Columba Lopez says that after she and her family moved to Mountain View from Mexico three decades ago, they wanted to share their culture and food with their newly adopted home. The result, eventually, became a city landmark: La Fiesta.The not-so-quiet restaurant sits on a quiet stretch of Villa Street, amid the auto shops and other businesses there, which it serves during the day. Although far from the hustle of Castro Street, the place is packed on the weekends, and reservations on Friday and Saturday are a must.
Diners stepping into La Fiesta enter a warm, brightly colored enclave. Mexican music plays in the background -- not too loudly -- and carved chairs and vibrant vases decorate the interior.
Equally vibrant is the menu selection, which, though pricey, offers a wide and satisfying array of classic Mexican dishes. Besides the Mexican standards of beef, cheese, chicken or pork for many of the dishes, there is a surprisingly wide selection of vegetarian options. Most meals come with plentiful sides of rice, beans and unlimited tortillas, all perfectly cooked and seasoned.
The Lopez family is originally from Puebla and Guadalajara, and many of the recipes come from these regions. Lopez herself took over the restaurant in 1997, 20 years after her parents opened for business, and it still has that inimitable family-run feeling, including the friendly service you'd expect.
Lopez said her very own abuela passed down Grandma's Especial ($16.95) to her mother, and the restaurant continues to prepare this dish of chicken breast with chives in a thick sour cream base. Cooking the chicken in sour cream gives it a uniquely tangy flavor, making it a perfect complement to the mild rice and beans.
La Fiesta also offers more familiar recipes, such as burritos ($12.95) and carne asada ($17.95). The restaurant has five main burrito options, plus four additional vegetarian choices. Our burrito verde came with sauteed lean pieces of pork cooked in a green tomatillo sauce. The ingredients mixed well together, and weren't too heavy.
For those wanting something a little spicier, the al achiote, a vegetarian burrito, comes with a creamy spicy sauce inside and out. Offsetting the achiote sauce and attendant jalapenos are other, slightly more neutral ingredients, such as tomatoes and onions. The large size of the entree, along with the generous sides of rice and beans topped with cheese, make this potentially a meal for two.
As for the carne asada, which comes with green onions, garlic pepper and fine herbs: The menu promised the thinly strips of New York steak would be very tasty, and they were. The meat was lean, and mixed well with the guacamole topping.
Although spicy and filled with flavor, some of the meat and fish dishes could have used fresh vegetables to balance them. Del Pacifico ($17.95), a filet of catfish sauteed with roasted peppers, onions, garlic and champagne, was served on a bed of green chili. It was not greasy or buttered, but was heavy nonetheless; I would have liked to see some sliced tomatoes or lettuce on the plate.
In truth, though, it's impossible to complain too loudly about the food or service, both of which are exceptional at La Fiesta. If the restaurant has a drawback, it's the prices, which are higher than usual for Mexican food (tasty and authentic though the meals may be). Then again, as the name suggests, La Fiesta is all about the atmosphere -- and in case you were needing some help in that regard, there's an impressive three-page tequila menu to get things going.
By the way, La Fiesta is not ideal for those who can't handle a lot of spices. Even though our burrito, for example, was labeled as "mild," it still had plenty of kick. But for this eater at least, if it isn't picante it just isn't a party.
