El Meson - West Carrollton City

I have been coming here as a vegan/vegetarian for almost 30 years. The veg options are the same today as they were 30 years ago. The veg dishes have always been good, but I have always thought that they should have more of a commitment to serving us vegans and vegetarians. It is very easy to make vegan versions of many of the traditional latin dishes. I have largely given them a pass on this, but I am now of the belief that there needs to be some pressure put on them to step it up a bit. There is absolutely no reason why they shouldn't have a separate vegan menu, with appetizers and entrees and not just some sides that are accidentally vegan and three entrees that are really just side dishes plated as entrees. Updated from previous review on 2014-04-17

I can 't believe this place doesn 't have better reviews! The sangria is amazing, the trio dip sampler is amazing (and all vegan), and they have several veg options including a veggie burger and Korean-style meat -balls. My favorites are the chickpea dish and the vegetarian sampler with an empanada, yuca, etc. (just specify if you 're vegan so they leave out any dairy). It 's really delicious and the portions are huge!

My non-vegan boyfriend and I like to eat. He's a chef, and I'm a total foodie. We agreed upon El Mason for a date the other night. He was totally pleased with his tortilla soup (very cool serving style with the meat and soup separate and you pour it over yourself and he also got the grilled new york steak and started out with the classics from Spain. (He was very pleased with his meal. His food seemed like they took time to plan the flavors, were I got the Meson Favorites Sampler and I am very unsatisfied with the 1.amount of food for $19 is not worth it 2. I would have been fine paying $19 for a mini plate if it were good, but everything left me hanging. The stew was compromised of watery veggies like squash. I'm the type of person that likes veggies like that to be left a bit crisp. There are plenty of other veggies to put into a stew that are great sort of mushy, but squash is not one of them. The plantains in the sampler were okay, but just again, nothing to them. The thing that gets me more is that in the menu they talk about how the El Meson family goes and travels to discover more Latin American dishes and bring diversity to the menu, however like the other commenter said, NOTHING has changed in 20 years. So that tells me they are blatantly fibbing in their menu. This makes no sense to me. If you are gong to claim that, do it. If you want to highlight the same dishes for 20 years, then your claim to fame would be your loyalty to laziness. Bottom line: This is a great restaurant for non-vegans or someone who only wants a liquid diet (the mojito is good , not good for for vegans. The pricing is absolutely ridiculous for the type of vegan food they presented. Updated from previous review on Wednesday August 27, 2014

I really loved this restaurant when I first moved to Dayton but quickly grew tired of the three vegetarian entrees on the menu (a veggie stew over rice, fajitas, and beans and rice). The atmosphere is fantastic, though, and the drink menu excellent.

I had the best service here. the vegetarian dish was fantastic. each product in the vegetarian plate was burst with taste. the service was 5 stars. I felt like I was appreciated and welcome. today it is her 43-year anniversary! to be open for so long, says something. great experience will be re-entered in the inside terrace!