La Mexicana

It all starts with a tortilla. Supporting a mound of grilled steak. Rolled around shredded chicken. Fried and drenched in a tangy, savory tomatillo salsa.

Once you have the corn to make a decent tortilla, “you can get anywhere,” says Odilia Alvarado, manager and owner of La Mexicana Restaurant. Her family business not only has corn, but also a mill for grinding that corn into flour, and a press for stamping flour and water into homemade tortillas. Their fresh tortillas are one of the many touches—including deft cooking, warm service, and home-baked breads and pastries—that makes the restaurant a thrilling place to sample the gastronomy of the U.S.’s southern neighbor.

La Mexicana is the family-dining node of a Kissimmee empire that encompasses a tortilleria, supermarket, bakery, and ice cream shop. Alvarado runs the business with the help of her husband and four daughters.

After opening in a smaller suite in 2011, La Mexicana relocated a few years ago to a large, pastel-colored space with a full bar. The interior is brightly decorated with Mexican arts and crafts, like piñata lanterns, hand-carved wooden tables, and colorful paper cuttings. Mexican musical genres like mariachi and banda play through the speakers.

The restaurant’s menu is just as colorful and varied as its decorations. They serve a smorgasbord of taco meats—everything from pork carnitas and cabeza, or beef cheek, to nopales, cactus cooked and de-slimed according to Alvarado’s grandmother’s technique. La Mexicana’s tinga de pollo, shredded chicken simmered in a smoky red sauce, is a particular highlight, and comes wrapped in tortillas and fried in the restaurant’s version of classic flautas. 

And though the restaurant pays special attention to the building blocks of its dishes—like their fresh tortillas—they don’t skimp on presentation. The molcajetes, stone pots full of meat, vegetables, and cheese, come bubbling and fragrant to people’s tables; as does the restaurant’s version of a parillada, a great grilled-meat skillet that, in the case of La Mexicana, arrives with jalapeños and a layer of sizzling cheese. And the tacos de birria, which feature a choice of goat or beef stewed in a rich, complex consommé, come stained with red broth and encrusted in crispy cheese in a preparation that’s sure to trigger dopamine hits.

Alvarado spent her childhood in Mexico’s Guerrero state, and the region’s influence is all over La Mexicana’s menu. Their quesadilla de maiz dorado, or golden corn quesadillas, are a nod to the Guerrero tradition of frying quesadillas until they’re crispy. And the restaurant makes its carnitas and red and green salsas according to Guerreran recipes, as well.

And though it might be tempting to do so, given the restaurant’s generous portions, it’s not wise to skip dessert at an eatery that counts a bakery and an ice cream shop as its sister establishments. La Mexicana serves homemade ice cream from its scoop shop called Kiosko, The restaurant’s specialty is the bakery’s tres leches, the classic Latin American sponge cake soaked in condensed, evaporated, and whole milk. Even in meals that start with made-from-scratch tortillas, a decadent dessert is a good place to end.