Arriba Tortilla

I was there once with my cousin and close friend during Christmas — when the whole town goes caroling on Main Street. The place was packed. We were half way through our meal when my friend Mike suddenly stopped eating (and in a bit of panic) pulled a ridiculously long hair out of his mouth that had a piece of tortilla chip pressed into the end of it like a fishing lure. I know that sounds like a horrible start to a restaurant review but man we laughed our asses off. For what seemed like 20 minutes. My wife had just died a couple weeks before and I needed a laugh and it came at the expense of her favorite place to visit. We’d come here many times before and she loved the pablano tamale there — swore by it. I would get the skewers or the seafood quesadilla. People will criticize this place for what they consider inauthentic Mexican or Tex/​Mex food but you know what? It’s a fun place, the staff is wonderful and the tequila is flowing and I’ve always had a good time there even with that weird hair catastrophe. Anyway thanks Arriba Tortilla for the memories and that one big laugh. I’ll be back
Two things to try with your meal — their jalapeño jelly and corn bread pudding (savory not desert) are both outstanding

I love Arriba! Reasonable prices, friendly service, yummy margaritas. Do yourself a favor and order the nachos. They’re an appetizer, but sometimes my boyfriend and I order them as our meal. Their chorizo dip is really good as well, as are their house chips and salsa. I have never left Arriba disappointed, and I especially like to go when the weather is nice so we can sit on their small back patio and sip our margs. You’ll find that a lot of people are particularly critical of Mexican food as everyone has an opinion on how to cook Mexican (and Tex Mex) the «right» way. But, having actually visited Mexico myself I can say that even in Mexico there’s no uniform way to make Mexican dishes. As with many ethnic foods, there are nuances and little ways in which people put their flair.
Overall I think Arriba is really worth the visit; give it a try and you may just love it as much as we do! It’s quite packed and noisy in the evenings, but when we go for an early lunch or at a weird linner (lunch/​dinner) time it’s calm, enjoyable, and we enjoy the Mexican music playing in the background.
Arriba does a great job at bringing fresh, flavorful Mexican food to western NY, and I will continue to support them happily. You should give them a chance too :)

Usually I absolutely love this place. I will come in for a cheese crisp, bean and rice burrito and sopapillas with a house made traditional margarita. This time, I placed a to go order with the red head host for a bean and cheese burrito. Instead I got a beef and cheese burrito. BIG difference for someone that doesn’t eat beef. Not happy :(

My favorite in the area for (Tex) Mex. It’s been a while since I visited but having been there at least 3 times, it’s where I tell people to go for the best and it’s well worth the drive.
matter of fact, i need to get out there asap.

No MEXICAN food here!
Ordered Fajitas, waitress said we could have 2 different meats, didn’t say there was an extra charge! Pulled pork was covered in a extra sweet sauce. Chicken was dried out. Refried beans tasted worst than canned also the rice. Asked for no green peppers, told they were all prepared together already, wonder what day.
My brother in law had a $ 13 pork burrito without a hint of Mexican spicing and they forgot his side’s! My sister in law had tacos with 2 hards or 1 soft, so she asked for 2 soft.
When we got the bill, SURPRISE, charged for 2 complete soft tacos $ 7 @. Charged for extra salsa & chips, extra Pico de gallo and the 2 meat fajitas!
Decided wasn’t worth arguing about, with the bad attitude waitress.
Large portions, with some effort we were able to use them at home with broth, & proper Mexican spices.
Noise level unabated, would not pass OSHA!
Had only bottled beer, with one local craft, should find some cooler space for more craft.
I feel sorry for people who haven’t eaten real Mexican!!!

Least authentic Mexican food I ever had. The chicken tacos had no seasoning or salt. The pulled pork was cooked well but was smothered in a sweet barbecue sauce. The waitress never came to refill drinks and there was an upcharge for a small dish of salsa and to have two types of meat in the fajita plate which we were not informed of. Finally, the waitress herself was not at all friendly, to be diplomatic.

