Mez Contemporary Mexican

Tried Mez tonight and I’ll be honest, I did not totally know what to expect from a “contemporary Mexican” restaurant. Maybe it just means it identifies as Mexican and keeps you on your toes. First impression, the place is beautiful inside. It feels upscale without being stuffy. I’m already looking forward to eating on the patio when the weather improves. Service was good and everything came out quickly. I ordered the steak fajitas and they were excellent, flavorful, perfectly cooked, and absolutely worth getting again. A couple surprises: the fajitas did not come with beans or cheese, so I had to ask for a side. They brought black beans with cojita cheese, which was a solid save. Also, no complimentary chips and salsa. You have to order them, and you get three tiny cups of salsa… paired with enough chips to feed a small neighborhood. I guess for the price they had to splurge somewhere. Two of the salsas were great, one was not my thing. Overall, excellent meal and good service. Shout-out to Roberto the bartender, he took great care of me. I’ll be back.

Had family dinner and everyone enjoyed their selections. Wait staff were wonderful. Convenient parking for early dinner reservations.

The food was great and for only $13 a burrito and similar for a Tortas, you can't go wrong. Dining and vibes given off make you feel like it's a much fancier place than it is, which is a fantastic lunch spot for people working down the road. Dinner time has the ante pumped up and all I can say is that this place feels nice. Service is fantastic! Again, more of that "this is way too good" for what I am being asked to pay in 2025. Atmosphere, like I said, comes off as a finer than average dining experience. Things are not just clean, but orderly and the light coming in mid day is down right lovely. People that can't have Gluten??? VISIT THIS PLACE

Wanted to like this place but it just didn’t hit for me. I won’t say the food was bad, but m wasn’t my fave. The salmon was pretty good, hot, but the sweet potatoes and Brussels were cold. Maduros were piping hot and basically a dessert with a coat of sugar on it. The cheese dip is like a black of cheese. No dipping. Had to cut it up with a knife. My friend ordered the steak medium well and it came out rare. Sent it back and came back rare again so unfortunately she didn’t eat. Also, it was very loud in there and hard to converse. Also, expensive.

This is such a local favorite and I can see why. However, it’s not really my personal favorite. I am a bit underwhelmed each time I go there. That may because I love small time Mexican places (think big menu, queso, and endless chips and salsa) and this is more of a limited menu experience.The atmosphere is nice and it is clear people enjoy it. Even though it’s not my personal preference, I can see why people really host there. I did attend a holiday party and they have a nice private area upstairs with a bar and everything. That part was nice! Food is just average.

High end mexican cuisine. Food was ok. A bit too expensive. Service was ok. Music was too loud to talk. Interior could have more mexican feeling

Let me tell you this was my 1st time there and IAM in love. The service was a 10, the waiter was the best. The food absolutely a chefs kiss.. They close at 830 pm Mon-Thursday so get there early. The bathroom was beautiful and very clean. The bar was great. This place has a great atmosphere. They also have seating outside. The food is cooked fresh. Try the trio chips and salsa. I got the braised pork shank with yellow rice , peas and spinach. After eating this food you will never want another Mexican restaurant again. I could go on and on about how good everything was here! If I could give them 100 stars I definitely would. This place has absolutely the best management based on how well it’s run. Go check this place out today. My name is Wanda Thompson and I approve this message 💜

Nice environment. My dinner could of used more spice and meat could of been more tender but overall everything was good. Second time there, food was excellent. I had the fish Taco. I was glad they changed it from catfish. We had a large group from work and they were very accommodating and fast on service. It's not a traditional Mexican restaurant so some of the choices will be limited.

This was my first time eating at Mez. We had a company lunch 20+ people and they were able to accommodate us. Our server was very friendly, and prompt. We never had to ask for any refills he was always on top of it. The food was delicious and portions are large. Entire group was happy with the meals. I would definitely consider coming back here for another work event.

