Met another couple here at 6:30 on a Saturday night. They had made reservations so I was surprised at how empty the restaurant was. Although we were seated immediately, they sat us right next to another (loud) party of 4. It seemed a weird choice when there were so many other open tables. We ordered drinks while we waited for the other couple to show up. My husband had a draft Pernicious and I had the spicy blood orange margarita (see picture). It was delicious! The website mentioned half price margaritas. When I asked, the waitress said there were no drink specials. I checked again today and the website says that some of the margaritas are half price. So either the website or the waitress was wrong. The other couple got drinks and my friend ordered the spicy margarita as well. Except hers came with a jalapeño and lime garnish. Mine did not. Not sure if different people made it and it's not that big of a deal, I just think they'd be consistent (especially going to the same table!) I ordered a cup of charro bean soup and the grilled avocado salad with skirt steak. My husband got the 14 oz Mez ribeye. My soup and salad came at the same time (another odd choice to me). The soup was really good but I should not have ordered it since the salad would have been enough. My salad was tasty but a little dry. I was about halfway through when I realized there was no or very little vinaigrette on the salad. The waitress didn't come by for me to say anything until after I was done. My husband's meal was excellent though. I thought it might be odd to order steak at a Mexican restaurant but no, the entire dish was the best thing tonight! The waitress was sweet but either brand new or preoccupied...I had to ask for a water refill thrice and we had to request pens to settle our checks. The interior and exterior were beautiful and the ambiance was great once the party next to us left. Everything was clean. I would like to try this place again to see if it gets better since the potential for greatness is there! Ps. I just reheated and ate my charro bean soup for lunch. It looked like hot dogs...so I looked up this ingredients. And yes, salchicha is hot dog. read more

Nice lunch spot- feels a bit like a corporate steak house meets upscale Mexican if you can picture that. Lots of booths and lively decor without being too dark and moody. Our server was very friendly but obviously had a few too many tables to handle. They have several lunch special bowls, which have some good options. The pork bowl had pretty good flavor but was a lighter portion than I expected. Overall not a bad meal. read more

I am honestly surprised by the rating for this place. Not sure if we got lucky. Everything was top notch from food to service. Our server was very energetic and friendly from the moment he introduced himself (Roberto). He was extremely attentive and accommodating! Gave great recommendations and fast service. I ordered the spicy watermelon margarita (he brought out the spicy agave so I could add how much I wanted according to my spice level desire... it was perfect!). He did the same with the blood orange margarita which was not as tasty but he did warn me that it was good only if you lived blood orange which I don't but thought it was in interesting drink. The watermelon was top notch though. For food we ordered guacamole to share. Not super impressed with flavor (but I've had worse) and appreciated the portion served. Chips were yummy and plentiful! The corn soup was absolutely amazing!!! For entree I ordered the tamales divorciados and I cannot say enough great things about this dish. It was everything I wanted and best tamales I've had in a while. We took the tres leche to go. Loved the cake and icing not the nut topping but still yummy and plentiful. Cannot wait to come back and try more things off the menu. Highly recommend. Also, we were immediately seated on a Friday night. Seating was comfortable, cozy and semi private. Low light and pretty decors was a plus. read more

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Came here on a business trip from the PNW. First time here and was very happy with my order. Our service was great, our needs were always met, and we were able to get some tables together for a large group of 15 people. The accommodations were perfect. I ordered The Fish Tacos, which I absolutely recommend. We also had some table chips and a baked cheese dip that we shared. The rice and beans were poppin' and the tacos were perfect. I do wish they offered a trio platter of tacos. That brisket and Al Pastore looked amazing, as well. One of each would have been ideal. Anyhow, overall it was a great experience! As always, enjoy & Happy Eating!! read more

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I was in town for a conference and didn't feel like eating where the conference was hosting dinner that night so opted to stay in and ordered takeout from MEZ. I opted for the steak burrito. It definitely is a good size and had I've been staying another day. I would've saved some for lunch as it was definitely large enough to split. The steak was cubed which I thought was a little odd but overall good flavor and had rice in it as well. read more

