La Esperanza Restaurant

It was okay not the hest. Beef was salty amd extremely dry. Only come back if someone else is paying. Wasnt worth my money.

We had a party of 9 people… 7 got food poisoning. I ordered the steak, it was salty, tuff, full of fat and veins. I then thought it was safe to go with ground beef burrito instead. NOPE just as bad! I was sick and embarrassed we took out of town guests there! Everything… everything was horrible, even the server had an atitude! My dad had steal wool in his chip basket. They didn’t even react to it. This place needs to be condemned.

Went to eat here tonight 11÷10÷14 and the place has closed down. Too bad. Best Mexican around.

We Arrived at 2115. Closing time is 2130. Staff seemed unhappy although they did not actually say anything to that effect. We ordered quickly. Food arrived fast but they forgot our side-​order. All this time chairs were being up turned and noisy Vacuuming going on. Staff were sitting and laughing loudly right inside the restaurant. Check was presented to us way before we were done. We just boxed our food & left. Waiter was annoyed when I did not add any tip. Highly unprofessional. I suggest that they should close much earlier. No complaints about the food, however.

ate there on 9-​9-​2014 at 7pm the food didn’t taste all that great. At 10 pm I was throwing up none stop. I had to go to the er. I had an extreme case of food poison. I will never eat there again nor should anyone else.

First time here and will definitely return. Service was excellent. Food was very tasty. Very casual atmosphere.

Chips and salsa is decent. Been here several times, always get steak options. Normally somewhat dry but flavorful. Chicken options are better than they used to be. All around a ³⁄₅ taste and atmosphere.

We really enjoyed this place. The service was great with very friendly staff, the chips and salsa were amazing (try the chile con queso as a dip for the chips!!) our meals were hot and delicious and well seasoned. I got the dinner meal 3 — the ground beef in the pepper– omg!!! My finance stole the end of it!!! Will def be returning

Mine and my family’s favorite place when we go out to dinner! Chili rojo is mine and my husbands favorite while our son limes juevos rancheros. Great prices gteat food!

I believe they must have a new owner because food was hot, delicious, and very affordable. We haven’t gone in a while but this was the best ever. We highly recommend coming here. Great chips, salsa and burriotos. My husband had a fajita and he loved it as well.

Great margaritas and great affordable food! The chips are crispy and the salsa is good. Lunch portions are very large.

We went here for dinner and the food was amazing ;)! We had some trouble finding it because the address here was wrong it’s 1900, and were a little skeptical once we got there. The inside kinda looked like a diner with some mexican blankets thrown on the wall lol but once you get passed that the food was really good, and so were the margaritas ;)! We were pleased with our service, and the prices were really good especially for the large portions… Would definitely come back and eat here

Ok, I’m from California and at least this place was authentic Mexican. I ordered pretty good Carne asada tacos with onions and cilantro but the salsa verde was flavorless. My sons quesadilla was gross and French fries were burnt. They had excellent lime margaritas but one of them had too much salt. The chips were crispy when made fresh and salsa was decent. My parents really liked this restaurant so I have to recommend it from the choices we have here in Port Charlotte.

I probably wouldn’t have gone here if I had read the previous reviews, however, we had a very nice experience. The food was fresh, the restaurant was clean, and the service was fast and friendly.

So sad to lose a good place to bugs and bad service.
La Esperanza used to be good. We have actually brought family there when they came to Florida for a visit. I would rave about how good it was to anyone who asked for a good Mexican restaurant in the Port Charlotte area. However, the folks at La Espernza have severely lost their way. The food was way below standard, and it came out so fast that I KNOW it must be all pre made and just reheated.
The first Tostada fell to mush under my fork and knife, I sent it back and the second that came out was mildly better, however after a few bites a bug crawled out from UNDER the Tosdada! My wife left due to the urge to throw up.
When I explained to the manager he first asked in an unsuprised tone «Was it la cucaracha?» then said well things can happen and it was okay because he would take the food of my bill, but then charged the 1.50 for the soda.
Now had he been truly apologetic, and acted as a manager should when a guest finds a dirty, disease carrying bug crawling out from UNDER their food, then perhaps I would consider going back when things got better. I hope the 1.50 was worth it, because it will be the last amount of money La Esperanza will ever get from me.

