First Eats – Rolberto’s Mexican Food in Mountain Home, Idaho

(May 24, 2019 / Author: Tim Bondy) Rolberto’s Mexican Food restaurant in the tiny town of Mountain Home, Idaho opened on Friday, May 17, 2019. We decided to eat there on Sunday, May 19, 2019, knowing things were a little chaotic and disorganized during their first weekend. This is my review … Spoiler, it is a 3 Stars rating.

Roberto’s Mexican “type” Food is my Kind of Food

Every place I’ve ever lived since I left Mom’s home cooking behind in the early 1980s, I’ve sought out this type of fast food. With the exception of Great Falls, Montana and Minot, North Dakota, I’ve been successful in finding very good Mexican food. 

When I saw the Rolberto’s sign go up on a long-abandoned diner on the main street in Mountain Home, I was happy. To be fair, Boise has a number of excellent Mexican fast food places, with Los Betos being one of my all-time favorites. I had high hopes for this new restaurant considering it’s a 90-mile round-trip drive to the good places in the Boise area.

Rolberto’s in Mountain Home – The Initial Review

Straight up? The food was good but the restaurant was a little disappointing. But wait … This place just opened and they were obviously extremely busy and likely totally unprepared for the number of customers they had. 

“Bondy’s May 19, 2019 Rating is just 3 Stars.”

That’s right, I gave this newly opened Mexican Restaurant 3 Stars out of a total of 5 Stars. But I also expect them to eventually start serving really good Mexican fast food once the new employees figure out how this whole thing works. After all, it a “tried and true” restaurant chain and a “tried and true” concept. 

Address:
Rolberto's Mexican Food
550 W Airbase Road
Mountain Home, ID 83647
Phone: 208-587-2767
https://www.rolbertosmexicanfood.com/

What About the Food

What We Ordered

1. Carne Asada burritos: These $6.75 burritos are huge and stuff full of steak but little else. Usually, they have pico de gallo and some guacamole. While ours did contain some of these magic ingredients, there wasn’t much. The meat was quite good and on par with other places I’ve eaten good Asada. The tortilla on one of the burritos was soft and excellent while on the other, it was hard and crumbly. Maybe the tortilla was left on the grill a little too long?
2. Three rolled tacos with guacamole: This $4.50 menu items was disappointing. They were smaller than other restaurants. The amount, color and consistency of guacamole was the real problem. While they tasted good, they fell far below what I expect from this type of Mexican fast food.
3. Salsa from the salsa bar: Considering how “in the weeds” Rolberto’s was, I will say I was a little uncomfortable eating the salsa from this salsa bar. The bar was in a state of disarray, sloppy and just looked unsavory. There were ladles (other things, maybe) laying in the large stainless serving pans. In the end, the salsa tasted good. 

The Rolberto’s Restaurant

Let’s just say they will likely keep the eating area and counters cleaner in the future than they were on May 19, 2019. Again, I realize they just opened and have some kinks to work through before they can operate efficiently and normally. 

To be honest, every “Mexican Food” place I’ve been in is sort of dingy and dirty. I don’t expect Rolberto’s to be any different than those places in two weeks or in two years. They just need to clean it up a little when they can find the spare time. 

My Recommendation: Wait a few weeks and give Rolberto’s in Mountain Home, Idaho a try. In my opinion, they will get their act together and likely become many people’s favorite fast food joint in our tiny little town.  

 

This story was originally published on May 24, 2019.