The Margarita was very good. One was certainly enough for me. On the other hand, I ordered the nacho plate with chicken, shrimp and chorizo, I received chicken, shrimp and steak....not what i ordered. There was plenty of food, but the meats were cold. It would have been much tastier if the meats were warm as they should have been. Even though I moved to the bar area after first sitting in the restaurant area, the host did not seat me. He told me go to the fifth booth down there and pointed. The person who I was dining with hadn't arrived yet. I have kudos for Benito, the bartender. He is awesome !
This place used to be one of my favorite places when they first opened, but the quality of food has spiraled downward. Good place to grab a drink and appetizer, but go grab your meal elsewhere. I really wish it was ran like it used to be when they first opened, it's disappointing to have such a good spot go bad
Review Source:When this place first opened I would have given it 5 stars, but it has steadily declined majorly in the service and somewhat in the food. Â The service is so horrid I have stopped going so frequently. I used to go 1-2x a week now I go maybe every few months. Mexican food in the area has really stepped up their game so La Carreta is no longer the best option in my opinion. Â If I were the owners I'd have more service training. Â Best things I've had there are the Texas Nachos and shrimp taco salad. Â Horchata and fried ice cream are decent.
Review Source:We call it "Casa de Kmart" as it's in the Kmart plaza. But the food is better than the nickname. A cut above the usual Mexican place, with some nice combo plates along with all the things you expect. Being a vegetarian, I really like the Veggie combo plates. I think there are 6-7 choices. Wow. Don't get that so much when you don't eat meat.
Sangria is tasty, and they can make margaritas using better tequila if you don't want just the usual over-sweet king of 'rita.
The place is usually packed, but I've never had bad service. The staff is always friendly, polite and accommodating. A local fave for us.
I used to dream of this place. Their slightly spicy but tangy salsa draws you in. The chips are just thick enough to provide a support for the ample amounts of salsa added.
The margaritas are delish, they don't taste fake like at many other places.
They maintain my sick obsession with burritos and for that, I am grateful. Since I can go through a basket or two of chips on my own (no judgement), I tend to take the majority of my dinner home for a late night snack. Two salsa stained thumbs way up in the air!
This blows away any local fast food Mexican Restaurant. Nice decor, clean and friendly with ample parking, located in the strip mall by a Kmart. The salsa is fresh and plenty to go around. Lots of choices for food for unless you have a stand by you like. I had the Steak Chimichanga, the usual food display but simply put very good food. Our server was very nice and worth going for a meal.
Review Source:Yesterday was my birthday, and I had heard that this place was the bees knees so when our first restaurant wasn't available, we opted to go to La Carreta. Â I'm not into bashing places, so I'll give you the hot and heavy and let you guys decide:
We had to ask for water twice
I ordered the fish tacos. Â I got fish on tortillas. Â No lettuce, no cheese, no tomatoes. Â I had to ask for them, although that stuff was listed on the menu.
I didn't like my food (SUPER gamey. Â And for the record, I NEVER dislike my food enough to speak up about it), and when I told the waiter that, he told me that I could order something else, but I was going to pay for those gross tacos anyway. Â Really? Â
We asked for 'a bunch' of napkins because we had a 12 month old with us. Â He brought two. Â
Everyone who got steak or shrimp liked it and my 50oz Don Julio Margarita had me shit faced for the entire rest of the night. Â ...I'm sure that had something to do with the fact that I barely ate though. Â Should've gone to Joe's Crab Shack , but I was trying to give this place a chance.
I won't be back, unless it's for the drinks. Â And maybe not even then. Â
I would've given it one star, but my mom liked her food.
I absolutely love this place!! I actually was at the Schererville location on Indianapolis Blvd. The waitstaff was excellent and the atmosphere was  quite more calm then the Merrillville location. I had the Texas Fajaitas which are steak chicken and shrimp....I also enjoyed a Pina Colada frozen drink.. While drinking it..I complained of it not having enough liquor in it..but..when we were leaving felt a buzz. My type of drink..I never really got the taste of liquor but boy did I get the feeling! Great place to take the family or to unwind after work with good food and drinks. They have very reasonable prices and portions..The bill came out to about $25.00 And I had enough food to take home for tomorrows lunch!!!  A must go
Review Source:I have been to La Caretta about a dozen times and have never been disappointed. Â I live about 45 miles from the restaurant and will drive past several good shopping towns and do my shopping in Merriville just to have an excuse to go to La Caretta. Â Both me and my wife love the place. Â I highly recommend it. Â The prices are excellent (particularly at lunch time) and the food great! Â For my fellow Illinoisians, please remember to choose non-smoking if the smoke bothers you.
