Critic's Review
After all of the bad restaurants to house this location over the years; La Bamba is a welcome addition. La Bamba isn't the best Mexican food in town, but they give you a good value particularly at lunch.
They have a little section of booths that I was seating in for both of my visits here; good for me as I don't like sitting in the middle of a big room.
Everything is fast here, which is the way it should be at lunch. A runner brings out chips and salsa and a server gets me a beverage.
The tea comes out in 1 minute and I order off the lunch menu.
The lunch special comes with soup, and the soups aren't very Mexican. I'd had broccoli cheese here once before; today's soup was NE Clam Chowder.
It was actually quite good; better than what Capital Grille charges $10 for actually. And I'm not being snarky. The CG soup sucks.
One thing bad about fast service is that the entree comes out before you can finish the soup. I was barely half done with the soup when the Ropa Vieja came out.
There's only 2 things I order at LaBamba; Ropa Vieja is the only thing I'd order from the Lunch Menu.
They're a little cheap with the beans (it's mostly liquid), but you can't complain about the amount of food you get for $10 here. The ropa here isn't the best; it's not even that good; I'm not sure what kind of meat they use but the braising liquid isn't garlicky enough for my taste. It's decent food at a fair price.
Conclusion
La Bamba isn't the best Mexican food in town, but it's a lot of food at a fair price for lunch. If you're in a hurry, you can be out of here in 1/2 hour. Compare what I got here for $12 to what I got at El Camino the other day for $15; where I didn't get a beverage, chips and salsa, or soup.
Review 8/4/16
La Bamba is open in the Harbor Shoppes Center.
This place was previously an awkward space occupied by RJ Gators and Lauderdale Grill; La Bamba has done a nice job turning it into a decent looking restaurant. The "alley" is odd also; nobody has been able to figure out what do with with his space. Too hot in August to eat outside.
The place previous was a forced sports bar, with TVs high on the wall in the big main room; La Bamba has abandoned that idea for some traditional Mexican decor.
Even big TVs look small in the oversized room. This place never worked as a sports bar. The bar is more suitable for watching a game. It's a bit juvenile in decor but a decent spot to have a drink with your Mexican food.
I was happy that they didn't try to seat me in the middle of the dining room; I prefer a booth. I asked for one in the rear.
The walls are lined with booths, so there are lots of them. My server informed me that she was training, which is a good way to get out of scrutiny. A basket of chips with 3 bowls of salsa for 1 person. I had 3 chips to try each of the salsas. All pretty good and freshly made.
My one peeve with La Bamba is that they don't have Chiles Rellenos on the lunch menu, so I have to order them off the dinner menu. But every time I order something other than them or the Ropa Vieja I'm sorry, so I'm not doing it anymore. I went for the $15 main course.
The music is ethnic; they just opened Friday so there are a lot of corporate types walking around pointing at stuff. Not too intrusive. The place was fairly empty at 2pm.
The food came out in 12 minutes.
They fill a plate here, as most Mexican place do. They have the Chiles Rellenos down. Some of the best in town. Lots of cheese inside.
I got a timely iced tea refill; my server was fine, maybe even better than some of the lethargic veterans at the uptown store.
2 of these are too much for lunch; I took one home for a late night snack.
If you've never had chile relleno with eggs for breakfast, you're missing out. Add a spicy tomato sauce and it's a very nice little dish.
Conclusion
La Bamba is becoming Omnipresent, with 2 Locations in Eastern Fort Lauderdale and 1 in Plantation. They crank out decent Mexican food with good portions and have a well-priced lunch (lunch includes soup). This place will do well; it's easily the best option in this shopping center and there's a ton of consumer traffic flowing through.
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