Rojas Mexican Restaurant and Cantina — Restaurant in Wagoner

This review was originally posted on Yelp Jun 23, 2022, by me Spike Speewell.

I had driven by Nate’s Diner many times, and every time I thought who the heck eats “Diner Food?”

Nate said he realized that the Mexican food selections he offered, were more in demand than the typical “Diner Food” selections on his menu. So, he painted the house red, dedicated the menu to Mexican food and changed the sign out front to “Rojas Authentic Mexican Food” It worked! It drew my wife and I in for a meal. Rojas operates in a cool, properly repurposed, historical home built in 1909!

My wife went with the Burrito Chili Verde. A large burrito filled with lean delicious pork covered with Rojas special tomatillo sauce. Very good!

I had trouble making up my mind. The very nice waitress offered some suggestions, pointing out their most popular offerings, and noted that today “Thursday’s Special” (and every Thursday) was Rojas Tacos. (Aka. Red tacos and Birria de Res). Red Tacos seem to be the latest rage at all of the cutting-edge Oklahoma Mexican Restaurants. Never had it. What better time than now. Plentiful chunks of lean beef in the red dipped tacos, the right amount of spice for a great flavor and tasty beef stew for dipping. There was a small cup of house made tomatillo salsa on the side, that blended so perfectly with all the flavors. This is a great two or three napkin meal and I am glad I tried it at Rojo’s first! Nate and staff very friendly, give Rojas a try. Both meals, fresh, hot and delicious. We liked it!

Note: Check the pictures for more descriptions of the food and the current menu. Bonus! Spikes Inessential Commentary: I recently read a review somewhere, for Rojas Authentic Mexican, written by an expert foodie from the land of Del Taco. The astute reviewer stated that “the salsa was watery.” Hmmmmm. Well, it is a liquid…. The salsa is not watery! Get back in the car and keep on driving. This the land of delicious Oklahoma...

The setting is awesome. The converted house is beautiful and the decorations really set a good vibe. Unfortunately the food is not awesome, it ranged from awful to just ok. The chilaquiles were the awful part. They were really really bad. The red sauce tasted like a can of tomato sauce, the chips they chose couldn't stand up to it, then there was a massive layer of melted then resolidified cheese that you had to crack through just to get to the food underneath. On top was the beef which was dried out and overcooked. 2/10 and the 2 is for the avocado garnish which was really pretty and fresh.

The Birria ramen was in the just ok category along with the Birria tacos. The tacos at least had a more decent cheese ratio and the Birria ramen was a pretty large bowl. The complaint with it was that the consomme had almost no Chile flavor at all. If there was any I couldn't detect it. Wife said she tasted something but couldn't even place it. It would have made a pretty good "beef ramen" but it was certainly not a traditional Birria de res. The chicken tortilla soup was about the same, both stocks tasted like they had perhaps been fortified with bouillon cubes or something too and visually that also seemed to be the case (cloudy vs clear).

I forget what my wife got but she did say it was pretty good. Not great but better than just ok.

Probably the best thing we had was the salsa queso and guac. They also tasted like they were prepackaged but that they had done a little doctoring to freshen them. So no real complaints there but nothing exceptional either.

Overall I'm sad, the restaurant is beautiful and the service was excellent but the food was a...

There are restaurants called "Amazing Thai." Well, this place could be called "Amazing Mexican!!!" Patricia was a great server. The chips were very good. The salsa was outstanding and fresh. To our surprise, queso is no charge and excellent. My father-in-law and I think these may be the best fajitas we've ever had, and we both are conesours of Mexican food. He got shrimp and I had chicken and beef combo. My wife and my mother-in-law got a Hawaiian burrito and both sung its praises. Our daughter got everything-under-the-sun fajitas which even had ribs on it (beef, I think). It is in a historic house. Wonderfully preserved. That is one of the reasons we wanted to come here. Hardwood floor installation is very unique. Ambiance is quiet and nice; sparse but not in a bad way.

This food at Rojas is high-dollar, high quality food and a much lower than expected price. I usually don't need a box to take home. This meal I did. They don't skimp on quantity here. No shrink-flation at Rojas. My new favorite Mexican restaurant. Plan an being back soon! Don't left the sign fool you if you are driving from downtown Wagoner. Paint has faded. It's open (it...