La Mexica Cantina and Restaurant in Tauranga

Food was authentic, service was great, and nice views too. Just needs some hot sauce such as Tapatio or Valentina.... Tabasco is not Mexican hot sauce.

Came here for lunch today, the food was great inside my mouth! I would rate it a 10/10 if Google gave me the option but definitely 5 stars from me. The food was even so cheap and large portions that meant I could takeaway the delicious feast! Thank you so much La Mexica Cantina!

I went to La Mexica looking for something different at night and it turns out that on Thursday night they have free bachata classes. I met lot of people, I have a great time and I found all the fun I was looking for. It was such a great night.I recommend this place if you are new in Tauranga and have no plans at night, this one is a gooood one. Next time Ill probably go early to enjoy the food.

The food was pretty bland, and the meat didnt have a very fresh taste to it. Looked like a bit of a construction site inside with bits of walls missing and junk lying around. There wasnt much of a Mexican vibe there.

Food was good, good service. Just a bit quiet which was a shame

Food was amazing. Good fast service food came really fast and presentation was very good. Strongly recommend coming here

Excellent nachos with gluten free and dairy free options. Great price. Thanks!

Eclectic. Pokies. Decent prices on jugs of standard beer. Funny ambience but was quiet for the family on Cinco de Mayo. Indian chef with Mexican food that was surprisingly good. Fantastic margarita. Worth a shot.

Great food. Good service. Not many people early Sunday evening so ambience a bit lacking but Im sure they would like more customers too! Come.on down and enjoy a great Mexian meal.

Beautiful restaurant, gorgeous food, perfect margaritas!! We had the place to ourselves due to bad weather and Tuesday night. We all tried something we had never had and wasnt disappointed. You feel the love put into the food. Dessert was amazing too. You have to visit this place!! You wont regret it. Hardly any wait time for food or drinks and staff super friendly. Thank you for having us!!!!

Went there for a beer on Easter Saturday. Permanent sign outside says "Happy Hour, 4pm - 6pm, Everyday. Waikato and Lion Red only, $5" I ordered a Lion Red and when charged $8.50, mentioned the happy hour, manager just said "Not today". What a rip off!! Suggest you stay away from this place!!

Amazing food. Wow you got to try this place. Wow Big meals and you know they put love into their meals.

Highly recommend. Amazing generously portioned kai, great prices and amazing chef!! The waitress is very friendly but needs to learn a bit more professionalism and get familiar with the menu as she was unable to help with any of our queries about the food. She also made a mistake with our order which they kindly gave us for free. Im assuming she is new so Im sure she will be great once she gains some experience.

Food good. Wait was very long with our drinks not being made after enquiring about it multiple times, finally after almost 2 hours we got our drinks. Bar staff seemed inexperienced same with man on till. Felt really bad for our female server as she had to do everything herself with little help from what seem to be the owner. Wouldn’t recommend if you aren’t wanting to wait just under 2hours for food and over 2 hours for drinks.

Incredible service and great food. My mum is celiac, and the waitress (who was wonderfulmade sure to inform the chef, who in turn sanitised the area in which he prepared my mums food, and personally delivered her food to her, explaining that everything was made gluten-free. The food was wonderful - the chicken nachos were especially great, and the gluten-free chicken quesadillas were excellent. The staff were warm and friendly and the entire ambience was very welcoming. Our drinks (pitchers of sangria and margaritawere also very yum. Would definitely come back!

So its been a while since I was here and time hasnt been kind to the place.Photocopied menus on clipboards.Vastly reduced menus.Trainee waitress who didnt know the menu or how to pronounce the names (she was trying her best, bless her).I was dubious about staying, but was glad we did because the food more than made up for the above.Plus they had salsa lessons that night do we ended up with a meal and a show...Original review:Great food, although a limited menu by comparison to other Mexican places.

Great food and great service. Ordered the beef burrito, ribs and chicken wings, everything was tasty and the drinks they made were good too (lemon lime and bitters and raspberry lemonade. They were cleaning the toilets when we arrived so it was pretty spotless in there. Only downside was it didn’t seem very busy but that’s not the restaurants fault because everything I experienced was great.

The food was very great and we really enjoyed our time here! Service is good, the prices are quite normal.

The food was delicious and the restuarant owner and chef made is feel welcome and made sure we were well loomed after.The best Mexican dishes Ive ever had.

