Mesa Tacos and Tequila

Like other reviewers will tell you, Mesa is a welcome change from the horrible Mexican restaurant that was in its place before, but it just isn’t enough to make this an Above Average restaurant to look forward to.
We have been on 3 occasions since it opened and each time haven’t been overly impressed, for several reasons. It isn’t the worst, by any means, but it also isn’t the best. It is simply: average.
The ambiance is nice in the summer being able to eat on the porch off main street in bustling Royal Oak, but otherwise the inside is a confused restaurant that tries to be cool Mexican mixed with Sports Bar. There are 9 – 10 TVs everywhere with sports on. You’d think it was a sports bar with one of the entire walls being a huge projection TV screen, but it isn’t marketed like that so it comes off just weird when you come in, at least to us.
A few notable high/​low lights:
— The chips are average, not great, but are free
— They give you salsa with the chips which is also average, but don’t offer you hot and mild, just the mild version only.
— Fajitas are enough for 2 people to share, don’t get 2 orders or you’re wasting money
— The specialty drinks should be taken with caution. We’ve had 2 different special drinks of the night that have both been horrible. Stick with a good draft Mexican beer or something else where you know what you’re getting.
— The service has always been average. No one on any of our 3 visits ever stood out in that they appreciated our business or that they were above average in regards to the attention we got… (see a theme here??)
Overall we decided that our last visit would be our… last visit. There are other Mexican options or just options in general that are better than Mesa. They have potential but seem like a confused restaurant that’s not committed to being the best.

This place makes me want to go out in Royal Oak! The atmosphere is perfect for a date or brunch with friends, and the food is always delicious and fresh. Plus, the drink menu doesn’t disappoint. Big fan of Mesa!!!

I’m only giving this two stars because of the wait staff and tequila selection. Staff was great and very friendly. I was impressed by the tequila selection and the drinks were very good– I had the dragonfruit margarita. The chips and salsa were just «eh», nothing to write home about. I swear they put a Velveeta like cheese on my nachos and it was gross. WTH!!! If you want good Mexican, go around the corner to Iron Horse.

My friend and I came here for dinner and drinks last night.
As we were seated we were given chips and salsa and we orders the guacamole which is made fresh in house and was absolutely amazing. They also have a spicy version available with fresh cut habaneros.
We then ordered the Mexican Cobb salad with chicken to share which also was so fresh and good. Pieces of the corn were still in the rows from being cut off the cob. Honestly this is one of the freshest salads I have ever gotten from a restaurant.
Monday is «margarita Monday» so they have great drink specials.
Dave was our waiter and was great, very attentive.
Give this place a try!

Staff made the evening. The three of us enjoyed the wide open window. The sangria was enjoyed. The nachos were fresh but not warm. The salsa fair and almost tasteless. The hotter version not really hot and still unseasoned.
Still have not returned; wonder why?

I lived in Mexico for 18 years, and my family is Mexican. I’ve had good Mexican food, and there’s good Mexican food to be had in metro Detroit, but you won’t get it at Mesa.
The food was bland and too greasy (throwing lard on everything doesn’t make it «authentic» Mexican food…), and the portions were tiny for the cost. And, the true test of a good Mexican restaurant is the salsa, which at Mesa just tastes like the lame tomato-​y «mild» stuff you get in jars at the supermarket.
I think I would’ve given this place a better score if I had just come in for drinks, because they do seem to have a good selection of tequila and beer, but I came here on a dinner date and it was very disappointing. If I do ever go back, it will be only for the drinks…

Following my previous post, we gave this place another try. I decided to organize a group dinner there (15 people). The service has been worked out. Our server was amazing, but the food hasn’t change. I ordered the same thing, Tacos Americanos — same issues as before. Zero meat, zero cheese and lettuce. The meat, that was hidden within the shell, was extremely salty. I couldn’t finish the meal. Within the group their was a variety of entrees and a number of the others had similar complaints. This town is starving for a good Mexican place, and Mesa isn’t going to even scratch the surface.
It is sad but we all left last night and agreed we will not be back.

This is the worst Mexican food I have ever had in my life. I went with four people and we all tried each others food and none of it was even decent. I truly would have rather of ate at del taco. The service was not good either. Also when we went they ran out of salsa. How do you run out of salsa if you are a Mexican restuaraunt? I wish it would have stayed Mexican cantina (the resturaunt it was previously). I will never come back here.

