Las Cazuelitas West

Funny all the reviews here because my experience was amazing and I will definitely go back, really good fish and seafood

I ate here in 2011 once, but the experience was like a rough, unneeded prostate check, so I opted to stay away…
UNTIL…
In AUG 2012 I stayed at the Hampton next to the restaurant and decided to walk over to try again. In the past month, as recent as this evening, I have eaten there three times. Here are my observations:
FOOD:
Chips — Consistently stale and cold… reminiscent of the Carter Administration.
Refried beans — They appear pureed in a food processor; a bit offensive in this form; there are no black beans on the menu or an alternative.
Ground beef taco — I had one yesterday with a combo; the beef tasted funny… I would definitely AVOID THIS ONE…
Shredded beef taco — A decent taco, but not worth going out of your way for.
Chicken enchilada — Lukewarm, and chicken tasted like it was from a package… NO BUENO…
Chile Relleno — Also lukewarm, and clearly not cooked to order. I am a fan of a good chile relleno, and the flavor of this one was good… the chile was firm and had good texture, but lukewarm? Unsure if it was cooked in house…
Beef fajitas — This evening’s entrée — Nice sized portion for $ 12. Beef was chewy and a bit overcooked. Beef-​peppers-​onions DRENCHED IN OIL… never again…
Margarita — Large and in a heavy commercial glass… okay but not earth-​shattering.
DECOR/​CLEANLINESS/​AMBIANCE
One word… YIKES… Dining room is unappealing and does not look to have been cleaned in recent memory. Had to ask for a new fork due as the one I was given was ‘crusty.’ Yesterday there were small children running in and out of the kitchen, dining room… screaming… staff apparently approved if this., décor is morbid and foam ceiling tiles from the 1970s look like they might drop at any time…
SERVICE
Marginal and intermittent… sometimes you get service, and sometimes you don’t…and what you get isn’t great…
BOTTOM LINE
If your car breaks down within walking distance, and you’re starving, go to the Waffle House across the street… the Mexican Food on their menu is probably better… If you really want some good, home-​style Mexican Food, Las Cazuelitas on Grant isn’t it.

I blindly purchased a Groupon for about 70 dollars worth of food for 29 $. This is one of those deals for two, so you have a maximum value for each item like max 23 dollars for an entrée, 7 for a drink etc… It all adds up to a maximum value of 69.95.
I thought it was a good deal so I purchased it without thinking. BIG MISTAKE!!!
There are two types of restauraunts that use Groupon/​LivingSocial: new/​under new management places that want to show off their previously lackluster offerings, and then there are the turd restauraunts that are just taking a long time swirling around in the toilet waiting to be flushed. Las Cazuelitas de Tucson is one of those turds.
I entered the place and approached the hostess and told her I had a Groupon. She seemed confused, so I showed it to her on my phone and she said that it had to be paper form even though it said I can just show her the number of the Groupon, she took my word and sat me.
There are so many things about this place that are so confusing and bad that I don’t know where to start. I will just list the things in bullet form as they come to mind in no particular order.
— They had candle holders on each table which were hiding soy sauce…
— The back cushions on the booths looked like they came strait from the intro to «Saved By The Bell»
— Copious amounts of old dried up gum under the table
— There was an old guy playing an electric piano and singing; giving the environment a cheap wedding feel to it
— The décor was… odd. Like they tacked all the most latino looking items from Goodwill onto the walls, including an impressive collection of multi-​colored sombreros
— The waitstaff looked like they knew what kind of place they were working at… Feels bad man…
— Their «Top Shelf» margarita proudly states that it uses «Jose Quervo Gold» Tequila… How fancy!
— FRUIT FLYS EVERYWHERE!!!
So my BF and I ordered margaritas which is hard to screw up and they were huge, so no complaints there.
As our side we got guacamole because the salsa tasted like unseasoned tomato sauce from a can. The guac was no better, way too much cilantro and that is all I got taste wise… Cilantro. At least the chips were decent.
So I ordered the Parailladas with beef and chicken and my BF got the ribeye steak. These two items were among the most expensive, and they completely ruined it.
I ordered Parailladas here because I had them before at Don Pedro’s Peruvian Bistro and it was a great meal, large portions, perfectly seasoned, and friendly staff. Here though, they served me a plate of 3 unseasoned, overcooked chicken legs and beef ribs that had no other flavor than charcoal. Hiding all the burnt meat was one giant soggy green chili, and grilled green onions that sounded like hay when I scraped them off my plate. I physically could not eat this beef, I would have had an easier time chewing on my belt. Oh, and they gave me a plate with about a dozen key limes in it to dress the meat, but the limes were so old and dry that when I squeezed them just seeds and dust came out.
The absolutely unforgivable part of this meal was when my boyfriends ribeye steak came. Mind you, they didn’t bother to ask him how he wanted it cooked, they just brought him a hunk of what used to be a beautiful slice of beef. It was now a dried up, black, flavorless chunk of cow that could have cost us almost 20 bucks.
My BF tried to take a bite, but ended up choking on the bitter dry taste of the burnt shell the stake was in, but ended up not trying again. I felt bad, so I attempted to gnaw on the food I was given, and ended up getting a to-​go bag which I left at the table.
It took over half an hour for our waiter to comprehend what a Groupon was, and I ended up having to talk to what I think was the manager to straiten things up. Good thing was though we got to save a very cool couple from eating here
. If you are reading this guys, I totally wanted to take you guys to Denny’s or something else, but my BF was too disgruntled from the whole experience he just wanted to go home. Sorry!

