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Lafogata Restaurant
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
15 reviews for Lafogata Restaurant
15 reviews in English
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Review from Full C.
Enola, PA
2/14/2012
Frickin tourists. They come to the beach, and eat cuisine they can get at home. For locals, we don't get a lot of choices for Mexican. Two really;Kitty Hawk LF and Nags Head LF. There used to be Coastal Cactus, and a few others... alas.
It's Mexican food. It's good. It's cheap. We eat here when bringing in siblings down on vacations. I've had many a pre-Christmas family fight in the Nags Head location, eating chips bracing myself for domestic violence that is the OBX lifestyle. I miss the old Hardees spot across the street too... -
Review from Robert E.
Charlotte, NC
5/10/2012
Typical Mexican restaurant decor. The service wasn't great. The food was horrible! The rice was Pretty much dehydrated, I've tasted better tacos using a store bought kit, and the enchilada sauce remind me of ketchup.
Plus side the margarita was decent. Overall I would avoid unless you were absolutely starving, there was nothing else open, and you lost a bet. -
Review from Dave K.
Raleigh, NC
10/17/2011
La Fogata Mexican Restaurant
5002 South Croatan Highway, Nags Head, NC 27959
This is the same as every other chain Mexican place you have ever been in. It has the same menu, the same décor, and the same mediocre food. The service is good, the value is good, the presentation is that it has been literally slopped on to the hot plate and the food is unremarkable. Even the chicken on the Fajita plate was a little chewy. The enchiladas were almost tasteless. The margaritas were bitter and not worth it, tasting like they were made with a mix. Avoid this place. -
Review from Rainer F.
Sudbury, MA
7/29/2011
The epitome of Americanized Mexican fare, from the lack of heat to the water downed margaritas. This is not to say there's anything wrong with this place. You get exactly what you'd expect: a filling meal at at reasonable price.
We had the chalupa/chile rellenos/burrito combination, both vegetarian and with beef. Lots of cheese, not much kick to it. My wife had the chicken fajitas, which were pretty good but not particularly memorable. I hoped for some decent margarita but I don't know, mine had seen little tequila and tasted basically like sweetened lime juice.
If you need an inexpensive, satisfying meal, I can recommend this place but don't expect anything earth shattering. -
Review from Brian L.
7/14/2009
Me and my friends walked over here from our rental house for an early pre-drinking dinner (not sure if Mexican is a good pre-drinking meal, but it sounded good when someone said "let's do Mexican").
The ambiance not dressy at all, so don't feel the need to get dolled up. We all got seated quickly. The jumbo margaritas are pretty big, and tasted pretty good. I ordered the burrito jalicinta, which was beef and veggies/cheese, which was pretty good. Came with rice, which was also good.
What was memorable was the waiter. He carried 6 plates up his arm. It was quite the sight. I tried to take a pic, but he was just too fast - sigh.
Overall I thought it was good. It's a quick restaurant on a touristy beach. It isn't that nice and it isn't meant to be. It's food, it's Mexican, and it's fast.Listed in: I've Been Here Once - Travels!
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Review from Jeff D.
8/30/2009
We stopped here with some friends to kill some time while we waited for our rental house to open up. My first take upon tasting my chili rejenos was that it was much better than I was expecting, but given the influx of Mexican immigrants (legal and otherwise) into North Carolina it really isn't surprising at all.
The chips were hot and the salsa had some real kick. My chili, burrito and beans were all excellent. -
Review from Mike A.
Winston-Salem, NC
5/9/2011
Exactly what I expect from a Mexican Restrant. It almost doesn't matter where I've lived we have had a Mexican Resturant like this. They could almost be a chain. Whether it's in Boise Idaho, Winston-Salem North Carolina or Sacramento California this food is familiar, tasty, plentiful, reasonable and super-fast.
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Review from Douglas S.
Pittsburgh, PA
6/21/2011
Came off the beach and was looking for some Mexican food. Saw this place on the way in and figured that we should give it a try. For the price it is solid authentic Mexican food. Nothing game changing or anything, but after a long day on the beach it was what we were looking for.
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Review from Sarah I.
Ardmore, PA
3/5/2011
Great, cheap authentic Mexican food! We went on a Friday night in March (off-season) and the place was popping. Still, we got excellent service from a kind man who kept calling me "Senorita," so cute!
They have many options, and even a whole section on vegetarian options! We got dinner for 2 (both vegetarian) plus margaritas for under $30. This was a welcome change from the other tourist traps in the area, which didn't have many veg options and were more expensive. Definitely try this place if you want the real deal! -
Review from Caroline P.
