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Adrian Ortega opened the original Mi Pueblo Taqueria on the west side of Cleveland in 1995. He followed that up three years later with Mi Pueblo Mexican Restaurant on the east side town, to accommodate the growing demand for the cuisine. After 16 years in business, that restaurant has closed. The location, next to the recently opened Happy Dog at the Euclid Tavern, already has a new tenant — and it’s a Mexican restaurant.

Piñatas Mexican Restaurant and Cantina (11611 Euclid Ave., 216-721-9599) opened earlier this week after a modest interior makeover. The restaurant is run by Rafael Alarcon, the man behind Si Señor Mexican restaurants in Westlake, Seven Hills and Kamm’s Corners. Like those restaurants, Piñatas offers are large menu crammed with all sorts of Mex and Tex-Mex dishes like nachos, flautas, quesadillas, burritos, enchiladas, fajitas, combination plates — all served with rice and refried beans.

If you try it, let us know what you think.

This article appears in Oct 22-28, 2014.

For 25 years, Douglas Trattner has worked as a full-time freelance writer, editor and author. His work as co-author on Michael Symon's cookbooks have earned him four New York Times Best-Selling Author honors, while his longstanding role as Scene dining editor has garnered awards of its own.

12 replies on “East-Side Mi Pueblo Closed, Replaced by… Mexican Restaurant”

  1. “If you try it, let us know what you think.” OR, ALTERNATELY, you could, I don’t know, eat some food there and run a review of it? Since you’re, like, a magazine? And not Yelp?

  6. Mi Pueblo was known around the CWRU campus for regularly serving alcohol underage. That was the case for years.

  7. Went to eat Mi Peublo Thursday night and had Si Señor food….it was IK but no pickled vegetables as a starter!

  10. Mi Casita is a big downgrade from the Mi Pueblo. It’s a much shortened and Americanized Tex-Mex menu. What a huge shame on both counts. Sad that people knew the University Circle locale mostly for its alcohol because it had some really damn good authentic food. I won’t be trying the new place with its fake Mexican menu. Sad for Cleveland that both Mi Pueblos closed…

  12. This makes me really sad. Mi Pueblo was my favorite Mexican restaurant in Cleveland, and I had been going there for about 10 years. It had that home-cooked greasy-spoon feel (which is a good thing), and the food was excellent. They had the best Enchiladas Rojas Queso, and they always let the cheese get crispy on the bottom. I loved Señor Guitaristo (never knew his name), and the staff was always friendly and a few would even remember me even after a year or so between visits.

    I will really miss Mi Pueblo.

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