Home > Des Moines Restaurants > Editorial Review > Editorial Juice Review: La Bamba

If there's one thing I love about Mexican restaurants, it's the free chips and salsa. So I waited patiently for La Bamba to open in the spot previously occupied by a KFC on Grand Avenue. Then I got Juice to buy me and a friend a meal there.

SCENE

The building used to be a KFC and La Bamba didn't do a whole lot to make me forget that. My friend pointed out the Colonel's painted-over mug on the outside of the building.

I can honestly say I've never been inside a KFC, but the booths in the non-smoking area looked like they hadn't been replaced. The walls were painted a color I can only describe as "dusty rose" and were decorated with sombreros and cloths.

My friend and I went during lunch and were impressed with the big crowd of mostly middle-aged folks. By noonish, the entire section was full.

FOOD

I ordered the carne asada, which was grilled thin steak served with rice, beans, lettuce, sour cream, pico de gallo and tortillas. The steak was crunchy in a good way but a bit salty. Also, I noticed some fatty parts that I was unable to chew.

My dining partner had the seafood enchiladas and really liked the tortillas that were stuffed with shrimp, tilapia, crab and Swiss cheese. Slices of avocado came on top of the enchiladas. He cleaned his plate.

La Bamba's free chips and salsa were good - nothing remarkable. I like my salsa chunkier than La Bamba's, which resembled ketchup.

After perusing the menu later, I noticed La Bamba has 11 tequilas on its menu. Margaritas are inexpensive. You can get a 16-ounce margarita for $3.99 or a 60-ounce pitcher for $13.99. Also, La Bamba serves breakfast on weekend mornings.

SERVICE

Our server was attentive to our drinks but needed to be reminded about an order of guacamole and the tortillas that came with my carne asada. Maybe we were just starving, but it seemed we waited quite a while for our food to come.

BOTTOM LINE

La Bamba is a good place to get a casual Mexican meal any time.