La Morada Mexican Restaurant

My mom worked here in the 80s, I have only positive memories. Thank you la morada :) I don’t remember the food, but I do remember the memories. My mom moved here in the 70s for college, I was born in 83, she worked here part time in the evenings after my dad passed. I was pretty much babysat by the bartenders. Such sweet memories. Sad to see this place go, just like the rest of «old Austin».

I was just there on September 1, 2014 and it’s closed forever. What a shame. Apparently the landlord for the whole shopping mall wanted too much money. (That’s what I was told later at a nearby bar from someone who works at the grocery store).

===CLOSED===. After 31 years they’re gone.
Sadly they should have shut down years ago before the onslaught of negative reviews since it would have been nice had they ended on a high note.
There’s lots of reasons for their demise… lackluster food, marginal customer service, higher costs and increasing competition from other restaurants (P. Terry’s next door being just one of them). But any restaurant can survive in Austin as long as it’s managed right. And mismanagement was the nail in the coffin for La Morada.
Goodbye old friend and thanks for the memories.

This place is one of the only Mexican places I do not wish to return to. I honestly don’t know why it’s so busy. The food is better at Taco Bell. The only thing I like about it was the salsa and chips and rice and beans. However the chip bowl was all cracked up. The server was nice but must have been spread too thin. Price was average. I’m only giving two stars bc my best friend loves it. The steak was awful. The meat was not flavored well or warm and very chewy.

My husband and I are here. We needed a margarita bad and decided to stop in after reading the bad reviews. Well I have to say the bad reviews were wrong. It was great! Especially the margaritas! Our waiter was Alex who was amazing even his jokes made me smile. I had told him how pleasantly surprised we were. Then he told me this place is closing down at the end of aug. It actually made me sad. He said the new corporate owners of the building up charged the rent by 20% and chuck refused to raise the prices so yes this is it this restaurant that has been there for 30 yrs is closing…

A bit of back story. I worked in the same shopping center as La Morada, but I’ve never actually tried it out. Yesterday, as I was going to pick up my paycheck, I got the munchies. Seeing as Biryani Pot was closed (what restaurant is closed on a Monday?), I decided to pick La Morada instead. Let’s just say that I did not have a great experience.
To the store’s credit, nothing was bad, but nothing was particularly good. The entire experience was painfully average, and in a city like Austin, that’s not good enough.
Walking in, I sat down inside their tacky yet inoffensive restaurant (it seems like it’s a relic of the 80s). Their menu was also particularly ugly to boot.
My waiter, John, was, again, an inoffensive waiter. Not terrible, but not good. He brought me my food, talked when I asked a question, but not much else.
The chips were surprisingly good. They were hot and I assume freshly fried, but I’m not sure. The salsa was nothing special. I suspect that it can from a bottle of Herdez, but I’m not sure.
As for my entrée, I ordered the Carne Guisada. Keeping with the running theme of mediocrity, it was nothing special. The beans were straight from a can, the rice had no flavor, and the Carne Guisada was a sickly brown, as if it were the remnants of the cow from whence it came. Again, nothing bad, but nothing great. The silver lining was that the tortillas that came with my meal were fresh, but that’s about it.
The most damning thing of all though is the price of my meal. Not including tip, my Carne Guisada came out to $ 11.90. Now, I’m not one to complain about price normally, but the quality of my meal certainly did not reflect the asking price of it. Now, with that same amount of money, I could go somewhere else, such as Chuy’s, and get a much better experience for the same price. I could also spend a little bit more and get Odaku instead. There is no reason to pay so much for something so mediocre.
So yeah, I’m not coming back here unless the quality of the food improves of the prices are halved.

Appalled that they call this place a «Mexican» restaurant. I ordered the barbacoa plate tonight, and I was mortified to see the meat swimming in a pool of grease. The rice was over cooked, the tortillas were cold and hard. My boyfriend ordered the chicken fajitas and they were charred and dry.
The waiter was awkward and seemed like he was trying to rush us. At one point he was going to refill the water on the table, but stopped short when he noticed a fly in the water pitcher!
We will never go back. Spare yourself a horrible meal and go elsewhere!

