the food is delicious (our server's favs are Pollo Jalisco and Pollo San Jose). my boyfriend got the pollo relleno and it was also really good. portions are reasonable and the environment is very inviting and friendly. i highly recommend this place. i've been coming here for years and the people here are so kind! read more

El Picante - Pollo Jalisco, Pollo Relleno, Queso (large) - Mexican Near Me - Loveland, Ohio

Lots of space for groups, and service was friendly, but the food is just not that good. My birria quesadilla was okay. My elote was bad. My rice didn't come. Others had mixed feelings about their food. We had a large group, so I won't fault the servers for missing things, but I wouldn't return for a full meal. read more

El Picante - Birria quesadilla - Mexican Near Me - Loveland, Ohio

We placed a To Go order for a family of 5. 2 of the 5 dishes were wrong. One dish didn't even make it in the bag. So after returning to the restaurant to allow them to fix it, the employee brings out only one of the incorrect items. We waited for 30 minutes for that. After another 10 minutes he brings the second item and it's wrong. This is the worst restaurant in the greater Cincinnati area read more

Staff are very kind and quick with getting your drink and food order. Reasonably priced overall and big portions for food. I enjoy the indoor booth seating and decorations. read more

What ever you do please do not buy Gift Cards from any of these restaurants they switch up the cards they sell you then the old ones are no longer usable. We were loyal customers and our friends knew this and would give us gift cards. Now we have $125.00 worth of cards they will not honor. Their cards are a ripoff scam. If you want to support a good honest business this is not the place. I have a $100.00 card for this location they will not honor because the switch the cards the use. read more

Jesus, and Oscar, wonderful servers great quesadilla and plenty of chips and salsa! Our lady in Guadalupe, who is our Lady of the Americas, pray for us !! read more

Server not attentive. Drinks $3.75 (Pepsi products) - only refilled once and had to tell him to do so. Food is so-so, portions are on the lighter side. Menu is too large (pork chops in a Mexican restaurant?), salad is just the lettuce they use for fajitas tossed in a plate. We did have a couple of issues, server had no intention of fixing it, just said, "sorry" and that was it. Could use a remodel and server needs a class in manners. Takes military discount but server was extremely dodgy about adding it; downright pushy in fact - "just give me your card" (credit card). Manager never visited table. This was a one time visit, I will not return. read more

El Picante - Front of restaurant. - Mexican Near Me - Loveland, Ohio

Okay, there's a range of pros and cons to this pace! Cons: - It's not the most clean/up to date - Service was so-so Pros: - The Street Tacos we're delicious! - The Mango Margarita on the rocks was one of the best we've ever had Would probably go back again! read more

El Picante - Street Tacos - Mexican Near Me - Loveland, Ohio

El Picante is the perfect neighborhood restaurant. The staff is great! They are always smiling and ensuring your food and drink are great! As soon as you sit, you get some complimentary chips and salsa - nothing out of the ordinary, but a perfect snack as you peruse the menu. Also, I highly recommend a margarita! On the rocks! There isn't a reason to skip the drink at this place, every time it has been perfect. All of the food has always been great. My family loves the fajita! There is always a great mix of veggies with the meat, and just the right amount of tortillas. If you need more, they will even bring a few more! Although its not so hidden in Loveland, if you don't know about El Picante you need to get over and try it! read more

See all

I give this 5 star review based on the service. We came here for my Moms birthday. She wanted good margaritas- and that's what she got! Our family is very large and we had a part of about 14 adults and 10 kids all under the age of 6. We warned the staff as we walked in the door with no reservation. They seated us right in the front of the restaurant and we occupied about 3 rows of tables. Thankfully we went at 330 in the afternoon on a Thursday so no one was really there yet. The atmosphere in the restaurant was able to suit us as well. But I have to comment on the staff, specifically our waiter Oscar. He was absolutely amazing. He waited on all of us, plus other people in the restaurant and did so very well. He was prompt, he interacted with us, encouraged us for more margaritas haha. He was good at keeping them flowing. I don't drink, but from what I could tell with my group - THEY WERE STRONG hahaha. My wife and I have personally been here 4 times and every time I'm pleased with everything. It is typical Mexican food, nothing majorly special but if you want a good food, great service and good night out I would definitely recommend this place. Especially if you have a large group, indulge yourself with some pitches o' Rita. Will be back for sure read more

