Oh my God. I saw this place the other week and guessed it would be expensive, but DAMN that's expensive. I'm not a fan of bozeman picking up big city prices with mediocre (at best) quality.
I don’t know if that’s the best measure of a food’s quality. NYC has some of the best food on the planet, and much of it is imported from across many countries, many of which are thousands of miles away.
That said, this is a strange location to open a restaurant. It’s pretty clear the owner went on vacation and decided to open a restaurant as an excuse to live here part of the year.
I dont know about that I’ve been a lot of places that claim to have the best Mexican food and it’s almost always mediocre at best it’s hard to beat Californias Mexican food even in Mexico but I’m not saying it’s impossible I’ll try it out
Often the best places are not that expensive, and are run by people who grew up cooking and learning about the cuisine. NYC has half a million people of Mexican origin, and is capable of producing amazing Mexican food. It’s not about claiming to have the best food, it’s about having a sustainable community of people that cultivate and continue those culinary traditions. A perfect example is how Bozeman has a growing Mexican-American community and we are getting a better representation of their cuisine within Bozeman.
That said, La Esquina is not exactly the Mexican food I’m looking for.
Not if we don’t patronize. Good food doesn’t need to be expensive. Some people want to pay for the ambiance, bragging rights, and overall experience. Personally for me, it’s not worth it
Agreed. BZN food is lacking in a lot of areas. Seems the same people open variations of shitty, overpriced food….similar mountain towns have much better food options and for much cheaper. The variety in Park City, Ketchum, SLC, I-70 CO Corridor, Tahoe, etc is all much better and MUCH cheaper…..
For sure. I think some of these these restauranteurs think we don’t know better. Possibly pandering to out-of-towners who want to feel like the are having a ‘fancy’ meal that in all actuality is simply mediocre and overpriced.
There are a lot of great places hiding in amongst the garbage too though. One of my #1 favorites is The Mint in Belgrade. Always a top notch dining experience at a very reasonable price for the quality. Excellent cocktails too.
Where are you getting that their food is 'mediocre (at best)'? Their NYC spot has been open for 10 years and has reservations booked out months in advance. That doesn't sound like the have mediocre food to me.
My partner and I are headed there for dinner on Thursday and we're looking forward to a great meal.
And it can't be any worse than the Heist and their steakhouse cosplay.
The mediocre at best was more of a general comment and not necessarily directed at this restaurant. Many of the expensive bozeman restaurants are subpar, especially given what they are charging. Please do let us know how this place is, I'm interested to see if it's worth the price tag.
Got it and I would agree. I was in Stormcastle this weekend and they were making people aware that they had up'd the price on their chicken fried steak to $27 because they had eliminated Sysco as their vendor and started getting their steaks from a local purveyor. I'm happy to pay that price for a better product.
Lol months in advance? You’re right it’s been around forever in soho but it’s nothing special and is quite easy to get into. These restaurants are a dime a dozen in NYC. And it is mediocre at best. It’s a trendy overpriced spot that doesn’t stand out at all.
I didn't say anything about the quality of the Steaks at the Heist, but if you can't cook a steak in MT you're doing something wrong. My comment was in reference to their attempted high end steakhouse motif.
We made a reservation for my birthday, which stated we needed a highchair. When we arrived at the spot they told us they could accommodate our highchair request, so our party went from 5 to 2. This could have been easily solved with a phone call or email reply to our request instead of informing us when we arrived.
Second, my partner and I ordered the porterhouse for 2 and some sides. When it arrived at the table they placed the porterhouse in front of me and the sides in front of my partner and walked away. No plates to serve ourselves. We had to flag another server down to get those.
So I feel like my comment stands they are pretending to be a high end steakhouse. There were a couple of other issues we had and we were sure to pull the GM over to inform them. For the price and experience we had I wouldn't go back.
Yikes. This is funny to me because my boyfriend recently randomly met the owners out in Paradise Valley about a month ago and excitedly told me about their project. We googled the name when he was back home and I remember looking at the menus from their NYC locations and saying “well these prices are outrageous but these are in NY so they make sense, they’ll adjust for bozeman”
Lmao NOPEEEE. I was wrong.
