One of my favorite restaurants. Their while chicken dish with rice was amazing. Hoping they re open soon.
Anne W.
We loved this unique Mexican flair menu. The food had a lot of flavor and their drinks were AMAZING! I'm sad to see that they are closed, but hopeful for a Spring reopening!
Lenin Carrion
They have well separated an station where they prepare food and another one where they prepare drinks, and in the middle a big space which can be used to be an open dance floor. Their beer selection is kind of limited. Food seems to be good for what I heard. It is very pricey, but it is understandable according to the kind of ambience they offer.
Maisie’s M.
The food is good, the drinks are excellent. The service is dismal. I understand that there is a labor shortage, and I want to give them some slack, so I gave them 2 stars. I made a reservation to be sure they could accommodate our party, as we required a low table. The woman on the phone said she would note our specific needs, and that this wouldn't be a problem. Well it was, as a new employee gave away our table 10 minutes before we arrived. He was extremely apologetic, and obviously felt bad about what he had done as there were no other open low tables on a busy Friday night. As this was only his 5th day, The poor guy looked to his manager for assistance but all she offered was to seat us outside on a 48 degree evening. It was clear the manager just hoped we would leave. She was extremely unhelpful, and when a 4 top table was finally open we offered to squeeze the 5 of us there. After some discussion she agreed while our group uncomfortably hovered in the dining room for 15 minutes. It was clear what was going on to the whole dining room, and the people that took our table felt awful, and repeatedly apologized for the employee's mistake and the manager's rudeness. As our party included a disability rights attorney, she was very upset and tried to talk to the manager about how wrong this situation was, and at this point the manager just stopped talking, saying she would get us the general manager's phone number. All we really wanted was an apology from the manager, and maybe a free drink while we waited for the table, but nothing was offered. The service was very slow, our meal lasted 2 hours. When we finished, the general manager (who we hadn't seen up to this point) appeared with an apology and a 50 bill credit. That was nice, but our table of 5 had charged far more than that in the 2 hours we were there. The food was good, and I love the hibiscus margaritas. I have eaten there several times in the past, but now will I return? I honestly don't know. I hope they do some staff and managerial training on the ADA, customer service, and how to problem solve when things go wrong. I understand mistakes happen, but it's how they are handled that counts. This dinner was a big fail for me.
lina somsaath
The food here is absolutely delicious, the chefs did a wonderful job. We had the tampiqueno, pollo dominguero, and the al pastor tacos. We highly recommend the pollo dominguero, it was well cooked ,not dry at all, and very flavorful. The service was spotty during dinner. Most notable was after we received the check the waitress did not return for payment. She was chatting with the chefs behind me while waiting for them to cook another table's meal. After 10 minutes, I just got up and gave her the payment on my way out, I did not want to leave that much cash on the table.
Griffen Clark
We went on a Friday night and a game happening across to street. Really great ambiance. It was definitely busy, and the place seemed understaffed. We ordered a total of 3 drinks, chips and salsa, and tacos (which are deconstructed I guess?) and we were there for almost 2 hours. Our server was really nice, but clearly busy. The place could definitely use more staff, both behind the bar and doing tables. Food was just okay and the drinks were sub-par. One had to be mixed with water it was so bad. And considering the price, not really impressed at all and expected more.
Intesar Duncan
The menu seemed unusually fancy to us at first, but the food was great, especially the build-your-own rib tacos.The head server, Aaliyah, is both professional and fun, and gave us good suggestions as to what to order.I managed twelve large restaurants in Europe, and here is my advice: go to La Vecina before it gets cold outside, have a margerita on their veranda, and find out for yourself how good they are.Dr and Mrs Baxter
S D
There's not much to the menu. Service was awful. In my opinion, it's overpriced and I hate complaining about the cost but I am because the food was just ok. It's like they spend more time trying to make it look good but not actually taking the time and effort to have it taste good too. Nonetheless, it is a cute little place and in a nice area. But I did have to go somewhere else to eat once we left there. I think it's definitely worth a try but not somewhere I will go more than once.
Ariana D.
The Iowa City area was in need of a higher end Mexican restaurant and La Vecina fills this gap. Absolutely AMAZING restaurant in the Iowa City area. I will note that we did take out for this meal, but the food was great. Nachos: The nachos were the best part of the meal. The ratio of toppings was perfect and the flavors were great. A somewhat unique take on what you typically think of with nachos, but could not recommend enough. Tacos: The blue corn tortillas were not my favorite, but the flavors in the tacos themselves were great. Corn: Very light and flavorful, great appetizer!
Joelle Henning
We went today for lunch. The food was amazing, our waitress was awesome and very friendly. And the Paloma was perfect! I loved everything about our visit! Highly recommend. Best queso I’ve ever had!