I was disappointed with my experience at Mesa. The restaurant feels like just another bar with big TVs that caters to the drunk sports fans who don’t really care about the taste of their food. I tried the hard shell tacos both with beef and chicken, both were dry and tasteless. However, some of our party had fajitas and they were pretty pleased with their order so for now I will give 3 stars for Mesa until a time when I can come back and give them a second chance.

Mesa is my new favorite restaurant in downtown Royal Oak. Very cozy feel, unlike most other Royal Oak restaurants which can be impersonal. I got the fajitas, which were seasoned perfectly and piping hot. Girlfriend got the orange salad which was very crisp and fresh. Prices are very fair for what you get. Our total bill with 2 entrees and 2 drinks was $ 32. Plus, they have a 200 inch projector and $ 3 draught Coronas, perfect for football games!

Nice place for a group gathering, especially to watch a game. Definitely a bit over priced for mex food and for the quality. The nachos are $ 9 and shareable for two people — meatless option. Great melty cheese made the dish. I ordered the carnitas tacos plate with a side of mex corn. For $ 3 I think they could at least give you a whole piece of corn, but they don’t. The pork was salty and missing the avocado purée. — but all this, half way into a $ 35 pitcher of mojitos, I didn’t really care much. The game was on, I had a drink in front of me and the place was dead for it being Halloween night. Maybe that is why the service was so good. The pitchers are large and 2 of us shared it. Not really a price break from the normal cost but we ordered it anyway. My hubs said his American ground beef tacos were fine.
Sure the prices reflect the location, but if you are going to have a prime location, I would expect the food to be prime to justify the prices. We would go back, for the location and to watch a game, maybe, with lower expectations of the quality of food.
Service was great.

I’ve had a lot of mexican food and the food here is not good. It’s not authentic and it’s not even good for gringo style. The salsa tastes more like marinara sauce. The rice was undercooked. Beans were bland. I had brisket tacos and it was just an odd flavor combination. You want american fusion mexican food in Royal Oak… go to Iron Horse or Qdoba. You want authentic… well then you have to get the heck off Main St and go to Pontiac.
The margaritas look like they might be good, but didn’t try em. I hope this place closes and something better comes in.

Pretty good. Two level spot with Mexican theme, bicycles on the wall, lots of black paint, and lots of sports TVs, one being a huge but fairly good screen. 8 draft beers, one Mexican, pretty good Mexican food. Great staff.
This place isn’t the greatest Mexican food ever, but is pretty good and much better than the other reviews would lead you to conclude. The staff was uniformly polite and helpful.

Love the décor, great service, mediocre cocktails; smallest margarita I’ve ever seen in a Mexican restaurant, conveniently located on Main Street… VERY underwhelming food. How do you leave out traditional Mexican food spices when cooking Mexican? Our enchilada — we had both chicken and beef were so bland that we could only eat a small portion. Even after pouring the remaining salsa on mine, I still wasn’t interested in finishing. My daughter ate the chicken fajita which she thought was good, sautéed onion and peppers always add flavor. The wet burrito looked good but oddly enough was dry. We will not likely return when there is a great Mexican restaurant a block away with more reasonable prices as well. High end wannabe, low quality product. A disappointing birthday dinner fort son’s 21^st. :(

Finally gave in and gave this place a try and I wish I hadn’t! Went in for a late lunch just after 2:00PM. I have to say, I was initially impressed with the décor upgrades, but that’s where the good stopped. The excessively loud 90’s music made me feel like I was walking into my 8^th grade dance. Is this supposed to be a Mexican restaurant or a club?
The food wasn’t terrible, but it was definitely overpriced.
The service was TERRIBLE!!! Our weightier had a total of two tables and acted like the place was slammed (there were only 7 tables being used and at least 5 other servers working). The one time he actually stopped by to see how we were doing, he asked «how’s everything working out?» Ummm… is that a real question? He made it seem like a huge inconvenience to bring us a side of sour cream.
The next time I’m in the area and feel like Mexican, I’ll stop by Taco Bell. At least I’ll know the service will be better! There is no way I’ll visit this establishment again.