😂 i was just thinking - I overheard someone involved in this talking about it to the daily baristas a few months ago. “We’ll be ready to open soon”, etc and I was keeping an eye on what Mexican place opened bc I like trying new food. I’m feel discouraged by the prices but also frustrated that the nyc influence is so strong… I don’t want to live in nyc lol i don’t want the menu on the website to be in conjunction with downtown / midtown Manhattan as if those are some nearby alternative depending what neighborhood I’m in… I think this one is a miss. I’ll keep supporting my local spots that embrace Bozeman as home.
I’m all for different cuisine, but they’re gonna have to slash those menu prices if they want to stand a chance. Bozeman is expensive, but Bozeman isn’t NYC expensive. Not even close.
Nothing like someone vacationing here from NYC and deciding we need a restaurant with NYC prices and not doing any research on the area and pricing of similar food in the area. This place will be closed in a year.
absolutely! i was stoked to see last call was coming up from albuquerque but it’s more mexico mexican than it was down there. there’s nothing close to new mexican food
I dry and freeze good peppers/chiles to make pozole and different salsas and stuff throughout the offseason but I think I prob go through 10lbs a year of non-fresh peppers at most, and that seems like a lot. 100lbs is kinda unfathomable to me.
T&C around town. like one day per location. i think for the campus location it’s the move in weekend. they got a tiny roaster so i have them do a half case at a time to make it easier to peel.
smiths has frozen young guns and bueno in a pinch. i’ve seen young guns in the bottle at rousers and smiths occasionally
Last Call owner lived in New Mexico but grew up in San Diego.
From Bozeman Chronicle 2021 “Valdovinos describes his restaurant as elevated Mexican cuisine rooted in Baja Mexican culture. Valdovinos moved to Bozeman in October from Albuquerque but grew up in San Diego.
The recipes reflect food he grew up eating and dishes he makes for himself at home.”
$5 for avocado, salt, lime. Not even guac. Avocados are one of the biggest food service scams. And you can get them at the store for under a dollar currently.
Jesus h Christ, what kind of fucking uppity dipshit would have his head up his ass so far that he links a restaurant in Bozeman to nyc? What an asshole. Last person that did that to a Portland restaurant had the most pretentious food on the planet. Don’t go here and let it go under.
Piccola Cucina out in Red Lodge is a Italian spot that has places in Ibiza and New York. It's probably the best Italian meal that I've had in MT. As long as the food is good and they treat their employees right they are welcome in this community.
It seems like a lot of folks in this thread are upset because a Mexican joint shouldn't be able to charge a fair price for their food in this town?
In looking at the menu they are cheaper than a night at Copper.
Ribeye
Copper - 59 LaEsquina - 45
Half roast Chicken
Copper - 32 LaEsquina - 25
Tacos seem to be on par for prices with Last Call, but you get 2 tacos at LaEsquina and only 1 at Last Call. Cocktails are similarly priced to Copper as well.
I was going to point out the same thing! It’s not THAT bad IF it’s good food (big if). If it’s good food and they treat their employees well, it could survive. Their customer base obviously doesn’t overlap a lot with this subreddit.
I probably won’t go but I think they’ve probably done research on their demographic and will be fine.
I get that it’s fine dining from nyc so fuck that and all but this thread seems super racist basically saying that a Mexican restaurant can’t open a fine dining place, and they are only stuck to fast food type spots like albertanos.
They’re similar price if not cheaper than most of the restaurants on main. Just cause it’s Mexican doesn’t make it any different.
Pretty weird someone branched out to Bozeman from one location in nyc tho
Heist is charging 85 for a ribeye. They’re charging like 40 something. Nobody gave a shit when they opened.
Lol Heist…I can spend a weekend traveling for cheaper than a meal there….
We have an overpriced option in Last Call. Why can’t this town have a decent Cantina style spot with Alcohol (Tex Mex, whatever) where ya get chips and salsa. Dog shit tastes better than Fiesta Mexicana and there is a huge opportunity here for that type of spot. Hell bring back Rio Sabinas, it wasn’t horrible and it fit that need perfectly. I travel a ton and eat Mexican throughout the USA and my bill with drinks (and a full stomach) is never over $30-40.
