Love it! La Tropicana has become my favorite Mexican restaurant! I take all my out of town/state/country guests to La Tropicana for a meal. I ordered several dozen tamales to serve my guests and they loved them. I think that La Tropicana's prices are more than reasonable, after all, their cuisine is divine. I am ALWAYS delighted with their food and amicable staff. So what if the chips aren't free!! Try the guacamole, it's DELICIOUS !! Thank you for serving the best Mexican food in Lawrence.
Love it! La Tropicana has become my favorite Mexican restaurant! I take all my out of town/state/country guests to La Tropicana for a meal. I ordered several dozen tamales to serve my guests and they loved them. I think that La Tropicana's prices are more than reasonable, after all, their cuisine is divine. I am ALWAYS delighted with their food and amicable staff. So what if the chips aren't free!! Try the guacamole, it's DELICIOUS !! Thank you for serving the best Mexican food in Lawrence.
I love Tropicana! We've been going there for years to get the great margaritas and home made sangria. The guacamole is very fresh and tasty. Food prices are cheap. The atmosphere is great and I notice little turnover with waitstaff, so they must treat workers well. It's a great Lawrence establishment!
I was disappointed in this restaurant, especially the service. I had high hopes, knowing it was family-owned and we love to support anything but chain restaurants. On the plus side, we were told it would be a 30-minute wait and it was more like 10.
On the other hand, we waited FOREVER for our food, which was decent, but not outstanding, and the prices are higher and the portions smaller than most Mexican restaurants. The beer prices were low for KC, but probably on par for Lawrence.
We had several mixups with our orders and the waitress was rather defensive about it and not apologetic at all. She also tried to charge us for every mistake: she brought limeade instead of lemonade and charged us for both. The menu stated the kids' meals came with beans & rice. When our son did not get rice & we ordered some, we were charged and she would not back down on the bill! None of the other 3 kids got either rice or beans. The kids didn't mind, but still!
BEST Mexican food in town. The Del Campo family have atmosphere, service, and food quality down to an art. Always enjoy going there. (I've never had to ask for chips and salsa)
Soooo good. My only complaint was in most other restaurants chips and salsa are free, but the food was excellent. Margaritas were perfectly tasty. Our waiter was very good and attentive to our many needs as we went in a large group
There is always two sides to a story . The patrons that were disappointed chose to take their frustrations to the next customers trying to come in , and bad mouth this establishment on the way out...not cool ! And the customer is not always right.
yes, el mezcal is great- if you like the boring version of mexican food. white cheese sauce? that's the perfect choice for typical american pallets. and how can you say the atmosphere of a family owned and operated mexican restaurant (tropicana), set in north lawrence across from the charming train can even compare to el mezcal, in a renovated old Dairy Queen with "beautiful" 23rd street traffic buzzing by? you people are crazy and trying to compare apples to oranges. the food is good, it just doesn't taste like chain-restaurant style food. plus, not ordering the chips and salsa might help you cut down on your carbs.
I concur with a previous comment regarding El Mezcal. I believe it is superior in a variety of areas. Not the least of which is service. Even when things are busy and service is a bit slow (which happens everywhere from time to time), they are quite accommodating and will, at minimum, apologize for the slow service. I don't blame the folks who were treated poorly for not returning. Rude wait staff and poor service are simply not acceptable when there are so many other options in this town. Based on what I'm seeing from other respondents and the rather mediocre (at best) service and food I experienced during my dining experience, I don't plan on returning either. I'll share this with my friends who also enjoy quality Mexican food delivered by a helpful, pleasant wait staff.
Thanks all for the feedback ..
Once again you have proved your points .. your entire party was there within 15 min. so yes you wait to be seated because you were not all there . The place does not take reservations, the above information is incorrect from Lawrence.com and it is first come first serve. I have been to several restaurants and don't feel that the drinks are no more pricey than others ,, its a restaurant for christ sake not a campus beer joint with drink specials! Thanks for not coming back with 15+,,,,, it keeps us coming back.Thanks Tropicana for the same great food and drinks.
I have been here a few times but the last visit was one of the worst dining experiences I have ever had. I was there with coworkers for a dinner. We had called ahead to let them know there would be a large table coming in, to which they assured they would have plenty of staff. When our entire group arrived, we were told it would be a 20 minute wait to be seated. An hour later, we finally sat down. Our food took at least 45 minutes and most of it was cold. The manager then told us that we were wrong, that our food was not cold. The thing that irritated me the most was the fact that there was no apology to our table for the wait by anyone. In fact, when I asked to speak with a manager, he never came out and talked to me. I was very disappointed as we were trying to have a nice evening out. The food was overpriced and the service was not that good. Finally, as we were walking out of the restaurant, one of the servers stated that it was OK if we didn't come back because their regulars would still come. Seemed pretty rude to me. The regulars can have their tables. I won't be back!!
