Rolando’s Nuevo Latino Restaurante

Great place near all the happening spots in Hot Springs. Great chips and salsa and even better food and drinks (margarita and mojito). Tom was our waiter and he was a great help in navigating the menu and even offered up advice about the area.

Absolutely one of the best meals we have ever had. We both had different types of quesadilla s that were different and better than anything we have eaten anywhere. Clean wonderful restaurant with wonderful service. Ask for Morgan. Deserts were to die for. Try the rum cake or the heavenly bowl.

The ambiance was amazing and super fun … but the food was marginal and the drinks seemed to lean to the virgin side.

Great food. Extremely tasty! The ambiance needs some work… The staff were really noisey and rambunctious and the tables are extremely close together. I had the Shrimp and Tilapia, very fresh and vibrant flavors. My wife had the burrito which was as big as her face! Very delicious chicken inside. Overall, highly recommended to us and did not disappoint.

This place has serious potential but failed in the simple things. Upon sitting down, I was served stale chips, and what tasted like canned salsa. The meals where then delivered, and the Presentation was great, however the food lacked any flavor. I got a vegetable quesadia, with zero vegetables, and the black beans where bland (tasted strait out of a can). If they took the time to make the beans from scratch, and actually put vegetables in the dish it would have made it so much better. It did the job of filling an empty belly, but probably would not search it out again.

As a Texan, I never had anything other than tex mex food. It was my first time trying out other kind of Latin American food. The food was amazing and the staff was super nice. My wife and I were so tempted to go again during our two days stay.

I came here hoping for some real Latin food, and not that stuff they call «Mexican» around here. As soon as I walked in and heard the Samba/​Salsa music, I knew this place had a shot. Tried the quesadilla, which had good sauce and pickled onions and cucumber. All very tasty along with the rice and beans. Definitely not typical «Mexican» food. Will return

We went here for dinner on a recent trip to Hot Springs and I loved the food. If you are looking for Latin inspired dishes his is the place to come. We each had a different dish and the were really great, the only challenge is that I felt terrible leaving as much food on my plate as I did, but I was stuffed.
I had the Plato Cubano which they were able to do as half pork and half chicken. This plate is a delicious combination of rice and beans topped with delicious vegetables like cucumbers and pickled red onions, guacamole and sour cream. Both the pork and the chicken were flavorful and to my surprise, I would say that I liked the chicken best out of the two proteins.
My daughter had the toquitos. These have no resemblance to the toquitos that you buy at Costco and heat up in the oven. These Latin inspired toquitos were not rolled, but filled with flavor and covered with a delicious sauce. The toquitos were served with a Latin style rice at the center of the plate.
Out wait staff was also great, very friendly and willing to help us have a great experience.

This place was okay. First we tried it because they had a «speakeasy» and we just wanted to have a drink but it’s really just additional upstairs dining area for the restaurant with a very small bar. And the barstools were very weird, I could not sit in them! Not like they were too small but I just slid right off, so big butted patrons beware! But we sat at a table and had margaritas and they were fine but nothing special.
Then we returned for dinner another night and had a similarly okay experience. My tamales were fine, but they just had way too much stuff on the plate. Swizzles and swirls of sauce and cucumbers and chips sticking out everywhere. My husband’s plate of tacos was the same, he couldn’t easily tell where the actual soft tacos were underneath all the garnish! He said the tacos tasted good, though. The half order of guacamole was huge, we balked at the full order because it was $ 8 but it must be a whole bucket or something! It was also okay but not great, just like everything else. Certainly edible but not at all living up to the rave reviews in my opinion.

This place really has great Latin American food. To start you off, they offer a large bowl of chips with a tasty corn and black bean salad. I had the «Don Quihote» burrito which I thought was fabulous.
The blue margarita (both of them) were well made.
The service was excellent. We started off with a party of seven but by the end had more than doubled. The maitre ‘d and server made sure food and drinks were brought out promptly and was able offer individual checks.

Just watched server lick fingers after touching queso dish!
We went here because the reviews were so good and we love hitting up Mexican on our travels.
I wouldn’t trust them or think twice about this place.
First, the prices are absolutely ludicrous. I live in Indianapolis, have lived in Chicago and have been to San Francisco, New Nork and Boston on many occasions. I’ve yet to see an 18.95 quesadilla for such low quality. Bagged shredded cheese and pace picante container after container in the kitchen.
Most important is the disgusting standards they have for food prep and maintenance. I just watched a server (5’7, short brown hair) pickup a bowl of queso that was overflowing. He swept the flowing cheese back into the bowl with his dirty finger instead of wiping clean with a towel. Best part: he then licked his finger, picked up the bowl, and delivered to the table, licking his finger again on the way.
Absolutely disgusting and I quit eating as soon as I saw this horrible food safety nightmare.
Prevent yourself the disappointment and move along.

Delicious fresh food, hand crafted cocktails, and great service. Try to get a seat on the patio. I will definitely return here on my next visit to Hot Springs.

