Lalo Chino Latino Kitchen — Restaurant in Cincinnati

I used to absolutely love this place - it had amazing food, good service and was an enjoyable place to go.

The last 4-5 months, however, I've noticed a big decline in quality across the board. I'll share my most recent experience as an example.

Our last visit made it clear the service team was understaffed and slammed. Two staff was serving the whole restaurant and seemed flustered trying to seat and serve us. As we sat down, we started to note that the restaurant just seems really dingy - surfaces sticky, seem a bit dirty, just doesn't have the polished, cleaner feel we used to feel comfortable in.

We ordered our food - got two dishes with just veggies (no protein). When it arrived, one of the staff accidentally spilled a side sauce from one of our dishes on another guest at a table nearby. They handled it with the guest as well as possible, apologizing and helping get napkins, but in the swirl of cleanup, our side sauce was forgotten about and never replaced (came with the dish) which was frustrating (we were going to ask again but the dish itself was so underwhelming we decided it wasn't even worth the ask). Felt bad for both staff and guest, honestly.

Our food was really subpar. The veggies they serve taste super bland - as if they were just steamed or boiled, adding no flavor to the dish at all and coming across as just mushy and blech. Our dishes in general were either super dry or very mushy; none of us were impressed, and we used to love the flavor and textures of the food we ate here. We stopped getting tacos because it seemed the portions got smaller (but price stayed the same) and went to secondary favorite dishes, but at this point I'm running out entrees I can get excited about.

And hoping the guest who got the side sauce on them was given something; as we were leaving, we heard the staff mention they'd bring out the guests' checks and the guests started getting flustered that nothing was yet being offered for the trouble (and they definitely were going to need to get their shirt cleaned, the sauce was everywhere). Perhaps the staff did, but the fact the customers sat through the whole meal not being sure if anything would be offered service-wise for the dry cleaning they'd have to be doing later was awkward.

Dishes used to be exceptionally good and flavors/textures top notch. A few of us who used to regularly go have finally decided to take a hiatus - we know this same group just opened a newer restaurant (Crzy Monk) which is really clean, well staffed and food has that same quality we used to love in Lalo. Perhaps that's where attention is being diverted, so we've decided we'll go there for now or start seeing what else is in the area.

I'm bummed to review Lalo like this because I truly loved their food and was a huge advocate, recommending people go. I'm holding off recommending for now as I can't honestly recommend it like I used to. I hope it gets better, I'd come...

True Rating: 4.5/10

LALO is a hidden gem that perfectly blends Asian and Latin food into something that you had no idea you needed. Service was fantastic, the food was even better, and what you get for the money is unbeatable. I have been raving to everybody I know about this place for days.

We started with Chips & Guac, and it was great. The chips were crunchy yet light, and the guac was very tasty and fresh. Drinks were good- just a beer and a margarita. Dinner stole the show, though. I got the Mexican Pad Thai, and it was great. Both the “Mexican” and “Pad Thai” elements of the dish blended so well together. Barbacoa as the protein was an excellent choice, and was the twist on the dish that blew me away. Imagine mixing a fajita up in your favorite Pad Thai. That is what this was, but better than you can imagine.

Far and away, the cost was so worth it. Chips & Guac, a beer, a Marg, 3 tacos, and a Pad Thai bowl for 57 dollars. Portions were big, so the cost was just unbelievable.

Service was also great. We were promptly greeted, seated, and our waitress talked with us like we were her friend. She offered suggestions, her preferences, and was bubbly.

The venue itself was vibey and pretty. I only worry about the size of it. Bathrooms were okay, but otherwise I have no complaints about it.

Overall, this is my current favorite place in Cincy. Just a remarkable little place that offers a new twist on two of your favorite kind of comfort foods. I implore everybody I know and don’t know to check it out!

NOTE: Star rating based on my own formula consisting of flavor, cost, facilities, service, and overall satisfaction. Reviews are subject to change based on...

I'm editing my review. This place is normally a wonderful place to eat. But today my experience has ensured that I will NOT be returning here. We arrived and were seated by 12:02pm. It didn't take long too long for someone to take our order. As we waited we noticed a lot of people who arrived significantly later than us were already being served our food. Some time after 12:30 we were waiting for the waitress to address this issue. Instead she approached us with honesty, which was originally appreciated. And informed us that our order was not printed for some reason and they just submitted the order, they brought us chips and salsa on the house, and said they would speak to a Manger about applying a 10% discount. Although 30 minutes late, I had given some reconciliation due to the honesty that they had given. At this point you would expect that our orders would be prioritized to move more quickly since we already waited more than 30 minutes. Instead we observed the same results. After being informed of the mistake, additional customers came in, were seated and within 15-20 minutes also were served their food. After 1:00pm we asked for an update and to get the boxes to go since we were already over our lunch break hour. She left to get an update which was never received. We walked out at 1:18pm still hungry and visably upset by the experience. This was far beyond unacceptable, although confronted by the mistake, there didn't seem to be any effort to expedite the order and we ultimately...