Lela's - Fresno

Never disappointed. Great food and service. Portions are tremendous.

I"ve had several meals at LeLa's and was a bit disappointed with my most recent meal. I felt the food was over-flavored with tastes that were not compatable. My husband and I split a Caesar salad and the dressing had too much anchovy flavor for my taste, my husband loved it but I did not. My husband had the chicken and loved it too (I had a taste and can confirm that it was very good I had the filet mignon and thought it had too much going on. The seasoning was strong and it was covered with a generous portion of a blue cheese which wasn't very appealing to me (and I love blue cheeses). The garlic mashed potatoes were too garlicky and the vegetables had a lot of seasoning too and the combination of flavos on the plate just didn't add up for me. The flan for dessert was outstanding. The wine list is very heavy on reds so us white wine drinkers don't have much of a selection.

Before I left Lela's in Northwest Fresno, located in the shopping center at the northwest corner of Marks and Herndon, following our third meal there in mid-December, I sent a few pictures of the food and our enthusiastic recommendation to two of our friends, one responding that he and his wife were already customers and agreed with me entirely On this visit, my properly-cooked medium-rare lamb was accented by a Mexican-inspired mildly spicy green tomatillo sauce, cilantro with queso fresco, served with very tasty mashed potatoes. My wife had the generously sized bone-in pork chop I had enjoyed on a prior visit, couldn't finish it, so I had the pleasure of finishing it the next night at home. We have had other entrees at prior visits, including a salmon preparation my wife really enjoyed, and once I had a steak dish. Salads have been very good, and I think once we found room for a desert. The service on all three occasions has been polite, helpful and professional. I find the prices very reasonable for the quality of the food On the Zagat scale of cuisine, ambiance and service, and making a comparison to restaurants elsewhere in California, eastern major cities, and even overseas, a rating for Lela's would approximate: for food, for ambiance, for service. Lela's is one of the few restaurants in Fresno where I would take an out of town visitor who was knowledgeable about finer dining.

We enjoyed the new fall menu; especially the short ribs; elegant comfort food. What could be better?

We went to Lela's for Valentine's Day after reading online reviews and seeing pictures of their food. When we arrived, it was brighter than I imagined for a romantic Valentine's Day dinner. We were really looking forward to the food, however, unfortunately, they were serving a limited menu this weekend, so I was unable to order one of their steaks (no steaks on the menu during a busy, holiday weekend We were disappointed with the abbreviated menu because steak was on our mind, but decided to enjoy the experience as much as possible. The service was great and our waiter suggested helped us pick a nice Cab vs the Syrah we were contemplating. We paired the wine with their cheese plate, which had many tasty choices to choose from types of cheeses, several crackers, figs, and a spicy dipping sauce We would like to return on another evening when they have their full menu. From what we saw, the other patrons were enjoying their food and the orders had a good portion size.