La Fogata

My family has a low bar for a decent Mexican spot and all 5 of us walked away full but disappointed. Salsa resembles tomato sauce. Waitress spilled cheese sauce on dad. Drink orders taken 20 minutes after seated. Given wrong table’s check. Go elsewhere.

There on a Friday night, not very busy, but the wait for even water and chips was a bit on the long side. Food was ok, but nothing special. Salsa on the runny side. Got the quesadillas and they were good. Overall, not bad, but not great. The sign at the front lists quality, service, and price: pick 2. I’m guessing we only maybe got 1.

We needed somewhere to go before we checked in… And we like Mexican food! Read the reviews and decided to stop by. Great choice! Very friendly and thoughtful staff. Calming atmosphere after being on the road all day.
Kids meal-​nuggets and fries was served promptly.
Mole ranchero– delicious
Burrito Jal– huge and again delicious!
Salsa was by far amazing. Sweet and a kick at the end.

The margaritas are great. Good queso. Salsa and guacamole were really good. :) Service was super friendly as well!

This restaurant food is delicious! ! I have had hard core Mexican out west. .this ranks up there with those places.
The staff is fabulous. .look for Tomas. Friendly and kind. He looked out for us. Brought out these yummy fried jalapeños that tasted like home!!!
Chille rellenos.. Omg. kept eating long after we were full cause it tasted so good. Tomas bought out habenora sauce cause i said we like things spicy. .he went out if his way for us.. food can be great but it’s manna when served by such nice people.
Guacamole.. Was fresh, beans nicely spiced, yummy flavor. .generous portions of food. .you just cannot go wrong here.
Thank you lady with pink hair at CvS for telling us to go here!!!

Great place to eat! Waiter was friendly, food came out fast. So much food for the amount paid. I got the Grande Special. Will be coming back!

By a normal Gaussian distribution, three star Mexican places range from just OK to worth having regularly. When we went to La Fogata for lunch, we had no idea what to expect, except cookie cutter Mexican food based upon a review of the menu on line. So we knew going in that it was not a home cooking place or a taqueria. It had the predictable menu that is not bad depending on how they execute it. But we figured unless it was really poorly executed, we would be able to find something we would like. Ms T likes ground beef assuming it is seasoned. I like eggs and chorizo, Huevos rancheros, carne asada, carnitas, chilaquiles. We saw all of these things on the menu.
La Gringa ordered the ubiquitous Speedy Gonzales with ground beef; a combo with one red enchilada and one hard taco. Now we completely understand this is not profound authentic home cooking, but this is what she likes and that is fine. She rated this to be a good, representative version, three stars. The beef was not seasoned much, but enough. The red sauce is of the light red-​orange style with some red chile and is probably thickened with flour roux. It was fairly salty so off-​set the ground beef but really has no chile flavor. My taste confirmed her findings.
My huevos con chorizo were really good. The chorizo was of good quality, was not greasy and was browned well. I asked for corn tortillas and was provided with six soft white ones. I also ordered chiles torreados and they were perfect, even to the point of having a little lime juice drizzled on top. I will be back to try huevos rancheros and the carnitas next time we are in town. I would much rather have these huevos than any boring American breakfast on the beach. I just wish they opened earlier.
You will not reach for the salt shaker here. Most of the things we had were plenty salty including the salsa and the beans. Both meals were lunch bargains at $ 5.50 each and large portions. The huevos platter easily made three lunch size meals for me. I think I have found my place for my usual late Sunday morning Mexican breakfast on the Outer Banks. La Fogata in Nag’s Head is solidly in the middle of the bell-​curve for three stars. I’m not going to be eating burritos or fajitas here. I don’t get them anywhere. I know that I can’t get lengua or barbacoa tacos. I can’t get home-​made guisado de puerco or posole but I do appreciate that the salsa was not pure raw onion and that they don’t load everything with cumin.

Food was excellent, fast service and clean. Great prices, definitely will go back. Went with a party of eight and not one person had a complaint.

