Abuelo’s

Fantastic food, more than generous portion sizes and fair prices! This place is a repeat!

My husband and I moved to Indy from Texas and the only Tex-​Mex we could find was Chuys or On the Border. Every little Mexican restaurant we’ve tried was Mexican, not Tex-​Mex. they were ok, but not what we were craving. Someone told us about Abuelo’s and we are so happy to have good Tex-​Mex not too far away. We both had enchiladas and they were delicious. You can order any combination of enchiladas with different sauces. The chips, rice, beans and salsas were great. We’ll be back soon.

I go to Abuelos quite frequently. Reason being is that most of the local little Mexican places around me are just not up to par. I realize Abuelos isn’t authentic Mexican food, but its wonderful American-​Mexican food. The green mango salsa is my favorite. Sweet with a little heat. I love that they serve a trio of salsas with their chips complimentary instead of the normal runny mild salsa every place else serves. I also like the firecracker shrimp tacos. And since I’ve been on a diet lately, the small plate section has been my go-​to for my meals there lately. We always sit in the bar section and get the same server. She’s fantastic and always on point with her service.

I like this place. Good food, service, and ambiance. I had a couple unique vegetarian enchiladas here (avocado and spinach, respectively)… I’m glad they had some good vegetarian options.

This is our first time here and it was to die for and what excellent service to boot. Our server was Mathew way to go buddy ! Also the atmosphere was a very exquisite. We kinda thought this was going to be expensive. Not at all. Have to give this five stars. Excellent Value.

My wife and I went here for my birthday. I’ve been to the one at Trader’s Point for business lunches and have enjoyed it each time. Today didn’t disappoint either. The food was high quality and made to order. The service was very pleasant. They do have those kiosk devices on the tables now, much like Chili’s has had for awhile for convenience. I loved the food, as did my wife, and would leave five stars, but the meal was rather expensive. ($ 50 total before tip). The portion sizes were great, but the margarita we had was a bit small for the $ 10 that they were charging for the grande size. (The grande was probably 16oz.). If you have the money to spend for a nice date, or you’re out with a friend, I’d recommend going here as the food is delicious.

We had not been here in several years and decided to give it another try. We went here on a week day two times within a few weeks. Both times we were seated in the bar area and virtually all tables were dirty. We sat through the entire dinner without anyone cleaning the tables. Someone cleaned the plates from the bar and cleaned part of the table next to us, but they never came back to finish. Our food that was just ok the first time was really awful this past week: the salmon was undercooked and not hot enough. My husband’s food included dry mushy poblano peppers and was tasteless. We will not be back. It is clear the employees who work there do not care, and management doesn’t either to leave the tables so dirty. It makes us wonder what the kitchen looked like and whether or not it is clean.

We finally made it to Abuelo’s and it was a disappointment tonight. Our server was unable to keep are drinks full, the salsa’s they serve with the chips were not impressive, the cheese dip is more like velveeta (maybe is velvet), the shrimp tacos… terrible…my husband and Dad got the fajitas and the steak was tough… overall it was not at all impressive.

Been here a couple times. Food is extremely good for a Mexican restaurant in America. Servers and staff have always been extremely polite and friendly and restaurant is always clean.
They have a great kid’s menu for the little ones. I do find the food a little on the pricier side for Mexican restaurant, but overall wonderful. We will continue to dine here.

Stopped in on Monday night, April 20. A previous reviewer hit the nail on the head when they said, «Abuelos is an expensive, mediocre Mexican restaurant.»
We are new to the area and live a few minutes away, and the menu is huge and somewhat interesting compared to the standard mom and pop hole in the wall Mexican places in every strip mall, so I wanted to give Abuelos a try. We both ordered from the assorted menu of enchiladas. I had 3 enchiladas, each with a different meat and different sauces, and all 3 were average to disappointing. My wife’s experience with her 2 enchilada meal was similar.
The place lacked ambiance, but generally was nice and clean, and relatively busy for a Monday evening. The service was absolutely wonderful, but is completely overshadowed by the lack of everything else. Unfortunately good service alone doesn’t warrant a return trip to an otherwise mediocre restaurant with disappointing food. Even if the food were a bit better than it is at Abuelos, for strip mall Mexican at a better price, and for better food, we’d rather visit La Hacienda in Carmel rather than putting money in the pocket of this chain…

