Mesa Fresh

King Of Prussia Mall

610-265-5592

Get out your maracas and sombreros; in the bowels of the King of Prussia Mall you can locate a Mexican restaurant. Yes, “Mesa Fresh” has opened after much anticipation delivering the mall with more diverse options for eating.

Minimal in space (in comparison to other KoP restaurants), “Mesa Fresh” has a moderately attractive interior with a nice bar environment and seating inside and outside the restaurant.

The only visible help when we arrived was our friend the bartender, cleaning out mugs for the bar. Gracious and jovial, he inquired about our needs and immediately focused all of his attention on his customers.

As my friends began to order, I began surveying the area, which gave me a good understanding of what “Mesa Fresh” was trying to accomplish. They provided a spacious area around the bar in times of mass occupancy, colorful lights to promote vivacity and happiness and just an overall vibrant ambience to address the typical Mexican happy/party-like environment.

The unique menu consists of your typical Mexican food groups: burritos, tacos, salads, chips and party platters. Within each grouping, we find approximately five, somewhat diverse “creations” ranging from Yucatan shrimp to an assortment of steak/chicken/pork type meals.

Quesadillas serve as one of the lone appetizers for a moderate price (around $6) and the Mexican salads (in the $8 range) include numerous concoctions of Mexican ingredients.

What else comprises the “Mesa Fresh” menu? Well, tacos, of course. Talk about awesome prices, you can get a taco for $2, stellar. On the opposing page, approximately $4-$9, you can locate the burritos, which are designed to replicate the tacos, just with a different outer shell. Finally, enchilada specials ($7-$9) cover the remaining portion of the menu.

A vivacious setting, “Mesa Fresh” exhibits loud lighting and a happening environment to lure in the lively customer for fast take-out or a nice sit-down meal. The seating is spaced well enough to hear your neighbor but not be overwhelmed by their conversation, and I was unable to see how the smoke would flow in this longer than wider dining area.

This time, I was forced to resort to takeout, only because of time constraints. After perusing the menu for a solid 10 minutes, I made a solemn decision to dabble with their chips and numerous salsas, to try the Mexico City Burrito (steak, refried beans, cilantro), to taste chicken taco, and to sample the enchilada entrée.

After placing my order, I could not restrain myself from admiring, then acquiring the wide range of salsas they offered to the public: green salsas, seedy salsas, red creamy salsas, we had it all. As I received a myriad of containers filled with salsas, I heard my order number being announced over their loud-speaker.

After locating the pick-up area, I was wished a good day, and off I went in hand with my Mexican meal.

After plopping myself in front of the television with ottoman in front of me, I opened my “packages.” To my left, five salsas with two white bags of chips. To my right, water, chicken taco, and Mexico City burrito. In front of me, the enchilada entrée, accompanied by rice and refried beans. Mmm, a feast that Don Juan would have approved. Where to start?

I began with the assortment of multi-flavored salsas. The verde (green with a scattering of white seeds) was tangy, yet watery, so not to my liking.

Next, the roja (red, hearty, muchas ingredients) was a sweeter and heavier paste that accompanied the chip well, but was still just a mediocre sauce. The best of the four (which isn’t saying much), the regular, was just a mild salsa with typical ingredients.

Finally, the remaining dip, was the hot: very bland, with little zing and flavor. Overall, the four salsas lacked taste. I personally do not recommend wasting your time on them.

After devouring the two packages of chips, I found myself unwrapping the chicken taco and Mexico City burrito. The taco was soft-shelled! I did not order it that way, but perhaps this is the way “Mesa Fresh” does business. Beware.

The taco was tasty, with the best part being the hearty chunks of chicken included within my soft shelled taco. “Mexico City” was a different story. This well-made, West Coast-like burrito was actually living up to my hopes that someday Mexican food may make the transfer from West to East Coast. The burrito was delicious and very filling, filling enough to force my delay of eating the enchiladas for another time.

Sometime later, I reheated the enchiladas, and they were mediocre. Nothing extravagant, just another average dish.

“Mesa Fresh” is a nice escape to quick Mexican food, but nothing too authentic. If you are searching for a quick out to some tasty foods and need to get your hands on a good burrito, stop in at the KoP for a bite.