La Isla Restaurant

Not to our tasting. Worst shrimp cocktail I’ve ever had. Shrimp cocktail was bland and the service was horrible. There was one other family eating here and we had to get up and ask for drinks and chips. Never going back. Would not recommend.

Well to start off the food was good ! I got the camarones a la diabla and though I’ve had better they were good. The chips and salsa were very good too. Now as for everything else not so good. They give you coke in a can to serve yourself which I disliked and our server seem to forget we were there. It seems like they only refill if you ask not if they see you need one though. The portions are small ! Make sure to eat a lot of chips or else you will not get full. Oh and they charge you for a refill ! As I said good is great but everything else is bleh.

Tried this restaurant after reading the reviews. We were in town for the Cowboys game & wanted some good authentic Mexican food. The chips & salsa were very good salsa was sort of on the spicy side. We had the shrimp cocktail nfor an appetizer & it was very good I would recommend it shrimps tasted fresh. I ate the cheese enchilada plate w/​rice & beans everything was very delicious! My bf had the caldo de pescado that he said was nothing like he had eaten before very delicious. All in all had great experience eating here & I would definitely eat here the next time I’m in town!

The food is absolutely delicious ! But what i love more than good food is good service to go along with it.
As soon as we finished our salsa and chips the waitress brought us some more warm fresh tortilla chips and made sure to be attentive the whole time we were there.

Food was 5 stars. Carne Asada was tender with great marinated flavor. Combo fajitas were excellent and not your typical Tex Mex «served on a skillet so it burns up your meat to a charred chewy mess» fajitas.
Appearance and Cleanliness of the dining room 1 star. Food is so good but don’t look up at the ceiling fans and make sure to examine your plate and silver to make sure it is clean.
Service 3 stars. Maybe it would have been better if I spoke better Spanish as it was very clear that the server did not speak English. The fact that there was a language barrier didn’t bother me as much as the unfriendly service. I tried my best to be polite and say gracias but never once heard de nada or even a smile.
I would go back but I hope they clean up a little and I will be willing to brush up on my Spanish.

It’s alright, I mean the specials are priced really well but overall the food and atmosphere is just so so. And the service leaves more to be desired, the wait staff tends to be very short with you and you don’t get the vibe that they want to make sure you have everything you need. Like they are needing to do the minimal amount of work to make sure they don’t get into trouble or something. Overall I only come here if I am needing to eat somewhere close to my work.

Fantastic food! The décor is hideous, though. Great daily specials, the chicken enchiladas are amazing. My boyfriend ordered the tostadas, and they were incredible. The shrimp cocktail is a signature dish that cannot be skipped. The staff isnt real attentive, they were watching tv the entire time we were eating, but were friendly. They do have beer, although you will not find it on the menu. Give it a try!

What can you say about La Isla? Well, first off it’s not exactly easy on the eyes, but if your looking for good food, go here.
We’ve been several times now and last night it became very clear to me that this is one of the better tex-​mex places in Arlington, if only the ambiance was better I’d give it five stars.
Last night I had the caldo de camaron and the combo tex-​mex special with a beef enchilada, chicken enchilada, and a crispy taco, it was all superb. The taco was honestly one of the best tacos I’ve ever had in my life and I eat tacos in my sleep. There was heaps of fresh, green lettuce, wonderful tomatoes, cheese, and the beef is amazing without being greasy. But, it’s the shell that takes this next level like Chuck Norris. The shell has to be homemade, it’s light crispy, just other worldly and when you finish you are looking down at your own salad as a bonus meal.
Next time I go I’ll just get the shrimp cocktail, the soup, and a single taco, hell, I might go there today, I’m hooked…

This is one of my favorite mexican food places around! I am a regular and the waitstaff doesnt even have to ask me what I want. The danielittas is great as are the Crispy taco plate. The Salsa and Queso are wonderful. Don’t change a thing!

