El Orito Tacos Middleburg Heights — Restaurant in Middleburg Heights

Update: I had previously given this restaurant 5 stars on my prior visit in April 2024. I am now downgrading my review to only 1 star based on my experience on 11/13/24. We arrived at 4:15 pm. My friend asked the server if there was a happy hour and the server said “no”. So I did not want to pay almost $14 for a drink so I ordered a regular margarita for $7.99. Our other friends arrived and then my friend saw another menu at the other end of the table and it was a Happy Hour Menu that was in place until 5pm. So my friend showed that menu to the server and had to explain to the server that it was a Happy Hour menu and then show her the prices and descriptions. So my other friends ordered the jumbo flavored margaritas for $8.00. So I could have gotten a jumbo flavored margarita for 1 cent more, if the server had not said there was no happy hour. Then I ordered the Cameron Loco and the bacon that was wrapped around the shrimp was so undercooked that it was mostly raw and the shrimp was tough, stringy and chewy. It was actually the worst meal I have had at any restaurant in at least 20 years. Then some of my friends noticed that their meals were on the Happy Hour menu, but they were charged full price on their bill, but the server did make a price adjustment for them, when they pointed it out to her. My experience was still very bad and I will never...

We were excited for a Mexican restaurant to open up in Middleburg. Walking in the door, it has a cool vibe with the black walls, bar and silver-studded booths and chairs. They did a nice job of transforming this location. The chips/salsa came out and the chips were cold and the salsa had zero chunks of tomatoes, only cilantro and onion. We added some hot sauce in hopes that would help, but it was like eating tomato sauce. We ordered two margaritas. One Jalapeño and the other was with freshly squeezed fruit juices, which I specifically asked if they had "freshly squeezed juices". Watching them make my margarita, the freshly squeezed juices came out of a jug. My husband didn't even drink his Jalapeno margarita; it just wasn't good. On to the main course. We split tacos and fajitas. Taco shells were store bought and they were cold. Fajitas came out sizzling, but the protein was over-cooked to the point it was inedible. The refried beans tasted spoiled, like lime juice, was squeezed all over them. It was underwhelming to say the least and the waiter should have noticed we barely ate any of our food, nor put a dent in our margaritas. We love to support small and local businesses. We truly hope that they turn this around. We are...

Service was friendly and very prompt. They are trying really hard with a small space and I think it's cute - the bar chairs are unusual and cool, which is a plus. I am not a fan of the type of cheese they use there, it's white, kind of runny, and doesn't have much taste, but the portions were extremely plentiful, food was hot and fresh. The pork on top of my enchiladas was very good, best part of the whole dish. The rice and beans were also disappointing. I would go back but would avoid getting anything with cheese and would skip the rice and beans. Would like to get something more authentic to see how those dishes taste. I liked that they had multiple options for proteins in tacos but was surprised there wasn't a meal option for like 2 tacos or 3 tacos, they were ala carte and you are charged if you want more than 2 toppings.

I would give the place 3 stars based on food alone but the service and effort they have put into the decor bumps...