Emi's Taqueria — Restaurant in Medina

My hope for this place being a quick and convenient replacement for pickup orders at the other local Mexican restaurants has been ruined.

I ordered the burrito/taco combo platter plus an order of chips and guacamole and then took my 3 minutes drive home to taste everything. Either the temperature in my car was much colder than i thought, or that food had been sitting around a while. The warmest thing in the entire meal was the gaucamole! This is where the fun began.

The next disappointment was that there's no way what i had was a burrito or a taco. FOR SURE, one item was a tamale. The other item was a hot dog sized tortilla tube with flavorless beef inside and a little dab of sauce on top. I took a bite of each and was horrified by the soggy texture that indicated food that was sitting around.

I felt like i must be wrong, at first, but there was evidence that my food was old coming up next.

The meal came with Spanish rice and refried beans (which had to have been canned). The rice was dry, once again, like food that was sitting out. The beans were coated in melted cheese, so I assumed they were warm, but I was wrong again. I'm not even sure how they pulled that one off, but they too were room temperature.

I tossed everything in the microwave and grabbed some Taco Bell sauce out of the refrigerator, hoping to make every bland bite a bit better. Meanwhile, I tested the gaucamole.

Now, I make guacamole quite often at home and definitely like it a certain way, but I'm willing to eat other renditions. I'm also aware that it turns brown in time if lime or lemon aren't added or it just sits too long. Well, the only green in this guacamole was the incredibly excessive amount of cilantro, which I'm still picking out of my teeth. Strangely, though, the taste was all onions, probably because of the several large chunks of white onion in there. The old watery tomatoes, which looked very unappealing, strangely did no harm to the stuff..... The damage was done. Once again, this was food that had been sitting out too long. The brown of the gaucamole wasn't the surface layer, it was all the way through. Plus, the onions shouldn't have lended so much flavor if it was made recently.

Basically, it seems to me that this place isn't going to last long as this rate. They just couldn't do anything right, and they weren't even busy. I'd be willing to wait longer in line to get fresh food. Sadly, for that, I'd be at Taco Bell.

I'll give them another shot in a month and see if they've gotten their things together, but i hope I'm not lowering this review to a single...

This place is wonderful - an oasis in the desert of bland, dulled down, midwestern-style Mexican restaurant sameness that is Ohio. I grew up in central California where there is a large Hispanic population and only moved out to Ohio in my mid twenties. I spent many hours of my childhood watching and learning from my friend's Mama's y Tia's y Abuelita's as they cooked up muchas comidas sabrosas (that's "all kinds of delicious food" to you gringos). I've been to many taquerias back in my home state. Since moving to Ohio I have missed real taqueria style Mexican food greatly.

When I opened my to-go box containing my street tacos (known just as tacos everywhere else, since "street tacos" are actually how real tacos are supposed to be made) and the aromas of al pastor (marinated pork) and cilantro and warm corn tortillas hit my nose, I was transported back into my memories of the kitchens with the abuelitas y todas. When I took my first bite, my taste-buds sang for joy at the familiar but almost forgotten taste of spices mixed with onions and corn tortillas. I wouldn't mind for the chile (that's salsa for those that don't know the difference) to be a bit more robust, as it is rather on the tomato-y side, but it seems the only thing that is toned down to suit the pallete of a midwesterner and is similar to the stuff you find at any local Mexican restaurant.

I also ordered a small horchata, a sweet drink made of rice water, cinnamon, and sugar. If you've ever eaten cinnamon toast crunch and then drank the remaining milk in the bowl, it's very similar to that. With my first sip, again, I was transported to my childhood, on a blistering summer's day, cooling down with a delicious sweet-and-cinnamon-y ice cold horchata. What a treat!

I'm sure the rest of the menu is just as tasty. I would love to try a torta (traditional sandwich), but I will always come back for the tacos and a...

I try to eat here at least once a week for lunch. The best food and value here is not to be found with the rice, beans, or chips. The best stuff here comes in the form of(in no particular order): Super Nachos, Taco Bowls, Street Tacos, Burritos(Especially the Arizona and Fajita), the Chili Relleno, The Tamales(ohh the Tamales...magical ASK for a CHILI Tamale), Horchatta, and even the Tortas are surprisingly good here. There is a place to park between the gas station and Emi's so you can walk in the front(the door sticks so you may need to pull hard on the handle) where you can place an order and then eat on one of the picnic tables. It is nice to see the decor inside especially for Dia de los Muertos! Otherwise you are gonna use one of the TWO drive thru's. If there is a line when you pull up, take note if there is no line in the other drive thru, you can speed things up if you drive around to the other side. Use some common sense if you are gonna order something and then drive more than 10 minutes to get home. Try not to order things that will be soggy by the time you get home.

UPDATE: Just had lunch for the first time in months due to staying home during Covid. The carnitas street tacos and chicken tamale were amazing! Thank you Emi! Keep up the...