Abuelo’s is an expensive, mediocre Mexican restaurant. The food is nothing special, something that you can get at any Mexican restaurant in any suburb in America. With an entrée coming in at $ 12 – 15, I would just find a South of the Border and pay less for the same quality. Very disappointing.
Disappointing food aside… the restaurant is run on tablets. Which removes the need to have pesky interactions with the waitstaff. Don’t feel like talking? You can play games on the tablet! Don’t want to bother a waiter to order a drink or dessert? Do it on the tablet! You also HAVE to pay your bill through it, so even if you hand the waiter your card, they will just do it on your tablet. When you’re not using it, it just cycles bright ads the entire time. Very disruptive and does not make for an enjoyable dining experience.
I will not return. It is not worth it for a mediocre meal with a disruptive tablet forcing me to interact with it over a human.

Too expensive and unimpressive. Kicking myself because I could have had a meal twice as good at Pancho’s in Castleton for a lot less. Had to sit at a four-​top with a chair at the end or wait 45 minutes for a table, food was salty and generic, and way too expensive for what we got. Same stuff would have been better at La Hacienda even, and the five of us would have walked out for $ 70 instead of $ 95.

Unlike many other Mexican restaurants in the area, Abuelo’s has a more stylish hacienda-​type feel. The contemporary Spanish music playing softly in the background adds to the overall atmosphere. The servers are all friendly & refills were plentiful. The food comes out hot on very warm/​hot plates. A good atmosphere only goes so far though…
The food is wonderful! You are served light, crispy tortilla chips with three different salsas: regular, spicy & a sweet green salsa made with tomatillos, pineapple, coconut water & cilantro… tasty & a nice change of pace from traditional salsa verde. For appetizers we’ve tried the Jalapeño Cheese Fritters & the Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms… both were fabulous. The fritters were crunchy w/​the cheese melted just right. The mushrooms were served with a delicious spinach/​cheese filing. The cheese sauce leftover was a nice extra queso for dipping the tortilla chips.
Choosing an entrée is difficult with so many good choices. This outing I got the Stuffed Chicken Medallions (stuffed w/​Poblano peppers, chorizo & cheese… lightly fried). My husband got the Durango (spicy shredded beef tortilla with chile con queso topping + guacamole) & my son had the Nogales (enchiladas: one w/​chicken & sour cream sauce, the other had shredded beef w/​a ranchera sauce).
Several desserts to choose from as well. The Dulce de Leche cheesecake was phenomenal!

Excellent food that is served hot! A lot of restaurants bring food that is warmish, but ours was very hot and delicious. I had stuffed chicken medallions. Awesome. I like that they serve a variety of real salsas. Would love to have tried dessert, but no room at the inn!

Our server was new, but he was probably the best part of our dinner — very attentive and quick. The chips and salsa were nothing to write home about — very blah. Entrees were OK, but again, nothing special. There are many other Mexican restaurants in the area that offer a much better — and more authentic — meal.

Abuelo’s is, in my opinion, at the top of the food chain in terms of Mexican offerings in the Carmel area. It seems like the entire state of Indiana was inundated with Mexican restaurants about 10 years ago, and a lot of them are carbon copies of one another. Authenticity isn’t really enough anymore — many of them feature authentic Mexican food (I lived in Mexico in the 80’s). Abuelo’s isn’t terribly authentic Mexican, but it’s very fresh and nicely presented. I had steak fajitas (again), and I rank this particular dish number 2 on my all time list, second only to a restaurant called Pipi’s in Puerto Vallarta. The beef was tender and juicy, and cooked medium (some pink). I had flour tortillas this time, and they were also very fresh. Another nice extra is the building itself, located next to Lowes. It’s a very interesting design inside, which adds to the overall experience. I’m not sure how their prices compare to the competition — I was so starved tonight, I probably would have paid double whatever my bill came to.

