Ortega's Restaurant — Restaurant in Cañon City

My last name is Ortega, so I was hopeful this restaurant would live up to the proud name. Unfortunately, I was not real impressed with this place from the start. I like Mexican food, and will say that, as a native Texan, I skew towards Tex-Mex, so this gives you an idea of what I might like or dislike. When we passed the sign on the street, as we arrived in Cañon City, I was surprised to see it serves Mexican American and Italian cuisine. I thought that was a strange combination.

HANDICAPPED READERS - when I review something, I will be setting aside a little bit of time to address the concerns of the disabled. The place has good lit parking areas with handicapped spots right by the door. The threshold is easy to navigate, though understandably my fiancée had to hold the door as I rolled myself in to the place. There is no foyer or anything, once you are in the door, everyone can see you. I decided on transferring to a booth bench, and the tables were fixed to the wall, and I am kind of a big guy, so that was...snug. I didn't try the bathroom at this establishment.

Anyway, we get to the place and sit down and the waitress was very friendly and had a heavy New York accent. I bring this up only to point out that the waitstaff was not authentic either. When we looked, we didn't see any Italian food. We asked the waitress and she said one of the owners was Italian and he wanted this on the sign and that they did serve Italian food from time to time. I had the chips and salsa on the table and they were just ok. They serve Pepsi products, so be aware. I had the fajitas - beef and shrimp combo. I have to say, the shrimp was the best part of my meal. The rice/beans were average and the beans had cheese on top. The beef fajitas were just the cheap cuts of meat made with onions and peppers. They should have been skirt steak, which is what fajita is. The root of the word fajita is faja, which is a belt in Spanish. The part of the cow that describes is the skirt steak. So all in all, I would say this was not a satisfying stomach experience. We enjoyed Cañon City and we will be back, but not to this place. In a couple of days, you can read my review on a far better place in Cañon City...

My wife and I stop in here every year or two to see if there is an improvement. So far, no. Ate last night, she had a pork and avocado burrito and I had the stuffed sopapilla. She was served an avocado that was rock hard yet black in the center. Difficult to understand how any cook could place something like this on a plate. It really gives you the feeling that the kitchen staff really doesn't give a damn about the food they're pushing out. She sent it back and was served a much better one. The filling of my sope was good, but the sopapilla itself was small, thin and leathery. Definitely not a puff pastry. I had to cut it with a knife.

The prices are high relative to portion size. I'm not troubled by smaller portions, most restaurants serve portions that are too large...but they should at least be priced accordingly. If you pay a lot for small portions, they should at least knock your socks off.

The chips and salsa were perhaps the worst I've been served, more appropriate of a fast food joint than a real restaurant. The salsa was thin and watery and the chips generic and cold. Last time we ate here we didn't get chips at all, so I suppose this is an improvement.

On the up side, the coffee was excellent, but at $3 a cup it should be. The staff brewed a fresh pot as apparently no one else was having coffee.

Our waitress was cool to unfriendly, but to her credit she warmed up a bit as the meal progressed.

I think this our last shot at giving this place a chance...it was just too grim this go around. I'm really surprised at the positive reviews. We really aren't difficult customers, but this was insulting. Randy and Earl are nice folks, but perhaps after 18 years their...

I really wanted to like this place. Really. Cute looking place, friendly enough, average service. Overpriced for what we received as compared to other comparable local restaurants. Excessive charges for extra items, or add on's, without any listing for them in the menu, or verbal indication by the waitstaff. I don't mind paying for add on's and extras, but would rather not get hit with an outrageous, unexpected surprise on the bill at the end that is again, overpriced for the area and portions. Food quality wasn't even average. It was poor, to even inedible. Most ingredients had no seasoning or real flavor; shredded pork, beans, rice, all bland and unseasoned. The rice and pork were dry. The beans were not fully evenly cooked. Some were just short of crunchy while others in the same bite were tender. There was some spice or seasoning to the green chile, but it was still a real let down. It had no substance and tasted of cornstarch for thickening. Salsa was average, guacamole was ok, but not great. We tried, but ended up giving up trying to like it. We will not go...