Restaurant Review: Xolo
PHOTO Libby Maier
December 1, 2021
Located on Leroy St., “Xolo’s Tacos + Tequila” is a new Latin Street Food restaurant. The style and marketing of the restaurant seems to have targeted an older audience who can legally drink (not high schoolers), although they also have a full menu with sharable snacks to desserts and several options in between and their website includes a link to a catering request form.
Xolo’s is very small with about 10 tables to seat people— so reservations are recommended for parties above four people. Because of the size of the space, it feels a little cramped inside the restaurant. I was seated at a bar side table right near the front door. There was no place to put my coat or any belongings that normally I would hang off the back of a chair.
Aside from the atmosphere of the restaurant, the food wasn’t that good either. The rest of my party had varying opinions on the food but the general census was that it was simply average. I ordered the Midwestern Taco which was a basic taco with meat, cheese and salsa on top in a hard corn shell. The taco was good, but the salsa on top of the taco was ice cold while the rest of the taco was warm. This threw me off a bit and made the taco less enjoyable. The food here is like bar food and street food so it is only one taco when you order, not a combo or meal. The other members of my party got the same order as me for the most part. One comment someone had is that the chicken rice bowl was good and that if you like spice you’ll like the chicken rice bowl.
The staff was friendly and kind to my party. It was a big party of six which looked like it neared Xolo’s max in terms of seating. But they didn’t act snobby or rude towards us— our water pitchers were refilled quite frequently so we didn’t run out of water and the food did not take too long to come out to us. There weren’t any complimentary chips and salsa at the table, which is not uncommon; it varies from restaurant to restaurant. The food did come out in waves though, so about two people at a time would get their food which is a bit awkward for a group dining experience but not an uncommon occurrence with street food. Because of this, people may feel pressured to wait for the others’ food to eat while others may not and it becomes a less enjoyable situation because of the added social stress.
At the end of my meal, I spent $8 for my two tacos. Xolo’s is the only Latin street food restaurant in Fenton which brings some nice variety to the area. You can find out more details on their website https://www.xolofenton.com/. I would recommend checking out Xolo’s to get a taste of the atmosphere and to decide for yourself what you think of the restaurant. Just because I did not particularly enjoy my time there does not mean that others will as well.
