Lopez Mexican Restaurant-- Review

Their location on Wilcrest just outside of Meadows Place

Lopez--a highly rated and reviewed (4 stars on Yelp.com) Mexican restaurant close to my home in Meadows Place (Houston, TX) has always been a hit-or-miss experience for me--opposed to what the reviews would have you believe. Usually, however, the food, service, and atmosphere come together to create a nice meal. Tonight was different, unfortunately. I've frequented Lopez several times over the past few months, but service was always stellar no matter what I thought of the food. That was not the case this Saturday evening.

Inside of Lopez.. facing the dining room and away from the bar.

Lopez--since it moved into its new building-- is a beautiful hacienda-inspired restaurant with gleaming tile floors, white stone walls, mosaics, and Spanish paintings. Upon entering, members of the Lopez family typically will greet patrons with warmth and vivacity. Regrettably, that certain interaction didn't happen tonight. We were quickly seated--right smack-dab in the middle of the restaurant. It was crowded, somewhat smelly, and LOUD. I realize it's a Saturday but damn, two birthday parties going on at once! One family was so drunk they kept singing for several minutes after the waiters finished their birthday tune-- think Applebee's obnoxiousness but en español.

We got our drink orders out quickly, but then the problems really started. It seemed like we had several different waiters at one point. We ordered an appetizer--queso con chile--several minutes after we were seated. We saw that same appetizer twenty minutes later. Our waiter--once he solved his identity crisis and got our drink order right--finally took our meal order. 

Another 10-15 minutes passed and we recieved our food. My fiance's father ordered enchiladas--the meat & sauce tasted as if it came out of a can--he described it aptly as chili gravy. Ick. My burrito was not a burrito--it was a beef enchilada. I didn't bother making a fuss as we were now limited on time--aforementioned father wanted to watch a football game about one hr after we arrived. Luckily the bill came quickly and we left rapidamente.

Poor Lopez. I really wanted to like you tonight. I did before this catastrophe. However, I must bid you adios and hope that you get your act together. Hasta luego... hopefully a long, long time before we return.

Rating-- 2/5 stars for inconsistent food, being overrated, piss-poor service, but also a friendly atmosphere and a beautiful facility. Also, the queso was great when we finally got it.