DOG FRIENDLY! park on top level of parking garage on north side of restaurant and down one flight of stairs and sit on a wonderful outdoor patio! There needs to be a 6^th star. Service was incredible and the food was to die for. This is how we started our vacation and this will be how we end it. Can not say enough about this place and you must stop here and eat. Had the cheese dip and guacamole ! Tilapia was mouth watering and bread desert amazing! Jarod was the best server I have had in a long long time!

The outside patio is by far the best in Hot Springs. The goat cheese quesadillas pork or chicken are fantastic. You really can’t go wrong with the food here.

We decided to spend a day in Hot Springs on the way to visiting family in Louisiana. It came time to eat, so I asked my good friend, Unilocal,where to go, and Rolando’s sounded like the perfect option for a hot evening.
We were greeted quickly upon entering and given the option of sitting in the main dining area, on the patio, or in their speakeasy-​inspired room. We chose the convenience of the main room and began the perusing the menu. After getting some tips from the waiter, we ordered some frozen margaritas (mango and pomegranate, both delicious) to go with the chips and salsa before deciding on entrées. Now I became a little too obsessed with the salsa. It was a slightly sweet red salsa with corn. I loved the stuff but had to tear myself away when our meals arrived.
We ordered (upon the waiter’s suggestion) the El Plato Cubano and the Don Quixote burrito. Both were a HUGE portion of food and delicious. The wife’s burrito was stuffed with chicken and beans and covered with a tangy sour cream sauce. However, we both agreed the Cubano was the better of the two. It was (as advertised) a Cubano on a plate. The bed of rice was flavored perfectly before being topped with shredded chicken, beans, avocados, cucumbers, and delicious sauce. While they offered us dessert, we were too full to even think about more food.

I’ve eaten at the original one in Ft. Smith. For some reason, I remembered it being better than this one.
Loved the outdoor patio and really that was about it.

This was such a pleasant surprise on the main strip in Hot Springs. Quality, flavorful Ecuadorean food, of all things. Prompt attentive service and a lush upstairs patio. Loved the Atkins plate, though it is pretty rich!

This place is amazing! It’s just a small little place with a big heart! They make your feel like you’re apart of the family and welcome to come in a stay with them!
And the food, I could talk about that all day!

Went to an early dinner here with the BF and his mom who recently moved to the area.
There is a downstairs that is more traditional and then the upstairs is their «speakeasy».
We chose upstairs. The time was in between lunch and dinner, really, so there wasn’t too many people when we arrived, but they were filling up by the time we left.
Upstairs the staff dresses from the sinful age of the roaring 20’s and they looked great!
They gave us a food menu and a drink menu and then another drink menu for stuff from the 20’s too, which I found a little confusing.
See, here is my problem. Latin food and speakeasies don’t really go together in my mind. I didn’t really feel like the extra drink menu belonged… and all the drinks on it sounded gross anyway. but I digress.
Our waiter was pleasant, although I don’t remember his name. We ordered tamales, which were pretty damn good! Really moist, and I loved the light pickled cukes and onions they put with it.
For our entrees we were all in agreement we wanted to try the El Cubano plate. now here is another thing that kind of upset me. The waiter knows we’ve never been, there are 3 of us and we’re all ordering the same thing. It never occurred to him to explain to us that 1 plate would feed all 3 of us easily and that perhaps we should try something else so we could share. So, as amazing as the food is, we had so much leftovers, it was literally overwhelming.
For sure I’ll go back, the food is great, but I’m telling you, don’t get the same thing as someone you’re with, as there is EASILY more than enough to share!!!
/​Latin!

This is my go to place whenever I’m in town. It is also my number one recommendation to folks looking for a good meal, cold drinks, friendly service and a great space to house it all in at a fair value — it is this family run restaurant.
The food has been consistently good for years now, and Sherri (the owner) and her staff make you feel welcome and glad you are there with them — I have eaten pretty much every dish on the menu and have my favorites — as well I have eaten in the restaurant no less than 50 times over the years. This is authentic interior Mexico cuisine, not Tex-​Mex, it is Ecuadorian influenced Nuevo Latino cuisine.
My top picks — El Cubano Plato and the Popeye’s Burrito are both winners and solid choices for a good meal every time and as well, the El Cubano is available as a vegetarian option. Their corn-​black bean relish is an awesome twist to the standard chips and salsa served at most tex-​mex places.
The building itself is narrow and stacked on top of itself — the main floor dining room surprisingly holds quite a few people and the place can get packed on busy weekends and during the tourist season. The outdoor patio upstairs, just go up the staircase in the rear, and follow the al capone era passageway up and out onto one of the coolest spaces to sit, relax, eat, drink and be merry. This is a hang out for locals and can get very busy at times. You used to be able to access the outside patio from the side driveway up to the top parking lot — though I’m not sure if you can any more.
Note: the patio area is an un-​level stone area, the tables are out of balance, as are a lot of the chairs and it can make eating — lets just say interesting — if you are not prepared for this type of eating, I suggest eating downstairs first, then going up to catch some live music.
They have a great menu with consistently good food. Cold imported and domestic beer, wine and a full bar. Live music usually on the weekends during the season.
Rolando’s is always a solid choice for good nuevo latino food, cold drinks, friendly fast family run service with a little southern charm thrown in for good measure.
This is a Solid 4 Star restaurant.
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