Maria's Mexican Restaurant (Ralston)

[Coyote]

Maria's has been on my todo list for quite a while, but it is only open for lunch on Fridays. So yesterday Uffda and I tried it out. The first thing that caught my attention was that their Tequila menu was longer than their beer menu. Nice inexpensive food, your regular standard Mexican fare. I had the Burrito Rancheros which was nice. Anita, Maria's daughter came over and shared her story with us. Nice lady, felt very welcome there.

[skinzfan23]

Their tacos are the best in the metro. On Tuesdays they are 2 for $5.

[Brad]

Not open for dinner on Friday? Why is that?

Never been to this place.

[Coyote]

Not open for dinner on Friday? Why is that?

No, the only time they are open for lunch is on Fridays.
It has been there for 40 years now?

[Coyote]

My Review of Maria's made today's Yelp's Review of the Day!

[cp jay 07]

So back when I was growing up in LaVista we would eat at Maria's once a week. It was never busy and a nice little hole in the wall with the best taco's around. Now they did a renovation , OWH does a write up and boom this place explodes, every time we go now there is a wait. Still the best taco's and cheese dip in Omaha just sad the secret got out.

[joeglow]

Two restaurants I have heard great things about for years, but have never made it to are Maria's and Azteca. Given the rare chances we get to go out, which should I hit up first?

[Coyote]

Two restaurants I have heard great things about for years, but have never made it to are Maria's and Azteca. Given the rare chances we get to go out, which should I hit up first?

You know, they both have great Mexican food, I love both places, but for ambience, Maria's is definitely better, for a great dive, Azteca is better, but you can't go wrong with either.

[ChadJK]

Maria's
7630 Burlington St
Ralston, NE 68127
(402) 592-3623
https://www.mariasralston.com/
https://www.facebook.com/MariasRalston/

This place is still plodding along. I hadn't been in forever and had almost forgotten about it, but popped in today for lunch. They're only open for lunch on Fridays.

[Brad]

This place is still plodding along. I hadn't been in forever and had almost forgotten about it, but popped in today for lunch. They're only open for lunch on Fridays.

Heard they still get packed on the weekends.

[skinzfan23]

We used to go when we lived in Ralston on Tuesdays and they was always a huge line. Don't know if they still do the taco special, but I thought they were amazing.

[ChadJK]

Heard they still get packed on the weekends.

I haven't been there for dinner in probably 25 years, but their Friday lunch is pretty full. Though, since it's groups of adults meeting up for lunch, they all tend to drive separately. So, the parking lot fills up before the dining room does. Honestly, it's just okay for me. I don't get the hype.

[nativeomahan]

I haven’t eaten at Maria’s in probably 30 years. Officer co-workers would occasionally go there on Fridays for lunch, and I recall it being rather busy back then. Probably because they only serve lunch one day per week, on Fridays.
From my recollection the place was in my opinion “okay” but not worth going out of your way to visit. Smarmy me would today describe it as “‘Mexican’ food for people who don’t really care to know true ‘Mexican’ cuisine.”
Here is where I digress a bit from the topic of a single Omaha restaurant.
Virtually 100% of Midwestern US restaurants that claim to serve “Mexican” food serve either Norteña Mexican cuisine or Tex-Mex (often called Mex-Tex in Mexico) cuisine. Nothing wrong with either style of food, as both are tasty and regionally popular. I grew up eating my share of both. But it too often paints a world class cuisine with a very narrow brush, to the exclusion of a majority of the regional cooking styles found throughout Mexico. As one example, relatively few Mexicans have ever experienced eating tamales wrapped in corn husks. Throughout most of the country tamales, if eaten, are wrapped in banana leaves. And pollo (chicken) is not all that commonly found on Mexican dinner tables. Neither is beef. The “Holy Trinity” of Mexican cooking has been described as chili peppers, corn and beans, Pork, fruit, vegetables and in coastal regions seafood is also found in abundance in a typical Mexican household.
Yesterday I had the good fortune to visit a traveling expo of southern regional Mexican artisan vendors, which included everything from fresh pastries and ice cream to jewelry, leather goods, cookware, clothing and shoes. And of course many varieties of mescal. Vendors sold delicious fresh ground coffees from Chiapas and an abundance of moles from Oaxaca. Mole is a favorite Mexican dish of mine, and when an artisan expo happens into town you can find up to 2 dozen varieties, from rich and fragrant fruit and nut moles to chocolate, poblano, pipian, ajonjoli, verde and a lot more. Almendrado and chocolate moles are my two favorites but I have yet to try most versions. Few Omaha Mexican restaurants offer even a single style of mole on their menus. And few offer Mexican coffees.
I grew into adulthood enjoying the foods of northern Mexico so in abundance in Omaha. Through good fortune and living in a city filled with scores of chef owned restaurants I’m now able to sample everything else Mexican chefs have to offer. I hope that each of you have the same opportunity at some point in your lives.

