El Cholula

Where do I begin… We have visited this restaurant before and had issues with the check, they ran my credit card twice AND changed the tip amount to higher than I authorized. I had to fight with Discover to get the refund because they wouldn’t help. But the food was good so we decided if we paid cash we shouldn’t have a problem, boy was I wrong. Went there to get dinner with girlfriend and cousin. When we arrive we are taken to our table and left to look over the menu (no offer to place a drink or appetizer order) waited forever for her to come back and take our actual order. Once we place our order for everything and finally get our food the waitress does not check in on our group once. (There were 3 other tables and she didn’t check on them either). At this point it’s maybe 8:45 and they close at 10:00. She comes by to give us our checks but we wanted to order a 2 round of drinks before we left. She says «sorry we’re closed»… The open sign is still on and it says on the door that they are open to 10:00. When I ask why they are closing early she ignores me and just DROPS the check at the table as she walks by obviously offended that I asked why they are closing early. We paid cash and didn’t think that she really deserves a great tip since she checked in on our group once to take our order, 2^nd time to drop food/​drink off, and a 3^rd to give us our checks. When we get in the car and are backing out of the stop she comes storming out of the restaurant and THROWS the tip at us as I am backing out of my parking spot! I’m my defense I understand you should tip 20% but under these circumstances didn’t think it was fitting, but to throw the tip at us because you didn’t think it was enough is beyond rude. If you want shitty service from a rude employee who forces you out of the place a hour before close and then chases you into the parking lot because you didn’t tip 50% then this is the place to visit. I will never consider this place for dinner again, the way the staff treated us was completely and underly unacceptable.

We’ve visited this restaurant a handful of times and each time we’ve noticed the level of customer service on the decline. The first visit wasn’t too bad — good food, decent service & great drinks. However, there was a time when we had paid for our meal with a credit card and a few days later realized an additional tip had been added on top of the already 20% gratuity we had left — not only is this illegal, especially considering the circumstances that there were only 2 of us at dinner that night, not a party or anything, but it’s also morally wrong and a bit alarming. There have been at least two instances when we have tried to go to dinner here where they have decided to close during posted business hours which seems rather strange? Not only that, but when they decided to close early, an immense amount of attitude was given. There’s one server in particular that always seems rather annoyed/​like you are bothering her by ordering (& paying) for a meal. We have had far too many issues here for me to feel confident in referring anyone here.

Your typical Mexican restaurant on the above average end of the scale. Some dishes were, others were not so good. Free chips and salsa were a plus.
I got the seafood fajitas and my gf got the chicken fajitas. Both were very good and flavorful. The veggies in my seafood fajitas were kind of soggy and mushy but I didn’t mind it. The fish and scallops were a little dry as well.
My friend got their steak and it was terrible. He asked for a medium rare and it was definitely well done. Lesson of the day, don’t get steak from a Mexican joint and expect it to be like outback.
I would definitely go back and try some of their other dishes.

Horrible service! Day that I went was with a group restaurant not crowded. Everyone received their meal except myself. Asked server & response received was oh kitchen must have forgotten. Not even an apology. After 20 minutes & then finding chicken bone in my burrito I asked to speak to the manager. Of course not available & with giving our phone number we would receive a call. That call never came. Needless to say I will not return.

I grew up in SoCal. Order wrong. Taco beef tastes like dig food smells. Shrimp Quesadilla was something but not a quesadilla. Rice soggy, beans boring. Fish taco bland — I make better at home.
Terrible.

What a terrible place to eat. On cinco de mayo of all days, I have never had anyone run out of margarita glasses when they aren’t packed full of people. It took 30 minutes between drinks to get any time of water refil. Our waiter never checked in on us, and we were starving as the night progressed. We were there for two hours and the last 35 was waiting for them to clear our table and give us our check.
Our group was nice and has been there before, had amazing service and now terrible service. I can say we will NOT be going there again.
The drinks were watered down, service was slow, food was mediocre and no one seemed genuinely interested to help.
We would’ve wanted to celebrate have tons of drinks and laughs like last time. But unfortunately this fell short and left a bitter taste in our mouths– which is a lot bc even the «tequila» in our margaritas didn’t leave a taste.
Terrible. Do not recommend.

Very good food and nice people that work here. Shrimp with garlic was filling! Brought out beef instead of chicken and they took it back and made chicken! Neighborhood restaurant and seems to be family owned which is a plus!

Family and I went last night. We have been there perhaps a half-​dozen times and I found the food just average. Last evening, it was really excellent. My beef enchiladas and accompanying beans and rice were very tasty. Service is always good as are the chips and salsa. We are looking forward to returning.

Authentic (as far as an American knows) Mexican fare at a great price. Large portions, quick service, potent margaritas… Pretty much everything that you could want. Salsa has a kick, but also be sure to try the bean dip. Overall great experience and highly recommended.

The food here was exceptional, but the service was excellent. They had an issue with credit card machine going offline and instead of making us feel guilty they told us to just stop in and pay them when we can. To me that was a sign of customer commitment, they put the consumer ahead of profits and that makes a business successful. I appreciate small business that will go the extra mile to take care of their customer, that’s rarely seen these days. Also their frozen margaritas are awesome!

I would have given this at least 4 stars but some changes have been made. We have been going regularly for months since they opened. We love this place. Food is excellent quality and taste, menu extensive, and prices are great. They have the best margaritas. The prices on dishes we get have gone up a few times at about a 20% increase over the ladt 2 months and this week we noticed the steak had been changed to a lesser quality cut and side items had been reduced with our dishes even the price hsd increased. Still think they are great, but the quality is what made them different. Maybe its a temporary change.

