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This archived review dates from 2007 or before. Use SEARCH above to find all recent reviews.
It remains consistently reliable, although I suspect that its suburban locations prompts management to err on the bland side to meet customer expectations fueled by the franchise-chain "Mexican" competition that dominates the 'burbs. The food here will never disappoint, but it will rarely excite, either: If you want a real Mexican experience, you may prefer to select an eatery with a more obvious Latino accent. But let's not damn Ernesto's with faint praise: It's a worthy destination for good Mexican food and excellent value in an enjoyable atmosphere, particularly in its Middletown location; the huge, popular outpost on Dutchmans Lane, which succeeded the defunct Oldenberg Grill, offers more of a sports-bar atmosphere. Ernesto's cantina-like style is a strong point, with its bright rooms painted in bold colors, decorated with attractive Mexican art and earth-tone quarry tile flooring, furnished with comfortable tables draped with pastel oilcloth. The restaurant is large, but it's divided into numerous smaller rooms to provide a more intimate feeling that ranks among Louisville's most attractive Mexican-restaurant environments. The menu is typical of the genre, offering dozens of choices, maybe even a hundred, including appetizers, nachos, burritos, enchiladas and all sorts of combination dinners ... and best of all, just about everything you can buy is $10 or less, and daily specials are even more affordable. OK, a T-bone steak dinner breaks the $10 barrier at $11.50. That's a 16-ounce T-bone, a whole pound of beef. I went with a Friday special, the Rio Grande chile relleno ($4.75). A plump, dark-green poblano pepper, more sweet than hot, was stuffed with molten white cheese, properly breaded with a frothy but not crispy coating, pan-fried and topped with gentle tomato sauce. The accompanying Mexican-style rice and refried beans were well-made, too, although - as I noted about Ernesto's consistent style - it was more a walk on the mild side than the wild side. My wife nursed a cold with a steaming bowl of Xochitl ("Sho-chee-til," as best I could make it out) chicken soup ($3.95). It was fine, tender chicken and long-simmered rice in a concoling broth, topped with chopped fresh avocado, spicy but not fiery pico de gallo and thin strips of corn tortilla. Beef tacos a la carte ($1.70) were OK, hard taco shells fried crisp (but maybe fried earlier in the day to have ready for lunch), stuffed with a generous portion of mild ground beef, bland white cheese and a small ration of chopped iceberg lettuce. It was a whole lot better than Taco Bell, but not quite up there with the tacquerias around town. This seems odd, as I'm told that Del Barrio (no longer with us, I'm sad to say), which had truly excellent tacos, was run by the same company. A filling lunch for two, with big glasses of strong, fresh iced tea, came to $21.96, plus a $4 tip for competent and friendly, if brisk, service. $$ (December 2002) (Other locations: 6201 Dutchmans Lane, [502] 893-9297; 7707 Preston Highway, [502] 962-8380, and in Elizabethtown, Ky., at 1007 N. Mulberry St.)
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