Esplendido Mexican Cuisine — Restaurant in Shelby Charter Township

If you have not tried this pizza, DO IT! NOW!

I came for the Mexican, I stayed for the pizza.

A quick note on the service. Waitstaff was very attentive and I never wanted for anything. A 5+ stars to their service team.

I have eaten pizza in places all over the globe... some of the best pizza in the world... Venice, NYC, Chicago, Detroit... I have to say that nothing compares to Esplendido's pizza. A close second would be Loui's in Hazel Park.

I came into the place and it looked kind of old, something like Loui's or the original Buddy's. No big deal... I wasn't there for the ambiance and non-existent four string quartet... I was there for the food. I ordered a chimichanga. I compare all chimichangas to the Chi-Chi's chimichangas of the 90s... those were my perfect ten. The chips and salsa were good. The chimichanga here was OK, maybe a 5/10. I ordered a large deep-dish pizza to go. I had heard this pizza was supposed to be the same as Jimmy's Pizza from decades ago. Even though I had just polished off a bowl of chips, two bowls of salsa and the whole chimichanga meal, I had to have a piece of pizza. My family used to get Jimmy's Pizza from the 18 and Hayes location almost every week when I was a kid... I heard stories about a hidden remaining Jimmy's Pizza, but I never thought they were true.

OMG, I immediately ate two pieces of pizza before even leaving the restaurant. The pizza was perfect! The crust is amazing... crunchy, yet airy... almost like you are biting into a brick of the clouds of heaven... the dough to cheese ratio is spot on... the sauce on top of the crust is done just right... and the tiniest detail that almost everywhere else overlooks... the sesame seeds baked into the bottom of the crust! The toppings were all fresh and top notch.

I can't say enough about this pizza, but I cannot find mere mortal words that could do it justice. Get out...

Well... Where to begin?

In a nutshell, I simply can't recommend this place for the food. The bar might be a different story, but I was hoping to find a good local Mexican restaurant and this simply won't be it.

The service was fine. The only thing that stood out is that the server was a bit forgetful, but she was attentive at least and friendly. She did apologize for anything that didn't go correctly at least too.

The place is clean with what I'd consider outdated booths and tables, but it is clean inside so that is a good thing to note.

The food...

Well, I first ordered a Chile Relleno dinner but they were out, so I ended up with a chicken enchilada dinner. The other order was for the taco dinner.

The enchiladas were lacking flavor, and with the chili-like sauce under the cheese... it didn't provide a pleasant texture or add any zest or flavor, and it made it all taste pasty.

The rice tasted like older steamed water, and the beans... straight out of a can with a tiny drop of cheese in the middle. I only tasted each once.

The tacos were pretty dry. We tried all 3 flavors (chicken, ground beef, and shredded beef) to see how things would be, and all were pretty bland and dry. The shredded beef looked very unappetizing before it was even tasted, and after, just the same as it looked.

The Pepsi was refilled from a pitcher which sat long enough to make it rather flat.

All in all, I don't think I'll be returning, nor could I ever recommend it to anyone else.

Sorry. I was aiming to only leave the most positive reviews of places that I love, but I thought it best and fair to inform others to save them the trouble of the...

I’ll try to start on a positive note: the Margaritas were pretty good, and I dig the 70’s look of the dining area. Back to reality-- I had cheese nachos with beef. I figured, “how can they mess up nachos??” Well, they sure did. They obviously don't use any kind of seasoning whatsoever on their ground beef. How do they get their food so absolutely flavorless? Do they BOIL the meat? The cheese they put on the nachos looked like melted American cheese slices—but devoid of flavor. And don’t get me started on the ketchup--er, salsa. Do they try extra-hard to make things inedible?? This was my husband and my 3rd try at this place over about 13 years, and each time was bad. The first 2 visits we saw--on separate occasions--both the owner and a bartender digging their hands into food intended for customers without washing their hands. Is there even a food-service glove to be found here? We thought we’d give EsplenDIRTo one last shot: it had been many years...maybe they’ve improved?? Sadly, noooo. Seriously…nachos at 7-Eleven are tastier. We returned both of our meals after 2 bites, and told our waitress it was the worst Mexican food we've ever had in our life--but nothing was taken off our bill. The only reason we gave this place 3 chances over several years is because it would be nice to have a place to go to that's so close to home. Never, ever,...