El Meson Mexican Restaurant

I have been to other El Meson locations, and this one seems the worst in terms of food quality.  Service was good, food came out fast, but it just wasn't tasty.  Also, in a nearly deserted restaurant, they seated us right next to a table of ten, so we had to shout over them to be heard during our meal.  Skip it.

High school cafeteria slop.  The meat and beans in the gigante burrito were mixed together into some kind of paste, and had absolutely no taste.  Taco bell has more texture and flavor.  Completely coating the burrito in cholula didn't seem to help at all.  Also, the gigante burrito wasn't very gigante - it was pretty small.

2 stars for speed, though.

I love Mexican food and I am not sure this qualifies as either Mexican nor food.

The plus side is the place has a very festive, colorful, and modern decor.  There is usually plenty of wait staff to serve/take orders and the owner is a really nice and pleasant guy.  They are heavy handed on the top-shelf margaritas too.  The price is right for the majority of the menu items.

The down side is there is not enough space to type it all here, so I will recap.  The menu selection is too large.  By that I mean, I always question any restaurant can produce great quality food with a menu that covers over 75+ dishes.  How can they keep all those ingredients fresh to scale their menu options?  The food is bland and reminds me of school lunches on Mexican day.  The rice/arros is lifeless, bloated, and amateurish.  The beans/frijoles are grayish, brown wall spackling at best.  The chips taste like they were made quite a bit ahead of time along with the salsa and guacamole.  The main dishes lack any creativity, flair, distinction, or the slightest element that suggests they were not taken from a frozen section of the grocery store and microwaved on site.  

Come on amigos...its' MEXICAN FOOD and it is your hallmark to prepare and serve this food with some respect.  Make the tortilla chips, salsa, and guacamole fresh at least.  After all, they are low food cost and simple to prepare.  Mexican food can be beautiful, flavorful, and memorable.  It is supposed to be zesty, spicy, and FRESH.  I would not recommend this place even on a budget.