3843 Main St

Culver City, CA 90232 

(310) 558-9336

Located on the outskirts of the recently remodeled Downtown Culver City, La Ballona is a Mexican Restaurant which has a sidewalk patio area that is perfect for eating in front of strangers. Actually, what drew me to this spot were the groups of people watchers obviously enjoying oversized bowls of chips and salsa.

The night that I tried La Ballona we chose to eat inside to take cover from the hot sticky air outside. The chips and salsa were on point. The salsa scored extra points with me since it was spicy as hell. My rating scale for Mexican Food Restaurants has always been easily tipped by the restaurant’s house salsa. So La Ballona was looking very good so far.

Our waitress was an elderly Spanish speaking woman, who took a while to make it to our table, but gave the place an air of authenticity. The fun Mexican grandma and fiery salsa were giving me high hopes for the Carne Asada plate and Steak Fajitas which we ordered.

Unfortunately,  I was let down by the Carne Asada (pictured above). That is too bad since carne asada is usually a flagship dish at these types of Mexican Restaurants. The beef cut was an overcooked, seemingly unseasoned skirt steak. It didn’t help that they also served me such a large portion of the bland, tough meat. I didn’t enjoy sending it back, but I was relieved once it was gone.

The meat in the Steak Fajitas was considerably better than the Carne Asada, but it still was underseasoned. For a reference point, think a step lower than Chili’s or TGIF’s fajitas. Yeah…pretty bad.

The Fire Chicken which replaced my Carne Asada was actually pretty damn good. It felt like the waiter took my complaints from the tasteless steak and decided to blow me out of the water with the hottest item on the menu. Little did he know, that my tongue was baptized in habanero sauce and the spice on the chicken was perfect! The strips of chicken breast were slathered in the red hot sauce and the rice and beans were perfect for sopping up the excess.

Even after the chicken, La Ballona really missed the mark. Especially considering all of the great Mexican eateries in the Los Angeles area, why would anyone screw around with the hit or miss food at La Ballona? After all, even the best salsa can’t make up for a really bad carne asada (and they didn’t even have the best salsa).

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Tags: Los Angeles · Restaurant Reviews · Food ·