Review Source:We spent the day at Deep River Water Park and were looking for an affordable place to feed 8 people in the Merrillville area and found La Caretta on yelp. Thanks to the other reviews we gave it a shot.
It was wonderful! The plates ranged from $7-10 each and the drinks were fairly priced as well. The portions were huge (5 of the 8 people got to-go boxes) and the drinks were strong (3 of the 8 people were drunk). Several of us are from Texas and would rank this up there with some of our favorite Mexican restaurants down south. The chips and salsa were good too, which is always a good way to start the meal!
I would definitely recommend this place over the crazy amount of chain restaurants and fast food places in the area. If you like Mexican food, you'll leave full and happy- I guarantee it.
Word of warning- the reviews are out on this place and even on a Monday night it was crazy busy! But I take that as a good sign- if the locals eat there, count me in!
My husband and I love love Mexican food but living in northwest Indiana, I know I am getting mediocre food at best. As long as I can throw salsa on it and it's edible, I'm usually alright with it, not the case with La Carreta.
We've tried the Merrillville location twice and were not impressed with the food or service. Because my husband and I are in the business, I believe that we are too critical at times, so after a couple of years and a new location in Schererville, we decide to stay local and try it one last time. What was I thinking???
The parking lot is packed, so I expect to wait. The hostess directed us to the bar for first come first serve. Nice, when I am dining without my children I prefer not to dine next to others. There were 3 empty tables, but the tables were far from empty, every dish glass napkin and flatware was on the table. We sat at the least filled table, and sat and sat until we saw the busboy with a cleaning towel walk right by us and proceed to clean a table where no one was sitting. We wave him over and he went and got the server who immediately cleared the table and wiped it with an unused napkin that was on the table. My husband asked for him to wipe the table with a towel, he sighed but came back with rag and hurriedly asked for our drink order. We ordered the margaritas of course. I notice that the whole staff goes behind the bar and makes their own drinks which I find quite odd because it is sooo busy. After ten minutes we receive our drinks, and they are potent and delish! My husband orders the steak chicken and shrimp fajita combo, and I order the enchilada enomatadas suizas, stuffed with carnitas. I am looking forward to the chips and salsa since it is now 9pm and I haven't eaten all day! Salsa was great and had just enough heat, the chips were bagged which seemed to annoy my husband but the salsa made it quite alright by me.
We waited about 45 minutes for our food, as we waited we surveyed the restaurant, noticed a couple of tables complaining about the wait, and eavesdropped on 3 older cougars and the drunken food rep who was highly annoying to my hubby. We finally received our meals and to my husband's disappointment didn't receive skirt steak, but a low quality round steak cooked grey without spice. The chicken was dried out and bland and the shrimp was basically nonexistent. The corn tortillas were cheap low quality sheets of cardboard. He managed to choke it down with a couple of modelos.
My enchiladas were smothered in a cheese sauce which at first looked awesome since I love cheese. The taste was without hesitation nauseating. The cheese sauce had to be a processed white american velveta-like cheese which I not only found disgusting but insulting. The carnitas on the inside were quite lovely, juicy and tender, but I couldn't taste the tomatillo sauce it was drowned out by the smell and taste of the cheese. I managed to open up the shell and eat the meat and rice on the plate because at that point I would've eaten the corners of the table I was so hungry.
With all the hoopla, the embroidered shirt logos, the logo painted on the plates and the logo mural in the bathroom, it's no wonder they didn't spend that money on hiring a bartender, or maybe buying better product like tortillas. I realize my standards are high, I was fortunate to have a grandmother who killed it in the kitchen, but from now on I'd rather cook myself, spend the money on fresh ingredients and quality tequila for margaritas and spend the night in with friends.
The margaritas and the salsa deserve the 2 stars. The service and food deserved a kick in the balls.
I've been here a few times and I've yet to be impressed. Other than for the DELICIOUS frozen margaritas I will never be back. This place is all flash with little substance. Â After all the hype I was greatly disappointed. The food was bland. How can you make bland mexican food?
Service was snail slow.
Wow! Have been around northwest Indy area for almost a decade and can't believe that I haven't been here before! Â I've been disenchanted with local Mexican food places as of late and have succumbed to the mediocrity that is around here. Â I've even tried Abuelo's by the mall to see what 'upper-scale' is about and only found it to be a step up from Taco Bell.
This weekend, wifey decides to order something from here - unfortunately, online menu only displayed a partial menu - mostly quesadillas, so she chose the pork quesadilla meal. Â Take out order - place looked really busy on a Saturday night close to closing - so glad I only picked up. Â Tasted it, and the taste was awesome! Lots of flavor on the pork, similar to something we'd normally get from the city.