Actually my whole party was there within 15 mins, I guess you could say that we waited 1 hour and 45 min for some crappy food. And i will along with the 14 people that were there with me and all our family and friends take our business somewhere else. And by the way drinks were to expensive there to have more then one!
rooster82
This is a place where you don't get seated until your entire party has arrived.You can't have two people sit at table for an hour and wait for the rest when other patrons are waiting to eat. What kind of business would that be. That's what happens with a place that is already busy! And it's busy because the food is worth it. If you want your food as soon as you order than go to Taco Bell. I wonder if you are the same group that was drunk and creating a seen and wanting nothing more than something free. If you think 15 people can go do this in 2 hours than PLEASE don't go there.
This place had the worst service, worst staff, worst food and overall just the worst place I have EVER eaten!!
I am usually pretty understanding at restaurent especially on a Friday night. But this.. IT WAS HORRIBLE!! We waited for AN HOUR to get seated (after being told 20 mins). THEN we waited 10 min to get our chips and salsa. THEN after finally ordering we waited an HOUR to get our food! Not one single time did the staff apologize for the wait we had to get seated, not one single time did the staff apologize for the wait we had to get our food and not one single time did the staff try to ease our frustration. We only got our food after an hour because we told the manager we were leaving if we didn't have our food in 10 mins. And with in 1 min all our food (15 plates) came out. All of them were COLD!
I would just say if you want a nice relaxing Friday evening to go eat good food, grab a drink and finish a movie with in 2 hours....then DO NOT go here!!
When you think of going here, just drive a half a block further and go to El Matador Cafe instead. The food here is overpriced. It tastes ok, but is nothing special. The staff is friendly and the place is usually clean. Don't waste your time on margaritas here. I split a pitcher with a co-worker and couldn't even tell I'd had any alcohol! A total ripoff. For the amount of money it costs to eat here, you can do much better. There is nothing outstanding on the menu anyway. Too expensive.
La Tropicana is an easy to access, quick to serve, and excellent quality restaurant. They pride themselves in their service to their customers, always having at least six waiters during their busiest hours. Sure you have to wait sometimes, but waiting is not a hassle with the fun environment and refreshments from the bar. The longest I've ever had to wait was seven minutes; and that was Cinco de Mayo (the busiest day of the year.) As for the food, the salsa is spicy, but i hear most people like it that way... and the chicken enchiladas are to die for. The fajitas are highly recommended. Did I mention that they make their own chips and salsa. This would explain why you have to pay for them. Plus, being in a college town, who wouldn't come just to eat complimentary chips and salsa for a free meal? It makes perfectly good sense. The side salad at a restaurant has cost included, and so do the chips at a Mexican restaurant.
By the way, order Benuelos for dessert.
So what if the atmosphere is great? I needed a loan to pay the bill. And, you shouldn't have to ask for chips and salsa. That's the deal. The food was really expensive, and the drinks were really really expensive. Very disappointed.
charging for chips and salsa is a gringo invention. the food is very good the prices are somewhat fair. but, seriously, charging for chips and salsa? this is not new york. chips and salsa should be free!
I have to say, this restaurant serves EXCELLENT food. It was my favorite, but I don't go there anymore. Why? Because they overcharge about $2.00 each entree. Chips and salsa should be complimentary, like bread at a fine restaurant. I hope their regulars stay that way, because we took ourselves off the "sucker" list and found a different, less expensive place that's just as good.
Living in deep South Texas up until December of last year, and coming from a Mexican-American family, I like to think that I know Tex-Mex and Mexican food quite well. That being said, I would have to give La Tropicana an overall rating of 4 out of 10 based on various factors. First off, the food was not up to par when it came to meeting my expectations on what good Mexican food should taste like. I've come to appreciate the very finest Mexican restaurants from Laredo, Mexico to San Antonio, Texas, and I would have to say that the food I ate from La Tropicana would perhaps rank in the bottom 10% of the restaurants I've visited. The service also left much to be desired. My date and I arrived at around 12:30 on a weekday, which is a busy time of the day at most restaurants in Lawrence, but the promptness of the service and the availability of the server was not excusable. The "vibe" of the restaurant was not exactly what I'm used to experiencing at a good, sit down, Mexican restaurant. Sure, there were Mexican decorations on the walls and tables, but other than that I found the environment to be rather stale. If you are really looking for a Mexican restaurant that is comparable to the finest in Mexico and South Texas, I would have to recommend El Mezcal. When I first moved to Lawrence, I was starting to worry that the Mexican restaurants would be lacking compared to what I was used to, but I must say that El Mezcal (both locations) has great food, great service, and great atmosphere!
