I'm not sure I would have tried Mexican Village had it not been for the fact that they are one of the few restaurants near Parma that takes restaurant.com gift certificates. I had some free credit and so decided to give this place a go despite relatively poor success with most other Mexican places in the CLE area.
Mexican Village is located on Brookpark in an area that is fairly easy to overlook or pass by. I had seen it before while passing in my car but wrote it off as it looks kind of skuzzy and divey from the outside. Other reviews had suggested that it was wise to overlook the exterior and that the food was a winner here.
We arrived just after 5 pm to find a ghost town. We were literally the only customers in a relatively large restaurant at dinner time on a Friday. I've learned in the past that this is not always a tell-tale sign of a bad food joint, especially since Bac (one of our fav restaurants) was this way the first time we went.
My first judgement of a Mexican restaurant is always on the free chips and salsa. Here they are pretty good. Perhaps the salsa is a bit runny and mild but the flavor was good and they were quick to bring more when we were out. Our server was friendly but her English was fairly poor (not really a negative factor to me) and she wasn't very knowledgeable about the menu. It was a minor flaw and didn't affect my rating much.
In general I can overlook just about everything else at a restaurant if the food is amazing. Unfortunately it was just okay. Fairly bland and uninspired. My wife didn't like her meal at all and my Chile Relleno was just mediocre. I'd never had a Relleno that was wrapped in a tortilla rather than battered but I would have been okay with it had the flavor been great. There just wasn't much taste to it at all.
For a mediocre Mexican restaurant I felt that the prices were a bit high. Other Mexican places in the area aren't great either but are a bit cheaper so they're easier to justify. Had it not been for the discounted price due to my gift certificate I may have been upset by my final tally. We left full and didn't get sick from the food but I don't think we'll return.