La Carreta

I was in Manchester for work and starving. I saw this place and since I love Mexican food, thought why not. They have a sign outside claiming to have won some award for the best Mexican food in the state. Best? What’s the worst? Perhaps it’s because I lived in New Mexico for years, have traveled extensively and eaten real Mexican food around the country and in Mexico. Whatever the reason, I rank this place minus five stars
.
Arrived just before noon to an empty reception area. Waited and waited while no one came. Finally, just when I was ready to leave, someone came out and gestured for me to follow. Sat down and read the menu. A server arrived, dumped some chips and salsa on the table and left. More time ticked by and finally a different server took my order. Tried the chips and salsa and UGH. Chips were standard, salsa came from a can. The fastest part of service was delivery of food. Less than five minutes after ordering my food came. I ordered a combo plate of tamale, enchilada and tostada. Obviously the food was pre-​made and nuked when ordered. The plate contained three piles of messy looking mush running into one another. The tamale — if that is what passes for tamale — was a pile of broken up doughy mush mixed with some sort of rough sauce. The chili relleno was the standard poblano chili, roasted and filled with… you got it, more unidentifiable mush and covered with a sauce that had bite but no depth of flavor. The only thing on the plate that wasn’t terrible was the tostada and that’s only because the lettuce was at least somewhat fresh. But that’s all there was to the tostada, some iceberg lettuce and some grated American cheese.
The server never returned to check on the meal or refresh my drink. When it came time to pay, it took another ten minutes to get the check. No thank-​you, no come again, no nothing. There weren’t many other diners, so perhaps the word is out and the staff tired of hearing complaints. I sure hope this isn’t the «best Mexican restaurant» in New Hampshire!

Worst service !! … 25 minutes to get a drink… Ordered food… No plates ! 10 minutes who asks for plates! 25 additional minutes for cold coffee and over 45 minutes to get our check with additional charges! Our waitress was horrible … The food mediocre.

I made this Unilocal account specifically to write this review and I wish there were negative stars.
Let me first start by saying this is not my first time at this La Carretta. In fact, I am a regular patron as it is right by my house. Their queso fundido is amazing. Eat it by the spoonful amazing. Their margaritas are strong and reasonably priced. Then why the 1 star you ask? Here are 5 reasons based upon my experience tonight:
1) No Drink Specials
Or are there? According to the bartender «no”-in the most rude, short reply. According to the manager however it’s Margarita Monday and they are $ 2 off 16oz house margarita which I ordered.
2) Sugar on the rim when I ordered salt. Not a huge crisis but regardless it’s not what I ordered and who gets sugar on a house margarita?
3) speaking of what I did order, my queso fundido never came. (no other food was ordered)
4) nor did our complimentary chips and Sala that every other patron recieved.
5) why not just ask the bartender of the food status? Because she didn’t acknowledge us once since serving us our drinks. Literally no eye contact.
I will say that the manager was nice enough to try and rectify the inexcusable service that she claimed resulted from the unanticipated rush at 7pm on a Monday night. Unfortunately it’s a little too late. While the service reached an all time low tonight, it is always below average and there are plenty of other places with tequila and cheese dip in Manchester.

Pretty decent Mexican flavor for New England. Portions were just right. Not spicy, which is a drawback if you grew up with the spicier cuisine in the West. A wide variety of choices, with all the usual favorites. Tasty, reasonably priced, and a realistic, pleasant Mexican atmosphere.

Margaritas are killer, but the Nachos Fiesta are so salty that they shouldn’t be served!
Service is hit or miss, but, once again, the margaritas are killer!

Excellent mexican restaurant! I feel this place has very authentic dishes and the margaritas are the perfect size. Definitely recommend this place.

By Far one of my more favorite Mexican restaurants in NH. La Carreta definitely holds its own with most of the restaurants that compete with it. The food is definitely delicious, the different variety of drinks are great, and the service is always above Par.
The one thing that actually hits the spot here is the good quantity you get. It’s way better than the normal chains our here in New Englad and easily one of the best outside the southwest.

I ordered the pork burrito and was pleasantly surprised by how big and delicious it was. I also ordered the margarita and since it was happy hour I got a bigger glass for half the price! If you want good food at a reasonable price you will want to try this place.

Great place always best Mexican in nh margaritas are only 5 bucks on Mondays. Great food

I’ve been here a few times. Mostly for lunch and let me tell you they are fast. You are seated and served right away. The food is great and so is the service. The value is amazing.

Sat my girlfriend and I in what must have been the kids section. Some baby was banging on the table the entire time. The service was horrible. It was like pulling teeth just to get a drink refill. Not a pleasant lunch.

