Mi Nidito Restaurant — Restaurant in South Tucson

What a colossal culinary disappointment. After being told by everyone I met that Mi Nidito was the very best, most authentic Mexican food in Tucson, I thought for sure they must have discovered new spices and ingredients that no other taco stand knew about. After-all, Bill Clinton ate there for Pete sake!

I arrived at 2:15 on a Sunday afternoon having to park down the street because both parking lots were full suggesting it was enormously popular with the locals because nobody but locals would go out for Mexican food in 108 degrees heat. When I pulled open the door to the small cavern like interior, I was met with a huge crowd of families standing and sitting and every seat full. I put my name on the waiting list and placed an order for a Cadillac margarita for my anticipated 45 minute wait. Once I had a drink, I was obliged to step outside on the porch where it was cooler than inside…the hostess even said so!

I stood outside watching dozens more people try to get a table for an hour. They would walk in and quickly walk out after being told it would be an hour wait. Meanwhile I sipped on my Cadillac margarita thinking to myself that it tastes exactly like Costco gallon jug restaurant margarita mix on ice and nothing else…certainly no alcohol and especially certain there was no Grand Marnier.

I’m now 20 minutes into my wait; I’m done with the Costco mix on ice and chatting with some locals about what could possibly be the draw for people to sit outside in 108F heat for an hour? I was assured it was the best Mexican food ever…and to be sure to order the shredded beef chimichanga with red sauce served enchilada style and side of rice.

It is now 3:15 and I’ve been waiting an hour. My name finally gets called, so off to the hot box to enjoy the very best Mexican cuisine ever. Somebody at Mi Nidito’s needs to invest a few tip dollars on air conditioning rather than what felt like swamp cooling as it was terribly stifling.

I was seated at the back of the hot box of a restaurant and as usual, the drink order with chips and salsa came first. I ordered iced tea this time rather than subject myself to the Costco drink mix on ice once again. I start dipping the oily chips into what looked like runny red sauce masquerading as salsa. It was terrible…I’m now certain the food is going to be terrible as well. Salsa is always the best measure of a taco stand.

After 15 more minutes, out came my shredded beef chimichanga with red sauce served enchilada style with a side of rice. Because I was enormously hungry by this time, I also ordered a cheese crisp with green chilies. The cheese crisp ended-up being the best part of the meal.

I dug into the hefty portion of chimichanga making sure to get as much red enchilada sauce as possible with the first bite. I made sure to savor every possible flavor I could because I was told this was the best Mexican food ever…but no…what was this? Where was the world class flavor that Bill Clinton clearly enjoyed? I could not find any other flavor than a cheap red sauce closely resembling the runny red salsa. This was pathetic. I’ve had better Mexican from a can and I’m not kidding.

In an effort to salvage the meal, I asked the waiter if they had a hotter salsa. I was hoping that maybe they kept the good stuff reserved for the locals somewhere in the kitchen. Again I was disappointed…the waiter brought me a bowl of the runny red salsa filled with crushed red pepper mixed in. It was hotter, but it was still terrible…worse even. I proceeded to have a few more bites and asked for the bill. The worst part of the meal was the bill including $9.50 for the small glass of Costco drink mix on ice.

I’ve had infinitely better Mexican food roadside in Mexicali for 1/10 the price and it came with an ice cold Corona. Do yourself a favor and find another, less hyped taco stand, because Mi Nidito...

