La Mexicana

In a word: As taco stands in small satellite cities go, it's pretty good.

The specs: #0459  
Address, hours & details via Isthmus; reviews at Isthmus, Yelp,  .

JM ate the barbacoa burrito with a can of root beer.
Nichole ate the three taco special with an horchata.
We split the chips and salsa.
The bill was $19, or $9.50/person, plus tip.
JM gave La Mexicana B+; Nichole gave La Mexicana an A- (see our grading rubric).

La Mexicana grocery/restaurant in downtown Sauk City is a nice choice for a straightforward Mexican homestyle lunch or dinner. We liked that the deli counter offered marinated, ready-to-go chicken and beef fajita fixings at $3.50/lb, though we didn't try any; also notable was how pristine everything was, right down to the salt and pepper shakers. Come on the weekend and you can get tamales and menudo.

We ordered at the counter from a helpfully bilingual menu. Nichole asked for a recommendation of taco fillings and our friendly server (like every other person we've asked in a Mexican restaurant, oddly enough) praised the steak. So we mixed and matched and got steak, lengua, and al pastor on some tacos, and a pork barbacoa burrito.

Of course, chips and salsa - two kinds: a smoky red salsa with a kick, and a mild tomatillo with hints of pineapple or something citrusy. The chips seemed to be out of a bag. Nichole's horchata was good, but on the thin side and not too spiced.

True to form, the steak taco was certainly the most sating, with a good charred flavor. The lengua was chopped fine and cooked very tender and fatty, and benefited from lots of salsa. Finally, the al pastor was probably the best. All the tacos were loaded to the bursting point and topped with (optional) onion and ample, but not too pungent, cilantro and an uberfresh lime wedge.

JM was busy dealing with his exploding burrito to try any of the tacos - the barbacoa was incredibly saucy. The flavor was not quite as rich as he'd hoped. We did split the sides of homemade refried beans and a slightly sticky, starchy rice.

Nichole was perfectly content; JM thought La Mexicana was fine, just not a great value for the cost. When in Sauk, though, we'd go back.

Comments

[Amanda]

I grew up in Prairie du Sac, and let me tell you, La Mexicana is a breath of fresh air! The restaurant options in Sauk-Prairie are pretty limited, so it's great to have this place there now. I'm glad you liked it!

[Hummingbird Appetite]

I love tacos with some sort of meat, cilantro and onion. I'd prefer those ingredients over tacos with meat, lettuce and tomato.

[nichole]

Amen to that.

[Bruce]

The al pastor torta is my favorite. I'll have to try the tacos next time, those look good.

Although I was pretty upset that they switched from Barq's to Mug root beer the last time I was there. I'm a Barq's man through and through.