From Texas and had a lot of Mexican food in my day and this is the worst I’ve ever had. Rice was for Indian food. Guacamole tasted old/store bought. Meat was seasoned incorrectly. I guess this is what kiwis think is Mexican food is but I’ve tried barrio brothers which is 10X better. Staff was friendly but won’t be going back for food. Also toilets need to be cleaned, smelled gross

The food was brilliant, the atmosphere was relaxing, the staff were helpful. It would be nice if the staff could interrupt us with their questions at the table, when we werent in the middle of a key point in conversation, but that takes practice and patience.

Amazing meal - huge plate sizes loved the entire experience !!!

Went with a group of 5 for dinner, we ordered multiple items to share and it worked out very well and we enjoyed nearly everything. The beef tacos were fantastic, as were the chicken quesadillas. Our only big disappointment was the white wine sangria. It could use a lot of work, it didnt taste at all traditional and the wine used was not pleasant.The staff were very hospitable and over all we had a great time.

Visited last wk on Friday night, there was a group of about 10 of us & we ordered a few platters & dishes to share. Service was great, food was reasonably priced & we all had a great time. Only down side was it was quite cold even though we were sitting inside. Would def come again though.

Last Saturday night in the Latin Party in La Mexica Tauranga I was kicked out of the bar for two security guys in the beginning of the party without a reason (I swear I only was dancing with my friends and I didnt bother anyone). The next day I went there to talk with the manager looking for a explanation and the only thing he told me was that they have a strong policy against intoxicated people but I told him that I wasnt intoxicated and he told me to leave my contact and he would look to the cameras for find out what happened.Until today he didnt contact me and I heard some similar stories to mine in my backpackers. They are happy to let people go inside and let them pay the entrance and after a few minutes the security guys kicked the people out without a reason or saying that they are drunk.

Went in with my sister. We were the only ones in there but cant fault the service or the food. Good portion sizes and super tasty. We shared some tacos and had fajitas and we couldnt finish it all. Tasted great.

Good food and good service, decent size meals. I wanted a slight variation to an item on the menu and they were happy to do that for me. Highly recommend the jalapeño poppers, very tasty.

Its ok. Fresh taste but the portions are a little small and the flavours werent quite 100% authentic (I have spent a bit of time in USA and worked in mexican restaurants so know the difference ;).

Can I give NO STARS? Manu - who served us had the worst body odour Ive ever smelled. I spoke with him privately after the meal to let him know - and also wanted to let his manager know but it turns out HE IS THE MANAGER! I hope the owner of this place is aware of the stinky stink diners are subjected to. Totally inappropriate when serving food and drink. Service was average as was the food but the smell was first class: rotten.

Hard pass! The food is a joke, the atmosphere is whatever. The food is also overpriced since its located right on the water in the strand. Id definitely avoid this place. As a good tip, have a drink/beer at a strand restaurant/pub and eat somewhere else like the Marine parade.

Nothing special here, the food was kinda messy. Much of it tasted pre made or packaged instead of fresh. Ordered a starter to share and asked for a different "starter" item as a main and both came out at the same time leaving my date who ordered a main to have their food last. No hot sauce provided. Corn chips were out of a package which was disappointing, and the nachos were so greasy the oil was dripping everywhere.

I had a great night here dancing to the DJ till I was dripping sweat! The only downside was some glass on the dance floor from people dropping drinks but Im pretty sure security took care of that. I would still definitely recommend at least to stop by on your next night out! 👌🏼

Honestly gross. I’ve just had the most simple dish, nachos delivered and it is terrible. Firstly, the meat is served on the corn chips so it was all soggy on arrival. The guacamole is clearly from a packet and straight up horrible! The meal itself is extremely salty and the cheese is so heavy that you can’t even scoop a corn chip without it breaking. This should be a benchmark dish for a Mexican restaurant and they definitely can’t even get that right.

I love this place. Great food at a more affordable price than other Mexican joints in town. Plus you get your moneys worth.They have a smaller menu too which is actually a good thing as it makes choosing a meal much easier.And finally I love the decor.

The waitress was friendly but the starters came out with the mains. The salsa and the guacamole tasted like it was cheap tinned stuff. The chicken fajitas were good but there were not enough tortillas and they were tiny. Not sure if there were any hot sauces available but it would have been nice if some was brought out with the meals.

The location is great! But it was a really long wait for food and it was heard to fathom why because there was no one else there... the staff were a bit too casual.. the clothing was not well presented. I didnt find the food spectacular and i probably wont go there again

Update: 2018This place has really gone downhill! Very slow service, expensive, and the food was not all that good. We had fish tacos (served on small, store-bought flour tortillas, and chips {stale} and guacamole (small serving and not good at all - and that guacamole and chips was 14 bucks!).Came here a couple of years ago and werent that impressed, but gave it another chance in January 16 and we were glad we did because we discovered they make great fish tacos! The steak tacos were very enjoyable, too. Loved it, but alas, as of 2018, it seems to have strangely gone back to what it was when we first came. Dont know what happened, but very disappointed.See they have new management since we came here. Maybe well give it another try.

