High Praise for La Lupe

[Jeff L]

I'm not sure if it's the cuisine itself or the long wait for excellent Mexican food that kept this great little place from getting 3 bells. Maybe it was the "occasionally gruff and spacey service" that did them in. As you read his review, it seems like he did indeed bestow 3 bells, but alas not so

Anyhow, a nice write up for a great authentic Mexican joint.

[philadining]

My last three trips to La Lupe left me kind of cold. Service was indeed REALLY slow, and the food was only OK. I like the whole vibe, but I've been enjoying the food better at the other Mexican places lately. Taqueria Veracruzana, Plaza Garibaldi, Taco Riendo, Mexico Lindo over in Camden, have all seemed better to me.

That's not to say La Lupe isn't any good, friends and I just haven't been loving what we've gotten there recently (usually tacos...)

[Buckethead]

My last three trips to La Lupe left me kind of cold. Service was indeed REALLY slow, and the food was only OK.  I like the whole vibe, but I've been enjoying the food better at the other Mexican places lately. Taqueria Veracruzana, Plaza Garibaldi, Taco Riendo, Mexico Lindo over in Camden, have all seemed better to me.

That's not to say La Lupe isn't any good, friends and I just haven't been loving what we've gotten there recently (usually tacos...)

←

I've only been there once and see no reason to go back. Service was slow and uninterested, my tacos were dripping tablespoons of grease and were no good anyway. Plaza Garibaldi is better in every way. How La Lupe got two bells is beyond me. If Meze (which isn't that far away and is awesome) got two bells, La Lupe maybe deserves negative bells. Ugh.

[bjcohan]

My DH (the chef) has complained from time to time about the tacos being a bit greasy, but more often than not, they've been terrific, and I've eaten at La Lupe a LOT. I have tried all of the other Mexican places and La Lupe remains my hands-down favorite. (I've had tacos three or four times from La Veracruzana and they were so dried out and awful that I never went back.) In fact, when I still worked downtown, my DH used to call quite often to ask me to bring him tacos and tortas from La Lupe on the way home. (BTW, the tortas are the only thing I *don't* like at La Lupe. They use regular rolls -- that seem similar to Stroehmann's awful hamburger rolls -- instead of bolillos. I wish they would, at least, use good dense Portuguese bread if they can't get bolillos.)

Lupe and Gabriel are thoroughly charming and delightful hosts and I'm thrilled that they're getting such nice ink.

The only thing that really puzzles me are the comments about service as slow and occasionally gruff, as I have never experienced this. Hmmmmm ... I wonder if their wholly-Anglo customers are, perhaps, treated differently? I speak fluent Spanish and have lived in Mexico. Lupe and Gabriel have treated me like family from the first time I set foot in the place, and I assumed, given their warmth and charm, that they treat others the same way. YMMV, apparently.

I only hope that the two bells don't start a stampede...

Barb

Edited January 23, 2006 by bjcohan (log)

[serpentine]

I was a little surprised by the LeBan rave, as I find the food at La Lupe quite uneven. The pozole is lovely, I'm not overfond of their tortas, and the tacos are either unspeakably delicious or really not great. While I wouldn't call the service "gruff", I wouldn't call it particularly warm, either, though I've never had any complaints.

[philadining]

I've never had any complaints about the service being gruff or rude, just S-L-O-W... It's not that big of a crisis, just mystifying, as I've usually been there mid-afternoon, when there's nobody else there, and it would take just forever to get a couple of tacos.

And I'll agree with serpentine: I've mostly gotten tacos there, and they've sometimes been incredibly good, and they've sometimes been rather bad... Sadly the last few times I've gone they've been mediocre at best.

They certainly have the potential to be quite good, but it just hasn't been happening for me lately.