Must try the corn tamales!!! All their food is beautiful and delicious!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
A L.
This spot is a true gem - one of my favorites. Extremely well taken care of (tables are spotless, and the lighting is bright and clean), great music, and really wonderful service/kind servers and, most importantly, *outstanding* food. I almost don't want to write this review, because that'd mean more people would come and discover my favorite spot to eat after a long day. But also the restaurant is too delicious not to share, and I hope they DO become popular, because they deserve it. Get the tamal - so soft and delicate/flavorful. The grilled mi casita special is also delicious (with grilled shrimp, chicken, and steak; actual grill marks and yummy smoky flavor). I also love the chuleta encebollada (fried pork chops with caramelized onions). Just really good quality, authentic, and fresh food and great prices. Such a rarity to find spots like these in Cville.
Kenny D
Really a 3.5 stars. Not bad at all.Interesting that people are reporting this place isn't accepting gift certificates. My wife and I just ate here Tuesday Jan 23, 2024 and they accepted our gift certificates from C'Ville Local Deals. There must have been someone working the day the others came in that didn't realize the business had sold the certificates. Just a note; businesses struggling for customers offer these 50% off deals and there is usually a reason they are struggling for customers.On to the review:This place has plenty of seating and mostly booths which is great. We were here at 2:30 on a Tuesday so they weren't busy and it was easy for them to provide great service. I have no idea what it's like when they are busy. Our server was a very nice and soft spoken young lady who communicated in English well.Overall impression is, the food is prepared well, but a bit bland. The presentations of the plates are beautiful.The chips are wonderful and the salsa was different, almost a fruity flavor like it had pear juice or something in it. It was very salty though...and I love salt. The pico they served with the meals had the same fruity-ish flavor but was missing literally any other seasonings. I think some of the salt from the salsa should have gone in to the pico! Of course reading another review here, they cant win, they would offend some people with the use of cilantro, etc..My wife had the pollo con tajadas, fried chicken with plantains. While the chicken was cooked well, she wasn't expecting a whole bone-in front quarter of a chicken, but looking at the menu photo it was hard to tell because the chicken is covered in stuff with the plating.The chicken and plantains were bland, nothing special regarding the seasoning. She did enjoy the cabbage slaw and pickled onions though. She enjoyed the chicken and plantains, but they were bland, even with the slaw and onions on the side. Fortunately we carry Tajin with us to combat bland Latino food when we encounter it.I had some of the leftover chicken at home and it was cooked to perfection. It just needed salsa/seasoning. I salvaged the leftover plantains that weren't covered in the sauce and re-deep-fried them and actually put salt on them right out of the fryer like they should have been originally, and they tasted like good potato fries! Better than when they were served originally.I had the carne asada (thin sliced beef) and same thing, fairly bland. The pico needed help as I wrote above. The beef may have been marinated but didn't have a bunch of flavor, except the flavor of beef. The beef was pretty tender, surprisingly. Have to give them credit for that, I thought Latinos just preferred chewy beef like Chinese restaurants, but these folks served me beef that could be cut with a strong fork hand.The pureed beans were OK. Basic and bland. The rice was good, like it had been cooked in broth. It had enough salt in it but no other specialty flavors except some corn kernels. That's why I call this home cooking, Latinos do eat regular food, everything is not always kicking with flavor. I like that my plate was served with a grilled jalapeno, but again, no seasoning. A pickled jalapeno like you get at other restaurants would have been better.All in all, the food was cooked very well, we just needed to add Tajin and some of their salsa spiked with the habanero hot sauce (the only hot sauce they offer FYI, sadly, so bring your favorite with you if you have one) to bring the flavor out of the "just ok" zone.I didn't find the bathroom particularly unclean but hot water to wash your hands with would be nice. I find this in Latino and Asian restaurants all the time, I think they do it intentionally. The health department clearly misses this. If I were an inspector the first thing I would do is go to the bathroom and wash my hands.We will be back at least to use up our certificates, but maybe not after that. The one time I ate here before, the food was bland. Well prepared, but bland. For the salt and seasoning adverse, t
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
bob blue
My friend told me this place sold him $200 in gift certificates and now they won’t accept them. Full disclosure I have not eaten here but he asked me to leave this review until they accept his gift certificates.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Clay B.