We really used to enjoy going to the La Caretta on Hooksett Road. The food was good, the margaritas were good, and the staff was always very attentive.
I can’t say the same for the SWillow location.
Went here last weekend, sat down in a booth in the bar area. We were promptly checked on by our waitress while we worked to get our baby situated in her chair next to us.
First up — 2 House Margaritas. Now — we had always ordered these from the Hooksett Rd. one and were always very satisfied. These arrived looking greener than Ecto Cooler, and tasted about the same. There was also a noticeable seltzer effervescence in them. It was quite evident that these contained no alcohol. I’m not sure if the big, bad, gruff bartender with the sour look on his face was either trying to save some money or do a good deed, but either way, this was a complete joke. (My wife and I look young, and always get carded, and that all well and good. But if you think we’re underage and using fake ID’s, then say so, and refuse to serve us. Don’t just drop off «margaritas» and hope we don’t notice.)
So, we told our waitress that the margaritas tasted… well…awful, and were provided an explanation that the House Margaritas come from the soda tap pre-​mixed, hence the bubbly. Huh? In my world, a margarita is 3 tequila, 2 lime juice, 1 triple sec, and agave. I’m familiar with a lot of variations on this classic recipe, but I must have missed the one that shoots out of a soda fountain without alcohol. What in the world are we doing here?
She brought us replacements, and not very graciously I might add. We requested a basic Sauza Gold this time. On this try, big, bad, gruff bartender dude decided to take it a different direction. Now he just gave us Rose’s Lime Juice on the rocks. That was about it for us. We shoveled down the food that had arrived, left the margaritas largely untouched, and headed out.
Pathetic excuse for a Mexican restaurant, or any restaurant for that matter. We will not be back, and I would not recommend going here. For my money I’ll go to Consuelo’s downtown. At least they appear to actually want to make you a satisfied customer.

This was an «eh» experience. Nothing really stuck out here. The only reason this place received more than two stars was because the sangria (although the fruit garnishes were on the dry side) along with the chips and salsa.
Tonight I ordered the «combination de la casa» number 4. It arrived in a timely matter and looked pretty promising. Looks can be deceiving. The taco shells tasted like they were straight out of a taco kit and all the fillings on the dish were all the same bland flavor. Not to mention the guacamole plopped on the plate just didn’t do anything any justice.
I was still open minded by dessert so I ordered the churros. Holy sweet, Batman. The churros were drowning in honey which made everything a challenge. It was a bit too much for my liking. I will try back here again in the future and hopefully it yields a better result.

I went here for lunch on 2÷5÷15 from 12:06 — 12:20 and sat at the bar. There was only one other customer besides myself at the bar. Here is the worst bartender in Manchester.
I said to the barmaid «I’ll have the chicken taco lunch special»
She says with a snooty attitude «We don’t have a chicken taco lunch special. we have two chicken tacos on the dinner menu and it’s 9.99.» turning her lip up as if she is waist deep in sewage.
I said «Ok I’ll see a menu»
After looking at the menu I said «Ok I’ll take number 3». After my food was delivered to the wrong customer and he started eating it, my food arrived. It was all beef. How could you decipher I wanted beef when we just talked about how I wanted chicken? Why didn’t she ask me beef, chicken or pork which is an option for this dish? Because she didn’t care.
1. Barmaid had a super snotty attitude, like I was taking up her time and annoying her.
2. They dropped off my food to someone else at the bar without announcing the dish to make sure it was correct. Bartender did not apologize to me, just shook her head.
3. She did not offer me more salsa.
4. She did not ask how the food is.
5. She clearly hated her job.
I did not leave even a penny for a tip, and I don’t even feel bad about it. No wonder the bar was empty. I will not go back. This hateful worker would be fired if I owned the place. I was a bartender/​server for over ten years, and this is a horrible attitude.

This place was just OK. Salsa mediocre. I ordered the combination 25 which was one enchilada and one burrito w shredded chicken. Apparently it comes w peppers and onions yuck. And it was actually 2 enchiladas no burrito. Mango margarita was good though. Service and food was fast too.

Everything you want and more from a Mexican restaurant, A true culinary experience. Fajitas were the best I have ever had. The margaritas will not disappoint. Service was exception!

I enjoy getting food from La Carreta every so often. Their burritos are good and I’ve had the tacos as well, which are also very delicious. The rice is always yummy and I love the chips and salsa that they bring out beforehand. The service is Ok, nothing that stands out too much. Food comes out quick and comes out hot.

Pretty good. I’m not local, but went based on Unilocal.
Chips and salsa are pretty good — salsa is too mild for me but respectable.
Service for one person was a bit too efficient. I generally like fast service when traveling and eating alone, but I felt a bit wisked.
Food in general was good. Unless you have a specific native Mexican taste requirement, you will be pleased.
Their Margaritas create DUIs. Unless you are a passenger, it is too strong. I had to sit in the parking lot and get my bearings after one margarita (and I ain’t a lightweight).
A good choice for a week night outing or family dinner place.

Would normally be 3.5 stars but went for lunch with work group and they wouldn’t do separate checks. El Jimador has another leg up on them… update: the waiter brought separate checks! Back to 3.5 stars.

Pretty disappointed with my experience tonight at the South Willow location in Manchester.
To start off our waitress was none to friendly. I arrived late because I was meeting boyfriend here and I had a long drive to get here. When I sat down the waitress seemed annoyed that I sat down. I asked her for a water and her reply was «yup.» My boyfriend asked her a question about the menu and she seemed as though the question he asked was stupid and like it was a waste of her time to answer it.
It did not take long for our food to arrive, we shared a quesadilla. It was good but I found a chicken bone in it. The waitress ignored us for a long time.