El Cielito Lindo

As God as my witness, I will never eat at El Cielito Lindo again!
1) Two tables were seated and both had buckets of beer, we ask the server how much for a bucket and she says she doesn’t know, so can only offer us single beers.
2) The larger portion of the menu was not in English and I didn’t know off hand what some of the dishes were, but from the English portion, I can tell there are no vegetarian items. So, we asked if there was anything vegetarian or could be made vegetarian, she says no.
3) Pointing to a picture of something that looked good, we asked what’s in this — this happened to be the chilaquiles. She describes it with no meat (which, helloooo, means it’s vegetarian) it sounds great and we order. What was brought out was horrific — a mushy pile of soft lime covered, tortilla strips, a side of rice and beans, plus an egg on top — that’s it. The dish was described as being really spicy, having peppers, onions and cheese. Even the beans were old or had sat on the plate along time — you know how old beans turn crusty, well…
4) There were no chips, instead there were those puffy fried wheat things. Now maybe someone will say that’s more authentic and should be appreciated, but I’m used to chips and everyone on Cherokee serves chips. Regardless, she never offered to refill the salsa or the wheat puffs.
5) There was a large group passing around a bottle of tequila and based on their interactions, I can only assume this was the owner or manager. They had a fancy new Escalade parked out front. Every 10 minutes or so, the main guy would get a call or text, half of them would jump in the escalade, disappear for a few minutes and then return to keep drinking. This happened 4 times while we were there. HMMMMMMMMM
6) We were not greeted, at all, when we walked in — just had to assume we should seat ourself, we never got water, we had to ask for silverware and napkins.
I don’t give 1 star reviews lightly and I have (previously) never had a bad experience on Cherokee, but this was awful and the 1 star is even more than what was deserved.

My wife and I found this little gem shortly after moving to the Gravois Park neighborhood. Wow.
All I can say is wow.
Everything that we’ve tried here has been good (with the exception of a slightly dry chicken taco on one occasion). Their tacos are the best I’ve had on Cherokee street. They’re simply fabulous. I’ve tried the Chorizo, Al Pastor, Carnitas, and Pescado. All fabulous. I literally cannot say enough good about them.
Let’s move past the tacos for a minute. The salsa when we first went was very good. It was quite spicy as far as most Mexican joints are concerned. The flavor was absolutely outstanding. Then, they changed it. What they had on our last visit was a warm, very tomato-​y, milder salsa. Still had a reasonably good flavor, but not quite the kick that I like in my salsa. I hope they just ran out of an ingredient or something.
I will say that the salsa they had was a bit too spicy for my wife, mother-​in-​law, and sister-​in-​law. That may be why they changed it… Who knows.
They don’t have guacamole on the menu, but we asked for it anyway. It was a treat. It was a small portion, but — wow — the flavor was on point. Slightly spicy, exceedingly fresh, perfect cilantro-​lime-​onion balance. It was a treat. I was definitely sad when they ran out. If they read this, please make that a regular on the menu. Pretty please?
Other dishes:
Tortas — My wife and I have both had their tortas, and they’re something else. They’re served on a giant sesame seed bun. It’s an outrageously huge portion. Incredibly flavorful, however. It’s definitely worth a try.
I’m not done though. Let’s move onto my favorite dish from this establishment. The star of the show. If they only served this one dish, I’d go back. Chilaquiles.
If you haven’t had it, have it. Seriously. It’s a Mexican Slinger, and it’s incredible. It’s also huge. It’s enough for two meals. Please try it. You’ll thank me.
In closing, I’ll throw in a review for the margaritas. They’re fairly standard. I won’t say they’re the best I’ve ever had, but they’re good enough for the price (as of this writing $ 2 with the purchase of a meal).
Overall, it’s a solid restaurant. The tacos, chilaquiles, and the prices are going to keep me a loyal and satisfied customer

Not impressed with the price per value of food…
Everyone has their opinion of salsa, but this tasted like ground up burnt peppers to me, we also ordered white cheese sauce and it was so cold/​thick that I couldn’t eat it.
Also I’ve noticed that many Mexican restaurants’ white cheese is a mixture of something and usually has a bit of a kick to it. This was straight melted cheese on it’s way back to no longer being melted.
We both ordered cockteles and for $ 13 I felt we didn’t get very much food. The sauce that the shrimp were in was very spicy and I’ve never experienced that. I liked it at first, but by the end of the bowl my mouth was on fire.

Amazing food at affordable prices. That is what I took from this small, hole in the wall Mexican eatery in the Cherokee district.
Their prices are pretty competitive with other mexican restaurants. (Ahem Chimichanga’s), and they offered amazing customer service.
The waitress was so friendly, she gave us a free flan dessert at the end of our meal, which was very creamy and delicious. Very recommended!

El Cielito Lindo is the newest addition to a long line up of Mexican eateries on Cherokee Street in South City. The restaurant is small, and clean with table service. The atmosphere is Mexican music blaring and mostly Hispanic patrons. I wasn’t thrilled by the thick chips and smooth salsa (salsa tasted fine, just not awesome), but the tacos el pastor (pork and pineapple soft tacos), the pulled chicken huaraches (spicy pulled chicken shredded lettuce refried beans and queso blanco piled high on a sopa disc), and the ceviche/​shrimp tostada were fresh and yummy. The el pastor and the huaraches were the freshest and tastiest that I’ve had anywhere in St. Louis! The el pastor had a significant amount of marinated, roasted pineapple in it. Much more than usual. YAY!
If the chips were better and the music wasn’t so loud, El Cielito Lindo would get five stars from me.
Inexpensive: We shared the tostada, two tacos and the huaraches and our entire bill was $ 14.80 with tax.
Unlike many of the restaurants on the street, they are open from 10 am — 9 pm daily (7 days a week).