are awesome and very friendly. I had two beers and they were ice cold and delicious. They have a ginormous margarita here I think it's like $15 but it's ridiculous, two people couldn't even finish this thing. Chips and salsa were brought out for us to graze on and I will say I enjoyed both. However, when we sat down to eat I ordered the chimichanga on recommendation from our bartender. The menu described it as a deep fried flour tortilla... Well what came out was more like a RAW tortilla with crunchy edges. The shredded chicken inside was so dry and chewy and had a weird chemical aftertaste. The rice and beans were also blah. I had a bite of my boyfriend's carne asada tacos and they were just okay. The meat was wayyyy over salted though. So maybe for drinks and chips & salsa I would come again. Lunch or dinner, I would have to pass. read more

Don't go. Everybody who ate the refried beans spent the whole night on the toilet. Reported them to the health department today. read more

Been coming here for a couple years once a week. Tonight we ordered Burrito de la Mesa - the offer on the board when you enter the restaurant. I even asked a server if the 7.50 price tag was for the full dinner. He said yes, so we ordered one each. The bill came and the dinners were full price and they forgot one margarita. I told the server. He had the manager come over. I explained the price difference on the meal from the board. He walked over to check, came back and said he had just erased it from the board. He THEN said it was a lunch special (though it said nothing about that on the board) I asked him if he would honor the error and then told him they had missed the margarita. He said no and added the margarita price to the bill. I do not think that is honorable and told him so. Was it really worth losing future business ? La Mesa has lost ours. read more

This is a great place to eat! We loved the food and we had to request it quickly because we had limited time. Our server was amazing and didn't blink an eye. Hope we are in the area again soon so we can go again! read more

Ok so we ended up going here since the line to Abelardo's was wrapped around all the way to the belt. Everything was wonderful, including the service. It was an excellent meal and was out lightening fast. I'm bumping my rating up, but still have a bad taste in my mouth, no pun intended, from the rotten service from previous visits. Hope they've finally came around and will for sure give them another shot. read more

Today was my first visit back to La Mesa in over 4 years and its still a great choice for Mexican style food. I had the Pork Carnitas and they were perfect. Flour tortillas packed with meat with a generous amount of cheese and pico on the side. I will definitely be back. Service was good and the chips and Salsa has a nice kick to it. read more

Our waitress was terrible! Lazy! Whatever you do, don't get a Chile Relleno. The best way I can explain it, is that they FRIED a bland chile with a tiny bit of liquid cheese in it, and then smothered it in wet sauce, which obviously made the relleno a soggy, squishy mess! They get 1 star only because the enchilada was good. Everything else was terrible. Very poor customer service. read more

My boyfriend and I went in for a late lunch after moving from Texas around 2ish. Even though slow we were greeted immediately and given a great first impression. Our server was attentive and sweet and checked on us regularly. I normally don't give restaurant 5 stars but this restaurant deserves it. The food presentation was beautiful and the location was clean. The food itself was delicious I ordered a torta with steak and I was perfectly full. The salsa was delicious and the chips perfectly crispy. read more