Back in 2015, we reviewed La Carreta Mexican Restaurant when they were located on east Central. We considered La Carreta more of a miss in our review a few years ago. Since then they have made a move to east Harry. On a random evening, a friend and I decided to swing in to the new locale and find out if improvements have been made over the years.
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1608 E Harry St
Wichita, KS 67211
316-866-2752
Open 7 Days a Week: 10amĀ 9pm
Cash/Card Accepted
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Upon our arrival, we noticed it was really muggy inside. With the hot weather outside, it was just our luck the A.C. appeared to be out. Our server brought out complimentary chips and salsa to our table. Just what we needed, something even hotter than the temperature since the red salsa was fire! We each had a chipful of the red salsa and it was an instant burn. The green salsa provided less heat but much more flavor. It was very delicious and a bowl I quickly finished.
For dinner, we ordered a few tacos (rose meat, pollo and al pastor), a pambazo and a huarache.
For those people unfamiliar with a pambazo. It’s a dish very similar to a torta sandwich. It’s made with bread and dipped in a red guajillo pepper sauce and filled with your choice of meat. Once the bread is soacked, it’s fried for a bit so there’s a bit of a crisp on both sides.
Let’s start off with the tacos. Candidly speaking, they were nothing short of a disaster. The chicken was dry, the al pastor was dripping plenty of grease anytime I picked it up and the rose meat was half full of fat. I could just feel my stomach telling me to stop. There wasn’t a single taco I finished to its entirety.
Next up was the pambazo. My friend made one attempt to pick up the sandwich and stood no chance. She was stuck using a fork and picking away at it since it was completely soggy. It was so soaked in the red guajillo pepper sauce and maybe that was by design as we’ve never had a pambazo but it wasn’t a pleasurable experience to eat.
Finally, we also tried the huarache and that may have been the best dish by default. I’ve had some huaraches at other places around town and this one doesn’t compare. My friend noted it was bland. I had to agree as it lacked any redeeming quality that would make me want to order it again.
Besides the salsa, the only other memorable moment at La Carreta was the water. Many restaurants will give small cups for water, La Carreta provided cups the size of the Route 44 drinks from Sonic.
The service was better than my last visit to La Carreta but unfortunately the food wasn’t close enough to get me to go back for a third time.
If you’re still wanting to give La Carreta a chance, here’s the menu:
Happy Dining,
Eddy
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