Super Size Margarita, please.
If margaritas are your thing, you should probably try one of their size-​of-​your-​face margaritas.
Food was good.
+ good Fish Taco
+ good Beef Tamale
+ good Beef Enchilada
+ good Shrimp Enchiladas
+ good Rice and Beans
The refried beans were hidden under a thick layer of cheese. I’m not complaining, because I do love some good cheese… I’m just making an observation that there was a LOT of it.
This place has potential… good food, nice music, comfy booths, and an interesting-​in-​a-​good-​way ambiance. Definitely worth a shot.

we’ve eaten there 3 times. use coupons which makes the price to value ok. normal prices are average.
décor is pretty thread-​bare, reminds me of sir george’s, a bit darkish despite windows. staff was attentive and helpful even tho they knew we had a coupon and were probably bad tippers (nope 18% added automatically to bill)
lots of chips and hot salsa.
food portion greater than average, food is pretty good, noticeably less greasy than some mexican food. we’ve tried combos, fish, no one has ever complained about food. worth a try with out of town. the cheese is better than average. drinks seemed to expensive, maybe $ 8 for a big margarita is a good buy compared to other places.
quiet, seems under used for size and just off freeway in hotel.
it’s a local business that really seems to be trying.

Went because I had a Daily Deal. Was disappointed that the buffet that was advertised on the website didn’t exist anymore.
Had the #6 combo (Beef taco, beef tamale & chili relleno w/​beans 7 rice).
The Taco was good, lots of meat and queso fresco. The tamale was spot on. The chili relleno was soggy and underwhelming.
The complimentary chips seemed stale, even though we got there right when service started.
Service was decent, but we were the only ones in the place, so…
When the bill came it was supposed to have my Deal deducted ($ 16) but was only deducted $ 14.59. Didn’t feel like arguing, and just paid and left.
I bought another Daily Deal, so I’ll go back. But I think I’ll try it for breakfast this time.

I wish I hadn’t bothered. When we walked in, the 3 servers stayed in a little circle chatting. Finally someone walked over to us and seated us. Took a while for one of those «chatters» to come to our table and she never brought us chips and salsa until the food arrived. That’s a first. Was she bored with her job?
The buffet food do not look fresh to me at all.
I smelled Lysol almost the whole time I was eating because one of the men decided this lunch time was a good time to mop the foods. Not a good idea at all. The motive was good but the timing was bad.
To park at this restaurant means taking a daring left turn… not a good location for a restaurant, IMO.
I didn’t want to linger here… it just felt like the staff was more interested in yucking it up among themselves and hanging out, than serving the customers.
I won’t eat here again.

