La Senorita Mexican Restaurant

I’d rather have Taco Bell. Jarred salsa, cold chips out of a bag. Someone ordered the table side guacamole. «Do you want everything in your guacamole?» «Jalapeños on the side.» «Ok do you want tomatoes? Onions? Cilantro?». «Yes jalapeños on the side.» «Ok I’m adding the tomatoes… now onions… and now cilantro, is that ok?»
There are plenty of places with three stars and higher, know what you’re getting into.

Comments from my husband:
«You’d think that based on the quality of the landscaping that this place would be high quality.» (that’s true — the landscaping is really nice! Unfortunately you can’t really eat the landscaping)
(upon departure) «Well, that is basically high concept garbage food.» (Ouch! But honestly, he’s right)
We stopped in on an early Friday night after running a few errands in the area. With a toddler in tow I figured this was a safe bet and remembering many meals at La Seniorita as a kid… thought «why not?»
Well, my new answer is «why bother?» The food really is quite terrible. Low quality slop posing as Mexican food. Cheesy décor that screams «Mexican sterotypes!» It’s loud and festive, but there are just such better options in the area — even for Mexican, Jinetes right across the street (behind Bdubs) is definitely an improvement.
The saving grace: service and price point. Our server was absolutely wonderful, and extra points for her tableside guacamole performance, pretty sure its the only safe bet on the menu given it’s got all real food ingredients and is served fresh. Go for that if you do find yourself here. Price is very inexpensive, particularly if you have some kids with you (I think they still eat free on Sundays, too!). They cater to kids, crayons and little trinkets and the servers are very nice to them. If they start screaming no one will hear them or care because everyone else has the same… so, I guess that’s nice?
Otherwise, skip it. Not even the endless taco chips can save this place, it’s not good.

This pleasantly themed, Mexican-​esque restaurant delivered on the advertisement we saw on a billboard. Our waiter, Tyler, was cheerful and helpful. The food was above 8’s for my family and I. Among the food was: Garcia Chicken Chimichanga, the Burrito Supremo, spinach-​mushroom-​chicken quesadilla, tacos, and chicken club. All were fantastic. I would definitely recommend this place. If you want the extra touch to your foods, I recommend the white cheese dip to spread on it.

First of all, the service was great. That is where the good review stops. The fajitas were terrible, as they actually brought us out 2 hard taco shells and 2 cold uncooked corn tortillas. The onions on skillet tasted like they were cut up for their Easter rush, and the sour cream… Well lets just say milk was not in the ingredient list. The chips were cold and stale. Wait… the beer was good I guess:). Save your money and go to Taco Hell.

The food was just so so. I had the fajita burrito and it was bland, at best. The salsa was very uneventful as well. Service was excellent.

So this is what it’s like to go to a Mexican restaurant and experience «white mexican». I say that in the most endearing way, because I didn’t see a single mexican or spanish person working here and I’m not going to just assume they are all in the back making food. Plus, they have items on their menu like chicken wings — even though they call them mexican chicken wings. The food was just lacking in flavor and spice. I ordered table side quacomole and I was pleased. There was a bit much lime. I ordered the steak quesadilla which was bland and lacking in flavor. My husband ordered the Garcia, which was amazing. I should have ordered that myself. The Garcia is a chimichanga filled with chicken or roasted beef and chili con queso then it’s topped with cream cheese and melted cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses. Next time I’m back in TC, I’m ordering the Garcia.

Sat at bar on a Monday night. All three salsas for the chips were unique and flavorful. Bartender was really nice. Drinks were ½ off.

Food is terrible. Bland, no flavor. Taco Bell is better. The hostess/​manager was not in the front and I waited for 5 mins for someone to even acknowledge I was there. After I was seated she showed up. She then spent most of her time walking around the restaurant while no one covered the front. My waitress was nice and prompt. Again, the food sucks.

I enjoy La Senoritas as do my children. We have been eating there for years. My kids love the .99 Sunday meals. We prefer the one on Garfield because the service is a little more consistent. All in all, a great place to take the family.

