El Rodeo

About a dozen of us met for dinner there last Thursday. Not too crowded (I think a debate was going on that night. Big deal!) and we were seated immediately (we had called ahead). Staff was very polite, friendly and attentive.
First off: they have very good salsa with chips. The queso dip is also among the best. The margarita was rather sweet, but also quite good.
My combination dinner consisted of a beef enchilada, a beef burrito and a cheese-​filled chili relleno (diner’s choice). It came out hot and sizzling. The beef had a nice cumin flavor to it. And the sauce smothering my dinner, the red sauce, was absolutely fantastic! Well worth returning for. It was so good that when I discovered my relleno was beef filled instead of cheese, I DIDN’T CARE. I ate every morsel on my plate. Nothing was going home.
In spite of the above mentioned mix-​up I am still giving the place 5 stars. It was that good. I look forward to returning and trying some other things on the menu.

Exceptional real Mexican food! Authentic décor, well dressed staff, and very friendly! I passed this restaurant so many times, I’m so happy I stopped in tonight. The salsa was just spicy enough, with warm crispy chips!

Fabulous. Great atmosphere, great service (great attire), great music, great food. The salsa is really good as are the chips. And they were hot. Very good rice. Very good refried beams. The carnitas were excellent. No «piggy» taste either as is sometimes the case with carnitas. No odd or stale flavor in anything. A huge amount of food too. All this at a half hour before closing on a Saturday night! I won’t bother trying anywhere else while I’m here in Cleveland (n. Olmstead).
Omg! The flan is amazing (writing this as I eat). I can tell it’s homemade from scratch in the kitchen. Sometimes I think mex restaurants have their flan brought in. There was a hint I clove in the sauce. Wow what a nice little touch that was. Normally at Mexico places I order it without the extra toppings… only the caramel sauce. But I forgot this time. The whipped cream andd fizzled chocolate sauce was not distracting however. Next time I’ll order it plain so I can really taste the custard flavor.
If only they had wifi… my att signal here is next to nothing. Guess I’ll post this down the road. Lol

Great prices for a lot of food! Staff and manager were super nice this was a great find.
Only feedback is to get wifi

Very colorful dining room. Wait staff was very friendly and attentive to their customers. Very nice decorative tables and chairs and the atmosphere was very authentic.
Food prices were very well priced coming from California and Texas prices for authentic Mexican food. Margaritas were awesome. Kind of wish we knew about the lunch buffet as we were looking for Mexican food for lunch and ended up eating at home. Would definitely recommend the burro California and the tamales. The chiliquillas weren’t as authentic as from mexico or California disappointed in that aspect as my wife grew up in a Mexican household with a mom from Guadalajara.
The sopapillas were OK… disappointed there as well. For the most part though walked out satisfied and full.

Since moving to CLE, El Rodeo has become our Mexican staple. Whenever we have a craving we head here, and it’s always a great choice.
A key staple of a great Mexican joint is the margaritas — and that holds true here. I always get their lime margaritas on the rocks and they’re always amazing. The margaritas at El Rodeo are refreshing and delicious (and strong!), definitely a must here.
The food is consistently great as well — good portions, a lot of choices on the menu, and very flavorful. My favorite is the chimichangas, though every dish I’ve tried has been awesome.
The service is another great part of the restaurant. We’ve always been greeted warmly, served quickly, and have had excellent service throughout the meal.
All in all, El Rodeo has everything you could want in a great Mexican joint: great food, good service, and refreshing and strong drinks.

Came in on a Saturday evening. Was pretty busy, but we were seated right away in a small corner table, kind of in an alcove. I mention this only because maybe the service was so bad because they couldn’t easily see us and forgot about us? I don’t know, but service was really slow and the waiter on multiple occasions walked away before I could order anything.
I did give 2 stars though. This is because I loved the «made at your table» guac and their salsa was very tasty. The guac was so fresh and seasoned perfectly. I could have eaten it with a spoon. However, although I ordered the «made at your table» guac which is double the price of the regular, the waiter seemed pretty annoyed that I didn’t want the premade stuff. The salsa that comes with the chips is also very nicely seasoned, a little spicy, but perfect for your appetizer.
When we all finally decided on food, I ordered the Texan Fajitas — chicken, shrimp, & beef. It had zero flavor. I only ate half of the meat and didn’t even want to take it home.
I personally did not order any margarita, but I tasted a friends, banana frozen. Poor flavor choice aside, the margarita tasted awful. I would not have been able to drink the whole thing.
I probably will not be going back to this restaurant… but that guac, though.