Why should the chips and salsa be free?? For years they were free and like everything else times change and so does the FREE ITEMS LIST. When they were free they were wasted or thought it was all you can eat for free and made a meal out of the chips, by the same people that are eating the entire basket of chips now. Nothing is FREE only the freedom of choice. If you don't want to pay for the chips don't choose to order them .
A nice place to kick back and have some sangria/beer while sitting on their outdoor patio. Great place to meet a group for a drink. The salsa is good.
The food is okay.
The sangria is fabulous. The top-shelf margaritas are awesome too. I wish they offered more options in the food department such as vegetarian options. Also like the salsa - not too spicy but has a kick. The patio is so pleasant in nice weather - and the inside is equally nice.
Comments
NonnaRosa 14 years, 5 months ago on La Tropicana
La Tropicana
Love it! La Tropicana has become my favorite Mexican restaurant! I take all my out of town/state/country guests to La Tropicana for a meal. I ordered several dozen tamales to serve my guests and they loved them. I think that La Tropicana's prices are more than reasonable, after all, their cuisine is divine. I am ALWAYS delighted with their food and amicable staff. So what if the chips aren't free!! Try the guacamole, it's DELICIOUS !! Thank you for serving the best Mexican food in Lawrence.
NonnaRosa 14 years, 5 months ago on La Tropicana
La Tropicana
Love it! La Tropicana has become my favorite Mexican restaurant! I take all my out of town/state/country guests to La Tropicana for a meal. I ordered several dozen tamales to serve my guests and they loved them. I think that La Tropicana's prices are more than reasonable, after all, their cuisine is divine. I am ALWAYS delighted with their food and amicable staff. So what if the chips aren't free!! Try the guacamole, it's DELICIOUS !! Thank you for serving the best Mexican food in Lawrence.
Amy Bartle 16 years, 3 months ago on La Tropicana
La Tropicana
I love Tropicana! We've been going there for years to get the great margaritas and home made sangria. The guacamole is very fresh and tasty. Food prices are cheap. The atmosphere is great and I notice little turnover with waitstaff, so they must treat workers well. It's a great Lawrence establishment!
Mom2Bean 16 years, 5 months ago on La Tropicana
La Tropicana
I was disappointed in this restaurant, especially the service. I had high hopes, knowing it was family-owned and we love to support anything but chain restaurants. On the plus side, we were told it would be a 30-minute wait and it was more like 10.
On the other hand, we waited FOREVER for our food, which was decent, but not outstanding, and the prices are higher and the portions smaller than most Mexican restaurants. The beer prices were low for KC, but probably on par for Lawrence.
We had several mixups with our orders and the waitress was rather defensive about it and not apologetic at all. She also tried to charge us for every mistake: she brought limeade instead of lemonade and charged us for both. The menu stated the kids' meals came with beans & rice. When our son did not get rice & we ordered some, we were charged and she would not back down on the bill! None of the other 3 kids got either rice or beans. The kids didn't mind, but still!
We will NEVER go back.
nbnozzy 16 years, 10 months ago on La Tropicana
La Tropicana
BEST Mexican food in town. The Del Campo family have atmosphere, service, and food quality down to an art. Always enjoy going there. (I've never had to ask for chips and salsa)
Staci Dark Simpson 17 years, 2 months ago on La Tropicana
La Tropicana
Soooo good. My only complaint was in most other restaurants chips and salsa are free, but the food was excellent. Margaritas were perfectly tasty. Our waiter was very good and attentive to our many needs as we went in a large group
tropregular 17 years, 9 months ago on La Tropicana
La Tropicana
There is always two sides to a story . The patrons that were disappointed chose to take their frustrations to the next customers trying to come in , and bad mouth this establishment on the way out...not cool ! And the customer is not always right.
