Los Toltecos

The first thing I hear as I walk in is a mariachi band playing playing Baby Shark; it seems to set the tone for the rest of the night.

Los Toltecos is a Mexican restaurant situated next to Tropical Smoothie and the Home Depot, in South Riding. It is among a host of other eating places although it is one of the only sit down restaurants in that plaza.

Walking in, the decor is brightly colored and exactly what you’d expect for a Mexican restaurant trying to sell its authenticity to a suburban population. It’s also extremely clean and well lit. The restaurant is fairly big with booths and tables to one side and a bar on the other. It’s a Thursday night and the restaurant is about half full with mostly families and a few people sitting at the bar. The atmosphere is relaxed and lively as people talk and the Mariachi band plays on the shy side of too loud.

A friend and I sit down, and after a few minutes a server takes our drink orders with an indifference that suggests a long shift ahead of her. She’s wearing all black, dressed like most servers. She brings our drinks and chips right after each other. The tortilla chips have very little flavor and the salsa is a little too watery for my liking. They taste okay enough to eat mindlessly and fill yourself up on while searching the menu for appetizers and entrées.

The person I’m eating with suggests queso, and that starts the train of mediocre food that follows that night.

The queso is decent however, it’s nothing I’d suggest to you or anyone else. It provides a break from just salsa. I won’t lie, good queso is hard to come by and this queso doesn’t rise to the challenge. It’s barely warm and the cheese doesn’t really stick to the chip the way you’d hope it would. The only plus is that you can tell it’s actually made in the restaurant and it doesn’t come from a package.

There is an extensive menu with around 4-5 options broken up into beef, chicken, seafood, and vegetarian. It also lists lunch specials and a few breakups of popular foods like burritos and enchiladas. I order the Garden Fajitas and the person I’m with orders the Enchilada Poblanos. After around 15 minutes, a new pair of servers present us with small sizes of rice and refried beans. Interestingly enough, the portion sizes seem to be getting smaller. A couple of months ago, I went into this restaurant and received a whole separate plate for the beans and rice but it has gone down in size to about 1/5th of a plate worth of food.

The Mariachi band is making rounds now and playing a confusing mix of Happy Birthday and songs from hit Disney movies.. I can no longer hear anything anyone is saying to me.

My actual meal turned out to be three corn tortillas, a mix of vegetables, and a plate with beans, rice, guacamole, lettuce, and a single half slice of tomato. The tomato confuses me, what exactly am I supposed to do with three tortillas and a half slice of tomato. Regardless, I ignore it for the rest of my meal. I can’t tell if it’s for decorative purposes or if I am missing something entirely about my meal. The rest of the vegetables are a mix of mushrooms and bell peppers with the slightest hint of spice. The vegetables are average and pretty bland. There’s no distinct flavor, no spice blend that make me excited to finish my meal. I feel like I’m forcing myself to finish the food just so it doesn't go to waste. I’m eating what is probably one of the healthiest meals on the menu but I still feel heavy and sick the way you feel after eating too many chocolates at once. Instead of feeling satisfied though, all I feel is regret.

Everything about the meal is average at best, a three out of five if it’s on a scale. My friend receives basically the same thing except with enchiladas instead. She says her food is good but she also considers Moes to be a genuine Mexican restaurant so take from that what you will.

Our server returns two more times to refill our lemonades with a blank stare. The Mariachi band only gets louder. Once I finish my dinner, I consider getting dessert but realize I don’t really want to sit in the restaurant than I have to.

Overall, Los Toltecos is a restaurant I’d recommend if you are dying to go to a Mexican restaurant and can’t bother to drive out to find actually good Mexican restaurants. It’s convenient and that’s about it.

Fittingly, the night closes out with the mariachi band right behind me, with an extremely small set list apparently because they are back to playing Baby Shark again. I will most likely not be returning to this restaurant for a while, although I would recommend going just once so you can add one more restaurant to complain about when talking about how there is nothing to do and nowhere to go in South Riding.

-Trish Baptista

Los Toltecos

South Riding Market Square

Chantilly, VA