See all

Food is excellent and great service, family friendly I love the Alex burritos I suggest going

Excellent food, excellent and fast service!! The staff are very accommodating, giving me the flexibility to modify their combo offerings. I love this place! Numero siete especial!! read more

Wonderfully authentic Mexican American food. Love their chicken fajita's and their in house made chips. Very good beer selections too.

Loved the Friendly staff! Oscar and Alex were super accommodating and I had one of the best margaritas ever. Street Tacos were delicious. Would highly recommend. read more

El Picante - 1/2 and 1/2 Margarita - Mexican Near Me - Loveland, Ohio

Service was pretty bad. The hostess led us to a table, tossed the menus down and kept walking without saying anything. The chips and salsa are very obviously store bought, slightly stale with out of the jar salsa, not the authentic style you normally expect at a Mexican restaurant. The food all tasted microwaved, edible but not good. We have been to many excellent Mexican restaurants around the area, this one we will avoid. read more

Lets play a game called find the chicken....ordered 2 chicken fajitas for 2, 1 of the trays was 1/2 steak 1/2 chicken. The other 3 all looked like this. Offered to make us some more chicken which was nice, but not when carry out! read more

El Picante - What they call chicken fajitas. - Mexican Near Me - Loveland, Ohio

This was our first time visiting El Picante. It was very enjoyable. The "It's Special" dish was very good. Ginormous beer only cost $6.50. The waiter Frank was extremely good. We will be returning for dinner again in the future. read more

El Picante - Mexican Near Me - Loveland, Ohio

I would give 0 stars if I could. Have lived in Loveland for 25 years and never had good experience in the 1/2 dozen times we've been here. Went Sunday as had been given a gift certificate. Husband was quick to say, "now I remember why we don't come here" and daughter laughed and said at least meal is free (bc of gift certificate). Chicken dry and no flavor (in tacos). Daughter's food was cold to touch. All good came out at different times (and not busy) as well as took a long time for 4:30 - 5 pm on a Sunday when hardly anyone there. Went to pay only to discover that our gift certificate only good at branch hill location?!? Said loveland el picante and nothing more so no way to know. NOT good. Too many other great Mexican places. Go elsewhere. FYI. College student daughter always loves leftovers for dorm and didn't even take hers (that blah). read more

Saying a Mexican restaurant is authentic these days can be overrated. There are a few taquerias in Cincinnati/Dayton that are much more "authentic" than El Picante. Some would say that items like chimichanga's aren't even Mexican but more Tex-Mex. You can find your fair share of Tex-Mex on their menu but don't let that deter you from checking this place out. El Picante have the best beans and rice I have eaten at any Mexican restaurant in Cincinnati/Dayton. The taste is consistent and yummy. El Picante also serves my favorite Mexican dish in the region which is thin chicken breast topped with a generous helping of chorizo. It is fantastic dish and something I go out of my way for when I can. You can see a photo of it in the El Picante photo section. The place is always packed and the staff always have a smile on my face. It doesn't matter how busy they are, we have never encountered a pushy or rude worker at El Picante over the last 6 years we have been visiting this place. Loveland can be out of the way for many, but give it a try sometime I think you will enjoy it. read more

El Picante - Chicken & Chorizo - Mexican Near Me - Loveland, Ohio

The drinks and food are nicely priced and the portions have been very generous in my experience. The menu is incredibly extensive and your orders are brought out super quick. read more

El Picante - Mexican Near Me - Loveland, Ohio

The mushroom quesadilla is legit the best 'dilla that I've ever eaten. It's one of the simplest items on the menu, but the mushrooms (I think they use portabella) and cheese (I'm guessing a combo of mozzarella and Swiss) make for the perfect combo. It's also very affordable - under $5. I (well actually, my husband) made the mistake of ordering just one of these gems; I wish I had at least one or two more! (It's a decent size, but you'll need at least two if that's your main/only entrée. read more