The next day we decide to take the family over there. Â Went to the new location on 41 (where Al's Beef used to be). Â Busy as usual, but fortunately got a seat right away (not bad considering there was 8 of us. Â Got drinks right away, chips came shortly after. Â By the time we got antsy, we ordered our food. Â The wait was about 20 or so minutes (about 4 baskets worth of chips), but when we got the food it was soo worth it! Wifey got the pork quesadillas again, and I love pork (carnitas), so I had the carnitas dinner. Â Big chunks of carnitas was on my lovely dish (as if you brought some home from the local Carniceria on a sunday!) and flavors were spot on and awesome! Got the charro beans ( a welcoming change from the typical refried) which were kind of on the soupy side, but bits of tastt bacon and beans lined the bottom of the bowl. Â The dish was kind of busy - rice was mixed with guac and lettuce and cheese, so can't really comment if rice was good bc there was some carnita juice on them.
All in all, Great food, long wait! (Thank God for the chips!) Am looking forward to my next visit to my new fave Mexican food joint!
What the heck? It's like a party in here!
Driving through Merrillville, IN there's a lot of fast food choices. And tucked away in a little strip mall is an unassuming Mexican restaurant that's packed with people, giant margaritas and big plates of food for gringos.
Good service, large portions, reasonable prices, strong margaritas all serve the public and this restaurant well. A welcome change from the usual fare offered alongside a highway.
These guys are your typical midwestern independant mexican restaurant. Â The chips are plentiful, the salsa is good and seems fresh. Â The food is delicious and seasoned well. Â
They have fantastic service and were quick even in the middle of a huge lunch rush right before christmas. Â Grandma picked up the tab, so I didnt see the bill but it seemed reasonable to me for what we got.
Plenty of food for two meals if you are so inclined. Â Parking can be difficult around lunch but not impossible.
I don't get it. Â Everytime I drive past this place it's packed. Â Is it because it's so hard to find a decent Mexican restaurant in the Crown Point/Merrillville area? Â We've given this place a try twice, and both times were very disappointed. Â I'm not sure what's worse, the terrible food or the poor service.
Review Source:This restaurant is located in a strip mall along with a K-Mart, so it is frequently referred to as "Casa de K-Mart."
Nothing special here. The service is good. The food is plentiful and pedestrian. The margaritas will have most folks under the table in short order.
Merrillville doesn't have a plethora of good restaurants. This place is not a national chain, which makes it kind of special among all the restaurants that line Route 30. That being said, it is only okay. You get big portions, but does that make up for not much flavor? I don't know. It seems to be the American Way. Go for it if you like. You will get more food than you will get flavor. So it goes.
first off, merrillville, indiana is NOT the mecca of mexican food.
however.
la carreta is a beacon of hope in a wasteland of taco bells and pepe's that pepper this area.
the atmosphere is what you would expect in a mexican restaurant, lots of sombreros and cacti.
but that's not really why you're eating there.
the chips and salsa are good, never tasting exactly the same way twice.
i usually order the fajitas because, well, i like 'em.
and i always go for the corn tortillas.
prepare for a wait on the weekends...this place is usually packed.
i try to come early or for lunch.
what else can i say?
it's not a cookie-cutter, corporate restaurant.
it's authentic mexican food.
and that's hard to find anymore.
Loud and a long wait. We had a group of six, so we went & STOOD in the bar. Â For an hour & a half at 6pm on a Friday. Â Okay, it was Friday.
The chips were stale & greasy but the salsa was decent. They do NOT offer pork tacos. Â What?! Â Are you kidding me?
Two friends ordered the fried-everything appetizer. Â Looked like boxed fried Americanized "Mexican" food to me. I had the shrimp taco salad. Shrimp was definitely good sized. Â Served in one of those fried bowls (blech) on shredded lettuce, with grilled onions & tomatoes. However, I was disappointed with the approximately 1/2 cup of sour cream blobbed on top. That's all I tasted throughout.
All the waiters called us baby & honey, aiming for the big tips. That got old fast. Â Our waiter forgot someone's drink during every round. Â One man in our group asked for corn tortillas on the side. Â He received first tortilla chips, then flour, and after his food was almost cold, he finally got his corn tortillas.
This is an alright AMERICANIZED Mexican restaurant. Â Smaller local restaurants in the area are definitely better food-wise. Â This is social & good for fun, just not for food
This place has the BEST Mexican Food anywhere! Â I lived in Texas for 8 years - home of great TEXMEX - but La Carreta BEATS everything I had in TEXAS! Â VERY VERY VERY GOOD!!!
The Chips-n-Salsa are SOOO Fresh and SOOOO tasty! Â Take some home with you for later!!!
THE SERVICE - Mary, Benito, Javier - they are ALLLLLLLLL Fabulous! Â So entertaining and so attentive to your needs! Â You hardly wait for anything! Â And this place gets VERY VERY BUSY!