We went for Restaurant Week, about a 20 min wait which wasn’t bad for dinner hour and the amount of people in the building. The portions were very generous, I had the Chile Relleno dish with chicken/​rice. Dessert was also fantastic, cheesecake and brownie ‘flautas’, make sure to save room for it… Well done, Arriba.
UPDATE: maybe too much cheese on the plate. Ouch.

Hit this joint up for lunch today. It was a great start cause they weren’t busy. So we thought it would be fast. Plus, mex should be fast, right?
Free chips and salsa. Bonus. They even refilled.
3 peeps ordered burritos. But it was just the burrito. No rice or beans. Disappointing.
One peep ordered the enchilada which came dreaming in sauce. That could be a good or bad thing depending on preference.
I opted for the chicken chimichanga. Overall it was great size with fresh portions. But the rice and beans, well they were alone on the plate when I was done.
No lunch menu so you pay dinner prices. Service was friendly but not fast did lunch.
Got 3 stars cause there competition beats them out.

Wow!!! So yummy!!! We decided to eat here at the last minute. I pulled up thinking maybe the place would be dead because it’s so hidden. Way wrong! The place was packed and the waiting area full of people. The host told us it was a 20 to 30 minute wait so we went for a walk. We came back 10 minutes later and he told me they had called us for a table! So, we ended up having to wait for an additional 20 to 30 minutes for another to open up! Anyway, it was well worth the wait!!! I had a beef Chimichanga and my hubby had the pork and pineapple one. They were so incredible! Huge portions too! The kid’s chicken tacos were delicious as well. My 3 year old wasn’t a huge fan though. Everything was «too spicy» to him. Next time, it’ll probably be a better adult date for us instead. The atmosphere was fun and bright and I loved the décor. The noise level was pretty high. We could still carry on a conversation across the table but you had to speak up. Service was good, especially for how crazy busy they were! I give the servers credit for that! We’ll definitely be back. They don’t take reservations but like I said before, it was well well well worth the wait!!! And, it came to $ 50 for 2 adults and 1 kid. I’d say that’s not bad at all for a night out!

We go here at least once a month. Very consistent. Chips and salsa as soon as you’re seated. Great drink menu. Staff is attentive and friendly. Food is more tex– mex not true authentic but close! The restaurant is loud and the background music (Mexican) is also loud and a bit too much… the back patio is great and takes you away almost feels like your away on vacation! Fun overall.

Haven’t been to this one since they moved from the main street in EA. It was crowded for a Saturday night 5:30 pm. We waited a total of 25 minutes for table of 3. People were moving and leaving in droves so I suspect they keep everything humming here. Waitress was super brought us chips/​salsa right away and kept it filled 2x more. They had a bit of trouble understanding «club soda & lemon», first I got regular water/​lemon, and then I got a tonic and lime. I didn’t try a third to get it right. We ordered tacos, deep fried chicken taquitos and the chicken enchillada. All the dishes were good sized, hot, the guac was great, and the pico d’gallo (SP??) was also really flavorful. My husband was not sure on this one — but he’s open to coming back after the meal which is always good. It was reasonably priced for 3 at approx. $ 39.

We go here at least once a month. Very consistent. Chips and salas as soon as you’re seated. Great drink menu. Staff is attentive and friendly. Food is more tex– mex not true authentic but close! The restaurant is loud and the background music (Mexican) is also loud and a bit too much… the back patio is great and takes you away almost feels like your away on vacation! Fun overall.

Wonderful value for the price. Somewhat slow but very cheerful service. Excellent chicken taco salad, queso, chips, quesadillas, margaritas! Appropriate for children.

We were here last night for my sister’s birthday and everything was amazing! From start to finish we had excellent customer service and an even better time!
I can’t speak much to the food (although the guacamole and queso were both very good) but the service and drinks were fantastic! I will definitely be back!

I’m rather surprised by some of the reviews I am reading about Arriba Tortilla. The food here is just fantastic! Any time we pass through East Aurora my wife and kids immediately want to go here to eat. We especially like the chicken quesadillas. One way to judge the quality of the food of a restaurant is how difficult it is to get in on the weekends. On Friday and Saturday nights, you can have an extended wait, as long as 45 mins to an hour, if the food weren’t fantastic, there would be no wait for a table… The wait — worth every minute!

