Fresco Mexican Grill & Salsa Bar

The food was okay but the service was terrible. I specifically ordered a steak and cheese taco without onions or tomatoes and they gave me one with it. When I asked for another one the waitress made a face and was not very nice about making another one. She smiled when she gave my friend her food and set mine down without saying anything or looking at me. I downloaded Unilocal specifically to write this review because the service was so bad.

My husband I stopped into Fresco tonight for our first visit. We were very happy with the food and service. We both enjoyed the burritos. The food was very fresh and the service was excellent!!! The highlight is definitely the salsa bar! My only complaint… we are from Akron and had to drive 30 minutes BUT it was well worth the trip. We will be back!

This place has become my go to when it comes time to fulfill my Americanized taco Tuesday fix. The prices are very reasonable and the salsa bar yum. Everything is prepared fresh and depending how busy they are the wait times are actually pretty short. The staff is the staff I’ve never had a problem (some reviews have complained) it’s a step up quasi fast food place in a college town, so with that in mind I think their service is actually quite better then you’d expect.
The only negative I’ll say about this place and it’s not their fault is sometimes the parking situation sucks.
So if it’s a Tuesday and you want tacos in Kent, there is only one place to go for my money !

Everything here is fresh and delicious. I just wish it was cheaper): but nonetheless, their tacos are amazing with just about anything. They have vegetarian and vegan friendly menus (: and tortilla chips with just about every single type of hot sauce and a variety of salsas. I recommend the pineapple jalapeño salsa, it’s the best imo.

Great fresh Mexican food. All vegetables and lean proteins. The manager is exceptional at making you feel welcomed. He is passionate about his restaurant and his employees. Gives great suggestions!

I am all about this place from beginning to end. value is excellent! Atmosphere is comfy and festive… open salsa and hot sauce bar for your taking… great baja tacos… cook is legit from mexico! Oh btw, they have frozen margaritas with sangrias!

This evening my boyfriend and I decided to go to Fresco as it is extremely close to our downtown apartment. We were inspecting the menus when the owner explained that they had specials on specific items. My boyfriend asked him what the difference between two of these items was and the owner replied with (in a rude tone) «Every item on the menu has a detailed description.» Any time we asked a question about something, he gave the same, bratty response. So, we sit down and our food is brought to the table. Mine came with soft corn tortillas which had completely fallen apart during their preparation and yet they were still slopped on to the tray. They were messy, fell apart and impossible to eat. Normally I wouldn’t judge a place on the first experience but during my previous visit to this establishment, I observed the same man yelling at & belittling one of his college aged employees. I understand it can be frustrating to run a business in a college town, where the average age of your employees and customers are 18 – 21, but we are grown adults in our 30’s and this was a very unsatisfactory experience. I will not be returning and will not recommend Fresco to my friends and family. Do yourself a favor and just go to Taco Tantos, the food is way better, comparable in price and their staff is always awesome.

Great place for a family to eat. $ 2 kids meal for my four little warriors and frozen sangria for the wifey. Food is great as well as the variety of free salsas

I was really impressed with this place. Right in the center of downtown Kent, Fresco is an Americanized Mexican joint with ample seating, good food, and a nice salsa bar.
My son and I are both serious fans of Mexican food in all shapes and sizes. We happen to be queso connoisseurs.
We ordered the queso and each ordered a taco. He had the normal beef and I had pulled pork. The tacos $ 3.50 each, came with chips and were out in about 3 minutes.
The queso was good and the chips were equally tasty. The salsa bar has about 8 options and the three that we tried (corn, tomatillo, and mild) were solid offerings.
The tacos were fine. Nothing to rave about, but nothing to complain about either. They were super nice to my little guy which always is important to me.

This is my second time visiting this restaurant. My wife loves the fish tacos. We both enjoy the chips and salsa bar. She requests the fish just grilled instead of battered. You have to request this option, but they will accommodate the request.
On my first visit I have the steak and cheese tacos with the soft shell corn tortillas. They were ok. On my second visit I enjoyed the pulled pork tacos in the hard corn shell tacos. The menu says the pulled pork is award winning. I agree. I am already thinking of returning for the pulled pork tacos. The kids loved their tacos and cheese quesadillas. Great location in downtown Kent.

i ordered the water street with chicken. i got the water street with beef. the manager quickly fixed my order. fantastic customer service. 5 stars.
follow up. my second burrito got me sick. the rice was hard and there was hardly any chicken or fillings. i have food poisoning, and i will not return to this restaurant.
beware!

Really cool spot. Great staff. Just decent on the food. Wanted to try something new while visiting Kent (heck, every time I visit there is something new). This place really catches your eye. Wasn’t super busy at the time so we ordered and sat down. Had a special on frozen margaritas. They were enjoyable. Food came out pretty quickly! I got the standard burrito, while my wife got one of the salads. She really enjoyed it. Great dressing. I automatically compare every burrito to Chipotle. This one wasn’t better. Not even close. The wrap was nice but inside it was just a lot of soggy iceberg lettuce and beans. Kind of like any random soft taco you might make at home. Plus maybe mine was done before the salad and the warm ingredients really didn’t play well with the cold ones. It had chicken but I couldn’t tell. I loved the variety of salsas at the bar. Tried a few. Verde, some Pico, an orange one… They were just okay. Lesson. Not a burrito place.

Not at all impressed. Food was bland, salsas tasted like they came out of a jar, not at all fresh. Taco tonto’s is a much better value.

