Emiliano's Mexican Restaurant & Bar

I haven't reviewed a spot in a while, but tonight's experience ... well, this will be long:

BAD NEWS: I ordered take-out from the North Hills location pre-COVID and got sick on both ends AND it tasted like a container of salt.

TODAY

My Mom is leaving alone for Costa Rica and is nervous so I thought "Why not go back to the best worst MX restaurant? Then you can truly appreciate good MX/Latino food..."

GOOD NEWS

The Bartender.

Fast forward four years and I walk into a tiny dead restaurant at 4:45 after a long day. The sweet bartender can almost read my mind and gets me a margarita. My Mom comes and the bartender is there asking her what she wants She doesn't interrupt us during some serious conversation but with impeccable timing offers menus 530 rolls around and a dozen (no exaggeration) male engineers-of-something walk in hungry for beer (great. they make more, tip more, smile at female bartenders more, we should probably order from Moe's and get it delivered here). Nope. The bartender took her time to go over the menu with my Mom!!!!

We got our food fast, boxes to leave fast (I had to go to back to work), and had a fun time...

THANK YOU BARTENDER & TEAM for impeccable service. You did when you didn't have to.

We stopped along our road trip to grab some lunch. We saw Mexican food and went for it. It's a nice looking restaurant with colorful decor. It wasn't super busy so we didn't wait too long. They bring chips and salsa to munch on while you order. There are restrooms to use and a bar that some people were sitting at and of course booths and tables for diners.
The food was good and I especially loved the rice! Yummy. I also had to ask for a to-go-cup since we couldn't finish the whole smoothie during lunch and they were able to get one for me.

Wow. Good service (seated with drink immediately, food out in less than ten, drink replaced when my glass was empty). Fantastic food! Ordered the Emilliano's Quesadilla, great flavors with sautéed veggies, and well seasoned chicken complemented by cheese without being overwhelmed by it. The side of rice is filling. And flan! Rich and creamy, the 2nd best flan I've had. Lo siento, pero la flan de Juanitos esta un poquito mas bien. It's soo close, and really not to be missed (honestly best flan I've had within 200 miles of Pittsburgh!).

Service was great so we're the drinks & guacamole but that's all I'd ever go back for. The steak tacos were so tiny & tasteless a complete waste of money.

Es el Perfecto lugar de comidas mexicanas . Sabrosas , a un buen precio y excelente servicio . El lugar acogedor , la música y la decoración muy bonita . Me encanta el lugar trato de ir con mis amistades dos veces al mes .

The food was beyond great. The service was a rocky start as soon as we walked in the door. The host was assisting a carry out order she had to walk away a few times to get this sorted. Did not acknowledge she would be with us soon to all the people coming in. A line all the way to the door. Multiple employees in the front bar area were just casually walking around empty handed wouldn't help the host out. It had customers but they were mostly all eating. Finally a male employee came to acknowledge/assist. The food is what carried this review. We sat at our table for a while with salsa, silverware, and chips brought by a woman but no drinks. Our waiter was fast once he got to us, very very nice & thoughtful. Did not miss a thing. That's exactly what you love to have dining out with a family is feeling comfortable with who is serving you. Kids loved the food. Holy guacamole is made at the table SO FRESH and light on the stomach! Dinner was very filling. My tacos were super packed! Drinks were good! May come back but during lunch hours to get that experience!

The homemade guacamole was delicious--they make it right in front of you too using a mortar and pestle to mix it all together. Hubby had the enchiladas suizas which he enjoyed but he's also a native Mexican so he prefers things more spicy.
I had the chicken chimichanga. It was delicious but could've used more of that delicious melted cheese. The rice was delicious and the salsa with chips was a great appetizer too. We love Emilianos and admittedly we like to come here a lot. Sign up for their birthday club and you'll also get a free entree! That's what I did

The food is pretty typical for what you'd expect from a suburban Mexican restaurant in a strip mall. Which is to say, it's good comfort food. You know what to expect. It may not wow you, but it also doesn't disappoint. If you're the guy giving this place one star, I'm rolling my eyes, because you shouldn't walk into a suburban Mexican restaurant in a strip mall expecting anything gourmet or even authentic.

The service, on the other hand, was below average. A meal at a suburban Mexican restaurant in a strip mall should not take two hours. It wasn't crowded. It's just that our waitress seemed disinterested in things like refilling the chips, asking us if we wanted another round of drinks, or taking our order, despite passing us several times while we just sat there waiting to order.

I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume it was a bad night or just a bad waitress. I still tipped her twenty percent because I'm not a heathen. Would I go back? Maybe, if I lived in the area. It's not a place to avoide. It's just not one you'd ever seek out.

This restaurant is actually located next to Joann, is is not on the main strip of the shopping center, as is shows located here on yelp. The pin is way off for this place here on yelp. It's not easy to find, at all. We wasted at least 5-10 minutes trying to find it. It's best to use type it into your Apple map and search it. Don't use the yelp address.

The restaurant is deceptively big and goes back far.

Day of the dead is quickly approaching...

Our service is quick and efficient.

We started off with the table side guacamole and 2 mandarin Jarritos, 3 street style chicken tacos with beans and rice and 3 pulled chicken classica (red) salsa. The suiza is the green salsa. The hot salsa is quite hot, not a ton of flavor, mostly straight up hot.

Their chips are okay. The guacamole yummy, nice amount of lime juice, tons of flavor and nice heat from the jalapeño and bite from the red onion too.

The enchilada sauce looks more orange, tastes slightly sweet, it's different, but good. The black beans are tasty and has some flavor to them, smokey even.

The chicken tacos are good, packed full of meat too. The side of rice is bland, but the side of refried beans has a bit of flavor too.

We stopped for dinner Sunday May 7th. Sat at the bar. Service was fast. Drinks were good. However, when the food came, it was very disappointing. My wife got the chicken fajitas. The portion was tiny and the chicken was so overcooked, some of it was not edible. It was so dry, even the one or two of "larger" pieces were so overdone and dry.
I ordered the steak bowl. Similar to the chicken, the steak bits were more like jerky than actual steak. The steak was actually so overcooked, it was crunchy. What made it even worse was the smell of cleaning products. It was before 8;00, they close at 9:00 on Sundays. As we were eating, the staff was cleaning floors etc... made us feel like we shouldn't be there. Mentioned the overcooked chicken and steak to the bartender, and he barely acknowledged what I said. We won't be back.