Have been coming here, even before they moved to a larger space. Something has gone horribly wrong since the move. Two major issues on our visit Nov 16. One was an on-​line coupon we bought on Oct. 22. When we arrived and presented it, we were told that they would not honor any coupons bought after Oct. 20! Yet they had signs all around saying if you used the coupon there would be an 18% tip. The manager said they no longer honored them because they lost money doing it. His attitude was «that’s the way it is.» No, «Sorry» or no «Can I get you a free «whatever.» Just, «Nope not going to honor it.
We were tempted just to leave but we had brought another couple with us so we stayed. I wish we had left! It is obvious they have cut back their staff. Waiters were literally running around trying to keep up. Drinks weren’t refilled, I had to order a beer THREE TIMES before I got it (half way through my meal).
The food seems to have gone down hill since they moved, but maybe it’s that hectic pace of the workers that made me seem like I was in the middle of a track meet.
I used to rave about this place to newcomers, but for now… not a word.

I have been to the newest location, and I am sad. Nothing is the same. After Hurricane Charley came through, they moved from Punta Gorda to Port Charlotte. The food still tasted good. Then over the course of a year-​and-​a-​half, they went from serving consistently good Tex-​Mex fare to serving very poor, Americanized food. The salsa now tastes like it is dumped directly from a can as does the cheese sauce. I have so many great memories coming to La Esperanza and I just couldn’t fathom what happened.
Doing some research, I found that ownership changed hands. The transition started when they were located off Forest Nelson. When they moved to the Carousel Shipping Center, the transition was complete.
That is too bad, I don’t know that I want to return.

Talk about a downhill slide.
This place was great when it operated in downtown before Charley. it was cheap food served fast and good. Then their PG location closed and was replaced by one of the most expensive restaurants (the scarlet pimpernel or something like that) in the area so I was forced to go to their Port Charlotte location, which was always not as good as the PG location.
The Port Charlotte location improved, no doubt due to an infusion of cooks from the old restaurant. It began to decline and its health inspection record started to decline as well so I stopped going.
Recently they moved into the old Shells space out by the Lowes and Office Depot. Shells sucked but there was no reason to think La Esperanza would follow. Silly me.
We let the restaurant get used to the new space and then decided to pull the trigger and head on out to give it a whirl. I checked their inspection history and found they had a complaint when they were first getting relocated in 2010 and while there were 8 critical problems identified there was nothing that really upset me.
So we went in and waited to be seated. And waited. And waited. Did I mention there was no crowd as it was early? Anyway we were finally seated, brought menus and guess what? We waited. And waited. Finally our waiter came along and was certainly a man of few words. He took our order and neglected to listen to our daughters as they were making their drink order so too bad for them.
He returned with the customary chips and salsa. The chips had a burned taste but the salsa was OK. My girls finally were able to get their drink order in.
Now for the mains. We ordered a taco combination plate, cheese dip, an enchilada plate with a sampling of different kinds of enchiladas, and a tamale plate. The cheese enchilada was fine as was the bean enchilada. The beef enchilada was horrible with the worst kind of overcooked beef product I ever tasted. The chicken was ok.
The tacos were served on stale taco shells which tasted like grease. The tamale was dried as as was the rice served with it. All in all the meal was horrible and I was $ 40 lighter for my trouble.
I would not encourage anyone with a hankering for Mexican to go to this place. There is another Mexican place in Punta Gorda, albeit far more expensive, but far better as well.

Based on consistent 4 star reviews, my wife and I decided to try it last night. Not impressed. As I was mentioning it today at the coffee shop I go to each morning, the proprietor remarked «Mediocre is being generous»
Highlights:
1. Dos Equis Amber on tap
2. Frosty beer mugs
Lowlights:
1. Guacamole had the flavor and texture of having just been squeezed from a package
2. Salsa served with the chips tasted like canned tomatoes and a little jalapeño taken for a spin in a food processor
3. Plates spent way too much time under the broiler so my carnitas ended up with a tough dry crust and the top layer of rice was bordering on burnt
4. Has about as much ambiance as my elementary school cafeteria
Conclusion:
The bill was cheap but I still didn’t feel like it was a good value having not really enjoyed my dinner all that much.

All of a sudden everyone in town is in love with this place, its almost always crowded~ so look out if you are going during those peek hours of the day.
Food is good and cheap, I enjoy the house special which is like beef tips and rice. Everything I have gotten has been pretty good though, no real complaints and I always seem to crave it at least once when I am visiting home in FL. No super unique dishes, just the norms or any Mexican place~ but they do those very well so I dont mind.