La Mexicana

La Mexicana: 2430 NE 13th Ave, Wilton Manors, FL 33305

The Restaurant:

The South Florida Eats team has been wanting to try La Mexicana for some time now.  It’s located in the heart of Wilton Manors behind what used to be Old Florida Seafood.  There is a cool Bohemian style area with a couple of restaurants and eclectic shops.  One of them is La Mexicana which serves a variety of Mexican and Spanish dishes.  We had gone a few times, but they were either not open yet or had already closed.  Just an FYI, they are open from 11:30am – 8pm, except Sundays when they close at 5pm.  This can be a little confusing since each place in this location is open different business hours.

La Mexicana offers both indoor and outdoor seating with plenty of tables and lounge style setup.  We both really loves that it was a beautiful night and we could eat out under the stars without having to drive too far.  The place is very clean and the decor is very fun.  When we arrived there was only two tables, one in side and one outside that had customers.  Then a larger group arrived after we did and so did one other couple.  The wait staff was very friendly and attentive to us.

For Starters:

Our waitress brought us a bottle of water with fresh mint inside of it.  Jerry and I both liked this, but some people may not.  The glasses to drink from are these very cute little glasses which holds about 3 sips worth of water.  So if you are thirsty, then you will be pouring a lot.

Jerry opted to get a margarita with salt which comes in a mason type jar which was not bad.  Jerry thought it tasted like there was no tequila in it, but he did enjoy the drink.  I decided to go for the unsweetened ice tea, which has a little bit of a mint flavor hint to it as well.  We also started with their chips and salsa.  While many Mexican restaurants will give you this for free, they do not here.  We were also not overly thrilled with the dish.  The chips were made in house, but were so thin that they would break everytime that you tried to pick up the salsa on them.  The salsa itself we felt lacked flavor.  It was mild with only a little hint of heat to it.  It was full of diced tomatoes, onions, cilantro, etc. but for some reason we just did not find it very flavorful.

The Main Course:

For his main course, Jerry chose to go with the steak fajita to compare it against our favorite place.  He asked for it cooked medium, with only tomatoes, no onions or peppers.  He also asked them to add extra seasoning to it as we love it when there is alot of flavor.  The flour tortillas that came with the meal were so thin that he could not use them.   As soon as you would put anything into them they would fall apart.  So he just ate it without them.  The other thing that surprised us was that it was served on a regular plate.  No sizzle like you experience most places for a fajita, which makes me think they don’t cook it the same way. You are served yellow rice and refried beans with the dish.  Jerry did like the refried beans.

I chose the Taco Trio Plate, which allowed me to sample three of their tacos, and you also get yellow rice and refried beans.  I am not a bean fan so I just wanted the rice with mine.  Let’s start with the yellow rice.  It really had no flavor at all and I was wishing they would have added some kind of seasoning to it.    My first taco was a spicy chicken taco.  It was served with shredded chicken breast, tinga sauce, guacamole spread, fresh tomato, scallions, and sour cream.  I loved this taco and thought that the various flavors mixed well and brought a smile to my face.  The second taco was a smoked brisket with crispy onions and salsa borracha.  I really enjoyed this taco as well and thought that the flavors were well paired together.  My third taco unfortunately was not as good.  I chose to go with the carne asada with mango salsa, red cabbage, avocado, cilantro and pickled onion.  The carne was too tough to easily chew and the flavors just did not seem to mix well together.  So while I would definitely recommend the first tow, I would not recommend the third taco.

The Verdict:

For us, we will most likely not be back.  This place is pretty expensive compared to many other better Mexican restaurants in the area, even though I would have liked to try several other menu items.

Pricing: $$-$$$ all depending on how much food your order and drinks.  The South Florida Eats team had high hopes for this place, unfortunately they were not met.