Good food except for the guacamole which seemed synthetic. Friendly waiter. Pity about the pallet walls in the booths! I leant against one and it ruined my kimono. Big pulls where the rough wood snagged my top! We wont be back as I had to add the price of a new top to the cost of this meal. Plus despite us being the only patrons on this Wednesday night, we had to park a few roads back and walk past unfortunate hobos...not ideal for 3 girls at night, with one in a wheelchair!

We visited this restaurant last week and I was so happy with our visit. Tasty food, excellent service, nice location and view. We spent about 2 hours and enjoyed our food and drinks.

I cant fault the food, it was superb. The service however was very poor.We visited on new years eve and were left wondering how to order for a long time, no menus given, no cutlery with our food and they couldnt do cocktails at all on what I imagine is a huge night for the business.The waitress in the red dress on New Years eve deserves a promotion or at least a good payrise. She was running the place while other wait staff did nothing.

We went here about 2 years ago and loved it but we went back a few days ago and it didn’t live up to our previous experience. We were the first people there but the last to receive our food it took 45 minutes for our lunch to come and on 2 occasions we had to look for the waitress to get more drinks while we watched the people around us eat. When I caught up with her she was at the bar texting on her phone. The cocktails were pretty basic and the food was pretty terrible as if it had just been heated up in the microwave. So disappointed. Not only that but if food is taking a while to come out just explain it to the customers don’t pretend that it’s normal for the first people to arrive to eat last!

Awful...the meals were disgusting, service poor. Even when we complained didnt improve. Late with drinks, never offered more drinks. Food staggered and out of a can. Service mil. Ended up paying reduced prices, manager stating that it was a particularly busy. day. Did not look busy

Even though the restaurant was quiet, it still took too long to receive our drinks. The mains turned up reasonably close together, but the deserts were quite far apart and they got the order wrong. One of the waiters seemed to be fairly new and didnt realise we needed spoons for desert. The food did taste great though.

Good food not particularly spicy style of Mexican food. Free salsa dance classes on Thursday nights which is fun. Staff were attentive, they do not accept AMEX

Good food, friendly staff, very accommodating, great place for a group meal.

Our family of 5 went to this beautifully located restaurant over the long weekend for dinner. We had an amazing experience! The staff was so friendly and catered to our special dietary requirements. Food was soooo delicious!!! And the bonus was the view facing the harbour. If you are in Tauranga you must visit this restaurant.

Update - looks like there are new owners so hopefully they have brought the food back to a more Tex Mex standard. Ill be going to try the salsa as it is an indicator of what the rest of the food might be like.Bad Tex Mex. Bad drinks.The nacho meat tasted more like Italian than south of the border. Stale chips and a 22 dollar burrito that I did not bother to order. Fajitas were awful. Hard tortillas, canned Italian sauce passing for salsa, beetroot in the fajitas and mushy onions. Chicken was dry and needed salt.What puts beetroot in fajitas?Kids meals and tapas were OK.

The service was friendly and helpful. The atmosphere was fun. The food was disappointing. The starter of fried potatos was hot and flavoursome, but soft and limp, not crisp as deep fried food should be. (perhaps the deep fryer was not up to temperature on that moderately busy night.The Nachos were lacking in any outstanding flavour and arrived barely 5 mins after the starter did. The steak was ordered rare and arrived medium to medium rare at the thickest part on a bed of more fried potatoes with a side of somewhat burnt corn on the cob and bland coleslaw. When the place first opened years ago it was a favourite of ours, but as this was our second disappointing visit, I dont think well go there to dine any more.

Ive been to La Mexica a number of times now and it never fails! Yummy Mexican fare with lots of variety (incl GF and veg optionswith different levels of spice/heat. Funky atmosphere with ace staff who are only too eager to please. Perfect for brunch or lunch in the sun or a great way to kick off a Friday or Sat night. Love the frozen margaritas!

Our company had the pleasure of having a client evening event at La Mexica last week. Fab food, great service, and attentive staff. Have received great feedback from our clients, many saying they had a fun evening. The atmosphere was great! Special thanks to the Management for catering to our needs and requirements. We hope to have another event at La Mexica in the future!