Mekenita Cantina

The one star is because I really liked my server. Ultimately, I don’t come to restaurants soley for nice servers though. I also need the food and drinks to be good as well, and this restaurant tastes like it employees only white Americans that are gluten free by choice and trying to reduce sodium in their diet. The chips and quac and salsa trio were average….nothing you couldn’t easily find elsewhere for a few dollars cheaper. Drinks were also just okay, watered down quite a bit, but whatever. My issue came in with my entree. I ordered the pork enchiladas “with authentic Oaxaca mole.” And my husband ordered the steak fajitas. It didn’t take long for the food to come out, but while his plate sizzled, mine was didn’t even steam. No, my comically large dinner plate featured three smaller enchiladas, covered in at least 1 cup of melted and then cooled orange shredded cheese and a tablespoon on mole, as well as rice and beans that both lacked salt and some greens. The mole might have tasted good, but I couldn’t tell compared to the room temperature orange cheese I was fighting through to find the mole or my enchiladas. I don’t like to send a plate back, but after two bites of my room temperature enchiladas, I did. The biggest issue is the fact that the covered them in a 1 cm thick layer of orange cheese and then let to cool to the point that If cut through, it was just a little block of cheese with each bite. The server informed me that the dish shouldn’t be cold because they don’t freeze any ingredients but “maybe it was because the fajitas took longer to cook” and offered to put it under the warmer for me. Not wanting to be a huge bother, I accepted. The plate came back out a few minutes later scalding hot. However, the food was the same temperature. I didn’t send it back again. I came here to celebrate my birthday and anniversary with my husband as well as having just started a new job the week prior. The chefs just don’t seem very experienced. The flavors are average, but that would’ve been okay if they could’ve just given me a warm meal. This is solely the chefs and line cooks responsibility, to time plates correctly so that all plates on one table go out at the same time and aren’t sitting in the kitchen or at the table waiting for the rest of the tables food. Wouldn’t eat here again, wouldn’t recommend to a friend.

I noticed there were some mixed reviews. So I’m going to preface this by saying two things: One, I did not sit down in the restaurant so I cannot speak to service and two, the pandemic has hit every line of business very hard in different ways and I think with that understanding people need to be cognizant of how this adversely effects and forces businesses to adapt constantly due to unforeseen issues. I ordered the fish tacos and what I can tell you is it was divine. I ordered delivery off Uber because my original order was cancelled. So I knew nothing about the restaurant beforehand but ordered because I have gluten and dairy allergies and they were able to accommodate both of those issues which sometimes seems impossible. They were super flavorful. I often eat fish tacos from other restaurants that are “the best” with quick expansion or a lot of high praise and although they are good, this will be the fish taco dish to ruin all other fish tacos. I’ve lived in Texas and although Latin cuisine has a strong foundation here with a lot of delicious options, it’s not the same and I’ve been chasing it down ever since. This was super fresh and I can’t wait to eat through the menu.