Mexico Lindo Restaurant — Restaurant in Smyrna

It was date night and I wanted Tacos. Being proactive, Mexico Lindo was chosen and I was just told what time to be there.

Upon arriving, Mexico Lindo sits directly on the main strip making it super easy to find. There is parking in the front and back which was perfect as when I pulled in the front was full which had me scared. LoL. The parking in back is ample and the lot is well lit.

Walking in, the ambiance is vibrant and fast moving. The bar was in full go mode and the downstairs had an ambiance of local bar meets trendy restaurant. As I walked to the hostess stand, I was greeted with all smiles. Upon exchanging salutations, I was offered the options of seating on the patio, downstairs, or rooftop. Yes! I said rooftop.

You know what I chose. Rooftop me, please.

As the rooftop is first come first serve, we headed up and took a seat. The rooftop is on the second level and surrounded by all glass. The all glass approach allows you to enjoy a three sided view of your surroundings. Granted the main view is the parkway, however, it has a nice feel at night as there isn’t any traffic and the colored lights from the surrounding buildings present a fun visual.

After taking a seat, we were greeted by Sarah. Sarah was very welcoming, super upbeat, and created a great environment as she served as bartender and server for the rooftop… Sarah provided us with menus and gave us a moment as she went to grab us some water. (tap water, for those who care)

After exploring the menu for a few and getting a sweet tea to drink. I decided on:

Empanadas - “Crunchy cornmeal dough filled with ground beef, rice, and potato mix. Served with pico de gallo.” for an Appetizer.

Brisket Tacos - “Smoked brisket, chipotle aioli, black bean corn salsa, and onion straws” for my meal.

The empanadas were a set of 4. They were mini and put you in the mindset of a puffed meat pie with a taquito feel. The beef filling was minimal and the flavor was bland. The empanada itself was hot, fresh, and perfectly fried. However, the absence of flavor, meat, and a few specs of rice caused this dish to be a huge disappointment for me. I only ate one. My date enjoyed the rest as he used the Chipotle Ranch dip to provide added flavor… As a lover of empanadas, this dish is not a good representation of the traditional meat filled pie.

The smoked brisket tacos were beautiful. The visual presentation enhanced my excitement to sink my teeth into them. The brisket was thinly sliced and smoked to tender perfection. The brisket maintained its smoky flavor and the taco allowed the natural juices to be the center of flavor attention. The black bean corn salsa and onion straws provide a great texture variance to the taco. The onion straws give the crunch as I went with a flour shell per Sarah’s recommendation, and she was spot on with the suggestion. The flavor profile of the taco was blank. Though the natural flavor of the smoked brisket was good, there was no added surprise or authenticity provided to make it a true taco experience. Furthermore, as the brisket was the center of flavor attention, I would have loved a side of bbq sauce as I felt like the taco experience was missed providing for a bbq brisket wrap to take over my thoughts.

The taco comes as a set of three. I ate one and took the other two home. What I will say is that after being in the car for my trip to the store and riding home, the tacos actually tasted better. It was as if the 3 elements just sat together within the flour shell and just blended together. I promise you. The two tacos I ate after getting home outshined the one I ate at the restaurant.

With all this said, if I was in the area and wanted tacos, I would go back. I’m open to trying another taco option to see what it offers. Albeit bland flavor profile aside, the ingredients used in the tacos were fresh. The meat was good quality and the tacos weren’t heavy.

The service provided by Sarah stands out as reason enough to come back for...

UPDATE: "Management " called me just to inform me that they saw on the cameras that my food was given to the driver and that after it leaves with a delivery service that it's no longer their problem. I find that interesting considering their restaurant chooses to use the delivery service, so it is their problem! She talked to me like I was garbage and had no right to be upset that I paid $74 and did not get my order again blaming the delivery service when their restaurant chooses to use the delivery service! Then after talking to me in a rude manner which she claims was professional offers to remake the food, saying that no other restaurant would offer that. After the way she treated me I declined the offer because I don't want spit on food. Then proceeded to tell me that if I chose to not come to their establishment again after being a loyal customer since they open their doors that that would be fine with her because she wouldn't want me to get my order wrong again! Wow! Very sad to know that all the money I've spent through the years being a loyal customer means nothing because I asked for my money back after this happened for a third time! Exactly why their rating is so low because of the way that they treat the customers that have chosen to spend their hard earned money at their establishment. I definitely won't be back!

This is got to be the worst restaurant! Management and service there is absolutely horrible they do not care about the customer they have no loyalty to the customers and they do not care if you get your correct order or how much you spend. This is the third time I have ordered from this restaurant and called them and even ask them please make sure everything is in the bag and it is labeled correctly. Again I spent $74.96 and got a $10 order of two chicken tacos a side of salsa and a side of avocado! I called the manager he refused to remake the order did not care kept saying his kitchen was closed even though the restaurant was clearly still open and it wasn't even 11:00 yet so my family went without dinner he did not care the girl that I spoke to on the phone didn't care either they kept hanging the phone up on me then proceeded to just ignore the phone altogether. It's a shame that I gave them so many chances to make things right and they just don't seem to care. They have lost my business for good. If I were you I would not waste my time or my money especially if you're ordering delivery they could care less if you get your full order they don't care what you spend and they refuse to make it right. As you can see in the pictures below all I received was someone else's order that consisted of two chicken tacos a bag of chips and two dips. That was not my order and they did not care they even admitted that the woman that got my order called them and complained as well and they did not care and do anything to help her either of course she got $75 worth of food and I got $10 worth of food to feed my family! Bad Business shame on you Mexico Lindo you don't care if a family eats or not and that we chose to spend our hard-earned money at...

The renovation is really nice but I was very disappointed with the food and service. I ordered a to-go order of chili poblanos. I arrived around 7:45 and left around 9pm. I ordered one Texas margarita (everything is premixed, probably won’t order another) and the chilis from the downstairs bar. The restaurant was about 75% full, I expected a bit of a wait. My order took over an hour and was cold when I received it. I don’t mind waiting, especially if I am given a heads up (wasn’t) but this was a bit excessive and I was never offered water anything else during the very long wait. The poblanos were only seeded but we’re not roasted or peeled. They were served raw and lightly stuffed, topped with a very small drizzle of cheese dip as well small side of beans and rice. This was plenty of food for $18 but it was very poorly prepared. Even at the cheapest taquerias a poblano is roasted and peeled. After waiting over an hour for my single to go order I was expecting, at the very least, hot food but everything was cold. Not hot, not warm, cold. To top it off, some people, I assume the owners, walked through the bar to slap the bell on their bottle of clase azure tequila and show off to their friends while I sat there looking around for service. I was really excited to come here and sit on the balcony, enjoy a margarita and eat some OKAY Mexican/American food. I don’t have a high standard for this stuff but damn… I am pretty disappointed… I fully understand that things are rough with finding staff but when management is acting the way the did tonight, it’s your own fault.

P.s. I have over 15 years in the industry; everything from line cook to management. I also still tipped about 30% despite the poor experience. ...