Cinco de Mayo: How to make margarita mix
Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with this delicious homemade margarita mix.
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Happy Cinco de Mayo!
If you’re in the mood for some chips and salsa, margaritas and Palomas, tacos and quesadillas or chimichangas and enchiladas, here are some Mexican restaurants in the area that are worth trying.
Note this is not an exhaustive list of eateries specializing in Mexican cuisine in Akron.
Mucho Bueno’s Mexican Grill & Cantina
Mucho Bueno’s Mexican Grill & Cantina opened in Brunswick in 2006. Reporter Mark Price wrote that he and his wife Susie have been regulars for about 15 years.
“It’s fun to try new restaurants, but it’s always nice to return to the comfort of what you know,” Susie said.
1421 Town Center Blvd., Brunswick
Casa del Mar
Casa Del Mar, which translates to “House of the Sea,” is an authentic Mexican restaurant on South Cleveland-Massillon Road just south of Interstate 76 in Greenridge Plaza. It’s been in business in Norton since 2013 and is a sister restaurant to Casa Del Rio in Wadsworth and Casa Del Rio Express in Fairlawn.
“Quite simply, this is some of the best Mexican food I’ve tasted in Summit County. My wife, Susie, and I had a fully satisfying dinner, and I do mean full,” Price wrote in 2021.
3725 S Cleveland-Massillon Rd., Barberton
Alejandro’s Amigos Taqueria
Friends Gustavo Munoz and Alejandro Enriquez opened Amigos Taqueria in Stow in 2022. Enriquez was formerly a cook at Munoz’s Tallmadge restaurant El Tren Grill before they became close friends and decided to go into business together, reporter Kerry Clawson found out.
Amigos Taqueria focuses on the authentic dishes of their hometowns. That includes recipes perfected by Munoz’s parents, who owned a taqueria in Aguas Calientes, Mexico, for many years, Clawson reported.
4147 Bridgewater Pkwy, Stow
Tito’s Mexican Grill
Tito’s in Fairlawn has been around since 2011. Clawson had never been, so she and husband Steve finally checked it out in August 2023.
She noted their extensive menu with variations of quesadillas, Mexican street tacos, enchiladas, fajitas and burritos plus 10 chef’s specials, and that wasn’t all.
25 Ghent Rd., Fairlawn
Town Tacos
Town Tacos, which opened inside Barmacy in Akron’s Highland Square in 2022, specializes in street tacos. It’s run by couple Tyler Robinson and Nadine Gheith, Clawson reported, who were encouraged by their friends to sell their taco creations.
The menu features steak, chicken, pulled beef, tilapia or vegetarian elote street tacos; chicken or beef birria tacos with meat cooked for three to five hours and served with consomme broth; elote corn bowls; quesadillas and more.
804 W. Market St., Akron
Don Jose Mexican Cuisine
Don Jose Mexican Cuisine, which opened last April at Valley Centre plaza in Akron’s Merriman Valley, specializes in the foods of owner Carlos Hernandez’s family’s homeland, the Mexican state of Michoacan. His parents, Jose and Josefina, even created the menu for the eatery, Clawson reported.
Amid the restaurant’s huge menu of 42 entrees including five types of enchiladas, flautas, sopes, chimichangas, tacos, fajitas, quesadillas, Mexican salads and appetizers and much more.
1562 Akron Peninsula Rd., Akron
La Loma
This authentic Mexican spot is located in Ellet.
La Loma’s most frequently ordered dishes are from the seafood section of its menu, the most popular of which is the molcajete — shrimp, octopus, scallops, crab legs, mussels and fish served sizzling in a mortar, reporter Tawney Beans found out in 2021.
459 Darrow Rd., Akron
La Fresa
La Fresa is Beans’ go-to place when she’s in the mood for fresh, fruity flavors that will cool her down.
They have numerous options for cold treats including house-made popsicles with flavors including coconut, blackberry and mango as well as more out-of-the-box popsicles are tequila, pico de gallo, pink and purple bubblegum, cereal, cheesecake, pine nuts, eggnog, and more.
La Fresa also makes their own ice creams and sherbets.
447 Darrow Rd., Akron
El Papa’s
El Papa’s originally opened in Dover in 2009. After a decade in business, it moved to Cuyahoga Falls on Howe Avenue and operated there for five years. Now the brightly colored eatery, sporting vibrant walls, curtains and banners, resides in what was once Domenic’s Pub on State Road in Cuyahoga Falls.
The most popular dishes at El Papa’s are the California burrito, birria tacos, white enchiladas and margaritas, Beans reported.
2467 State Rd., Cuyahoga Falls
Los Cabos Mexican Restaurant
At Los Cabos, a newer Mexican restaurant that recently took over the former El Rancho’s in Wallhaven, was a good lunch option for reporter Craig Webb and his wife Jennifer.
“If I closed my eyes for minute, the smell of the delicious plate of steak and grilled onions and peppers at Los Cabos took me to a tropical paradise, or a Chi-Chi’s circa 1982,” Webb wrote.
1666 W. Exchange St., Akron
Funky Truckeria
Funky Truckeria in Norton gave Webb a taste of summer during a December 2022 visit.
After mulling the numerous menu options, Webb tried the steak and chorizo campechano taco and a BBQ carnitas taco while Jennifer went for the fried grouper taco and the Birria street style taco. They also ordered the chorizo funky balls as well as chip with pico de gallo and street corn salsa.
3200 Greenwich Rd., #113, Norton
Casa Del Rio
At Casa Del Rio in Wadsworth, Webb again went with his trusty go-to: steak fajitas.
“The amount of steak was generous, and there were plenty of onions and peppers and just the right amount of salty taste to make me hungry for more,” he wrote.
839 High St., Wadsworth
