La Tonalteca

yuup we have been here a few times and it has always been good service and good food even when they were busy.
Décor sure seemed bright and Mexican looking as expected, seating comfortable, waiter and waitress friendly and courteous, reasonably priced.
in our opinion if you like Mexican food give it a try, it worked for us and we will return again when we have a desire for this type of food again.

Stopped in for dinner tonight and was not disappointed. The chips they start you off with lacked flavor but they made up for it in the entrees. I had soft chicken chimichangas, which are very good. They were served with guacamole, sour cream, lettuce, and beans. The portion size was more than enough. My friend had pollo loco, which was delicious! Had I known how good I would have ordered this. It was chicken, mushrooms, zucchini, onions, tomato, and cheese. It was served with rice and tortillas. We finished off with dessert. I had the sopapillas which were good. I would definitely visit here again.

We stopped here on the way home from Nags Head and boy was it a mistake. Although the service was good.
Yuck! Taco salad and Speedy Gonzales had no taste.

Food was very good. I had the grilled tilapia. My husband had shrimp. Both were very tasty. Service was pleasant and fast.

Menu: love it. Fantastic food. Atmosphere: very cool. Staff: great staff.

Enjoyable fresh, flavorful food. Large portions. Clean dining room and restroom. Very attentive and helpful server. One minor shortcoming: kids food wasn’t as good as regular menu. Kids hamburgers seemed overcooked and dry.

Went by last night for a quick dinner! Had a very late lunch so we wanted something small! Great piña coladas. I ordered crunchy tacos, which you can basically fill with what ever you want. Complimentary chips and salsa were terrific. The bf ordered enchiladas, he was pleased! Our server was attentive! Great place!

I had the Pollo Amigo. It was extremely tasty and I would order the exact same thing again. It is a chicken breast with vegetables and cheese, served with rice and tortillas, as well as lettuce and guacamole. A big serving and very filling. One of the better Mexican restaurants I’ve been to. And it appeared clean. There was a crowd but service was very speedy. The owners have also obviously invested a good deal of time, money, and thought into the layout and décor. My co-​worker had asked if what he ordered came with rice and they said yes but when it came out with beans instead, they immediately brought him a large portion of rice and made it right. I definitely recommend.

Friendly place and decent food. But there salsa sucks! Taste like tomato sauce. No flavor and watery.

Really solid all around. Good food, large portions, and the service is always fast & friendly. Sure, this isn’t the most authentic CA or TX cuisine, but it’s pretty good Mexican food for DE. We always stop on our way to or from Ocean City and it’s way better than the other chains and fast food in the area!

I wish Unilocal would allow half stars, because this was a step up from your average Mexican resturant. The food did not seem to be provided by SYSCO, and some of the steaks really had some flavor and true heat. The salsa appeared to be made in house and was very tasty. There is a large selection of quality tequilas so no rot-​gut margaritas either. The sangria was a highlight!
Portions are very large, and the combination platter actually took up two platters… Completely. If you’re going for food quantity it’s a true value. Staff was very friendly and décor was nice. Beware if it’s you’re birthday. You might end up with whipped cream on your face!

. We ate: vegetarian fajitas, enchilada supreme (1 each bean, beef, chicken, cheese)
Pro: fast, friendly service. large servings. Moderate prices.
Con: bland food. (Notable exception: chicken was very tasty). Beef in enchilada was very dry and crumbling.
Your call: full-​on embrace of stereotyped Mexican restaurant décor. Lots of oil on fajita veggies.

Everything is good EXCEPT FOR THE STEAK (in español, for my brothers from below the border, «bistec»)… just getting that out of the way up front.
FOOD
I just got done eating a take-​out bean-​and-​cheese quesadilla, two beef enchiladas, and a few tacos; everything was excellent. The quesadillas are usually both perfectly-​cooked and downright tasty. On the other hand, the enchiladas have a tendency to be crumbley as if stale tortillas were used to prepare them.
A highlight of a sit-​down meal in this place is usually a basket of nachos coupled with queso dip, the latter being some of the best dip I’ve had at a «chain» Mexican restaurant. The fried ice cream is really well done too! But, as far as I can remember (and I’ve been going to La Tonalteca at locations all around DE for years), the only food I absolutely hated at this place was the restaurant’s headliner slab of meat: The La Tonalteca Steak. It’s allegedly 14 ounces and sounds like an absolute beast, but the one time I got it a few months ago, it was without a doubt the most thin, tough, chewy piece of meat I’ve had the displeasure of chomping down on at a restaurant EVER (I’ve had worse at cookouts, but that’s sometimes to be expected). I could only eat about ¼ of it before giving up, and that was after spitting out maybe half of what I had eaten. The steak was mostly made up of fat that hadn’t been removed. But, all that aside, I *mostly* love their food.
SERVICE
I write this review right after eating a meal I just picked up from this La Tonalteca. I called, placed my order, and the worker literally told me it would all be ready in 5 minutes (and it was). When I arrived, I was able to see back into the kitchen from the front desk and noticed that even though the place was absolutely packed with people, there was a small army of cooks just standing around in the kitchen. No wonder the service is so fast. No matter whether you sit down to eat or do carryout, you will be served incredibly fast.
BACKGROUND:
I’ve lived in Delaware long enough to remember that La Tonalteca used to be called La Tolteca and the restaurant chain went through a restructuring period, so to speak, after their Dover location burned down years ago. They expanded their business to Milford by moving into a space in a strip mall that was once occupied by Bonanza, which was a buffet-​style restaurant. Bonanza was awesome, but this place is a great replacement for what used to be.
Enjoy

