If you haven’t yet been to Mesa on Jefferson in Oak Cliff, what the hell are you waiting for? OH! Were you waiting for photos of lobster enchiladas?? Well, then today is your lucky day, friend. See below.

“But Oak Cliff is scaaaary!” Quit your whining. It’s not, and anyway there are like a million free parking spaces right in front of the dang front door. Mesa serves food worth both the drive and the somewhat sketchy surroundings. When you are interested in eating REAL Mexican food, not Tex-Mex (not that there’s anything wrong with that), there are only a tight handful of options in town. Mesa is one of them. No more excuses. It’s time to eat at Mesa, y’all.

Recent changes have been made to the space, including adding a kickass back patio dining area and some changes to the front of the building to make it look less…well, closed. In addition to those tweaks, Mesa is adding seasonal items to their menu, so they invited me and some of the other media folk in town to give the new dishes a taste.

First off, let me introduce you to my favorite drink at Mesa (and possibly anywhere): the Mesa Horchata. As I’ve mentioned before, this drink is like a vacation in a tall, creamy glass. The vanilla-cinnamon rum paired with horchata is refreshing and honestly quite dreamy. If you close your eyes, you just might be able to hear the ocean. No joke.

All of Mesa’s drinks are pretty damn great, but folks at dinner last night were quite fond of the Jamaica Paloma (hibiscus water, vodka or tequila, soda and lime), the Mesarita (pictured below) and the spicy margarita (which adds a serrano pepper infusion). All are $8. Heat junkies will want to go for the Vampiro, which puts habanero, serrano and ghost peppers into play. That’s likely a meal in itself. But we had business to attend to…

After grabbing drinks we headed outside to the new patio — it’s really a fantastic space! They are hosting a Dia De Los Muertos event at the end of the month, and I know there’s tons more planned for this kickass patio. Any regular night these days would be perfect to eat and drink outside. It’s patio season!!

Then came this here guac. The server told us the chef had gotten so many requests for guacamole that he created a version with fresh organic avocados, pico and micro cilantro served with housemade chips. This is seriously great stuff. $8.50 for a bowl.

Then two little cups of soup arrived at our places. The first, the soup of the day, was a brilliantly hued carrot and cream soup that was silky and sweet. Rich as hell but I didn’t mind. $7.

Next up was Calabazita’s Soup, which is an organic zucchini soup with pork ribs and corn. Since I don’t dig on swine, I have to rely on the ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhhs’ from my left and right as they devoured the stuff. All were pleased.

My favorite thing about Mesa is its mole. I think it’s the best in town. And I eat a lot of mole. Last time, it was the enmoladas with fried eggs for brunch. This time, the mole enchiladas stuffed with chicken. If left to my own devices I would have devoured the full-sized dish they set out for photos, but I kept my cool.

Below is what you will get when you order the mole enchiladas ($16) at Mesa. Which you will do very, very soon. Yes. And yes again.

Next up, everybody but me (pork alert) tasted the Cochinita Pibil ($20). And once again, I heard great things. Folks around me were particularly smitten with the brothy goodness. I dabbed my finger in the escabeche (which everyone was warned was way hot) and the tip of my tongue is still recovering.

The Carne Asada at Mesa is unlike any I’ve tried. The meat is smoke dried until it’s salty, tough and almost jerky-like. After something like eleven hours spent marinating in olive oil and vinegar. It’s served with vegetables, black beans, jasmine rice and a beautiful corn tamale. So soft and sweet. $18.

This massive bowl of sea life is the Guiso Del Rey ($20). The rice and broth were said to be incredible in this dish (I admit I didn’t try this one), and the aroma was certainly rich, with both Modelo Especial and chardonnay in the recipe.

A Guiso Del Rey beauty shot, if I do say so myself:

The last of the entrees, we were presented with tastes of the Enchiladas de Langosta, or lobster enchiladas. These were simple, slightly sweet with a “secret ingredient” sauce. Even though I preferred the mole version, I think these were the winner last night among the other lucky guests at Mesa.

The full portion of Enchiladas de Langosta comes with bacon and ham rice and an avocado stuffed with crab meat, mango and pico. ($20)

Thankfully, when we all thought we might burst, they kept the desserts to a minimum. These two were light and small tastes of two of the six dessert options at Mesa. The first was Ensalata de Frutas: a basic chopped fruit salad with pecans and sweet cream.

This most unusual dessert was the Dulce de Calabaza: a squash soaked in a sweet sauce was like a classed up, less sweet bite of pumpkin pie. Desserts are $5 or $13 for your choice of three.

These two made me want to come back and try the arroz con leche and tres leches cake. I’ll be back, and I hope to see you there. Mesa is truly a special restaurant run by a very talented family. They’ve made the choice to tough it out in admittedly not the best neighborhood for upscale cuisine. They’ve committed to using organic ingredients and to offer not just vegetarian, but gluten free options as well. Most of all, Mesa is an opportunity. Let’s prove that Dallasites can handle real Mexican food, and not just handle but celebrate it! Get in there.

Mesa Veracruz Coastal Cuisine  |  118 W. Jefferson  |  mesadallas.com

NOTE: This was a media dinner and therefore it was comped by our hosts at Mesa. However, I have been a fan of Mesa for quite a while and would never tell you to go there if it wasn’t incredible. Free dinner or not.