Fiesta Charra — Restaurant in Ashland

Let's start with the positives first. All of the staff that I had an interaction with were very friendly & helpful...with one exception, our server. The restaurant itself was a good size with an outdoor patio. The food arrived pretty quickly. Now for that not so good...we asked for a seat at the bar...but the bar that they did have had no seats & the actual bar was being used to store dirty glassware. Instead we were seated at a booth right across from the checkout register. So we had plenty of people standing right beside our table as they were paying their bills. Our server, although she greeted us with a smile & was very attentive, seemed to want to rush us out. I asked for a shot of Seagrams 7, & was told that they did not carry that whiskey. A quick glance towards the bar & one could clearly see the very recognizable big red '7'. I just chalked it up to inexperience & it not being the "popular" whiskey of choice. Our bill was combined without even asking if we wanted to pay separately. Upon informing our server that we wanted our individual bills, she came back with our original combined bill separated evenly....50/50. Yes, we should have probably said something to rectify the problems, but i try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. It could have all been due to an off day. But for us, it was a less than favorable dining experience. If I am ever back in town, I will give Fiesta Charra...

I was driving to a business meeting when I spotted a "buffet" sign in front of a colorful Mexican restaurant. As I sat thru the boring meeting, I could not shake the enchanting idea of a Mexican buffet. I've been to countless Mexican restaurants all over the Midwest and never seen a buffet. When the meeting ran unnecessarily long and into lunch time, I had no choice but to go try it.

I was greeted by smiling faces, festive decor and 2 priests in the booth next to me. The place has a unique multi-level layout and a full bar. It had a comforting feel to it to me.

BUT if you are remotely prissy, do not go here. Buffets are touchy in general but especially with Mexican food and all the mixing of ingredients. I don't care at all but my wife would have passionately refused to build her mexican platter from vats of food visited by visitors ranging from unattended children to senile people.

The food itself is solid, not unlike all the other rural mexican restaurants. The ability to build a taco with the topping ratios you prefer and not have to do it thru a complicated order...the chance to sample things you wouldn't normally order...dabbling in some fajitas without the big showy sizzling platter...the rarely utilized mexican dessert...all special experiences for just 10 bucks. 5 stars for simply existing in buffet form, bravo...

I'm going to start this with saying that the buffet is small in size. But big on flavor! There is definitely plenty of different combos that you can make with what they had.

There was rice, refried beans (they were some of the best that I have had!), veggie fajita mix, mixed meat fajita mix, pork carnitas, queso dip, burritos, shredded chicken with salsa, taco meat, and some other items that I forgot. You can make your own tacos - hard or soft. They have taco salad shells. There is lettuce, tomatoes, pico, cheese, and sour cream. They even have jello, orange slices, and cookies.

The staff was constantly making sure that the hot trays were refreshed. Our waitress was amazing! I'm mad at myself for not getting her name. She was very attentive without over doing it. She cleared our plates and made sure that we had plenty to drink. And they have really good salsa and chips!

The Ladies Bathroom was clean, along with the rest of the restaurant.

The adult lunch buffet is $9.99. The child buffet is $4.90. I'm not sure at what age that price stops because my child is 8.

It is a drive for me to go just for that. But I will definitely go back when I have more time to hit up Grandpa's Cheese...