[ChadJK]

I haven’t eaten at Maria’s in probably 30 years. Officer co-workers would occasionally go there on Fridays for lunch, and I recall it being rather busy back then. Probably because they only serve lunch one day per week, on Fridays.
From my recollection the place was in my opinion “okay” but not worth going out of your way to visit. Smarmy me would today describe it as “‘Mexican’ food for people who don’t really care to know true ‘Mexican’ cuisine.”

Maria's falls into the same category as Julio's, Fernando's, El Bee's, and Romeo's. It's 1970s/80s Tex-Mex being kept alive on nostalgia and name recognition. I suppose it's good for what it is and if, like much of its clientele, you grew up on it, then you know what you're getting. However, if you came in from out of state and walked in expecting Mexican cuisine you'd likely be disappointed.

And pollo (chicken) is not all that commonly found on Mexican dinner tables. Neither is beef.

I seem to recall (from my days of incessant food TV binge-watching) where Turkey is very popular in parts of Mexico.

The “Holy Trinity” of Mexican cooking has been described as chili peppers, corn and beans, Pork, fruit, vegetables and in coastal regions seafood is also found in abundance in a typical Mexican household.

I've heard cabbage was more popular than lettuce in Mexico, but lettuce is gaining in popularity as it's planted for export more than cabbage these days and thus there's more of it available.

I read a blog from a guy that lived in a rural area of Colombia for a few years and was lamenting that EVERY meal was some variation of rice, black beans, a grilled chunk of meat, and arepas. Over and over again.

Mole is a favorite Mexican dish of mine, and when an artisan expo happens into town you can find up to 2 dozen varieties, from rich and fragrant fruit and nut moles to chocolate, poblano, pipian, ajonjoli, verde and a lot more. Almendrado and chocolate moles are my two favorites but I have yet to try most versions. Few Omaha Mexican restaurants offer even a single style of mole on their menus.

P1: "What kind of sauce is on that?"
P2: "It's a mole sauce."
P1: "So, since mole is the Nahuatl-derived word for 'sauce,' you're essentially describing it as a sauce sauce. How is that helpful?"
P2: "You don't have any friends, do you?"

Humor aside. Being able to taste all those different moles would be awesome.

[nativeomahan]

Cabbage is commonly seen in Baja style cuisine, and is pretty much a necessary ingredient in Baja style fish or shrimp tacos. But honestly I don’t recall coming across it all that much in other styles of Mexican cooking, The same with lettuce. It’s not commonly an ingredient in Mexican cooking. Obviously Tex-Mex menus use a lot of lettuce, and cheese.
Regional cooking styles are highly dependent on what is available in local farm fields and markets. That’s why you see lots of flour tortillas, ground beef and cheese on menus here in the Midwest. And why you don’t see them featured that much throughout Mexico, That’s one of the joys of travel…getting to experience very different cooking styles popular in different regions.