Location: Downtown Lawrence. The place to go of you happen to be in Lawrence, KS. Ambiance: This is an amazing place to take your family. It is a beautiful restaurant that looks like a Mexican "casa" Food: it is great. They serve complimentary queso sauce and mild sauce, which are delicious. All the dishes are solid. Still a little bit of Texmex vibe. Service: Very good. I know the owner ,Beto. He is very committed to his business and always making sure that everything is in place. For Mexican food in Mass street, this is the place to go. read more

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Unfortunately, this was a big let down in all areas. Food very ho hum, our server much more interested in rolling silverware at the bar than taking care of our table, had to ask ask ask. Other server in a temper, just dumped plates on the end of our table and left. Won't ever go back, ever, so disappointing because the reviews seemed decent, although it looks like it's fallen recently. Sad read more

Let's try again, shall we? My original review shared that in addition to ridiculous servers--on their phones, *filthy* leggings on one, and rude--there was hair in the beans and it was a problem that we asked new beans be re-served. They took the bowl and never came back with any. Very uncomfortable when we exchanged the payment due to some hostility brewing in the server. The place was also filthy and sticky. read more

Our first visit in to Molcajetes went well. Our server was nice and the food delicious. We started with an appetizer, stuffed jalapeños, they were okay, not sure I would order again. For dinner I had the taco salad, pretty basic I know but usually the first thing I try at Mexican restaurants before moving on to other things. It was good. My husband had the fajitas and said they were delicious. It was crowded but not too noisy. We'll be back again sometime. read more

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They took an hour for us to get our food and then they forgot one person's food and that took another 20 minutes and then it took half an hour for us to get our checked after we asked for it and then another 20 minutes to get the checks back. one of the worst dining experiences i've honestly ever had but hell what can you expect from a lawrence establishment. also they had the windows open in 45 degree weather read more

I pray that this review garners the attention of Avery's supervisors. I am currently sitting here, April 4th 2025 at approximately 5PM. I must say, Avery had exemplified every quality I would want, apart of any team- no matter the goal. She went above and BEYOND to support her fellow staff, assisting (and basically earning and deserving of the entire service experience.) (I say this as someone with extensive experience growing up working within a restaurant as a server and bartender - highest end to lowest.) However, I think she managed their tables (smile on her face, so kind) and didn't take the table on / earn the tip. She is so much more than an asset. I have been in before and had the pleasure of meeting her. However, she, genuinely, elevated this experience beyond belief. She had such great menu knowledge - she informed me that it wasn't happy hour (which, I was not told of upon my first drink so, I appreciate that guidance. In fact, she did a genuine job in casually upselling me to a pina colada- which I am so happy with.) she did an INSANE job serving this pina colada- making it more beautiful and delicious than some five star experiences I have had internationally. She genuinely cared to take time in helping me, making me a drink- and promptly handling this. All, without expectation. She authentically cared and was kind. It's rare to cross anyone of this caliber in general- especially within the business of tipping. Avery, you are a gem and there is a reason you have me taking the time to try to leave this comment! I would hire you on any team I had. Thank you for providing a little sunshine and a damn good drink! read more

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Horrendous service, had a leaking radiator above us dripping onto our food and drinks

Food was awful. Salsa was worst I have ever had.. no flavor. Taco was avg Taco Bell style. Enchilada just bad. Service was poor. Ichh!!! Gotta be better Mex in Lawrence!!! and oh place was dirty read more

We're from Texas, so when my daughter raved about this spot, I knew we had to visit. First, don't be fooled if it looks busy when you walk by; there's lots of extra seating upstairs. Seated quickly, I was immediately impressed by the huge menu. If you can't find something that sounds good to you, you're clearly doing it wrong. Along with complimentary chips and salsa (both of which were good), the waiter also brought a bowl of queso, which was also tasty. I had a difficult time deciding but went with the Vaquero, skirt steak covered in cheese, mushrooms, and avocado slices. I've had carne asada in the past that was maybe a bit more tender, but it was good overall, and I'd get it again. The rice and beans were also good. My daughter gets the Birria Quesadilla. This did not disappoint. It's basically a shredded beef quesadilla, only the meat has been marinated for a long time in a mole broth (think au jus), and they give you an extra cup of the juice for dipping. It's pretty darn good. Service was fine throughout, and food came out quick. Hopefully this establishment doesn't go the way of many other Mass Street establishments and has a long life in Lawrence. read more