Tried Mez for our Friday new restaurant. The menu looked reasonable promising, with some basic TexMex options. When we arrived the parking lot was busy, but the space is huge and was scantly occupied. We ordered drinks, I had the blackberry Mojito, it was bland, weak and seemingly absent of blackberry flavor. The chips/salsa/queso were just ok. We ordered a burrito and the mole enchiladas, and they were underwhelming. The mole tasted as if it hadn't been cooked long enough, too sweet with a strange aftertaste. The burrito was small, with too little chicken tinga and too much rice/beans. Flavors were middling. Our service was ok, if a little slow and disorganized. The ambience is ok, but the space is huge, and not particularly comfortable. There are much better options for Mexican in the triangle, it appears time and complacency have rendered Mez an unnecessary redundancy.

The steak tacos are not good tasted like food prepared in a crockpot , this place use to be better , margarita was full of ice bet little drink , the restaurant was pretty empty, I won't return

Wow! What a great dinner location! Ruby (our server) was fantastic, so personable and made our experience 100/10. Great drinks and unique food!

Haven't been here in a while. Met a friend for lunch, since it's halfway between us. While the parking lot is always full at lunch, that doesn't translate to being crowded inside. We were seated immediately at 12:15 without reservations. We were brought chips and chose one of the salsas, (traditional Mexican Corn salsa - fresh and tasty, but not very spicy. This will become a theme.) My friend had not dined here before and decided on a trio of street tacos with steak. I choose the carne asada tacos. They arrived quickly, three per plate, open-faced. The ingredients seemed fresh, but there was a distinct lack of flavor. We swapped out one each so that we could both taste the other's, and I found the same thing: they were just bland. Plus, the tostadas were flimsy and seemed not able to stay together enough to get the fillings to your mouth. Allen, our waiter, brought hot sauce and salt on request, but neither could really give these tacos any heat. I was very disappointed, and I think my friend now thinks I have poor taste in food. More "Meh" than "Mez". I'll try again, but it was disappointing.

Amazing meal with great service. Our server was covering bother the bar and bar area booths and did an amazing job. I believe her name was Hailey. Very comfortable space, great food, reasonable drink prices. Can't wait to go back.

I went to an alumni event at Mez recently, and had a great time. We had a food buffet, and I especially enjoyed their salmon and roasted vegetables. The space worked out really well, too. I've been to Mez a couple of times before, pre-pandemic. I'm surprised I didn't review before, but I do remember positive experiences before.

It had been a long while since I had been to Mez, but I recall it being much better. The food was tasteless and overall just blah. The service was good, no issues there at all. I wouldn't recommend it to others.

I made a reservation online for our anniversary and called to make sure we could eat outside on the patio. They had a table for 2 waiting for us when we arrived. If was pretty busy inside and outside on a Thursday evening. You could tell our server was super busy, we didn't mind since we were in no rush. All of the food was tasty. We had the salsa trio to start. The tomatillo salsa was so good and my favorite. I don't regularly order margaritas but I got a strawberry one on special that was good. I had grilled chicken fajitas for dinner. These were good, but some of the chicken seemed a little over cooked. My husband had the salmon over some type of lentils and he said it was amazing! We finished off our meal with Tres Leches which was amazing! Our server brought us the wrong bill, which was at least less than half of what we owed. We let him know and he quickly fixed it, but this just reinforced that they were super busy and rushing around. He apologized a few times, and we let him know it really wasn't an issue. Just a reminder to be nice to restaurant staff, many are struggling right now.

Service was excellent and friendly. Food? Not so much. The chicken fajitas were anything but fajitas. No sizzling iron plate. Think McDonalds chicken McNuggets on top of fajitas veggies. Chicken was not cooked in fajita seasoning. I'm quite positive they were nuggets poured out of a frozen bag. Pretty disgusting. Tortillas were cold and also seemed like they came out of a bag of prefolded tortillas. Not heated for my dish. My signature Paloma was terrible. Couldn't finish it. The establishment does not give you chips and salsa like every other Mexican restaurant out there. But the waitress was nice. She said she thought about steering me away from that dish...but didn't reveal what I was in for.

The most generic Mexican food ever had. I ordered the chicken fajitas. Picture below is what came out. No sizzling skillet no blackened chicken. Looks like someone else's leftovers. Rice is mushy and flavorless. Add to that the fact they don't give cheap complimentary chips and salsa and the rating goes down even further. Will not return.