Just a heads up, this review won’t be good. I see many great reviews but I have to give my opinion on what I experienced. I was left confused, really confused about the fame and the quality of the food as it relates to this restaurant. Granted this is just my opinion so here it goes. ---- NO WAY was this fame of Mi Nidito acquired serving this low quality food. ---- This was a restaurant bill I absolutely regretted paying for. I had seen this restaurant on Man vs. Food many years ago. I thought, wow….42 ate there. And some other famous and notable people as well. I ASSUMED it would be a place worth trying. We went there and the place was packed. This was around lunch time. We ordered two plates. I ordered beef tacos and the other was birria tacos. Nothing authentic from the start. You typically don’t get tacos served over a ton of shredded lettuce that was starting to dry up with a ton of cotija cheese mixed with what I thought was cheddar or some other cheese. Sure…different version and styles but this was not authentic ANYTHING. These tacos were an attempt at tacos and it failed. The tacos were crispy but were rather empty. Very little beef and nothing else really. There was no pico inside or other garnishes that would typically accompany a taco. I didn’t really care to add the lettuce that was on the plate as it was looking a bit sad, starting to dry up. At this point I’m thinking…..I hope this is not what many celebrities get or this is a bad introduction to Mexican food for them especially if they have never had it before or have limited exposure to it. I see this restaurant has been open since the 50’s and I have a feeling this is not what was served in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Something had to change along the way and I believe for the worse. Cutting corners? The other tacos (Birria taco) were about the same low flavor/quality. If you see the pictures they look the same. The rice was on the dry side, it had a bit of flavor but a bit dry. The beans….well….they were trying I guess. The ambiance is what I really liked. I wish there were more restaurants like this with this type of ambiance. If only the food matched the ambiance…I guess I was hoping for better. Adam Richman (Man vs. Food) episode was what brought me here. I hope he wasn’t blowing smoke and that what he ate was better than what I ate. I’m about ready to really question his taste buds or that he actually had to act the part. Needless to say. I’m never coming back to Mi Nidito. No way has this place built its reputation serving this kind of food. Which is why I’m really confused about so many other people talking and reviewing how great this place is. I just don’t get it. I wonder about people’s perception of Mexican food, the different kinds/regional styles/variations…I wonder if they don’t really care about what they eat anymore or just don’t know what they are eating. This visit really threw me for a loop. The prices on the menu are current...

Got there around 5 on a Wednesday. I was told it would be between 20 and 30 mins but turned into 40 mins or so. The waitress was nice and wanted to get my order less than a minute after giving me the menu. The salsa with the chips was tasty but very tomato forward. It was spicy but not intolerable. It made me think of bolognese sauce which was spicy after the inital strong tomato flavor. Their chips were fine, not memorable, either way, not bad, not exceptional, but forgettable.

The michelada was very good. It came out quickly and had a good mix of beer to clamato (or whatever they used, not sure, but it was definitely tasty). I would return for one if nothing else.

Onto the food: I ordered the President's plate. It consisted of a beef tamal, chicken enchilada, chile relleno, birria taco and bean tosada.

The beef tamal by itself was awesome.  The shredded beef was great and the corn in the tamal came through in a lovely way.  The sauce complimented and did not distract from the other flavors. I think I would order a few of these separately on a return visit.

The chicken in the enchilada was shredded and was well seasoned. It had a ton of flavor but was just a little dry.

The chile relleno was very tasty. It was another highlight of the plate. The chile was stuffed of tasty cheese, and the batter was very good. However, I would've preferred less cheese on the outside of the chile to enjoy the batter more.

The birria taco was full of meat and cheese. It was a taco durado, with lettuce, two kinds of cheese and beef. Be sure to eat that first, as the bottom of the taco will become soggy if you wait too long. It was tasty. It was what you'd come to expect of a good taco durado. With it being a birria taco, I would've appreciated some consome to go with it.

The bean tostada suffered from the same problem as the taco, the bottom got soggy because of the order in which I ate it. However, the tortilla was nice and crunchy and was fashioned in a way that resembled a dish, not a flat tortilla. It was filled with very good refried beans, lettuce and two kinds of cheese. It was difficult to eat, in that it was a bit messy.

There seemed to be many locals here, as they greeted staff like family, which was nice to see.  A family celebrating a graduation walked by, the doctorate student proudly walking as they exited, all smiles.

The waitress was very attentive, especially, given the restaurant didn't seem to have too many wait staff and quite a few patrons.

Mi Nidito is not a tourist trap but a fine place to get a delicious meal and I cant...