La Hacienda Grill

This was a weird experience. First, we ordered mixed drinks that were too sweet. Then we ordered queso and guacamole. The queso was way to thin– and they were out of avocados– so no guacamole, no avocado salad or fajitas.
So– instead we ordered the fresh made salsa– it says made at your table but it was made in the kitchen. It was quite a vat of salsa– but it was very bland, and odd. It was thin green salsa. It appeared like everything had been put in a food processor and then brought to the table. So it was a green, thin, salty, and warm ‘salsa’. I am use to salsa being refrigerated. It was like a bile. I asked what was in it– the waiter said it was tomatoes, onions, cilantro, and peppers. My guess was it was really tomatillo based– but either way, it was not very good.
Everything else was cheap mexican food that comes frozen and was just heated up. I will not be back at this restaurant.

The salsa was very tasty, but the meal wasn’t the best. They ran out of Dos Equis, and and we saw our waiter picking his nose. Won’t go back.

There’s cheap Mexican food and then there is this. Do not eat here. Terrible service terrible food. Guac was a weird color, margaritas were awful. Not clean etc

Saw about half a dozen red, German cockroaches crawling on the rolled silverware in the bin under the register. That place is disgusting. It smells awful and the bathroom is outside, between buildings with no locks and holes in the floor. I think the C rating could be worse.

Very standard. Cheap food, cheap drinks, lots of college kids. Service is decent. Bathrooms are a mess. But you really can’t eat or drink much cheaper on King Street. We go a lot after class for some chips and drinks.

Ouch! Burrito was hard and stuck to plate. Meat in burrito was dry like beef jerky… service slow.
Then came the bathrooms… you could smell them long before you got there. Once there, I regretted even going. I couldn’t wait to get next door and wash my hands…
Time for mgmt to kick it in… I wish I could say something nicer.

A while ago my husband and I were downtown and decided to have lunch at La Hacienda. We walked in to be greeted by a sign that told us to wait to be seated. We waited for several minutes. There were employees that saw us but none bothered to seat us so we found a place to sit ourselves. Employees walked past us but none bothered to wait on us. After several minutes of this highly unprofessional behavior from a restaurant that has been there for a while now we got up and left. Haven’t been back yet. I’m surprised that they are still in business with the way they treat prospective customers.

I’d passed by this spot on previous trips and thought I’d give it a try. I don’t think I’ll be back. It’s got a divey-​bar feel but that’s not the problem. There were probably six servers including the bartender and they didn’t bother to take my order for nearly twenty minutes. They were standing around chit-​chatting about going out later and showing off pictures of one of the guy’s girlfriend.
When they finally remembered me, I ordered a tamale and was told they were out. I understand running out of something if the restaurant’s menu changes nightly; this place’s doesn’t.
The food I did order arrived quickly but it was nothing special. I could have saved a few bucks and had a better meal and service at Chipotle a few doors down.

La Ha is a local favorite for CofC students. The menu is extensive and relatively cheap while also delicious! Standard Mexican food and mediocre quality but still in the running for my favorite Mexican choice in Chuck. Usually you can find large tables of 12 – 15 college students passing around margarita pitchers and watching a game or friends catching up over chips and guac in the cozy booths. Evenings are very loud here. Don’t expect to have a quiet, peaceful dinner unless you come before 7. If there is a major game or event on TV early in the evening, expect chaos. Other than that the atmosphere is pleasant and the servers are prompt and attentive. Management allows patrons to write their names or small messages on the brick walls next to the booths, which is fun because you can see who visited in past decades! Taco salad, chicken quesadillas, shrimp ceviche and tamales 3 ways are all excellent choices. On the back of the menu they also offer combination plates that mix and match many of the standard menu items. My friend stands by the #11– she gets it every time! Margaritas are not my typical go-​to drink even at Mexican restaurants. I’ve tried the margaritas at La Ha and they are just ok. A little sweet a little sour and a little too much mixer. With that said, the sangria and punch/​fruity type drinks are stellar and I’d definitely recommend them. Incredibly cheap and filling.

Was in the mood for Mexican food and this was the closest place to our hotel. It’s average Americanized Mexican food. The place is a bit of a dive with lots of college kids. A bit too noisy and dirty for us.

My God you people are really harsh when it comes to La Ha! It’s cheap Americanized Mexican food. What do you expect? I hadn’t had sh*tty Mexican as I like to call it for over a month. That’s like trying to survive without water. I just NEED queso and frozen margaritas to survive. La Hacienda has just that.
I went on a Sunday night and the only people here were a couple of stragglers who thought the World Cup paired well with queso. I mention the World Cup was on because all of the servers were super into it, more so than they were into serving their customers. It took a hot minute for ours to break away from the game and take our order.
Apparently frozen margaritas only come in one size here — giant. I didn’t request a fishbowl margarita, but I sure got $ 10 worth of frozen sugary goodness. Yum. The chips, queso, and salsa were good but not memorable. The combo number whatever with a chile relleno, enchilada, and beans is my standard Mexican food go do and it did not disappoint.
Basically nothing about La Ha is mind blowing and the service is a little lackluster, but it’s good solid cheap Mexican food. Whenever I have a craving for Mexican, I’ll definitely be back.

