Fuego Azteca — Restaurant in Erie

This was our third visit to Azteca. I don't recall the other two visits being this bad, but I also don't remember them being very memorable.

Arrived at 6:15 and the place was nearly empty. No host-person on duty so we waited about 3 minutes before anyone greeted us.

Waited another 3 minutes or so before the server arrived. Must not have been having a good day because he was considerably less than friendly. My wife tried to cheer him up by being overly friendly. Didn't work.

The wine choices are awful, unless you like house wines of various colors. Since they were out of the only wine my wife would've considered, she ordered a mixed drink. It never came. Was never brought up. Was never discussed. Remember, the place is nearly empty on a Saturday night. The Patron margarita and the Original Handmade margarita were nothing to write home about. In fact, I've had better margaritas at sports bars.

The Azteca nachos were smaller than I would've expected and very, very bland. Perhaps adding some sort of meat would've livened them up. They came out shortly after we got the complementary basket of chips and salsa. The salsa was tasty, and not your average pico de gallo. Most of the chips in the basket though were broken and difficult to dip in the salsa. If you want another basket of chips it's going to cost you. (Is that really a source of extravagant cost these days? Chips and salsa?)

The side enchilada was fine, if a bit spicy. The burritos we ordered (The Burrito Loco Asada and the Macho Burrito Chile Colorado) were both fine. I got mine with some extra spicy sauce that was a sort of mole. It was very good, but also very spicy. It really made the burrito and I'm glad I got it because the other ingredients were not very interesting. Bland like the nachos.

The service never really improved throughout the visit, but it wasn't awful. I've had worse. We got a refill on water and an offer to make another margarita, but since we never got my wife's drink I didn't want to get my hopes up.

The decor is simply awful. The lights are too bright and the atmosphere is very cold and uninviting. They should dim the lights and consider some other color than white for the walls. The place did appear to be clean though.

I'm afraid we won't be back. It's unfortunate because this area in general needs some quality Mexican food. It really can't be that hard to deliver on that. With more and more people moving to the area, the first restaurant to figure out how to make good Mexican food is...

Service started off wonderful, our waiter was extremely courteous. The came whom I presume was the manager. We had ordered shredded beef taquitos and the menu stated they would be served on a bed of lettuce with toppings. It did not come out that way. Part were green, part were red and heavily spiced. So I took a picture of the taquitos we normally get wherever we go and showed it to the older man who took over serving us from our regular waiter. He stated that was not his menu nor his taquitos. I told I knew that, but his menus did not stipulate that they were any different, plus the ends of the taquitos were burnt so bad that the beef was black and crumbled in your fingers like dust. Not exaggerating one bit. All I wanted was for these to be taken off my bill. I didnt cause a fuss I just wanted my bill adjusted. My mother and I were having a first meal out since Covid and were enjoying ourselves. We frequent this restaurant quite often as well as our other family members and visitors that come to town. Anyway, we got the bill and the charge was still on there. He came to grab our payment and I told him the charge was still on there. He grabbed my check went inside, came back out dropped the new check on...

I loved spending time with my coworkers in this Briggs Street gem. It’s the place to go if you’re looking for Mexican food and some of Erie’s best Margaritas. I usually go for the Cadillac margarita when I’m there, and I haven’t been disappointed yet.

For first time Azteca diners, you can’t go wrong by sitting on their wrap-around patio. There’s a ton of things going on in that area of Briggs Street, including a just-installed ice skating rink and a busy Old Town business district that hosts concerts and farmer’s markets in the warm weather. Eating outdoors gives you an eye to it all.

One of my favorite menu items is Azteca’s chicken fajita platter, and there’s so much on it that I often find myself sharing it with someone else. I’ve also seen people I’m with enjoy finding exactly what they like out of combination platters, and even picky kids can just about always find something on the kids’ menu.

Though lots of people talk about how much they like Azteca’s guac – and its good – but one of the things I like to have when I’m looking for something fresher is the restaurant’s Ceviche. When I want something protein-packed and lighter, it’s a great choice, I just have to try to avoid eating too many chips...