Mez

What it is:  We had been hearing about this restaurant on the RTP side of Durham for a while.  Mez is a contemporary Mexican restaurant from the creators of great restaurants like 411 West in Chapel Hill.  I wouldn't have necessarily taken my kids to a restaurant in RTP that caters to the business people on their lunch hours, but I had heard from people that this one was kid-friendly.  So, on a Friday afternoon, a friend and I took our kiddos and headed over.

The first trick was finding parking.  The lot was VERY crowded when we arrived at lunch.  We had to park way in the back behind the restaurant and walk a ways. The restaurant was full of business people on their lunch hour, but we were quickly seated.  We got a great table in the back.  It was nice because there was a great water feature that they boys loved watching.

The menu had lots of great mexican favorites with some contemporary twists.  They also had a kids' menu with crayons to keep the boys occupied.  We ordered the queso for an appetizer.  It was very different than your typical queso, with goat cheese and a layer of salsa under it.  It was pretty good, but unfortunately, not very kid friendly.

For our meals, I ordered the spinach enchiladas and the boys both got their usual quesadilla meal.  The food was good, but in a different style than some of the authentic-style restaurants that we frequent in Durham.  The boys meal was good sized with french fries to go with the quesadilla and they even made them chocolate milk.  The kids' meals offered the entree, fries or vegetable, soft drink, and scoop of ice cream for under $5. They scarfed down their meal happily, but they didn't offer us the ice cream.  I wish I had remembered to ask.

What we liked:  We enjoyed the water feature in the back, and the kids' menu was reasonable and full of accessible food in decent portions.  It is also in a good location for a weekday family lunch break if you or your spouse work in RTP.

What we would change:  The parking situation was a bit crowded, and some of the food, like the queso was unaccessible.  Plus, while they are clearly ready and prepared for kids, there weren't many kids when we were there on a weekday lunch.  Maybe that would be different if we came in the evenings or on a weekend.

Website and other important information:

Website: http://www.mezdurham.com/

Address: 5410 Page Rd., Durham, 27703

Hours: Lunch: Monday-Friday 11am-4pm, Taco Bar: Monday-Friday 4pm-6pm, Dinner: Sunday 5-9:30pm, Monday-Thursday 4-9:30pm, Friday 4-10pm, Saturday 5-10pm

Photos: 

(Their kids' menu)

(the entertaining water feature)

(one of the quesadilla kids' meals)