This place was ok. You can’t go wrong with a variety of salsas. My burrito was good, but the rice inside lacked flavor. I was left with a mouth full of bland flavoring and had to constantly add sauces and salsa to every bite to give it taste. Price wasn’t bad. Portions were nice. Just lacking in flavor and taste.

First time to Fresco. The guacamole was tasty, the portion was huge, and the price was incredibly reasonable. But the burrito concept needs to be reexamined. I got the Slim’s Burrito with chicken, a variety that includes fat free refried beans and a whole wheat tortilla. The ratio of cheese and tortilla to chicken was way off – there was barely any chicken. Also, the pico de gallo seemed oddly sweet. Or perhaps it was the tortilla, or the beans? Not sure, but there was strange sweetness to the whole dish. The salsa bar is evidence that Fresco is dedicated to a variety of spices and flavors. I just wish that this variety could’ve been incorporated into the burrito.

Great, friendly, fast service. Reasonable prices, and certificates on
. The salsa and hot sauce bar boosts plenty of options. Love the enjoying a sangarita on the patio on a beautiful night in Kent.

I have major beef with Fresco.
I’ve eaten at Fresco a few times since they opened. Every time has been more than a disappointment.
My final straw was when I was eating outside on the patio with a friend. There were numerous bees and wasps flying around landing on my chips and salsa (not the restaurant’s fault, but reason enough to move inside). The server brought my tacos and I found a hair about 5 inches long laying in the taco. Now, there is the argument that it could have been my own hair but I am as bald as a newborn baby so really that was 100% unlikely. I told the server and she seemed clueless as to what to do. I wasn’t fishing for a discount or anything but she asked if I wanted a new order of tacos. I said «of course» because I could not see myself eating the hairy taco collection I was presented with. They threw something together quickly but my appetite was completely destroyed.
It’s unfortunate since Mexican food is my favorite and I’m in Kent 5 days a week.
The only benefit is the salsa bar. Nice selection but often the best types are empty or not well-​stocked.
NOTE: I’m increasing this to three stars because the owner was prompt in contacting me about my poor experience. I plan on visiting soon and will amend my review based on my next experience.
Update: 2÷22÷16
Their quesadillas are killer. I have given them another chance and have been very pleased.

I absolutely LOVE Fresco!
First, they are clean and neat. That’s a biggie for a person like me. Next, they have a great kid’s menu. I have two very picky eaters and my boys just love eating at Fresco. Best of all, my husband loves this place and it’s many choices in salsa. I love their salads! Everything is fresh and tasty. Everything I have ever eaten here has been brought out looking just absolutely fabulous. You can’t go wrong with this place!!!

My God, has Kent changed. They have added office buildings and a hotel to Downtown Kent. Instead of visiting Taco Tonto’s like I normally would, I thought I’d check this place out after hearing good things about it.
When you order, there isn’t an overhead menu that is hanging off the ceiling like at most places. They only provide you with a paper menu.
Compared to Taco Tonto’s, the waiting time and taste are very similar. Both places have amazing burritos, but there are slight differences between the two. Without customizing burritos, I guess Taco Tonto’s has a very, very slight edge.
However, this is where Fresco excels. They have a salsa bar that has every salsa you can think of. They even have a pineapple salsa (!!!). Their habanero salsa is extremely hot (obviously). I’d skip that and go for something milder and more exotic. They also have a hot sauce bar featuring 50 different hot sauces.
My only complaint was that only two people were working when I was there, so I had to wait to be served.
Nice addition to Kent.

I have been to Fresco a number of times since it opened in the new downtown Kent development with a mixture of good and «meh» experiences here so let me explain in more detail the +/-‘s.
+The place itself is hip and colorful. The atmosphere is probably the best thing about Fresco and they really outdid themselves on this criterion.
+ Their chips are pretty good. Not Quoba-​awesome but are definitely better than most chips I’ve had at nearby «Mexican» sit down joints.
+I really like their grilled fish tacos. They come along with some special tangy cream sauce so make sure that if you do end up ordering the fish tacos, put the sauce on it. Otherwise the tacos will just be «OK.»
+They do have pretty decent daily specials. I usually come in on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I do for reduced taco prices & a burrito deal.
+The service and managers are very friendly!
–As someone before my review posted mentioned, their ordering system is very odd and confusing. They don’t have the menu on a wall, and instead have it in 2 locations by the door and by the ordering station printed out in almost «to-​go order» formatting pamphlets. I would be interested to know their reason by doing this method instead of putting it on a wall that would be simpler for people waiting in line to order to look above and see the options.
–Today when I came, I was waiting for 5 minutes to order. Two patrons had just ordered in front of me, and I can completely understand only having 2 people working the kitchen and ordering station together is difficult, but I was very close to walking out the door before they noticed me standing there waiting.
–The salsas are just not good. They appear to look really tasty, but they just don’t get the flavour profiles down right at all. Also, their «hot» salsas are mild in comparison to the hot salsas of a nearby competitor. I can understand Midwestern taste buds are pretty tame, but if you cannot get the taste & texture down right, then your salsa is at a loss.
Overall, I think Fresco is a very good establishment, and I hope they listen to their patrons and their experiences. I think they’re doing well in several categories, but some improvement needs to be tended to in their food quality & ordering system to go from a Good to «GREAT» place to meet with company whether it be for lunches or late nights.