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Tried to do my birthday dinner here and they took our phone number, said they'd call us in 45 minutes for our table. We went back and were told actually they don't do reservations?? Wasted an hour of my life lol read more

I'm me of the best Mexican spots in Lawrence! I highly recommend the KU burrito with steak, chicken, chorizo and shrimp wrapped in a warm tortilla and drenched in queso!!! Run ... don't walk and get you some of this delightful cuisine! read more

Had two different margaritas that will land in my all time top 5 list. Great service, and atmosphere. read more

Molcajetes Lawrence - Empty, as they should be. - Mexican Near Me - Lawrence, Kansas

So today I ordered online and I ordered the shredded Chicken Nachos and the nacho chips are burnt and it tasted burnt really bad and very nasty and soggy; also, the shredded chicken was super dry as can be. Considering the service the food was already ready when got there to pick up since I did order online the service was Good. The place is really nice and i'm for-sure the employees are really good at there job to be honest but when I got there the place was empty or what I call dead as a door nail, there was no customers was there as far as can see and to me says something about the restaurant, and place and there food. I won't see myself ordering from here no more and won't be back ever again!! I figured being a Mexican restaurant the food would be decent but this is disgusting and very disappointing considering I really do love Mexican food a-lot . read more

Molcajetes Lawrence - a pan of food - Mexican Near Me - Lawrence, Kansas

Really disappointed after a recent visit and will not be returning. Reasons: (1) Food was sub-par. The salsa is bland, queso is no longer complimentary, and the rice, beans, and seafood chimi were just average. (2) Service was really bad. This was the worst part of the experience. Our server seemed miserable, like he absolutely did not care about his customers. He never greeted us, mumbled when he spoke (in a super loud restaurant), never brought a clean menu that I requested, and brought an incorrect drink and an incorrect entree. When the wrong entree was brought to me, the server tried to tell me that I ordered the seafood enchiladas, when I ordered the chimi. Finally they brought the correct food, but we were never checked on after that. (3) This was the noisiest, rowdiest sit-down restaurant I have been to in a long time. I think with Cielito's being closed, a lot of that crowd is coming to Molcajete's instead, and as a consequence the restaurant was overflowing with large groups of students, many of whom were extremely loud, drunk, using flash photography, etc. Multiple times we were startled by someone shrieking/screaming within the restaurant. It's just not the ambience we remembered from before. Some redeeming qualities: It's a large restaurant and we didn't have to wait long to get in on a Friday night. The margaritas are pretty decent. read more

Was looking for a more authentic experience because the taco truck in town doesn't have their hours correctly online so we stalked this place online and seem some items that caught our interest. Parking was difficult because of the location and time but when we finally arrive the place was very nice and the staff was friendly and welcoming. The menu was huge so it took some time to decide what we wanted and when we received the food it wasn't what we expected but it was delicious. The staff was great and very attentive and the food was delicious! read more

The service we receivd tonight was nothing short of simply abhorrent. We were well aware that attending a local hallmark Mexican restaurant on Cinco de Mayo may have come with a few drawbacks, however, never in my worst nightmare could i have imagined the incredibly disrespectful way my friends and i would have been treated. We could understand the 30 minute wait to be seated on a holiday. We also were accepting of the 30 minute wait after getting seated for someone to take our order and bring by waters. After multiple requests to have our order taken, I knew things may be headed downhill when the waiter ignored me while taking my order to speak with a different employee. We even ignored the server's thumb being dipped in our queso (served extremely cold, might I add). In fact, we were especially kind and understanding to our Server as we witnessed a different customer chew him out and complain at the beginning of the night. However, we quickly understood the other customer's frustration. We did not receive our drinks or appetizers and had to ask for them to be brought out by other employees. 2 hours later, our entrees were nowhere to be found. One member of our party mentioned this to our waiter politely, and he laughed in her face. Seeing as he would not be making any effort to get us our food, we requested help from management, who told us the kitchen was backed up. This excuse may have flown if we hadn't seen several other parties have their entire table turned over after arriving at least an hour after us. We then watched the server punch in our order (having ordered 2 hours prior). He then balled up the ticket and threw it at my friend's head. I immediately went back to management to explain with photo evidence, who dismissed me and told me that our food would be up shortly. When our food arrived, we ate and went on our way. On the way to exit, the server said putita to me, and unfortuntely for the server, I spent 15 years learning spanish- He called me a "little b*tch". As if that weren't bad enough, he proceeded to blow a raspberry in my direction and spat on me. Management again dismissed us and told us they did not know what to say or do until they reviewed the security tapes. TLDR, avoid this place at all costs unless you enjoy service that includes name calling, unreasonably long waits, flying objects at your head, and being spat upon. Do better Molcajetes. read more