Nice ambiance but does not make up for the price and quality of the dishes. No chips and salsa included first of all. Second, I ordered a chicken burrito for $18. That would be a normal price point if it came with what a burrito should come with. It was the size of my fist and only consisted of rice, beans and chicken. Absolutely nothing else served with the burrito. No sour cream, guac, lettuce, refried beans or rice. It was really disappointing because I wanted to like Mez but the food is just not worth the price. Also, the service was fine. Not bad in any sense but wasn't overly friendly. read more

Enjoyed dinner at this upscale Mexican restaurant with family. Great service and delicious food. We started with cocktails, Paloma and a Margarita, and the salsa trio. Wish we didn't have to pay for chips and salsa, but I thought it was worth it. Chips were perfect and loved all the salsas. Had steak tacos for dinner and would absolutely get them again. read more

MEZ Contemporary Mexican - Steak Tacos - Mexican Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

I had the shrimp fajita with rice. It was good but lacked flavor. I wouldn't order it again. The hibiscus juice was delicious and refreshing. read more

MEZ Contemporary Mexican - Shrimp fajita. - Mexican Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

I'd like to start with a positive. I haven't been to Mez in a couple of years and decided to stop by tonight. The food was really good. In fact, variety on the menu and changes to my usual dish were excellent. The kitchen gets 5 stars for the arroz con camarón (thank you for finally getting rid of the kale and the shrimp were not overcooked the way they were before). The tamales dish - excellent too - masa was delicious. Flavors all perfect and food was hot and presentation was perfect. No issues with the kitchen. Unfortunately the overall score of 3 stars is because of the next part. Now for the 1 star parts. Staff needs training. From walking in the door to seating to serving. All around 1 star. The hosts were slow and reluctant to greet. The young guy who took us to the table blocked the table while trying to lay out all the menus in a nice little pattern while we stood behind him waiting to sit. Please allow the guests to be seated and then hand them the menu. This was awkward. For the food prices, this is a minimum expectation. A greeting welcoming guests in would be appropriate too but at least train the staff how to seat guests. The next 1 star goes to the table server. We ordered an appetizer which said salsa trio implying 3 salsas with chips. At least 4 salsas were listed so we ordered the 3 we wanted. Never did the server tell us our choices weren't an option. Apparently the restaurant has already decided which 3 you'll get. The salsa trio and chips were dropped off by a different staff with 2 we selected and a 3rd we did not choose. The staff left quickly before we could ask about the switch. The server did not return to the table until after our main dishes arrived. By now, we were over the salsa. When we asked about the salsa switch she said, oh, we don't allow substitutions unless you request it. Our reply: We did order the other one. Her: Well, it's been a long day. We arrived a few minutes after 5:00 on a Friday. The restaurant was not busy with only a couple of tables occupied outside and couple of tables inside. I don't know about a long day, but it seems like when we ordered three specific salsas by name, we would have been told at the time of ordering that choosing wasn't an option or that substitutions would need to be made. By now, we already had the main dishes so we opted to just leave it as delivered. Now here's the other 1 star complaint about the salsa situation. The menu says $5 for chips and salsa or $12 for the salsa trio. Someone make this make sense. Why would I want to pay $7 MORE for 2 more salsas that I can't even choose? If I'd thought about it longer, I could have just placed two orders for chips for $10 and it would have come with two salsas and been $2 less. To make matters worse, when I looked online just now, I saw where it said "choices" meaning you can select and it said "3 salsas for $5 and 5 salsas for $12" (effective two weeks ago) so none of this makes sense. I've never had a chips and salsa appetizer order so screwy. I raved about the kitchen, but chips and salsa is just chips and salsa. It was NOT worth $12!! Not even close. For the prices we paid, honestly we get better service at Chuys for less money. I'll end on a positive note though. The decor outside the front door is cute and our table was clean. Will I go back? That's debatable because the food was the only thing we enjoyed. The sister company next door (Page Road Grill) is far superior so we'll probably just keep going there instead. So the average of 5 and 1 is 3 stars tonight. I do recommend Page Road Grill. Also pricey but service is always good and the place just has a better vibe all around. Food is excellent there too. read more

