El Mezcal

Love this place every time we go. Even their takeout is fantastic! Great food. Large portions. Huge margaritas!
Order a monster margarita and you can practically swim in it!

Charlie was our server and he was great. The food was very good and so was the service. Highly recommend.

Quality food at decent prices. Can accommodate gluten free. Have had cheese end up in orders when exclusion requested, but they switch it without fuss. Good margaritas–

The meal was not merely disappointing, but quite nearly bad. There are plenty of other, better Mexican places in town like La Familia and El Matador.

The waitress and manager were very rude. We asked for chips at least 4 times and never got them, and when we talked to the manager about our awful service he sided with the waitress and we never got our chips. Not recommended.

I’m very disappointed. I’ve been coming here for years and have always enjoyed it, until today. The waiter has too many tables so we had less than good service. The red sauce is not the usual one and is terrible, the «yellow» rice was actually minute rice with some color added, and my burrito el mezcal was too salty to eat. They got two stars because of the white cheese dip and previous experiences. It will be a while before I come back.

The food is good and the service is satisfactory. I’ve never had to wait very long to get seated despite the fact they are always packed. The food is prepared as they advertise in the menu. The only complaint I have about this restaurant is that they treat you as if you were on a cattle call. Very little small talk, quite impersonal service, you get your food fast and leave. The vibe is always like you have stayed too long. Maybe it’s just me. Otherwise, everything is up to standard. I recommend this place but do not expect warmth from the staff.

I loved the Lawrence burrito– it has every meat you could ever want. Also the décor is very colorful and fun!

We came here for a dinner with friends and arrived just a few minutes later than most of our party. I had to ask the server 3 times for additional salsa and bowls. Then he eventually brought salsa but not bowls. He came to our table so infrequently that I had to wait at least 10 minutes to get his attention and ask for the bowls. Same issue with refilling chips, getting us silverware and napkins and they didn’t bring an extra plate with our dinner even though it was clear we were sharing.
That brings me to the food. The chips were stale and unsalted, the salsa was unimpressive and the cheese dip came out in a very tiny bowl and was already cool and thick. The burrito I shared with my husband looked clumsily assembled and microwaved, with cheese sauce haphazardly dumped on it. It tasted like cafeteria food. I managed to «enjoy» about half of the cheese dip before we ran out of chips. By the time we saw our server again to ask for more it was time to leave but I wasn’t going to waste the mediocre dip we paid for so I insisted on new chips. I still had to ASK AGAIN for the chips when the server came back with our check.
If it wasn’t for the company of good friends, it would have been a completely devastating dinner experience.

We tried the El Mezcal on Iowa Street (now closed) shortly after moving to Lawrence last summer and were not impressed. So when I read the Unilocal*reviews for the 23^rd Street location, e is such a thingI was a bit surprised that they were consistently so good. In fact, a fellow Elite ’14 member, Alicia «Lush» R, had high praise for their food, service, and margaritas, so I had to give them a try.
I am admittedly a Mexican food snob, if there is such a thing, having grown up in LA where hispanics seem to outnumber us gringos (PC???) and Mexican restaurants outnumber McDonalds. As usual, I stick with the basics the first time I visit a restaurant to see if they can get them right before moving on to more complex dishes.
We ordered the small guacamole ($ 3.79) and the highly touted white cheese dip (queso blanco — small — $ 3.79). The guacamole was very good, made with fresh avocado and NO TOMATO, well seasoned and a fair portion for the prices. The queso blanco was also scrummy as advertised, warm and well seasoned, but not too hot as my wife does not like her food too spicy. I had the 27 ounce margarita (on the rocks — $ 4.99) which was good, strong, and very reasonably priced, and my wife had the horchata, a Mexican rice-​base drink which was a bit watery for our taste.
My wife ordered the vegetarian special #1, a cheese quesadilla and cheese and onion enchilada (with queso blanco instead of red sauce — she hates tomatoes — $ 7.49), coming with retired beans. It is difficult to screw-​up a quesadilla and El Mezcal was no exception. The enchilada was good, but the beans rather bland, missing that fatty taste traditional refried beans emanate hence the name «refried».
I decided to forego the rice and beans and get down to brass tacks, ordering the beef tacos ($ 3.99) and cheese and onion enchiladas ($ 5.79) ala carte. The tacos came in prefab shells, normally a dead giveaway for bad food, but they were actually pretty good. The ground beef was well seasoned, the shells not too soft, not too crispy, holding up well to the punishment my teeth inflicted, with a little lettuce and plenty of white cheese. Their menu mentions «juicy tomato», but there were none in my tacos, my only complaint other than the prefab shells. I saved some guacamole for my tacos and added their salsa which was pretty good, making up for the lack of tomatoes.
The cheese and onion enchiladas were tasty, but so tough (yes, tough) that I could not cut them with a fork and my knife even had difficulty at times. I like burnt, crispy cookies and brownies, so I actually enjoyed the crunchiness. It was obvious that they had been either broiled or microwaved too long BEFORE adding the enchilada sauce, which was actually very good. My only other recommendations would be to flash fry the tortillas before filling them, adding the sauce and some white cheese on top before putting them under the broiler to melt. There was also about 50% too much sauce, a waste of money considering the fact that I left much of it on my plate.
El Mezcal was a nice surprise after the ho-​hum experience we had at the Iowa Street location. The décor is colorful and reminiscent of old Mexico complete with a small fountain and the service attentive, friendly, and fast. Not my favorite Mexican restaurant in Lawrence, but we will return from time to time for the cheap, abundant margaritas if nothing else.
CombatCritic Gives El Mezcal 7 Out of 10 Bombs … BOMBAS ARE BUENAS!