I wouldn’t claim El Cholula is the best Mexican restaurant in Cincinnati, or even in Montgomery-​Mason-​Loveland area. But it is surely a great one.
1. The service is friendly and fast, and the server answered our questions well.
2. The portion is HUGE.
3. The restaurant features typical Mexican cuisine for everyone.
4. Their seasoning and sauces are more to «light» side. I seriously think some people can consider them bland. My wife thought the fish taco had no taste.
5. They have 4 – 5 domestic and import draft beer. They have pitcher and 32 oz options. the best part for me.
6. The interior design is confusing to me. It is definitely clean. But there is not much Mexican about it. You wouldn’t know if there weren’t some pictures and Mexican beer banners.

I heard that El Cholula had carnitas which is not a prototypical Cincinnati Mexican restaurant menu item, so I went to check them out.
I liked the carnitas. There were a couple of options and I chose the one with jalapenos. Holy moly, those were hot (as the server had warned). He wasn’t joking. Not to worry if you’re avoiding extra scovilles, there’s a less spicy version. But overall the carnitas were tender and juicy.
Other than that, a pretty solid Mexican option. Clean restaurant, fast service, standard menu fare with a few variations to keep it interesting.

Average décor for a strip mall but the food & service make up for it. Lots of specials and above average taste. Nice touch that the manager touches base with every table.

Totally hit or miss. Guacamole with pico added (guacamole Americana, maybe?) is good, but the plain guac is bland and tasteless. Fajitas also had very little flavor and my husband’s Chimichanga was not impressive. However, they have a dish called the Pollo Poblano which is so good. It’s chicken, poblano peppers and onions in a cheese sauce, served with tortillas. I mean, you could put cheese on anything and I’ll try it, but the poblanos make this dish great.
Honestly, there are a lot of other Mexican options around town, so unless I specifically want the Pollo Poblano, I’ll go elsewhere.

3 stars, but I almost rounded up based solely on the overly generous portions.
The food was pretty good. The double portion of fajitas fed me for the following three days. Chips and salsa were tasty. The restaurant itself is a little lacking, cheaply decorated and slapped into the end of a strip mall. If you’re up that way, you’d probably be better off heading over to Dinastia Latina in Sharonville.
If you just want rock bottom prices and hearty portions, El Cholula will satisify your needs.

I like when I can use coupon’s to try a new place and I’d been wanting to try El Cholula since it opened. Fortunately, my Kroger receipt had a coupon on the back, so the BF and stopped in for a Saturday evening dinner. We weren’t disappointed with out visit, especially after the BF discovered that pitchers of beers were on special.
I was happy that they had a good variety of vegetarian dishes on their menu. Their chips and salsa were both pretty good, with the salsa having a bit of a kick. We ordered guacamole… and it was SO good (I think it was even better than the guacamole at La Mexicana!) I ordered veggie fajitas and the BF ordered some enchiladas. The food came out pretty quickly and was hot, fresh, and very good. Not to mention, generous in the portion department. We couldn’t eat everything, because there was so much. IT was all very good and we were very happy.
The interior is spacious and much more inviting than when it was the previous Asian restaurant. They have a full service bar. Service was friendly and efficient. I previously thought El Jinette down the road (closer to home) was good, but El Cholula has pushed El Jinette down my list. Next time I want some Mexican fare, I will be heading to El Cholula.

im still sticking with the carnitas but my last visit was less that pleasant. the staff ignored my table, and there were very few diners. they forgot to bring the guacamole that was supposed to be included with both of our meals. when i brought this to their attention they delivered a small cup of it and threw it onto the table. maybe they didn’t bring it originally because they knew how bland it tasted. my corn tortillas were shredded. just an all around mediocre experience.
the carnitas is still great though.

El Cholula is a great addition to the neighborhood! The interior is clean and comfortable, and the staff is appropriately attentive. The owner is always around, showing he’s putting a lot into this new restaurant.
One thing I love about El Cholula is the value! You can get a great sized lunch or dinner for $ 10 or less. And of course, the food is fresh and delicious! I recommend the veggie fajitas– great flavor and texture to the vegetables.
I would give El Cholula five stars, but I feel like the menu is lacking some creativity. The menu is very similar to other Mexican restaurants in the area and has the typical burritos, tacos, enchiladas, etc. I would love to see a signature «el cholula» dish that differentiates the restaurant and would keep bringing me back!

YES!!! HALLELUJAH!!! EUREKA!!! AUSGEZEICHNET!!! MUY BUENO!!!
I have been waiting and waiting (and waiting) for a traditional Mexican restaurant to open in this neck of the woods and it’s finally here! Welcome to the neighborhood El Cholula! For months I’ve been driving by this place with the sign «El Cholula» impatiently waiting for its doors to finally say OPEN.
I stopped in for lunch today and had a very pleasant experience. There are two different dining rooms and a good-​sized bar in between. The menu is expansive and has one page dedicated entirely to lunch. I’m going to come back and try a lot of them. Today I went with a quesadilla that was good. I enjoyed that the tortilla was crispy on the outside and still soft on the inside. The sides of rice and beans looked to be smaller than I’m accustomed to, but they still tasted good. Maybe they’re served in larger portions for dinner entrees. I can’t be sure until I’ve gone back for dinner.
All the servers had big smiles on their faces and the manager was going around introducing himself to customers. Day 2 of operations and the staff already seems to have a firm grasp on creating a friendly environment and providing excellent customer service.
See you again soon El Cholula, very soon. In fact, would you like to go to dinner tonight?