This meal was just... confusing. I had the chicken tinga burrito and my partner had the fish tacos. We also ordered the salsa sampler. Everything lacked in flavor and seasoning. It wasn't terrible but wasn't overly impressive either? My burrito was really, really tiny and mostly had rice in it which was a real disappointment. Tinga usually has a wonderfully distinctive and smoky flavor from the adobo chipotle chilis and I was not able to taste that at all. My partner was sorely disappointed at the small portion of pineapple salsa included. His fish was totally tasteless and lacking appropriate salt completely. 3/4 of my dish was just a huge pile of homemade tortilla chips which made very little sense to me.Sorry to the owners, but there are some definite kinks for you to work out. I'm a a lifelong resident of Iowa City with a passionate love for Mexican food (yes I've had real Mexican food in Mexico), my advice? Focus on improving your flavors and seasoning and increase your portion sizes vs. worrying about hand grinding corn for tortillas. The handmade tortillas were fine, but nothing to be that excited about. You could always save your efforts and source the tortillas from a local maker. However, the salsas were decent and have potential, but they lacked SALT. I felt myself longing to have a salt shaker on the table to add it and bring the flavors forward.More confusingly, while my entrée came with homemade chips from the handmade tortillas, the chip sampler came with regular restaurant tortilla chips. Not only that but, the chips being used for the salsa sampler brought out too much bitterness in the salsas that was not present when the salsas were eaten with the warm homemade tortillas. Why not have the homemade tortilla chips with the salsa sampler also?Re-focus your priorities and goals. I think you have potential to do well here and the décor of the restaurant is nice, but you'll have to adjust to make it. As is, I would not return. The flavors, the odd massive portion of tortilla chips, and the portion sizes do not justify the price.
Jennifer N.
Good food, just wish they would double check delivery orders. Ordered 9 tacos and received 3 tortillas.
On Da Go Bee
The staff was so great & super friendly. Drinks were delicious & the food was cold, but tasty. Atmosphere made you forget about all that wasn't right.
Lori Donahoe
Very Good Mexican food. However tonight we do not receive one of our orders in take out . Phone line has been busy and can’t get thru.!
Lynne S.
We had heard great things but our food was terrible. Al Pastor tacos pork was almost all fat and gristle. Very little meat, almost inedible. Not worth the $15 price. Guacamole had literally no flavor and no chips were in our to go order. Asada tacos were a little better than Al Pastor but certainly have had better locally. Overrated and overpriced. We won't be back. Huge disappointment.
One of my favorite restaurants. Their while chicken dish with rice was amazing. Hoping they re open soon.
We loved this unique Mexican flair menu. The food had a lot of flavor and their drinks were AMAZING! I'm sad to see that they are closed, but hopeful for a Spring reopening!
They have well separated an station where they prepare food and another one where they prepare drinks, and in the middle a big space which can be used to be an open dance floor. Their beer selection is kind of limited. Food seems to be good for what I heard. It is very pricey, but it is understandable according to the kind of ambience they offer.
The food is good, the drinks are excellent. The service is dismal. I understand that there is a labor shortage, and I want to give them some slack, so I gave them 2 stars. I made a reservation to be sure they could accommodate our party, as we required a low table. The woman on the phone said she would note our specific needs, and that this wouldn't be a problem. Well it was, as a new employee gave away our table 10 minutes before we arrived. He was extremely apologetic, and obviously felt bad about what he had done as there were no other open low tables on a busy Friday night. As this was only his 5th day, The poor guy looked to his manager for assistance but all she offered was to seat us outside on a 48 degree evening. It was clear the manager just hoped we would leave. She was extremely unhelpful, and when a 4 top table was finally open we offered to squeeze the 5 of us there. After some discussion she agreed while our group uncomfortably hovered in the dining room for 15 minutes. It was clear what was going on to the whole dining room, and the people that took our table felt awful, and repeatedly apologized for the employee's mistake and the manager's rudeness. As our party included a disability rights attorney, she was very upset and tried to talk to the manager about how wrong this situation was, and at this point the manager just stopped talking, saying she would get us the general manager's phone number. All we really wanted was an apology from the manager, and maybe a free drink while we waited for the table, but nothing was offered. The service was very slow, our meal lasted 2 hours. When we finished, the general manager (who we hadn't seen up to this point) appeared with an apology and a 50 bill credit. That was nice, but our table of 5 had charged far more than that in the 2 hours we were there. The food was good, and I love the hibiscus margaritas. I have eaten there several times in the past, but now will I return? I honestly don't know. I hope they do some staff and managerial training on the ADA, customer service, and how to problem solve when things go wrong. I understand mistakes happen, but it's how they are handled that counts. This dinner was a big fail for me.
