Dim lights, traditional Mexican music, and watery beans are what you can expect when eating at La Colonia restaurant on Potomac Ave., west of Mt. Vernon.
When I first entered the restaurant, one of the hostesses greeted me without looking up from what she was doing, no eye contact or anything. I figured that she was really busy and didn’t have time to look up at me. A different hostess, who handed me a menu, then seated me.
The chips and salsa were brought to me by a busboy who asked what drinks I wanted to order. I ordered an iced tea and continued looking through the menu. As I skimmed the menu, I noticed that the atmosphere was generally clean and neat, the dÇcor was that of traditional Mexican dolls and portraits, with traditional Mexican music playing.
I took time to carefully look over the menu to decide what I wanted. La Colonia featured different Mexican dishes like Camaron Al Mojo de Ajo, which are shrimp sautÇed in spicy garlic butter served with rice and beans. I ordered the enchilada combination platter with a chicken taco, which included rice and beans.
Not even eight minutes from ordering my food was it served to me. The beans were very watery and had no texture. The chicken taco was OK, but the chicken lacked flavor and tasted a bit bland. The rice, however, was hot and tasted fresh. The enchiladas also lacked flavor and were also a bit watery.
My waitress wasn’t very friendly or helpful. After eating for about ten minutes, she promptly brought out my check and didn’t offer dessert. The entire time I was there my waitress never refilled my drink or brought me anything. In fact, the busboy was the one who refilled my drinks without my asking, brought me extra plates, and constantly asked if I needed anything else, he even took my dessert order.
My waitress, however, only asked one time if I was doing ok, she acted as though she was uninterested in my needs and did her job in a mediocre manner.
My total came to $13.88, not bad for an abundance of watery food and a waitress who didn’t really pay attention to me.
I recommend La Colonia to anyone who is low on cash and wants a clean atmosphere, but if you’re looking for excellent customer service and flavorful food, I would not.