Marcelita’s

A restaurant review:

We had dinner tonight at Marcelita’s, 7774 Darrow Road (Rte 91), Hudson, Ohio.

Quite frankly, I’ve had better Mexican food at Taco Bell. Mexican is so easy to do deliciously that it is quite a shame when it's done badly.

First, we had a short wait for table. No big deal. Then, the waitress took our drink orders: waters with lime and a pitcher of Margaritas, rocks, no salt. They were delivered promptly. There was no lime in the water. The Margaritas were bitter and contained very little alcohol as far as I could tell. I’m a cheap drunk and 2 large glasses full should have had me a little tipsy but that didn’t happen.

We asked for a bit more time to study the menu. We got almost 20 minutes before she checked back. I ordered the Beef Chimichanga. My companion ordered a combo meal with an enchilada, a taco flauta and a wet burrito. He was quite happy with his choice.

I was very disappointed with my dinner. The chimmie was served ‘naked’. I got a flat, fried flour tortilla packet that wasn’t crispy in the least and full of a sweet sauce of onions, green peppers and tomatoes with a few strands of beef throughout. It was just this side of vegetarian!

I also had a small bowl of some sort of red sauce. I believe it was their Rancheria sauce. It was spaghetti sauce in consistency and had no spicing indicative of Mexican flavors.

I also received a small portion of rice with peas in it and some refried beans. The rice was tasteless so I didn’t even bother with the beans. There was no cheese on any part of my meal.

The chips and salsa served when we were seated were good. They were crispy and the salsa, while a bit spicy for my companion, was just right for me. I like a little burn to cut with the Margarita.

The restaurant itself was nice enough. The restrooms were clean. The dining room we were seated in was full and thus quite noisy. I’m not sure what restaurants can do to lower the noise levels but I wish more of them would work harder at it. Having to yell to carry on a conversation does not make for a relaxing dinner experience.

No one ever asked me how I liked my dinner after I had had a chance to actually eat anything. The waitress had asked within a few minutes of serving us but I hadn’t tasted anything yet. I didn’t volunteer my complaints as there really wasn’t anything anyone could do to fix what I found wrong. Nothing else on the menu looked good

I wouldn’t recommend Marcelita’s. If you want good Mexican food and can get to the west side, Nuevo Acapulco, 24409 Lorain Rd., North Olmsted, is much better!!