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La Fonda Restaurant
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good for:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
12 reviews for La Fonda Restaurant
Food = Average.
Value = Ripoff.
The chips are pre-made, bagged. The salsa is delicious. The guac is fresh, but a bit bland. The tostada we got was soggy, the steak in my fajitas was so overdone it was burnt. They charge for refills after one, and only if you buy a large soda. The SMALL side of guac was $5.
The good thing was their kids' portions are huge. BF's two-year-old nephew ate about a quarter of his burrito. Would've been enough for both kids we had with us to split! The dinners were average, if you're looking for just generic Mexican Food. I'd rank this about a star above Taco Bell - the ambiance is authentic, the service was good, but the food is pretty mediocre.
Because Napoleon Dynamite references are SO 2004, and because LaFawnduh herself outshines this place like a diamond outshines a crusty-ass rhinestone from Claire's, I'll break it down to some Mickey Avalon isntead:
"One, two, three, four
get your booty on the dance floor
work it out, shake it little momma
lemme see you do the La Fonda..."
In this case, "doing the La Fonda" means doing it with some seriously stale and generic chips, some heartburn-inducing, sour-mix-heavy margaritas, and some boring and forgettable Mexican staples. Underwhelming all around. The staff, however, is super-nice and (though by that point we'd already eaten) I did see some seafood dishes coming out of the kitchen that looked and smelled delicious. Because it's close to our 'hood, I guess it's worth going back one more time to experiment with the higher-end seafoody stuff... but the straightforward menu options are a straight-up fail.
It's easy to make mediocre Mexican food. It's difficult to make great Mexican food, and it may be even harder to really screw it up altogether.
La Fonda really just screws it up. I could only take a few bites of my meal, the quality of the meat was so bad. My companion's meal was equally gross.
The chips and salsa can go a long way to help save a Mexican restaurant, but like other Yelper's have said, these chips are like 7-11 corn chips and the salsa make Pace Picante sauce look gourmet.
There are so many other great Mexican joints in the area, skip this one.
Good food and friendly service. I live really close to this place so I had to try it out. It was surprisingly good. The prices were average, which is nice, they have a good selection of food but no great drink specials. Although the drinks weren't over priced. Seemed to a family run restaurant, so they keep a small staff on hand which can slow service down, but I was still happy with the place overall.
The saving grace for this restaurant was that the ground beef in the enchiladas I had was spiced to taste almost exactly like it does at my favorite Mexican restaurant. As far as the overall presentation and taste of the meal: Nothing spectacular. I ordered a rocks margarita and it was delivered to me frothy as if it had been poured right out of a store-bought bucket of margarita mix and spun around in a blender for a few seconds. I don't know the brand of chips they served, but I'm sure they were store-bought as well. Certainly not fresh. Mediocre salsa as well.
Maybe this works if it's a short walk away from home or work and you become a regular there, but if you have other options, why here?
I can think of three Mexican restaurants that I would choose the Taco Bell bean burrito (no onions) over. One of them rhymes with "Basa Lonita", the other is in my reviews, and now La Fonda.
I went to this restaurant while doing research for a birthday party. After visiting their website, the food was well-priced, the drinks were reasonable, and they were within walking distance of the party location (so hey no drinking and driving--always gotta think ahead). Unfortunately, after my experience there I was very glad I tried it first and saved a group of unsuspecting party goers from crappy food.
Chips and Salsa are (or at least should be) the crux of any Mexican restaurant. This place? The chips were like the chips you get at 7-11 to go alongside that molten radioactive-orange "cheese" stuff, and sadly their salsa (which I would give 3.5 stars) couldn't save them. I ordered a margarita (in the name of research, of course) and could tell it was sweet-and-sour vs. fresh lime. When my food arrived, it was indistinct mounds swimming in red sauce. And the red sauce... oh god. It was tomato sauce + red chili. And that was about it. It tasted "dusty" from the chili and that was about the most I got out of it.
The best part of the whole thing was the service. It was fast and friendly and I was done with it all in about 25 minutes. So I imagine if I had taken a large party there we would have had good service. Unfortunately, I won't be taking a party or even just myself back to La Fonda.
Actually the last time I went back I was disappointed. Maybe it's new management slacking, but alas the place has lost the luster of old. The chips sucked, the salsa sucked, and correspondingly the guacamole and even the entrée wasn't the same... I was quietly bummed out, and found it hard to admit to myself and family that my fave old La Fonda has lost a step but it has. But I'm still not willing to go below three stars for sentimental reasons.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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6/15/2008
I see a few idiots have weighed in on my favorite Mexican restaurant since I was a wee youngun', and… Read more »
This is a good place to go for some okay Mexican food. I ordered the vegetarian enchilada, which didn't have any surprises or anything special, but it was totally fine. The service was fast and friendly, and the salsa was very good.
Nothing remarkable, but a good place to go if you want some decent Mexican food.
The only reason I stopped in this place is the name.
I like the movie Napoleon Dynamite and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to eat a place named "La Fonda" as it closely resembles "LaFawnduh". I was hoping this place would caress me in the same way that LaFawnduh held Kip in her (maybe his, who knows?) overpowering, manly embrace.
With my moon boots shined and displaying my fantastically flamboyant unicorn shirt, I strutted through the front door where i suddenly felt like I had the deep dark bowels of La Fonda. The smell of grease steadily wafted across my nose as tried to keep my arms from sticking to the plastic table top that was not nearly as shiny as my moon boots had been before entering La Fonda.
I didn't come here for the glamor though, its all about the food right? Oooooh SPECIAL, i always try to get the restaurant's special so I ordered "La Fonda's Special" as it stated on the menu.
Out came my Horchata (excellent, which gets a star) followed by my platter of "stuff". It was hard to tell exactly what part of La Fonda was entering my mouth at any given time, as it was covered in a discolored gelatinous sauce. I can imagine the cook having the motto "When in doubt, smother it in sauce".
Oh La Fonda, I had high hopes for you. You had me with your name but you've pushed me away. I don't know if it was your smelly interior or your output covered in goo, but you've got to do better to obtain these mad bow-staff skills!
Overall i give one star for simply having a catchy name and I'll give another star for having a pretty good horchata.
I ate here once last year, only because it was very close to where I lived.
The food was marginal at best. The service was tolerable.
Besides Casa Bonita, probably the worst mexican food I have had in Denver metro.
2 stars is being nice. 1 1/2 would be more like it.
Nothing special. Tried the place on a 50% off coupon. Salsa is very good, fresh and spicy but downhill from there. Chips were stale and didn't seem to be made on premises. Chicken burrito was flavorless, like boiled chicken. Salsa on the burrito was flat and might have been canned. Cheese enchiladas were better but not great. Soppapilas were heavy and soft, not light and crispy. Fried ice cream also lacked character. Much better options abound in North Denver and Arvada.
This place used to be a lot better when I was growing up and didn't know that Mexican food shouldn't taste this way. Not really the best anything, and I've never had any restaurant give me such consistent... digestive problems. Only redeeming quality is the guacamole and the classic velvet paintings on the walls.