Very excited about getting Mexican with my sister, second restaurant we hit during my visit to see her (first time in Lawrence). Over all this was a great meal, few things that they could consider tho.
Summarized pros & cons:
Queso blanco was excellent. I love places that use fresh queso fresco or goat cheese.
Enchiladas were spot on
Margarita was tasty and a great deal (we shared an on the rocks big size). Was a little sweet for my taste, awesome for $ 5ish but I like how places are considering making lower cal options such as a skinny margarita with lime instead of sweet n sour. Healthier and tastes better.
Fish tacos were overall good but odd taste just a touch fishy. Veggies all fresh and I still enjoyed them tho.
Excellent salsa, and I LOVE when it comes in the carafe so you can refill at your ease.
I’d be happy to eat here again, great conversation place and bright entertaining décor that wasn’t cheesy. Perfect college town Mexican.

El Mez is a must if you want Mexican food in Lawrence. The service is great, very efficient and quick. I sometimes have to ask for a water refill, but the chip refills roll in one after the other. Their cheese dip always beckons me back. It’s creamy and dippable. The chimichangas are always crispy, coated in white cheese and stuffed with shredded chicken. The vegetarian quesadillas are crispy but the veggies are little greasy ($ 6.99). Beans can be subbed in to the taco salads ($ 6.99), which combined with the white cheese dip that is added to the salad, makes for a delicious, deep-​fried bowl of salad deliciousness.
While their offerings are pretty typical of most Mexican places as are the prices, the consistency of food quality and service keeps me coming back. I’ve never had a bad experience and they often have good margarita and beer specials. The bar is up front, so while there if typically no wait, if you come in a on a busy Saturday night, you can get a lime margaritas on the rocks while you wait.
Festively painted walls and ornately carved tables and booths make for a welcoming atmosphere. It is often quite loud inside, making the patio a very welcome option on warm nights.

This will go into the pretty damn good category. The second day in Lawrence, my group of ladies recommended we eat at El Mezcal. Much better choice than On The Border the day before.
On the menu is a true vegetarian section. I think I had a cheese enchilada, and quasidila. The enchilada had cheese filling with a tomato based sauce. There was no meat whatsoever. No sauce that tasted like Ragu. Infact, I used the salsa, which was mild, on the quasidila. The quasidila had cheese and jalapenos, and was lunch size, which was half a regular size.
It came with refried beans, but I chose black beans. I can always do without the refried beans, they are my least favorite. I didn’t see rice on the menu, which I like, alot.
The restaurant is colorful and delightful. I liked the copper marachi band over looking the main dining area. The service was top notch. No complaints. Locally owned.