Philadelphia, PA
8/15/2008
I was not impressed with this place at all. Weird vibe from the actual restaurant and employees. Food was not very good and it seemed somewhat dirty in my opinion and I am not a hard person to please when it comes to mexican food.
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Review from Stephen H.
Lawrence, KS
6/24/2008
Imagine a sunset beach, soaring sea gulls, and a tranquil sea breeze. Then picture La Fogata: a place where modern food hygiene and decent service dispel all notions of a happy vacation.
We had dinner at this restaurant on a first night in Nags Head. We were first served a platter of tortilla chips and salsa. We all gazed at the platter for quite some time before coming to a group consensus that there was an unidentifiable, blackened object on the chips. We finally ventured to cut the object open with a knife and yet we still had no idea. The waiter, when alerted to this mystery, seemed to think it was slightly amusing, if anything. He did not offer to exchange the chips or apologize in any way. The margarita pitcher was also offensive...it seemed to bear a transluscent green color like a radioactive goo. I thought that superpowers might develop, if I did not suddenly pass away in mid-sip. You're better off investing in a pre-made margarita mix at the grocery store!
The food, once served, was mediocre at best. I would much rather spend my vacation nights dining on good seafood and listening to music, rather than subpar Mexican food that is an insult to good taste. I write this with the following warning: stay away unless you want to have a good joke (and potential food poisoning). -
Review from Candace K.
Gaithersburg, MD
9/17/2008
I'm confused about the other reviews on this place. We went for lunch and really liked it. The margarita was yummy and the burrito and the lunch chicken fajitas were both flavorful. Service was decent. Not a top notch restaurant but for good cheap, fake, Mexican this is a fine choice. There are multiple locations of this restaurant on the same street, maybe I went to a different location?
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Review from Janice F.
Grandy, NC
8/13/2010
Love love love La Fogatas! GREAT Mexican food, delicious salsa and chips, great guacamole, great vegetarian choice! Fast service, nice folks....Love it!!
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Review from Nabeel N.
Baldwinsville, NY
4/27/2010
Very authentic. Great staff who are very attentive to your needs. Awesome food. Recommend the chicken tamale
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Review from Ajarn R.
Lansdowne, VA
7/6/2008
I must agree with Stephen. La Fogata is a place that serves what I call "sloppy Mexican". In general, this would qualify the restaurant as a place where you would be safe ordering anything rolled/fried or in the form of chimichanga, but don't even chance ordering something like the carne asada or seafood which should be high quality and cooked properly. In many restaurants that serve "sloppy Mexican" enough cheese and sauce can often make the food edible. La Fogata used to be a place that had decent sloppy Mexican.
My boyfriend and I went to La Fogata Sat. July 5th. Yes, this is a very busy weekend and no we did not expect to have 5 star service. I completely understand that service at cheaper ethnic restaurants often means that you are not going get the "HI my name is Jill and I'm going to be your server/best friend tonight at ....". This is fine with me and having lived in various countries around the world, I understand that service errs on the side of efficiency rather than on friendliness. Also, who needs Jill sitting in your booth with you taking your order anyways?
That being said, I have NEVER NEVER NEVER not left a tip for a waiter in any case. EVER.
Until La Fogata.
To make a long story short, we are not demanding patrons. We are a young couple of 2, not a family of 8 with 4 kids, 2 needing high chairs etc, etc. We just wanted beers to drink, we just wanted silverware at the table so we could eat our meals and have a napkin. Our waiter basically grunted at us, making no eye contact and our food took well over an hour to come out. highly irregular in "sloppy Mexican" restaurants when food is easy/quick to assemble. After we finished the 1st beer (20 mins in) the waiter didn't ask if we wanted another for at least 15 minutes, then at the end of the meal, he asked my boyfriend only if he wanted a 3rd beer and then brought me a 3rd open beer even though I didn't order one. I still had a full beer at my plate. I can assure you, this was not a "Freebie" to make up for the slow service. The food was cold. Had to ask for silverware even after the food was set down. Never got the check so we had to tell the cashier what we ate. When I tell you we are easy to please I mean it. I always give 20%+ tip as a standard purely because even if the food sucks, its not the waiter's fault and as long as they are pleasant and check on you, in my opinion, they don't need to go over and above to get a decent tip. In this case, as I left the restaurant angry and feeling slightly vindicated that we left him no tip, I found myself wishing there was a way we could have left him a NEGATIVE tip. In hindsight, after 45 mins of piss-poor service and no food in sight, we should have walked out, but I wanted to stay and give it a chance.
I can safely say after giving it this chance, there is no reasonable excuse to eat at La Fogata unless you enjoy being ignored while you endlessly wait for sub par food.
Bon Appetit!