I am from Mexico originally, and I like exploring Mexican restaurants. The ambience is good, and the ornamentation is great. Very clean place overall. However, if you are looking for authentic Mexican food, you’ll be sorely disappointed. The food is sweet, and everything tastes as though it has been bathed in sugar. I ate the steak flautas, and it tasted more like sweet American-​Asian-​Mexican fusion than anything else. It is super sweet. If you like sweet Mexican food instead of authentic savory Mexican food then this might be the place for you.

Excesivelly sweet tasting.
Not even close a. Mexican restaurant.
I am native from Mexico.

We called ahead for a party of 7. When we arrived, there was no table for us. The hostess apologetically explained that our table was given up for the owner’s family. While the owner’s family ate and drank (at our expense), we had to wait for at least 30 minutes for the next large table to open up.
The food is so so. If you are looking for authentic Mexican, you’re in the wrong place. A little pricey for what you are eating, but overall pretty good. Meals come out hot with large portions.

Usually get a good meal here, it’s loud, so it isn’t the place for quiet meal. But the food is good. I seem to always get the chicken Chimichanga, that come with sautéed veggies and corn salsa. It has a crispy outside with a load of filling. Even though the is good to eat in, I wouldn’t recommend take out.

Another awesome meal. Sat outside where it was quiet and cozy and ordered the Golden Margaritas. In my opinion the best margarita in WNY — and better than many we’ve had in the Southwest. I’m sorry that I can’t review lots of their menu items because we always order the same thing — it is just that good. Chili rellenos with seafood (lobster and shrimp) and chorizo mix. The pepper is stuffed with chipotle mashed or Mexican rice. Then add the seafood and they top with cheese and run it through the broiler. Add some fresh pineapple salsa and a drizzle of lime/​cilantro sauce and there you have it. Simply the tastiest dish ever. It’s so large that we always take half home. It’s even better the next day for lunch.

We visited Arriba Tortilla at around 7pm on a Friday evening (⁸⁄₇). By all means believe what others have said about the volume level in the restaurant — this is certainly not a place to go for a quiet dinner! Nonetheless, with the fact that this is obviously a popular spot, we made the assumption that the meal was going to be memorable. While that’s true, I’m not sure these are the memories a restaurant truly desires.
We were seated immediately, which I thought for a party of six was impressive. Our waitress was there quickly to introduce herself, take our drink orders, drop off some chips, and leave us to study our menus. At this point in the evening, we assume that something happened to our server — while she certainly looked and sounded the same, any vestige of attentiveness disappeared.
When the drinks came to the table, I requested a glass for my (bottled) beer and, at the same time, we put in an order for an appetizer. Ten minutes later, when my companions were halfway through their first drinks, one of us tried to find the bar so I could get a glass for myself, then rather than fight the crowd we instead flagged down a different server. After a while longer, our server returned to the table to take our orders and the glass at last appeared.
The time between ordering and food delivery was not unreasonable, but most of us who had ordered small sides (e.g. guacamole, shredded cheese, chorizo crumbles) didn’t get them. My friend who had ordered the appetizer (it had never shown up) asked that it be taken off the bill, and our server told him instead that it was «coming right up.» Mind you, none of us really wanted it any more, but that apparently wasn’t an option our server was willing to extend — so we received it when we were about halfway done with our meals, and it sat almost untouched in the center of the table. By the way, that was the point (halfway through the meal) at which our server remembered to ask us if our meals were all right.
I have at times overlooked bad service in the shining light of a stellar meal, but this meal didn’t fill that role. Everyone at the table loves good Mexican food, and I think everyone walked away thinking that it had been decent, but also that they’d had better. The best meats were the chicken fajitas and maji maji, both of which were lightly seasoned and cooked just right. At the other end of the spectrum was the chorizo, overcooked to the point of being burnt — any seasoning in the meat had been apparently reduced to cinders. For the prices here — which are somewhat higher than a lot of other Mexican places — I expected a higher quality standard.
Bottom line — this was a disappointing meal that did simply did not compliment the companionship of good friends (I’m glad they were there to compensate for it!) The next time we’re in Buffalo (every other month or so), I probably won’t be suggesting Mexican — and if I do, it won’t be Arriba Tortilla.