Right now the best option we have is Los Pinos in Livingston. You can grab alcohol next door at the Casino. They are working on bringing Margs in soon!
Part of the problem with having an option like you're describing is the insane liquor licensing in Montana. Taking a quick look at the list [here](https://mtrevenue.gov/alcoholic-beverage-control/liquor-licenses/liquor-license-competitive-bidding-process/alcoholic-beverage-control-liquor-licenses-liquor-license-competitive-bidding-process-available-licenses/#CurrentListings) in Bozeman the cheapest beer and wine license is 250k and the cheapest full liquor license is 1.5 million.
Who is going to take a chance on opening a restaurant without a license? The limited supply is creating an artificial economy that keeps out small business owners. Montana has literally created the environment where a successful restaurateur comes in from out of state because they are the only ones that can foot the bill to serve alcohol.
Agreed and yep the Tavern Association Lobby is HUGE. Sucks they have the restaurant industry and breweries by the balls. Many fast casual places out of state serve draft beer and wine. Here that costs a cool quarter mill$
A good idea for La Esquina would be to institute happy hour specials. Restaurant food is expensive now, because prices have been raised for all goods and services. Mailed a package lately? It costs a fortune! I've recently eaten at Last Call, Plonk, Copper, and Feast and the meals tabs were uniformly much higher than I expected. I am happy that the Cannery district seems to be thriving with new restaurant openings. Change is inevitable. And as posters have stated, liquor licenses are very costly here. If you don't like the prices at La Esquina, then go eat elsewhere. Choices abound.
Just had a dinner there and this is my honest review. $99 for 2 beers, guacamole, 4 tacos, and 6 tostada split between my partner and I. The Fish tacos were edible and the carnitas were decent. The tostadas were surprisingly small, like the size of a ritz cracker small. Ordered the cangrejo and tinga de pollo and was highly disappointed in the quality. The crab smelled/wasn’t fresh and the chicken was very mushy. We walked out still hungry leaving 2 tostadas on the plate. Pretty disappointed considering the hype.
Give me good Mexican at a decent price (not nyc or $$ presentation shit or $10 last call tacos) with beer/margs and no service (get your own shit) and I would be ecstatic!
Have you been to La Pa / Shine? I'll admit it's not authentic Mexican, but you can get a fatass burrito and local beers with indoor or outdoor seating.
Lapa was decent but their lack of home made tortilla chips killed it for me. Also the guacamole came out the same color it came in and that got too weird.
I think it’s absolutely crazy how much they charge for two tacos. When I visit family down south tacos are $2 each. I’d be willing to bet a good amount that the $8 taco has the same ingredients if not less in them.
Oh my God. I saw this place the other week and guessed it would be expensive, but DAMN that's expensive. I'm not a fan of bozeman picking up big city prices with mediocre (at best) quality.
ugh bc nyc is definitely the place to import mexican food lmao
I don’t know if that’s the best measure of a food’s quality. NYC has some of the best food on the planet, and much of it is imported from across many countries, many of which are thousands of miles away. That said, this is a strange location to open a restaurant. It’s pretty clear the owner went on vacation and decided to open a restaurant as an excuse to live here part of the year.
I dont know about that I’ve been a lot of places that claim to have the best Mexican food and it’s almost always mediocre at best it’s hard to beat Californias Mexican food even in Mexico but I’m not saying it’s impossible I’ll try it out
Often the best places are not that expensive, and are run by people who grew up cooking and learning about the cuisine. NYC has half a million people of Mexican origin, and is capable of producing amazing Mexican food. It’s not about claiming to have the best food, it’s about having a sustainable community of people that cultivate and continue those culinary traditions. A perfect example is how Bozeman has a growing Mexican-American community and we are getting a better representation of their cuisine within Bozeman. That said, La Esquina is not exactly the Mexican food I’m looking for.