duh 17 years, 9 months ago on La Tropicana
La Tropicana
yes, el mezcal is great- if you like the boring version of mexican food. white cheese sauce? that's the perfect choice for typical american pallets. and how can you say the atmosphere of a family owned and operated mexican restaurant (tropicana), set in north lawrence across from the charming train can even compare to el mezcal, in a renovated old Dairy Queen with "beautiful" 23rd street traffic buzzing by? you people are crazy and trying to compare apples to oranges. the food is good, it just doesn't taste like chain-restaurant style food. plus, not ordering the chips and salsa might help you cut down on your carbs.
fiddler58 17 years, 9 months ago on La Tropicana
La Tropicana
I concur with a previous comment regarding El Mezcal. I believe it is superior in a variety of areas. Not the least of which is service. Even when things are busy and service is a bit slow (which happens everywhere from time to time), they are quite accommodating and will, at minimum, apologize for the slow service. I don't blame the folks who were treated poorly for not returning. Rude wait staff and poor service are simply not acceptable when there are so many other options in this town. Based on what I'm seeing from other respondents and the rather mediocre (at best) service and food I experienced during my dining experience, I don't plan on returning either. I'll share this with my friends who also enjoy quality Mexican food delivered by a helpful, pleasant wait staff.
tropregular 17 years, 9 months ago on La Tropicana
La Tropicana
Thanks all for the feedback .. Once again you have proved your points .. your entire party was there within 15 min. so yes you wait to be seated because you were not all there . The place does not take reservations, the above information is incorrect from Lawrence.com and it is first come first serve. I have been to several restaurants and don't feel that the drinks are no more pricey than others ,, its a restaurant for christ sake not a campus beer joint with drink specials! Thanks for not coming back with 15+,,,,, it keeps us coming back.Thanks Tropicana for the same great food and drinks.
jayhawk6295 17 years, 9 months ago on La Tropicana
La Tropicana
I have been here a few times but the last visit was one of the worst dining experiences I have ever had. I was there with coworkers for a dinner. We had called ahead to let them know there would be a large table coming in, to which they assured they would have plenty of staff. When our entire group arrived, we were told it would be a 20 minute wait to be seated. An hour later, we finally sat down. Our food took at least 45 minutes and most of it was cold. The manager then told us that we were wrong, that our food was not cold. The thing that irritated me the most was the fact that there was no apology to our table for the wait by anyone. In fact, when I asked to speak with a manager, he never came out and talked to me. I was very disappointed as we were trying to have a nice evening out. The food was overpriced and the service was not that good. Finally, as we were walking out of the restaurant, one of the servers stated that it was OK if we didn't come back because their regulars would still come. Seemed pretty rude to me. The regulars can have their tables. I won't be back!!
rooster82 17 years, 9 months ago on La Tropicana
La Tropicana
tropregular
Actually my whole party was there within 15 mins, I guess you could say that we waited 1 hour and 45 min for some crappy food. And i will along with the 14 people that were there with me and all our family and friends take our business somewhere else. And by the way drinks were to expensive there to have more then one!
tropregular 17 years, 9 months ago on La Tropicana
La Tropicana
rooster82 This is a place where you don't get seated until your entire party has arrived.You can't have two people sit at table for an hour and wait for the rest when other patrons are waiting to eat. What kind of business would that be. That's what happens with a place that is already busy! And it's busy because the food is worth it. If you want your food as soon as you order than go to Taco Bell. I wonder if you are the same group that was drunk and creating a seen and wanting nothing more than something free. If you think 15 people can go do this in 2 hours than PLEASE don't go there.
rooster82 17 years, 9 months ago on La Tropicana
La Tropicana
This place had the worst service, worst staff, worst food and overall just the worst place I have EVER eaten!!
I am usually pretty understanding at restaurent especially on a Friday night. But this.. IT WAS HORRIBLE!! We waited for AN HOUR to get seated (after being told 20 mins). THEN we waited 10 min to get our chips and salsa. THEN after finally ordering we waited an HOUR to get our food! Not one single time did the staff apologize for the wait we had to get seated, not one single time did the staff apologize for the wait we had to get our food and not one single time did the staff try to ease our frustration. We only got our food after an hour because we told the manager we were leaving if we didn't have our food in 10 mins. And with in 1 min all our food (15 plates) came out. All of them were COLD!