I would really recommend the steak skewers. I’m not sure if the skewers are Mexican in any way but they are awesome. they didn’t soak the skewer sticks before cooking so the steak was glued to the wooden sewer sticks. Another person I was with did not like her burger which is also probably not Mexican food either. The huge issue that I had with this place was when we asked for extra sour cream and honey (for the sweat potato fries), they never one told us that they were going to charge us an extra $ 1 for each and something like this makes me angry.
The date was 7÷12÷15 around 4pm. I’m glad to see the owners checking up on Unilocal reviews. Great job Kelly!

I am really shocked by all of the negatives reviews!
I visited their old location about 1.5 years ago, and was excited to come to the new one, however the reviews had me a little apprehensive.
Upon arrival, I was a little surprised it was tucked away hidden in the back on a plaza parking lot, next to 7 – 11. I think the old location was more appealing, especially with the outdoor front patio.
Our party of 4 was immediately seated on a Saturday evening around 8pm. We asked if we could sit outside, because it looked like they had a back patio; however we were informed there was a party of 20 out there, so we couldn’t :(
Our server was very friendly and attentive. Our drinks were ordered and out to us pretty quickly, considering 4 people ordered 4 different specialty cocktails.
The restaurant wasn’t slammed, but it definitely busy, so we were very surprised when our food arrived within 10 – 12 minutes of placing our order. Everything was sizzling hot and fresh!
Between everyone at the table, we ordered the lobster-​shrimp quesadilla, the monster enchilada (which was MASSIVE!), the chicken fajitas, and the Steak & Bacon Taco in a blanket. Everyone was thoroughly impressed and satisfied with their selections.
We will be back to hopefully check out the patio next time!

We joked that all of the staff at the restaurants in this area must have snuck out together to have some sort of party because around 3 pm on Wednesday afternoon, just like Riley Street Station, there was not a single sole in this place! After striking out at Riley’s, we decided we would come here for a Margarita. I checked their hours online, they stayed open throughout the day and they have a big lit up ‘OPEN’ sign in their window. The place was completely deserted. Not a single worker ANYWHERE. We thought someone was playing a joke on us. We walked the entire bar, looking in the back, hoping someone would hear us, but nothing. We ventured into the dining area, still nobody in sight. This should never happen! If you are going to send all of your employees home, lock your door, change your hours, do not have a massive open sign in the window. It made no sense. Another place, we will be crossing off of our, «to try» lists. Sigh.
I will say, however, the interior of this place was really cool looking. There were salamanders all over the ceilings and walls, lots of colors, sombreros and fun things to look at. Disappointing.

Surprised to see so many mixed reviews. We’ve been to their first place on Main St in E.A. a few times and thought it was really good so we wanted to try the new place and guess what … still liked it and weeee’ll beee baaack. Very nice remodeling of this new place. Like the décor. Great Tequila selection. VG frozen Cuervo Margaritas ($ 9). Very friendly and efficient staff.
Upon quickly greeting us with chips and salsa we ordered our drinks. They too came quickly as we ordered our entrees of Chile Relleno with Chicken ($ 13) and Chicken Enchiladas ($ 14). I took the option of having chipotle mashed potatoes inside the Relleno instead of rice and the Enchilada’s came with the usual rice and bean sides.
We enjoyed a refill of the chips and salsa while they were being prepared. Both entrees were quite good. The Rellenos had an abundant amount of what seemed like good quality chicken. The only negative I can say is that I thought there was to much chipotle used in the Enchilada dish, including the rice and beans, and not enough in the Relleno dish. I would like to see more imagination with the spices or cut back on the chipotle. Look forward to another visit so I can try some other dishes.
Sláinte

I had the steak flauta and my fiancé had the chicken burrito. Both were far above out expectations. It was obvious that care had been taken on developing the balance and flavour of every element of out meal. All I can say to the negative reviews is that perhaps a new cook has come in recently.
As for the service they. We’re extremely friendly though not completely knowledgable about Texmex cuisine. I was surprised to see that when I asked for a small additional amount of poco de gallo I was charge a whopping $ 3.
Overall this was great and we will be back.