Took my family here for the first time this evening. Let’s just say that I’m 100% Mexicano, and I’ve had authentic Mexican food since I was born. Now… Let me first let everyone know that my family are vegetarians, and are well aware of how Mexican food can easily be prepared without vegetarians in mind. That being said, I am very conscious what to order, how to order, and the right questions to ask to ensure that I will not mistakenly subject myself or my family to meat based meals-​or preparation.
Tonight I had to return my plate twice due to errors. The first time I was given chicken enchiladas (I ordered cheese enchilada with their (V) labeled Ranchero sauce). After sending that back I received another plate (20min later), which included my cheese enchiladas but were now topped with a shredded beef sauce. At this point (2 house margaritas in) I am casually not too taken back by this and send it back one more time. The third time was correct in not having meat, but incorrect in that I specifically requested after the second turn around that it be replaced as exactly as my wife had ordered her plate.
Aside from all of this, and the nearly 40min later that I actually received my correct order, I never once received an apology or was even offered anything as some kind of acknowledgement to the huge repetitive errors. Charged full price as well. I paid the tab and left a note in that hopefully it got to the managements hands and carefully explained in that due to their lack of attention to customer needs, they are failing as a restaurant.
Left no name, no number. I feel in the 40 min of errors the manager at that time would of had substantial opportunity to address any concerns or «bottlenecks» without being told there is an actual issue. Apparently if you wish for true customer service to take place, this is NOT the restaurant to visit.
Judging by the negative reviews here on Unilocal, I’m not the only person that has had to been subjected to this blatant neglect. Sad, and still on the search for REAL authentic Mexican food here in Austin!
(The red salsa sucks, tomato based ⁹⁰⁄₃₀ ratio!!!)

Can you say cockroach in the chips!!! I am done!

I like Tex-​Mex food, but given the over abundance of options I can probably safely say that I won’t be going back here. They do have lunch specials, so that’s a plus.
The salsa wasn’t so spicy it couldn’t be eaten, but the food was just ho hum. The chips tasted store bought, which annoys me to no end at a Mexican place. The burrito was… not good. The beef was salty and not very tender.
The waitress and service was very good. If you want something cheap for good service stop by. Just remember you get what you pay for.

Worst mexican food I’ve had in Austin thus far. Salsa is too «tomatoey.» From someone who bases Mexican food restaurants worth off of their salsa, this one is an epic fail.

Family owned and inspired by the owners of Omar’s in Houston, and, Herbert’s Taco Hut in San Marcos. Chuck is the primary workhorse that keeps the business up and running. He is a very laid back friendly dude, but, you won’t find him here on Sundays!
This place has been opened since 1983. I discovered them in 1995. One year after moving to Austin. I have been a fan ever since. I usually dine here for lunch. They have lunch specials seven days a week. That’s awesome! They also have a full bar with limited seating.
Nothing spectacular with the Tex-​Mex. Same old boring stuff. What I do like is the morrito. It is a fat huge 10 inch version of a burrito, but, with no sour cream. Other than that, nothing really to brag about on the menu, except the refried beans and the rice. They do pretty well on those. The staff are always friendly and pleasant, but, as far as Tex-​Mex goes, they just blend in there with the rest of them.
What makes me a fan? Goes back to 1995 when I lived in the area and they were my go to. I really enjoy hanging at their «turn around and kiss your ass bar» and chatting with Chuck. He is a laid back down home cool dude. I will always be a fan of the Morrito. Chips are fresh, but, too thin. Salsa is pretty good, and, the green salsa rocks!

We arrived at 9:00 on a Sunday. We knew they closed at 10, so we asked what would be best for THEM — us sitting at the bar or at a table, the server said either was fine, so we chose a table, and the server was immediately irritated at us. We ordered Mexican Martinis which came out as obviously premixed margaritas served in a martini glass. I also CLEARLY told the waiter I can’t eat cheese and my food came out COVERED in cheese! This place is horrible. The service is rude, the food is disgusting (even chips and salsa were GROSS), and the bartender is either lazy or doesn’t know his drinks. Totally disappointed since we live two minutes away and were looking forward to frequenting. HORRIBLE. NEVER RETURNING.

Lunch.
I hate ordering Mexican food. I can never remember what I like LOL. Had the lunch special. Was not so special.
Meh.