I would just say if you want a nice relaxing Friday evening to go eat good food, grab a drink and finish a movie with in 2 hours....then DO NOT go here!!
kugrad 17 years, 11 months ago on La Tropicana
La Tropicana
When you think of going here, just drive a half a block further and go to El Matador Cafe instead. The food here is overpriced. It tastes ok, but is nothing special. The staff is friendly and the place is usually clean. Don't waste your time on margaritas here. I split a pitcher with a co-worker and couldn't even tell I'd had any alcohol! A total ripoff. For the amount of money it costs to eat here, you can do much better. There is nothing outstanding on the menu anyway. Too expensive.
mdizzleicktizzle 17 years, 11 months ago on La Tropicana
La Tropicana
La Tropicana is an easy to access, quick to serve, and excellent quality restaurant. They pride themselves in their service to their customers, always having at least six waiters during their busiest hours. Sure you have to wait sometimes, but waiting is not a hassle with the fun environment and refreshments from the bar. The longest I've ever had to wait was seven minutes; and that was Cinco de Mayo (the busiest day of the year.) As for the food, the salsa is spicy, but i hear most people like it that way... and the chicken enchiladas are to die for. The fajitas are highly recommended. Did I mention that they make their own chips and salsa. This would explain why you have to pay for them. Plus, being in a college town, who wouldn't come just to eat complimentary chips and salsa for a free meal? It makes perfectly good sense. The side salad at a restaurant has cost included, and so do the chips at a Mexican restaurant.
By the way, order Benuelos for dessert.
mamacita 18 years, 1 month ago on La Tropicana
La Tropicana
good green enchiladas. great patio!
Rose Foster 18 years, 11 months ago on La Tropicana
La Tropicana
So what if the atmosphere is great? I needed a loan to pay the bill. And, you shouldn't have to ask for chips and salsa. That's the deal. The food was really expensive, and the drinks were really really expensive. Very disappointed.
greenback 18 years, 11 months ago on La Tropicana
La Tropicana
charging for chips and salsa is a gringo invention. the food is very good the prices are somewhat fair. but, seriously, charging for chips and salsa? this is not new york. chips and salsa should be free!
bornon7 19 years ago on La Tropicana
La Tropicana
I have to say, this restaurant serves EXCELLENT food. It was my favorite, but I don't go there anymore. Why? Because they overcharge about $2.00 each entree. Chips and salsa should be complimentary, like bread at a fine restaurant. I hope their regulars stay that way, because we took ourselves off the "sucker" list and found a different, less expensive place that's just as good.
JaMm3r 19 years ago on La Tropicana
La Tropicana
Living in deep South Texas up until December of last year, and coming from a Mexican-American family, I like to think that I know Tex-Mex and Mexican food quite well. That being said, I would have to give La Tropicana an overall rating of 4 out of 10 based on various factors. First off, the food was not up to par when it came to meeting my expectations on what good Mexican food should taste like. I've come to appreciate the very finest Mexican restaurants from Laredo, Mexico to San Antonio, Texas, and I would have to say that the food I ate from La Tropicana would perhaps rank in the bottom 10% of the restaurants I've visited. The service also left much to be desired. My date and I arrived at around 12:30 on a weekday, which is a busy time of the day at most restaurants in Lawrence, but the promptness of the service and the availability of the server was not excusable. The "vibe" of the restaurant was not exactly what I'm used to experiencing at a good, sit down, Mexican restaurant. Sure, there were Mexican decorations on the walls and tables, but other than that I found the environment to be rather stale. If you are really looking for a Mexican restaurant that is comparable to the finest in Mexico and South Texas, I would have to recommend El Mezcal. When I first moved to Lawrence, I was starting to worry that the Mexican restaurants would be lacking compared to what I was used to, but I must say that El Mezcal (both locations) has great food, great service, and great atmosphere!
tropregular 19 years, 4 months ago on La Tropicana
La Tropicana
Why should the chips and salsa be free?? For years they were free and like everything else times change and so does the FREE ITEMS LIST. When they were free they were wasted or thought it was all you can eat for free and made a meal out of the chips, by the same people that are eating the entire basket of chips now. Nothing is FREE only the freedom of choice. If you don't want to pay for the chips don't choose to order them .
heynow 19 years, 5 months ago on La Tropicana
La Tropicana
A nice place to kick back and have some sangria/beer while sitting on their outdoor patio. Great place to meet a group for a drink. The salsa is good. The food is okay.
abartle 19 years, 11 months ago on La Tropicana
La Tropicana
The sangria is fabulous. The top-shelf margaritas are awesome too. I wish they offered more options in the food department such as vegetarian options. Also like the salsa - not too spicy but has a kick. The patio is so pleasant in nice weather - and the inside is equally nice.
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