This is my 'go to' place for good Mexican food. The food is always fresh & this visit was no exception. The Carne Asada Tacos are made so simply; tortillas, steak, onions, cilantro & lime...thats it! If you prepare dishes with great ingredients, you get great results! No need for tons of extra toppings or sauces. This food stands on it's own. If your wanting to watch your wallet, order off the a la carte menu. You can belly full on less than 10 bucks easily :) Another positive here are the Cuervo Gold margaritas!! Best I've had in Cincy! The only time I've had a less-than-perfect visit here is when other diners get somewhat rowdy (after WAY too many drinks). If I walk in on the weekends & hear it's crazy loud, I leave. I wish they had a separate room that was closed off for groups. I would say this is a perfectly nice place to take your kids for lunch or a weeknight dinner, but maybe keep the kiddos away on weekend nights. The staff is always super friendly & if you're a regular they will treat you a little extra special :) read more

El Picante - Carne Asada Tacos are my FAVORITE dish here! - Mexican Near Me - Loveland, Ohio

I love this place. We come here here often. There have been a lot of new staff faces here lately. My biggest complaint is the language barrier lately, but the order accuracy is near 100%. Great food. Very friendly/ humorous staff. I miss seeing the old staff, rumor is they all work for a joint called Acapulco in Milford Ohio? Owned by the same guy (Alex). Anyway check it out. Great food, great service, and great people read more

Love this place, always a default for me and my friend's. Love the margaritas and food. Oscar is the best, always a friendly greeting and attentive service. read more

Celeste, Oscar, Frankie, Honorio(a?). Great food..AMAZING SERVICE. I am not sure what I would complain about? They are patient to a fault. read more

BEST, reasonably priced Mexican around! The margaritas are a killer staple every time I go. The staff is like family and treats me as so. I go here a few times a month and have never been disappointed. read more

I gave one star because I couldn't leave zero stars. It was some of...no... it was the worse Mexican food I have ever eaten. Salsa was flavorless. The food in general was flavorless. The ground meat in the burritos was totally flavorless and like sawdust. The sauce on the burritos tasted just like it came straight out of a can. I have had dollar store burritos that tasted better. Whoever is in their kitchen should be sent to a culinary school because there is no reason to serve such terrible crappy food. My wife ordered a Chile Relleno and at the end of the meal it was still in her dish. I asked if she needed a box and she said she couldn't eat it because it tasted bad. So, I decided to taste it. My god, it tasted of spoiled dairy??? AND the pepper itself tasted moldy. I never give bad ratings because I know how hard it can be to run a restaurant but eat there at your own peril. Go to Chipotle...go to Taco Bell. And yes, it's cheaper but at least it's edible for the most part. Service was ok but again...the food is horrible. read more

Nothing specific, regular mexican restaurant without any competitors around. Portions were always very small here. But this time they added terrible service. We ordered dinner size fajitas (smallest I've ever seen), one lunch and one dinner size quesadillas. Waiter brought us same size quesadillas, definitely lunch size. After I asked him what size exactly it is, he responded with "it's dinner size but I will charge you for lunch size if you leave me great tips"... I told him that it looks like exactly as lunch size because of smaller plate. He didn't respond. He came back with our check. It was wrong price for quesadillas (it was higher that dinner size price). I told him that's it's wrong, he told me that's it's right price twice without any motion on his face. I had to show him a menu. He fixed check with a pen pretty quick then and continued to insist we had to leave him "great tips then". We left this weirdo one dollar and he was screaming "thank you guys" through all restaurant. Never seen such attitude in any place. Date of visit for owners: 01/19/15 (+/-2 days) read more

First trip to El Picante - we visited the new location in Maineville! Beautiful decor, hot great tasting food, friendly staff - what more could you ask for. I got Fajitas and hubby got a #19 - not sure what it was :-) Very pleased and it will be on our list of regulars from now on. Highly recommend it to all. read more