Monterrey sucked and this place sucks too. Unlike the other reviews, I actually had decent service. I wish I remembered her name, but she was a sweetheart and very attentive. She could use some more training, as she didn’t know the beer list and seemed nervous, but she’ll be fine once she does. She gets 1 star to make this review 2 stars.
My carnitas tacos came out cold, but the other dishes were fine. And even when they came back, it was still dry. Guacamole is stuffed with onions and tomatoes to help cover the cost of avocados. But the nastiest thing that came out was my mother’s «stuffed» portobello mushroom. See my picture and please let me know if I’ve just been eating stuffed mushrooms wrong all my life because it legit looked like someone threw up over mushrooms. Nasty.
White sangria was good but their signature margaritas were nothing special. Not coming back. Obviously the owners don’t give a ** and think they’re cool for having a restaurant with nice décor in trendy RO.

i am really glad i decided to go ahead and check this place out, despite the other reviews.
upon entering i noticed the beautiful décor and i really like the look that they went for here! there is plenty of space for large groups/​parties, also outdoor patio seating of course. there is also an upstairs!
we were greeted by our server within about 2 minutes of sitting down, and he brought out waters with him. they come in cute little mason jars! after that he went and got fresh chips and salsa, which i was a fan of. i wish the salsa was a little bit spicier but i loved the flavor and it was the perfect texture, not too chunky and not too thin. i saw that the dragon fruit margarita was popular, however one that is listed on the menu as dragon — fruit is $ 11, which i wasn’t in the mood for paying for at the moment so i decided to go with the traditional margarita with dragon fruit flavoring. the margaritas were very strong and flavorful, i only needed one to feel a nice buzz. the one thing i like about the drink menu here is that they include the prices! most places don’t include the prices so that you’ll keep ordering them, so i really appreciate that.
i ordered the tacos americanos with chicken as an entrée and i loved it. the shredded chicken was perfectly seasoned and not overly flavored. my boyfriend ordered the chicken fajitas and he said that the chicken was seasoned well, not perfect, but well. the rice here is very tasty as well.
all in all, we like this place and we will be back. the service was amazing, i forgot our server’s name but he was one of the most polite servers i have ever had, even the busboy was nice when he collected our plates, most of them just drop by without saying a word.
if you’re expecting authentic mexican, then don’t come here. it’s obviously in the dead middle of downtown royal oak so of course i don’t really expect authenticity, but it’s a really cool place to have a nice, fresh mexican american meal with strong drinks!

The place is okay and the servers are friendly. The décor is fantastic and has an artistic touch. However, their food is horrible. Their chicken taco tastes like tuna.

Ate at Mesa tonight with two friends and sat on the covered, open patio. Great view and atmosphere. We were greeted and seated promptly. Waitress came right over, I wish I could remember her name because she was great! She took our drink order and brought them out really fast along with chips and salsa. Once our friends arrived, she quickly too their order. She then did what every good waitress should do, let us chill and catch up, refilling our drinks as soon as they were gone. Well done!
We ordered our food, brisket enchiladas, fajitas and red snapper tacos. I didn’t try the fajitas on our friends plate but they were gone so I’m sure they were good. Tried the fish tacos off my husbands plate and liked them better than my enchiladas! The enchiladas were good, I just wasn’t crazy about the sauce. Maybe just my taste. The rice and beans that came with though were awesome, very flavorful and pretty. I told the waitress I loved the rice (and I usually don’t like Spanish/​Mexican rice), she said they just changed the recipe! Stick with it, it was awesome!
I’ll probably go back for drinks and an app next. Hopefully they expand their menu a little as not much really jumped out as unique or something I had to try. Nice job starting out though!

I would definitely go back! WAY better than Monterrey ever was. The salsa was really good, although beware if you pay extra for the diablo salsa as well, it is HOT. I mean, «hot» salsa is usually pretty tame at Mexican restaurants, but not here.
The tacos were excellent, as were the rice and beans!
The layout is great, with the open patio windows and everything.
My friend wanted a bloody Mary, which they don’t carry there because they don’t use mixes for any of their drinks, but they were able to wrangle something similar up for her, which was super awesome of them! I had a sangria, which was also great.