Lame fajitas. Took forever and seemed a bit stale. Also, since when do fajitas not come with cheese? Anyway, no onions either. Just a pile of cold red and green peppers with just a little chicken. The flour tortillas were cold and hard. And at $16 I would not recommend read more

MEZ Contemporary Mexican - Sad fajitas - Mexican Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

Service was great. I ordered a chili rellano - $18 it arrived ..a flat chili no cheese with a little brown bean sauce around it. It looked more like an appetizer than an entrée. Very disappointing. I know the cost for restaurants are high but for a small chili that cost $.50 this is ridiculous. read more

Food and Service was outstanding on both recent occasions that I visited for lunch (9/22 and 10/16/25). Enjoyed the food and the ambiance so much I intend to return with my boyfriend to celebrate his birthday in the next few days! read more

I've been here a few times and even booked the upstairs banquet for a wedding reception. Overall, love the service, the ambiance and the flavors that Mez has to offer is great. Margaritas: the spicy watermelon margarita is def my favorite. Appetizers: I've ordered the chips and salsa trio and guacamole a few times before. My only complaint here is that the salsa and chips should be free (maybe just basic salsa and chips) and then add a charge for additional refills or if you want the other salsa flavors. Just something to consider. Salad: Verde salad is very good and the pumpkin seed dressing is delicious. Entrees: I've had the steak fajitas (loved the recently added spice to the dish), and the Baja fish tacos are great. Dessert: Loved the chocolate torte with raspberry drizzle (very yummy). The tres leches is just ok. Overall, great experience and I would highly recommend. The upstairs banquet - great choice for parties, events and wedding receptions. read more

The atmosphere is great. The food was just ok and wasn't consistent with the very nice atmosphere. The flavored margaritas were thin, the fish tacos weren't flavorful which was disappointing because the presentation was very appealing. The queso, chips and the Mexican coca-cola were the best things about the dinner. There were 5 of us. Service was pretty good. read more

This is my 3rd time to MEZ and unfortunately it was a bit of a disappointment! The elote dip was good but a tad too salty...but that happens sometimes with so much cheese! Now for the margaritas...first got a MEZ margarita which was weak and watery. I next ordered the platinum...but that was honestly not much better, lacking flavor and very skimpy on alcohol. For $18 I would expect more! Anyhow...good food but a bit overpriced! read more

I don't know what happened recently, but the quality has really gone down hill. This used to be one of my favorite spots! We ordered takeout and the guacamole was brown, they forgot the chips, and the spinach enchiladas were dry and flavorless. It's WAY too expensive for that kind of disappointment. read more

Tried Mez for our Friday new restaurant. The menu looked reasonable promising, with some basic TexMex options. When we arrived the parking lot was busy, but the space is huge and was scantly occupied. We ordered drinks, I had the blackberry Mojito, it was bland, weak and seemingly absent of blackberry flavor. The chips/salsa/queso were just ok. We ordered a burrito and the mole enchiladas, and they were underwhelming. The mole tasted as if it hadn't been cooked long enough, too sweet with a strange aftertaste. The burrito was small, with too little chicken tinga and too much rice/beans. Flavors were middling. Our service was ok, if a little slow and disorganized. The ambience is ok, but the space is huge, and not particularly comfortable. There are much better options for Mexican in the triangle, it appears time and complacency have rendered Mez an unnecessary redundancy. read more

BLUF: Save your money. Go elsewhere. Anywhere else. Food: mediocre at best. Not as good as my local place that gives us chips and salsa for free. This place charges $8. Service: worst I have experienced since 2003. Large group (18 people), and they gave us one server who was also waiting several other tables. Food came out late (one burrito was 20 minutes after all other entrees), appetizers were all forgotten, checks were wrong, and needless to say no one checked to see if more drinks were needed. read more