It's a nice place with great service. The food was good, and was made exactly as ordered. They did a great job with making it spicy and hot, just like the way our group likes. The kids menu was good too and they serve ice cream as part of it, which the kids loved. I tried the chicken tinga tacos and it was delicious. The spinach enchiladas and the fajitas were really tasty too. Overall, a good experience and would visit this place again.

The shrimp fajitas were very flavorful. I really enjoyed the ambiance of the restaurant. The waitress was very pleasant and attentive. I will definitely go back again.

Service was great and food came out super quick, nice interior. Food was pretty good, nothing wrong with it maybe a little bland but overall good.

I attended an event that was being held on the upper level of this restaurant. It was my first time visiting Mez and I was impressed. The restaurant is big and beautiful and was decorated very nicely for the holidays. There was a bar upstairs and I was delighted to try the Mez Margarita. It was delicious and refreshing. We were served dinner buffet style. The food was straight forward, but flavorful. I look forward to returning and trying the food from the regular menu.

Food was good, but felt like it was just plated vs made fresh. Had the fajitas and felt like a lunch portion. Service was a bit hit or miss with people waiting for refills apps and food.

Superp food. Great waiter. I'd call this a "fancy Mexican" restaurant. This was my third time in ten years. I need to go often.

Last night we picked up a friend from RDU and decided to eat at Mez. I was looking forward to eating here because I'd eaten lunch and dinner here a number of times "pre-covid" and had thoroughly enjoyed it. At that tme service was good and the food was outstanding. Our experience last night did not meet those expectations. We arrived at 8:05 PM were seated and the hostess brought us water. She told us Jonathan would be our server and that she would check on us. At 8:25 PM, no one had stopped by the table. Servers were around us bussing tables, but none stopped to ask whether we'd been helped. Our guest, who was a server all through college, got up and found someone and asked for some help. He took our orders. The appetizers and food came out pretty quickly (they close at 8:30 PM). We ate and Jonathan came to pick up the dishes and left the bill. No one apologized for our 20 minute wait and having to flag down a server. Not the person we flagged down, not a manager and not Jonathan. Very disappointing. The food however, was good. We got their chips appetizer with three different salsas (chipotle, pico de gallo and salsa verde). Our guest had the shrimp and rice. She loved it. My wife had the fajitas and she like her entre. I had a grilled chicken burro which was also very good. In the past (pre-covid), Mez had been very good. Perhaps this was an anomaly because we arrived 25 minutes before they close. Hopefully if you try them you'll have a much better experience.

First time back since Covid-19. Has a nice business dinner. Service was excellent. We got 2 appetizers, drinks, and each of us ordered a different entree. I had the Baja fish tacos. Everything was very tasty. The only thing that bugs me is that you don't get the chips for free like at other Mexican restaurants. But it is a fancy Mexican restaurant with gourmet dishes. There isn't the standard #1 meal with tacos and rice. I do recommend trying this if you want a different take on the typical Mexican food you get at most places.

Way, way over rated. The bartender is a total snob and thinks that her looks mean service. Never asked how dinner was "not very good ", never asked if I wanted or needed anything. I give the food an Ok......too bad

I dined here with a friend and it was busy at lunch! Make a reservation on open table if you can. The bar and entry are spacious with high ceilings and there is a large room upstairs to use for groups. The menu is modern Mexican or an American take on Mexican food. I had the tinga burrito and it was huge. Plenty for lunch and dinner. The guacamole is a great fresh starter. Prices are about $12-14 an entree. The server also mentioned a happy hour that they offer in the early evening.

Very good choices for vegetarians. Love happy hour because you can sample all the tacos for less. Staff is always cheerful and nice. Drinks are delicious too

Mez is a beautiful restaurant that has great atmosphere. I've found the wait staff to be pretty good here as I've only ever had one bad experience with one waiter. I was told I couldn't order a single taco a la carte, but would have to order one of their taco plates despite having order a la carte tacos before. The carne asada tacos and the shaved street corn are amazing. Everyone should try the street corn at least once because it's that good. My family and I have also tried the chicken tacos, Barbacoa tacos & enchiladas, and loved all of them.

