Mario's De La Mesa Restaurant

City: La Mesa, CA

Food type: Mexican

Price range/person: $10-15/lunch or dinner

Wait time: None if you come early; 15-30 mins during busy times

Service: Extremely FAST (we got 2 dinner entrees in about 5 minutes!), cheerful, pleasant.

Ambiance: Casual, home-like, festive.

Dish Focus On:

Chicken Mole: Served with beans, rice, and choice of corn or flour tortillas




Holy Mole! Never knew that savory chocolate could be so scrumptious and mouth-licking good! I have a new favorite sauce now. Couldn’t taste a distinct chocolate flavor, but I don’t doubt that it was there. Not only was the sauce incredible, but the chicken pieces were extremely tender and well seasoned. Rice was perfect, especially with some sauce. Flour wraps were served warm and fresh. YUMMM!

Chile Colorado: Beef served with fresh guacamole, vegetables, beans, rice, and choice of corn or flour tortillas


Super tender beef that melts in your mouth. Guacamole is clearly fresh with chucks of avocado in each bite. Sides are delicious! "Chile Colorado" refers to the special red sauce flavoring the meat.

Blended strawberry margarita

Fun and fruity drink served in a unique and chilled cactus glass. Have a few!

Yummmy Factor: 5/5

Yummmy Rambles: Absolutely tummy-boggling Mexican food. This place certainly serves more than your average tacos and burritos! Had my first experience with “Mole,” pronounced “Moh-lay,” here.

A little backgroud from Wikipedia: Mole poblano is prepared with dried chile peppers (commonly ancho, pasilla, mulato and chipotle), ground nuts and/or seeds (almonds, indigenous peanuts, and/or sesame seeds), spices, Mexican chocolate {maybe this is why I LOVED it????} (cacao ground with sugar and cinnamon and occasionally nuts), salt, and a variety of other ingredients including charred avocado leaves.

Restaurant had comfortable happy feel, with a few TVs lining the walls. Chips served as guests are seated. Colorful and educational placemats with common Spanish phrases line the table tops. Restaurant is tucked away in a charming little neighborhood, but once you make this discovery, you WILL be back. Small parking lot available in back.