la mina cantina, 4001 auburn st, bakersfield ca 93306

food: 3.5/5; price: $ 1/2. i am a huge (in both senses of the word) restaurant goer, but still manage regularly to miss many of the popular local places. la mina has been one. i finally went with family members to this northeast mexican food spot today and am still foggy-brained from the overeating experience, all the blood i would need to think & write clearly being in my stomach right now. this is a quite pretty, colorful, large restaurant with high ceilings, leveled floors, wide central area resembling a patio, lovely carved chairs and tables, tile floors, wall hangings, etc. there's a bar i'd bet is a fun place to go get plastered, large, dark, with margarita goblets and loaded soldiers lined up and ready for action.
la mina abounds with pasteled, festive, restauranty-romance. a visit here feels a little like going to a party.
mom and auntie ordered bowls of albondigas soup with a side of rice, the soup being, my aunt told my mom, "the closest i've had to how mama made it" (high praise) - it came with something extra, green bell peppers. mama, who hasn't been feeling well, slurped her whole bowl up, which made me like la mina that much more. i got the extremely reasonably-priced lunch buffet, under $7, and ate like a porker. the food was plentiful, pleasant, nothing outstanding, but two hours later, still stuffed to the gills, i have no stomach ache, and that's a good sign for me. the buffet included big, tender pieces of BBQ chicken; chicken fajitas with grilled vegetables; beef quesadillas; rice and beans; menudo with all the fixin's; tortillas; some kind of deep-fried fish (took all three of us tasting it to figure out what it was) with french fries; and more, but my memory's poor right now, as i said... add to this the salad and fruit bar, desert table, and (saving the best for last) rice pudding con canela and flan. the flan was delicious and i ate three squares before realizing that i'd pay for my gluttony if i didn't stop right then and there.
lunch for the three of us, minus tip, was $28. it would've been cheaper, but we got the extra side of rice and drinks, the latter of which, in restaurant-bars like this, always brings the tab up $4-$7. la mina serves large portions of standard food, nothing outstanding, but in a lovely environment, and for the overall experience, i'd recommend it. you could bring the family here for an uncle's or other family member's birthday and have a grand time, or come in with work buds for happy hour: both experiences would satisfy just plenty.