The food here is absolutely delicious, the chefs did a wonderful job. We had the tampiqueno, pollo dominguero, and the al pastor tacos. We highly recommend the pollo dominguero, it was well cooked ,not dry at all, and very flavorful. The service was spotty during dinner. Most notable was after we received the check the waitress did not return for payment. She was chatting with the chefs behind me while waiting for them to cook another table's meal. After 10 minutes, I just got up and gave her the payment on my way out, I did not want to leave that much cash on the table.
We went on a Friday night and a game happening across to street. Really great ambiance. It was definitely busy, and the place seemed understaffed. We ordered a total of 3 drinks, chips and salsa, and tacos (which are deconstructed I guess?) and we were there for almost 2 hours. Our server was really nice, but clearly busy. The place could definitely use more staff, both behind the bar and doing tables. Food was just okay and the drinks were sub-par. One had to be mixed with water it was so bad. And considering the price, not really impressed at all and expected more.
The menu seemed unusually fancy to us at first, but the food was great, especially the build-your-own rib tacos.The head server, Aaliyah, is both professional and fun, and gave us good suggestions as to what to order.I managed twelve large restaurants in Europe, and here is my advice: go to La Vecina before it gets cold outside, have a margerita on their veranda, and find out for yourself how good they are.Dr and Mrs Baxter
There's not much to the menu. Service was awful. In my opinion, it's overpriced and I hate complaining about the cost but I am because the food was just ok. It's like they spend more time trying to make it look good but not actually taking the time and effort to have it taste good too. Nonetheless, it is a cute little place and in a nice area. But I did have to go somewhere else to eat once we left there. I think it's definitely worth a try but not somewhere I will go more than once.
The Iowa City area was in need of a higher end Mexican restaurant and La Vecina fills this gap. Absolutely AMAZING restaurant in the Iowa City area. I will note that we did take out for this meal, but the food was great. Nachos: The nachos were the best part of the meal. The ratio of toppings was perfect and the flavors were great. A somewhat unique take on what you typically think of with nachos, but could not recommend enough. Tacos: The blue corn tortillas were not my favorite, but the flavors in the tacos themselves were great. Corn: Very light and flavorful, great appetizer!
We went today for lunch. The food was amazing, our waitress was awesome and very friendly. And the Paloma was perfect! I loved everything about our visit! Highly recommend. Best queso I’ve ever had!
Restaurantji Recommends
This meal was just... confusing. I had the chicken tinga burrito and my partner had the fish tacos. We also ordered the salsa sampler. Everything lacked in flavor and seasoning. It wasn't terrible but wasn't overly impressive either? My burrito was really, really tiny and mostly had rice in it which was a real disappointment. Tinga usually has a wonderfully distinctive and smoky flavor from the adobo chipotle chilis and I was not able to taste that at all. My partner was sorely disappointed at the small portion of pineapple salsa included. His fish was totally tasteless and lacking appropriate salt completely. 3/4 of my dish was just a huge pile of homemade tortilla chips which made very little sense to me.Sorry to the owners, but there are some definite kinks for you to work out. I'm a a lifelong resident of Iowa City with a passionate love for Mexican food (yes I've had real Mexican food in Mexico), my advice? Focus on improving your flavors and seasoning and increase your portion sizes vs. worrying about hand grinding corn for tortillas. The handmade tortillas were fine, but nothing to be that excited about. You could always save your efforts and source the tortillas from a local maker. However, the salsas were decent and have potential, but they lacked SALT. I felt myself longing to have a salt shaker on the table to add it and bring the flavors forward.More confusingly, while my entrée came with homemade chips from the handmade tortillas, the chip sampler came with regular restaurant tortilla chips. Not only that but, the chips being used for the salsa sampler brought out too much bitterness in the salsas that was not present when the salsas were eaten with the warm homemade tortillas. Why not have the homemade tortilla chips with the salsa sampler also?Re-focus your priorities and goals. I think you have potential to do well here and the décor of the restaurant is nice, but you'll have to adjust to make it. As is, I would not return. The flavors, the odd massive portion of tortilla chips, and the portion sizes do not justify the price.
Good food, just wish they would double check delivery orders. Ordered 9 tacos and received 3 tortillas.
The staff was so great & super friendly. Drinks were delicious & the food was cold, but tasty. Atmosphere made you forget about all that wasn't right.
Very Good Mexican food. However tonight we do not receive one of our orders in take out . Phone line has been busy and can’t get thru.!
We had heard great things but our food was terrible. Al Pastor tacos pork was almost all fat and gristle. Very little meat, almost inedible. Not worth the $15 price. Guacamole had literally no flavor and no chips were in our to go order. Asada tacos were a little better than Al Pastor but certainly have had better locally. Overrated and overpriced. We won't be back. Huge disappointment.