Haven't been here in a while. Met a friend for lunch, since it's halfway between us. While the parking lot is always full at lunch, that doesn't translate to being crowded inside. We were seated immediately at 12:15 without reservations. We were brought chips and chose one of the salsas, (traditional Mexican Corn salsa - fresh and tasty, but not very spicy. This will become a theme.) My friend had not dined here before and decided on a trio of street tacos with steak. I choose the carne asada tacos. They arrived quickly, three per plate, open-faced. The ingredients seemed fresh, but there was a distinct lack of flavor. We swapped out one each so that we could both taste the other's, and I found the same thing: they were just bland. Plus, the tostadas were flimsy and seemed not able to stay together enough to get the fillings to your mouth. Allen, our waiter, brought hot sauce and salt on request, but neither could really give these tacos any heat. I was very disappointed, and I think my friend now thinks I have poor taste in food. More "Meh" than "Mez". I'll try again, but it was disappointing. read more

MEZ a good Mexican restaurant. A bit upscale but appropriate in that area. Good for lunch or dinner with the team, good variety, good alcohol not the best best so to say. however pretty good given that we are in North Carolina read more

Food is ok. Service is good. Can have a try but i won't come back. Better option in Durham

I made a reservation online for our anniversary and called to make sure we could eat outside on the patio. They had a table for 2 waiting for us when we arrived. If was pretty busy inside and outside on a Thursday evening. You could tell our server was super busy, we didn't mind since we were in no rush. All of the food was tasty. We had the salsa trio to start. The tomatillo salsa was so good and my favorite. I don't regularly order margaritas but I got a strawberry one on special that was good. I had grilled chicken fajitas for dinner. These were good, but some of the chicken seemed a little over cooked. My husband had the salmon over some type of lentils and he said it was amazing! We finished off our meal with Tres Leches which was amazing! Our server brought us the wrong bill, which was at least less than half of what we owed. We let him know and he quickly fixed it, but this just reinforced that they were super busy and rushing around. He apologized a few times, and we let him know it really wasn't an issue. Just a reminder to be nice to restaurant staff, many are struggling right now. read more

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It's a nice place with great service. The food was good, and was made exactly as ordered. They did a great job with making it spicy and hot, just like the way our group likes. The kids menu was good too and they serve ice cream as part of it, which the kids loved. I tried the chicken tinga tacos and it was delicious. The spinach enchiladas and the fajitas were really tasty too. Overall, a good experience and would visit this place again. read more

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We sat a long time over 5 minutes to be greeted and it was relatively slow. The server also seemed annoyed when he greeted us. The corn soup was delicious but the enchiladas suizas was so bland. I was really disappointed. I got a couple sides of the chipotle salsa & that was really good. The inside was pretty, but I don't think I'd go out of my way to go back. read more

The shrimp fajitas were very flavorful. I really enjoyed the ambiance of the restaurant. The waitress was very pleasant and attentive. I will definitely go back again. read more

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Been here a few times and the food and service are always fantastic! Love their margaritas and the elite dip.

I've been to RTP once a year for the last three years. I've stopped into Mez each time. The food, service, and atmosphere have always been great. This time I had a fresh handmade margarita and chicken fajitas. Everything turned out excellent. read more

I ordered enchiladas and instead of chicken I requested cheese. The order came out with chicken, and a small bowl of cheese. They took it back, a few minutes later it arrived with the grated cheese that was in the small bowl now rolled in the tortillas, not melted, and some portions actually cold. read more

Wow! What a great dinner location! Ruby (our server) was fantastic, so personable and made our experience 100/10. Great drinks and unique food! read more

MEZ Contemporary Mexican - Queso Flameado - Mexican Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

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I went to an alumni event at Mez recently, and had a great time. We had a food buffet, and I especially enjoyed their salmon and roasted vegetables. The space worked out really well, too. I've been to Mez a couple of times before, pre-pandemic. I'm surprised I didn't review before, but I do remember positive experiences before. read more

First time back since Covid-19. Has a nice business dinner. Service was excellent. We got 2 appetizers, drinks, and each of us ordered a different entree. I had the Baja fish tacos. Everything was very tasty. The only thing that bugs me is that you don't get the chips for free like at other Mexican restaurants. But it is a fancy Mexican restaurant with gourmet dishes. There isn't the standard #1 meal with tacos and rice. I do recommend trying this if you want a different take on the typical Mexican food you get at most places. read more

