I really, really wanted to love Dos de Oros, located at 13029 Holmes Rd in Kansas City, Mo. There was so much hype surrounding it and all my friends love it, highly suggesting that I go because of my love for Mexican food. Overall, I was not impressed.

My mom, dad and I went to this restaurant on a late Tuesday night. A week earlier, I tried to go on a Friday night but there was an hour wait which only added to my anticipation. On Tuesday we were met by a lively, family-friendly atmosphere. We were immediately seated and served with chips and salsa.

Any good Mexican restaurant can be judged based on their chips and salsa. Well, I have mixed feelings on the subject. On one hand, the salsa was very good. It wasn’t chunky but it did have some flavor. Upon request, they had two hotter salsas that had sinus-clearing heat. I personally have a deep affection for hot food so I loved this. Now for the chips. Looking back on my entire meal, I should have known it was going to be bad based on the chips. There was absolutely no salt to be found on them and they were too thick. What saved the horrible chips was the perfectly crafted guacamole, even though it was overpriced at $5.25 for the portion we received. It had a great balance of lime, cilantro, tomatoes, onions and surprisingly, salt.

Next, I was overwhelmed with a large menu. How was I ever going to decide? At the time, everything sounded so good. I stopped the manager as she was walking by and had a great conversation about how the restaurant was started 12 years ago and is a family-owned business. She also told me about the second location, Taqueria Dos de Oros, located just around the block on Blue Ridge Blvd. There, they offer more traditional Mexican food and it’s quicker than a sit-down restaurant.

The manager then proceeded to suggest popular items on the menu, which I ended up ordering because you can’t go wrong with the “house favorite” right? Wrong. I was thoroughly disappointed with the food I ordered. Our server and the manager suggested the Alambres which included grilled mushrooms, peppers, onions and bacon served with either chicken, steak or shrimp, topped with cheese and served with beans, rice, pico de gallo and sour cream. This reminded me of fajitas but with way less meat and a lot of grease. I ordered the steak version and what really turned me off this dish was the bacon. First off, why is bacon in a Mexican dish? Was it just a way of appealing to the American crowd? I don’t know the answer but what I do know is that it was very fatty and greasy. I couldn’t even finish my plate. I then proceeded to eat my rice which had no flavor, another major letdown. What an overall waste of food.

My mom ordered an enchilada, which was pretty standard. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t noteworthy either. She also got a street steak taco. This was on a corn tortilla and topped with onions and cilantro. The enchilada was better than my Alambres but still not anything amazing. The one dish we did order that wasn’t a letdown was my dad’s. He got the fish tacos, another popular menu item. This came with 3 grilled tilapia tacos dressed with a chipotle avocado cream sauce and topped with a pineapple coleslaw. The fish was very well cooked and tasted fresh for being in the middle of the United States. What really elevated these tacos was the pineapple coleslaw that perfectly balanced out the fish and added a burst of flavor. I highly recommend these if you decide to venture to Dos de Oros.

Overall, Dos de Oros was a huge let down for me. Yes, they had some good moments but I definitely wouldn’t waste my time and money here again. This restaurant would snatch two stars out of five because of the friendly service, fish tacos and salsa.