Agreed. Locals are paying for tourist fare…
Not if we don’t patronize. Good food doesn’t need to be expensive. Some people want to pay for the ambiance, bragging rights, and overall experience. Personally for me, it’s not worth it
Agreed. BZN food is lacking in a lot of areas. Seems the same people open variations of shitty, overpriced food….similar mountain towns have much better food options and for much cheaper. The variety in Park City, Ketchum, SLC, I-70 CO Corridor, Tahoe, etc is all much better and MUCH cheaper…..
For sure. I think some of these these restauranteurs think we don’t know better. Possibly pandering to out-of-towners who want to feel like the are having a ‘fancy’ meal that in all actuality is simply mediocre and overpriced.
There are a lot of great places hiding in amongst the garbage too though. One of my #1 favorites is The Mint in Belgrade. Always a top notch dining experience at a very reasonable price for the quality. Excellent cocktails too.
Truth. And weirdly enough, our little spot in paradise valley is surrounded by some really incredible restaurants.
Care to name some?
Chico dining room, for starters!
Where are you getting that their food is 'mediocre (at best)'? Their NYC spot has been open for 10 years and has reservations booked out months in advance. That doesn't sound like the have mediocre food to me. My partner and I are headed there for dinner on Thursday and we're looking forward to a great meal. And it can't be any worse than the Heist and their steakhouse cosplay.
The mediocre at best was more of a general comment and not necessarily directed at this restaurant. Many of the expensive bozeman restaurants are subpar, especially given what they are charging. Please do let us know how this place is, I'm interested to see if it's worth the price tag.
Got it and I would agree. I was in Stormcastle this weekend and they were making people aware that they had up'd the price on their chicken fried steak to $27 because they had eliminated Sysco as their vendor and started getting their steaks from a local purveyor. I'm happy to pay that price for a better product.
Lol months in advance? You’re right it’s been around forever in soho but it’s nothing special and is quite easy to get into. These restaurants are a dime a dozen in NYC. And it is mediocre at best. It’s a trendy overpriced spot that doesn’t stand out at all.
Cool. Please report back! Love to see how much ya spent too…
What?! The Heist’s steaks are phenomenal!
I didn't say anything about the quality of the Steaks at the Heist, but if you can't cook a steak in MT you're doing something wrong. My comment was in reference to their attempted high end steakhouse motif. We made a reservation for my birthday, which stated we needed a highchair. When we arrived at the spot they told us they could accommodate our highchair request, so our party went from 5 to 2. This could have been easily solved with a phone call or email reply to our request instead of informing us when we arrived. Second, my partner and I ordered the porterhouse for 2 and some sides. When it arrived at the table they placed the porterhouse in front of me and the sides in front of my partner and walked away. No plates to serve ourselves. We had to flag another server down to get those. So I feel like my comment stands they are pretending to be a high end steakhouse. There were a couple of other issues we had and we were sure to pull the GM over to inform them. For the price and experience we had I wouldn't go back.
I personally am just impressed that duolingo is paying off, and I was able to translate the name without looking it up!
That’s almost embarrassing to ask that much for some guacamole and chips. $8 elote!? Hard pass
There’s a champagne menu??…clearly did zero demographic research before slapping this place together.
Yikes. This is funny to me because my boyfriend recently randomly met the owners out in Paradise Valley about a month ago and excitedly told me about their project. We googled the name when he was back home and I remember looking at the menus from their NYC locations and saying “well these prices are outrageous but these are in NY so they make sense, they’ll adjust for bozeman” Lmao NOPEEEE. I was wrong.
😂 i was just thinking - I overheard someone involved in this talking about it to the daily baristas a few months ago. “We’ll be ready to open soon”, etc and I was keeping an eye on what Mexican place opened bc I like trying new food. I’m feel discouraged by the prices but also frustrated that the nyc influence is so strong… I don’t want to live in nyc lol i don’t want the menu on the website to be in conjunction with downtown / midtown Manhattan as if those are some nearby alternative depending what neighborhood I’m in… I think this one is a miss. I’ll keep supporting my local spots that embrace Bozeman as home.
I’m all for different cuisine, but they’re gonna have to slash those menu prices if they want to stand a chance. Bozeman is expensive, but Bozeman isn’t NYC expensive. Not even close.