If what you’re looking for is standard, inexpensive tex-​mex, then this is a great find! They have a pretty decent menu. The ceviche is always fresh and the salsa is top notch! I usually order the cheese tacos (which is cheese enchiladas with queso on top) and my kiddos usually order the shrimp cocktail and quesadillas.
We usually come during the week at lunch time. We’ve never had to wait. We did have our wedding rehearsal dinner there and the Mariachi band was a lot of fun. Don’t judge me… we were poor and on a tight budget!!!
The service has always been fine. I’m sure speaking Spanish helps, but it’s Mexican food. Anyone can order that in English :)

La Isla is great for that random night that you want trashy sit down, basic Mexican food and don’t want to shower. I haven’t ventured too far into their menu but everything I have gotten there is pretty good. I wouldn’t choose this over Uncle Julio’s — for instance — but for what you pay it is pretty darn good.

Bland bland bland. The chicken in my chicken enchiladas literally had no seasoning. It was some boiled chicken in a tortilla with sour cream on top. I’ve eaten my share of chicken enchiladas at other places and usually there is SOMETHING going on in there besides unseasoned chicken. Yes, I know this place is cheap but I’m learning that there are things I will pay a little extra for and food is one of them. The salsa wasn’t very good either, again, lacking the minimal amount of flavor I expect from a generic Mexican spot. BUT the queso flameado was good and I would bump it up half a star if I could based on this lone highlight of the meal. I like almost all similar food spectacles; I become a small child instantly and literally wiggle my fingers and make ooh and ahh sounds. You should see me at a hibachi when the guy makes an onion volcano! The queso is a greasy greasy blob of cheesey chorizoy goodness that made that made the meal not a total bust.

You know that one point in your day when everything goes to hell in a hand basket? For me that moment was when i uttered the words «sure, let’s go there.»
My friend lives around the corner so we went on a Monday night.
This place was so, so nasty and greasy. I mean greasy even for Mexican food. The was just no flavor in anything they served. The food IS cheap, but i spent most of the rest of the night regretting I’d eaten here, so it wasn’t worth it.

Service — 3 Stars
Food — 3 Stars
Good Tex-​Mex El Cheapo — 4 Stars
FREE ENTREE ALERT!
This is a good local restaurant. Even if the food isn’t 4 Stars, the prices makes up the difference! Beats El Fenix in price and taste. About half the price of Papasitos.
I like their cheese enchiladas or their combo plates. Can’t go wrong. Good flour tortillas. Good hot salsa.
So where’s the free entrée? See the following recipe made from the ingredients of just about any Combo Plate on the menu.
BURRITOS ESTEBAN
1. Order any Combo Plate that has at least one cheese enchilada and/​or one beef enchilada.
2. Ask for flour tortillas if they don’t already come with meal.
3. Just slap some butter on the flour tortillas.
4. Next, coat it down with the refried beans or charro beans (mashed up a little, of course).
5. Swipe a little excess cheese from your cheese enchilada, or beef from your beef enchilada or both if you’re as piggish as me.
6. Dribble a little hot sauce on top.
7. Now roll the whole thing up into a tube, fold up one end to keep the contents from dumping out (Do No Skip This Step, Or Its Your Mess To Clean Up!)
8. Then start eating from the open end. While this seems self-​evident, let’s just be on the safe side, OK?
Brilliant, eh? And if someone else sez they invented it first, then its pistols at dawn or better yet, nachos at noon.

I used to be a big fan of this place until moving a couple years ago.
Inexpensive & good Mexican food in large portions! Nice service & atmosphere.
Definitely worth a try if you haven’t yet.
La Isla [bonita!].
:)

Totally decent food and centrally located. There is beer and I think liquor too. Don’t expect the waitstaff to be talkative unless you speak Spanish. I’ve never had to wait for a table and I think there’s a private party room as well.

Traditional Tex-​Mex & Tex-​Mex Seafood
Service is very good and very friendly, and we have never encountered a wait. Most of the waitstaff speak little English, but that’s okay– Tex-​Mex is universal. Occasionally, one will bring out an instrument for pleasant, unobtrusive music. (During my last visit, a harpist played amazing Mexican music and some American pop standards).
The salsa is as fresh and flavorful as minutes-​old homemade. The food competes well with standard Tex-​Mex offerings in the area: simple, very tasty, and quick to arrive.
This location appears to be a converted Denny’s. The dining room and restaurant in general is, again, simple, but the prices are outstanding. Most dishes are between $ 6 and $ 8, and the weekday specials are full meals under $ 5. One block from UT Arlington, this is a great place for college students!