Nice chairs, nice interior. Horrible horrible food. Not authentic Mexican food in any way shape or form. Everything served here must have been shipped here on a truck. Honestly, this place served some of the worst food I’ve eaten in any restaurant. Such a nice interior, though.

Clearly I don’t know what I’m talking about — but I found the food to be just OK (A-​OK) at this strip-​mall Mex. (La Toltecta vs. Tonalteca? Same chain?) Why are there so many 5 stars for this? It is not «as good as it gets». Have you ever been to Mexico? Or CA or TX?
Delaware MMexican just isn’t that great — and my hubands beef fajitas (and the kiddo’s cheese quesadilla) was overly salty.
My camarones with mojo de ajo was good though — and they gave me alot (10) of shrimp.
Kiddo enjoyed her refried beans and rice (picked at the quesadilla).
No bad — but certainly not 5 star in my book.

If Unilocal had an option to say ditto on a review, I would do that for Mark S. ‘s review. It is an awesome place in the middle of nowhere. The food we ordered was so delicious and well-​seasoned that I can vote for it to be best if you are driving down to the coast and hit RT 113. The drinks are cheap too. In all, money well spent.

Somehow found my way in here from Ocean City, MD en route to good ol’ NY NY (home), and I can honestly say that I was blown away by the quality of food here.
I’m from Queens, the melting pot of the United States, and I’ve had my share of good Mexican, whether it’s authentic from an old fashioned restaurant, franchise style a la On the Border, down-​n-​dirty off a food truck, or some good ol’ Tex-​Mex cooked up by a Chinese cook; needless to say, I’ve seen it all. So believe me when I say, I wasn’t expecting much from carrajo-​land Milford, DE (read: in the middle of nowhere).
Much to my delight, the food was, in a word, «legitsauce». While I can’t truly speak on authenticity seeing as how my trips to Mexico involve stays at Americanized all-​inclusive resorts, I can tell you that the food here can go blow-​for-​blow with much of the Mexican I’ve pleasantly encountered ’round NYC.
While I’ve personally never seen dishes so filled-​to-​the-​brim with guac, sour cream & refried beans, it certainly gives you that feel-​good food sorta vibe. This would be an excellent hangover recipe, provided I was within distance of Middle-​of-​Nowhere, Delaware, but I suppose I can daydream outside of this review. And speaking of hangovers, the margaritas which I had the pleasure of sampling (as I was DD back to NY) were flavorful, well-​made, and fueled with tequila. Seriously, even in New York, they can learn a thing or two about their margaritas from this wonderful eatery.
Though I obviously can’t speak on behalf of the entire chain, if I were to judge La Tonalteca’s quality solely based on this location, I’d say it’s about time for the franchise to explore ideas on a much larger expansion than within the confines of Delaware.
Can’t wait to eat here again, I hope it isn’t an entire year from now!

I ordered the #200 like I always do at all the locations and it tastes the same… Good food.

I’m not normally a big fan of chain restaurants, but this local chain never disappoints. This was our first time visiting the Milford location, which is in a strip mall. That probably explains the «restrooms for customers only» and «no outside food or drinks» signs on the door, which were a little off-​putting. I carried my mostly-​finished coconut water from Gigante in anyway, and no one complained.
I love, love, love the décor in this local chain’s restaurants — all the bright colors and the brick/​wood/​pottery. And the food is tasty, and a reasonable balance between authentic and palatable to Slower Delawareans. The service here was very good, especially since we were one of only about a half a dozen people in the restaurant in the middle of the afternoon. I got the three tamales side order, he got the Texas fajitas, we both left with full bellies.

Really amazing Mexican food, especially in this area. I didn’t expect to find authentically great food. The atmosphere is a great and makes the whole experience more fun.
We were started with thick, hearty corn-​chips and salsa with a nice splash of cilantro. Ended up having the fajitas and carnitas. Both were quite good and served in generous portions, enough for lunch the next day.