He's Here for the Robot
- Jeff Davis
- Apr 18
- 5 min read
Columbus Foodies loves having new businesses join the group. For me, it's amazing at the amount of eateries in the central Ohio area. I love seeing the different genres and on the rare occasion, getting the opportunity to try one. Sometimes there are the places that hit a little different though. El Asadero just happens to be one of those restaurants.
It all started with Leo's slight "infatuation" with the dancing robot. For about a year, we would periodically hear about El Asadero and the dancing robot. Well, after a long, periodic back and forth, they joined. Leo was elated! To beat all, they invited us for a visit. And so a new Columbus Foodies field trip was in the works!
Now I'll be completely transparent. I've heard of them and obviously their dancing robot, but didn't know anything else about the place. There are all sorts of restaurants out there that showcase random tchotchkes and themes in hopes of selling you on the experience instead of their mediocre menu. I was there to see if this was one of those restaurants.
We arrived at the Reynoldsburg restaurant located at 8050 East Broad Street around 6pm to find the restaurant slowly beginning to fill for their dinner rush. The front of the restaurant had six foot letters spelling "TEQUILA" by the front door along with a blue flaming bull statue and a sort of day of the dead statue sitting on a bench. Once we entered the restaurant, we noticed the brightly colored murals on the wall. I was thoroughly impressed so far. I really like the vibe. I was curious if the food held a high standard also. We met Carlos, the restaurant manager, and started discussing the discount card, how it works, and El Asadero's membership on it. Oh yeah, and the robot. Leo wanted to know if the dancing robot was available and wanted pictures with it. We were assured that the robot would be available later in the evening. Finally, he'll get his moment with the robot. But first, it was time to eat.
Our server was very polite and brought out chips and salsa and took our drink order. I started looking over the menu and was almost in a state of shock. It was huge! This place had street food, Mexican restaurant staples such as burritos and enchiladas, as well as grilled steaks, seafood, and more. It was literally a ten page menu. I was dumbfounded on what to order. As I reviewed my order, Carlos came by and said that he would get us some drinks. While I was thumbing back and forth through the menu and taking the occasional picture for foodies sake, Leo gave a little chuckle and said, "dude, you're not going to believe what they are making for us." A few minutes later, Carlos brings us this massive margarita flight. This thing had eight different drinks, candy, umbrellas, billowing smoke, and a strobe light. It was like Close Encounters of the Alcoholic kind. Very impressive! And to beat all, three of the glasses had soft serve margaritas in them. Now I'm excited because I've been wanting to try soft serve margaritas for a while. For the record, they were amazing! I didn't drive so I got to try out most of the other flavors also. I'll admit, they make mean margaritas there.
As we were enjoying the margaritas, we were presented with food. There was a plate of birria quesadillas and a plate of their enchiladas suprema. We divvied up both plates and started trying out the food. I'll have to admit, both were excellent. The quesadillas had a side of consommé and rice and beans, while the enchiladas were a mix of ground beef and chicken topped with sauce, cheese, lettuce, sour cream, and queso fresco.
But wait, there's more.
As we are eating, we are served with the Pineapple Loco. Basically, a hollowed out pineapple filled with alcohol. Well, guess I know who's drinking that one. I pick the pineapple up with both hands and give it a try. It's was another really good drink. And by this time, I've got an even greater buzz going on. Of course, that wasn't the end either.
Right after the pineapple loco arrived to the table, they presented us with a molcajete. This thing was as beautiful as it was massive. Imagine a stone bowl filled with shrimp, octopus, steak, chorizo, bacon wrapped chorizo and cheese stuffed peppers, cactus, onions, sausage and more. This things was amazing! On a side note, this was the first time that I've tried octopus. It was delicious! But what am I saying, it was all delicious! Oh wait, there's one more thing.
Yep, I'm now stuffed and half drunk, and they send out one more entree. Ladies and gentlemen, I present you with the mahi mahi tacos. I've had mahi mahi a few times in the past and have to admit that they did a really good job with these tacos. My only problem now is finishing at least one taco because I'm so full. I was actually relieved that nothing else was coming out to us.
The food was delicious, but I don't think I could eat anymore. I was done. Just fat, happy, drunk and done. But we weren't done. Where was the robot? Leo wanted the robot! Carlos came back to the table to check on us and said that the dancing robot will be ready shortly. Finally. Leo can check this off of his bucket list. By this time I was curious about the robot myself. I've never seen it so I didn't know what to expect. I'm thinking something like Johnny 5 out on the floor spinning around doing a little dance.
Suddenly, the lights go out, the music cranks up. Boy was I wrong!
Little dancing Johnny 5 was actually 7 feet tall and looked like one of the cyborgs from Mortal Kombat. Very cool. Very surprising. The robot was dancing around the restaurant as everyone in the restaurant either watched in awe, clapped along, or got up and danced. When the lights came back up, Leo finally got his wish. He got the robot. It held the discount card and said something about Columbus Foodies.
Now as I was talking before, there's restaurants that hype up some things to hide other shortcomings. Is this one of those places? Nope! The restaurant was really cool, the drinks were absolutely insane, the food was outrageously delicious, and there was Leo's dancing robot. This place is absolutely insane in the best possible way. The employees were great and the cooks are awesome! Was this another awesome field trip? Yup! Will I come back? Definitely!
Thank you Carlos and the El Asadero team!
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