I dined here with a friend and it was busy at lunch! Make a reservation on open table if you can. The bar and entry are spacious with high ceilings and there is a large room upstairs to use for groups. The menu is modern Mexican or an American take on Mexican food. I had the tinga burrito and it was huge. Plenty for lunch and dinner. The guacamole is a great fresh starter. Prices are about $12-14 an entree. The server also mentioned a happy hour that they offer in the early evening. read more

Friendly service, but a small menu. Stopped in for a late lunch and everything was fine, just not outstanding.

Food was good, but felt like it was just plated vs made fresh. Had the fajitas and felt like a lunch portion. Service was a bit hit or miss with people waiting for refills apps and food. read more

Last night we picked up a friend from RDU and decided to eat at Mez. I was looking forward to eating here because I'd eaten lunch and dinner here a number of times "pre-covid" and had thoroughly enjoyed it. At that tme service was good and the food was outstanding. Our experience last night did not meet those expectations. We arrived at 8:05 PM were seated and the hostess brought us water. She told us Jonathan would be our server and that she would check on us. At 8:25 PM, no one had stopped by the table. Servers were around us bussing tables, but none stopped to ask whether we'd been helped. Our guest, who was a server all through college, got up and found someone and asked for some help. He took our orders. The appetizers and food came out pretty quickly (they close at 8:30 PM). We ate and Jonathan came to pick up the dishes and left the bill. No one apologized for our 20 minute wait and having to flag down a server. Not the person we flagged down, not a manager and not Jonathan. Very disappointing. The food however, was good. We got their chips appetizer with three different salsas (chipotle, pico de gallo and salsa verde). Our guest had the shrimp and rice. She loved it. My wife had the fajitas and she like her entre. I had a grilled chicken burro which was also very good. In the past (pre-covid), Mez had been very good. Perhaps this was an anomaly because we arrived 25 minutes before they close. Hopefully if you try them you'll have a much better experience. read more

Amazing meal with great service. Our server was covering bother the bar and bar area booths and did an amazing job. I believe her name was Hailey. Very comfortable space, great food, reasonable drink prices. Can't wait to go back. read more

MEZ Contemporary Mexican - When it's so good eating far outweighs the desire to photograph it. - Mexican Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

I attended an event that was being held on the upper level of this restaurant. It was my first time visiting Mez and I was impressed. The restaurant is big and beautiful and was decorated very nicely for the holidays. There was a bar upstairs and I was delighted to try the Mez Margarita. It was delicious and refreshing. We were served dinner buffet style. The food was straight forward, but flavorful. I look forward to returning and trying the food from the regular menu. read more

Visited Mez for dinner on a cold day. Overall experience is split - dinner and service was 4 stars and the atmosphere was 1 star given how cold the restaurant was. Not sure if they had heating issues, inability to keep up with temps but shouldn't have to wear a winter coat to enjoy dinner. The food was very good in terms of portions, temps out of kitchen and quality of taste. Would probably pass on Churros for dessert as they were underwhelming including dough, proportion of chocolate sauce to number of churros. read more

This was my first time eating at Mez. We had a company lunch 20+ people and they were able to accommodate us. Our server was very friendly, and prompt. We never had to ask for any refills he was always on top of it. The food was delicious and portions are large. Entire group was happy with the meals. I would definitely consider coming back here for another work event. read more

I came here on a Monday night and it was much busier than expected for a weekday. The wait staff is very friendly and the service was so fast, we pretty much got in and out of the restaurant in 45 minutes. Sometimes I get sketched out when my food comes 10 minutes after I order but it's nice if you're in a time crunch on a weekday. The food was average. I started out with the chips and salsa which wasn't anything the rave about. The pico and mild and the other two have a kick to them. I got the fish tacos as my main and the rice and beans were also a little spicy. The tacos didn't have that much flavor but adding salsa and some rice/beans made it better. read more

MEZ Contemporary Mexican - Fish Tacos - Mexican Near Me - Durham, North Carolina