We love everything about this place. Coming here and being welcomed and enjoying our visit and good food and drink make this a weekly event for us. Once you come here, you are family.

Probably the worst margaritas in Cleveland. If putting Parrot Bay or Malibu in your regular Margarita on the rocks is good, El Rodeo needs a wake up call. Appetizer dips are quite small and only serve one person. Noticed the wait staff putting their hands in the glassware then serving drinks in them as well — disgusting. Lack of service at the bar was also a problem. I’d rather stand and eat my food at Nuevo Acapulco (which has excellent food and margaritas, but is always packed) than eat here. Needless to say, I’ll not be coming back.

Below average quick/​strip mall mexican food. Bland guac, the rice and beans tasted like leftovers/​stale. Weak, super sugary margaritas (and not cheap at that). Would not go back.

Really nice restaurant. Friendly staff and service. They take you order quickly and food comes out right away. The décor is nice. Similar to the other locations. Lots of selections and reasonable.

I actually came here as we were in the area and looking for something to eat. We had stayed away from Mexican our entire trip to Ohio, since I am always disappointed after living in So Cal, and Denver and experiencing their Mexican food.
I have to admit, they were pretty ok. The chips and salsa were really good, as well as the rice and re-​fried beans… we were flying high and I had a chimichanga with beef tips, while my friend had a chicken and beef taco (one of each). We were not completely won over by the way they marinate their meets for these, but they were not bad, just not as great as we were expecting with as good as the other items were.
We had sopapillas for dessert and what came out didn’t have a nice scoop of ice cream in the middle like the picture… which was misleading, unless we missed that it was an add on. in which case, they didn’t offer it to us.
Like I said, not the worst, but not the best. I wouldn’t avoid it, but I wouldn’t drive several miles to seek it out. They had a lunch buffet going on, but I personally prefer my food made to order.

I won’t be back.
My wife and I used to go here all the time. The last time we were in the food was mediocre rand the service was terrible. Figuring this to be a fluke we went back. Service was minimal at best and that was the highlight of going there. The food tasted like salt and the portions were small for the prices paid. $ 10 for a bean burrito, spinach enchilada and bean tostada that were sized for kids was a huge disappointment.
Save your money and go elsewhere. Taco Bell would be better.

I love this laid back restaurant! We’ve been going there for years, and I have never had a bad meal. In fact, the food here is excellent and so very tasty! The shrimp enchiladas were ‘off the charts’ yummy! I have to laugh when I read some of these reviews that state that this is not ‘authentic’ Mexican food. Who cares?! What matters is whether in fact the food TASTES good, and is prepared well. It does, and it is. ‘El Rodeo’ rocks!

I’ve been here more times than I can count and haven’t had a bad experience yet (and I’m overly critical most of the time).
Friendly staff, incredible food, reasonable prices. Anyone that feels the food is lacking in flavor has probably destroyed their taste buds from chain smoking.
I tend to like food to be over the top spicy hot. They deliver!
My wife and kids don’t want it to be that way, they like mild but flavorful. They deliver!
The seafood menu is where I mostly stick to. You get better portions for the price than you do at the famous chain seafood restaurants.
I cannot comment on the buffet because I always order off the menu here but if I go around lunch time there are no shortage of buffet patrons.
The free salsa and chips you get while waiting for your main course is worth the price of any plate there.
If you like Mexican food or just want to try it, you can’t do better than El Rodeo!

Have gone here twice and really enjoyed it both time. The chimichungas are excellent and the chilaquiles were very good as well. Top notch margaritas.