They are no longer accepting the gift certificates they sold through C'ville local deals in the Fall of 2023 despite their May 2024 expiration date. The food was delicious and at first I had no issues using the gift certificates but on my second visit they even admitted "our manager changed the rules and now you can only use one per visit". This is explicitly *NOT* in the fine print. They sold a bunch of these and then when they realized people were actually going to try and use them they illegally made them harder to use. If they accept them on my next visit I will happily update my review to the 5 stars this restaurant deserves.
Clay Baldwin
They accepted their gift certificates when I first ate here. They since changed their rules and decided they don’t want to actually accept all of the gift certificates they collected money for. Once they accept them I will update to a 5 star
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Ricardo Mejia
The bathroom was totally dirty, the service was terrible.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Ewa Ade Aborode
Staff were very nice but the food was not good. I must say the salad was delicious! I enjoyed the salad. It had a kick to it. I ordered the house special. Steak was overcooked. Looked like a cheap steakum. Rice was white so I didn’t eat it. I asked before I placed my order if it was fried. I was told yes. My pupusa was soggy. I would not eat there again.
I've been here three times now.Good prices, great service, authentic food every time?Great place!?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Lillian H.
Ordered for delivery last night and was really pleased with the meal. I ordered 2 pupusas, 1 cheese and bean and one pork and cheese and they were both bomb. I highly recommend you order these. I also got the Al pastor tacos, and while they weren't the typical red sauce with pineapple type of Al pastor, they were flavorful and fatty and crispy and delicious so I wasn't disappointed one bit. Great place for a delivery night in, with lots of options for everyone.
Authentic Central American food, served hot and delicious. Great prices.
Ryan Hoover
Great place!The elite tamales must be tried. As does the pork and cheese papusas.The sweet Salvadoran cream with the tamales was amazing!Service as good, food was good, very reasonable prices, no complaints.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Melissa Bouldin
Stopped in while we were driving through town. Delicious fresh food, attentive wait staff, great prices!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Jhosue Borjas
One of the best!! Drove from Washington, DC to Charlottesville and found this amazing place. Food was AMAZING and authentic, location was great too, and servers were very friendly. Thank you!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Justin Francisco
I recommend mi casita restaurant, i went there with my family and it was the best food i have
Must try the corn tamales!!! All their food is beautiful and delicious!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This spot is a true gem - one of my favorites. Extremely well taken care of (tables are spotless, and the lighting is bright and clean), great music, and really wonderful service/kind servers and, most importantly, *outstanding* food. I almost don't want to write this review, because that'd mean more people would come and discover my favorite spot to eat after a long day. But also the restaurant is too delicious not to share, and I hope they DO become popular, because they deserve it. Get the tamal - so soft and delicate/flavorful. The grilled mi casita special is also delicious (with grilled shrimp, chicken, and steak; actual grill marks and yummy smoky flavor). I also love the chuleta encebollada (fried pork chops with caramelized onions). Just really good quality, authentic, and fresh food and great prices. Such a rarity to find spots like these in Cville.
Really a 3.5 stars. Not bad at all.Interesting that people are reporting this place isn't accepting gift certificates. My wife and I just ate here Tuesday Jan 23, 2024 and they accepted our gift certificates from C'Ville Local Deals. There must have been someone working the day the others came in that didn't realize the business had sold the certificates. Just a note; businesses struggling for customers offer these 50% off deals and there is usually a reason they are struggling for customers.On to the review:This place has plenty of seating and mostly booths which is great. We were here at 2:30 on a Tuesday so they weren't busy and it was easy for them to provide great service. I have no idea what it's like when they are busy. Our server was a very nice and soft spoken young lady who communicated in English well.Overall impression is, the food is prepared well, but a bit bland. The presentations of the plates are beautiful.The chips are wonderful and the salsa was different, almost a fruity flavor like it had pear juice or something in it. It was very salty though...and I love salt. The pico they served with the meals had the same fruity-ish flavor but was missing literally any other seasonings. I think some of the salt from the salsa should have gone in to the pico! Of course reading another review here, they cant win, they would offend some people with the use of cilantro, etc..My wife had the pollo con tajadas, fried chicken with plantains. While the chicken was cooked well, she wasn't expecting a whole bone-in front quarter of a chicken, but looking at the menu photo it was hard to tell because the chicken is covered in stuff with the plating.The chicken and plantains were bland, nothing special regarding