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| - Luchitas is located on Cleveland's near West side in a rather rough-looking building that seems to fit well within the confines of the surrounding neighborhood. It's old school Cleveland at its best. Upon entering you'll immediately notice that it's laid out like a typical bar/restaurant with the long bar to the left and the main dining area around the corner to the left, separated from the bar. It's not that large and I wasn't all that impressed with the digs. It seemed a bit tired, outdated and just a little sticky. So let's get the party started, shall we?
Having purchased a deal on Groupon we ordered from the prix fixe menu. Here's the rundown:
Flight of Empenadas - A selection of four beautifully fried and crispy delights. Golden brown pillows each filled with a different selection of goodies: chicken and cheese, cheese and potato, ground beef and chorizo and potato. These were the highlight of the meal for me.
Sopa Azteca- chicken broth, shredded chicken, rice, pico de gallo, avocado. I was not at all impressed with this dish. It was a bit on the bland side and it reminded me of something I've had before out of a red and white metal can. Meh.
Ensalada Verde-lettuce, tomato, bell pepper,onion, cilantro, queso anejo. Not a bad salad if a tad boring. The lettuce and veggies were fresh and crispy.
Flautas de Barbacoa de Pollo - Here is another gem from our meal. These things were like crispy bbq pork cigars. The Mexican cream, queso fresco and salsa aguacate were great compliments to the crunchy flour tortillas.
Pork Tacos- A trio of tacos topped with onions, cilantro and pineapple. My wife really liked them and I guess I found them pretty good, too. I wasn't a fan of the pineapple in the mix, but overall not a bad dish.
Filet al Chipotle- I should know better than to order steak at a Mexican restaurant. I have yet to find one that doesn't completely destroy the meat. The steak strips in this dish were as tough as leather. I felt bad for the cow. The onion, potato, cactus, chipotle and ancho pepper sauce wasn't quite cooked enough for my taste (some of the taters were a bit on the raw side). I think the best part of this dish were the refried beans and white rice.
Luchitas sure seems to have its fair share of loyal followers in Cleveland, but I have to agree with some of the less than satisfied Yelpers on this one; I just didn't get it. For me it was a rather middle of the road experience with the highs and lows pretty much cancelling each other out to wind up right at the center of the bell curve.
Having lived in Texas before I've had some rather spectacular Mexican dishes. Don't get me wrong, I'm no expert in Mexican cuisine (or any cuisine for that matter) and I'm not saying that Luchitas isn't authentic, I'm just saying that after reading some of the other reviews on here you'd think it was the greatest Mexican food on the planet. I had very high expectations for my visit and, unfortunately, they finished just shy of meeting them. Among the bright spots was the service, both friendly and relatively attentive (got a bit slow toward the end of our meal). I certainly couldn't say it was the worst I've ever had but I'd be hard-pressed to find a reason to get my butt back in one of their seats anytime soon.
P.S.
Stick with bottled beer if you imbibe here. I had to send back a Great Lakes Dortmunder. Tasted like dirty draught lines to me. Ugh.
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