The food was ok. Gave it 3 stars bc they had good salsa and really spicy ones too!! Service as mediocre and ambience was lack of, just a simple restaurant. Although was really packed for a Wednesday night. Guess it was only hot spot in town.

I did not enjoy the food here. We had chips with three salsas (green, red, pico), shrimp fajitas, plantains and pattatas bravas. I didn't like any of the dishes. The plantains came with some type of caramel sauce which made them taste strange. The shrimp fajitas were not seasoned well.

Tacos!!!!!!! I've been here a few times and always enjoy their unique and delicious taco offering. The vegetarians tacos are my fave and love the Baja fish! Salsa trio always is delicious. Their chips are salty and crunchy and always fresh. We had the best service the other day and even among all the craziness in the world, a kind server and service was much needed. Also, if you go between 4-6 they have a super happy hour taco special!

First time in NC. Mez. You have "Mez"merized us. Unbelievably well crafted, delicious, simple, yet extremely difficult to get "right" Mexican food. If a Chilango (hubby) says go here...Go here! The food is beyond on point. The staff are professional, attentive, customer-centric and above all, kind and determined to make your experience the ultimate in very best. MEZ you do not disappoint. We arrived on a Thursday. This was our dinner stop. We came back on Sunday - because - where else will you get the incredible tastes, service and experience that we did at Mez. We are leaving on Saturday 7/3 - definitely going back before we go. Nothing like this in Cali. Sad. We NEED and DESERVE a Mez in SF Bay Area. Kudos to the chef, the wait staff and the owner - a true Mexican Gastronomic gem in NC! Thank you!

Went here with some coworkers for some drinks before Thanksgiving break and sat on the patio. The outside area is charming, although definitely in need of some outdoor heaters. Our server was nice and fairly attentive, and always made sure that we had plenty of chips and salsa... which ended up being a problem. Each time he brought us a new basket of chips/plate of salsas and took away our half-eaten baskets/plates, he charged us $6, which we didn't know until we got the bill at the end. If you're charging $6 for chips and salsa, why are you removing the half-eaten ones?! That's literally theft, and not to mention wasteful. Drinks were already pricey enough and not really anything special in my opinion. The other issue we had was the indoor space. Thank goodness we decided to eat outside because there was definitely a sewage issue indoors. It REEKED! Luckily we only went inside to use the restrooms, but it definitely helped us decide to not order any entrees. We honestly couldn't believe they remained open with the obvious sewage issues. That had to be a health code violation??? Anyhow, our waiter was nice and the patio has nice ambiance, but I won't be back. $70 for 3 drink specials and chips/salsa is a steep evening.

The place was not crowded when we got there and the waiters were attentive with our requests. I ordered fish taco and it was good.

What an interesting and great place! Food was incredible beverage selection good (on the tequila/mezcal side). Atmosphere as great as the service. A big hats off to your LEED construction! All in all a great experience with a thoughtful appeal! Thank you

I came here on a Monday night and it was much busier than expected for a weekday. The wait staff is very friendly and the service was so fast, we pretty much got in and out of the restaurant in 45 minutes. Sometimes I get sketched out when my food comes 10 minutes after I order but it's nice if you're in a time crunch on a weekday. The food was average. I started out with the chips and salsa which wasn't anything the rave about. The pico and mild and the other two have a kick to them. I got the fish tacos as my main and the rice and beans were also a little spicy. The tacos didn't have that much flavor but adding salsa and some rice/beans made it better.

Delicious food (beef tacos) and mango margarita. Wonderful customer service. Definitely coming back for more! Highly recommend.

I've had better guac but the brisket is delicious and the guac wasn't bad, nothing that couldn't be fixed with some chopped raw jalapeños. The service was excellent, and I liked the atmosphere around 1 in the afternoon. Very tasty margaritas. I'm going back soon.

I am really not one to write a review but I was very disappointed. We ordered the queso, which came out clumpy and not at all creamy. My steak tacos were not flavorful at all and the tortilla was soggy. The guac on the tacos tasted bland and didn't seem fresh. The rice tasted bland and like it was microwaved. I will say the margarita was well made and very good. I would come back to have drinks but would definitely not eat here again! Both my partner and I were disappointed and rarely are picky about food.