Came here on a Sunday night with some friends and we had a good time. The good was good but the beans were probably canned. They were hard. Atmosphere was okay but it seemed a bit like a sports bar or something. Overall it was a nice place.

Horrible food. Waiter tells us that we didn’t read the menu right when wrong order was brought to us. Wouldn’t fix it even when shown in the menu. Right order of my husband’s was still disgusting.

Visiting from Savannah. Stopped by during happy hour to have a few drinks and get out of the sun for a little while. The location is convenient. 13.95 for a pitcher of lime or strawberry margaritas. Draft beer is on special during happy hour as well. The margaritas were good. I would consider them average compared to others I have tried at Mexican Restaurants. The service was fine. The bartender was very attentive to our group. The salsa was very salty. I did not try the food. I would stop by again during happy hour!

If I could rate this establishment a zero out of five stars, I would. I have previously posted on other sites about just how terrible La Hacienda in Downtown Charleston SC really is. This was my first time going to this restaurant and between the biggest cock roaches I have ever seen literally crawling on my foot and the absolutely worst service I have ever experienced, this was truly an enormous disappointment. A restaurant should never have its doors open if there is even a single cockroach. The fact that we had one of the biggest cockroaches I have ever seen (easily 3inches) crawling across the wall in our booth and an equally as big cockroach crawling up my leg that I ended up killing for the server to sweep up, there is no reason that we should pay for a single item we ordered. The server never looked me in the eye when we placed our order and continuously acted as if he had something better to do, talking to us but never actually looking at us. We got nothing comped in the entire meal and when we mentioned getting one of the two pitchers of beer that we had ordered for free, which were supposed to be the regular Dos Equis but our server up charged us and served us the more expensive Amber Dos Equis, the server used profanity telling me that we should have mentioned getting something comped for the cockroaches earlier before he had written up the check. Again I am very disappointed and really hope that no one has to experience what we did today. To the owner of La Hacienda Grill, this is not what is expected when you visit one of the top tourist destinations in the world. You have on avg. 5 million tourist come through the city every year and if you continue to own such a establishment and fail to make changes, you truly should be in a different line of work. A very poor establishment with rude, non-​atentive staff. Again, I rate this at a 0 out of 5 stars.

We followed a few friends into this place for dinner the other night. I figured I’d order a margarita since we were, in fact, at a Mexican restaurant. I chose the «Top Shelf» margarita which is declared to have Grand Marnier floating on top, along with their top shelf tequila mixed in. When the drink came, I took one sip and could taste ZERO alcohol, it tasted like an overly sweet mixer. I clarified with the server that she brought me the correct drink, giving them the benefit of the doubt that there was a mistake and perhaps someone else ordered a virgin margarita, and after much confusion on her part, she showed up with a new drink and said the first one was incorrect and she switched them out. I took a sip of the replacement drink, and this one had yet an even worse taste, again with no alcohol and an overpowering, burn your taste buds, sour taste. When the server came back I told her it was even worse than the first, so she sent the bartender over. After a quick attempt to figure out what the problem was, he told me he actually put more alcohol in the first drink than the second! Who sends a drink back to make it weaker?! And I thought the server said the first one was a mistake?! So I told him to just give me their house margarita, hoping they could handle making their own specialty drink… but no, yet again, it was a complete disappointment. I threw in the towel at this point, know I would never get a proper margarita at this place…
Moving on to the chips and salsa you get when you sit down, a bug came crawling out of the basket as soon as she set it on the table!!!
I ordered fish tacos, only to be utterly disappointed yet again. I was literally served 3 flour tortillas with dried out fried mystery fish inside and a few flakes of cabbage on each. No salsa, no sauce, no nothing.
I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone, ever. It’s a sad excuse for a Mexican restaurant.

Just visited here after several years of not stopping in. I think my impression of past visits was colored by consumption of large amounts of alcohol. On second sight after a few years break, there’s nothing too special to report. The food was mediocre, service was okay, and margaritas were pretty standard. I think the location is the best thing about it, since it’s right on King St. and an easy stop-​in for nachos and tequila. I would suggest dining elsewhere though for anyone visiting– there are too many other way better places. Definitely a college hangout spot.

I was downtown and I needed to kill some time and get a couple beers. This filled the need.
The bathroom was horrible and could be a safety hazard.

Cheap, good. Was worried after we were seated then I read the reviews. However, service was fast and food was tasty. Not a fancy place and lots of college kids. I’d definitely come back.

Quick service for food, but pretty sure you can get that at any Mexican restaurant. Company ordered a pitcher of margaritas which Im pretty sure was nothing but the mix and ice… no tequila… Food was run of the mill, nothing special at all.