The menu is so huge that you need to visit often to try different things! Â So - come on in and try your favorites or the house specialties! Â Even the lunch specials are a steal! Â So much food, so good, so quick, and so hot! Â TASTY!
I heard raves from my brothers about this place. I went on Saturday night with a group of six other people. There was a good sized crowd, which I figured was a good sign that the food was good. I was wrong.
We were seated after about a 20 minute wait. And we sat. And we sat. And finally one of our party got up to ask where the heck our waiter was. Our waiter was Mr Hilarious. Or so he thought. We got drinks and when he came back to take our order we had some questions. I had seen fish tacos on the extensive menu. How are they cooked? (I asked) "They're grilled" he said. "Grilled tilapia with a light sauce and pico de gallo." Sounded great to me, that's what I ordered.
We also ordered the guacamole and the cheese dip. The guac was BLAND and since they don't put a pit in with it, it starts turning black almost as soon as it hits the table. Not pretty. Seriously, it was not good guacamole. The cheese dip was very good. It's melted cheese. You can't screw it up.
Our food came, and again, two of us didn't get our food. My friend who ordered the chicken fajitas didn't get any tortillas. Another visit to the hostess so she could find our waiter and get our order straightened out.
My fish tacos arrived. Breaded and fried fish. No pico de gallo. Just fried fish and some corn tortillas. By then I was so hungry there was no way I was sending them back.
The place is packed, but it looked like mostly bikers who were strangely drinking brightly colored watered down margaritas. Seriously, guys wearing motorcycle club jackets and their girlfriends drinking fruity drinks. Very odd.
I had a great time at La Carreta, but only because of the people I was with. The food is not very good and the service was very bad. I did enjoy my Modelo Negra beer, but I can get a six pack of those without dealing with waiters who think they are hilarious but don't know about the way the food is prepared in their kitchen. Waiters out there: if you don't know how the food is prepared and someone asks, go find out before you answer. This place is way over rated.
We came here tonight for the first time with some friends who
said the food was really good. Yes, it's probably one of the best
Mexican places around here. It was a Friday evening so it was
very busy, we waited about 20 min, not bad. I like the decor
but we felt kind of squished at our table, like there wasn't enough
room to move, whatever! Our waitress seemed a tad bit snippy,
but she was busy, still.......
The chips and salsa were great, I had the flautas, my hubby had
the steak con rajas. He said they were the best he's had. My
friend and I ordered mango margaritas, but we don't think they
were mango, didn't taste like it, more like lime but they were still
awesome.
The prices are very reasonable so we will definitely be back!!!
Their chips and salsa are great. Â Â Hey, that's important! Â Â The best thing about La Carreta is their service. Â Â I have not met a nicer group of servers in my life. Â Â I am not crazy about a few things on the menu - especially their use of americanized cheese rather than chihuahua but the service makes up for it.
Review Source:When my Mom told me that there was an amazing Mexican restaurant over in the gruby plaza by K-Mart, I was surprised. The food was excellent & they had an amazing variety on the menu. Our server was a sweetheart & the decor was really nice....except for the dead animals. I know some people love taxidermy, but it grossed me out even back when I ate red meat. Beyond that, it was a wonderful experience.
Review Source:Excellent. Very good food. Great service too. It's especially busy around lunch time, but you won't have to wait long. They have a very big menu, which I love. There are more regional and coastal flavors on the menu  that you don't get at alot of Mexican restaurants. Even amongst authentic family-owned restaurants in the Region, the menu tends to be fairly limited. La Carreta has many items you may have never tried before. I recomment the fish tacos which are awesome. And the food is cheap! I hope that it stays this cheap for long. There are television inside for sports and fully stocked bar that includes many tequilas and beers from Mexico. I can't wait to go again.
Review Source:When you're looking for good Mexican food in Merrillville in a nice setting, be sure to give La Carreta a try. Â Good food that's served fast and insanely nice waitstaff... Such a refreshing change from the normal hole in the wall taqerias and over Americanized Mexican joints that I'm used to going to. Â
Aside from the usual fanfare of tacos and burritos, you'll find seafood and some of the best chips and salsa around. Â Be sure to wash down your meal with some tasty horchata. Â mmmm... yum.
I went there for lunch and despite a good lunch crowd, our waitress was prompt, super nice, and stopped by regularly to check in on us. Â The kitchen turned our order around in about 5 minutes. Â Seriously wicked service! Â
Price... Our entrees all came in between $7-9 each and no one left hungry. Â The shrimp tacos even had good-sized shrimp in them. Â Not that anorexic mini shrimp that you'll find at chain places like something Fresco... :P
All in all, I was very pleased with my experience at La Carreta and highly recommend it!
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