Checked out the new location for dinner with the family last weekend.
We arrived around 5:30 and it was already getting very busy in there. The hostess was very nice and suggested we wait at the bar. Since we had 6 people, we waited maybe 10 minutes for a table which I didn’t think was long at all on a saturday night in East Aurora.
The new location resembles much of the old location and seems to have the same amount of tables. The bar area seems to have room which is nice. The waitress was friendly and got us chips and salsa and our drinks rather quickly since we had 4 kids with us, it helped to keep them occupied! We ordered about 10 minutes later and waited about 10 – 15 minutes for the food to come out. Most of us ordered the chicken flautas — they are big in size and delish! They are served with a generous scoop of sour cream, gaucamole and rice. Everyone seemed to enjoy their food. The reason I didn’t give 5 stars is that I feel the prices are a little steep for the dishes but then again it’s East Aurora so i’m really not that surprised.
Overall it was a good time and we all left stuffed!

I totally love going to Arriba – my friends and I come during lunchtime, as well as for dinner (weekdays AND weekends). For awhile when they first moved, the service was not as great as it was when they were on Main St. – but they seem to have gotten their groove back recently.
I love their tamales, but I don’t think I’ve had anything on the menu that wasn’t good. Please bear in mind that this is more Tex-​Mex. If you’re looking for authentic Mexican, go to Texas.
The margaritas make me very happy – although I’d prefer a mojito (unavailable because they don’t keep fresh mint on the premises – bummer).
All-​in-​all, it’s a very nice atmosphere. You will hear everything from Country Pop to Mariachi to Johnny Cash on the sound system – the musical selection is fantastic. And even better, it’s not so loud that you can’t hear each other talk. I used to be able to call our orders in ahead of time for lunch, but apparently they don’t allow that anymore, so we don’t go for lunch as often.
The owner is really nice (we see him often), and I love that he will come out and ask if everybody’s happy with their meal.

«We Will not be back» November 1^st, 2014
We used to frequent the last location of Arriba Tortilla. We always enjoyed the food and atmosphere. Not this time! There were three of us in our party and went for dinner.
When we first sat down, we got our nachos and salsa. We asked for «hot» sauce right away. It didn’t come to our table until after the basket of nachos was finished.
My sister, did not enjoy her Strawberry Margarita. She said it had a funny taste to it. I had a diet soda, and needed a refill, but never got one.
Two of us were disappointed in our meals as well. My chicken taco was very good. My husband had a burrito, and asked for sour cream. It was wrapped up really well, and then he had to open it to add the sour cream. You can never get it wrapped up the right way again, without it being a mess. Not much taste to it either.
My sister had two hard shell tacos and they had no flavor at all. We all felt that we would have been better off to go to Mighty Taco if we wanted a spicier meal.
This restaurant was so very loud, and hard to hear one another. The waitress asked my sister if she said, «Bean or Beef, with an „F“?» For the servers not even being able to talk with the customers, because of the loud noise, was very bad.
Something needs to be done with the acoustics of this restaurant. Arriba’s used to be our favorite Mexican place to eat, but now anymore. We will not visit again.

Went to Arriba Tortilla’s new location last night. Even though it didn’t take long to get seated, I didn’t get the overwhelming sense of being welcomed when we walked in. The main room includes a small bar to the right, and a row of small booths to the left. We were led to the adjoining dining room, where there were about 10 additional tables.
I opted for a Pacifico beer, and the taquito platter. The food came out within 10 – 15 minutes. The platter included a ton of sides: guacamole, sour cream, refried beans and salsa. On top of the chips and salsa we were served initially, I left feeling stuffed and very satisfied. The taquitos were really yummy, though if you’re looking for a spicy dish, this may not be for you (I sly away from spicy things so it was perfect for me).
Overall I really enjoyed my meal here– I think some music playing in the background might add to the atmosphere though.