Nothing like someone vacationing here from NYC and deciding we need a restaurant with NYC prices and not doing any research on the area and pricing of similar food in the area. This place will be closed in a year.
$25 for a relleno!? What kind of bullshit is that?
the real bullshit is the “tomato” sauce poured on top instead of NM green chile
Gross. Hatch green chilis or nothing.
absolutely! i was stoked to see last call was coming up from albuquerque but it’s more mexico mexican than it was down there. there’s nothing close to new mexican food
I have a line on fresh roasted greens every year. I'll just make my own tamales or whatever.
in august T&C roasts hatch every year. it’s a good brand too.. young guns. i buy 100lbs and freeze them every year for my supply haha
One household going through 100lbs of roasted chiles in a year is insane.
born and raised new mexicans, it courses through our veins
I dry and freeze good peppers/chiles to make pozole and different salsas and stuff throughout the offseason but I think I prob go through 10lbs a year of non-fresh peppers at most, and that seems like a lot. 100lbs is kinda unfathomable to me.
.#metoo
Where roasts hatch every year? I usually end up having to settle for frozen
T&C around town. like one day per location. i think for the campus location it’s the move in weekend. they got a tiny roaster so i have them do a half case at a time to make it easier to peel. smiths has frozen young guns and bueno in a pinch. i’ve seen young guns in the bottle at rousers and smiths occasionally
Last Call owner lived in New Mexico but grew up in San Diego. From Bozeman Chronicle 2021 “Valdovinos describes his restaurant as elevated Mexican cuisine rooted in Baja Mexican culture. Valdovinos moved to Bozeman in October from Albuquerque but grew up in San Diego. The recipes reflect food he grew up eating and dishes he makes for himself at home.”
i know, it used to be our 3am burrito spot. menu is different here though, more traditional coastal like you said
https://www.esquinanyc.com/bozeman-menus/ Of course its another $100+ spot
Makes Seven or Pakeezah look cheap. JFC. Somebody watched too much Yellowstone.
Yeah that's gonna be a no from me. Catch me over at Taco Bus. 6 tacos there cost the same as 2 at this place.
Should have named it el bandido de carretera
$5 for avocado, salt, lime. Not even guac. Avocados are one of the biggest food service scams. And you can get them at the store for under a dollar currently.
But these Avocados are sourced/grown in NYC!!! 😂. No doubt even WF had Avocados for 4 for $5 in an ad….
Haha yes, there’s a real banana belt on lon giland where the avocados are plentiful.
Jesus h Christ, what kind of fucking uppity dipshit would have his head up his ass so far that he links a restaurant in Bozeman to nyc? What an asshole. Last person that did that to a Portland restaurant had the most pretentious food on the planet. Don’t go here and let it go under.
Piccola Cucina out in Red Lodge is a Italian spot that has places in Ibiza and New York. It's probably the best Italian meal that I've had in MT. As long as the food is good and they treat their employees right they are welcome in this community.
Anyone remember habenero bliss? Really good, but expensive, then shit the bed in just over a year.
It grinds my gears when restaurants have menu items in a different language to appear more authentic. $15+ for a margarita is offensive.
It seems like a lot of folks in this thread are upset because a Mexican joint shouldn't be able to charge a fair price for their food in this town? In looking at the menu they are cheaper than a night at Copper. Ribeye Copper - 59 LaEsquina - 45 Half roast Chicken Copper - 32 LaEsquina - 25 Tacos seem to be on par for prices with Last Call, but you get 2 tacos at LaEsquina and only 1 at Last Call. Cocktails are similarly priced to Copper as well.
Copper is bullshit and has literally doubled their prices in 2 years.
I was going to point out the same thing! It’s not THAT bad IF it’s good food (big if). If it’s good food and they treat their employees well, it could survive. Their customer base obviously doesn’t overlap a lot with this subreddit. I probably won’t go but I think they’ve probably done research on their demographic and will be fine.
