Old Mexico — Restaurant in City of Ithaca

For our family roadtrip, we were staying at the Fairfield Inn & Suites next door so Old Mexico was an easy dinner pick, not only because of its proximity but we love authentic Mexican food.

They do have their own free parking lot if you're driving over.

This place itself looks decently clean with a nice vibe inside thanks to the decor. The employees don't speak the most fluent English but enough to get by with your dining experience.

Once we sat down, we were offered menus and drinks (we just got water all around) as well as chips and salsa! I have personally never been to a spot where they offer you complimentary chips and salsa the way an American restaurant gives you bread and butter, so this was a really happy surprise for us. I loved that the tortilla chips were very light and crispy, without any added grease and not too strong on the corn notes.

We ordered three different things to share since we were told the portions were large (and I would agree), inclusive of their dinner combos #1 (with rice) and #9, as well as their quesadillas appetizer. The quesadillas were definitely the star of the night, with their very well seasoned chicken which also had a nice char to them! They were also stuffed with ingredients. It came with a side of pico de gallo but we were sad to hear that they had run out of sour cream! That was definitely a first. The enchiladas were unfortunately not the best I've had - they could have had more stuffing and the flavor wasn't as to my liking as ones I've had previously. I definitely recommend their chicken over their beef items if you're ever debating between the two. Their tacos were nice and big, with a very crispy shell and not too strong or a corn flavor.

This place takes both cash and card, but they do not have portable credit card machines so they do need to take your card over to swipe, then give you a receipt for tips and a signature - it's been a while since I've had to do that but it isn't too much trouble.

On your way out, they also have mints for your enjoyment. We were greeted on...

First I want to be very clear the service was great! Our waitress and the waitstaff were amazing. The reason for the 1 star is the food.

We ordered the pozole and the mole. The pozole tasted horrible. Hands down the worst Mexican food I have ever had and that is saying something as I have eaten at some bad "mexican" restaurants. It was watery, no chili or broth flavor. The hominy was bland and you could tell had just come out of a can. The "pork", if you could call the over cooked gray cubes pork, was mushy and tasteless. It was obvious that this was not pozole, but instead an attempt to make something that looked like pozole yet tasted like it was made by someone who has never had the real thing. If they have had real pozole then there are generations of Mexican grandmother's rolling in their Graves.

I am pretty sure the mole was store bought... it tasted just like the low end mole sauce you can get at the store. At least it was edible.

This is the main issue I have: to charge $10+ per item for store bought foods and bad bland meals masquerading as authentic Mexican food in a town that may not know better, is not only a scam it is shameful.

This place is ranked 4.5 on the 5 star scale by locals. If you are a resident of Ithica and reading this, know two things: First, a simple Google of authentic Mexican recipes and some time will not only save you money but show you the light of how far off this place is from authentic. Second, Old Mexico is about as far off from Mexican food as it is from Mexico.

Also cooks of Old Mexico if you ever read this... it is called Cumin... it is a spice... C U M I N look it up. There are many more spices that compliment it, but if all you can garner is a bit of flavor at least...

We order from here these steak street tacos constantly especially with the covid-19 quarantine going on! I ordered three orders of steak street tacos and a kids meal quesadilla with fries which cost me almost $70! This is what I received for all three orders of my steak street tacos! Only three tacos in each container when there is supposed to be four tacos per order! Then the threes tacos I did order looked like this enough steak maybe for one taco, no sauce, and no lemon or lime when I called and asked for extra! I called the restaurant 5x to talk to an owner or manager and talked to Francisco each time that would not tell me his name till 5th call and told me that there was no owner or manager for me to talk to! He basically told me and Ithaca to go that delivered this order and were also sent pics of food that I was asked out on my money and they would not replace my order!! Ithaca 2go told me they did not agree and were in agreement that this order that was delivered to me that I paid almost $70 for was unacceptable!! Do not order from here because obviously they do not care about the quality of food they deliver customers of the restaurant! Then you are denied the opportunity to let a supervisor or manager know what the quality of food their customers are being delivered for the money they barely have to pay in this difficult time this world is going through! They...