Mexican food is my weakness. It can be crunchy and it's smothered in melty cheese. It doesn't get any better than melty cheese. Last week a friend suggested this restaurant. I was excited to try something new. I tried to find an online menu. One of my quirks is I like to know what I want to order before I enter a restaurant. Molcajetes has a website listed but there is nothing on the website. So much for branding and social media presence. I tried their Facebook page, google, I even messaged the management. Not a peep or a clue. Someone did send me a CR code that I couldn't use because they sent it to my phone. So I had no menu but lots of folks telling me how good it was. I braved downtown lawrence on a basketball game day for Molcajetes. Took forever for parking but that's not their fault. The food was okay. It wasn't spectacular, it wasn't OMG-Best-Ever. It was middle of the road food. It was reasonably priced, however, and that is always a big plus. I had fajitas and a fried taco. It came with refried beans and rice. You did get a choice in the bean selection, though. It took quite awhile to be served. After we were shown to our table, our server magically disappeared. I know this is a new place and they will work out the kinks. Service was slow but friendly. We were asked by several people if everything was okay. At one point two people showed up to take our order. A server asked if we wanted more chips but they never materialized. They advertise their queso is always free. Just don't run out of chips before you finish the queso. Lol. You'll be chips out of luck. Good, not great, food and service that needs a bit more training. Molcajetes will get over this hump easily as time goes on. read more

I was craving margaritas so I stopped in for a drink and apps. We ordered cheese dip, HOT salsa, carne asada and beef nachos. The salsa and cheese dip were both so, so good. My kids loved the nachos too - and they were generous with the cheese. The margaritas were good, nothing to write home about but they sure cured my craving. The carne asada was good but the portion of actual meat was quite small- it came with tortillas, veggies, rice and beans. The grilled veggies were delicious. The beans tasted like they were from a can and the rice was dry. Overall it was very good, I would go back for the salsas alone. read more

Cool place, great service and the food was very good. Queso is not to be missed. The only drawback is that we were seated upstairs so the server was not always around but the decor was cool and it was quiet. read more

We did not have a good first experience here. The margaritas and the food was mediocre, and they ran out of cheese, which made some of the dishes quite different--especially the quesadilla. The chips, salsa, and the chicken poblano and fajita burritos were pretty good. The staff were nice, but the service was slow. We'd hope for a better overall experience next time. read more

My friends and I went in today May 5th and had an amazing experience. Unfortunately our experience was interrupted by a group of entitled white college students who even decided to write a review full of lies (Katie H). We witnessed the whole thing. While I understand that there might have been a long wait they decided to go to a MEXICAN restaurant during their biggest day of the year. Not only were the girls incredibly rude they failed to mention that they were following one of the waiters and continued to speak down to and look over his shoulder. It's funny to hear that Katie H supposedly studied Spanish but failed to realize that the waiter didn't speak English very well and laughed out of confusion due to not understanding. The manager even came around after they left and apologized to our table for the scene and commotion they created. They caused a scene and overall were the definition of ENTITLEMENT! Overall the food was delicious, service was great even with the restaurant being super busy. It's honestly a shame that entitled little girls can ruin a good business because they weren't able to drop everything and serve them to their ridiculous specifications. read more

Great service, festive atmosphere, perfect Street Tacos! Stopped in for lunch on their 2 year anniversary and got caught up in their celebration! read more

We stopped here for lunch on a Wednesday couple of weeks back. Despite the unremarkable name, we really liked it. It's casual, but a little nicer than a lot of Mexican spots. I had a beef tostada and tamale, which were both excellent. They brought us some extra spicy salsa, which we really enjoyed. Service was very good. read more

The service was great and food came quick. The food itself was average.at best though.