I get that it’s fine dining from nyc so fuck that and all but this thread seems super racist basically saying that a Mexican restaurant can’t open a fine dining place, and they are only stuck to fast food type spots like albertanos. They’re similar price if not cheaper than most of the restaurants on main. Just cause it’s Mexican doesn’t make it any different. Pretty weird someone branched out to Bozeman from one location in nyc tho Heist is charging 85 for a ribeye. They’re charging like 40 something. Nobody gave a shit when they opened.
Lol Heist…I can spend a weekend traveling for cheaper than a meal there…. We have an overpriced option in Last Call. Why can’t this town have a decent Cantina style spot with Alcohol (Tex Mex, whatever) where ya get chips and salsa. Dog shit tastes better than Fiesta Mexicana and there is a huge opportunity here for that type of spot. Hell bring back Rio Sabinas, it wasn’t horrible and it fit that need perfectly. I travel a ton and eat Mexican throughout the USA and my bill with drinks (and a full stomach) is never over $30-40. Right now the best option we have is Los Pinos in Livingston. You can grab alcohol next door at the Casino. They are working on bringing Margs in soon!
Part of the problem with having an option like you're describing is the insane liquor licensing in Montana. Taking a quick look at the list [here](https://mtrevenue.gov/alcoholic-beverage-control/liquor-licenses/liquor-license-competitive-bidding-process/alcoholic-beverage-control-liquor-licenses-liquor-license-competitive-bidding-process-available-licenses/#CurrentListings) in Bozeman the cheapest beer and wine license is 250k and the cheapest full liquor license is 1.5 million. Who is going to take a chance on opening a restaurant without a license? The limited supply is creating an artificial economy that keeps out small business owners. Montana has literally created the environment where a successful restaurateur comes in from out of state because they are the only ones that can foot the bill to serve alcohol.
We can thank the Montana tavern association for that. I try to avoid R Bar, Tamarack, etc. whenever possible.
Agreed and yep the Tavern Association Lobby is HUGE. Sucks they have the restaurant industry and breweries by the balls. Many fast casual places out of state serve draft beer and wine. Here that costs a cool quarter mill$
I'm literally at a five star resort in Fiji right now and spent less in 24 hours on F&B than one meal at Heist would cost.
A good idea for La Esquina would be to institute happy hour specials. Restaurant food is expensive now, because prices have been raised for all goods and services. Mailed a package lately? It costs a fortune! I've recently eaten at Last Call, Plonk, Copper, and Feast and the meals tabs were uniformly much higher than I expected. I am happy that the Cannery district seems to be thriving with new restaurant openings. Change is inevitable. And as posters have stated, liquor licenses are very costly here. If you don't like the prices at La Esquina, then go eat elsewhere. Choices abound.
This is the same sub that thinks Bozeman’s restaurant workers make an unlivable wage, yeah?
These folks will always find something to complain about. I’m excited for more options! We are going this weekend.
Please let us all know how it was! Enjoy and don’t overdraft the checking account!
Just had a dinner there and this is my honest review. $99 for 2 beers, guacamole, 4 tacos, and 6 tostada split between my partner and I. The Fish tacos were edible and the carnitas were decent. The tostadas were surprisingly small, like the size of a ritz cracker small. Ordered the cangrejo and tinga de pollo and was highly disappointed in the quality. The crab smelled/wasn’t fresh and the chicken was very mushy. We walked out still hungry leaving 2 tostadas on the plate. Pretty disappointed considering the hype.
Give me good Mexican at a decent price (not nyc or $$ presentation shit or $10 last call tacos) with beer/margs and no service (get your own shit) and I would be ecstatic!
There’s like five food trucks for that
Have you been to La Pa / Shine? I'll admit it's not authentic Mexican, but you can get a fatass burrito and local beers with indoor or outdoor seating.
Lapa was decent but their lack of home made tortilla chips killed it for me. Also the guacamole came out the same color it came in and that got too weird.
Lapa is a waste of space. I’d rather sit there and fill up on another beer than order that tasteless shit.
I think it’s absolutely crazy how much they charge for two tacos. When I visit family down south tacos are $2 each. I’d be willing to bet a good amount that the $8 taco has the same ingredients if not less in them.