La Hacienda Restaurant, Madison, Wisconsin Restaurant Details

Food:

We waited for over 40 minutes for our order to come. We had to ask for all other items (sour cream, more chips and salsa and tortilas) twice. Nothing came upon the first request.
Done with meal....waited at least 20 minutes for the bill. Knowing how long it would take for the desert we totally skipped even ordering it. The best part there were only 4-5 tables filled in the whole restaurant.
We come here all the time and we were truly disaapointed on the service today.

Food:

Pretty sure my experiences keep getting worse and worse when i come here. I was always able to see the same faces and have a great experience each time i went, but now with a lot of new people the flow is off. If they're really busy i dont even think about going. The food is always good dont get me wrong, but the service or order will be off. Take out is out of the question, the order is always wrong. Now a days i prefer el pastor, same price if not cheaper and more portions.

Food:

Worst 'dining experience' I think I've ever had! Begged three times for our drinks (and the food is salty!) before she finally brought it. Asked a couple times for extra chips that finally came when we were leaving - but the salsa is what we were really hoping for - and it never came at all. BUT the ultimate worse part? We ordered this meat platter that comes on an open flame to the table - and ALL our food BURNED UP - I'm talking stinky smokey fire - right before our eyes!! After waiting for several minutes around a bonfire of our dinner, the dumb waitress finally comes by and asks if we want to box up the stinky burned mess!! WOW - THE WORST dining experience I've ever had! And after all this, no tip (of course), and no reimbursement offered.

Food:

I don't usually rate restaurants but after reading the comments below, I feel it is necessary.
First, to those who complain the salsa is bland and watery, clearly you've never been to Mexico and had true salsa. If store bought Bucky Badger is what you prefer that's fine, however. La Hacienda's salsa is very traditional and maybe not for everyone, especially kids. It consists of raw chunky fresh cut tomatoes onions and cilantro, basically Pico de Gallo. Very refreshing and fun to eat. Saying it's too watery is not fair, it's supposed to be like that.
I think a lot of you are ordering items that you expect to be like at other Americanized Mexican restaurants like Pedro's and Laredo's. Maybe some of you are let down because it's not what you are used to.
One person in here wrote that the veggie fajitas were bland.
I bet they were, but I'm sure thats not the first time something you ordered veggie was bland. Go figure.
I can tell everyone right now, anywhere you go you can count on anything shredded being too bland or dry unless some kind of sauce is added.
Restaurants don't make their shredded meat fresh every day and they become dry real quick. You can count on anything doused in sauce or salsa to be bland, otherwise it wouldn't be doused in sauce or salsa, get it?
Ok so here it is, their steak is so utterly amazing that I can't believe it's no more expensive than other meat choices. If I didn't know any better I'd say it was ribeye minus the fat. The steak in the burrito and tacos comes in tender little nuggets that are crispy and plenty flavorful. They're like carnitas, they way carnitas should be, tender on the inside and crispy on the outside.
But I do know better and correct me if I'm wrong, they don't use ribeye because that is too expensive for what they charge. Most likely the steak is a cheap cut marinated, aged or braised until tender and then seared on high heat on their flattop.
My last burrito was a steak suizo, cheese melted on top, the bottom of the burrito was crispy as if it had been kept warm on the flattop while the rest of the food was being finished, which made it even better. Undoubtedly it was the best burrito I've ever had.
Tonight I ordered steak tacos with just cheese, limes on the side, super simple but that's all they needed. No special sauce, no gimmicks no special name.
Absolutely amazing, oh yeah, they're like 2 bucks a piece.
Don't forget to try their horchata.

Food:

Park Street has so many restaurants to choose from. I have been working my way up this street and it was La Hacienda's turns. The server was really friendly and patient with all of my questions regarding their menu. I ordered the paradilla and it was enough for both me and my wife for two meals. It also tasted great too. A great idea for left overs for this dish is to heat it up in a skillet and scramble some eggs in it.