Azteca Mexican Grill — Restaurant in City of Oswego

I’ll start off by saying, I’ve heard such great things about this place, and I really wanted to like it. But after two visits, I’m left feeling pretty disappointed and underwhelmed. My most recent visit was a dine in on a Monday during lunch hours at the Oswego location. We ordered a burrito, some fajitas with rice, and an order of chips and queso with added ground beef. They start with chips and salsa for the table, which is a nice touch. The salsa was good enough, but the tortilla chips tasted...burned? I couldn’t really put my finger on it. They were edible, but I wouldn’t look forward to eating them again. Which was par for the course for the entire experience. Now back to that burrito. It was a complete disappointment. It showed up as promised and arrived quickly (maybe too quickly...) The very FIRST thing I noticed was that the plate was PIPING hot when I grabbed it, to the point that I jumped back in surprise. ALL the plates were this hot (thanks for the warning waitress.) The second thing I noticed was the very first bite was a bland, almost tasteless blend of ingredients. The ground beef was completely unseasoned and dry. I cannot state enough how dry and unseasoned the beef was. Completely unappealing. At first I questioned myself, maybe this is what authentic Mexican food is SUPPOSED to taste like? Maybe I’m the problem? But my second, and third bites were hard to get down. I only ate half the burrito. Onto the nachos...no different. The chips were the same burned tasting chips from before, and the same lifeless, unseasoned, and dry ground beef was piled on top. Again, a complete disappointment. I struggled to go back for more hoping it would get better, it never did. The fajitas were the same story, with the rice being dry and more of the same. I kept commenting on the ground beef, and wondering why it tasted so off. Then came the comment of the day...”you’re right, it tasted...microwaved?” And that was it. The quickly arriving food, showing up on piping hot plates, tasting dry and bland. The dry rice. Our entire meal was microwaved. No question about it. Now as I said, I REALLY want to give them the benefit of the doubt. It was a Monday, and there is a pandemic going on. I could think of excuses all day. But the place was decently busy, and I’ve been to plenty of restaurants that have still provided great food right now. To me, this was completely unacceptable. Almost $40 for dry, bland, microwaved food. I would have GLADLY waited longer for fresh, purpose prepared food. The food earned 0 stars. The two stars I did give were for the service. The employees were nice enough and the waitress was fine. As I said, I understand these are tough times, and I know a lot of people love this place. Just look at all the great reviews, all of these people can’t be wrong? But providing great food SOME of the time isn’t good enough. Other restaurants are still providing great food, and great food is not what we received. It’s unfortunate, but I didn’t make the choice to throw 3 plates in a microwave and charge $40 for it....

since moving here been looking for traditional and authentic Mexican food, this is not it. if you're looking for Tex-Mex, I guess that would be more along the lines of what this is. my son and I ordered different menu items so that we could taste different items. I had the carnitas street tacos, which came with salsa, cilantro, onions and a side of rice and beans. my son had the chichimangs, which isn't mexican at all. we also ordered one tamale and a plain order of churros, without the syrup and icecream. my street tacos left a lot to be desired. the tortillas were hard, cold and dry. I had to drink plenty of ice tea because they were so dry. the carnitas themselves were dried out, salty and dark brown which indicates the meat was not fresh.not edible by my standards. the rice and beans were piping hot and the rice dried out, indication of being microwaved. the beans and rice had no flavor whatsoever. my sons chichimangs, he said were fine, I took one bite, and if your looking for americanized mexican food that would be it. he liked it, but said its not mexican, but it was good. the tamale masa was hard as a rock, we even had a hard time putting our fork through it. tamale masa should be soft. they put a red sauce on top, which tasted of a canned enchilada sauce, and melted cheese, I don't know why, it didnt mention that on the menu, maybe to try and soften and help with the dryness of the tamale. the churros were greasy and looked old, not fresh. all in all very dissatisfied and disappointed. this is my first time, and will definitely our last. this is NOT traditional mexican food, but if you dont know what real Mexican food is, you may like this place. This is not authentic by any means, but I must say the waiter we had was...

I do not like to complain. I have been before - years ago - and enjoyed it, but my latest visit left me reluctant to go again. The servers were wonderful, although ours switched mid-way through our meal without any explanation or notice, and I am sure if I had said something to either of them about my issues, they would have attempted to make it right. But the food really left something to be desired.

First, if you don't like cilantro, don't go. There was too much in everything. I realize that that's just personal preference, but I don't like it that much.

That said, we discovered a hair in our dish of complimentary salsa; the plates were burning hot, but the food was only lukewarm; the lettuce was old & browning, and the tomatoes were definitely not ripe (in July - we're not talking December!). And yes, too much cilantro in the guacamole.

We ordered dessert anyway, as my daughter did enjoy her dish (although she had expected to be able to pick up & eat her burrito not use a knife & fork), and according to her the Chimi-cheesecake was fabulous. I got the fried ice cream and was very disappointed. The fried "bowl" definitely tasted on the verge of molding, and everything was covered in cheap chocolate syrup and spray whipped cream, hiding the fact that all I had was a scoop of vanilla ice cream rolled in corn flakes. Definitely not worth the money, even if the bowl had been freshly fried.

I have friends who are regulars there, and I am sure others find it a great place (although perhaps that's just the cheap margaritas influencing them), but I probably won't...