Big group, just before closing and no reservation, fed them well and quickly.
We found ourselves driving a group of 12 family and friends from Manteo to Corolla at 8:30 on a Wednesday night, and my previously planned restaurant wasn’t going to work. So we started cruising up through Nags Head, famished, tired, and scrambling to find a decent meal for a mob near closing time. I vetoed several chain outlets, looking for something just a little better.
We whipped into La Fogata (pretty sure it’s this one, though the address is a block or so off) and my copilot ran inside to see when they closed and how they’d react to our mass. The answer was «si», so we piled in.
Chips and salsa came quickly and were devoured.
No surprises from then on, really, though the service was friendlier and the food a little better than I expected. This is maybe a shade more authentic than the American Mexican food I usually get (e.g., more queso fresco, less Monterey Jack). The boomer parents, millennial young adults, and one child found plenty to like on the menu and on the plate.
I had a larger combo, with a burrito, enchilada, chile relleno, and a chicken tamal — all was fine, maybe a little heavy on the sauces, but tasty and on point. Surprisingly, no rice or beans, but I didn’t need them. You can order almost anything a la carte here, and several in our group added a chile relleno on the side, one of our faves. The waiter warned me it was a little different, since they use an Anaheim pepper but «real good cheese»; it was good but not what I’m used to, a little flimsy and drowned in something close to enchilada sauce.
The rest of the group seemed to tuck in and leave happy, most with clean plates. Several raved about the chimichangas, and I noticed the chicken quesadillas are huge and overstuffed.
Food: good, service: good, atmosphere: okay. Rest rooms not clean.
Worth a try if you’re in the neighborhood. (There are at least 3 La Fogatas on the Outer Banks, and I assume they’re connected.)

My family has been a regular at this Mexican Restaurant. We have visited the outerbanks for over 13 years. La Fog Ata has always been one of our favorites. Price wise it is very reasonable. The Fajita is a favorite. The food is plentiful and delicious. It compares to restaurants in New York where we live for half the price.
The service is respectful and courteous. You are started out with salsa and corn chips with refills if you ask.
There are more high profile restaurants who advertise more but if you go to this restaurant you will not be disappointed. Enjoy

My husband didn’t want the whole fish so our server suggested a Baja tilapia and shrimp with rice. The dish was not on the menu. He loved it and raved about it. Our daughter had shrimp frajitas. Wonderful. I had chalupas, enchiladas and tacos. Great food with a fun server. Enjoyed his yellow light up duck pen. We will come back.

Extremely rude staff down to the manager. After a day of touring we stopped for dinner and naturally the children were very hungry. We saw that the manager himself came to our table to give us menus and he appeared to be in a big hurry, no smile, no greeting just threw the menus as a stack. When we asked if the children could get some water first he said (verbatim) «Looks like mommy didn’t give the children any water today.» We just picked up and left immediately. The place also isn’t clean. Our table looked like it had been wiped in a hurry and had nasty food crumbs from the previous customer. DO NOT RUIN YOUR GOOD HOLIDAY MOOD BY GOING HERE! MOVE ON AND STAY HAPPY! This place is guaranteed to be a bad memory on your trip. Treat yourself better! I am only giving this place one star because I have to give a star to put a review. They deserve negative stars!

Fajitas were just okay and I had to send back the margaritas. (I think they were made with plastic-​jug tequila.) They will also charge you 25 cents per extra tortilla you request. The atmosphere is not great.

Great food. Just ok service because of limit staff. Family oriented. Overall good food. Recommend burrito Jalisco.

Reading the Unilocal reviews, went out of my way to go, and was very dissatisfied! The ONLY plus was my waitress, she was great!!!

The worse restaurant I have eaten at in long time. I order Nachos. I got greasy cheese and hamburger soup with about 10 chips. Nothing else on them. Husband order Fajitas, they came on a regular plate and were cold. We thought they we suppose to sizzle. The place was nearly empty. Yet it took 10 minutes to seat us. The ladies room was dirty, floor was wet and greasy. I could not get to the sink area as floor was flooded. I walk with crutches and almost fell twice. Drinks were not refilled. Will I go again or Tell friends? No way.

Service is horrible. First we sat at the bar for 10 mins and never saw a bartender so then we stood at the front of the restaurant for 5 more. I didn’t even see a server in the dining room. Customers were getting up to get their own napkins. So we left and went to Plaza Azteca instead.

The food was kind of bland; but the cheese dip was delicious! Fun murals on the walls with Nags Head themes. Per many Mexican restaurants the food was plentiful! Chicken was good quality and veggies were fresh.
My fountain coke was also bland, watered down taste and not so bubbly. I got a bottled root beer instead which was delicious.
Just passing through headed home from the beach. Probably would stop somewhere else next time, we were craving Mexican.

I got the sense that this a place the locals love, and it’s for good reason. The severs were warm and inviting. The food was great quality, fresh, and better than expected. I had the Texas Fajitas (a mix of beef, chicken, and shrimp). It was delicious. And, the guacamole and fixings were all delicious and fresh. So, if you’re looking for a solid Mexican option in the area, go for it. You’ll find all your favorites…

The service here is excellent. They were great with my kids, knew to serve their drinks with lids, were very patient, etc.
However, my mole sauce wasn’t very good and they gave me a dish of canned jalepenos on the side after I asked for my chicken dish with my favorite hot peppers.
If there were another TexMex place in Nags Head or nearby, I’d recommend you check it out.