Could have been wonderful wound up inconsistent. Fantastic Friday night band, nice salsa, food OK, margaritas good, terrible wait for service.

Las Cazuelitas West does not deserve one star, but there is no option to leave zero. Undoubtedly the worst dining experience we can recall anywhere. Really, really terrible.
The restaurant décor is comparable to a large Waffle House with a few Mexican-​themed decorations. The booths have the table numbers applied with big stickers (beware table 9). The room is harshly lit and tacky, but we figured, what the heck, we’d read some great reviews about the food. Not sure where those reviewers were used to eating, but this was truly an atrocity.
Two of us went there for lunch on 1÷29÷11. Yes, the place was busy, but more than anything, it was disorganized. Nobody seemed to know who was supposed to do what.
The person who seated us took our beverage order, but then it took more than 15 minutes for the chips and salsa to arrive, and that was only after we flagged down a runner. The chips were average, the mild salsa was bland (too much like tomato sauce), and the hot salsa was marginally better. No silverware, no plates, no water. And no sign of a server to take our food order. I finally made eye contact with a waitress who repeated our food order correctly, then vanished.
We ordered two tamale combos — nothing complicated. And then we waited. And waited. We tried several times to get the attention of our server (or any server), but nobody could agree upon who our server actually was, so we got no service at all. When we finally got the attention of a man who appeared to be a manager, he offered to TAKE our order. We explained that we had been waiting over 40 minutes for our food. He left, and several minutes later, still no food, and no server in sight. We had now been waiting 50 minutes for our food, and had lost our appetites.
We left sufficient cash to cover our soft drinks and gave our $ 10
gift certificate to the customers across from us. We had observed them trying to get their check for almost 20 minutes, so felt they deserved a little break. We certainly have no intention of returning for any reason.
We left hungry, but happily went straight to the Tucson Tamale Company (2545 E Broadway Blvd). That will be a separate, GLOWING review.
Stay far, far away from Las Cazuelitas West. This was decidedly the worst restaurant experience of our lives.

Simply put: Some of the best Mexican food you’ll find in Tucson. Flavorful, not too greasy (it is Mexican food, though). And it’s reasonably priced, too!
We used to go to the one on Ft. Lowell before it went under new management and decided to try the West location for my fiancé’s birthday dinner. The service was great and the food was delicious as ever. YUM!

Service was terrible! They have more time to chat than take care of customers. They were rushed, curt dreadful.
The appetizer was burnt to a crisp. The only redeeming factor was the average to good chips and salsa. The flavor of the food was something akin to British rations during the blitz, and the guacamole could have passed for a 5^th grade science project.
Hope you are in shape and have a good immune system, cause the restroom, not part of the restaurant, but part of the hotel it is in, are a mile away and filthy.
I found myself wondering if I should have paid greater heed to those liberty mutual commercials and invested in supplemental life insurance.
I used a $ 25 certificate and it still wasn’t worth it.
Dine at your own risk!

Vacationing on Tucson and used Unilocal to a place to eat. I made a good choice! Food was great! Service was also good. My enjoyed is Sangria.

Giant sized margaritas to knock your socks off. I had the Golden. I recommend it. I also tasted the House, made with sweet and sour. It was good also, but I prefer to go traditional and simple with real lime juice. These left us loopy after the first four sips.
Chile rellenos up to par. Attentive service, a charming guitarist/​singer strolling by the tables. But hardly a soul besides a few bar goers to ogle you as you enter. Why not?
I suppose this location was made for travelers, being next to two hotels, and that’s what I was: a very road weary traveler. It sure was a relief not to have to get into the car once again, not to mention it would’ve been a crime after that margarita!

Chile rellenos in the Tucson Area rated according to the Homeland Security Advisory System with three word descriptors.
Las Cazuelitas: no yellow cheese. Red
See photos.