Cielito Lindo — Restaurant in Riverside

Let me start by saying, that when giving any review, I make it a point to steer away from biases, I do this thing where If I know I am a little too biased when commenting on a certain place I try to instead find 3 things they can/should work on almost to make the playing field even... but unfortunately, I'm in a place where I cannot find anything wrong with this restaurant, so I figured instead of trying to pretend that I'm not biased, that I'd instead better explain my biases, so that the playing field is as fair as possible, for starters, this place is a family owned and operated business, to tell you about this restaurant I would surely have to tell you about myself, because this restaurant is the full embodiment of the most beautiful experience in my childhood, being that the owners are from the same place as my parents and grandparents, the state of Michoacán in Mexico. It specifically has 2 cities that I hold near and dear to my heart, one is coalcoman, and the second is villa victoria , "cielito lindo," whos Spanish interpretation is "beautiful sky" in encapsulates perfectly not only the atmosphere you would normally enjoy whether it be a completely overcast morning in january and youre simply trying to get in from the torrential downfall of rain that seems to happen during this time or a Friday evening while everybody puts on their best outfits in Michoacan only to eventually come together as a comunity to spend the evening walking through the "gardens" the Jardines, while the bandas are playing or the tamboraso is about to start roaring, all these memories flood my mind and in the forefront of it all, lies something i truly will admit, theres just no comparison for, whether youre simply in the mood for a "botana" a simple plate of chips and a little salsa to dip into, only to wash it down with some agua fresca, this is the spot for that, but come on? Chips and salsa? Is that why you're reading this extremely "long for no reason" review? Absolutely not, let us get into the simplicity of the menu, si simplemente quieres hecharte un taco de sal con queso crema, you can do that here, Do you know what goes great with a taco de queso? Un plato de "mordisquieta", now I'm sure this is a little harder to understand, but it's as simple as a bowl of white rice mixed with some beans (frijoles de la hoya) topped with a dollop(or 3 if you're me) of sour cream and some queso fresco or cotija, your choice!, let's talk about extremes because you can go as simple as what I stated, or as complex as menudo, posole, chilaquiles, enchiladas, and my personal favorite tostadas de ceviche pescado and I normally drink, agua mineral preparada, a licuado de jugo pura vida, the homemade horchata, or a mandatory beer, the space itself isn't what you'd expect for the ambiance you get, but overall, I'd say my three takeaways are simple, if you come here and aren't hungry, the "tacos de ojo" will surely suffice, as the waitresses are the nicest, and very easy on the eyes.If authenticity is part of the vocabulary words you've chosen to try to define in the form of a little "hole in the wall establishment" Id suggest 1. Don't blink 2. Look no further, and lastly, I'd suggest coming here any day of the week with the knowledge that if you're expecting any form of disappointment you'll probably find it but not in this establishment, you see the disappointment will come from lack, the lack of more hours to enjoy this place, from live music to karaoke nights, to scooting the tables over and making your own little dance section, to damn near staying to help do dishes, lol these are all the feelings you can surely expect your experience in this restaurant to evoke, lol all in all when coming here, be prepared for what we michoacanos are known for offering, un ambiente a todo dar, oh and, by the way, notice how I said very little about the food? That was intentional, you see...like a beautiful sky, no amount of words could describe it and do it justice, the same herein applies to the food at cielito lindo but don't take my...

Only reason I give this place 3 stars and not 5 is because I had a poor experience along with my family last time we were here.

1. upon arrival all empty tables were dirty, we had to tell the waitress to please clean it
2. took more than 10 minutes for the waitress to finally take the menu to our table
3. took another 10 minutes just to take the drinks to our table
4. when I finally got my food, the rice was terrible, undercooked, had to ask to get it changed
5. the waitress wasn't as friendly as the other two times we have gone there and seemed like she didn't like it when we asked for something, like extra lemons, etc.

Other than that, everything else was good, but we were definitely disappointed with the last experience we had there and waitress, poor service. We will still visit and give it another chance since the previous two times the service and food was excellent, so 3 stars...

The food was mediocre at best. Ordered the enchiladas, and the mixed molcajete. The enchilada sauce was more light red in color than most other red sauces and had the flavor of Ketchup mixed with Tabasco sauce. The mixed molcajete had bacon wrapped shrimp that were good but everything else tasted old. The carne was crispy like bacon. The chicken had that frozen too long taste. The cheese had a pungent taste and the nopales were burnt. The bottom of the molcajete was filled with canned beans, which was weird. The place has a musty smell and really could use an update inside. Our check came to over $70 and we only had soda. For what we paid we could have had a much better meal elsewhere. I can’t see this place being around to...