Hidden Mexican Treasure: La Isla Restaurant in Las Vegas

Eyes closed on purpose, that's me acting hungry. (Alice = bad actress)

Cathy told us about this great little find, La Isla, from our forum question! Hip Hip Hooray for friends with great taste! After an unsuccessful lunch at a sushi restaurant off the strip, we were ready to grub! La Isla received the award for the Best Mexican Restaurant in Las Vegas by the Las Vegas Life Magazine from 2004 - 2006. Why?

It's Mexican food with a modern twist!

We all know that Treasure Island rebranded itself "TI" not too long ago to attract a younger, hipper crowd. Aight. I can appreciate that...bye bye skull and crossbones, hello a little sophistication.

Let's start getting into La Isla with pictures:
From the outside, you can't really tell that there is in fact a restaurant in back of this really huge bar.

No sooner do we sit down when a "tequila goddess" (not my words) comes up to us in this slinky blue dress with her boobies popping out...is a hot lady enough to get men to buy shots?

Then, the salsa comes out. Not 1...not 2...but 3 types of salsa! With an extra 4th that shows up later....called the "hot" one...it'll kick your ass so watch out!

We also order some guac and let me just tell you...all the salsas and the guac were delicious! The pico de gallo, the green and the two red salsas each had their unique tastes. Oh and the guac had cilantro, chopped onion, tomatoes and a lime in it! Pure heaven! The chips were perfectly salted and warm! Yes, warm! What a nice touch!

Two basket fulls later...we moved on to our main dishes:
I had the chicken enchiladas that had the most delicious orange sauce spread on top of it...

Sam and Eugene both got the burrito grande, carne asada style:

and Annie had the 3 taco combination plate: Carne Asada, Red Onion and Cilantro
Chicken and the Achiote Adobo-Grilled Chicken tacos.

We all agreed that the best thing about our meals were that it didn't taste oily or heavy.
Now on to dessert. I asked Annie to show us the menu "Price-is-Right" style:

We chose two - the flan and the mango cake and ice cream which made me think of the mucho mango at Coffee Bean...

If you are going to pick one and you like mango, go with the mango dessert. The ice cream had actual chunks of mango in it and the puree on top of the cake was perfectly sweet!

Our server, Isabel, was great - she joked around with us the whole time and made the experience really pleasant.

Finally, here's the gang happy and full! We had to make a mad dash back to the room to watch the Olympic Ceremony!

Overall? Really enjoyed everything about this restaurant. It wasn't too crowded (bc I don't think a lot of people know about it), they put some thought into the details (nice silverware, glassware, menus) and decor (pretty blue wall in back). Food was lighter than traditional Mexican food and definitely Americanized but we could appreciate that.

Who Should Go? People who are craving Mexican food in a nice environment. Our waitress, Isabel was great and though seeing the "tequila goddess" only made me want to start working out and fit into my own blue slinky dress, it was a nice touch.

Tips: Get the guac, it's extra but it's a good amount and quite delicious. I would say my enchiladas were the best out of our three dishes. For dessert, go with the mango cake and ice cream. We also hear the Mexican cucumber martini or blackberry mojito are great for drinks and try the crispy red snapper, chicken breast with corn dumplings, or Mexican meatballs with chipotle tomato sauce.

Adios!

ISLA Mexican Kitchen & Tequila Bar (Yelp)
3300 S Las Vegas Blvd.
Las Vegas, NV 89136
702.894.7349