Food was marginal at best. Wait staff was great but you can't make up for bad food. It was so bad we called the manger over. His statement was " well I guess we took a swing and missed"

Pretty average food and service. I liked their apps (hard to mess up salsa, guac and queso) more than I did my fish tacos, which were just sort of "meh" to me. I've had better at places that charge much less than $16 for two tacos with fried fish and some cabbage (I'm not joking, truly, that is all that was in it...). The portions are noticeably smaller than your more typical Mexican restaurant as well. The inside is much more modern, chic and - like in the name of the restaurant - contemporary. They redeem themselves to three stars since last few times I've been the drinks were consistently yummy and no issues with service.

Being the So Cal gal that I am, I'm always looking for great Mexican food! I attended a private event at Mez last week and totally enjoyed the food. Everything was so fresh, the guac and salsas... the Chimichurri is just out of this world! Not only did they win me over with the salsa, but the Tres Leches cake had me at Hello. In the past, I've passed on tres leches desserts because there hasn't been one that impressed me. Overall, the restaurant space is swanky with its two-levels of dining space, high ceilings, and colorful decor. I'm planning to return soon for another taste of their goodness, but this time I will try their lunch menu since it is less pricey than the dinner menu.

Decent California style Mexican restaurant. It gets busy around lunch time. Great place to meet friends and colleagues for a quick bite and drinks.

Always experience friendly and inviting staff, and the food is divine! favorite place to take out of town friends when they come to visit.

I can't say enough bad things about this restaurant. After requesting a specific type of table when I made the reservation, they didn't even have a record of my reservation. Then the waiter rushed us so, making us order drinks and appetizers before we even had a chance to look at the menu. The margueritas were awful. No chips are provided unless you want to pay for them! We had to send the waiter away and told him to come back in 20 minutes as he was rushing us so much. When we ordered, the food came out right away. We could have been out in 1/2 hour at that pace and the restaurant was empty. My husband ordered the fajitas. First time I ever saw them on a plate and not sizzling. Portion was really small. Friends ordered the Baja tacos (fish) and said they were all fry. I had the brisket burrito and it was fair. For sure this was the worst Mexican restaurant I've ever been to. We hadn't been to mez in years and it used to be gourmet Mexican with an interesting menu.

Recently ordered curbside and it was a great experience for ordering and curbside pickup. So grateful for the immunosuppressed community that restaurants continue to offer options like this. The dishes (flautas and enchiladas) that we got were both really spicy!! They were super yummy but so spicy we ended up eating just part of our dinner and then making something small at home later that night. Would love to try out more dishes here as everything was super yummy and would bump up a star if the spice wasn't so heavy (we like spicy food!). Looking forward to trying out more of the menu.

I was surprised to read the more negative views of this spot. We had a group visit this restaurant after a corporate meeting and were pleasantly surprised with this restaurant overall. The restaurant itself is spacious with tasteful, modern decor. We were seated and attended to as soon as we walked in. Our server was helpful and friendly, offering good recommendations. We ordered chips with salsa, guacamole and the queso flameado for appetizers (yes, the chips and salsa are worth the extra charge). They were all very flavorful and fresh, although I didn't try the cheese. Based on the server's recommendation, I chose the Chile Relleno meal for my entree. Wow, so flavorful and filling! I seriously could have licked the plate. The only reason this place lacked a 5th star was due to the quality of the ultimate margarita. It seemed very weak overall and not that much different than the bland, pre-made versions readily available elsewhere. We split tres leches cake, churros and sorbet for our desserts. Cake and churros were delightful, the sorbet was good but the cookie garnish was forgettable (dry and flavorless). Overall, the quality of the food rendered Mez worthwhile. I'd recommend it if you're in the area!

