Abuelo's Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Tulsa

Ate at a Abuelo's in Dallas and it was delicious. Im in town and saw this one and wanted to give it a try and I am seriously lost of words. 1st my server knew nothing of the menu and had no idea what a moscow mule drink was. He asked me what was in it. I replied Im not a bar tender can you ask if you all make them. He went back and forth between the bar and asked what vodka I would like in it. I said Titos, he said we dont have that. I asked well what do you have, that turned into a jibberish mess. I said Eddy's plain vodka is fine.

I then asked for chori-queso, he stared at me and said never heard of it. I said you dont know what chori-queso is, do you know what chorizo is? This is a mexican restaurant. He said we can put some ground beef in the queso. I told him never mind.

I asked how big the medallions were for the Pork Tenderloin Abrigada. he said ahhhh they are medallion size. LOL I asked how thick, he said 1/2". I order this and asked for it to be medium. He said we have to cook it well done, there were complaints in the past. I explained you dont cook pork well done, it makes it chewy. He said I will put in a special request.

In the mean time I watched the bar tender place my moscow mule on the counter for pick-up. About 10 minutes passed and I saw my server and asked him if he could bring me the mule. It was in a copper mug just like a moscow mule is served. However it was the nastiest most bland one I have ever had. Was missing some key ingredients such as ginger beer and most importantly the vodka.

I gave it back to the server and said well she tried but this is not a moscow mule. My food was brought out, the pork medallions had the strongest smoke taste that it made me nauseous. The entire meal was an absolute bust. The food sucked and the server, well he absolutely needs some serious training. Saw many servers just walking around aimlessly and some were kinda working.

Do not recommend this place at all, if you want actual mexican food this is not it, you need to find a different spot.

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It had been over 22 years since the last time I ate at Abuelo’s. I honestly don’t have a solid reason why I never went back—maybe because Tex-Mex has never really been my thing. Very likely.

So when my coworker suggested we go to Abuelo’s, I didn’t hide my distaste. But something told me, “Why not? It’s been over two decades!”

Here’s the thing about Abuelo’s: the building is absolutely stunning. I knew right away that its beauty alone could make me forget how much I typically avoid Tex-Mex. I usually either want authentic Mexican food—or totally fake, pretend-like Mexican from Taco Bueno. But it was already too late. I was mesmerized.

Once inside, we were promptly seated and offered drinks. I was still a little hesitant about the food, but I couldn’t stop admiring the beauty of the place.

Our waiter mentioned it was his first day after training. It was obvious he was new, but that just added a human touch to the experience. He brought us our menus and drinks. At one point, I wandered off to check out the bathrooms—beautiful and spotless.

Here are my two cents:

FOOD: I ordered the Alambre lunch. The four fat, juicy shrimp wrapped in bacon were absolutely delicious. The rice and garnishes brought everything together perfectly.

SERVICE: Our waiter did a fine job, especially considering it was his first official day. On top of that, another staff member—who seemed to be in a managerial role—was making rounds to check on guests, which helped ensure customer satisfaction.

ATMOSPHERE: No complaints here. The building itself speaks volumes. The decor and layout are clearly well thought out and beautifully executed.

Final Thoughts: This elevated take on Tex-Mex really changed my mind. Abuelo’s isn’t what I remembered from 22 years ago—and that’s a good thing. I might just have to rethink my opinion on Tex-Mex altogether.

Thank you, Abuelo’s, for...

The staff is excellent, service is great. But that’s where my positive review ends. The most important part, the food, is not good. I want to like it, I’ve been there several times and tried 4 or 5 different dishes and didn’t like any of them. Most recently visit was fajitas, which I shared with two other people, none of us were a fan. Steak was so chewy and tough and the chicken had a strange consistency, like eating styrofoam. The previous trip I ordered the enchiladas and there was a puddle of grease on top of them. Literally a puddle, it was so greasy I couldn’t eat much.

Also tried the dip trio appetizer, which is okay, not great. It’s weird to have pork rinds served with dip in a “nice” restaurant. The pork rinds were very hard and tough, and thought it was a strange combo.

My wife had the chili rellano and it was okay, probably about average.

Not a fan of their three salsas either. One is too sweet (the green one) the red one tastes like adobo sauce, the dark one is just bland.

I don’t think I’m a hard to please person and Mexican food is my all time favorite, but I don’t like Abuelo’s and won’t go back. After 3 trips and trying different menu items each time I have to give up. I will say that my most recent trip was a group of 4 couples and all of us ordered different items and no one liked their food. It just wasn’t good.

But again, staff is friendly and...