Momocho — Restaurant in Cleveland

I've had this place in my saved restaurant list for awhile and I finally had a chance to check it out for Cinco de Mayo after it was rated #1 Mexican in the Cleveland magazine. Tbh, I did not have high hopes for this place as it was in the running with two other Mexican restaurants in the Cleveland magazine, Cilantro Taqueria and Barrio Tacos. I've been to both and they were, meh. To be fair, I did live in San Diego for 22 years and I'm still trying to find a good taco place out here. I was absolutely blown away by this place!! They should be in a category of their own! This place is so much more than just simply Mexican.

Whoever greeted us at the door was super friendly and seemed genuinely happy to have us there. It seems like many places now could care less if you're there or not.

It was busy for Cinco de Mayo but the wait wasn't too bad. We ordered drinks t the bar: blood orange, pomegranate and a spicy mango margarita along with their tequila recommendation. I recommend the spicy mango margarita! We enjoyed our drinks outside while we waited for our table. Luckily the rain stopped long enough for us to check out their beautiful patio.

The place is bigger than you imagine and there is an upstairs where we were seated. We were greeted immediately by our server and did not wait long for even more drinks.

We started off was their charred tomato salsa chiltomate and salsa Verde. Both salsas were fresh and the charred tomato salsa was really interesting and not your typical bright red salsa. For dinner we ordered their Camarones and machaca Taquitos. The camarones came with a pineapple salsa and had a bright citrusy flavor. The machaca was everything that you would want, it was tender juicy and flavorful in a shallow bowl of piled up meat covered in juices. The best meal was their Barbacoa, glazed pork shoulder & smoked pork belly, “street corn” masa grits, fried brussel sprouts. I've never heard of or had street corn masa grits but I don't know how I lived without them! Everything about that meal was absolutely amazing. Honestly one of the best meals I've had in a very long time. The meat was so tender and juicy and so flavorful with bits of crispy pork. It was such an amazing combination with the masa grits and brussel sprouts. I wish I had more words to describe it, but you will just have to go and try it for yourself.

Lastly, we had their fried ice cream for dessert with a peanut, chocolate and cornflake crust topped with whipped cream.

I will definitely be back and can't wait to enjoy the patio when it's nicer outside!!

I highly recommend this place if you are looking for an amazing place with friendly staff, a fun atmosphere...

My wife and I, who live in suburban Detroit, were in Cleveland for an event earlier this year and went to Momocho for the first time. We were truly impressed by how great it was. How impressed? So much so that we drove from Detroit to celebrate our 34th wedding anniversary there! And, to no surprise, our second experience at Momocho was even better than our first!

As someone who loves to cook, the Chef's Table was an incredible place to sit. And I have to say, Chef Nick was so friendly and accommodating. We talked about cooking, he made great recommendations, and just made the evening even more enjoyable. (He even shared his secret for cooking an awesome Thanksgiving turkey.) Also, MJ, who was helping out (getting our drinks, etc.) was fab, too.

The food was spectacular. We had a flight of guacs (pecorino, smoked trout, and goat cheese), the grilled octopus, and the carrot elote. All so damn good! I had the pork chop entree and my wife had the butternut squash flautas (you have to get the fried egg on top!). No surprise that those dishes were perfect as well. Unfortunately, we were so full, we couldn't do dessert. But watching the fried ice cream being prepared was almost as good as eating it. (Not really. We'll get some next time!)

Oh, yeah. The blood orange and honey-ginger margaritas? Stellar. I love the combination of flavors the Momocho team puts together, not only in their food, but in their drinks, too.

We've only been there twice, but Momocho is our favorite restaurant. Period. The only downside? That it's 2 hours and 45 minutes away from our house. But, you know what? That's a small sacrifice to make for such delicious food and drink!

We'll be back! And we might bring friends with us...

What an amazing place! We came two days after they reopened from COVID closure and were greeted by the owner/chef immediately upon being seated. He talked to us for a few minutes and provided us with some take home recipe cards of some of their biggest sellers which I thought was amazing (who does that?!).

To drink, we ordered a margarita flight (3 margs) and went with spicy mango, pineapple, and blood orange. My wife and I absolutely loved all three but our favorite was the spicy mango.

To start our food off we got an order of chips with tomato-chile habanero pico de gallo, which was nowhere near habanero levels of spice (my kids were eating it) but was still great nonetheless.

For our entrees we all split an order of the machaca taquitos (coffee & chile ancho braised beef brisket) which are served up with the meat in a bowl separate from the fresh house made tortillas for you to roll yourself. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted a better braised beef in my life, so glad the chef gave us the recipe for this one!

The other entree we ordered was the tamale frito which is a sort of deconstructed tamale. The fresh fried masa is served next to the meat (citrus & adobo braised pork) instead of the meat being stuffed inside of it. I’ve never experienced eating a tamale this way but it was far more superior than any other tamale I’ve eaten before. The fried masa had a nice slight crisp it to it on its exterior and meat paired perfectly with it. It was served with some fried spinach and radishes as a garnish and when everything got mixed together on the plate with the juice from the meat, it was heaven.

I absolutely cannot wait to eat here again, it quickly became one of my favorites after...