Went there after trying their other place. Marguerite was good. Ordered the chalupa with ground beef. It came with shredded chicken. I saw no waiter to correct the order so ate part of it. Finally waiter brought the check and I informed him about the error. He shrugged and told me I should have informed him earlier which I couldn't do because he had disappeared and never came back to ask how our meal was. Seems Covid short staffing is taking its toll on restaurant wait staff and hospitality which is sorely missing at this place. I won't be returning. read more

I joined a group of friends to eat here, for the first time, on a Monday night. It happened to be Margarita Monday so we got the "small" Margarita for ONLY $2!! We were able to have several at this price! Since I don't eat meat or dairy, there was little (as usual) for me to choose from, but I ended up getting a bean burrito ($2.50) without cheese, and an order of guacamole ($3). It tasted really good! Our server did a good job taking orders, filling drinks, and serving the food. However I had to finally ask him for our checks - which were actually ready but he had been busy talking to co-workers so he didn't realize we were ready to go. Then, I had to flag him down again to take our money! However, we had an overall pleasant experience here and will be back! The restaurant was bright and cheerful and seemed clean. Parking was plentiful. read more

We hadn't been to this location of El Picante in a while. Forgot how good it was. The food had fresh ingredients and was delicious. Our server was friendly and on the ball. Had a frozen sangria margarita that was awesome! Was very enjoyable experience. read more

We love this place so much we had them cater at our wedding. Love the salsa, chips, all my favorite meals, and the staff is always nice. It's at least mexican food by mexicans. We think we get a good deal on margaritas compared to the strength of them elsewhere. read more

This place has great food for great prices! The staff is always friendly and quick with service. I really like the fajitas! If you dine here with one other person only order the single order of fajitas but if you go with two other people order the 2 person fajitas. The fajitas are large portions so you get your moneys worth. The margaritas are also very good here. If you order a pitcher order it half on the rocks and half frozen that way you get more tequila ;) If you ever go here make sure you use a coupon, you can pick a coupon up at the Kroger across the street on the back of your Kroger receipt. I am not a fan of the restrooms they are single restrooms and they are not super clean. read more

This is the best Mexican food in Cincinnati. Excellent staff. Very fast and professional. Excellent margaritas. Huge menu and they are always happy to customize, mix and match to your taste. Everyone here remembers your face, if not your name, and welcomes each group as VIPs. Great, great restaurant. read more

El Picante - These two amigos loved their Lenten dinner at El Picante!!! - Mexican Near Me - Loveland, Ohio

See all

Just okay. Nothing special. Typical Ohio type Mexican food. I miss authentic Hispanic food, like Los Angeles. read more

El Picante - Fun for the Girls. Average Taste. Miss Cali food - Mexican Near Me - Loveland, Ohio

Chips were not fresh. Salsa had a little bit of a bite. Ordered burrito fuentes, it was bland. Asked for extra pico de gallo and jalapenos. Order came without either. The dish seemed wet, like it was streamed. Never again! read more

The food here is ok, like most Mexican restaurants in the tri-state. But the service is why it's a one star. We had to ask for chip and salsa, water, and the food was slow. When we were paying, two groups of customers were converging from two areas of the restaurant. We (the customers) were all nice about it. The other group was large with bills split 5-ways, so they said for us to go ahead, but the cashier pointed at them, signaling he wouldn't check us out, and not saying another word but to motion to us like we are DOGS! The service is down right disgusting! I would suggest if you come here, be prepared for rude service!!! read more

I don't know if they have changed chefs.. But tonight's chili relleno was very good. As always the service was very friendly read more

Good news is the waiter was nice, and cheap food. Nothing is homemade. Everything was from a can or package. The combo bean burrito, bean tostada and cheese enchilada were meager and tasteless. Even the salsa was tasteless from a jar. Not even one piece of anything fresh, like lettuce. There was a white sauce surrounding it called nacho sauce. Hardly. Think they should come to California to see what real Mexican food is. read more