VERY good - albeit a little pricy
REALLY good food - good service & ambience. It is a bit expensive for Mexican food (I guess it is to be expected since it is at Easton), and the food could be a tad more "zesty" (i.e. spicy), but all in all, a fine restaurant.    [24 Dec 2005 23:01:53]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: The soups are TREMENDOUS!

     ­RTL44   

Abuelo's Bland Brands
After reading some of the other reviews, I must have been there on a bad day. I realize that my expectations are higher since I lived in Texas for 14 years and am familiar with so called Mexican and Tex-Mex food. Central Ohio does not have Tex-Mex which is unfortunate. Abuelo’s is a chain restaurant that started in Texas by the way.
We visited Abuelo's on a Sunday evening. The hostess was pleasant but the server seemed to be in a big hurry to get us in and out of there. We stated we wanted to enjoy a couple of rounds of drinks before ordering, be she was very intrusive and continued to come by the table every four minutes or so to ask if we were ready to order. And speaking of drinks, when was the last time you went to a Mexican food restaurant or a quality bar for that matter, that didn't have Dos Equis???
After all the hurry to get the order placed, I thought it took a long time to finally get served. However, that was consistent with the drink replenishment. It would behoove you to not empty your drink before ordering another. It takes awhile before the next one arrives..
The food was so-so. I had the Sonora platter and a cup of tortilla soup. The soup was very disappointing to say the least and I must say it was probably the worst tortilla soup that I have ever had. It seemed to be just diced tomatos, 1 very small piece of chicken, and a ball of Monterey Jack cheese in chicken broth. I didn't really get any hint of cilantro, garlic, cumin or any other spice for that matter and where were the tortillas? (duh?) The Sonora was ok, but nothing to write home about. It was filling but I found it to be very bland. I found it very interesting that once again that they compound the bland issue by not having any hot sauces available other than Tabasco. (Tabasco isn't even a Mexican hot sauce!) Additionally, they do not offer a "side" of jalapeño peppers either. (duh?) Taco Bell has more flavor (yuk). So, if you like it kicked up a notch, this is NOT the place to go. (Try El Vaquero's on Olentangy River Road. They can do it!!)
My 79 year old mother did enjoy her taco’s, so there was one happy camper in the crowd. She also liked the diced tomatoes in juice that they pass off as salsa.
So, if you’re into nice ambiance, high prices, and bland food then this is definitely your kind of your place. Have fun!!    [21 Aug 2006 11:48:01]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: None

     ­Chuck