Lunch buffet 11 – 3 $ 7.25
I am a huge fan of this lunch buffet, the service and the price. I have yet to have a bad experience and really don’t expect one anytime. The buffet has the usual rice and beans as well as taquitos, cheese quesadillas, beef and chicken fajitas, cheese and chicken enchiladas, potatoes, eggs, some sort of casserole (not sure whats in it), shredded chicken in a red sauce and last but not least cheese dip and 2 red sauces for the extra sauce lovers. They also have a salad bar with salad, veggies, cilantro and onions, pico, hot salsa, tomatillo salsa, 2 desserts (they switch them up often), pickles, peppers and a few extra misc toppings. If you love Mexican food, you really can’t go wrong. The food is always super hot and fresh, nothing has every looked funny or tasted bad ever! The service is friendly and fast. I hate dirty plates on my table and at El Rodeo I don’t have to worry about that, they are right there to grab them. I can’t wait for the patio to open once it warms up a bit. This place rocks and if you haven’t tried the lunch buffet, go for it! Also, I heard on weekends they have a similar buffet, but add a few other items price $ 10.99, I’ll be checking that out soon!

The place is dripping in brightly painted Mexican décor and seems like it should be a really fun place. The food was fine. Pretty average american/​mexican food, but I was happy with it and probably exceeded my expectations, which since moving here from California are very low. It was definitely priced fairly though. The salsa was great, exactly what it should be in a mexican restaurant.
My biggest complaint was how we were hurried out of there. It was just weird service. Our drink order took awhile, the food was delivered quickly, and as I was still eating a rather full plate, my boyfriend’s plate was taken and I was asked if I wanted a box. No offer of a second drink, even though mine was empty. It was just weird. I might go again, but it wouldn’t be first on my list.

We used to frequent the location on Mayfield Road in Lyndhurst — which has since closed — so we sorta knew what to expect on our first visit to this place. Not that this is a bad thing, though. Sometimes it’s nice to know what you’re walking into.
El Rodeo (Spanish for the Rodeo) is basically your typical Americanized Mexican joint. Here are some of the highlights you can expect during a visit:
–Piped in vaguely Mexican-​sounding music. At one point I thought I heard some tubas. Do they use tubas in Mexican music?
–Hand-​carved furniture painted in Technicolor. The booths feature a glass top that allows the ornate features below to show through. I still see that bright yellow maniacally smiley sun when I close my eyes.
–Faux painting on the walls. We’re talking the finest in airbrushed faux bricks and stones this side of the city.
-$ 4 margaritas on Tuesdays. We didn’t visit on Tuesday and I didn’t order one so that’s all I can share.
–There was some sort of taco bar with all kinds of fixins. I’m not sure if it’s offered every day but it looked pretty good.
–Tame versions of classic Mexican dishes. One of the things I love about Mexican food is the heat. The enchiladas I ordered, while tasty, were completely devoid of heat.
El Rodeo is not a bad place to go grab some cheap MexAmerican grub. It’s somewhere between Taco Bell and Mi Pueblo Taqueria. Just about all of the dishes are some combination of lettuce, sour cream, cheese, beans, rice chicken/​ground beef and either corn or flour tortillas. It won’t blow your socks off with authentic flavor but it won’t blow your budget either (we had lunch for two with a beer for $ 28). Accept it for what it is and you can’t go wrong.
P.S.
You get some free chips and salsa to munch on while waiting for your food.

I came on a Sunday afternoon and saw a Mariachi band. It was so cheesey, I loved it! El Rodeo isn’t going to win any innovation awards, but it is a typical suburban Mexican joint. You know the type; bright fiesta ware platters brought out by a dude balancing like 30 on one arm who tells you «careful. Very hot.» As far as those places go, it is great; El Rodeo’s are always colorful, clean, and predictable. On a Saturday afternoon with some girlfriends or parents before a movie, that is exactly what you want. You have to be really boring not to find something enjoyable about the experience. At least they don’t charge for chips like Momocho (which I love).
They serve Dr. Pepper