I should have come here ages ago! Because the food and ambiance is really good! Very bustling kind of place, fancy stand alone building, high ceilings, separate dining areas, indoor balcony, patio. A lot of corporate parties come here to spend their employer's profits. So you would think it's expensive. But no, the prices aren't really that much higher than the average Mexican joint. Very busy on a random weekday. Service by Tim B was just the way you want it to be. Attentive, helpful, friendly. The Mexican corn soup comes out proper hot. It's very creamy. And heavy. But airy. And light. How? Whipped? Most importantly, hot temperature. No cold soups for me unless we're ordering gazpacho. The Fried Green Tomatoes were very good. Lightly breaded with pimento cheese on top, a little bit of spicy bite to it. Cheese Quesedilla - good if you like a basic dish like that. The sauce that comes with it is so hot. You put some of it on your tongue and you think for a couple of seconds, this is mild, then it hits you like boom, spicy! Ordered rice and beans on the side, a generous serving for three dollars. Spinach enchilada gets you three rolls, filled with fresh spinach, none of that watery stuff. I think tomatillo sauce on top. Rice and beans on the side. The Grand Manier Flan was light, not too sweet, just the way I like it. A good taste of custard. Orange slices on top. Can definitely taste the orangey liquor. Bit of whipped cream on the side.

This place was absolutely amazing - from the staff to the food. THE STAFF. I went with my family on Monday, June 21st, with my parents. My dad is disabled and walks very slowly. It was around 8 and they stopped serving food at 8:30. Even though we were coming toward the tail end of their evening, the staff was so kind, did not rush us, and got us a table near the front. Every single person working that night did such a great job. THE FOOD. So delicious and really great portion sizes. The guacamole was among the best I have ever had. The grilled avocado salad was also really amazing. It lasted two meals.

What an amazing experience we had with our group here! Not only was the food amazing but the service was astonishing. Our server Hayley was so attentive to us and made sure we had an awesome experience! So personable, and so kind... Thank you Hayley the great memories!!!

Great food and impeccable service! Good for groups and plenty of room to social distance too. The avocado salad was an array of flavors that made my mouth happy. Shared parking but a good bit of spaces. I'd visit again for sure.

This location is very close to our office and has become our go-to lunch spot for staff lunches or entertaining out-of-town visitors. Think of it as nouveau Mexican, not traditional but modern and delicious. I don't think I've ever had a bad meal here. Guac and salsa selections are good. This also seems to be a popular happy hour spot in the late afternoons. Parking can be iffy when it's full but you can park in the farther parking lot and walk over. Service is usually friendly and efficient, and they can also accommodate most dietary requests. This is another winning part of the Chapel Hill Restaurant Group family.

This place is good, but if you want an upscale Mexican style food experience. I'm used to ACP and combo plates, which granted isn't traditional food, but I was surprised to see their menu. The food was alright, pretty filling for what was offered. It was more an experience than eating for comfort. Willing to try again, but not my first choice.

A year later I am back. Service for our group of 15 was awesome!! A little disappointed (as were my four neighboring tablemate co-workers) that they don't serve salsa and chips and you have to order them?? Sorta feels like paying for a checked bag for $25 on a $450 plane ticket?? The place and glasses and silverware are clean. The wjole.place was. We were seated promptly and serviced immediately. I got a vegetable taco w/o cheese (see picture) and it was very tasty and a good portion. The corn tortilla was fresh (found out made on premise.) The veggies and all components seasoned nicely and cooked perfectly. I am avoiding gluten and later found out they have a gluten free menu and also are vegan friendly. (Yes corn chips are cooked in same places.as oterjnitems and same with tortilla so cross contaminated and co-mingled) but am more about.the ingrediants. Anyway had to update and they are improved!

The place is hopping and getting there early for a peaceful meal was diminished as the waitress seated us near the bar while happy hour was in full swing. We could not even converse across the booth. It was difficult to even look at the menu with the noise level. Another waitress moved us nearby conveniently where many tables were awaiting the dinner rush. Our waiter was attentive and brought our soups while we looked over the menu. Oddly, the soup was merely warm. Placed our orders which arrived relatively quickly; however, one was not grilled chicken but chicken tinga. The waiter apologized and brought out the correct entree. Food was tasty and service was good. Great service would be engaging the customers to find out if celebrating anything special. We were....a milestone birthday! We may try a different night to see if food is hot, noise level minimal, and be open to other menu selections. The place could be great but the experience did fall short even on water refills.