the seasoning. She did enjoy the cabbage slaw and pickled onions though. She enjoyed the chicken and plantains, but they were bland, even with the slaw and onions on the side. Fortunately we carry Tajin with us to combat bland Latino food when we encounter it.I had some of the leftover chicken at home and it was cooked to perfection. It just needed salsa/seasoning. I salvaged the leftover plantains that weren't covered in the sauce and re-deep-fried them and actually put salt on them right out of the fryer like they should have been originally, and they tasted like good potato fries! Better than when they were served originally.I had the carne asada (thin sliced beef) and same thing, fairly bland. The pico needed help as I wrote above. The beef may have been marinated but didn't have a bunch of flavor, except the flavor of beef. The beef was pretty tender, surprisingly. Have to give them credit for that, I thought Latinos just preferred chewy beef like Chinese restaurants, but these folks served me beef that could be cut with a strong fork hand.The pureed beans were OK. Basic and bland. The rice was good, like it had been cooked in broth. It had enough salt in it but no other specialty flavors except some corn kernels. That's why I call this home cooking, Latinos do eat regular food, everything is not always kicking with flavor. I like that my plate was served with a grilled jalapeno, but again, no seasoning. A pickled jalapeno like you get at other restaurants would have been better.All in all, the food was cooked very well, we just needed to add Tajin and some of their salsa spiked with the habanero hot sauce (the only hot sauce they offer FYI, sadly, so bring your favorite with you if you have one) to bring the flavor out of the "just ok" zone.I didn't find the bathroom particularly unclean but hot water to wash your hands with would be nice. I find this in Latino and Asian restaurants all the time, I think they do it intentionally. The health department clearly misses this. If I were an inspector the first thing I would do is go to the bathroom and wash my hands.We will be back at least to use up our certificates, but maybe not after that. The one time I ate here before, the food was bland. Well prepared, but bland. For the salt and seasoning adverse, t
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
My friend told me this place sold him $200 in gift certificates and now they won’t accept them. Full disclosure I have not eaten here but he asked me to leave this review until they accept his gift certificates.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
They are no longer accepting the gift certificates they sold through C'ville local deals in the Fall of 2023 despite their May 2024 expiration date. The food was delicious and at first I had no issues using the gift certificates but on my second visit they even admitted "our manager changed the rules and now you can only use one per visit". This is explicitly *NOT* in the fine print. They sold a bunch of these and then when they realized people were actually going to try and use them they illegally made them harder to use. If they accept them on my next visit I will happily update my review to the 5 stars this restaurant deserves.
They accepted their gift certificates when I first ate here. They since changed their rules and decided they don’t want to actually accept all of the gift certificates they collected money for. Once they accept them I will update to a 5 star
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
The bathroom was totally dirty, the service was terrible.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Staff were very nice but the food was not good. I must say the salad was delicious! I enjoyed the salad. It had a kick to it. I ordered the house special. Steak was overcooked. Looked like a cheap steakum. Rice was white so I didn’t eat it. I asked before I placed my order if it was fried. I was told yes. My pupusa was soggy. I would not eat there again.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 2
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Plátanos Fritos Fried Plantains
I've been here three times now.Good prices, great service, authentic food every time?Great place!?
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ordered for delivery last night and was really pleased with the meal. I ordered 2 pupusas, 1 cheese and bean and one pork and cheese and they were both bomb. I highly recommend you order these. I also got the Al pastor tacos, and while they weren't the typical red sauce with pineapple type of Al pastor, they were flavorful and fatty and crispy and delicious so I wasn't disappointed one bit. Great place for a delivery night in, with lots of options for everyone.
Restaurantji Recommends
Authentic Central American food, served hot and delicious. Great prices.
Great place!The elite tamales must be tried. As does the pork and cheese papusas.The sweet Salvadoran cream with the tamales was amazing!Service as good, food was good, very reasonable prices, no complaints.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Stopped in while we were driving through town. Delicious fresh food, attentive wait staff, great prices!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
One of the best!! Drove from Washington, DC to Charlottesville and found this amazing place. Food was AMAZING and authentic, location was great too, and servers were very friendly. Thank you!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I recommend mi casita restaurant, i went there with my family and it was the best food i have
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tacos Al Pastor