Taqueria La Pinata - Fort Wayne

First time dining here. Loved they were open late on a Sat! Had so many options! Grabbed a few items to try. Will be going back to try some more! Favorite items from this trip were the ceviche tostada and the coctel de camarones

Taqueria La Piñata is good, but it fails to rise to the level of being excellent or well-deservedly memorable in any form. My friend also reported seeing a crayon piece in his salsa here once, but that has not been my experience so I won 't be accounting for it in this review. I don 't quite remember what I had here the first time, all I can remember is that I decided that La Piñata is 'pretty much a copy ' of Taqueria El Ranchito after that meal. The two places tasted very similar and stay open at similar hours, which is not in itself a bad thing, but Ranchito had the better tacos which ultimately kept it special. I revisited it recently and had the Caldo 7 Mares (7-seafood soup) and Guisado de Puerco (Mexican short ribs). Both of which I believe are only available at La Piñata in Fort Wayne, though neither was particularly memorable. The 7-seafood soup had small clams, big clams (broth clams), octopus, shrimps, tilapia, crab sticks, and I could not say for certain if a 7th seafood ingredient existed. It is pretty impressive, but also suffers from being 'too authentic ': It carries all the frustrations of the original dish as it is served on home tables, without enhancing the flavors. The soup was rather smelly and the broth was lacking in flavor. The shrimps are served whole, with head, shell and whiskers. However, they are also boiled for long enough that they are pretty much 80% shell and all the meat is stuck on the shell. If you don 't like head and shell, you 'll have quite a time taking the meat off. If you are a head and shell enthusiast like I know many people are, then you need not listen to what I say, but personally, I prefer to eat shrimps for their meat. The soup is also rather expensive, at $23, though I can see where that money goes into. None of the seafood is that great though. Aside from maybe the octopus, all of it had a very slow-cooked texture and a rather fishy taste. The Caldo de Mariscos at Mi Parrilla is similar and has less seafood, but also much cheaper and more satisfying. In general, I like the soup for its concept and authenticity, but not so much for its execution. The guisado fares a little better, but also fails to be particularly memorable. 'Oh, it 's Mexican short ribs with nopales hot sauce, cool! ' is what I ultimately thought about it. The nopales bits in the sauce also have too much of a slow-cooked texture for me to be wowed by them. Other than that though, it was tasty and well-executed enough. My friend also had a tilapia dinner that day, which he described as 'pretty basic '. All in all, I 'd recommend La Piñata if it 's the Mexican restaurant in your closest vicinity. However, if you are willing to go out to eat, you can find almost any dish that it offers better done elsewhere. The only reason I can think of to seek out La Piñata in particular is for guisado, but even THAT is a bit of a hard sell.

Nice clean spot. Great family service. Wonderful food output that made another spot a Big hit in the past. Has full bar as well. Don't see what ya want on the menu... Just ask for it If they have it they'll make it.

Best Authentic in Fort Wayne! So much flavor in everything. You can taste the freshness of there ingredients!!! Clean, friendly, I will not eat anywhere else in town when it comes to Mexican Food!

Super friendly people the manager and two others came to our table and spoke to us. My burrito was the largest I've ever seen. The calamari was excellent crunchy and refreshing with ranch sauce and cucumber slices. My wife raved about her shrimp chimichanga. Very reasonable beer prices.