Nice place… great atmosphere and service.
I had the Tilapia Veracruz — you know, the healthy option (yes, being middle aged, I’m on one of those kicks for the umpteenth time). Two grilled fillets accompanied by steamed vegetables and rice… spicy, tasty, and surprisingly filling.
Great food, atmosphere, and service… highly recommended.

We made a reservation at 6:30PM but we waited for while. The décor, the staff, and customers were promising. I didn’t know it was a chain. Most always, the long menu was a bad sign and it confirmed clearly tonight
Knowing the portion is mostly generous outside the city so my hubby and I decided to share Los Mejores De La Casa. It came with bacon-​wrapped beef tenderloin medallions (2) and a large shrimp wrapped in bacon (2).
The picture in the menu looked very attractive but overcooked beef, even we asked for medium rare, was very dry with a texture of liver. It was clearly frozen and defrosted, not once but many. Shrimp had a fowl taste in my mouth but the bacon disguised it well, scary.
The server and the manager showed up immediately to assist the situation. My hubby and I decided to try one of our group’s favorite, Enchiladas De Cozumel.
It was a drenched with cheese and cream. It’s a good trick to hide anything not fresh and it worked successfully.
A highlight of this dinner was a light-​airy chips and the three different salsa that came before our dinner. My favorite was the green one, Granny Smith apple with jalapeño. It was fresh and light with sweetness, sourness, and spicy.

I considered trying this restaurant years ago but did not see anything I was wanting to pay for.
However, because of a birthday celebration, it was actually someplace I would consider going back to eat. The chips were light and one of the three salsas had pineapple. Awesome. I ordered the chicken zucchini — delicious but maybe it was butter that I prefer omitted. Also, we tried and liked the bite-​size jalapeño cheese fritters (look for a coupon in The Clipper magazine in your mail). For the free birthday dessert, we had chocolate cake and ice cream — great too.

To start, I’ve eaten at Abuelo’s several times. To be honest, I’ve never had a bad experience with food or service. Some may say the menu is a bit pricey, but I know they produce a lot of the product in house (coming from coworkers that have worked there in the past) and I’d say the prices are fair.
To begin your meal, you are given chips with three different salsas when your drinks arrive. One sweet (and green), one mild, and one spicy. Can’t say I’m a fan of the mild salsa, but the other two are great! You also have the option to add queso, but it will cost you extra. Heads up though, the queso is clearly made with a Velveeta product. Personally I like Velveeta, and don’t blame them for using it because it makes the best cheese sauces texture wise.
One thing I’ve ordered several times is the Pasta La Paz. Pasta tossed in a roasted tomato cream sauce, served with shrimp, chicken, and assorted vegetables. It’s one of my favorite things to order for lunch, or dinner. You will only find it on the lunch menu but if you ask nicely they’ll make it for you whenever. I’ve also tried «The Monterrey» which is 4 different enchiladas, a crunchy taco, and a relleno. For those of you not familiar with rellenos, they are a stuffed chile often with a cheese blend, battered and fried. I think the only thing I didn’t enjoy was the avocado enchilada, but I can’t say I’m a huge fan of avocados. Be careful when you begin to indulge, the plates are always hot!
Last night I went with my girlfriend (should have went on Cinco de Mayo!). I decided to try the Stuffed Chicken Medallions. Chicken breasts stuffed with chorizo, poblano peppers, and cheese, then deep fried an cut into medallions. It was served with baked beans, spanish rice, and some sort of sauce (sauce wasn’t mentioned on the menu and I couldn’t figure out what it was). The medallions were delicious, and properly cooked. They paired well with the tangy mystery sauce. I didn’t try the beans, not a fan. The spanish rice wasn’t anything special, pretty dry.
I’ll give Abuelo’s 4 stars for quality service and food every visit.