ojeda's

a futile argument. i think it's actually a good thing when ojeda's gets a bad review, like a couple in here, because it helps keep the types who pooh-pooh ground beef, hardtacoshells, and thin, runny, red, and hot salsa out of our way. go, please, and find the "genuine" or "authentic" or "fresh" mexican fare you like, and warn others like yourselves not to darken the doors at ojedas. good riddance.
brenda complains about the salsa at ojedas, insisting its loaded w/vinegar so it won't go rancid at the table. did she have the stuff analyzed? the closest to ojedas in a canned salsa i can find here in los angeles the damned) is el pato (about $.50 for a 7&3/4 oz can) "jalapeno salsa". contains tomato puree, water, chiles, onions, garlic, salt and spices. no vinegar. a very popular brand, tapatio: water, red peppers, salt, garlic, acetic acid, xanthan gum, sodium benzoate. no vinegar. perhaps brenda is confusing salsa from mexico with hot sauce from louisiana, where they all have vinegar. another reviewer complains about the chips, and the hardtacoshells, being like tostitos. (he uses the phrase "re-fried tortillas" huh?) thetacoshells at ojedas are so thin and delicate they defy you to pick them up. i think most people just use a fork. the chips are equally delicate. as for complaints about the ground beef: i have never seen gb this savory (moist) with zero greasiness. if you don't like gb, don't order it. go get yourself some shredded fish concoction, with soft tortillas and chunks of raw tomato, onion and cilantro "salsa".

not what it use to be.. i haven't been to ojeda's in a long time, so i decided to go to lunch there today and was very disappointed. i ordered a lunch special: one bean chalupa, one con queso tostada, one guacamole tostada.

the tostada's were a hard corn tortilla with cheese wiz on it, and another hard corn tortilla with a small scoop of guacamole, and the chalupa was a hard corn tortilla with lettuce, 3 tiny pieces of tomato and a smear of beans. it wouldn't fill a 5 year old. it was actually worse thantacobell. next time i will go totacobell...it's cheaper and tastes better.

very disappointed to say the least.

terrible - spend your money somewhere else!. just had an early supper there - we tried the ojeda's platter to sample a little of everything - big mistake - the cheese sauce is just that canned stuff - the guacamole is not fresh - probably the frozen variety and the "puffy"tacois just a greasy mess of oily meat, cheese and lettuce on top. don't even think about the beef enchaladas - very greasy, not much meat and smothered in a dark brown refried "mess" - doubt that my doggy would eat this stuff. additionally there was a customer a couple of tables away who clearly had too many margaritas and was retelling his high school football stories so loudly the whole place could hear and the owner was standing there ""eating it up"" and not trying to quiet the customer - several patrons were giving unapproving glances. i will never go back - and the food is medium to high priced - much better food - fresher food at a better price at other locations.

enjoyed. went to ojeda's (oak lawn) tonight on the recommendation of a friend. was not disappointed.

the salsa was very peppy but flavorful. i can handle a lot of heat in my food, and even for me the salsa brought taste buds to attention. if you don't like a decent amount of spice (heat), you won't be able to handle their salsa. good idea to have your drinks arrive before you eat the salsa.

i had the spinach enchiladas w/ grilled chicken on top (pic uploaded). the combo of flavors works well together. i ate some of the grilled ckn by itself away from everything else: one bite was bland, the other bite had flavor. when combined w/ the tortilla, spinach and tomatillo sauce it was flavorful.

the dinner plate was served w/ rice and beans. the rice was some of the most tasty spanish rice i've had. it was also not the stereotypical dried-out spanish rice common in most tex mex restaurants. it was fresh. don't know if that was luck of the draw, or if they had just made a batch and my plate was one of the firsts, but i can say it was very flavorful and very fresh.

the chips of the chips-n-salsa were also fresh. they were not greasy in the least. crisp, crunchy. the tomatillo sauce on the main dish was very fresh. the refried beans were good: not dried-out either.

i also had a bite of my dinner companion's beef taco. the ground beef was extremely flavorful--some of the better ground beef in atacoi've had anywhere. that was a pleasant surprise, as most ground beef is par-for-the-course predictable.

to finish things off, sopapillas. light, airy, and generous portions of cinnamon and sugar which made them very very good.

our server was ismael. he was attentive and very much on the ball. outstanding service. our food came out quickly and was hot.

great first experience at ojeda's oak lawn. will definitely put this one on the circuit.

worst "mexican" food i've had in ages. i cannot see what all the buzz about ojeda's is. i went their for lunch a week or two ago, and it was the worst food i have had in a long time.

the salsa was passable, but the chips were not the traditional, thin freshly re-fried ones. instead they were like tostitos and the salsa was paces. it was like they went to costco for their chips and salsa. they brought the iced tea was again definitely sub-par. bitter, and somewhat weak.

so the beginning went off poorly. but what about the main meal? it just got worse. there were three of us there for lunch, we all tried each others' food and it was all lousy. it's a sit down place, but really i thinktacobell does roughly the same quality of food. the beef was barely edible, the sauces were flavorless, and everything just lacked that genuine mexican feel. we were all deeply disappointed by our meals especially after all the favorable reviews.

instead i strongly recommend mia's and uncle julios which are 5 minutes away on lemon. they know how to do it right. only slightly more expensive, if at all and fantastic.

if you want to go cheaper, try hitting up thetacostand in the middle of the parking lot in the northeast corner at inwood and maple (across inwood from the gas station).

don't go to ojeda's resist the hype, or maybe it's just alcohol talking?