Cold, stale chips.
Taco salad beef had little flavor and the shell was stale and cold, like the chips.
Steak salad was yuck. The steak tasted and looked like a week old piece of hamburger patty that’s been microwaved and frozen way too many times. Too much iceberg in the steak salad.
Service is interesting. Hi, I’ve had 3 bites of my salad, stop asking if I want dessert.

Part of a chain, but each location, I’ve discovered, is run differently and independently from each other. What some locations will feature, others won’t. For instance, the location in East Lansing offers some kind of happy hour, here, there’s no such thing. Reportedly there’s another location here in TC that has something along those lines.
In any event, the menu is sparse and kinda plain, I tried a variation of their chimichanga and it was just dry and small, surrounded by acres of plate. The sides were acceptable, rice and beans — as you will — but they weren’t anything to write home about.
The service was pleasant and attentive enough, though, I did appreciate that.
However, ultimately, I don’t know that I’d bring anybody back here. Not that it’s an altogether unpleasant experience, but I have a hard time expecting anybody to call it satisfying.

Rolled in there after a long drive, and they were pretty much the only place open. $ 2.50 margarita mug specials, and the steak fajitas were good. The only thing that could be better is if they’d left the sauce off the steak. I’d recommend asking them to skip it. The servers were all polite and in a good mood, which impressed me, considering it was 10:30 at night.
As others have said, it’s not the world’s best Mexican restaurant. But the food is good, the drink specials rock, and the service is friendly. Perfect combination after a long drive.

WORST mexican place I’ve ever been to hands down. Simply AWFUL.

It used to be so good, especially the wings. It was a regular thing during our visits to TC. Now, it’s like a low rent Meximericana TGIFriday’s. It sucks.

A visit to La Señorita is all about managing expectations. It’s a mexican chain *in Michigan*, so if you’re used to authentic mexican cuisine or good tex-​mex, consider that you’re in a state that borders Canada and dial those expectations down a notch. It’s in Traverse City, surrounded by hotels, so dial those expectations down again to account for the tourist factor. Now you can appreciate the place for what it is: pseudo-​mexican food that’s pretty average across the board, with nothing truly spectacular nor appallingly awful. $ 1 Margarita Tuesday’s are hard to root against, too.

read all the reviews but wanted some chips and salsa with the meal. I thought how could they be that bad. Guess we should have taken heed.
I ordered the cheese enchiladas plate with beans and rice. I thought the enchiladas were perfectly good. but I usually judge a Mexican place by it beans. I don’t know how beans can be ruined but they sure tried. they were barely eatable. Same for the rice; I think they added chili powder making it odd tasting and again barely eatable.
Hubby got chicken fajitas and said to make sure I gave them 5 stars. That’s his opinion but he didn’t like the chips and salsa much.
So finally I’m convinced this is not a good Mexican place. It’s way over priced too. DON’T GO!

Our server was excellent. Food was not spectacular but good enough to enjoy. My husband did love the seafood enchiladas he had. I’d say your average Mexican restaurant.

My boss and I stayed at the hotel behind this place and it was pretty convenient and reliable, if not exceptional. The quesadilla I had for lunch one day was pretty good, with the chorizo/​bacon combination really matching the cheese and flour torillas well. I didn’t love the refried beans but the rice was perfectly acceptable.
That evening we ended up back here because it stays open pretty late (a plus for my job) and I had the wet burrito, which wasn’t that great. The burrito itself was pretty good, but the sauce they put on it was nothing to write home about. The margaritas were tasty but clearly very watered down, so don’t expect an inexpensive night of drinking if this is your destination.
The service was pretty good for our visit, so I can’t share that complaint with the rest of the reviews here, and the price was actually pretty fair. I wouldn’t say it’s a destination restaurant, but it’s a fine stop to spend some time off of the road refueling your body.

Sorry. .. the food in this place is a joke. .. and not a very funny one at that.
Avoid at all costs. .. go to any other place in town. .. fast food, the local grocery deli. .. any place but here.
The food is awful.

While La Señorita is not authentic — not even close, really — the food is OK if you’ve just driven a long way to Traverse City and need to refuel. I ordered enchiladas and they were OK, certainly not exceptional, but they didn’t break the bank so I didn’t complain.