La Cocina Cali-mex - Des Moines

One of the best parts of our visit to Iowa. The food was darn good and the service for a little storefront felt like I was at Tokie’s home. Amazing beans and salsa!! Great price too.

First of all this restaurant is great, every bite of your meal is an explosion of flavors in your mouth.This is not your average Mexican restaurant, whatever you have experienced before leave it out the door and pick it back up on the way out. When you first come in you are greeted by a friendly smile from the chef, you do have to order your food and pay before you sit down.The chips are cooked in a different style compared to other restaurants, just because they 're a little crunchier than other places, it doesn 't mean they 're stale. Your food is served, and as soon as I took the first bite it brought me that sense of home-cooked meals that my mom used to prepare when I was young. You 'll have to make sure to order the hot sauce that when poured on your meal, it just complements all the other flavors.I wish I would have taken the pictures before we started eating, but it looked so delicious that I could not wait. So please excuse those.Truly hidden gem, hole in the wall , restaurant on the Southside. It truly brings California style cooking to the Midwest.Give it a try and you will not be disappointed, and if you don 't like your meal, come back and there are plenty of different options.We got the rice bowl with carnitas (pork) and the gorditas with rice and beans, cooked to perfection, than you can fill with your choice of meat. The cheese melts in your mouth!Give it a try!

Went there for lunch and the pork tacos and chicken burrito was delicious.Legit Mexican restaurant with plenty to chose from.

The steak tacos are incredible. This place has quickly become my go to for quick takeout lunch because it’s so authentic and delicious and fresh. They make their salsa and chips fresh every day and you can tell. Highly recommend!

Chips were very crunching an thick, felt like I was going to break my teeth. Refried beans were awesome the and salsa so so, really blah... fresh chicken breast deep fried in my taco...