Disgusting. Chips too thick and hard. Chimichanga gave my wife extreme indigestion. I had a barbacoa plate which was bland with fatty meat. Compared to similar tex-​mex places, quite over priced.
We wrote the place off 3 years ago but moved back into the area and tried it again. Still bad and still off our list.

I was quite surprised after reading all the comments… I chose the Carne Guisada.
It rocked, a little spicy but, I simply loved it. i found the food and service good. The green salsa is zesty delicious.
The booth I sat in needed to be cleaned.
I’ll definitely return…

After a day in the sun, we were craving some Mexican food! I’d been here before for breakfast tacos with my dad. The breakfast was good, why not the dinner?
NEVER AGAIN.
So we tried the frozen mango and raspberry margaritas… booooo a thousand times booooo… Texas Roadhouse and Chuy’s have better margs. They were really thick and gummy… idk, I didn’t enjoy them.
We each ordered «The Choice» which is like a make-​it-​yourself combo plate. Good price, lots of options (One weird thing, there is a huge misprint on the menu that the waiter informed us they wont change… he has to correct people every time). We each ordered the following:
Tortilla soup: actually really tasty (Chuy’s is better)
Crispy beef taco: weird shape, meat tasted like taco bell meat.: \
Refried beans: BLEH GOD
Rice: pretty bad, overdone
Tamale: this made me so sad. I was so excited… they covered it in some horrid sauce… Over done, dry, terrible…
Chicken enchilada: only edible thing on the plate
Our waiter seemed tired. They all did but he was nice, at the end. Not once did we get any refill on water and we definitely left the empty glasses on the end so there would be no guessing our needs. it took us nearly 10mins just to get our order taken: \ The food took a long time. Not the waiters fault and he totally came by and brought out the soup and taco while we waited on the main bit so kudos to him for thinking ahead. It only got worse after that. When we were finally able to get the check from him we immediately put the card out. We didn’t seem him again for like 10mins… didn’t see him like at all. not taking care of other people, just missing completely. The woman from the front came by and took our card finally and apologized profusely (we’d heard her doing this throughout our «meal»). Poor girl. When she dropped the check and I was about to sign our waiter suddenly appeared and tried real quick to explain away the meal we just had… new chef… at least we had margaritas… would we like more water? I was done. He tried, but it was too late. His neglect was obvious.
:(On a plus note, they have decent breakfast tacos for cheap. They’re HUGE and you get a lot of choices.

Never in a million years would I ever eat here again. Went with the family and I ordered the shrimp tacos. Their shrimp tacos are barely fit for human consumption. They used little tiny frozen salad shrimp. Not grilled. Half of the shrimp were hard and crunchy. Shrimp the size of nickels. No joke. The other half of the shrimp were chewy and leathery. Now, ask yourself, does this sound like shrimp you’d want to eat? Disgusting. The cilantro rice tasted like stale white rice made a week ago. Mushy, no flavor, with stringy grey pieces of cilantro. Another family member ordered tacos and asked for the crunchy taco shells. They arrive in tiny little taco shell cups. Couldn’t eat them without the cups falling apart. Everything was disgusting and seemed to just be reheated slop.
Best part of my meal? The shredded cabbage on the crappy shrimp tacos. Even the lime slices were dried out.

I’ve eaten here 3 times, and all experiences were «meh.»
The staff and owner are extremely friendly, but I’m pretty sure the only thing they actually make in the kitchen are the tortillas. Everything else tastes like it’s from a can or from the frozen section of the grocery store.
I went out on a limb to try something different on the menu, and I got the chicken fried steak. This was a mis-​steak. Not only was it pulled out of a bag in the freezer and thrown in the fryer, it actually tasted like all the other items on the menu. Yes, a Mexican-​food-​flavored chicken fried steak– not as awesome as it sounds.
The only reason I’ll be back in the future is because coworkers will inevitably drag me there. I hope the awesome owner reads these reviews and considers improving the quality of the food.

Time for an update after last night’s dinner. The pros to this place are numerous — excellent taco meat, good chips, friendly service, above average rice, and the ability to create your own combinations.
Two negatives — watery, uninspired salsa and merely serviceable queso.
The lack of a crowd makes this an always-​viable option for my Tex-​Mex cravings, but I’d like to think that someplace in Austin could step their queso and salsa up to be as good as Rosa’s at least.