Was excited to try this new restaurant . Food was pretty good , I felt like the waitress we had did not care until it came time for us to leave. The food was tasty , portions kind of small , pricey. Guacamole, salsa and chips was delicious & super fresh , we each had cream cheese enchiladas which were yummy, but scant sauce , no cheese, perfectly cooked chicken. I want to try again once they have got past opening disorganization. read more

Willing to give it another try. We were in the "basement" area and they seemed to be short staffed so the wait was long at times. The food was ok. The margarita was ok. I had fajita nachos. Chips are put under a boiler maybe? Got the raspberry house margarita on the rocks. Wish it would have had a sugar rim instead of salt. Wasn't asked. Unsure if it's an option. The basement had a slightly off-putting smell. As mentioned though, willing to give it another try if I'm not in the basement and maybe their staffing is increased. read more

Best prices for dine-in Mexican food in Lawrence, especially on Mass. The menu is really big so some of the items are reeeally not as good as others. You have to figure it out. But the service is solid and they keep their chips and salsa going like clockwork. If it's busy expect a wait (duh). They do dollar margs from 2-5pm. They taste like dollar margs but they're 1$ ‍ Overall I love this place and I like that it has three floors. I've been here like 10+ times and my servers have been nice but they do have a lot of turnover. Give it a try! read more

Delicious, Excellent, Incredible They have Birria Tacos. $1 Margaritas during happy hours. read more

Molcajetes Lawrence - Birria Tacos $9.99 Delicious,Excellent,Incredible $1 Margaritas during :) hours Ask 4 their orange & green salsa 4 chips and tacos - Mexican Near Me - Lawrence, Kansas

Great place to eat friendly margaritas are excellent friendly place. Good fish tacos excellent atmosphere next time. I'm in town. I'm gonna come back here again. read more

So good! Definitely will be back next time in in the area! I had the deep fried tacos & they were delicious!!

Birria Tacos, super fast service and good vibe overall. Birria could have used some more flavor. read more

Molcajetes Lawrence - Birria Tacos - Mexican Near Me - Lawrence, Kansas

Stopped by for dinner on a week night. We were quickly seated, as the restaurant was mostly empty. The food server was friendly and welcoming. We were given chips and salsa as we reviewed the menu. There are a lot of items to choose from. I have a Chimichanga with Rice and Beans. Good flavor and served piping hot.Our food came out quickly and the portions were large. We were checked on throughout our meal and drink refills were always provided. We enjoyed our visit and will stop by again in the future. read more

This place is the best Mexican in Lawrence Food was very good We have been here 3 or 4 times and it's always good and good service. We will keep going back. read more

On a recent visit to Lawrence my partner and I were craving Mexican and this place had good reviews?? I'd like to set the record straight, since I frequent some of the better Mexican restaurants in the area. Let's start with the servers...they were inattentive at best, a request for more napkins got a blank look and we were finally handed two tiny napkins. The server was also unfamiliar with the menu items. On to the food...I ordered the Chile rellenos platter. It was supposed to be a poblano chille but it's sweet taste was unlike any poblano I've ever tasted. Worse the chille was raw, not deep fried, not blanched just a raw pepper with masa barely stuck on. My partner got a taco salad, which was bland and flavorless. Maybe these folks do better at tacos. From my perspective they're basically reheating El Monterey grocery store Mexican. There's a bunch of excellent Mexican restaurants in Lawrence.....this is not one of them. read more

Fav Mexican in all of lfk!! Other places have good drinks... but no one has food like Molcajetes

Terrible service and rudest waiter I've ever had. Threw the receipt at one of my friends and stuck his tongue out like a child. Ignored our table for an hour and a half and angered other customers he was serving as well. Rude table next to us inserting themselves in situations where they don't belong and probably has ties to the restaurant. Don't come here. I will not be back. I can get subpar Mexican food anywhere else for much better service. read more

Espinaca was just ok. But the food was good. Prompt service lots of tvs music going on good atmosphere and good vibes from the staff laughing and singing. read more

Molcajete's may be the best Mexican restaurant in Lawrence. I had the New Mexico burrito with black beans and chicken. It was very tasty. They also give free queso and chips. It can get crowded. read more

Molcajetes Lawrence - Mexican Near Me - Lawrence, Kansas

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Best Mexican food in Lawrence! And the free cheese dip is spectacular. Great service and good atmosphere. Definitely coming back.

When we first walked in, it looked like a happening spot. Music, esthetics and busy tables. But it turned south not long after. We were seated upstairs and the AC vent kept dripping water on our tables, chips were stale, the waitress messed up our drinks and didn't offer to fix it. Plus the margaritas were weak. The black beans we ordered were mostly juice. Then they were out of avocados. The enchiladas were mediocre at best. The only positive was the guacamole sauce, nice and spicy and went well with my tacos. Will most likely come back and give it another try but probably sit downstairs. read more